John Rebus and the frequent popular music references and thoughts that Ian Rankin weaves into the stories. However, Rebus' reliance on alcohol is evident and he is often seen drinking in the Oxford Bar. Also, in the television series Rebus is portrayed as being a supporter of Hibernian. This is not found in Ian Rankin's books, he having stated outside the books that Rebus is a Raith Rovers supporter.Rebus's Fife accent is softened as well; in the novel "Tooth and Nail", London Metropolitan Police colleagues find it difficult to understand his speech. Alexander Morton played Rebus in a 1999 BBC Radio 4
John Rebus therefore, be 70 in 2017; but, in Rankin's mind, Rebus is still in his mid-60s. Plans were afoot in the late 1980s and early '90s to bring Rebus to television in an adaptation of "Knots and Crosses" with Leslie Grantham in the lead but this came to nothing. Ian Rankin believes that it was likely they would have made Rebus English or relocated the entire story to London. Rankin has revealed the BBC were also keen to cast Robbie Coltrane as Rebus in a mooted adaptation of the series in the 1990s. Rankin "smiled a bit", imagining flashbacks to Rebus's