Line Of Duty: Scot Martin Compston reveals nifty technique to nail Steve Arnott’s south London accent

Line of Duty actor Martin Compston (DI Steve Arnott) hilariously revealed he has someone record his lines in a south London accent to make sure he perfects the articulation.

The Scottish actor is set to appear on Saturday’s episode of The Jonathan Ross Show alongside his co-star Vicky McClure, who plays Kate Fleming, ahead of the programme’s finale on Sunday.

Martin normally speaks with his native accent but had to work on his vocal skills for the hit BBC show.

When asked how he manages it, Martin says: ‘It can be hard, that dialogue on its own would be hard anyway, throw the accent in there…

‘The scene we did the other night, 30-pager, trying to juggle the accent at the same time. When we’re away from it for a long time, when I do that voice I can hear him, it’s like a costume.’

He explained that because it’s not something that comes naturally to him, he needs to try harder.

‘I walk about all day with him in my ears. It’s just graft. I’m not naturally good at accents. I need to work harder, which then makes me better because I’m not complacent with it.

‘If you’re in these scenes with these amazing actors, amazing guest stars, it’s intimidating enough without worrying about the accent. Speaking to the wife and stuff I’ll drop it, I very much stay in it [on set].’

Martin previously told Radio X that comedian Matt Morgan helped inspire the character’s accent.

‘It can get quite tedious learning the accent because there’s all these exercises and stuff, so you’ve got to find these ways to keep it lively,’ he said.

‘So what I would do is I would listen to Matt’s podcast while I was walking the dog and just repeat his voice.’

This week is the last instalment of series six and discussing the final on the Shrine of Duty podcast, Martin suggested Line of Duty could be ending for good as the BBC is yet to confirm a series seven.

‘We’re in a situation where it’s not entirely clear that there will be a seventh series,’ he explained.

‘It’s different elements this year, because we have to look it in terms of, do people want us back? You don’t want to overdo it. 10 years in you start to think of legacy, and if it goes down that well it might be the perfect ending.

‘But then we might go another couple of months and… what I will say is we won’t do one just for the sake of doing it.’

The Line of Duty series six finale airs on BBC One this Sunday at 9pm.

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