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TV Review: Luther Series 5

Luther Series 5 aka the one that maybe goes too far?

“Can we do that?
‘Within parameters…'”

Not quite flogging a dead horse yet, but the much anticipated fifth series of Luther indulges its title character far too much  in the name of shocks and thrills, whilst simultaneously begging us not to misunderstand him, Nina Simone’s glorious voice plays out over the violent wreckage of the final scene.

As a crime drama, Neil Cross’ Luther really does manage to come up with inventively appalling serial killers and attackers that seem design to lurk in nightmares (the bus murder here…). But it is also increasingly tied up in the mythology of the show itself, the design here clearly aiming for some kind of apotheosis. Continue reading “TV Review: Luther Series 5”

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2016 British Academy Television Awards nominations

Best Actor
Idris Elba – Luther as DCI John Luther (BBC One)
Stephen Graham – This Is England ’90 as Andrew “Combo” Gascoigne (Channel 4)
Mark Rylance – Wolf Hall as Thomas Cromwell (BBC Two)
Ben Whishaw – London Spy as Daniel “Danny” Edward Holt (BBC Two)

Best Actress
Claire Foy – Wolf Hall as Anne Boleyn (BBC Two)
Suranne Jones – Doctor Foster as Gemma Foster (BBC One)
Ruth Madeley – Don’t Take My Baby as Anna Watson (BBC Three)
Sheridan Smith – The C-Word as Lisa Lynch (BBC One) Continue reading “2016 British Academy Television Awards nominations”

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6th Critics’ Choice Television Awards winners

Best Series
Best Comedy Series
Master of None (Netflix)
Black-ish (ABC)
Catastrophe (Amazon Video)
Jane the Virgin (The CW)
The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Transparent (Amazon Video)
You’re the Worst (FX)

Best Drama Series
Mr. Robot (USA)
Empire (Fox)
The Knick (Cinemax)
The Leftovers (HBO)
Penny Dreadful (Showtime)
Rectify (Sundance)
UnREAL (Lifetime) Continue reading “6th Critics’ Choice Television Awards winners”

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TV Review: Luther (Series 4, Episode 2)

“So, because you can’t believe it’s true, logically it’s false”

So the second and final part of Series 4 of Luther is done and well, it’s hard not to feel a little shortchanged. There’s been chatter about a movie and given that we only got 2 hours of screentime here, it’s hard to see why creator Neil Cross and star Idris Elba opted for a single two-parter split over two weeks as opposed the fiercer energy that a feature-length epic would surely have borne. 

Episode 1 aired last week and did a decent job of pulling us back into the world of DCI John Luther, delving back into the show’s mythology and the tangled web of his own past but also moving forward with the dastardly exploits of a new serial killer, which proved to be the main hook for Luther’s return from semi-retirement. Part Two continues the blend, as John Heffernan’s marvellously malevolent cannabalistic killer continues his rampage and Luther deals with the past impinging severely on his present. Continue reading “TV Review: Luther (Series 4, Episode 2)”

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TV Review: Luther (Series 4, Episode 1)

“What do we do with something like this?”

It doesn’t quite seem right, calling this a new series of Luther when it is just two episodes, but the return of Idris Elba’s maverick DCI is something to be celebrated nonetheless. Neil Cross’ two-parter finds John Luther on a leave of absence from the Met (as opposed to having jacked it all in as we might have thought), sequestered in a coastal cottage hideaway and still reckoning with the loss of his cop partner DS Ripley after the events of the last series. Almost straightaway though, the show runs into the problems that mark the whole episode.

the first ever episode way back when). They’re both new to the franchise (though weirdly not unfamiliar to Luther) but as there’s so little time, we have to assume an instant familiarity with them, and with the circumstances of Alice’s death and a new serial killer who is eating his way through East London.  Continue reading “TV Review: Luther (Series 4, Episode 1)”

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6th Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominees

Best Series
Best Comedy Series
Black-ish (ABC)
Catastrophe (Amazon Video)
Jane the Virgin (The CW)
Master of None (Netflix)
The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Transparent (Amazon Video)
You’re the Worst (FX)

Best Drama Series
Empire (Fox)
The Knick (Cinemax)
The Leftovers (HBO)
Mr. Robot (USA)
Penny Dreadful (Showtime)
Rectify (Sundance)
UnREAL (Lifetime) Continue reading “6th Critics’ Choice Television Awards nominees”

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TV Review: Luther, Series 3

 “You assert this fabulous moral conscience John, this adherence to unwritten law”

Despite finding Ruth Wilson’s performance as Alice Morgan one of the greatest things on TV, it was with a slightly heavy heart that I heard she would be returning to Luther for its third series. The way in which she was crowbarred into the second was no great success and I feared that familiarity might breed yet more contempt, but my faith in writer/creator Neil Cross was strong enough to see me through, along with the news that favourite-in-these-parts Elliot Cowan would be part of the guest cast. 

The 4 part series essentially took the form of two 2-parters – the first making literal the horror trope of there being something under the bed and the second exploring vigilante justice, along with a series-long story which saw Internal Affairs turn the heat on Luther himself, trying to get to the bottom of just why so many of the people around him ended up dead. This latter strand didn’t really work for me, rehashing Dermot Crowley’s Schenk’s original role in the show, and adding a note of false jeopardy that never felt like it was going to go anywhere substantive.
Continue reading “TV Review: Luther, Series 3”

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DVD Review: Luther Series 2

“They’ve set up a new unit”

Series 1, and particularly episode 1, of Luther has to rank as one of my favourite bits of television in recent years, so it was great news to hear that a second season had been commissioned. But given that my main enjoyment came from the ladies of the show, it was perhaps unsurprising that my enjoyment didn’t quite reach the same level. Taking place months after Series 1 finished, rebel detective John Luther has now joined the Serious and Serial Crimes division after some time off following the shocking events of the season finale. There, he continues to deal with the worst of human nature and utilising his own inimitable approach to catching these criminals.

For our purposes here on a Ruth Wilson level, there’s no denying that the character of Alice really has run its natural course and so it feels like a bit of a cheat having her be the first face we see just to recap the events of the series 1 finale. She reappears a couple of times after that but not in any meaningful way for the main story, so it’s a bit of a letdown. And Saskia Reeves’ Rose is not given the farewell she deserves as Luther’s former boss which feels a real shame, the impact of his repeated actions on her life and career could have been something rather interesting to explore. Continue reading “DVD Review: Luther Series 2”