Idris Elba

The new Netflix series Turn Up Charlie is a bit of an odd duck, but fans of deep-cut British telly may like it.

Most British TV fans know Idris Elba from his role as John Luther in the popular dark crime drama Luther. (Maybe as drug lord Stringer Bell from The Wire. Or possibly as the guy who gives the canceling the apocalypse speech from Pacific Rim.) But most aren't used to seeing this particular actor being funny, and we don't often think of him as having comedic chops. 

Well, that's about to change.

The BBC dropped the first trailer for the upcoming fifth season of popular crime drama Luther, and it’s everything we could have wanted it to be and more.

In rather unexpected, but completely fantastic news, the BBC has announced that gritty crime drama Luther will return for a fifth season.

The critically acclaimed series will be back for a new four-part season, once again starring Idris Elba in the role for which he received a Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice Award. (Not to mention an enormous career boost.) Series creator and writer Neil Cross will also be back as well, and basically anything feels possible right now.

Just because we’ve seen the last of crime drama Luther (at least on the small screen) doesn’t mean we won’t still be seeing a lot more of its star. Idris Elba, who, along with Luther, is also fairly well known among US audiences for his role as drug dealer Stringer Bell in The Wire, will be taking on the role of inspirational civil rights leader Nelson Mandela in a biopic to be released at the end of November.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based on Mandela’s own bestselling 1994 biography of the same name. It chronicles his life from his childhood in a rural village, to his political awakening, to his subsequent 27-year imprisonment for his involvement in anti-apartheid protests and his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

To say that this is an inspiring story of an extraordinary man, is, well, possibly, a bit of an understatement.

Watch the trailer below and marvel at how great Elba’s performance looks in just two minutes worth of footage.