Episode #1.4 (7 Nov. 2010)

Three women,last seen walking home alone at night,have been murdered in five weeks. Graham Shand removes a necklace from the latest corpse to give his unfaithful wife Linda for her birthday... See full summary »

Director:

Sam Miller

Writers:

Neil Cross, Neil Cross (creator)

Stars:

Rob Jarvis, Idris Elba, Steven Mackintosh

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Rob Jarvis	...	Graham Shand
Idris Elba	...	DCI John Luther
Steven Mackintosh	...	DCI Ian Reed
Warren Brown	...	DS Justin Ripley
Saskia Reeves	...	DSU Rose Teller
Michael Smiley	...	Benny Silver
Dermot Crowley	...	DCI Martin Schenk
Anton Saunders	...	Henry Madsen
Ruth Wilson	...	Alice Morgan
Nicola Walker	...	Linda Shand
Indira Varma	...	Zoe Luther
Paul McGann	...	Mark North
Johann Myers	...	Dennis Keaton (as Johann Meyer)
Stacey Sampson	...	Claire Weldon
Okorie Chukwu	...	PC Alistair Fulford

Storyline

Three women,last seen walking home alone at night,have been murdered in five weeks. Graham Shand removes a necklace from the latest corpse to give his unfaithful wife Linda for her birthday before striking again. He is a failed taxi driver with a virility problem and Luther eventually traps him - after spotting the tell-tale necklace on Linda - with the aid of undercover decoy Layla,though it is Linda who has the last word. Alice,still running free despite being a prime suspect, kills Madsen to 'save' Luther.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

DCI John Luther: Never had an affair before. So - don't know what to do. Is it still called an affair if I'm sleeping with my wife behind her lover's back?

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Connections

References The Basil Brush Show (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes"
(uncredited)
performed by Beck

User Reviews

Luther stays in the office

There is a serial killer operating in London but DCI Luther has been ordered to stay in the office because the man he allowed to fall and nearly die in episode one has woken from his coma. This doesn't mean he can't lead the cast though and as he sorts though the evidence he is soon convinced the killer is a taxi driver. Unfortunately that doesn't narrow the field of suspects too much as there are so many taxis and the availability of second hand cabs means the killer might not even be licensed. While Luther and his team are closing in on their target the killer is escalating his operations going after another woman each night.

This was a decent episode, I think it was improved by having Luther confined to his office rather than out on the streets losing his temper every few minutes... although he did lose it after one particular phone call from Alice because she'd done him a favour he didn't want. Rob Jarvis was good enough as killer but Nicola Walker was better as the wife who knew he was a bit odd but had no idea just how odd he was. Towards the end of the episode there was a nice reference to 'The Shining' as the killer tries to break through a bathroom door to get to a girl who is hiding from him.