It’s boom time for hard-bitten Scottish crime dramas on TV. BBC One’s reboot of Rebus arrives after the success of Neil Forsyth’s Guilt and Irvine Welsh’s Crime, which certainly puts the pressure on Richard Rankin as its lead. The 41-year-old Outlander star has to stand out not only from Ken Stott’s original portrayal of the seen-it-all Edinburgh polis but from Dougray Scott’s tortured, substance-abusing DI from Crime and Mark Bonnar’s funny, crooked lawyer from Guilt, too.
Of course, there’s the depth of characterisation to draw on – Sir Ian Rankin (no relation) has published 24 Inspector Rebus novels and counting (there’s a new one out in October) – and it doesn’t hurt that the actor has a certain physical similarity to Stott, who played the detective in four series for ITV in the Noughties. He has some of his humour and charm, too, but perhaps not quite the mordant gloom of his scowl. There’s a relatable quality to Rankin, though, which is evident from the very first shot.
