Luther (TV series)

Luther
Luther's opening title screen
Genre	Psychological crime drama
Created by	Neil Cross
Starring	Idris Elba Ruth Wilson Steven Mackintosh Indira Varma Paul McGann Saskia Reeves Warren Brown Dermot Crowley
Opening theme	"Paradise Circus" by Massive Attack
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	10 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Katie Swinden
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC Drama Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One, BBC HD
Picture format	HDTV (1080i)
Original run	4 May 2010 (2010-05-04) – present
External links
Website

Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as the title character Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on BBC One in summer 2011. During the Edinburgh TV Festival, BBC One controller Danny Cohen announced there will be a third season.

Idris Elba won the Golden Globe award for best actor in a miniseries at the 2012 ceremony in recognition of his portrayal of the titular character.

Plot

John Luther is a Detective Chief Inspector working for the Serious Crime Unit in season one, and the new Serious and Serial Crime Unit in season two. A dedicated police officer, Luther is also a genius. He is obsessive, possessed, and sometimes dangerous in the violence of his fixations. But Luther has paid a heavy price for his dedication; he has never been able to prevent himself from being consumed by the darkness of the crimes with which he deals. For Luther, the job always comes first. His dedication is a curse and a blessing, both for him and those close to him.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Luther characters

• Idris Elba as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther
• Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan
• Indira Varma as Zoe Luther
• Warren Brown as Detective Sergeant Justin Ripley
• Steven Mackintosh as Detective Chief Inspector Ian Reed
• Saskia Reeves as Detective Superintendent Rose Teller
• Paul McGann as Mark North
• Dermot Crowley as Detective Chief Inspector/Detective Superintendent Martin Schenk
• Nikki Amuka-Bird as Detective Sergeant Erin Gray
• Kierston Wareing as Caroline Jones
• Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Jenny Jones
• Pam Ferris as Baba
• Alan Williams as Frank Hodge
• David Dawson as Toby Kent
• Michael Smiley as Benny 'Deadhead' Silver

Episodes

Main article: List of Luther episodes

Series	Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
		Series premiere	Series finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
1	6	4 May 2010	8 June 2010	23 November 2010	21 June 2010	Unknown
2	4	14 June 2011	5 July 2011	25 October 2011	11 July 2011	N/A

Production

Inspiration

Creator Neil Cross has said that Luther is influenced by both Sherlock Holmes and Columbo: the nature of Luther's intellect and its application to solving crimes is comparable to Holmes', whereas the show's use of the inverted detective format was inspired by Columbo.

Filming

The first series was filmed in and around London, England, and produced by BBC Drama Productions. Brian Kirk, Sam Miller and Stefan Schwartz each directed two episodes. Series creator Neil Cross wrote all six of the episodes. Leila Kirkpatrick was the line producer for the entire series and Katie Swinden was the producer for a number of episodes. Tim Fleming provided series cinematography for two episodes. Katie Weiland and Victoria Boydell were involved in the series' film editing, with Weiland editing two episodes. Andy Morgan was responsible for the entire series' casting, Paul Cross provided production design and Adam A. Makin was behind the series' art direction.^{[citation needed]}

Series 1 (2010)

The first series of Luther aired in Summer 2010 and received positive reviews from critics, getting an average of 5.9 million viewers per episode.

Series 2 (2011)

The BBC announced on 28 August 2010 it had recommissioned Luther for a second series for 2011 and filming started in late September/early October 2010. Originally planned to be broadcast as two two-hour long episodes, it is shown as four episodes. The first episode of series two was shown on BBC One on Tuesday 14 June.

Series 3 (TBA)

Idris Elba, when asked about whether a third series is likely, said, "We'll have to see what the appetite is like for it at the end of this series. If it's a good, healthy appetite then we'll figure out how we're going to do some more." BBC One controller announced in August 2011 that a third series had been commissioned. It is expected that the lead cast from the second series will return to make 4 episodes each an hour long and this will air in either late 2012 or early 2013.

Reception

The Guardian's Stuart Heritage was initially critical of the show, comparing it to the American series FlashForward in that both series arrived with a large amount of hype but delivered an anticlimactic end product. However, by the fifth episode, Heritage updated his views, calling it a "slightly sillier Silence of the Lambs" and Idris Elba's best work since The Wire.

Serena Davies in The Daily Telegraph called it "formulaic" and Tom Sutcliffe in The Independent thought "Luther is more a loose constellation of cop-show clichés than a fully formed character, but Elba brings the clichés to life".

Ratings steadily decreased over the course of the series. The fifth episode drew the lowest of the series thus far. However, fellow BBC programmes Holby City and EastEnders also suffered on the night as they were up against ITV's Britain's Got Talent and Coronation Street.

Critical praise greeted Luther's second-series broadcast in the United States. Reviews in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and on National Public Radio highlighted the brooding tone, Elba's performance, and strong writing. In the third quarter of 2011, the top-rated shows on BBC America were Doctor Who, Top Gear, and Luther, which together gained the network its highest quarterly ratings ever.

International broadcast

The first series of the show premiered in Australia on ABC1 on 15 October 2010 and in the United States on BBC America two days later. It is also broadcast in Germany (since February 2012) where it is dubbed and cut, and in Poland on Ale Kino Plus channel. The second series debuted in the United States on BBC America on 29 September 2011 and Australia on ABC1 on 24 February 2012. The first series are broadcast in Turkey since January 2012.

Accolades

• Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film: Idris Elba
• Nominated: NAACP Image Award Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
• Won: NAACP Image Award Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special: Idris Elba
• Won: Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie: Idris Elba

See also

• Luther: The Calling, a novel written by Neil Cross which is a prequel to the first series

External links

• Luther Wiki
• Luther at BBC Programmes
• Luther at the Internet Movie Database
• Luther at TV.com