More gripping than ever
anywhere but London. “Any community that opens its arms to a show either loves it or hates it,” he says. “In the case of The Wire [set in Baltimore], no one even went there let alone invited a TV show. They were very proud of it. The thing in London is that wherever we go, people seek you out. It’s generally good, whenever you turn up on any estate.
“But moving it? I don’t know. The reason London works is because of the shadows.”
WHILE THERE are four hours of Luther here, we may be set for more in future, as Elba confirms: “It’s no news that we’ve been looking to do a movie. Neil is beavering away and writing it. The thing about a film is scale. We just want those ingredients that will echo the films of the 1990s, such as Seven. We want to use that blueprint to create ours. There will be more murder. And more happiness! Essentially we just want to take it to a bigger audience.”
Physically, filming has taken its toll. “There’s a lot of running in it. When I filmed the scenes in the first episode, it was just after I’d had knee surgery. You can see me limping. I thought I would get away with it.”
Finally, will Elba be watching when Luther is broadcast? “If I’m honest, I try not to watch the show, it’s dark. Very dark. It’s not the sort of thing we’d like to watch because of my son [Winston, three]. He’d rather watch Shrek!”
Luther is on at 9pm on New Year’s Day, BBC One