Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
DUTY CALLS AGAIN
A new recruit, a fresh suspect – and a lot of big questions answered when Line Of Duty returns for its sixth series
Will the identity of corrupt police officer H finally be revealed? How many police acronyms can they slot into a single episode? Which high-profile character will be killed off? And what amusing new catchphrase will Superintendent Hastings come up with? Yes, brilliant Line Of Duty is back for a nail-biting sixth run – extended to seven episodes instead of the usual six – with a new suspect and a host of questions to answer.
The show focuses on the anticorruption unit AC-12, which has witnessed the deaths of a host of bent coppers as they attempt to take them down.
But fans will know that AC-12 has struggled with the bigger mystery over the identity of the police chief – referred to as H – who’s in cahoots with an Organised Crime Group (OCG). Perhaps this time they’ll get to the truth?
‘I feel like the last two series have been building up to this one,’ says Martin Compston, who plays AC-12 detective Steve Arnott. ‘There is a lot going on and there will be a lot of big questions answered. But all the drama that everyone loves will be there too.’
The action begins 18 months after the events of series five, when the key crime-busting duo, Arnott and DI Kate Fleming (Vicky Mcclure), found their unit and their boss, Supt Hastings, played by Adrian Dunbar, under intense suspicion. While they managed to extricate Northern Irishman Hastings – who’s known for sayings such as ‘Now we’re sucking diesel’ – out of his immediate predicament, there are still huge question marks over him.
Arnott and Fleming are both unhappy with AC-12 – could they be about to leave the unit? Meanwhile they’ve been joined by enthusiastic investigator DC Chloe Bishop (Shalom Brune-franklin). And then AC-12 is asked to investigate DCI Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald, after a raid she leads to find the suspect in the murder of a journalist goes disastrously wrong.
Kelly says that it took her some time to say yes to the role because
she was so nervous about joining such a popular series. ‘It is such a well-loved show that taking on the guest lead role is a bit like being the new James Bond,’ she says. ‘It’s flattering, exciting and nerve-racking. Joanne is a tortured, lonely person – as the series develops you find out more about why she is like she is.’
While audiences can come into the series without knowing much about the background, for hardcore fans who have been watching and rewatching it all there will be much to look forward to, the team says. ‘Lots of people love to follow the show forensically and for them there will be lots of pay-offs,’ says Adrian. ‘The characters have moved on but the past always looms large.’
Nicole Lampert Line Of Duty, tomorrow, 9pm, BBC1.