The moment Luther fans have been waiting for is finally here. DCI John Luther (the incomparable Idris Elba) is back to take down some of London’s most ruthless and vicious killers, anyway possible. By his side, taking out London’s trash, is his trusted partner-in-crime (solving), DS Justin Ripley (Warren Brown). Lutherans (a term I coined just now for fans of the show) will also be pleased to know that all four episodes of the third season (or series, for BBC fans) will be released over four sequential days. That’s right, four straight nights of Luther! Boosh!
Friends, Lutherans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears! Last night marked night number two of the four-night Luther marathon. After everything that happened in the premiere, I was on pins and needles waiting to find out what happens next to London’s favorite gruff, but lovable, copper. To say Luther has a lot on his plate would be the understatement of the century. He’s got a blossoming relationship with the lovely Mary Day, he’s working TWO cases for London’s Metro, one of which was handed to him, so that Internal Affairs can keep tabs on him. The other case is much more brutal and involves a creepy serial killer breaking into people’s homes and brutally murdering them, which may have connections to a string of murders throughout London years ago. Never fear, though, DCI John Luther is on the case.
Last night, Luther premiered its penultimate episode, and, boy, was it a heart pounder. After having nabbed the creepy, toothbrush-sucking serial killer Paul Ellis, Luther must now catch a sawed-off shotgun-wielding, vigilante serial killer (Elliott Cowan) who is using social media to drum up support for his cause. Now, Luther is in a race against the clock to stop him before he kills again. Things don’t start off so white-knuckled, though, as John is settling in to his relationship with Mary, a side of John we’ve rarely seen in the series. The moment where Ripley shows up at his door and John invites him in is one of the most endearing of the entire series in my opinion. It shows how far the two have come as partners over the years. It isn’t long before that moment is gone and things return to the roller-coaster ride of emotion we’re used to in Luther.
This is it. Luther is over. No more tweed jacket. No more blood red tie. No more villains that make your skin crawl. At least until they do a Luther movie. I hope they do. If it’s ever announced, I will be camped out like a Star Wars fan in anticipation of The Phantom Menace, but without the disappointment of finding out that midichlorians are what make Luther such a good detective.
Series 7 has come to a close, and, overall, it has been one of the weaker seasons since the reboot. The conclusion of the series was “The Name of the Doctor,” and despite how disjointed this past year has been, it was one of Steven Moffat's better finales.
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
It probably does not come as a surprise to most people, but “Nightmare in Silver” has been the one episode this series that I have been most looking foreword to.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers, and his previous episode, “The Doctor's Wife”, is Doctor Who's best episode. Most people point to “Blink” as the best episode and it is great; however, “The Doctor's Wife” managed to completely change the history of the show with a few seemingly simple brush strokes. It reshapes how the audience sees every single episode in the 50-year history and manages to make them more meaningful.
There is no two ways about it, “The Crimson Horror” is a pretty bad episode. I wanted to like the episode, because I enjoy the Vastra Investigation team (Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax), and the promise of them meeting this new Clara sounded exciting. Everything just fell flat in this adventure, making it the weakest episode in Series 7 so far.
Broadway Paperbacks has recently released several Doctor Who novels following the Eleventh Doctor. One of these new books is Doctor Who: Plague of the Cybermen by Justin Richards.
The Doctor visits a village called Klimtenburg in the 19th century. The villagers are getting sick from what they believe is the plague but, in actuality, is radiation poisoning. Intrigued by this anachronistic radiation poisoning and the mysterious Plague Warriors that strike fear in the villagers, the Doctor cannot help but investigate further.
For a long time now, I have been wanting to watch Doctor Who where the entire episode is set on the TARDIS. Thanks to Stephen Thompson and his episode, “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS,” that is exactly what we got this week.
SPOILERS BELOW
At first, this week's episode of Doctor Who appears to be a horror story about a haunted house; however, “Hide” by Neil Cross quickly reveals that things are not quite so straightforward.
SPOILERS BELOW