Television series

Rebus

Name: Rebus
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2024
Cast: Richard Rankin, Brian Ferguson, Lucie Shorthouse, Amy Manson, Caroline Lee-Johnson

A gritty Scottish detective drama following John Rebus, a 40-year-old Edinburgh cop confronting his obsolescence: surpassed by corporate policing, estranged from his daughter, tangled in an affair he can't quit. As his world fractures, he questions whether the law still means anything, or whether older, darker rules now govern. Morally complex, atmospheric, for viewers who want their crime shows to sting.

TVMaze rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a morally frayed detective whose personal life is coming apart as fast as his caseload, and you enjoy Edinburgh crime stories that linger on character more than whodunit puzzles.

Skip it if you want a fast, twisty case-of-the-week with plenty of action; this is slow, talky and mostly about a man second-guessing himself at home and at work.

What it asks of you: Six episodes of about forty-six minutes make for a quick binge, yet it rewards patience, letting silences and tense family phone calls linger well before a scene turns.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Bodyguard2018

A taut British thriller about power, paranoia, and institutional corruption. Like Rebus, it finds moral ambiguity in police work and asks hard questions about loyalty and the cost of doing right in a broken system.

But The relentless pace and political intrigue can feel exhausting rather than gripping. Some viewers find the character choices frustrating rather than complex.

Line of Duty2012

Obsessive crime drama centred on police corruption and the men who investigate it. Shares Rebus's interest in the gap between the law as written and how it actually operates. Superbly acted and plotted.

But Later seasons stretch credibility and fan theories overtook the story itself. The serialised mystery format demands commitment and rewards only if the ending lands for you.

The Fall2013

Stella Gibson hunts a serial killer in Belfast while navigating institutional sexism and her own demons. Like Rebus, it's as much about the detective's interior collapse as the case. Stella Gillan is extraordinary.

But Bleak and deliberately uncomfortable. Some scenes involving violence against women exist to disturb, not entertain. Not a comfort watch.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Rebus

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Honourable Woman2014

Both are character studies disguised as thrillers, where the real drama is internal: watching a good person discover exactly how flexible their principles are.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a British-Israeli businesswoman drawn into international intrigue and moral compromise. Like Rebus, it's interested in how principled people justify crossing lines. Taut, unsettling, and genuinely surprising.

But A single miniseries with a deliberately ambiguous ending that divides viewers. Complex plotting means rewatching is almost necessary. Not designed to provide catharsis.

Broadchurch2013

A detective destroyed by a case—personally, professionally, morally. The investigation into a child's murder in a small English town pulls apart everyone it touches. The atmosphere is suffocating in the best way.

But Relentlessly dark and solved in the first season, after which the premise strains to sustain itself across two more. The US remake exists but is significantly inferior.

MINDHUNTER2017

FBI profilers in the 1970s grapple with bureaucratic resistance while pioneering criminal psychology. Slow-burn character work with the same moral questions: how close to darkness can you get before you lose yourself?

But Methodical to the point of slowness; if you need plot momentum, this will frustrate. Cancelled on a cliffhanger after two seasons—no resolution.

Mare of Easttown2021

Kate Winslet as a small-town Pennsylvania detective investigating a murder while her own life collapses. Precise, painful, beautifully acted. A masterclass in making a character's worn-down competence feel like tragedy.

But Emotionally heavy and somewhat predictable. The small-town crime genre has formula beats that show doesn't avoid, even when executing them superbly.

Sherlock2010

Modern Edinburgh-set detective drama with genuine invention. The first two seasons especially crackle with wit and invention. A different detective entirely, but operating in the same moral grey zones.

But Becomes increasingly self-impressed and narratively convoluted. The later seasons prioritise mystery-box spectacle over character, which alienates fans invested in Sherlock's psychology.

The Killing2011

A Danish detective procedural where the investigation matters less than the damage it inflicts on the investigator. Bleak, atmospheric, methodical. Shares Rebus's interest in the cost of caring about a case.

But Deliberately paced to mimic real investigation—which means long stretches of routine and false leads. Some find it meditative; others find it tedious.

Luther2010

Idris Elba as an obsessive detective unraveling personally as he hunts brilliant killers. Raw performances and psychological depth. A show about genius that doesn't pull its punches about what that genius costs.

But Veers toward melodrama and relies heavily on Elba's charisma to carry increasingly implausible plots. Later seasons lose the procedural grounding that grounded the early ones.

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare2024

Both examine how ordinary corruption—of the self, of relationships, of truth—happens gradually. Both ask: at what point does compromise become complicity?

A documentary about a woman catfished online for years by someone she knew in real life. Unfolds like a psychological thriller—gaslighting, manipulation, the erosion of reality. Intimate and terrifying.

But Non-fiction accounts of psychological abuse are harder to process than dramatised versions. Ends without neat resolution because real life doesn't provide one.

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare poster

In My Skin2002

Both track a person in freefall—losing grip on who they thought they were. Both refuse to explain or psychoanalyse the disintegration; they just show it happening, which is far more unsettling.

A haunting French character study of a woman compulsively self-harming, directed by Claire Denis. Unflinching, poetic, about a person falling apart in ways society can't quite see or name. Deeply felt.

But Self-harm depicted with unflinching detail. Deliberately unsexy and uncomfortable. The slowness is the point, which some will find punishing rather than meaningful.