Robert Carlyle has revealed a Trainspotting TV series focusing on his iconic character Begbie is now in the works. Carlyle told NME that his next project about the seedy side of Scotland is based on Irvine Welsh’s book, The Blade Artist.

“Irvine [Welsh] and myself have been chatting quite a lot recently with a couple of excellent producers in London about [continuing the Trainspotting story,]” he said. “As you know, there was another book called The Blade Artist which is just entirely about Begbie and his mad story. It’s still in its early moments, but it’s looking pretty good that this will happen eventually.

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The actor said he expects the book will be adapted as a six-part, limited series, but it does not have a network or streaming home yet. “It’s such a massive story — it’s all Los Angeles back and forth to Edinburgh — and it’s difficult to do all that in an hour and a half! Especially if you want to keep the basis of that book pure,” Carlyle explained.

“I think nowadays people like the event thing, too — they like ‘six hours of this… bang.

’ They can box-set it. They can binge it. So after a few chats, we thought that’s the way forward. So, that’s the plan. Sometime in the next year and a bit we’ll, hopefully, be talking again and we’ll be talking about the return of Begbie.”

The Blade Artist finds former heroin addict Begbie rehabilitated and living in California where he goes by the name Jim Francis until a tragedy forces him to return to Scotland and confront his past. Oscar-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle directed the 1996 film version of Welsh’s Trainspotting book, as well as the movie’s 2017 sequel, Trainspotting 2. In addition to Carlyle, the blockbusters starred Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremmer, Jonny Lee Miller and Kelly Macdonald. Welsh also wrote a follow up to his book Trainspotting, 2002’s Porno and a prequel 2012’s Skagboys.