Line of Duty fans believed they had found some fresh hope for a seventh series of the BBC police procedural – but all is not as it seems.
The critically acclaimed crime thriller wrapped up with a ‘final’ series in 2021, but speculation has remained rife ever since that series creator Jed Mercurio and the show’s stars could be back for more.
Eagle-eyed viewers spotted what appeared to be an update on the show’s filming schedule, suggesting the AC-12 are set to get back together for a new anti-corruption investigation.
The update was posted to the Film & Television Industry Alliance website, which shares details of all major film and TV projects currently in pre-production or development.
The listing includes details of the cast, with Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar as the elite police taskforce, as well as Mercurio as writer and producer.
It also states that the seventh series is currently in pre-production, with filming set to begin on December 1 this year.
The shooting locations listed are Belfast and Birmingham, which is in line with previous seasons. The show’s first series was shot in Birmingham, before subsequent seasons moved to Northern Ireland.
However, Metro understands that the post on the film and TV production website was actually in reference to season four, which aired in 2017.
The post was shared to an ever-active Reddit thread dedicated to the show, where some fans were hopeful, while others already suspected it might not paint the whole picture.
@Marcbeightsix wrote in response: ‘It would very much surprise me that they film over the winter considering the amount of outdoor shoots they need to do.’
Meanwhile, @SlapDatBassBro agreed that they were ‘not too convinced’, referring to the project summary as ‘AI slop’. The summary on the website reads: ‘Police drama about the investigations of anticorruption unit AC-12.
‘When DCI Roz Huntley captures a serial killer, the chief forensic investigator alerts AC-12 to a possible miscarriage of justice.’
@Winter_Machine5572, who shared the initial listing, wrote: ‘This website also has production info for Season 6 listed, stating that it began filming in February 2020. This turned out to be correct, so gives the Season 7 shoot date some credibility.’
Metro contacted Jed Mercurio and the BBC for comment.
Line of Duty is available to stream on BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Prime Video.
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