TF1 launches Thursday evening "Luther", a new TV series produced by the French channel and adapted from a great success of the British BBC.

In the United Kingdom, Idris Elba plays the main character of this detective series.

The producer Sabine Barthelemy returns in "Culture Médias" on this ambitious bet of the One.

We told you about it last October, it landed Thursday evening on TF1.

La Une launches 

Luther

, his new detective series, adapted from the English series launched in 2010 on the BBC.

This very dark series tells the story of a brilliant and tortured policeman, who emerges from a depression after an arrest gone wrong.

Luther hunts down assassins, flirting with rules and limits.

A backstory that we find in the French frame.

But the police officer's investigations changed while crossing the Channel, as explained in 

Culture Médias

Sabine Barthémély, producer of 

Luther

.

>> Find the media newspapers every morning at 9:10 am on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here.

"We kept the stories that can still speak to the public today: the murders of police officers, soldiers traumatized by the war… There were also much more trashy things, with particularly filthy serial killers. We told ourselves that it had less resonances today, we are less fascinated by serial killers than a few years ago ", distinguishes the producer.

"The BBC is also much freer. We made this adaptation for TF1, so our series also had to be visible to people at 9 p.m."

Who to replace Idris Elba?

What made the strength of the English series beyond the intrigues, it is the talent and the celebrity of the actor who played the character of Luther: the charismatic Idris Elba, discovered in the cult series

The Wire

.

The English actor had even been tipped to become the future James Bond.

In the French version, it's Christopher Bayemi who plays Luther.

This French actor is still little known, even if he was recently seen in the very popular series

HPI

, where he played the medical examiner.

It was after a long casting of almost a year and a half that Cristopher Bayemi landed the role of

Luther

.

>> PODCAST - 

Masterclass with Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, scriptwriter of "HPI"

"Some actors refused, because they did not want to 'replace' Idris Elba. Quite quickly, we wanted Christopher Bayemi", explains Sabine Barthélémy. "But the channel had more questions, because first they wanted someone better known. He won because he did several tries and is very good."

This major adaptation is the second of the year for TF1, which has already distinguished itself with 

Je te promets

, the French version of 

This is us

. Broadcast Thursday evening at 9:05 pm on TF1, the first episode of

Luther

 has the heavy task of succeeding

HPI

 in the Thursday evening box. The first season of the series led by Audrey Fleurot gathered an average of 10 million viewers.