List of Line of Duty episodes

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]

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, respectively.^[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]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

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Series	Episodes	Originally released			Average viewership (in millions)^[52]
Series	Episodes	First released	Last released	Network	Average viewership (in millions)^[52]
1	5	26 June 2012 (2012-06-26)	24 July 2012 (2012-07-24)	BBC Two	3.80
2	6	12 February 2014 (2014-02-12)	19 March 2014 (2014-03-19)		3.43
3	6	24 March 2016 (2016-03-24)	28 April 2016 (2016-04-28)		4.81
4	6	26 March 2017 (2017-03-26)	30 April 2017 (2017-04-30)	BBC One	8.24
5	6	31 March 2019 (2019-03-31)	5 May 2019 (2019-05-05)		11.10
Sport Relief special		13 March 2020 (2020-03-13)			—
6	7	21 March 2021 (2021-03-21)	2 May 2021 (2021-05-02)		13.67

No. overall	No. in series	Title ^[53]	Directed by	Original release date ^[54]	UK viewers (millions) ^[55]
1	1	"Episode 1" "A Disastrous Affair"	David Caffrey	26 June 2012 (2012-06-26)	3.76
2	2	"Episode 2" "The Assault"	David Caffrey	3 July 2012 (2012-07-03)	3.84
3	3	"Episode 3" "In the Trap"	David Caffrey	10 July 2012 (2012-07-10)	3.80
4	4	"Episode 4" "Terror"	Douglas Mackinnon	17 July 2012 (2012-07-17)	3.87
5	5	"Episode 5" "The Probation"	Douglas Mackinnon	24 July 2012 (2012-07-24)	3.72

No. overall	No. in series	Title ^[56]	Directed by	Original release date ^[57]	UK viewers (millions) ^[58]
6	1	"Episode 1" "The Ambush"	Douglas Mackinnon	12 February 2014 (2014-02-12)	2.74
7	2	"Episode 2" "Carly"	Douglas Mackinnon	19 February 2014 (2014-02-19)	3.21
8	3	"Episode 3" "Behind Bars"	Douglas Mackinnon	26 February 2014 (2014-02-26)	3.34
9	4	"Episode 4" "Blood Money"	Daniel Nettheim	5 March 2014 (2014-03-05)	3.46
10	5	"Episode 5" "Last Words"	Daniel Nettheim	12 March 2014 (2014-03-12)	3.73
11	6	"Episode 6" "The Caddy"	Daniel Nettheim	19 March 2014 (2014-03-19)	4.12

No. overall	No. in series	Title ^[59]	Directed by	Original release date ^[60]	UK viewers (millions) ^[61]
12	1	"Episode 1" "Monsters"	Michael Keillor	24 March 2016 (2016-03-24)	3.31
13	2	"Episode 2" "The Process"	Michael Keillor	31 March 2016 (2016-03-31)	5.11
14	3	"Episode 3" "Snake Pit"	Michael Keillor	7 April 2016 (2016-04-07)	4.97
15	4	"Episode 4" "Negative Pressure"	John Strickland	14 April 2016 (2016-04-14)	4.82
16	5	"Episode 5" "The List"	John Strickland	21 April 2016 (2016-04-21)	5.09
17	6	"Episode 6" "Breach"	John Strickland	28 April 2016 (2016-04-28)	5.58

No. overall	No. in series	Title ^[62]	Directed by	Original release date ^[63]	UK viewers (millions) ^[64]
18	1	"Episode 1" "In the Shadow of Truth"	Jed Mercurio	26 March 2017 (2017-03-26)	7.40
19	2	"Episode 2" "Who Sows the Wind"	Jed Mercurio	2 April 2017 (2017-04-02)	7.26
20	3	"Episode 3" "In the Trap"	John Strickland	9 April 2017 (2017-04-09)	7.37
21	4	"Episode 4" "Moral Superiority"	John Strickland	16 April 2017 (2017-04-16)	8.48
22	5	"Episode 5" "Lying Nest"	John Strickland	23 April 2017 (2017-04-23)	9.03
23	6	"Episode 6" "Royal Hunting Ground"	John Strickland	30 April 2017 (2017-04-30)	9.92

List of Line of Duty episodes

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2012)

Series 2 (2014)

Series 3 (2016)

Series 4 (2017)

Series 5 (2019)

Sport Relief special (2020)

Series 6 (2021)

Viewing figures

References

External links

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