‘Luther’ to Return on BBC America

Cop drama Luther will return to BBC America in a four-part limited series, written and created by Neil Cross and starring Idris Elba as the self-destructive but whip-smart detective. Production will start early next year.

Four seasons of Luther have previously aired.  

Luther is compulsive, unnerving television,” said Sarah Barnett, president of BBC America. “Neil Cross, Idris Elba and the team are geniuses and we all wait with bated breath to see what happens next in this blindingly brilliant show."

Luther is produced byBBC Studios and co-produced with BBC America.

“Now what? It’s a question Idris and I get asked a lot,” said Cross. “What happened to John Luther after we last saw him striding unbowed through the streets of his city, his blood red London? It can’t be over, can it? There’s so much we don’t know. So much unfinished business.”

He continued, “In the end, we picked up the phone to some old friends and asked if they’d like to find out what happens next. It turns out, they would. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to find out what happens next.”

Executive producers are Elba and Cross, Marcus Wilson and Hilary Salmon for BBC Studios and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for the BBC.

“Neil, the BBC and I have been talking about a further season and I am thrilled that we have been able to bring it all together. I look forward to putting the coat back on,” said Elba.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.