Plot Synopsis

John Luther is a brilliant and emotionally impulsive detective who is tormented by the darker side of humanity, and this self-destructive near-genius might just be as dangerous as the depraved criminals he hunts. In each episode of Season 1, the murderer's identity is known from the start, focusing the drama on the psychological duel between predator and prey. Season 2 is comprised of two two-episode stories as Luther is struggling to accept the loss of his wife and to cope with an overriding sense that it was his own obsessive dedication to his work and his immersion in the dark and dreary world of crime that caused her death. Luther is surrounded by: Alice Morgan, a beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent psychopath who was a key witness in Luther's first investigation and the person who later in Season 1 killed Luther's best friend, Ian Reed, who had killed Luther's wife, Zoe; Martin Schenk, Luther's former adversary, who is heading up a newly formed unit, the Serious and Serial Crime Unit, which causes Luther to be more of a team player; Justin Ripley, Luther's loyal new partner in Season 1 until he was demoted to Custody Sergeant, returns in Season 2 and Luther tries to make amends by getting Justin back on the team in the new unit; Mark North is the man who was unafraid to compete with Luther for Zoe's love and now mourns her passing with Luther by playing random late night games of chess together; Erin Gray joins the team and proves to be quite a challenge for Luther while making Ripley's life quite difficult too; Caroline Jones is the wife of a police officer that Luther had to put in jail, and she blames Luther for destroying her life and her daughter Jenny's life; Detective Chief Inspector Ian Reed was Luther's loyal friend and work colleague -- until he killed Zoe; Zoe Luther, his now-deceased wife, had the strength to walk away from the man she still loved but who died at the hands of the tormented Ian Reed; and Detective Superintendent Rose Teller, who was Luther's risk-taking boss in Season 1. BBC America aired the U.S. series premiere of LUTHER on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 10pm ET.

Season 3 returns to the U.S. on September 3-6, 2013 (10pm ET/PT Tue, Thu & Fri; 9pm Wed) on BBC America. In this program's third installment, Luther struggles to cope with his own demons. He's back under intense pressure with two conflicting crimes to investigate and a ruthless ex-cop determined to bring him down. But love also crosses the detective's path in this new chapter when he meets Mary Day. While Luther is offered a chance at happiness, he must also face some of the darkest crimes of his career. Plus, cracks splinter the foundations of Luther and Ripley's alliance when Luther's own colleagues target his right-hand man. Then, after years of grief, a chance encounter means that this lonely detective might just be on the verge of finding love. But the return of Alice Morgan could change Luther's path completely.

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 from 9-11:45pm ET/PT on BBC America, LUTHER returns for a one-night special event (Season 4). This time we find Luther on a leave of absence from the police force, laying low in a rundown cottage. A visit from colleagues, Detective Chief Inspector Theo Bloom and Detective Sergeant Emma Lane brings a shocking piece of news that draws him back to London in search of the truth. At the same time, a gruesome cannibalistic serial killer has struck the city, eating body parts as he goes. With a trail of clues leading from one crime scene to the next, Detective Superintendent Unit Martin Schenk and his team must work out the twisted logic that connects each victim. But this murdering mastermind is more than a match for Schenk's police, outsmarting them at every step. It's not long before Luther makes his triumphant return to the Bullpen, determined to capture the killer before another mutilated body joins the mounting pile. But he's dogged at every turn by ghosts from his past. Isolated and volatile, it will take every fiber of Luther's being to keep it together.

BBC America aired the U.S. premiere of the fifth season of LUTHER on Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 8pm ET/PT. A new spate of nightmarish murders brings DCI John Luther to once again face the depths of human depravity on the streets of London. While the monstrous and seemingly indiscriminate killings become ever more audacious and public, Luther and new recruit D.S. Catherine Halliday are confounded by a complex tangle of leads and misdirection that seems designed to protect an untouchable corruption. As the body count rises, and gangster George Cornelius applies his own pressure, can Luther catch a killer and save his own neck?
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On Sunday, June 23, 2019 from 8-9:20pm ET/PT, BBC America premiered the Season 5 finale of LUTHER. Reeling from the death of his friend, Luther races to save the others from Cornelius' terrible retribution; with Luther's increasing absence from the case, Halliday heads the hunt for a killer on the loose.