Here's our first proper look at the return of Ruth Wilson's Alice Morgan in Luther

But with no death shown on screen, we always suspected she might be back – and after months of rumours, the fifth series of Luther will see Ruth Wilson return as the psychopathic Alice, set to cause havoc again.

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• Meet the cast of Luther series five

And no-one is more pleased to have the killer queen returning than Wilson herself, who explained that it was “great to be back” in the BBC1 drama.

“I’ve missed Alice as everyone else has. She’s a really fun character to play and I get to do some action in this season,” the 36-year-old explained.

Teasing what is to come, Wilson added that Alice is back to her malicious best in the new series, ready to pounce on more victims.

“It’s an action-packed series. Alice is back with a vengeance. She’s funnier than ever; she’s more lethal than ever and she and Luther get up to some dastardly things.

“I get to kill a few more people… and have some great scenes with Idris.”

Alice is very much alive and kicking very early on in the new series, returning home to seek out old friends.

“We find that Alice isn’t actually dead. Things have all gone a bit wrong, so she’s come back to get Luther’s help,” Wilson hinted ahead of the new series.

It seems as if Luther is returning to its roots for its fifth series, with Idris Elba teasing we’ll see some “classic moments” from the troubled London detective.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel,” he said. “There is a lot of excitement about the characters that are in this one. There’s no point in trying to make something unfamiliar.”

“There is unfinished business, but there’s also more Luther. There’s more of that really complex character that I love to play.”

Luther series five begins on New Year’s Day at 9pm on BBC1.

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