Rebus
I'm not a big fan of continuing drama on the tele, I can't really give it the commitment it requires.
The excellent 'Life on Mars' on the BBC was an exception, but even then I managed to miss at least two episodes.
The Inspector Rebus series, though, is an infrequent offering of single, stand-alone, episodes, neatly exhibited in 90 minute chunks.
I'm a big fan of Ian Rankin's Rebus books, ever since picking up a copy of 'Set in Darkness' during a period of a substantial public transport habit, two hours a day got me through a hell of a lot of books. Since then, I've gone through them all in order, a necessary journey to understand the main character, and his relationships with his superiors & colleagues.
However .....
Last night's episode was 'Fleshmarket Close', the latest story and one I'm nearing the end of reading. The story on the TV was so far removed from the book as to lead to question; why call it Fleshmarket Close at all ? The title of the novel comes from the discovery of a pair of skeletons in a pub cellar in Fleshmarket Close, something not included in the TV story at all.
I'm not against trimming the story down to fit in with TV schedules, but if the story is so far removed from the original, and the author was fully involved in the storyline, why not create a completely new tale ?
At least Ken Stott is a better Rebus than John Hannah. But let's be honest, Penelope Keith would have been a better Rebus than John Hannah!
The excellent 'Life on Mars' on the BBC was an exception, but even then I managed to miss at least two episodes.
The Inspector Rebus series, though, is an infrequent offering of single, stand-alone, episodes, neatly exhibited in 90 minute chunks.
I'm a big fan of Ian Rankin's Rebus books, ever since picking up a copy of 'Set in Darkness' during a period of a substantial public transport habit, two hours a day got me through a hell of a lot of books. Since then, I've gone through them all in order, a necessary journey to understand the main character, and his relationships with his superiors & colleagues.
However .....Last night's episode was 'Fleshmarket Close', the latest story and one I'm nearing the end of reading. The story on the TV was so far removed from the book as to lead to question; why call it Fleshmarket Close at all ? The title of the novel comes from the discovery of a pair of skeletons in a pub cellar in Fleshmarket Close, something not included in the TV story at all.
I'm not against trimming the story down to fit in with TV schedules, but if the story is so far removed from the original, and the author was fully involved in the storyline, why not create a completely new tale ?
At least Ken Stott is a better Rebus than John Hannah. But let's be honest, Penelope Keith would have been a better Rebus than John Hannah!
posted by Lucky Col at
1:31 PM
1 Comments:
Maybe they're doing these not-based-on-the-novel dramatisations to not upset people getting the plot spoilt for them? By all accounts the last Rebus with the wonderful KS was also far removed from the book - maybe if they just gave them different titles or tried to deny their basis on any book???
Fab blog by the way, as a Nottingham gal...
By
Lisa Rullsenberg, at 1:55 PM
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