6 top Netflix shows for Luther fans

River

Abi Morgan’s excellent series got rave reviews when the BBC aired it back in late 2015. Spooks and Unforgotten star Nicola Walker joins Stellan Skarsgård for a series about a brilliant detective whose fractured mind can’t decide if he’s schizophrenic, in touch with ghostly spirits or just a man with an overly active, grief-driven imagination.

The Swedish actor plays DCI John River like Wallander doing a Derek Acorah impression. Okay, that’s a fairly glib assessment of his portrayal of River, but as excellent as this series is, it’s not hugely realistic. Still, let’s be frank – Luther’s hardly likely to get mistaken for a fly-on-the-wall documentary by more casual viewers, is it?

IMDb Rating: 8.1

The Sinner

Appearing on Netflix at the tail end of 2017, The Sinner has caused quite the stir since its release. As good as this Netflix Original is, even the team behind this crime mystery must have been a little surprised at just how popular and well received the series has been.

This eight-parter received Critic’s Choice and Golden Globes nods recently and it’s not hard to see why. Jessica Biel stars as a seemingly happy young woman who one day flips out and viciously stabs a man to death in public in front of her husband and young son. Why? Well, therein lies the tale…

Bill Pullman stars as the slightly unusual and borderline obsessive police detective who decides that there’s more to the story than a simple unprovoked murder.

The acting is top notch, the writing is subtle yet packed full of twists and turns and the series flies by. It’s based on a dark tale written by German author Petra Hammesfahr and we’d not only recommend The Sinner to fans of Luther, but fans of any high-end drama. It’d be a sin to miss it.

IMDb Rating: 8.0

The Method

This intense Russian drama stars Konstantin Khabensky as Rodion Meglin, a police detective who – like John Luther – is prone to a little-warranted violence here and there. Meglin, though, is also a full-on vigilante once he clocks off. One who doesn’t mind getting his hands really rather dirty indeed.

This sixteen-part series might strike slightly more of a Dexter-like note than a Lutherian one, but if you like your leading men to be tough, no-nonsense types that take no prisoners and are more than a wee bit ‘handy’, then you’ll enjoy both Luther and The Method.

Meglin is blunt, boorish and likes a distinctive fashion garment. His flair piece isn’t a long grey woollen overcoat, though. He’s more of a pork pie hat kinda guy.

IMDb Rating: 7.5

Jack Taylor

Fans of Luther will doubtless enjoy the maverick ways of the eponymous character here. Even if the ‘maverick’ setting for detectives is a pretty well-worn trope. Still, who can resist a gruff, tough investigator goin’ round takin’ names, eh?

Jack Taylor might drink a little more than Luther, but that doesn’t make him less of a sleuth. He’s ex-Garda and a man almost without fear. Sure, this Irish crime drama may smell a wee bit clichéd, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.

Based on Ken Bruen’s Galway-set novels, this is an old-school detective doing what old-school detectives do best. And with Iain Glen in the title role, you won’t regret getting stuck into Jack Taylor in the slightest.

IMDb Rating: 7.9

Rake

You may well have caught some of the UK remake of Rake on TV before. The newer version has Greg Kinnear in the lead and is extremely watchable. But the original Australian version – the one we want to talk about here – is far superior.

Starring native Aussie actor Richard Roxburgh, Rake follows the adventures of yet another renegade, this time a hard-living, chaotic and self-destructive criminal defence barrister. Roxburgh plays the misanthrope to a tee and couldn’t be more charismatic if he tried.

A bit of a hidden gem for many of us in the northern hemisphere, this is a rake well worth stepping on.

IMDb Rating: 8.7

Manhunt: Unabomber

Fans of DCI John Luther’s obsessive nature will no doubt dig this true-life story of the hunt for America’s most infamous ever domestic terrorist. That said, the main character in Manhunt – the guy who actually catches the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski – was just a bit-part player in real life. Avatar’s Sam Worthington plays Jim Fitzgerald, a man who the show’s creators claim is really ‘more of a composite character’.

But while Manhunt: Unabomber might have fiddled with the facts ever so slightly, it’s still a gripping, intelligent and suspenseful crime drama. Anyone keen on Luther will enjoy it. As will anyone who enjoyed Netflix’s stand-out offering of 2017, the peerless serial killer drama Mindhunter.

IMDb Rating: 8.2

Have we missed any Netflix UK crime shows like Luther? Let us know in the comments below!

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