Adrian Dunbar has said he's hopeful of more Line of Duty next year.
The Enniskillen actor, who plays Superintendent Edward “Ted” Hastings in the show, was speaking to Belfast Live in his hometown on Friday.
Fans of the show have been eagerly awaiting confirmation that there will be a seventh series of the popular BBC drama.
Read more: Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar to become ambassador of GAA club in hometown of Enniskillen
Dunbar has made no secret of the fact he would like to see the show return for another series.
He said: "I think we might be doing something (with Line of Duty) next year. Fingers crossed. There is scope for more definitely and there's a bit of cliffhanger there (at the end of series six).
"It was concluded but you know some people felt is there something else out there? There's always something else out there isn't there really? Anyway something else is going to happen and it's going to happen next year but what it is, I have no idea."
He added: "I haven't seen a script and nobody has told me anything about it but I hope it happens because it means we'll be back in Belfast.
"Because there's no Covid, we'll be able to hang out together and have fun. We had to stay in our own little bubble (when filming the last series) and that was it so it was a bit restrictive."
His co-star Martin Compston, who plays DI Steve Arnott, also recently admitted he would like the show to return, but as yet nothing has been decided.
Dunbar, 63, was back in Fermanagh this week to become an ambassador for his local GAA club, Enniskillen Gaels. The actor, who is well-known for contributing to community groups in the area, attended an event in the Westville Hotel on Friday night to present the club’s development plans for its Brewster Park ground.
The club is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its ground opening this year and aiming to upgrade and improve its facilities to cater for the "modern club who sit at the heart of their community".
Dunbar said being selected to take on the role of club ambassador was "a huge honour".
"I know I've got a public profile but at the same time, you don't treat these things lightly. It really is an honour for me and my family that they've decided to choose me as an ambassador and I hope I live up to the job.
"I intend to help them in whatever way I can and the idea is for me to contact people beyond the town here to get them involved in helping with the club's plans. The plans are really ambitious and look great."
But when asked if Ted Hastings would make a good GAA manager, Dunbar said: "I think he'd be bang into the GAA but the thing about Ted is he probably comes from Antrim so he's probably hopeful but not over hopeful about what his team might be up to. They're quite good at hurling up there so maybe he'd be a hurling man."
The actor said he was also chuffed when a mural of his famous on-screen character, Superintendent Ted Hastings, created by Belfast-based artist Karl Fenton, was revealed on the back wall of Charlie’s Bar in Enniskillen last September.
"I'm very proud to see that somebody hasn't defaced it yet because that's usually the way all murals go at some stage," he joked.
"It's really a very good mural and I made sure I got a photo of myself standing beside it last time I was here. Of course I got loads of people sending me texts the minute it was done. It's a testament to the legend that is Ted Hastings. You know you've made it when they do a mural of you!"
Dunbar’s mother Pauline, who was herself a former actress, passed away in December.
Just two months earlier, the star dedicated his GQ Television Actor of the Year award to the 89-year-old, who had then just recovered from coronavirus.
Mrs Dunbar had Alzheimer's and lived in a local care home.
When asked about her influence on his life and chosen career path, her famous son said: "My mother was a singer and sung in a choir all her life. She instilled in me a love of music and performance as she did a lot of pantomimes and Gilbert and Sullivan work in the town in the 1950s and 60s.
"She loved performers and would comment about people she liked on the telly or singers so I always had that sense that performing was something that was open to us.
"She had a huge influence on me and on a whole lot of other people as well. Also because my father died at 50, she had five kids at home and so she was a bit of an inspirational character really, my mother."
While we may have to wait a while yet to see Dunbar back in his Line of Duty role, he'll be hitting our screens later in the autumn in new ITV detective drama Ridley.
He is taking the titular role across four two-hour episodes, playing Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who is retiring from the police after years of dedicated service.
His replacement is DI Carol Farman, played by The Fall's Bronagh Waugh, a former protégée whom Ridley mentored for many years and is now in charge of investigations.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed that the public will like it. I hope so," he added.
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