Idris Elba Fronts BBC Doc on U.K. Knife Crime: “Perpetrators Are Younger, Fear Is Spreading”

British actor Idris Elba (Luther, Hijack) will front a new BBC One documentary on the reality of knife crime in the U.K.

In recent years, the star has been vocal as an anti-knife crime activist and hopes the hourlong program, Idris Elba: A Year of Knife Crime (a working title), will spotlight solutions to solve the crisis. He will meet with young offenders, bereaved families, youth workers and the police in a bid to understand the uptick in knife crime across Britain.

The film will feature a meeting with U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer, who said that his government would commit to halving knife crime if elected, and a meeting with King Charles to discuss ways to solve the problem.

A BBC press release said: “Idris faced crossroads in his life as a teenager and knows how easy it would have been to go down a different path, having grown up in what he describes as a tough part of East London, where violence was always a possibility.”

Elba said: “So many people dismiss knife crime as something that doesn’t affect them, assuming it’s a black and brown urban and gang-related problem — but this couldn’t be further from the truth.” He continued: “White, middle class and rural areas are also affected, perpetrators are getting younger and fear is spreading. I hope our film goes some way towards changing these stereotypes and getting everyone to engage with one of the biggest challenges of our time. For me, it’s been a tough year — but I’m hopeful.”

The documentary is produced by 22Summers for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The executive producers are Diene Petterle (In Cold Blood, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now) and Nina Davies (Jews Don’t Count, Better off Dead?). Leanne Hayman (Tagged) is a producer and Ben Steele (Bad Surgeon, Dead Calm) directs. It was commissioned by Joanna Carr, head of BBC Current Affairs. The commissioning editor for the BBC is Gian Quaglieni.