The BBC's new six-part series "Rebus" "doesn't feel necessary, exactly", said Rachel Cooke in The New Statesman: every day seems to bring "sheeting rain and another new police drama, and Ian Rankin's novels have been well adapted before": between 2000 and 2007, there were four ITV series based on the books. Still, this outing, written by the playwright Gregory Burke, "is shaping up to be a keeper".
While the detective sergeant John Rebus of Rankin's most recent books is "a weary, wily old-timer", said Dan Einav in the FT, this Rebus is a younger man (played by Richard Rankin, no relation).
A divorced alcoholic with questionable ethics, he seems to be on the cusp of losing his job; then, a gang turf war "spills out from Edinburgh's underworld into its picturesque streets", and Rebus finds himself facing "all manner of personal and professional dilemmas".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Elements of the drama feel rather familiar, but Richard Rankin "offsets the more hackneyed elements of the character as he negotiates both flashes of menace and quieter moments of self-awareness and shame".
I loved the series, said Carol Midgley in The Times. This Rebus has a "dark, dangerous charisma and bone-dry sarcasm that is mildly hypnotic to watch". And though the "plot is bleak", the script is so witty that it often made me "laugh loudly. You don't necessarily expect that from a crime drama in which young lads have their fingers chopped off with secateurs."
-
Apple bows to Trump administration pressure over ICE tracking appsIn the Spotlight It’s the latest company to capitulate to Trump’s demands
-
Can TrumpRx really lower drug prices?Today’s Big Question Pfizer’s deal with Trump sent drugmaker stocks higher
-
‘Every argument has a rational, emotional, and rhetorical component’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipeThe Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
9 haunted hotels where things definitely go bump in the nightThe Week Recommends Don’t fear these spirited spots. Embrace them.
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
The 5 best zombie TV shows of all timeThe Week Recommends For undead aficionados, the age of abundance has truly arrived
-
6 incredible homes under $1 millionFeature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classicThe Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period dramaThe Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
-
Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thrillerThe Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’
