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Line of Duty is a British police procedural and serial drama television series created and written by Jed Mercurio for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).[1][2] Mercurio originally pitched the programme to BBC One, but was turned down and directed towards BBC Two,[3] which commissioned the series nine months later.[4] It premiered on 26 June 2012 with a five-episode first series which concluded on 24 July.[5][6] The programme performed well and quickly earned a commission for a second series.[7] The six-episode second series aired from 2 February to 19 March 2014.[8] Although viewing figures were slightly lower than the first,[9] BBC Two commissioned a third and fourth series of the programme.[10] The third began broadcasting on 24 March 2016 and finished six weeks later on 28 April.[11] Series three surpassed the viewership of the first series and was the most viewed series on BBC Two in over ten years,[12] leading to the commissioning of a fifth series.[13]
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Around the time of the commissioning of the new series, a restructuring of BBC television networks occurred, causing ownership over BBC One and BBC Two to become consolidated under Charlotte Moore.[14] Following these changes, the decision was made to promote Line of Duty to BBC One for the fourth series onwards.[15] Series four aired from 26 March to 30 April 2017[16][17] followed by the fifth from 31 March to 5 May 2019.[18][19] Following the fourth, the programme was also commissioned for series six.[20] A special mini-episode written by the Dawson Brothers aired on 13 March 2020 in support of Sport Relief.[21][22] An additional episode was produced for the sixth and final series of the show;[23] the series began airing on 21 March 2021 with its finale being broadcast on 2 May.[24][25] Viewing figures increased significantly over the course of the series,[26] leading to record breaking broadcasts[27] and causing Line of Duty to become the highest-rated drama since modern records began in 2002.[28] The series has since been the subject of critical acclaim,[29] receiving nominations for several awards[30] and gaining a large cult following.[31]
The series primarily follows the actions of Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12), a task force located within the fictional Central Police Constabulary.[32] AC-12 is led by Superintendent Ted Hastings, portrayed by Adrian Dunbar.[33] Martin Compston and Vicky McClure also starred in all six series as AC-12 officers Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming, resepctively.[34] Each series features an additional actor who portrays a police officer that is being investigated by AC-12.[35] These roles were performed by Lennie James,[36] Keely Hawes,[37] Daniel Mays,[38] Thandie Newton,[39] Stephen Graham,[40] and Kelly Macdonald.[41] Other starring cast members include Craig Parkinson,[42] Jessica Raine,[43] Jason Watkins,[44] and Anna Maxwell Martin.[45] Over the course of the programme, an overarching storyline develops that connects numerous characters to an organised crime group which is found to be involved in a large conspiracy with high-ranking officers of the police department.[46] Produced by World Productions,[47] the series was primarily filmed in Belfast although filming for the first series took place in Birmingham.[48] It was distributed internationally by Content Media Group, which was eventually purchased by Kew Media Distribution,[49] and ultimately ITV Studios following Kew Media's collapse.[50]
During the course of the programme, 36 episodes of Line of Duty aired over six series, between 26 June 2012 and 2 May 2021.[51]
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | Average viewership (in millions)[52] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 5 | 26 June 2012 | 24 July 2012 | BBC Two | 3.80 | |
| 2 | 6 | 12 February 2014 | 19 March 2014 | 3.43 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 24 March 2016 | 28 April 2016 | 4.81 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 26 March 2017 | 30 April 2017 | BBC One | 8.24 | |
| 5 | 6 | 31 March 2019 | 5 May 2019 | 11.10 | ||
| Sport Relief special | 13 March 2020 | — | ||||
| 6 | 7 | 21 March 2021 | 2 May 2021 | 13.67 | ||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [53] | Directed by | Original air date [54] | UK viewers (millions) [55] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" "A Disastrous Affair" | David Caffrey | 26 June 2012 | 3.76 |
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" "The Assault" | David Caffrey | 3 July 2012 | 3.84 |
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" "In the Trap" | David Caffrey | 10 July 2012 | 3.80 |
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" "Terror" | Douglas Mackinnon | 17 July 2012 | 3.87 |
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" "The Probation" | Douglas Mackinnon | 24 July 2012 | 3.72 |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [56] | Directed by | Original air date [57] | UK viewers (millions) [58] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "Episode 1" "The Ambush" | Douglas Mackinnon | 12 February 2014 | 2.74 |
| 7 | 2 | "Episode 2" "Carly" | Douglas Mackinnon | 19 February 2014 | 3.21 |
| 8 | 3 | "Episode 3" "Behind Bars" | Douglas Mackinnon | 26 February 2014 | 3.34 |
| 9 | 4 | "Episode 4" "Blood Money" | Daniel Nettheim | 5 March 2014 | 3.46 |
| 10 | 5 | "Episode 5" "Last Words" | Daniel Nettheim | 12 March 2014 | 3.73 |
| 11 | 6 | "Episode 6" "The Caddy" | Daniel Nettheim | 19 March 2014 | 4.12 |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [59] | Directed by | Original air date [60] | UK viewers (millions) [61] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | "Episode 1" "Monsters" | Michael Keillor | 24 March 2016 | 3.31 |
| 13 | 2 | "Episode 2" "The Process" | Michael Keillor | 31 March 2016 | 5.11 |
| 14 | 3 | "Episode 3" "Snake Pit" | Michael Keillor | 7 April 2016 | 4.97 |
| 15 | 4 | "Episode 4" "Negative Pressure" | John Strickland | 14 April 2016 | 4.82 |
| 16 | 5 | "Episode 5" "The List" | John Strickland | 21 April 2016 | 5.09 |
| 17 | 6 | "Episode 6" "Breach" | John Strickland | 28 April 2016 | 5.58 |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [62] | Directed by | Original air date [63] | UK viewers (millions) [64] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1 | "Episode 1" "In the Shadow of Truth" | Jed Mercurio | 26 March 2017 | 7.40 |
| 19 | 2 | "Episode 2" "Who Sows the Wind" | Jed Mercurio | 2 April 2017 | 7.26 |
| 20 | 3 | "Episode 3" "In the Trap" | John Strickland | 9 April 2017 | 7.37 |
| 21 | 4 | "Episode 4" "Moral Superiority" | John Strickland | 16 April 2017 | 8.48 |
| 22 | 5 | "Episode 5" "Lying Nest" | John Strickland | 23 April 2017 | 9.03 |
| 23 | 6 | "Episode 6" "Royal Hunting Ground" | John Strickland | 30 April 2017 | 9.92 |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [65][66] | Directed by | Original air date [67] | UK viewers (millions) [68] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 1 | "Episode 1" "Operation Pear Tree" | John Strickland | 31 March 2019 | 11.37 |
| 25 | 2 | "Episode 2" "The Head of Medusa" | John Strickland | 7 April 2019 | 10.30 |
| 26 | 3 | "Episode 3" "Code Zero" | John Strickland | 14 April 2019 | 10.34 |
| 27 | 4 | "Episode 4" "The Betrayal" | John Strickland | 21 April 2019 | 10.46 |
| 28 | 5 | "Episode 5" "On Your Own" | Sue Tully | 28 April 2019 | 11.42 |
| 29 | 6 | "Episode 6" "The Intrigue" | Sue Tully | 5 May 2019 | 12.69 |
| No. | Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Line of Duty Sport Relief Special"[69] | Dawson Brothers[22] | 13 March 2020[70] |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Original air date [71] | UK viewers (millions) [72] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Daniel Nettheim | 21 March 2021 | 13.49 |
| 31 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Daniel Nettheim | 28 March 2021 | 12.45 |
| 32 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Gareth Bryn | 4 April 2021 | 12.58 |
| 33 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Gareth Bryn | 11 April 2021 | 12.77 |
| 34 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Jennie Darnell | 18 April 2021 | 13.72 |
| 35 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Jennie Darnell | 25 April 2021 | 14.89 |
| 36 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Jennie Darnell | 2 May 2021 | 15.79 |
| Series | Episode number | Average | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 1 | 3.76 | 3.84 | 3.80 | 3.87 | 3.72 | – | 3.80 | ||
| 2 | 2.74 | 3.21 | 3.34 | 3.46 | 3.73 | 4.12 | – | 3.43 | |
| 3 | 3.31 | 5.11 | 4.97 | 4.82 | 5.09 | 5.58 | – | 4.81 | |
| 4 | 7.40 | 7.26 | 7.37 | 8.48 | 9.03 | 9.92 | – | 8.24 | |
| 5 | 11.37 | 10.30 | 10.34 | 10.46 | 11.42 | 12.69 | – | 11.10 | |
| 6 | 13.49 | 12.45 | 12.58 | 12.77 | 13.72 | 14.89 | 15.79 | 13.67 | |
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
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