Rebus returns: Ian and Richard Rankin join forces for TV reboot

“I could never have imagined playing Rebus,” he said.

“It’s incredible, amazing. I never, ever, entertained the idea of playing the character.

“But once I got my head around being able to play this role, I realised I am taking on a bit of a mantle in playing this character.”

Following in the footsteps of other actors in a role is always hard, but gaining the approval of the bestselling writer of the book series was another hurdle for the Glaswegian.

He said: “One of the things I was very aware of while we were shooting – and I think I asked the question a lot – was ‘has Ian seen the first couple of episodes?’.

“They were like ‘No, he wants to wait’. I thought I was going to have to wait ages to see what Ian thought of the character, about what I’ve done. I was very aware that I hadn’t had word from the big man yet.

And when it came it was very gracious and pleasant and very positive so I am very happy about that.”