Life In A Spin

Idris Elba plays a washed-up DJ forced to become a nanny in a new Netflix comedy…

Idris Elba is busier than ever at the moment. At the start of 2019, the workaholic actor was back on BBC1 for the fifth series of Luther, with rumours of a film adaptation in the pipeline. In the Summer, he’ll star in Hobbs & Shaw, a spin-off from the Fast & Furious franchise, then he’ll play Macavity in Cats, the long-awaited big-screen version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

But before all that, the 46-year old Londoner takes on a rather different kind of musical role when he stars in the new Netflix comedy series Turn Up Charlie.

Elba co-created the eight-parter, in which he plays the title character, a lifelong bachelor and club DJ who was once, briefly, a legend of the dance floor. But Charlie is now on his uppers, living with his aunt and struggling to make any money.

When his old school pal David (JJ Feild), who’s now a famous actor, returns to London from Hollywood, he has the bright idea of asking Charlie to become a nanny – or ‘manny’ – for his spoilt 11-year-old daughter Gabby (Frankie Hervey).