Line of Duty's writer Jed Mercurio said he was "flattered and honoured" after he was awarded an OBE - but refused to say whether the show would return.
The screenwriter and producer, who also penned Bodyguard which starred Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, proudly displayed his medal for services to TV drama.
He was awarded the medal by Princess Anne and said: "The ceremony was really enjoyable, very relaxed and the Princess Royal asked me a few questions about my work, and it was a very pleasant conversation”.
When he was asked whether there would be another series of Line of Duty, he said: "If that happens, I guess we’ll tell people.”
Asked what made his work so successful, the writer said: “I honestly don’t know.
“I’m just really flattered and honoured that so many people watch them and seem to enjoy them and it’s a great privilege.”
His latest series Trigger Point, a six-part ITV thriller about a terrorist summer campaign – again starring Vicky McClure, recently debuted to rave reviews.
In terms of other current projects, he said: “We’re just about to start filming the second season of Bloodlands.
“Again, I’m the executive producer of that.”
He has also been teaching an online screenwriting course via BBC Maestro, revealing tricks from his 25-year career that he shared through workshops and festivals before the pandemic hit.
Asked what advice he would give his students, he said: “You need to work hard at your writing, you need to keep trying.
“You constantly need to be generating material, and eventually if you keep doing that you’ll be successful”.
On the proudest achievement in his career, Mercurio said: “I think the fact that I’m still able to create television having been in the industry for a long time, I think recent years have been very difficult for a lot of people in the industry.
“A lot of people have suffered loss of livelihood and loss of employment, so I’m just counting my blessings.”
Mercurio, from Nelson in Lancashire, began his screenwriting career penning medical dramas such as Cardiac Arrest after practising as a hospital doctor for four years.
He has also taken his writing skills to another medium, authoring several books and a graphic novel called Sleeper with the writer and actor Prasanna Puwanarajah.
Others high-achievers who were honoured at Tuesday’s investitures included politician Kim Leadbeater, the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox; Oscar-winning cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins; Wendy Williams, a solicitor who conducted the 2018 review into the Windrush scandal.
Others include neuroscientist and laughter expert Professor Sophie Scott; and Peter Martin, a telecoms engineer who worked through the night to restore a phone line at the Sandringham Estate before Christmas 2020.
