Idris Elba 'joins bid to buy Channel 4'

Idris Elba is involved in talks to buy Channel 4.

The ‘Luther’ star is currently discussing being part of a bid to buy the state-owned broadcaster.

The takeover attempt is being spearheaded by Marc Boyan, who helms production and marketing company Miroma.

Idris, 49, is thinking about becoming a part of the effort to purchase Channel 4, after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced plans to privatise the not-for-profit broadcaster, the Sunday Times newspaper reports.

Idris is now one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. But at the start of his career, he made numerous appearances on British TV shows, like the soap 'Family Affairs', and he previously confessed that the experience remains close to his heart.

He shared: "At the time Channel 5 didn’t have lots of viewers. Few thousand, probably? But because they were a new channel they were courageous, they put lots of new young actors on screen, and I hold the experience close to my heart. It was a time that exploded my confidence."

Years later he returned to UK screens in Sky One’s ‘In the Long Run’, bringing a fictionalised version of his late father, Winston Elba, to life.

Idris said: "That show was a joy to make, a joy to share. It brought back memories that blew my mind. It was a rollercoaster."

The ‘Beasts of No Nation’ star opted to make the series humorous, even though it lent itself to something more gritty.

Idris said: "We’d chosen to make a comedy. It could quite easily have been a drama, though, about what life was really like in the early 70s for African families in London. But we made it a comedy. And that was the rollercoaster, changing storylines to be more ideal than the reality. You make something a comedy. But life’s not like that. Life’s not a comedy."