CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews this weekend's TV: Violent, drunken, disloyal . . . ... trends now
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DI John Rebus is a bad man trying to be a good copper. Fans of the novels by Sir Ian Rankin understand this, and we try to forgive him his violence, his drunken moods, his cruel sarcasm and his disloyalty.
But the bestselling books have defeated every previous attempt to translate them to television. Ken Stott and John Hannah have both tried, and been unrecognisable as Rebus.
Richard Rankin (no relation to the author) gets much closer to the character on the page. Trouble is, he becomes so deeply nasty that the show is all but unwatchable.
This adaptation opened with Rebus confronting a bloodied patient in an ambulance after a road accident. If you knew the books, it was quickly obvious this was gangster Ger Cafferty (Stuart Bowman), the detective's nemesis.
Richard Rankin (no relation to the author) gets much closer to the character on the page
The bestselling books have defeated every previous attempt to translate them to television
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But if you were new to the story, you might wonder why Rebus gut-punched him repeatedly, smashed his head against the side of the vehicle, then tried to suffocate him. It seemed like harsh summary justice
