Where to Watch Luther in 2025: Streaming TV Series Seasons 1 Through 5 for Free
BBC crime drama series Luther, which stars Idris Elba, is a glimpse into the life of a gifted murder detective in turmoil. In this guide, we’ll reveal how and where to watch Luther online for free from anywhere.
Written by Kit Copson (Writer, Briefing Editor)
Reviewed by Jackie Leavitt (Co-Chief Editor)
Facts checked by Jasna Mishevska (Lead Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-12-26T18:34:37+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Key Takeaways: Where to Watch Luther
- Grab a subscription at a 74% (plus 3 months free) discount from NordVPN’s website.
- Install the app and connect to a U.K. server.
- Create a free BBC iPlayer account and start streaming Luther.
Best VPNs for Streaming Luther:
- NordVPN — Best VPN overall with great speeds, advanced features and affordable pricing. Get 74% (plus 3 months free) off the first two years with NordVPN, covered by its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Surfshark — Best budget VPN that still packs a punch. Surfshark’s best deal is available at a (for the Winter Deal) 64% (plus 4 months free) discount.
- ExpressVPN — Easy-to-use VPN with great performance and features. Sign up now to get 25% off the first two years.
What to Know About Luther:
- Where to watch: BBC series Luther is available for free on BBC iPlayer, as well as BritBox U.S., Canada and Australia, Amazon Prime Video U.S. (with a BritBox add-on), and free services Hoopla and TubiTV (with ads).
- Bypass blocks: If you want to access BBC iPlayer from outside the U.K. or TubiTV from outside the U.S. — or are traveling overseas and want to access your Britbox account — you can connect to a VPN server to gain access.
- Best VPNs: NordVPN, Surfshark and ExpressVPN are the best VPNs to watch Luther.
Luther is a British crime drama chronicling the trials and tribulations of obsessive murder detective chief inspector DCI John Luther. If you want to know where to watch Luther, you’ll find that multiple streaming platforms have the series available — in some cases, for free. However, in certain countries, you may not be able to access the recommended services due to geographical restrictions.
This is called geoblocking, and it can be a serious pain — unless you know how to get around it. Using a good VPN (virtual private network) is the best method of accessing geographically restricted content, but only some providers are worth your time and money.
If you’re feeling frazzled because you can’t seem to find Luther on any platforms available in your country, we’ll show you how to break through the geoblocks and get started with watching Luther today.
Not available in your country?
Watch Luther now on Hulu and other streaming platforms.
Status checked 2025/01/22:
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10/01/2024
We revamped this article’s how-to section and adjusted the rankings to reflect the current VPN landscape.
Where to Watch Luther & Luther: The Fallen Sun
The Luther TV series is available for free on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom and for cheap on BritBox in the United States, Canada and Australia. In our opinion, streaming Luther on BBC iPlayer is the easiest and cheapest route — you just need to connect to a VPN server in the U.K.
Watching Luther for Free
If you thought getting to watch all five seasons of Luther for free was just too good to be true, you thought wrong. Luther is currently available for free on BBC iPlayer (U.K.), and all you need to do to watch it is register for a free account and connect to a British server on a VPN if you’re outside the U.K. We’ll share a tutorial on that farther down.
You can also watch Luther on TubiTV, a free streaming platform. There’s just one caveat — you’ll have to put up with at least a few ads. Ads are shown approximately every 15 minutes and are the reason the service is free.
If you’re thinking of trying an ad blocker, there’s no guarantee it’ll work. Also, be mindful that it’s against TubiTV’s terms of service to use one. That said, Tubi is a great alternative for those who don’t want to pay for a streaming service. Furthermore, we didn’t notice many ads popping up during our testing.
TubiTV is only available in the U.S. and select other countries, and content varies depending on location. Luther is only available on TubiTV U.S. at the moment. You can connect to a U.S. server on a VPN to access TubiTV from abroad.
Those in the U.S. and Canada can use their library card to stream all five seasons of Luther for free on Hoopla. The service is also available in New Zealand and Australia, but Luther isn’t in either of these libraries (though it is on Stan in Australia). Alternatively, you can get a free trial with BritBox U.S., Canada or Australia, which lasts seven days.
Overall, BBC iPlayer is definitely the easiest option for watching ‘Luther’ online, and it also gives you access to other great shows like ‘The Traitors‘ and ‘Not Going Out‘.
Paid Streaming Options for Luther
As with many paid streaming platforms, BritBox has different content in different countries. Content availability depends on which countries have the rights to stream it.
BritBox is a little different from some other streaming services, like Netflix, in that a VPN might not help you change content libraries because each country has its own site. We tried switching to the American BritBox content library with a VPN from our BritBox U.K. account, but it didn’t work. Therefore, it looks like you’ll need an account with BritBox U.S., BritBox Canada or BritBox Australia to watch Luther on the platform.
Note that Luther is only available on BritBox in the U.S., Canada and Australia, so using a VPN will only work if you signed up for your account in one of these countries.
Another option is to watch Luther on Amazon Prime Video U.S. with the BritBox add-on, though you’ll need a U.S. payment method for this. Alternatively, you can buy the series on a platform like Amazon Prime Video, iTunes/Apple TV, Vudu or Google Play. If you don’t want to pay to buy the series or sign up for a streaming platform, check out our section below on watching Luther for free.
How to Watch Luther: The Fallen Sun Movie
Luckily, watching the new movie Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023) is really simple — it’s available on Netflix. If you can’t find the movie on Netflix in your location, simply connect to a VPN server in a country where it is available. If you need suggestions, it’s currently available on Netflix U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and France, and no doubt in many other countries, too.
Using a VPN to Watch Luther
The simplest way to watch Luther is to use a virtual private network to change your IP address. This allows you to access geographically restricted content from anywhere.
VPNs work by encrypting your data, preventing hackers, snoopers and your ISP from seeing what you’re doing online. As long as they’re not being used to conduct illegal activities, VPNs are legal in most countries. Some VPNs, like NordVPN and Surfshark, are exceptional, but other VPNs don’t quite hit the mark in terms of security, privacy and speed. Read on for recommendations.
How to Use a VPN to Watch Luther for Free
Here, we’ll show you how to access BBC iPlayer to watch every Luther season for free. We’ve picked NordVPN — the VPN we consider to be the best overall performer — for this tutorial, but will share some more recommendations in the next section.
- Subscribe to a VPN Service
Go to a VPN’s website to sign up for a plan. NordVPN’s two-year plan offers the best value and it includes a 30-day money-back guarantee on all of its plans for new subscribers.
- Download the VPN
After signing up, download the VPN. Follow the post-signup prompts or find the “download” page on the website to do so.
- Connect to a Server in the UK
Open the app, select a U.K. server from the list and connect.
NordVPN has the fastest streams and can easily unblock streaming services. - Register for BBC iPlayer
If you don’t already have one, go to BBC iPlayer and register for a free account. You will be prompted to enter a British postcode — you can find one on Google.
- Stream Luther
Open BBC iPlayer, search for Luther, and select the season and episode you want to stream.
The Best VPN to Watch Luther
We test a number of VPNs with streaming services on a regular basis, and we recommend one of the following services for streaming crime series Luther.
1. NordVPN — Best Streaming VPN
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
The best VPNs for streaming are those that combine unfailing security, privacy, speed and ease of use for a smooth experience. You get all of these things with NordVPN, which is why it remains the champion atop our list of the best overall VPNs.
Our favorite NordVPN features are its impressive speeds — which are the best on average as per our daily speed tests — and its affordable pricing if you pick one of the long-term plans. This makes it a good choice for regular streamers on a budget.
NordVPN isn’t completely beginner-friendly, but it does have a useful interactive server map. That said, the mobile app’s interface can be finicky to navigate, especially if you’re not too hot on geography. Luckily, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for tentative users. Find out more about this and all of NordVPN’s features in our full NordVPN review.
- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
2. Surfshark — Best Budget Streaming VPN
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
Surfshark is a close rival to NordVPN. It has plenty of servers in four locations in the U.K., so you’re all but guaranteed to find one that will get you into BBC iPlayer. In our tests, we’ve never had to try more than one, and they’ve all been fast enough that no lag interrupted our Luther stream.
Surfshark is expensive for just a month, so NordVPN is probably a better choice if you think you’ll finish Luther quickly. Otherwise, Surfshark is quite cost-effective, especially the unlimited simultaneous connections you can use to password-share with your friends. Learn about more features in our Surfshark review.
- Unlimited GB bandwidth, Unlimited devices, Secure VPN, Ad blocker, Cookie pop-up blocker. Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
- Everything in Starter, plus Antivirus protection, Identity protection, Email Breach and Credit Card Alerts, Online Alias Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Everything in One, plus Data removal Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
3. ExpressVPN — Best User-Friendly VPN for Streaming
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
If NordVPN or Surfshark haven’t tickled your fancy, ExpressVPN is a solid alternative to consider. It’s especially useful if you’re a beginner thanks to its highly intuitive apps, which means less time fiddling and more time streaming.
Of course, no VPN provider has it all — ExpressVPN is expensive, even its long-term plans. Apart from this, ExpressVPN is a great pick. If you’d like to try it but are worried about the pricing, you can use its 30-day money-back guarantee to get reimbursed if you don’t want to continue. Our ExpressVPN review has more.
- Pricing for the annual and biennial plans applies only on the first year.
- Unlimited GB
- 8
- Yes
Best Free VPN for Streaming Luther: Proton VPN
Proton VPN is the best free VPN for streaming Luther on TubiTV U.S. thanks to its free U.S. servers and unlimited data. You can connect to the free servers as much as you want without worrying about being cut off. Proton VPN also scores highly on the security and privacy fronts, which is hugely important to ascertain when it comes to any VPN, but especially free VPNs.
On the downside, while Proton VPN’s free plan is generous, you can only connect to servers in three countries: the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands. If you want to access servers elsewhere, like the U.K., you’ll have to upgrade. Take a gander at our Proton VPN review to get more into the nitty-gritty.
- Unlimited GB
- 1
- Yes
- 500 GB storage 1 user 15 extra email addresses for you Support for 3 custom email domains Unlimited folders and labels Unlimited hide-my-email aliases Dedicated customer support Ultra fast and private VPN Encrypted password manager Encrypted cloud storage for photos and documents Advanced account protection
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
- **Renewal prices differ for the 1-year and the 2-year plans. Price includes all premium Proton services (Proton Mail, Calendar, Drive, VPN, Pass, & Wallet)
- Unlimited GB
- 10
What Is Luther? Plot & Characters
Luther is a popular BBC television series in the crime drama, mystery and psychological thriller genres. It follows a talented yet obsessive murder detective, John Luther, as he navigates a tumultuous home life and the darkness that’s become part and parcel of his career. The fifth and final season of Luther was released in 2019.
The series has received glowing reviews for the most part, with Idris Elba receiving praise for his performance as the brooding and complicated Detective Chief Inspector John Luther.
Do You Have to Watch the Luther Series Before Luther: The Fallen Sun?
No, you don’t need to watch the series before watching Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023), which was directed by Jamie Payne. The film makes perfect sense without you having to invest time in the series if you don’t want to. However, you might want to give the series a shot, too, if you’re (understandably) intrigued by the complex sadistic serial killer hunter that is John Luther.
Cast and Crew of Luther
Luther was created by Neil Cross for BBC Studios. Cast members of the acclaimed series include:
| Performer | Character |
|---|---|
| Idris Elba | DCI John Luther |
| Alice Morgan | Ruth Wilson |
| Michael Smiley | Benny Silver |
| Warren Brown | DS Justin Ripley |
| Dermot Crowley | DCI/DSU Martin Schenk |
| Paul McGann | Mark North |
| Andy Serkis | David Robey (film) |
| Cynthia Erivo | DCI Odette Raine (film) |
Final Thoughts
If you were being driven to distraction by not being able to find Luther online, we hope our guide has been useful to you. Even if you decide that Luther isn’t your cup of tea, we still recommend getting a VPN so you can explore more streaming services and unblock content unavailable in your country.
NordVPN is the best VPN for streaming. Its two-year plan works out the cheapest in the long run. Plus, with NordVPN’s risk-free 30-day refund period, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving the service a try.
Have we managed to quell your fears about missing out on Luther? If so, which VPN will you use to access the streaming services hosting the series? Please leave a comment to share your thoughts. Thanks for reading.
FAQ: Streaming Luther Online
Yes, Luther is streaming on BBC iPlayer in the U.K., Britbox in the U.S., Australia and Canada, Amazon Prime Video U.S. with a BritBox add-on, TubiTV in the U.S., and Hoopla in the U.S. and Canada.
The series is not available on Netflix, but the 2023 movie Luther: The Fallen Sun is on the platform.
Yes. In the U.S., you can get a BritBox add-on with a seven-day free trial to watch the series on Amazon Prime Video. In other countries, you need to buy seasons or episodes. Luther might not be available to buy on Prime in some countries, however.
No, Luther isn’t currently on Hulu.