Line Of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has addressed whether the hit police drama could return for a seventh series as fans of the police procedural desperately await an answer.
The 64-year-old actor, who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings in the BBC show, told The Times the final decision on the storyline is “entirely down” to creator Jed Mercurio.
He is set to reunite with Mercurio and co-stars Martin Compston and Vicky McClure at the end of the month for a curry, and suggested they “might hear something” about more episodes then.
However loyal fans may be in for a treat, as the member of the AC-12 trio hinted at a seventh season, but with a catch.
Dunbar 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 sixth series of the police drama, which aired from last year, was a ratings success, with its dramatic finale revealing the identity of the mysterious corrupt officer H.
The finale pulled in 15.24 million viewers, making it the UK’s most-watched drama series of the 21st century.
The final episode of the BBC One series saw Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells, played by Nigel Boyle, unmasked as the mysterious H, the corrupt police officer at the top of a criminal conspiracy.
Despite bringing a long-running storyline to an end, the series finale also left the door open for another series.
In June, Compston prompted speculation among fans when he posted a photo of himself having dinner with McClure, Dunbar and Mercurio.
The trio are seen enjoying some food alfresco as well as sharing a bottle of wine, which could be seen in the middle of the table.
Martin simply captioned the post: "Talking tattoo designs," alongside a red heart emoji.
Many of Martin's followers felt this was a massive reference to the hit BBC series because the cast were said to have agreed to get matching ‘AC-12 million’ tattoos following the huge success of series six after it reached over 12 million in viewer ratings.
