LIFE & TIMES: Adrian Dunbar

As the actor, 62, continues his travels around his homeland in Adrian Dunbar’s Coastal Ireland (8pm, Ch5), we look back at the life and career of the Line Of Duty star…

● Adrian was born in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland on August 1, 1958, the eldest of seven siblings. Music was his first love and at 17, he was playing in a country music band – he later impersonated Elvis Presley in a cabaret act.

● At 18, he got involved with a local amateur dramatics group, and earned a place at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He graduated in 1983.

● During his time at drama school, his flatmate was Neil Morrissey, of Men Behaving Badly fame. Neil would later appear in Line Of Duty as crooked detective Nigel Morton.

● He has appeared in dozens of TV shows, including the first episode of Cracker (1993) and the last episode of A Touch

Of Frost (2010). He can also be spotted in movies such as My Left Foot (1989), Hear My Song (1991) – which he co-wrote, earning him a Bafta nomination

– and The Crying Game (1992).

● Line Of Duty writer Jed Mercurio wrote Superintendent Ted Hastings as a bumbling figure, but was so taken with Adrian’s audition that he rewrote the role to fit him. Covid-19 delayed filming of the new, sixth series of the police corruption drama, which is now expected later this year. The first five series are available on BBC iplayer, so you still have time to catch up.