andrew arthur matthews

As a long time reader of the Rebus books and a couple of not so good non - Rebus books by one of the best ever authors of this genre; Ian Rankin. So I was not expecting too much when I heard that there was to be another attempt to dramatise the Rebus series by the BBC. Previous efforts saw the good actor , John Hannah woefully miscast at the Scottish detective struggle to step up to the dark , dour , cynical dodgy cop . Ken Stott had a go and I think made a better job . This time it’s another Rankin who carries the Rebus torch and no relation to the author himself. Having read early reviews I decided that comparing my vision of the source material , the actual books would probably be better forgotten together with its characters, situations and plots . This was a good move and I entered the new Rebus crime world and watched as I would any crime drama. So we have a ‘re- imagined’ Rebus in every aspect and due to the first class performance's from Rebus , his bother, sister in law and of course Big Ger and based on the very best writing from Ian Rankin that this series is going to triumph. There are a few niggles with unconvincing ‘ phone a performance in ‘ seen with Rebus’s female boss . Whom in the books had been having a relationship with Rebus ! Darryl Christie character is in my opinion, miscast . Rankin describes this villain as smooth operator , well spoken and a taste for sharp dressing . This BBC production has superb atmospheric, damp , greyish look to Edinburgh with the majority of camera time spent on the dialogue and characters. For old school readers of the written Rebus it’s best to approach this new series with an open mind and enjoy it or not for what it is rather than how different it is to the Ian Rankin’s original vision

Well Done C4 ! Yes well done C4 for presenting The Gathering drama series which has absolutely demonstrated crime drama at its very best . What an interesting, entertaining, engaging and intriguing plot , first rate acting especially from the actress playing Kelly and the lad playing ccxx. Script was lean , snappy and gritty although I did struggle to understand some of the heavy scouser dialogue which didn’t help me with the story. What was so good with this series was the attention to bring out the characters and allow them to develop into believable and credible people.. The Gathering was just what I needed having watched 2 or 3 rubbish , poorly acted , C5 dramas and for some reason all featured Jill Halfpenny !