Broadcast reports that Idris Elba, who played “Stringer Bell” on THE WIRE, will star in the new BBC detective series LUTHOR, written and created by SPOOKS writer Neil Cross, who describes the title character as a “near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions”.
Whereas traditional whodunits search for the murderer, each hour-long episode of the new drama will identify the culprit from the start, focusing attention on the dynamic – and similarities – between the detective and the murderer.
The series will air in Autumn 2010. No word yet on whether it will be carried stateside on BBC America or not. Cross also writes for the ITV series THE FIXER, one of my favorites (about a hitman working for a secret police unit), so I have high hopes for this show.
Allow me some doubts over many if not most shows of the Beeb for 2009-2010 (MATERIAL GIRL, anyone?) including this one.
But yes it’s Neil Cross, and THE FIXER is one of the best shows produced by British television (http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/09/not-kind-youve-ever-met-fixer-series-2.html).