Line of Duty fans will reportedly have to wait longer to see the AC-12 team back in action.
According to The Sun, the next series has been put on hold after one of the lead stars signed up for a US TV series instead.
The BBC previously confirmed their plans to air a number of special episodes of Line of Duty this coming Christmas starring frontman Martin Compston as Steve Arnott.
But the much in demand Scots actor has reportedly committed to filming a second season of Amazon Prime Video's hit series The Rig instead, much to the disappointment of fans of the police crime drama.
An insider told the publication: “The Rig was a massive success for Prime Video, second only to Lord Of The Rings in terms of the millions who watched it around the world.
“Crucially, the show seemed to find a vast audience in the States, which provides Martin with the chance to raise his profile on the other side of the Atlantic and potentially carve out a career over there.
“It would also benefit him personally as he already has a house in the US with his American wife, Tianna Flynn, and their three-year-old son.”
Filming for the popular BBC drama show would have had to start filming this summer, alongside co-stars Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar.
Martin teased fans of the return of the show last summer, saying he was sure there would be another series “if there’s still a story to be told”.
Last year, Line Of Duty star Adrian Dunbar said the hit police drama could return for a seventh series of “three or four episodes” or “two 90-minutes” specials.
The 64-year-old actor, who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings in the BBC show, told The Times the final decision on the storyline was “entirely down” to creator Jed Mercurio.
The sixth series of the show came to an epic conclusion in May 2021 which saw the identity of the mysterious corrupt officer H unmasked and broke rating figures through the roof.
Despite bringing a long-running and dramatic storyline to an end, it also left the door open for another series to the delight of fans of the show.
Adrian said: “There’s a big appetite for more Line Of Duty. It could be three or four episodes; I don’t think there’s going to be six, for some reason.
“It might be two 90 minutes. But it’s all entirely down to Jed what the storyline is going to be. It’s a big ask for him.”
He added: “It’s going to be really good. Maybe someone’s going to die. Someone’s going to be under threat.
“He doesn’t mind killing characters off. Maybe he’ll kill us all off. A terrible car crash when we’re rushing to the scene of a crime? We’ll have to leave it to him.”
The final episode of the BBC One series saw Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells, played by Nigel Boyle, identified as the mysterious H, the corrupt police officer at the top of a criminal conspiracy which AC-12 were onto.
In June, Martin prompted speculation among fans when he posted a photo of himself having dinner with the starring trio, captioning the image “Talking tattoo designs”.
The group previously agreed they would get “AC-12 million” tattoos in reference to the show’s anti-corruption police unit if they reached 12 million viewers.
You can access season one of The Rig here and season two when it goes live on Prime Video here.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.
