Detective Chief Inspector John Luther (Idris Elba) is the sort of police officer that we’d all secretly like to see. He’s as brutal to criminals as they are in their crimes. He’s also extremely brilliant and able to think like serial killers, rapists and the like, so he can quickly figure out the person responsible for committing a heinous crime, he just doesn’t always have the evidence to back him up. That’s when Luther nimbly leaps over the line and causes trouble for himself and his colleagues. John Luther’s unswerving dedication to his job has caused him two problems, one leading into the next, that being a nervous breakdown that has fractured his marriage. As the series begins, we get a glimpse of the breakdown and then jump ahead to Luther’s return to the force. As the six episodes progress, things get grimmer for DCI Luther; a psychopath (Ruth Wilson) takes an unhealthy liking to him, his wife, Zoe (Indira Varma), gets a boyfriend, Mark (Paul McGann) and the ever darkening crimes his investigates in his own maverick style begin to put hi at odds with his boss (Saskia Reeves), his closest friend (Steven Mackintosh) and new partner (Warren Brown).
Neil Cross created the series and writes all six episodes. The story is such a freefall into a carefully designed chaos that there is no way any one else could have come in and written an episode. Cross obviously had a very well thought plan in mind for the show and it’s great to see that he uncompromisingly stuck to it. Every single character gets their lives irrevocably altered by the end of this first series and you’re almost out of breath by the time the last credits role on the finale’s cliffhanger. It’s great to see that the producers and the BBC had faith enough in Cross to allow him to tell his story his way and the end result is one hell of great series.
The six episodes are presented over two discs and look and sound great on DVD. The lone special feature, Luther – The World of a True Maverick, is very informative and I urge you to watch it, but only after you’ve viewed all the episodes. The entire cast and crew gets their say about their part in the show, but the bits with creator/writer Cross are the most insightful. Even if you caught this series on BBC America you will want to pick this up on DVD as it is worth repeated viewings, especially closer to series two next year. Click the cover image below to pick this up from Amazon. You’ll be supporting Pop Culture Zoo with your purchase.
