Case Study 14
Axe 6
Objet d'étude 3
Two cities, one detective
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Pitch a Rebus spin-off set in Glasgow.
BBC Scotland is considering a Rebus spin-off set in Glasgow. As a location consultant, you must convince the producers that the city's history and atmosphere could inspire compelling new storylines. Present your proposal, showing what makes Glasgow unique, how it compares to Edinburgh, and how its heritage and gritty character could suit the tone of the series.
BBC Scotland is considering a Rebus spin-off set in Glasgow. As a location consultant, you must convince the producers that the city's history and atmosphere could inspire compelling new storylines. Present your proposal, showing what makes Glasgow unique, how it compares to Edinburgh, and how its heritage and gritty character could suit the tone of the series.
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1
Tartan noir in Edinburgh
angt-cs14-step1.mp3
Ian Rankin's literary detective John Rebus returns to the screen as a young officer disenchanted by the police and his role in it. [...]
Rankin argues that dualism is mirrored in the city itself. “Edinburgh structurally has that Jekyll & Hyde thing going on. All cities to an extent are Jekyll & Hyde cities. You find a darker world just beneath the glittering surface”.
“But Edinburgh has it physically. The Old Town, which was the original city, got very quickly overcrowded and unsanitary, so the wealthy decided to build the New Town to the north of what became Princes Street. They built it for themselves so they would be far away from the squalor of the Old Town.”
The city he lives in, then, presented Rankin with all the inspiration he needed for Rebus. “These two cities were staring me in the face. [...]”
That means Rebus – both in literature and on screen – is the ideal figure to span these very contrasting worlds. “I thought, ‘If I've got a cop, he is the perfect fictional character to allow you to move between the different sides of a city.’ You can go from the very bottom to the very top.” [...]
“One of the great strengths of the crime story, per se, is that sense of place,” says Rankin. “So if I want to know about any city or culture in the world, I will immediately go for the crime fiction set there. [...]”
So Edinburgh plays as big a part in Rebus as any human being. “Wherever you go in Edinburgh,” (screenwriter Gregory Burke) adds, “you get these iconic locations. It is really cinematic and really dramatic. It's beautiful and Gothic. You have the wonderful light on the Firth of Forth and the amazing skies.
“But it is also this divided city. The rationality of the New Town during the Enlightenment is right next to the medieval Old Town and all that debauchery and vice that went on there.”
Jekyll & Hyde to its very core.
Rankin argues that dualism is mirrored in the city itself. “Edinburgh structurally has that Jekyll & Hyde thing going on. All cities to an extent are Jekyll & Hyde cities. You find a darker world just beneath the glittering surface”.
“But Edinburgh has it physically. The Old Town, which was the original city, got very quickly overcrowded and unsanitary, so the wealthy decided to build the New Town to the north of what became Princes Street. They built it for themselves so they would be far away from the squalor of the Old Town.”
The city he lives in, then, presented Rankin with all the inspiration he needed for Rebus. “These two cities were staring me in the face. [...]”
That means Rebus – both in literature and on screen – is the ideal figure to span these very contrasting worlds. “I thought, ‘If I've got a cop, he is the perfect fictional character to allow you to move between the different sides of a city.’ You can go from the very bottom to the very top.” [...]
“One of the great strengths of the crime story, per se, is that sense of place,” says Rankin. “So if I want to know about any city or culture in the world, I will immediately go for the crime fiction set there. [...]”
So Edinburgh plays as big a part in Rebus as any human being. “Wherever you go in Edinburgh,” (screenwriter Gregory Burke) adds, “you get these iconic locations. It is really cinematic and really dramatic. It's beautiful and Gothic. You have the wonderful light on the Firth of Forth and the amazing skies.
“But it is also this divided city. The rationality of the New Town during the Enlightenment is right next to the medieval Old Town and all that debauchery and vice that went on there.”
Jekyll & Hyde to its very core.
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Poster of Rebus, 2024-.
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Tartan Noir is a type of crime fiction set in Scotland, known for its dark, gritty stories. Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series is one of the most famous in this genre, and includes over twenty novels written from 1987 to 2022.
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Step 1
1
Pick out information about Rebus (genre, character, storyline, origin).
2
What does Ian Rankin mean when he says Edinburgh is a “Jekyll & Hyde city”?
3
Find reasons why Edinburgh is an ideal setting for a crime series like Rebus.
Action!
List the main elements needed for a perfect Rebus city. Explain what kind of atmosphere and contrasts the setting needs for the series to work.
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2
The many faces of Glasgow
angt-cs14-step2.mp3
“Glasgow city centre seems to be dying,” says Anne Gibb, perched on a stone bollard on Sauchiehall Street, watching the Christmas shoppers hustle by. [...]
“At one time you could have spent hours here,” says Gibb, casting a look around to the dark and vacant premises of once-thriving stores such as BHS and Marks & Spencer. “But now half the shops are empty and there's nothing to replace them.” [...]
With the city celebrating its 850th anniversary in 2025 and hosting the – albeit slimmed down – Commonwealth Games the year after, there's a galvanising awareness that global media will again be focused on the city.
“We've seen too many world-class buildings left to rot and then be demolished in Glasgow,” Olcayto says. “The art school should be at the centre of a regeneration plan for the city centre, its rebuild serving as an inspiration for a new retrofit culture in the city that would lead the world in the reuse of existing buildings.”
Many such buildings make up the visibly crumbling Victorian heritage of the former UK City of Architecture and Design. [...]
“This stretches much further back than the pandemic or austerity,” says Niall Murphy, the director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
“It's the legacy of de-industrialisation and depopulation in the 1960s and 70s. [...] We have these grand buildings, built to last, that don't have a purpose any more.”
Ruari Kelly, Glasgow city council's convener for housing and built heritage, says the city centre is still adapting to “a new reality” post-pandemic. Kelly heads the Built Heritage Commission, established last year with the express purpose of managing and restoring the city's vacant and derelict properties. [...]
Kelly welcomes Glasgow's 850th anniversary as a means to “focus minds”. He says: “For me, 2025 has to be a year of urgency.
I will be pushing council officers, owners and politicians to move as quickly as we can, because lots of these buildings don't have time to wait.”
“At one time you could have spent hours here,” says Gibb, casting a look around to the dark and vacant premises of once-thriving stores such as BHS and Marks & Spencer. “But now half the shops are empty and there's nothing to replace them.” [...]
With the city celebrating its 850th anniversary in 2025 and hosting the – albeit slimmed down – Commonwealth Games the year after, there's a galvanising awareness that global media will again be focused on the city.
“We've seen too many world-class buildings left to rot and then be demolished in Glasgow,” Olcayto says. “The art school should be at the centre of a regeneration plan for the city centre, its rebuild serving as an inspiration for a new retrofit culture in the city that would lead the world in the reuse of existing buildings.”
Many such buildings make up the visibly crumbling Victorian heritage of the former UK City of Architecture and Design. [...]
“This stretches much further back than the pandemic or austerity,” says Niall Murphy, the director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
“It's the legacy of de-industrialisation and depopulation in the 1960s and 70s. [...] We have these grand buildings, built to last, that don't have a purpose any more.”
Ruari Kelly, Glasgow city council's convener for housing and built heritage, says the city centre is still adapting to “a new reality” post-pandemic. Kelly heads the Built Heritage Commission, established last year with the express purpose of managing and restoring the city's vacant and derelict properties. [...]
Kelly welcomes Glasgow's 850th anniversary as a means to “focus minds”. He says: “For me, 2025 has to be a year of urgency.
I will be pushing council officers, owners and politicians to move as quickly as we can, because lots of these buildings don't have time to wait.”
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Vidéo associée
From 1:13 to 3:42Ressource affichée de l'autre côté.
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Step 2
1
Watch the video. Note down details about Glasgow's industrial history.
2
What contrasts existed in the city at the time?
3
Read the text. Find examples of deterioration in the city center today. How does this affect Glasgow's image?
4
What efforts are being made to revive the city centre? Identify the events that could support a renewal.
Action!
Make your case: Identify what makes Glasgow a compelling choice as the setting of the Rebus spin-off.
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Ready...
- Gather your notes on Edinburgh and Glasgow. Review the elements that make a compelling setting for a detective story in the universe of Ian Rankin.
Steady...
- Decide which aspects of Glasgow you want to highlight in your proposal. Outline your ideas and select visuals to support your arguments.
Go!
- Present your proposal as if you were on set with the producers of BBC Scotland. Make the case for Glasgow as the new Rebus setting!
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