Luther Series Is Over—But the Case Isn’t Closed: Creator Teases Spin-Off
Keep going long enough and the map changes—suddenly there’s a world you can live in, not just pass through.
Quick refresher: after five seasons spread over nine years, Luther wrapped on TV in 2019, then crashed back through the door in 2023 with the Netflix film Luther: The Fallen Sun. That movie ended with a big neon sign that basically said: yeah, we can keep going.
So, is Luther coming back to TV?
Creator Neil Cross doesn't think the main man is heading back to weekly episodes. When The Fallen Sun came out, he said Luther now lives on the big screen, not the small one. The Radio Times Writers' Room just checked back in with him, and he's still on that page: if John Luther returns, Cross believes it should be in another film. Honestly, that tracks.
But here's where it gets interesting. Cross says Luther isn't just a character anymore, it's a whole world. And pieces of that world can live in film or on TV. Translation: Luther himself is probably a movie guy now, but a TV spin-off set in his orbit? He's open to it.
Yes, the Peaky Blinders comparison is on the table
Peaky Blinders wrapped its TV run in 2022 to set up a movie, and now it's confirmed to return for two more TV seasons after that film. Naturally, that makes you wonder if Luther might pull the same move. Cross's read is more measured: feature films for Luther, potential TV for the universe around him.
Who could carry a spin-off?
- Dermot Crowley's Martin Schenk (always a rock-solid presence)
- Paul McGann's Mark North (complicated history, plenty of unresolved tension)
- Cynthia Erivo's Odette Raine from The Fallen Sun (new blood with a hook)
And then there's Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan, the chaos agent fans never stopped thinking about. She appeared to die in the season 5 finale, but we never saw a body. Wilson has pointed that out, and Cross has echoed it. Make of that what you will.
Another Luther movie? Sounds likely
Cross heavily implied we haven't seen the last of Idris Elba in the coat.
There are extraordinarily strong possibilities you might see him again. Is that the heaviest hint that's possible to give without Netflix sending a trained assassin around to silence me? Yeah, there's every chance you will meet him again.
What else is Cross up to?
Beyond Luther talk, he touched on past work like Spooks, Hard Sun, and Doctor Who, and plugged his new Sky thriller The Iris Affair, starring Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander.
Dates and where to watch
The full Radio Times Writers' Room interview with Neil Cross drops Thursday 16 October. The Iris Affair lands on Sky and NOW the same day. If you want a refresher before then, Luther: The Fallen Sun is streaming on Netflix right now.