Luther series 5: episode 1 review ★★★★★
Luther series 5 has finally seen the light! DCI John Luther (Idris Elba) has a new partner (Wunmi Mosaku) and a new case centred around a mask-wearing, bus-sneaking serial killer
Idris Elba in Luther series 5, BBC One
‘This. Will. Hurt.’ So say all the adverts plastered across billboards and social media platforms. The PR team must’ve been chuffed with that slogan, as it perfectly captures the spirit of Luther: a gritty detective show sprayed with bloody, brutal horror.
In the first episode of this new series writer/creator Neil Cross piques our interest with the promise of inducing greater harm. But, at the same time, Cross is a great tickler and knows – perhaps more than all the series that came beforehand – how to have fun.
The pieces are put into place: a new, grotesque serial killer is on the loose, roaming the cold streets of London. He wears a bright but lifeless white mask that lights up to confuse CCTV, extremely useful for murder. DCI Luther (Idris Elba) and his new partner DS Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) catch some luck when the killer’s psychiatrist, Dr Vivien Lake (Hermione Norris) gets in touch. But she’s hiding something too…
George (Patrick Malahide) and his goons
New on the scene is DS Halliday, a strictly on-the-books detective who proves a problem for Luther and his rule-breaking. He’s encouraged to ‘behave’ himself by DSU Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley), staring wearily at their inevitable extinction: ‘We’re the dinosaurs, she’s the meteor’. Halliday is obviously going to catch on to Luther’s uncouth activities, but will she play along for the sake of catching criminals?
Luther series 5 gets off to an intense, horrifying. It's perhaps not as skin-tearing as the trailers promised, but the killer’s bus climbing will creep into the fears of even the most unfazed fanatic. ‘This. Will. Hurt.’ is like a promise: You think this hurts? Just wait until the next episode.
Luther series 5 will continue every night until Friday 4th January
In the first episode of this new series writer/creator Neil Cross piques our interest with the promise of inducing greater harm. But, at the same time, Cross is a great tickler and knows – perhaps more than all the series that came beforehand – how to have fun.
The pieces are put into place: a new, grotesque serial killer is on the loose, roaming the cold streets of London. He wears a bright but lifeless white mask that lights up to confuse CCTV, extremely useful for murder. DCI Luther (Idris Elba) and his new partner DS Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) catch some luck when the killer’s psychiatrist, Dr Vivien Lake (Hermione Norris) gets in touch. But she’s hiding something too…
George (Patrick Malahide) and his goons
New on the scene is DS Halliday, a strictly on-the-books detective who proves a problem for Luther and his rule-breaking. He’s encouraged to ‘behave’ himself by DSU Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley), staring wearily at their inevitable extinction: ‘We’re the dinosaurs, she’s the meteor’. Halliday is obviously going to catch on to Luther’s uncouth activities, but will she play along for the sake of catching criminals?
Luther series 5 gets off to an intense, horrifying. It's perhaps not as skin-tearing as the trailers promised, but the killer’s bus climbing will creep into the fears of even the most unfazed fanatic. ‘This. Will. Hurt.’ is like a promise: You think this hurts? Just wait until the next episode.
Luther series 5 will continue every night until Friday 4th January
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| What | Luther series 5: episode 1 review |
| When |
On 01 Jan 19, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM |
| Price | £n/a |
| Website |