| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | 2point4 Children | Parachute Instructor | Episode: "Fortuosity" |
| Space Precinct | Pizza Delivery Man | Episode: "Double Duty" |
| 1994, 1995 | The Bill | Earl Lee, Alex Mason | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Absolutely Fabulous | Hilton | Episode: "Sex" |
| Bramwell | Charlie Carter | Episode: "The Outcast's Baby" |
| 1996 | The Governor | Officer Chiswick | 6 episodes |
| Crocodile Shoes II | Jo-Jo | Episode: "Troubled Man" |
| The Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Raffy, Pest Controller | 4 episodes |
| Crucial Tales | Benton | Episode: "Spiders and Flies" |
| 1997 | Insiders | Robinson Bennett | 6 episodes |
| Family Affairs | Tim Webster | 7 episodes |
| Silent Witness | Charlie | Episode: "Blood, Sweat & Tears" |
| 1998 | Verdict | PC Brian Rawlinson | Episode: "Neighbours from Hell" |
| Ultraviolet | Vaughan Rice | 6 episodes |
| 1999 | Dangerfield | Matt Gregory | 12 episodes |
| 2000 | In Defence | PC Paul Fraser | Episode #1.3 |
| 2001 | London's Burning | Cpl. Richard Frost | 2 episodes |
| Law & Order | Lonnie Liston | Episode: "3 Dawg Night" |
| 2002 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Robert Gabriel | Episode: "Payment in Blood" |
| Hack | Mac Boone | Episode: "My Alibi" |
| 2002–2004 | The Wire | Russell "Stringer" Bell | 37 episodes |
| 2003 | CSI: Miami | Angelo Sedaris | Episode: "The Best Defense" |
| Queens Supreme | Carla | Episode: "Mad About You" |
| Soul Food | Smitty | Episode: "Sacrifice Fly" |
| 2005 | Girlfriends | Paul | Episode: "All in a Panic" |
| Sometimes in April | Augustin Muganza | Television film |
| Jonny Zero | Hodge | Episode: "To Serve and to Protect" |
| 2006 | All in the Game | Paul | Television film |
| 2008 | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | Charles Gotso | Episode: "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" |
| 2009 | The Office | Charles Miner | 7 episodes |
| 2010 | The Big C | Lenny | 4 episodes |
| Walk Like a Panther | —N/a | Executive producer |
2010–2011, 2013,
2015, 2019 | Luther | John Luther | 20 episodes; also associate producer |
| 2011 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force | Police Officer | Voice role; episode: "Intervention" |
| How Hip Hop Changed the World | —N/a | Executive producer |
| Demons Never Die | —N/a |
| 2012 | Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed the World | Himself (host) | Television documentary |
| 2013 | Idris Elba: King of Speed | 2 episodes |
| 2013, 2015 | Playhouse Presents | Akuna's Father, Narrator | Also wrote and directed "The Pavement Psychologist" |
| 2015 | Idris Elba: No Limits | Himself (host) | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Guerrilla | Kentoro "Kent" Abbasi | 4 episodes; also executive producer |
| Five by Five | Alpha Ash | 2 episodes; also executive producer |
| Idris Elba: Fighter | Himself (host) | Miniseries; also executive producer |
| The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017 | Television special |
| 2018–2020 | In the Long Run | Walter Easmon | 19 episodes; also creator |
| 2018 | The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 | Himself (host) | Television special |
| 2019 | Saturday Night Live | Episode: "Idris Elba/Khalid" |
| Turn Up Charlie | Charlie Ayo | 8 episodes; also creator and executive producer |
| 2020 | Coronavirus, Explained | Narrator | Episode: "How to Cope" |
| Idris Elba Meets Paul McCartney | Himself | 60-minute BBC special |
| 2022 | Idris Elba's Fight School | Himself (presenter) | Five-part series[8] |
| Zootopia+ | Chief Bogo | Voice role, episode: "So You Think You Can Prance?" |
| 2023 | What If...? | Heimdall | Voice role, episode: "What if... Hela Found the Ten Rings?" |
| 2023–present | Hijack | Sam Nelson | Main role |
| 2024 | Knuckles | Knuckles the Echidna | Voice role, miniseries; also executive producer |
| 2025 | Our Knife Crime Crisis | Himself (presenter) | Television special[9][10] |
| The Simpsons | The Devil | Voice role, episode: "Treehouse of Horror XXXVI"[11] |
| TBA | The Greatest of All Time † | TBA | Filming |
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