Ian Reed

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Reed is a character who appears in the first series of the BBC crime drama Luther. He is the best friend of the title character John Luther, however becomes an antagonist in the last two episodes of the first series after killing Luther's wife Zoe.

Biography
Ian Reed is the long time friend of DCI John Luther.

In Episode 5 of the first series, Ian is shown to be corrupt by taking bribes. He begins killing off criminals tied to a violent jewel heist, which ended with a woman being kidnapped and gutted alive. John later deduces that Ian is planning to kill off the members, and tries to stop him. At a hotel Ian comes to blows with Luther when killing the leader of the robbery, and although Luther tries to help Ian by offering to pass the killing off as self defense, Ian attempted to open fire and made his escape.

Ian had began to contemplate suicide worried that the net would be closing in. Instead he visited John's estranged wife Zoe and held her at gunpoint to force her to call John to come and meet him. Zoe panics over the phone begging John for help, and in frustration and on edge Ian ends up shooting her dead. Ian then blames Luther for her death, and trashes the house in order to set Luther up for the crime.

In Episode 6 it is shown Ian was successful in convincing the police that Luther had killed Zoe. In the finale Ian is shot dead by Alice Morgan.