Almost five years ago the mystery surrounding the supervillain “H” was finally cracked.
AC-12, the anti-corruption unit spearheaded by Ted Hastings, Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming, dismantled the organised crime syndicate in front of a record audience of 17 million.
After something of a mixed reaction to the unmasking of Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells, production on a seventh outing for Line of Duty will begin in Belfast next year.
Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar will reprise their roles in the creator Jed Mercurio’s six-part series, which is not expected to be broadcast before 2027.
Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar
AIDEN MONAGHAN/BBC
In the forthcoming series, AC-12 has been disbanded and rebranded the Inspectorate of Police Standards in an increasingly challenging climate for its anti-corruption work.
The unit is assigned its most sensitive case to date when a charismatic detective inspector, who has won plaudits for a string of takedowns of organised crime, is accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator.
But in characteristic fashion, larger questions loom as to whether the case is a deliberate distraction from a bigger threat that is still operating.
• Ten best TV detective duos, ranked by our critic
Mercurio said it was a privilege that so many viewers continued to be absorbed in the twists and turns of AC-12.
“Corruption in this country is supposed to have come to an end while Line of Duty was off air, so I’ve been forced to use my imagination,” he added.
Compston said his role as Arnott was the “job of a lifetime”.
“I can’t wait to pull the waistcoat on again and get the team back together,” he said.
Ben Dowell, deputy TV editor for The Times, predicted a return even as the credits were rolling on series six.
At the time he wrote: “This sixth series had a feel of finality, but sans Ted, with AC-12 likely to be denuded and Buckells looking like he may even get away with it, there is still much work to do.”
In July Dunbar said the actors were in the dark about plotlines
Discussing the potential for a seventh series in July, Dunbar admitted that the conclusion left audiences wanting more.
“It robbed us of a huge denouement. When you find out it is this idiot, Buckells, it is so frustrating,” Dunbar told The Times.
“There is a scene where the three of us are told who it is, and we look at each other and go, ‘What?’ We asked Jed to write that scene because we realised how our audience would feel. But Jed’s point was that police corruption can hang on one cop deciding to ignore one piece of information that comes across his desk.”
He added that the actors were as much in the dark about what the seventh series might contain as audiences.
And in another sign that the BBC is returning to some of its biggest dramas, there are reports that Suranne Jones will reprise her starring role in Doctor Foster after an eight-year break.
Jones is returning as the scorned GP who takes revenge on her cheating husband, played by Bertie Carvel, according to The Sun.
The show ended after two series with an audience of ten million.