BBC announce date for Rebus TV show with first look of Edinburgh locations

A new crime series based on the best-selling Inspector Rebus novels by Ian Rankin will come to the small screen in May.

With the backdrop of Edinburgh, the new series follows Rankin's iconic character as a younger Detective Sergant who is drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal when his brother Michael, a former soldier, crosses the line.

Last year film crews were spotted across Edinburgh, including Rose Street and Keir Street, as author Ian Rankin shared snaps to his fans on social media.

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New pictures released by the BBC show Richard Rankin in the titular role in Victoria Street in the Old Town.

Brian Ferguson will play John’s brother, Michael, and Lucie Shorthouse as Rebus’s investigation partner, Detective Constable Siobhan Clarke.

Previously announced cast also include Amy Manson (The Nevers, The Diplomat), Neshla Caplan (The Rig, Scot Squad), Noof Ousellam (Vigil, Guilt), Stuart Bowman (The Serpent, Bodyguard), Caroline Lee Johnson (Trying, Ridley), Sean Buchanan (Censor, Mary Queen of Scots), Thoren Ferguson (The Midwich Cuckoos) and Michelle Duncan (Baptise, Elizabeth is Missing).

Shaken after a violent encounter with gangster Ger Cafferty, Edinburgh detective John Rebus finds himself at a psychological crossroads. At odds with a job increasingly driven by corporate technocrats, involved in a toxic affair he knows he needs to end, and all but supplanted in his daughter’s life by his ex-wife’s wealthy new husband, Rebus begins to wonder if he still has a role to play – either as a family man or a police officer.

In a time of divisive politics and national discord, Rebus’s ex-soldier brother Michael, who’s broke, desperately crosses the line in order to provide for his family, and Rebus starts to question if the law still has meaning, or if everyone is reverting to an older set of rules. And if so, why shouldn’t he do so too?

All episodes of Rebus will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am, with episode one airing on BBC Scotland on Friday 17 May and on BBC One on Saturday 18 May.