BBC One Orders 3rd Season Of Idris Elba's "Luther"

*Fans of the tele-drama “Luther,” starring British heartthrob Idris Elba, can breathe easy as a third season is likely to debut as early as September he says.

An exact launch date wasn’t provided by Elba nor has an announcement been rendered by the BBC, the British network which carries the show. But the signs of another go-round manifested themselves in that promotion for the series is seemingly underway and post-production has since begun. Last season, the BBC made each episode of Luther available to U.S. viewership within 24 hours of every live showing.

This time, it’s presumed that the network will use the same formula to maintain its international presence.

Next season’s guest stars will include Orlessa Altass, Lucian Msamati (“Game Of Thrones” fans will remember him as the pirate Salladhor Saan. He and Nonso Anozie were the two black Brits who joined the series cast last season), and Ned Dennehy (“Tyrannosaur”).

The second season hasn't aired on BBC America for stateside audiences yet (that's coming late next month; UK audiences saw all season 2 episodes already earlier this year)... no matter, BBC One controller Danny Cohenannounced at the ongoing Edinburgh TV Festival (running this weekend) that a 3rd season of Luther, the critically acclaimed psychological crime drama starring one Idris Elba, has been ordered!

Season 2 reportedly outperformed season 1, on average, attracting over 5 million viewers and was well received by critics.

No word yet as to how many episodes season 3 will have, or when it will air, though I'd expect it'll be sometime in mid 2012.

Idris' next project will be Pacific Rim which is scheduled to begin principal photography in October; but, as of right now, he hasn't signed on to anything after that. So, he could very well go into Luther season 3 production shortly after that.

Idris has already expressed his desire for a big screen version of Luther. "The ultimate 'Luther' story will unfold on the big screen," he said in an interview a couple of months ago. Not sure if that'll ever happen; but at least what we can expect to see is a 3rd season.