Emmys 2019: Why Luther season 5, Idris Elba are ineligible

If you are watching Luther season 5 over on BBC America, you’re probably pouring on the praise once more for Idris Elba. How in the world could you not? John Luther is a one-in-a-million TV character, someone who is brooding and intense but also full of depth and trauma. He’s obviously far from the first tortured detective TV character who we’ve seen over the years, but there’s still something so magnetic and interesting about him. He stands out amidst this large sea complicated characters who have been around over the past several years.

So while it’s easy to want to kickstart an Emmy campaign for Idris Elba this year, the unfortunate news is that there’s no real reason to. Neither the actor nor the series are eligible this year, though could potentially end up getting a nod for Netflix’s series Turn Up Charlie.

What’s the reason for this? It really just comes down to Emmy eligibility rules. Even though Luther season 5 first premiered on BBC One earlier this year, the Emmys go by premiere date in the USA when it comes to gauging eligibility — what happens overseas doesn’t quite matter. Because Luther premiered on June 2, mere days after the May 31 cutoff, that made it eligible for next year’s awards. That means it doesn’t have much of a chance this time around. (One of the interesting questions that we wonder here is whether it will be in either the Drama Series or Limited Series/Movie category, given that the Emmys have tightened the screws on the latter.)

Was this premiere date an intentional move on BBC America’s part? It’s an interesting thing to admittedly think about. While we don’t exactly think that any show needs to be relying on awards show success for the sake of sticking around, it’s possible that BBC America looked at the 2019 Emmy race and determined that maybe it would be better for Luther to compete in 2020. there are some pretty strong contenders this year, whether it be Escape at Dannemora, Chernobyl, or True Detective season 3. Mahershala Ali at the moment is the runaway favorite to win the Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie category, but we’re not ruling out Jared Harris and a few other actors. (It Luther is classified instead as a Drama, it’d be forced to face off against all things Game of Thrones.)

So while we’re sad that there aren’t any Luther season 5 campaigns going on at the moment, there still a chance that Idris will at least get his due a little bit down the road. Also, we figured that if you’re watching Luther five seasons in, you’re probably not watching it just hoping that it gets Emmy nominations. You’re watching it for the intensity of the story, the dramatics, and of course the characters. This season is certainly notable when it finally comes to the ladder.

For some more news on Luther season 5, be sure to visit the link here. Meanwhile, let us know in the comments how you feel about the show not being eligible for the Emmys this year. (Photo: BBC.)

This article was written by Jessica Carter and you can follow her on Twitter here.