Line Of Duty will return to the BBC for a seventh series, with Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston all coming back to reprise their roles as the anti-corruption cops of AC-12
Martin Compston lets slip Line Of Duty spoiler(Image: BBC)
Martin Compston has dropped a spoiler about the next series of Line Of Duty, along with a secret issue that meant it was five years before the long-awaited seventh series was announced.
Speaking about the series on Chis Moyles‘ Radio X show, Martin let slip that “Some of the other cast they’ve got coming in is quite exciting”. This revealed that the show is expanding it’s cast beyond the core three, Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin himself.
In previous seasons of Line Of Duty, those three played the primary characters who made up the anti-corruption unit AC-12. Over six series, they tried to catch the elusive H, the ringleader of a group of corrupt coppers that secretly worked for an organised crime syndicate.
Line of Duty is returning for a seventh series(Image: PA)
The series has included several guests stars who have been in the show for only a series, such as Kelly Macdonald, Anna Maxwell Martin, Lennie James and Stephen Graham. Almost always, the police officer investigated in that series will not be in another, but that was not the case for Keeley Hawes’ Lindsay Denton, who was investigated in season two, but made a surprise comeback in series three.
Martin has promised that the seventh series will be as amazing as the first six. “It’s good! I mean, and because he’s [Jed Mercurio] took that time, he’s got a great story. It’s exciting. Like, it’s a real page turner already!” he said. The actor added that he was “excited” to get back to Belfast for filming, which will begin next year.
Both Vicky McClure and Martin Compston will be back(Image: BBC)
At the end of series six, which aired in 2021 but was filmed pre-COVID, Kelly Macdonald’s Joanne Davidson was arrested after her corruption was proved and turned informant. As such, she turned informant, revealing who H was and ending the series’ overarching story. When the sixth season came to a close, some thought it was the end for good, as there were no unanswered questions.
But Martin has revealed that they always intended to have another series. “We always thought we’d do another one, but we just didn’t want to give people false hope and say, ‘Look, we’re doing one’ and then, as it has been, it’s been five years.”
He added that there was a secret difficulty behind the reason it’s taken so long to do another series. “We’ve all been away working on other things, you know? So, we’re very lucky to be in that position. And Jed himself has been away doing a massive Netflix show, so it’s the kind of first time we said, ‘Alright, next year we’ll all clear our diaries for that.’”
The series began in 2012(Image: BBC/World Productions/Ed Miller)
Chris Moyles confirmed that it was busy schedules keeping the cast away from the show, asking: “That’s the thing. It’s your diaries more than anything else, isn’t it?”
“Trying to get you four of us together!” laughed Martin. He then confirmed that filming would begin in 2026, to which Chris asked if that meant we’d be getting the show the same year.
“I doubt…” started Martin. “Well, I mean, things turn around. I mean, I only finished The Revenge Club in August and it’s out this week, so the turnaround… But I think with that, they like to take their time. So, we’ll see how it goes.”
