One of the hardest things to do in the arts is to take something from one medium to another. From book to film, theatre, or television is the most common transfer but still the one most fraught with difficulties. The adaptations and changes that scriptwriters and directors are forced into by time and other constraints are always going to be stumbling blocks no matter what the circumstances.

Instead of being able to describe what you want the audience to see and tell them what you want them to know, you have to rely on what you can create visually with the camera and the skill of the actors. No matter how many times you shoot a scene, and how many different ways an actor reads the same line, they could still very well not get it right and you're left without getting the same feel as the original narrative.

Sometimes, as in the case of Peter Jackson and his version of The Lord Of The Rings everything comes together to create a stunning adaptation of the original for the screen. In other instances, the first two Harry Potter movies for instance, the films may have stayed with the plot, but seemed to lose some of the essence and magic of Harry's world. Of course I'm sure others would disagree with both of my assessments and have their own ideas on how the movies should have been made.

But whenever a director and crew are dealing with a character or story that has a huge following they will be faced with massive amounts of back seat directing. What's probably even worse is if someone has already taken a stab at producing the stories and had some success. That's exactly what faced those involved with producing the most recent series based on the character created by Ian Rankin, Detective Inspector (D.I.) John Rebus.

Now nineteen books into a series that started in 1985 when Ian Rankin was still a student, the character of D.I. John Rebus has become one of the most popular figures in modern crime fiction. The books themselves are a wonderful mixture of gritty realism and human interest as the audience has been introduced to John Rebus, the work he does, and the mess he has made of his personal life.