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Lucifer: Netflix fantasy procedural series to address police brutality and Black Lives Matter

Netflix series imagines world where Lucifer works for the Los Angeles police

Isobel Lewis
Friday 21 August 2020 08:08 BST
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Lucifer: Season 5 trailer

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Netflix’s Lucifer will address police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement in its sixth season, its showrunner has revealed.

The fantasy series imagines a world in which Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has abandoned hell to work as a civilian consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Lucifer returns for the first half of its fifth season on Netflix on Friday (21 August), after which it will return for a sixth and final season.

Speaking to ET Online, showrunner Ildy Modrovich revealed that season six would “speak directly” about police brutality, adding: “I feel nervous about it because I want to get it right.

“When we got back to the [writers'] room, we started looking at the fact that we’re a cop show and in what ways have we contributed or not addressed the systemic issues of the police department,” explained Modrovich, who has also worked on police procedural CSI: Miami.

Tom Ellis and Aimee Garcia in 'Lucifer'
Tom Ellis and Aimee Garcia in 'Lucifer' (John P Fleenor/Netflix)

“We decided we wanted to speak to it... and go at it through our characters’ eyes from an emotional place and not a preachy place. To really look at the situation socially, emotionally and have it resonate on a deeper level than just words or rhetoric.”

She also revealed that black members of the cast and writing team had been consulted about their personal experiences of systemic racism.

Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality have taken place across the world following the death of George Floyd in May, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

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