Irvine Welsh reveals why final season of hit drama Crime may fall victim to TV downturn

Irvine Welsh has adapted two of his Ray Lennox books for TV series Crime.

Irvine Welsh has revealed that a final series of his hit drama series Crime may fall victim to a downturn in the TV industry.

The best-selling writer, who has adapted his Crime books for the screen, admitted he was in the dark over whether a third series would be made, despite recently releasing a final part of a Ray Lennox “trilogy.”

Welsh revealed that a planned third series had been held up due to financial problems at ITV, which has been hit by a downturn in advertising.

He also said it had become much more difficult to get TV adaptations made because of the need to bring different producers on board to finance them.

Dougray Scott won a BAFTA Scotland best actor award for his portrayal of troubled detective Ray Lennox in Crime. | Supplied

Scottish screen star Dougray Scott won a Scottish BAFTA and an International Emmy for his portrayal of Lennox in Crime, which also starred Joanna Vanderham, Ken Stott, Laura Fraser and John Simm.

Welsh and Scott spent years trying to pursue a TV adaptation of Crime, the author’s 2008 novel about a troubled Edinburgh detective haunted by memories of his past, however it did not go into production until after the Covid pandemic had brought the film and TV industries to a halt.

Author Irvine Welsh, pictured at Leith Theatre. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Welsh said: “We’ll hopefully get the chance to do this book when they give us the money.

"When we did the first two shows, people were crying out for content because of lockdown.

“I wouldn’t say money was no object, but they were spending a bit of cash. No it’s like ‘ooooh.’

"The first two series did really well. Dougray won an International Emmy Award, the numbers have been really good and it has sold really well all over the world.

“I just think if we don’t do them on the same budget level as the other two we would be slightly cheating the audience a bit. It would be a bit sloppy.

"I now know how much it costs to make an independent film or a six-part series that is going to look half-decent.

"You don't want to build a franchise and then start going cheap on people."

Dougray Scott plays detective Ray Lennox in the ITV crime drama Crime. Picture: Buccaneer Media and Off Grid Film and TV

The final series of Crime had been expected to be based on Resolution, which was published last month, and sees Lennox making a fresh start in his life in Brighton before he is forced to confront dark memories from his childhood.

Welsh said: "Hopefully we’ll be able to do it at the same level, or an even better level cost-wise.

“We had a meeting with ITV. They said they were expecting to lose eight per cent of their advertising revenue in one quarter. They actually lost 28 per cent.

"It was quite devastating for them and they had to cancel a lot of programmes. That’s kind of been mirrored right across the industry.

"Now anything that is made is made from these complicated packages of different money, usually with American money, it’s all co-productions, which means it is a bit unwieldy and takes a bit of time to unravel."

Filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the first series was broadcast in November 2021, while the second story was published shortly after the publication of The Long Knives, a new Lennox novel it was based on.

Welsh, who has adapted his Lennox novels for the screen with regular collaborator Dean Cavanagh, said: "The characters in the TV show are much richer than in the books. The other characters tend to be in support of Lennox's story in the books. You can't have really good actors just opening and slamming car doors. 

"I wanted every character in the show to have some kind of arc and presence, and be big enough to be almost spin-off characters."

However Welsh said he was not interested in the character of Lennox becoming a long-running franchise and did not intend to write any more Lennox books.

The author said: “I don’t want to create a kind of Oor Wullie-type detective that is still going to be around 30 years from now and you have to keep coming up with something interesting for that one character.

"I'm a man of principle, but if they were offering serious bucks it might be an opportunity to do something."