Lacking Shetland? I do know I’m. Ever since Douglas Henshall first performed DI Jimmy Perez within the hit Scottish sequence method again in 2013, I’ve liked the combination of drama, stunning surroundings, very good mysteries and nice appearing. It even managed to neatly survive the lack of its main man, with Ashley Jensen taking on detecting duties within the newest sequence.
However we’ve got a protracted look ahead to Shetland season 9, which brings us to Rebus, BBC One’s new Scottish drama primarily based on the hit books by Ian Rankin.
I am sufficiently old to recollect the earlier ITV model, with John Hannah taking part in the character within the first sequence. Nonetheless, he stop the half after only one sequence and Ken Stott gave a efficiency extra acquainted to individuals who benefit from the books.
Now, Richard Rankin is taking part in a younger Rebus and superficially at the very least the sequence has quite a bit in frequent with Shetland. Each make the most of the fabulous Scottish surroundings, with Rebus profiting from its Edinburgh setting.
Younger Rebus additionally is not 1,000,000 miles away for DI Jimmy Perez. Each have a daughter and each love a brooding digicam shot. Each males are additionally alone. Whereas Perez’s spouse died, Rebus is divorced. One distinction is Perez is considerably calmer than hot-headed Rebus!
Within the opening scene, Rebus is in a automotive crash after being rammed off the street by his arch nemesis Ger Cafferty (Stuart Bowman). Rebus finds Cafferty in an ambulance and proceeds to beat him up so badly he nearly kills the criminal. Not lengthy later, we see Rebus thumping his brother Michael after a jibe about his failed marriage.
Like Shetland, there’s lots to get pleasure from right here. Rankin makes for a convincing Rebus, with simply the right combination of appeal and hostility. He will get some good traces too. When he is requested to indicate the ropes to his beginner cop associate, Siobhan Clarke, he quips: “There isn’t any ropes, they went out with the final finances reduce”.
Later seasons of Shetland created a narrative arc over the entire sequence, reasonably than a weekly case for the cop to unravel, and Rebus follows this.
Rebus finds himself in the course of a drug battle in Edinburgh. Simply as Perez bonded with Alison “Tosh” McIntosh in Shetland, we see Rebus shortly forming a formidable group with Clarke.
Like Shetland, Rebus reveals that behind the floor great thing about the situation, there’s loads of darkness and villains lurking. There’s marginally extra violence and unhealthy language in Rebus.
Rebus is massively satisfying and, if you happen to’re lacking your fill of Shetland, you will not be dissatisfied.
