I've been enjoying a REBUS marathon over the last few days — not the Ian Rankin books, but the terrific TV movie adaptations starring Ken Stott as D.I. John Rebus, taking the role from the woefully miss-cast John Hannah. They are simply terrific…and in some cases, even better than the novels they are based on (in that respect they are akin to the JESSE STONE movies based on the Robert B. Parker novels). Stott is pitch-perfect as Rebus, and the writing is tight, sharp, and true to the spirit, if not every plot move, of the books. Some of the movies, in fact, could serve as a lesson in adaptation for aspiring screenwriters — the writers get to the heart of what makes each novel work, cutting away the fat, focusing the plot, and amping up the character conflicts. REBUS is the best new traditional British detective series since the late, great INSPECTOR MORSE (though I've got a couple seasons worth of LEWIS, the sequel series with Morse's sidekick, to watch so I may have to revise that opinion). I've got two more movies to watch and then it's over…apparently for good, since Stott doesn't want to do any more of them and, without him, neither does the network. I hope they can lure him back to do an adaption of "Exit Music," the final Rebus novel.
I haven’t seen any of the Rebus episodes(either actor). They sound promising and I am a fan of the Rankin novels.
I do have to agree that the Jesse Stone movies are an improvement on the novels(Tom Selleck is the perfect Jesse Stone). A while back I read somewhere that they were working on an original movie, but I haven’t heard anything in a good while. Have you?
It’s called THIN ICE and was shot quite some time ago. It was supposed to air in February…but CBS is holding on to it for some reason.
I’d never heard of REBUS, but based on Lee’s comments, I’ll check them out.
Double ditto on the Jesse Stone movies. If someone would only do George C. Chesbro’s “Mongo” series, and do them properly….