Luther series 5: Who is Paul McGann's character Mark? Why the Doctor Who star is back on the scene

First we had George Cornelius reprise his relentless revenge mission, and then Alice Morgan made a shock comeback – now, Mark North (played by the Eighth Doctor Paul McGann) is back on the scene.

In episode three, Luther rocks up at Mark’s home with Alice and his colleague Benny Silver in tow, asking if they can use his house to hide from Cornelius.

But who is Mark, and why does he take this risk for Luther?

Refresh your memory of Mark’s story so far, below…

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Who is Mark North?

Mark is the former lover of Luther’s dead ex-wife Zoe. He first appeared in series one as a human rights lawyer who believed Zoe would be much safer and happier with him than with Luther. The two men were polar opposites and hated each other as they competed for Zoe’s affection.

For a while, Mark hated Alice too because she hired a group of girls to beat him up in an attempt to emasculate him and drive Zoe back to Luther.

After Zoe was accidentally killed by Luther’s colleague DCI Ian Reed at the end of series one, however, Mark and Luther found a mutual understanding through their grief.

Mark and Alice also then worked together with Luther to take down Reed.

Why has Mark returned to Luther?

Mark is back on the scene because Luther is using his home as a safe house to keep Alice and Benny free from the clutches of Cornelius (who wants to hurt everyone Luther loves because Alice killed his son and Luther failed to stop her).

Mark reluctantly lets them all in, but warns them not to drink all of his orange juice. Sorry Mark, but I think the OJ is going to be the least of your worries…

This article was originally published on 3 January 2019