USA TODAY International Edition
Idris Elba’s ‘ Luther’: A bit of a Batman
This beloved British homicide detective is no Miss Marple
He wears a heavy tweed coat instead of a cape and a steely, brooding façade instead of a dark cowl, but for Luther star Idris Elba, his British copper might as well be London’s own Batman.
“In concept, we straddle between detective and superhero. Although there aren’t any magic tricks or capes or anything like that, we put our central character through improbable — and probable — scenarios that ask the audience to suspend their belief,” says Elba, the British actor who returns as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther for a third installment running tonight through Friday ( 10 ET/ PT nightly, except at 9 ET/ PT Wednesday) on BBC America.
Over the course of a trio of seasons since 2010, Luther has dealt with masked serial killers, pedophiles, twin killers, snipers and the psychopathically endearing murderer Alice Morgan ( Ruth Wilson), who has gone from Luther’s enemy to confidante.
That stuff is almost easiest for the grumpy lawman to deal with than other aspects of his life, such as coping with the death of his ex- wife and brandishing his own sense of justice that, while efficient, puts him at odds with most every other cop in town.
“He’s a spiritually wounded man, and one of the great malicious pleasures of writing for the character and this particular actor is, what kind of hell can I put him through next?” says creator/ writer Neil Cross.
Cross says this installment may be the last time we’ll see Luther on a small screen — he and Elba want to take him to the big screen next to explore a different period of his life.
Elba says the escapist elements of Luther set it aside from other cop dramas. It has been so well received that the BBC gave Cross the OK to lean in even more to its “horror show” aspects, the creator says.
It also has become more of a stylized, slightly “comic book” series, Wilson says. “Even though it’s brutal and scary, there’s a lightness to it. It’s more quirky and bold.”
“In concept, we straddle between detective and superhero.”
Idris Elba
Despite grim situations, Luther is in a decent place with his mind- set, even smiling, especially when he meets a potential love interest in Mary Day ( Sienna Guillory).
As a show producer, Elba wanted Luther to reflect where the actor was in his own life, so he has a fresh haircut, is a little slimmer and exudes the feeling that he has gone through something and come out the other side. Turmoil is never far away from Luther, however, and that’s a staple in Elba’s wheelhouse of characters. Many, like Stringer Bell in The Wire and his upcoming turn as the South Africa leader in the movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, carry a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.
In Luther’s case, it’s symbolized in his ubiquitous heavy coat.
“I gravitate to these roles because they examine a very complex line of emotion and believability,” Elba says. “The average person would die with that much turmoil in their lives, but they’re quite interesting to play at the moment for me.”
Cross says love is the ultimate kryptonite for his London superman — “It’s kind of sad because if anything destroys him, it will be love,” he says — but Elba disagrees, saying his curiosity and passion for getting to the truth are his greatest weaknesses.
“He wants to touch the sun so much,” the actor says, “but he’s not worried about being burned on the way up.”
The most important thing for Cross is that Luther’s never scared.
“He is unequivocally the hero,” he says. “If you’re going to have a serial killer crawl out from under your bed or hide in your attic, you want John Luther to turn up.
“His job is to be indefatigable. The day we see Luther scared of a bad guy is a bad day indeed.”