“This stretched me in all kinds of ways, because this isn’t normally the way I operate,” says author Ian Rankin of his latest murder-mystery project, one which the whole country will get a chance to try and solve later this week.
“It was a challenge, but a really entertaining one, and it kept me sane in the first few months of the year when we were still in lockdown.”
The Fife-raised author of the Inspector Rebus series of crime novels is talking about Murder Island, a compelling new series which begins on Channel 4 on Tuesday October 5.
In it, a team of amateur detectives drawn from the public – with help from real-life crime-solving experts Simon Harding, Parm Sandhu and Graham ‘Maca’ McMillan – will attempt to find the answer to a bespoke mystery scripted by Rankin.
Set on the remote and fictional Scottish island of Hirsa, whose stand-in for the show is the very real Gigha, the show promises to combine elements of reality telly, crime fiction and a procedural documentary which illustrates just how detectives go about investigating and solving cases. Created by STV Studios for Channel 4, it’s on for six episodes.
“When it comes to writing a whodunit I usually call the shots, taking the reader only to the places I want them to visit and showing them only the characters I want them to see,” explained Rankin when the show was launched.
“Murder Island is different. The detectives can follow any strand, uncovering clues as they go and asking the suspects any questions they like. Will I manage to stay one step ahead of them? I think I’ve constructed my twistiest story yet, so let’s see.”
He tells us more about his choice of location. “Hirsa is a fictional island with a small community. You’ve got incomers and locals, so there are tensions and it’s hard to keep secrets.
“I drew on my own experience of trying to blend into a community, because I’ve had a home in Cromarty for over ten years, but I still don’t quite feel like a local. I also looked at the pressures of land reform and eco-tourism. It was a lot of fun.”
Concept
Craig Hunter, Creative Director of Factual at STV Studios and Executive Producer of Murder Island, explains more about the thinking behind the concept.
“When we watch crime dramas at home, my wife and I think we can do a better job than the TV detectives,’ he says.
“I’m certainly someone who’s yelled at the telly over the years, so when I started thinking about Murder Island, I really wanted to bring the idea of ‘play along’ to life.
“I wanted to place members of the public – wannabe Morses, Taggarts or Veras – right at the heart of a murder investigation, but crucially I wanted to it to be authentic and build on real police investigative techniques. I’m pleased to say that our ‘detectives’ mean business, they really go for it, which is exactly what I’d hoped for.”
Hunter explains that a huge amount of research was done to get the right police experts on board, and he feels they definitely didn’t disappoint.
“Parm, Simon and Maca have investigated hundreds of murders between them and seeing them at work was such a privilege,” he says.
“They bring a huge amount of credibility to the series.
“They didn’t know who the murderer was either when they arrived on the island, they had to examine the evidence just like our detectives.
Watching their brains work in such an analytical, meticulous and methodical way was a privilege. Looking at the tactics they employ, following years of experience of high-profile murder cases, was incredible, and they don’t hold back or pull any punches when working with our detectives. They’re hard task masters, and even harder to please.”
Privilege
“Working with Ian Rankin was a privilege,” continues Hunter.
“It was fascinating to see the way he created the world, the characters and how all the suspect interact. He’s world class, and he wrote a murder mystery that’s full of twists and turns, clues and red herrings for our amateur detectives to get stuck into. He brings a real authenticity and creative flair, and I couldn’t be prouder to have him as the writer of Murder Island.”
*Murder Island begins on Channel 4 on Tuesday 5th October.