Adrian’s goal-den role due to Fergie
LINE of Duty star Adrian Dunbar based his character on former football boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The actor, 58, has played tough-talking Ted Hastings in the hit crime drama since 2012.
In an exclusive chat, Adrian said: “When we started I didn’t do any specific research about my position as a police officer.
“But I did cast around in my mind for the kind of characters out there who I knew about and could research. “Strangely enough they came from all different places.
“One of them was Sir Alex Ferguson. An old-school man manager who has a really good instinct about how to handle people and get things happening. That’s the sort of person I was looking for.”
This series Ted has been accused of sexism by scheming Roz Huntley, played by Thandie Newton, 44.
He came under fire for calling her “darling” at a crime scene. In last weekend’s episode his police career was left hanging in the balance.
Adrian said: “Ted sees it from his point of view. In Ted’s world, he comes from a place in the past where the things that he says were perfectly normal.”
The current series of the show ends tonight with an action-packed finale. Eight million viewers are expected to switch on. Fans are desperate to find out who is the serial killer dubbed “Balaclava Man”.
But Adrian has hinted Ted could be killed off because series boss Jed Mercurio is ruthless.
He said: “I certainly don’t want to see Ted killed off but you do still open the scripts and think, ‘Are we going to get the axe?’.”
Line of Duty finishes tonight at 9pm on BBC One.