Entertainment
Line of Duty series 6: Star Martin Compston ‘so glad’ new season won’t mention coronavirus
Line of Duty star Martin Compston has said he is ‘so glad’ the drama won’t make any reference to Covid-19 when it returns for series six later this month.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, several TV shows have incorporated the virus outbreak into their storylines, from soap Coronation Street to American tear-jerker This Is Us.
But when Line of Duty returns, with Vicky McClure reprising her role as Detective Inspector Kate Fleming and Kelly Macdonald being introduced as guest lead Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson, it will not follow suit.
Despite the sixth series being delayed due to the pandemic, Martin, who plays Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott in the programme, thinks viewers will welcome the break from any mention of the pandemic on their screens.
Speaking to The Times Saturday Review, the 36-year-old said: ‘I’m so glad that it isn’t part of the show. It’s consuming our lives at the moment, it’s on every f***ing news channel every day.
‘It will be nice that there’s an hour on a Sunday night for seven weeks where it’s not mentioned.’
As the cast and crew of Line of Duty set about creating the new series under difficult circumstances, the production had to implement additional measures to make sure filming could resume.
‘When it became clear there wasn’t an effective national test and trace system, we started exploring what we could do ourselves,’ Martin said.
Private contractors were hired to conduct coronavirus tests for those working on the show.
While there were ‘lots’ of positive diagnoses, they never had to shut down filming as a result.
‘And that’s the whole point of testing,’ Martin said. ‘If you have positives and you can identify them and identify their contacts you can stop community spread.
‘Our industry was only really able to go back into production by figuring it out for ourselves.’
What will happen in series six of Line of Duty?
It’s been two years since the series five finale of Line of Duty aired on BBC One.
In the upcoming new episodes, newcomer Joanne (Kelly) will make her debut as a senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder case, which catches the attention of Anti-Corruption.
Series six is set to have one more episode than usual, with seven overall, so viewers can expect plenty more shocking twists and turns coming their way.
Line of Duty returns for its sixth series on Sunday March 21 at 9pm on BBC One.
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