The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
DOING TWIST AGAIN IN LINE OF DUTY FOR SHOW’S FANS
AC-12 are back, and there’s one question on everyone’s lips: Who is H? Georgia Humphreys meets the stars of the nation’s top cop show
F ew shows whip their fans into a frenzy like Line Of Duty does. The anticipation surrounding series six of the BBC police drama is immense – heightened, perhaps, because of a delayed air date (filming had to be halted thanks to the Covid pandemic).
You see, Ted Hastings’ famous catchphrases – “Mother of God!” – Jed Mercurio’s clever writing, and the high calibre of guest stars are just a few elements that make Line Of Duty stand out in the world of TV dramas.
And you won’t be disappointed by the seven new episodes, which are set 18 months on from series five, and see the return of stars Vicky Mcclure (DI Kate Fleming), Adrian Dunbar (Supt Ted Hastings) and Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott), alongside new faces Shalom Brune-franklin and Kelly Macdonald.
Scot Macdonald is this series’ guest lead – she plays Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson, a senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder case. Her suspicious conduct attracts the attention of Anti-corruption and, as AC-12 uncover deeper and darker information, DCI Davidson could turn out to be their most dangerous adversary yet…
Meanwhile, we know there’s a fourth and final H yet to be identified within the Central Police (that’s the codename for a network of corrupt police which has been discovered in the previous series, remember?).
The cast members are all very careful not to give away any spoilers, but Nottingham native Mcclure, 37, says: “I think what we can safely say is that we’re all facing consequences from series five.”
Scottish star Compston, who hails from Greenock, gives a little more away about the drama to come.
“The relationship between all the characters is probably a bit strained after everything they’ve been through – and Steve is struggling with his back,” reveals the 36-yearold. “He’s getting more and more problems with painkillers. There’s some darker stuff for him because he’s kind of got this image in his head that he’s sort of like ‘Super Cop’ and he doesn’t want to give that image away, so he’s kind of coming to a breaking point.”
Trainspotting and Boardwalk Empire star Macdonald suggests her character is “tortured” and “lonely”.
“I was extremely nervous to become involved in the project,” she says. “The guest lead status does feel pretty momentous. It was a bit like being the new James Bond.”
Shalom Brune-franklin, 26, who’s appeared in Our Girl, plays “diligent” DC Chloe Bishop, and was also incredibly scared arriving at the readthrough with the cast. “I remember having a mental breakdown in the toilets before, going to my friend on the phone: ‘I don’t think I can do this, they’re all in there!’”
The rising star – who was born in the UK, but moved to Australia as a teen – says the difficult dialogue was the most challenging part of the role, recalling how the police interview scenes were sometimes half-hourlong takes.
“Martin was always going, ‘You’re going to be fine. If you mess up, we’ll just go back and go again’. But I was like, ‘I can’t be the person to mess up, I’m brand new.’”
Brune-franklin also says that filming during Covid meant the shoot was a more “lonely experience” than it would have been normally because the cast weren’t able to socialise together as much.
And asked how she has found life in lockdown, This Is England star Mcclure says it “has been what it’s been for everybody – scary and difficult. You’ve just got to be careful of how much news you watch”.
Compston, meanwhile, reflects on what was “heartbreaking” about returning to film Line Of Duty in Belfast, after the first lockdown last spring. “There’s a wee lovely restaurant below the place we used to stay and you could see a lovely couple who ran the place was packing up, shutting down,” he says.
“And it’s the same back home in Greenock. People’s livelihoods have been decimated by this, and they’re going to be living with repercussions. So, it really made you appreciate the fact that we can get back to work, and you don’t take it for granted.”
Many of us have turned to entertaining posts and videos on social media to cheer us up during the pandemic, and for Line Of Duty fans, one in particular may come to mind. Last October, Mcclure posted a clip on Twitter of her, Compston, and Dunbar performing a Tiktok dance, and it quickly went viral.
“This is Vicky and her evil sense of humour; she ambushes you,” quips Dunbar, 62.
Line Of Duty, BBC1, Sunday, March 21.