Line of Duty star Martin Compston has shared a disappointing update on the show's potential return.
The hit BBC drama last aired in 2021 with its sixth season, which appeared to be the series' ending, though fans have been hoping for a seventh installment.
However, Compston – who plays Steve Arnott – has admitted that there's "nothing coming soon" for the show.
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Revealing he has seen creator Jed Mercurio and co-star Vicky McClure socially recently, he added (via The Sun) that "it will be a sad day when people stop asking about Line of Duty" and that he appreciates "that people want it back".
However, if it were to happen, Compston said that a new season would be dependent on Mercurio, sharing: "I trust Jed implicitly and, if he decided it wasn’t right for it to come back, then so be it.
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"If he decided to kill any of us off, we’d be gutted. We’d only do it for what’s best for the show, and if that was his decision, then that would be it.
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"What’s great about it at the moment is we’re not planning on doing it, but it’s nice knowing it’s ‘out there’. That’s a lovely feeling."
The star also revealed why a Line of Duty movie wouldn't work, saying that while it would be "great" to transfer to the big screen, "in practice, you’d need to do a five-part movie and release them all at the same time".
"You need a six-hour set up for our show, you need to find the story, it needs to last," he said. "You couldn’t do it in two hours. Line of Duty’s series finales alone are usually 90 minutes long, and that’s just one out of six episodes.
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"A movie for us just wouldn’t make sense. With Peaky Blinders, you can get away with it. But we need to set up the new characters, what’s going on, and dive into the new case. I just don't think it would work."
It comes after fellow show star Christina Chong appeared to suggest that a seventh season was in the works, claiming that she had been asked about returning as DI Nicola Rogerson.
"So I have been asked about a season. Is it seven? Yeah. Potentially, Nicola Rogerson will be back for season seven," she told The Mirror.
Line of Duty can be streamed in full on BBC iPlayer.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
