Will there be Line of Duty season 7? What Adrian Dunbar said about another series or movie - and identity of H

Line of Duty star Martin Compston has hinted about the future of AC-12 when he was grilled on The One Show on Wednesday (24 August).

Speculation has been rife of a potential return of Line of Duty since lead actor Adrian Dunbar revealed there could be at least three more episodes of the hit series.

The host asked: "The question on everybody’s lips, is there a chance for another series of Line of Duty?"

Compston joked: "There’s always a chance but if I answer it there’s a good chance I’ll be killed off!

"It’s been 10 years now and the fact that people still want us back after six series is an amazing feeling."

The sixth series of the BBC One show, starring Compston as DI Steve Arnott alongside Vicky McClure, Adrian Dunbar and Kelly Macdonald, came to an end in May.

The final episode saw  the search for “H” – the corrupt officer responsible for the mass conspiracy – come to an end.

“All these suspicious deaths were orchestrated by one officer in particular – H, the fourth man,” says Superintendent Ted Hastings. The AC-12 team are seen in a shootout before viewers are told: “Every investigation has led to this.”

What did Compston say?

A seventh series has not yet been announced, with Compston telling the Shrine of Duty podcast “we won't do one just for the sake of doing it.”

"Jed [Mercurio, series creator] always takes time after a series, like a couple of months. There's a lot of stuff above my pay grade like analytics and audience scores. He takes the emotion out of it and looks at all that."

Earlier this year, Compston added that another series will only be written if “there's a story to be told”, and said the team behind Line of Duty “don't want to overdo it.”

"Ten years in you start to think of legacy, and if [the final episode] goes down that well it might be the perfect ending."

Mercurio, whose credits also include Bodyguard and Bodies, said: “Thanks so much to everyone watching #LineofDuty6. The whole production team is thrilled and flattered by the amazing response.”

What came from the final episode?

The final episode of season six secured its most-watched episode.

The penultimate episode of the police procedural earned an average of 11 million viewers and 51.7 per cent of the audience share, according to the broadcaster.

The sixth series has seen anti-corruption unit AC-12 take on a new case, but Detective Inspector Kate Fleming (McClure) is no longer on the squad and is working on a murder investigation with a different department, which has come under suspicion from AC-12.

The episode saw Acting Detective Superintendent Joanne Davidson (Macdonald), boss of the suspected department, unmasked by AC-12 and secrets about her family background revealed.

The sixth-season finale finally gave us the identity of ‘H’, The Fourth Man at the top of the OCG, wrapping up a story that had been running for a decade.

The season six finale saw anti-corruption trio Hastings, Arnott, and Fleming finally expose the identity of H, with DC Chloë Bishop discovering it was Ian Buckells all along, wrapping up a story that had been running for a decade.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.