'Rebus' Remake Confirmed to Stream on Viaplay

Since the BBC picked up the new adaptation of the mystery series Rebus from producer Viaplay, we have been keeping an eye on it. Hailing from Sweden, Viaplay is a highly niche streaming service focusing on Nordic Noir offerings; its programming often runs parallel to the stuff we cover at Telly Visions but rarely overlaps. Launched in the U.S. in early 2023, the only series it has streamed thus far in our wheelhouse was The Fortress, which arrived in mid-2024. However, Rebus, a remake of the 2000 ITV series, is precisely what our viewers look for, making Viaplay's decision to keep it for itself in the U.S. understandable.

Based on the Scottish-set Inspector Rebus novels, which first debuted in 1987, the original series was an early example of what is now referred to as "Tartan Noir," the Scottish variation of Nordic Noir. (One can see why Viaplay considered remaking the series within its purview.) The ITV series starred Four Weddings & A Funeral's John Hannah, then at the height of his career, and was a passion project for the actor. (Hannah was an executive producer of the series during an era when that wasn't yet standard.) However, after one season, Hannah left the show and was replaced by Ken Stott (The Missing), who led the series for three more seasons before it was finally canceled in 2007.

Viaplay first announced it was remaking the series with a new cast in 2022 when it was still trying to compete in the U.K.; this new version was promised to reimagine the iconic character John Rebus as "a younger Detective Sergeant, drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal when his brother Michael, a former soldier, crosses the line." However, since then, Viaplay UK shuttered, leading the company to sell the completed series to the BBC in early 2024. 

Here's the series synopsis:

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?

Richard Rankin (Outlander) stars in the titular role, with Brian Ferguson (The Ipcress File) as John’s brother, Michael, and Lucie Shorthouse (Line of Duty) as Rebus’s investigation partner, DC Siobhan Clarke. Supporting cast includes Amy Manson (The Diplomat), Neshla Caplan (The Rig), Noof Ousellam (Guilt), Stuart Bowman (Bodyguard), Caroline Lee Johnson (Ridley), Sean Buchanan (Mary Queen of Scots), Thoren Ferguson (The Midwich Cuckoos) and Michelle Duncan (Baptise).

Gregory Burke adapted the new series from Ian Rankin's best-selling novels. Directors Niall MacCormick (Wallander) and Fiona Walton (Annika) split helming duties across the show's six episodes, with Angela Murray producing. Burke, Rankin, and MacCormick are the executive producers alongside Paula Cuddy, Jill Green & Eve Gutierrez for Eleventh Hour Films and Tomas Axelsson & Isabelle Hultén for Viaplay.

Rebus arrives with all episodes on Thursday, November 7, 2024, on Viaplay.