Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has said it’s likely the beloved crime drama is set to return to screens very soon.
First airing in 2012, the British police procedural was created by Jed Mercurio and centred on Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12), a fictional team tasked with ‘policing the police’.
It starred Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, and Dunbar as DS Steve Arnott, DI Kate Fleming, and Superintendent Ted Hastings.
The show – which ran for six seasons before wrapping up in 2021 – set viewing records for the BBC, becoming the highest-rated drama in the UK since 2002.
It came to an end in 2021 when Steve and the team finally uncovered the identity of elusive criminal ringleader ‘H.’
Although the show hasn’t been on air for four years, it was never officially cancelled, with its creator and stars expressing interest in reviving the show several times in recent years.
World Productions/ BBC/ Bernard Walsh)
BBC/ World Productions/ Steffan Hill)
Now Adrian has again weighed in on the rumours it’s set to return – giving an update that will surely make fans ecstatic.
In an interview with Radio Times, he said the major stars were all in constant communication.
‘Myself, Martin and Vicky talk all the time, but Jed, not so much, because he’s working on a project in the US at the minute,’ he said.
‘So yeah, we’re very tight, and we’ll meet up and have a curry, then the internet goes mad if we’re all seen together.
‘There were signs that we were going to be doing something next year. We’re all waiting for the BBC to say, “Yeah, it’s happening”. An official confirmation is what we’re waiting on, but all the signs are very good. Jed hasn’t given us any updates – he’s beavering away, I suspect.’
He went on: ‘One of the shocking things that I realised after series two or three was the writer can just do away with you. Vicky usually gets the scripts first, and she’s a very quick reader, so she will start sending us cryptic messages that’ll really unnerve me and Martin. Like, “Oh my God, episode three – what happens to you!”
In a recent interview with The Telegraph last week, he was also asked point-blank if a seventh season was on the cards.
‘Oh, it’s definitely coming back,’ he said. ‘Some time next year. We’re just waiting for the BBC to announce it.’
Although the actor, 66, has announced the show’s return several times in the past few years, only for nothing to eventuate, he is certain this time.
‘I know Jed is writing. And Martin and Vicky are very keen,’ he added.
Earlier this year, in April, The Sun first reported that Line of Duty was returning.
‘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,’ a source told the publication.
‘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 and the production team, they’ve finally managed to clear space in their calendars next year to commit to making the show.’
The publication claimed Jed had written most of the storyline for the new season, which it said would production later this year and could even air towards the end of 2026.
Since the finale, talks of a subsequent season have repeatedly been raised.
In 2023, Martin teased: ‘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 later said on his podcast, Restless Natives: ‘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.’
Meanwhile, Vicky said she’d ‘love’ to revive the show.
At the time Line of Duty’s season 6 finale aired, the BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore said that she was ‘looking forward to having a conversation with the team about where we go next and what the future of the series might be’.
Metro has contacted the BBC for comment.
Line of Duty is streaming on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
A version of this article was originally published on July 29, 2025.
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