TV Drama review - Luther

Luther is a British crime drama starring Idris Elba as DCI John Luther, a brilliant yet damaged cop who is torn between his separated wife whom he still feels attached to and solving serial killings. The creator and writer of the series is Neil Cross and is produced and broadcast by the BBC. Neil Cross has explained that Luther's character is influenced by both Sherlock Holmes and Columbo. There are currently 14 episodes split into 3 series with two more episodes lined up in December for series 4.

I have seen a number of crime dramas before such as American series like NCIS and The Wire as well as British series like New Tricks and Inspector George Gently but I was willing to give Luther a try having never seen the show previously. I decided to watch episode 1 from the first season hoping that it have a hold on me and persuade me to watch the rest of the series, which it has. Though I do enjoy watching crime dramas, I do feel that they are very repetitive in style, for example NCIS is just a new criminal and a new case every episode with a quick snippet of backstory eventually leading to the season finale which ties up all the loose ends in the series creating one amazing episode and many ok ones. Luther on the other hand is different. There is a really immersive storyline throughout the episode that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what's going to happen next.

The storyline
"After a 7 month suspension, DCI John Luther returns to duty. With the assistance of DS Justin Ripley, he investigates a home invasion that resulted in the murders of Douglas and Laura Morgan who were found by their daughter Alice. After questioning her, Luther is convinced that she killed her parents and as much as tells her so. He has no physical evidence however and the police have not been able to find the gun. Alice is highly intelligent and is quite prepared to play psychological games with him. Luther meanwhile tries to repair his relationship with his wife Zoe from who he has been separated. She has met someone and has begun a new relationship news that doesn't go down very well." Written by garykmcd - IMDB

The dialogue is very well written and Luther's body language tells the story very well, the inclusion of Ruth Wilson as the genius, narcissist, sociopath Alice Morgan as the subject that John Luther attempts to catch is very well done. Ruth Wilsons character is the perfect match for John Luther, she is a seemingly uncatchable killer that Luther goes to great lengths to catch and in this episode, he does not catch her. This is a sense of originality that the series does not repeat with the same idea every episode and there will always be a twist to keep the audience engaged. Will Alice Morgan ever be proven guilty of her crimes?

This episode is very influential to my work as the show introduces the characters very well capturing every necessary detail and allows the viewer to really get into and understand what the characters are about. The meeting between the two characters DCI John Luther and Alice Morgan is very well done and is certainly something I would love to be able to replicate in the future.

Here is an inside look at the first episode of Luther