The Kiwi behind TV’s Luther
British-born screenwriter, and now Wellington resident, Neil Cross is the man behind hit show Luther. He talks to James Croot about its success.
Despite having him portray a sometimes violent character, Luther screenwriter Neil Cross believes Idris Elba’s global appeal is a result of his ‘‘essential kindness’’.
Comparing his 46-year-old star to acting icons like Jimmy Stewart or Steve McQueen, the Wellington-based scribe says no matter the role, Elba’s ‘‘essential qualities’’ shine through.
‘‘There’s a benevolence and kindness in Idris’ characters that people respond to in a most profound way. It’s such a lovely thing to see.’’
Cross says that he and Elba kind of have ‘‘joint custody’’ over the troubled detective John Luther, who first appeared on TV screens in 2010.
‘‘We both love him and want the best for him,’’ he adds, suggesting that’s why the pair keep returning to him, despite both their schedules becoming increasingly complicated.
At the time of 2013’s third season, they were adamant that would be the last and yet they’ve gone back to the well for two more stories, the latest of which hits New Zealand screens on Monday.
Laughing about their ‘‘just one more’’ mentality, Cross believes part of the motivation for assuming every season is going to be the last is it ‘‘acts as an incentive to throw everything you’ve got at it’’.
‘‘Then it’s gone and it’s done, but within weeks I’ll start to miss it and ideas start to pop into my head. I think in the same way that I have a dessert belly, I’ve got a compartmentalised Luther spot in my brain.’’
However, one promise that he and Elba have made to each other is that they’ll never repeat themselves.
Hence this latest season breaks with Luther tradition and has our dogged DCI tracking the perpetrator of a series of seemingly indiscriminate killings over an extended run of four episodes.
‘‘I think there’s a danger when a show has a familiar format that everybody – the cast, crew, writers and directors – can fall into habits. So I think it’s creatively a good exercise to look at the mechanics of the show, take it to pieces and, when considering reassembling it, think how you can make it new. One thing we hadn’t done before was a single story over four episodes, so we thought, ‘why not?’ ’’
Cross also believes that, despite appearances,
Luther ‘‘isn’t really a crime show’’.
‘‘It has much more in common with Doctor Who
or The X-Files than it does with Inspector Morse ,so we always know we have to have a new monster. I’m not usually interested in the psychology and motivation of the bad guys.
‘‘I’m interested in the motivation and psychology of the people who want to catch them. So, in some ways, Luther is a monster-of-the-week show. One of the aspects that I’m most proud of though is that it has never really been like anything else.
‘‘There are a lot of shows that borrow our clothes, that try to copy us in various ways tonally or structurally, but the only show we’ve ever tried to be like is Columbo [the long-running Peter Falkstarring series that first aired in 1968] – we borrowed the format and all sorts of stuff.’’
Admitting that he watches a great deal of TV (‘‘mostly because I’ve got no social life’’), Cross says he has been taken aback to the degree that streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Lightbox now monopolise his viewing. ‘‘I used to
order an embarrassing number of box-set DVDs and blu-rays and now I just don’t do that.’’
However, while the streaming revolution has changed his life as a punter, it hasn’t made one iota of difference to the way he makes television.
‘‘I only want to make TV that I want to watch so I just write stuff that I like and whatever might be happening in the market, however technology might be the changing, that’s entirely secondary to me professionally.’’
The British-born writer does concede though that technological advances have made it easier for him to keep his Wellington base.
‘‘When I first started, everyone thought I was mad – that I’d have to move to London or LA.
‘‘However now, technology, coupled with global tax incentives, mean that the number of productions based in places like LA is diminishing. Everybody is getting used to the fact that stuff happens much more disparately than it used to.
‘‘For a long, long time I thought my sojourn here was temporary – that when the kids reached a certain age and flew the nest – that Nadia, my wife, and I would wing our way back to London and live out our twilight years in the big smoke.
‘‘But now, I’ve come to realise that I’ve kind of naturalised here and I don’t want to leave – there’s no part of me now that doesn’t feel at home in Wellington.’’
With Luther’s season five now done and dusted, are there already plans in motion for his return? Rumours have persisted that the next outing could be on a large screen.
‘‘That’s something I cannot discuss. Idris and I are going through the same process we always do. We are always looking at ways to do things bigger and new and more exciting, so take from that what you will.’’
Luther debuts on Monday, 9.30pm, on UKTV.
‘‘There’s a benevolence and kindness in Idris’ characters that people respond to in a most profound way. It’s such a lovely thing to see.’’ Neil Cross