When hope seemed lost for BBC’s beloved series Luther, the network announced a one-night special event for the Idris Elba-led drama. Not too long ago, we got a taste of what to expect through the first photos and plot description, but now we have the first footage. BBC One released a 10-second teaser for the season 4 movie event (of sorts) ahead of its December debut.

“Do you ever have that dream when you’re falling?” Elba’s John Luther asks. “Do you ever wake up in it?” These trailer teasers typically mean full-length looks aren’t far behind. So while the video is as short as these two questions from our lead character, there’s enough footage to whet our palettes: Luther surveying a watery cliff, pale hands poised on a interrogation table, a flashlight beam illuminating a darkened hallway, a tarp whipped off of a car. That should be enough to get Luther out of his bed and crinkled sheets.

Watch the teaser below.


#LuthersBackDo you ever have that dream when you’re falling? #LuthersBack Posted by BBC One on Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Luther special event will see the title character coming out of his leave of absence to track down a cannibal who leaves behind a trail of death. Elba is joined by Veep’s Darren Boyd as Detective Chief Inspector Theo Bloom, Game of ThronesRose Leslie as Detective Sergeant Emma Lane, Babel’s Dermot Crawley as Detective Superintendent Unit Martin Schneck, Laura Haddock as the mysterious woman from Luther’s past Megan Cantor, John Heffernan as the cannibal Steven Rose, Patrick Malahide as “old school gangster” George Cornelius, and Michael Smiley returning as Benny Silver.

The Luther season 4 special will air on December 17th at 9 p.m. While we wait for an actual trailer, here’s the official synopsis:

This time we find Luther on a leave of absence from the police force, laying low in a rundown cottage. A visit from colleagues, Detective Chief Inspector Theo Bloom (Darren Boyd, Veep, The World’s End) and Detective Sergeant Emma Lane (Rose Leslie, The Last Witch Hunter, Game of Thrones) brings a shocking piece of news that draws him back to London in search of the truth. At the same time, a gruesome cannibalistic serial killer has struck the city, eating body parts as he goes. With a trail of clues leading from one crime scene to the next, Detective Superintendent Unit Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley, Babel, Bleak House) and his team must work out the twisted logic that connects each victim. But this murdering mastermind is more than a match for Schenk’s police, outsmarting them at every step. It’s not long before Luther makes his triumphant return to the Bullpen, determined to capture the killer before another mutilated body joins the mounting pile. But he’s dogged at every turn by ghosts from his past. Isolated and volatile, it will take every fiber of Luther’s being to keep it together.


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Image via BBC America