It may be the loneliest and most harrowing Christmas yet for the emotionally troubled John Luther, but fans of the brooding, conflicted anti-hero could not have asked for a more fitting holiday present. This December, BBC One will air a two-part special that takes place after 'Luther''s fourth season. This time, the character played by Idris Elba will wrestle against his conscience and inner demons as he hunts a killer who's taken a page off Hannibal Lecter. But this time, Luther does so without the humanizing influences of his best friend and his heart's desire, both of whom died last season.
All this just might push the loner in Luther into greater seclusion, and the internal pressure building within him can break out into acts of violence at a level that the detective had not shown before. An interview of Elba with The Telegraph had likened the character to a Batman-like figure who is not above using force and other means outside the law to bring hardened criminals and serial killers to justice. London, the city in which Luther holds court, is similar to that other vigilante's Gotham, in that it seems to be continually breeding these nightmares that easily escape the traps set for them by the local police.
Raising the stakes is a report by Deadline that Luther might just find himself contemplating going over the edge, to the point of no return. In that article, Elba describes how Luther could have lost his moral and emotional moorings, "I think there were bigger challenges when he lost his wife and his best friend. That was a huge pinnacle and something that it took him a long time to get over. And in this [special] there is something similar that happens to him that is definitely traumatic."
One new character, though, just might lift the darkness off the embattled detective, according to a story filed byFanSided. If anyone can cheer someone's cold heart, it would be Ygritte, the 'Game of Thrones' firebrand whose tempestuous personality and rugged beauty charmed the pants off Jon Snow in the arctic Northern Kingdom. Rose Leslie, who played Ygritte, is signing on as Luther's new partner. Luther may be a hard man to stop once he sets his brilliant mind on knocking the socks off someone, but Leslie's new copper seems to be the type who would not back down in trying to stop him.
Expect the chill to depart from London as sparks fly between Luther and his lady sidekick. The intensity heats up as the man-eater killer keeps on leaving one mutilated body after another in his wake. The two-part special, written by Neil Cross and directed by Sam Miller, will air in the United Kingdom on December 15. BBC America will then show it to an American audience two days later.
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