Luther's Last Stand

Idris Elba is back in the famous coat as the troubled detective tackles his final TV case.

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Idris Elba strides into a plush London hotel room and flops down in a cosy chair. He has a smile on his face – and with good reason.

After a busy year in which he’s starred in box-office blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War and directed gangster movie Yardie, the 46-year-old actor returns to our screens from New Year’s Day for four episodes of Luther as haunted detective DCI John Luther.

It’s the final small-screen outing for the troubled cop, who we last saw in 2015 catching a cannibal serial killer and walking off through a London council estate clutching a photograph of adversary-turned-ally Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), who he believed to be dead.

Now, in what promises to be the show’s darkest case yet, we find Luther and his new assistant, DS Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku, see panel right), on the trail of a depraved serial killer, after being tipped off by his therapist, Dr Lake (Hermione Norris).

To make matters even worse, underworld boss George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide) is on the warpath – and he might not be the only person after Luther.