Hit BBC show Line of Duty is back for a seventh series with lead guest star Robert Carlyle as a ‘gruff loner’ who finds that his boss is in the firing line
Ted Hastings didn’t float up the Lagan in a bubble, and he’s still going strong(Image: Steffan Hill)
It’s been five long years since we last saw AC-12 in action, but here’s the first glimpse at Line of Duty as they take on a case involving a popular and award-winning officer, who stands accused of being a sexual predator.
Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar reprise their roles in the six-part series, made by World Productions, which was filmed in Belfast earlier this year.
But when the seventh series launches on BBC1 in January, the anti-corruption unit in which Steve Arnott, Kate Fleming and Ted Hastings have successfully nailed many a bent copper, has been disbanded.
This time they will be working for the newly-created Inspectorate of Professional Standards, as they discover that anti-corruption work has never been more difficult. Naturally, against this backdrop, they are assigned their most sensitive case so far.
The cast will be joined by BAFTA-winning actor Robert Carlyle as the guest lead for this series, playing Police Constable Shaun Massie – a veteran marksman and a Specialist Rifle Officer who operates with Tactical Operations Unit 7 with the aim of taking down Organised Crime Groups.
As a gruff loner, Massie usually keeps himself to himself, but when TO-7’s commanding officer DI Dominic Gough is accused of being a sexual predator, his normally detached attitude changes dramatically.
Gough is played by Tom Weston-Jones, a charismatic officer who has won awards over his career for string of organised crime takedowns but now stands accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator.
But there could be more to it, with the team left wondering if his case is a deliberate distraction from a bigger threat still operating in the shadows.
Gough’s TO-7 team also includes Gavin & Stacey actress Laura Aikman as DC Paula Beckman, This Town’s Levi Brown as DC Luke Tobin, and Ackley Bridge’s Amy Leigh Hickman as DC Nira Rashid.
Returning characters include Mark Bonnar as Deputy Chief Constable Mike Dryden, Owen Teale as Chief Constable Philip Osborne, Perry Fitzpatrick as DS Chris Lomax and Christina Chong as DI Nicky Rogerson.
The series comes five years after 17 million viewers watched the 2021 finale to discover the identity of H.
Creator Jed Mercurio said: “Everyone involved in Line of Duty feels enormous gratitude to the show’s fans. We’re privileged to have had so many of you follow the ups and downs of AC-12 over six previous seasons and we couldn’t be more delighted to be returning for a seventh.”
And he quipped: “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.”
The lead actors said they were thrilled to be returning to the roles that now defined them. Martin said: “Line of Duty has been a job of a lifetime. Not only in terms of the show’s success but the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with I now call some of my closest friends. I can’t wait to pull the waistcoat on again and get the team back together.”
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