Irvine Welsh adapting novel Crime for TV

Feature by The Skinny | 17 Oct 2016

Irvine Welsh is set to adapt his 2009 novel Crime into a TV drama, with Scottish actor Dougray Scott lined up to star

Irvine Welsh is currently adapting Crime, his sequel to 1998 novel Filth, for the small screen. It’s the first time the controversial Scottish novelist has adapted one of his works for television – read our interview with Welsh on the big-screen adaptation of Filth, starring James McAvoy. 

Crime was much-praised back in 2009 when it hit the shelves, with reviewers claiming it Welsh’s best since Trainspotting. The story follows Detective Inspector Ray Lennox, who has fled from Edinburgh to Miami following a breakdown and finds himself embroiled in a case involving a ring of paedophiles. It’s reported that the TV series will take place in modern day Miami, and will be intercut with flashbacks to Lennox’s past in Edinburgh.

“The story is one of a classic journey from darkness into light, and despite the troubling subject matter, I think an uplifting one,” said Welsh yesterday in Cannes while attending entertainment market Mipcom, where the series was launched.

Scottish actor Dougray Scott – best known for his bad guy turn in Mission Impossible II – is in place to play Lennox. Tony Wood, head of Buccaneer Media, will produce while Welsh is joined on screenwriting duties by Dean Cavanagh. “[Irvine Welsh] is a true literary buccaneer whose work defines our generation,” said Wood. “It’s thrilling to be bringing talent of this calibre to television drama.”

The other Welsh property currently in the works is the sequel to Trainspotting, titled T2, which sees director Danny Boyle bring together the stars of the original film, including Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewen Bremner. T2 is due to be released in February 2017. Trainspotting antihero Francis Begbie is the star of Welsh's latest novel The Blade Artist, published earlier this year – read our interview with Welsh on reviving the cult character.

http://theskinny.co.uk/news