The Herald - The Herald Magazine
TOP OF THE COPS
As the new series of Shetland with Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez begins, we ask which Scottish actor best trod the thin blue line.
KEN STOTT
The perfect incarnation of Ian Rankin’s flawed, world-weary and pessimistic Inspector Rebus.
JOHN HANNAH
Sorry, Mr H, but Stott’s Rebus wins hands down. Thanks for playing. But we did enjoy you as DS Frank Drinkall in the short-lived series Out of the Blue.
MARK MCMANUS
The man who put the Taggart in, well, Taggart. Few telly cops can match the gravitas of the late Mark McManus. Disclosure: we do have a soft spot for Alex Norton as DCI Matt Burke too.
KAREN BARTKE
Ah, Officer Karen from Scot Squad. How do we love thee? Let me count the ways. Well, the time Bobby arrived with a chocolate-stained mattress was pretty special.
MARTIN COMPSTON He may have swapped his dulcet Greenock tones for an estuary English twang, but you can’t fault a man who rocks a waistcoat like Martin Compston does as DS Steve Arnott in Line of Duty.
ROBERT CARLYLE Our No1 choice: who would have guessed sweet, laidback Highland bobby Hamish Macbeth would go on to cause carnage in Trainspotting as bad yin Begbie, become a Bond villain and then Adolf Hitler?