Luther’s so hard to beat
SO THE festivities are all but over, the days are still bitter, the nights still long, the winter seemingly interminable. Frankly, we could do with some cheering up. Maybe find ourselves a great new TV series to snuggle up with on the sofa and enjoy.
Ah, yes, here we go: it’s the return of LUTHER (BBC1, 9pm), starring Idris Elba (right), in a four-part thing playing nightly until Friday.
Perfect. Who doesn’t love Luther? Gritty, intense, edge-of-your-seat stuff. Get the popcorn in.
Oh, but hang on, I’ve just taken a look at this opening episode and, well, boy, talk about gory and violent. Far more so than usual, I’m sure, or maybe I’m just feeling extra-delicate.
Either way, I feel I should at least warn you. The poor chap himself takes a monumental beating within about the first five minutes, courtesy of some rather cross gentleman wearing balaclavas and wielding baseball bats. Maybe they’re cross because their balaclavas are itchy.
Whatever the reason, they don’t half give Luther a pasting. I’m amazed that’s not the end of the series right there. Instead, it merely raises the curtain on a harrowing hour of TV. A serial killer with a particular fixation for impaling people – via an assortment of means – is carrying out random, unprovoked, stomach-churning attacks across London.
I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say I shan’t be catching a night bus anytime soon.
Oh, and Hermione Norris is in it. Don’t get me wrong, Hermione is great, but she doesn’t tend to plump for the jolliest of roles, does she? Even in Cold Feet her character is the most full-on intense.
Other than maybe Maxine Peake, whom I also adore, I can’t think of any actor whose arrival on screen is more likely to have me thinking: “Ooh, right, here we go, this one’s going to be a challenge…” Luther also has a new partner, by the way. She’s good. She’s called DS Catherine Halliday and she’s played by Wunmi Mosaku. DS Halliday seems a bit naive at first, a bit put off by all the gore, for which we can hardly blame her, but by the end I’ve a hunch her contribution will be pivotal.
On a happier note, unless you have a serious problem with Jeremy Clarkson,
WHO WANTS TO
BE A MILLIONAIRE? (ITV, 9pm) is also back for a nightly run, in this case from tonight until Sunday.
I must admit I was one of those people slightly baffled by Clarkson’s appointment as Chris Tarrant’s successor, but his handling of last year’s 20th anniversary shows soon convinced me I was an idiot and that he was an inspired choice.
Also inspired was the decision to give each contestant an extra lifeline, Ask The Host, putting the presenter himself on the spot – particularly as, for one participant, taking his advice proved fantastically disastrous. Finally, don’t forget we’re back in the tent this evening for THE GREAT NEW YEAR’S BAKE OFF (C4, 7.40pm). Returning bakers this time include Candice Brown, who won the proper show in 2016.