Line of Duty gets major update with season 7 filming date ‘revealed’

Line of Duty’s return next year has reportedly been confirmed, after years of fans patiently waiting.

The beloved BBC series ran from 2012 to 2021 for 36 episodes across six seasons.

The police procedural drama starred Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar – who are now all set to return, it’s been claimed.

According to reports, season seven will be hitting screens next year, with the trio set to film the six-parter in January.

A source told The Sun: ‘This is the news Line of Duty fans have been waiting for since the sixth season left them deflated when it aired back in 2021.

‘The BBC almost immediately requested more episodes to continue the story, but the success of the show meant Vicky, Martin and Adrian were instantly snapped up for other projects.

‘But after several meetings with Jed [Mercurio, creator and writer] and the production team, they’ve finally managed to clear space in their calendars next year to commit to making the show.’

The publication claims show creator Jed has written most of the storyline for the new season, which will start production later this year and could even air towards the end of 2026.

This comes after months of clues being dropped about the future of the show.

At one point, Line of Duty became the highest-rated series on BBC Two in 10 years.

The last episode of season six in 2021, which revealed the identity of mysterious antagonist ‘H’, was watched by an estimated 16.44 million people, one of the largest TV audiences recorded during the Covid pandemic.

Its stellar cast also included appearances from the likes of Stephen Graham, Anna Maxwell Martin, and Keeley Hawes.

What have the Line of Duty stars said about the show returning?

Since the finale, fans have been given hope that it would one day return, with DS Steve Arnott actor Martin previously hinting season seven was on its way.

‘We have a chat group called “Line of Duty 6” and a while ago Jed changed the name of it to “Line of Duty 7”,’ he teased at the end of 2023.

Speaking on his own comedy podcast, Restless Natives, Martin continued: ‘What I love about it is we have never spoken about it since.

‘We have had such a good run with it and a bit of you does go “Let’s walk away on a high”, but we all want to work together again because we are so close.’

Vicky has also remained coy over Line of Duty’s return, but insisted she’s ‘love to’ revive the show.

When asked about the possibility of a new run on Good Morning Britain in 2022, the actress, who plays AC-12 member Kate Fleming, replied: ‘I’ve got nothing to tell you because I’ve got nothing to tell you.’ 

However, she added reassuringly: ‘I speak to the lads all the time and we’d love to, we’re all game. 

‘I think it’s just a case of now – Martin, I think he’s in about nine shows or something. He’s busy [but] I’m sure we’ll get there.’ 

Speaking of the rumours that have been swirling for months, she told Metro late last year: ‘It’s (the rumours) hard to ignore. We all read social media and all that kind of stuff.

‘But the great thing is that people love the show and we’re truly grateful that people love it.’

‘We made that show 10 years ago now, and it’s down to the audience that it’s the success that it is,’ she added.

Metro has approached the BBC and reps for Martin, Vicky and Adrian for comment.

Line of Duty is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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