BBC America is bringing Luther back for another cycle.
The cabler announced Monday that it is reuniting star Idris Elba and creator Neil Cross for a four-episode fifth season of the fan-favorite drama. Production will begin next year; a premiere date has not yet been determined.
This will bring the beloved series into its fifth cycle and up its total episode count to 21, including last year’s one-off special.
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“Now what? It’s a question Idris and I get asked a lot. What happened to John Luther after we last saw him striding unbowed through the streets of his city, his blood red London? It can’t be over, can it? There’s so much we don’t know. So much unfinished business,” Cross said. “The thing is, we’ve been asking ourselves the same question. Because we love John and wonder what he’s up to. And as for me, I’m scared of the monsters. The face at the window. The hand under the bed. The shadow at the end of the street. Who’s going to stop them, if not John Luther? In the end, we picked up the phone to some old friends and asked if they’d like to find out what happens next. It turns out, they would. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to find out what happens next. Now what? Luther’s coming back. That’s what.”
The series is produced by BBC Studios and BBC America. Cross executive produces alongside Elba, Marcus Wilson and Hilary Salmon for BBC Studios, with Elizabeth Kilgarriff for BBC.
“Neil, the BBC and I have been talking about a further season and I am thrilled that we have been able to bring it all together. I look forward to putting the coat back on,” Elba said.
Added BBC America president Sarah Barnett: “Luther is compulsive, unnerving television. Neil Cross, Idris Elba and the team are geniuses and we all wait with bated breath to see what happens next in this blindingly brilliant show.”
For BBC America, the decision comes as the cabler just launched the final season of scripted drama Orphan Black.
For his part, Elba has been an in-demand actor in films and on TV. On the feature side, his credits include Thor: Ragnarok and The Dark Tower; on the small-screen, he exec produced Showtime’s Guerrilla and was attached to a Luther reboot at Fox.
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