Luther’s at its edge- ofyour-seat best

I’ve rather missed all of this.’’ These words also sum up how many viewers will feel about the return of Idris Elba as troubled British detective John Luther this week. And thankfully, after 2015’s slightly disappointing two-parter, Wellington-based writer Neil Cross has penned a fabulous fourepisode Luther story (debuting tomorrow, 9.30pm, UKTV) that almost makes the long wait worthwhile.

This time our hero and his new partner DS Catherine Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) are up against a gruesome serial killer. Not only has he found a way to avoid detection by CCTV, but he’s also getting more brazen. Luther is also distracted by one of his old nemeses George Cornelius, who is convinced the cop is behind the disappearance of his son.

During five series and 16 episodes, Cross and company have carved out a well-deserved reputation for delivering edge-of-your seat drama, compelling characters and the odd shocking twist. This latest adventure is no exception. It doesn’t skimp on action and ramps up the tension to quickly blindside viewers.

Another new limited-run British show well worth checking out is A Very English Scandal (next screening Tuesday, 7.30pm, SoHo).

Featuring terrific performances by Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw, it’s a three-part dramatisation of the furore that surrounded Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe in the mid-1970s.

Grant is outstanding as a man desperately trying to sweep a potentially career-ending love affair from a decade earlier under the carpet.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s first ‘‘hard-to-resistbinge-watching-in-a-single-session’’ show for 2019 has arrived.

Consisting of just eight half-hour episodes, black comedy Russian Doll has already drawn comparisons to Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run and The Edge of Tomorrow with its sci-fi infused premise.

Nadia Vulvokov (a brilliantly acerbic Natasha Lyonne) is a software engineer who is trapped in a time loop on her 36th birthday. No matter how hard she tries, Nadia just can’t stop finding new ways to die and be instantaneously sent back to the beginning of the evening.

Hilarious, disturbing and infuriatingly intriguing in equal measures.