Rebus launches on Friday 17 May. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am, with episode one airing on BBC Scotland on Friday 17 May at 10pm and on BBC One on Saturday 18 May at 9:25pm.

Based on the best-selling books by Ian Rankin, Rebus reimagines the iconic character John Rebus (Richard Rankin) as a younger Detective Sergeant, drawn into a violent criminal conflict that turns personal.

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’ broke, ex-soldier brother Michael desperately crosses the line to provide for his family, and Rebus begins to wonder if the law still has meaning, or if everyone is reverting to an older set of rules? And if so, why shouldn’t Rebus do so too?

What was the appeal of working on Rebus?

I hadn’t read the books, but when I read Greg Burke’s script, it was just tremendous. I knew Greg’s work, and I was delighted to be working with a television writer who was rooted in the theatre because I spent 30 years in the theatre before I began my television career. So there was something about the writing that was familiar for that reason. I think that’s because of the grey areas that tend to be more easily explored in theatre than on television. Greg does that deftly. It doesn’t feel like homework at all. Then I started reading the books and found the same thing: the attention to detail in the characters that Sir Ian Rankin has, as well the joy he takes in it. There also seems to be a shared sense of humour between Greg and Ian.

So the script immediately struck a chord with you?

Yes. The critic Joyce McMillan once wrote about a play I was in, and it stuck with me because it was a lovely thing to say. She said I had a connection with the text, and I absolutely did. Something in the text just resonated with me and that’s what I felt when I read Greg’s great script. When I started reading the books, there was also real resonance. I lived in Edinburgh for a few years, and there was something very, very familiar about the city that they were both writing about. Also, they are both Fifers and I’m a Fifer. So all three of us had a similar relationship with Edinburgh. We were not from the place. We were detached from it, but still had a love for Edinburgh. All of that was resonating in me as I was reading the TV scripts and the books. I’m now on book number eight, and I’ve still not stopped!

You really have become a fan, then?

Completely. I love the character and I love the world that Ian has created. It’s really unusual that even once you’ve started filming, you carry on doing your research with the source material. But it’s not work. I’m enjoying the books enormously.

What do you particularly love about Rebus?

The world is complex. The characters are neither good nor bad. Ian and Greg are not trying to tell us that the world is ordered. They are not trying to reassure the audience that the world is a simple place. He’s treating us as grown-ups. We are able to make our own decisions about the characters we’re seeing. So your imagination gets to do an awful lot more work in these books and this television series.

Could you outline your character for us?

On the face of it, he’s a gangster, or a baddie, or Rebus’ nemesis. But I think above all what Cafferty is, is somebody who makes the world work the way he wants it to work. He has the force of personality and the wit and intelligence to succeed; in fact, there are very few times in his life where he hasn’t been able to do that. Throughout the course of this drama, we see moments where that is stretched and that’s when it becomes really interesting. That’s why his relationship with Rebus is so fascinating. Rebus can push him. He’s of a similar vein, and makes the world work for him, too. So they both recognise that way of being in the world. They also enjoy being in the company of this other person because they don’t encounter people who are able to match them in that way very often.

Can you expand on the relationship between Cafferty and Rebus?

They have juicy encounters straightaway. Without giving anything away, from the outset we see the complexity of their relationship and their love for one another and their hatred for one another. There’s a morality that they’re questioning throughout everything that they do. In many ways, I think Cafferty is clearer about his morality than Rebus is and is more comfortable with the choices he’s made.