EXCLUSIVE: Robert Carlyle is to reprise his role as the notorious Francis Begbie in a TV version of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting sequel The Blade Artist.
More than 25 years on from his star turn in the Danny Boyle film, Carlyle will exec produce and feature as a reformed Begbie in the six-parter, which is being developed by Buccaneer Media. Marcella producer Buccaneer is currently in post-production on another Welsh adaptation, BBC/ITV-streamer BritBox’s Crime.
The Blade Artist novel was published in 2016 and is set in LA and Edinburgh 20 years after the events of Trainspotting, the 1993 book that was adapted into a cult film by Danny Boyle three years later.
Now known as Jim Francis, Begbie is a reformed character who believes he has found the perfect life. But a return to Scotland for the funeral of a murdered son he hardly knows confronts him with a past he can barely recall and he soon discovers you can take the boy out of Edinburgh, but you can’t take Edinburgh out of the boy.
Carlyle and Welsh are exec producing alongside Buccaneer Media CEO duo Tony Wood and Richard Tulk-Hart, and the project is not yet attached to a network or streamer.
Carlyle said the “prospect of working with Irvine and bringing Francis Begbie to life once more is an absolute gift.”
Welsh added: “Begbie is Begbie and Robert is the long-term friend and collaborator who inspirationally brought the character to life with his incendiary portrayal.
“To say I’m excited at us reuniting creatively on this project is obviously something of an understatement.”
London-based Buccaneer has several soon-to-be-announced projects in development with international partners.