Line of Duty Information

Line of Duty is a British police procedural television series created by Jed Mercurio that premiered on 26 June 2012. It is the most popular drama series broadcast on BBC Two in the multichannel era and is a winner of the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series. The first series was BBC Two's best-performing drama series in 10 years, with a consolidated audience of 4.1 million viewers. The drama was recommissioned for a second series and the first episode was broadcast on 12 February 2014. The second series achieved widespread public and critical acclaim, and on 8 April 2014, the BBC commissioned two more series. In April 2014, Line of Duty was included in a list of the Top 50 BBC Two shows of all-time. In an interview on 28 April 2016, creator Jed Mercurio said that a fourth series would begin filming in the autumn and that "it will be delivered for 2017".

In the United States, the first series was aired on Hulu in August 2012 as an exclusive series.

Main cast and characters

Actor	Character	Occupation	Series
			1	2	3
Martin Compston	Steve Arnott	Det. Sgt. (DS)	colspan="3"
Vicky McClure	Kate Fleming	Det. Con. (DC) / DS	colspan="3"
Adrian Dunbar	Ted Hastings	Superintendent	colspan="3"
Craig Parkinson	Matthew "Dot" Cottan	DS / Det. Insp. (DI)	colspan="3"
Keeley Hawes	Lindsay Denton	DI		colspan="2"
Neil Morrissey	Nigel Morton	DC	colspan="1"	colspan="2"

• Martin Compston as Steve Arnott (17 episodes); Arnott is a Detective Sergeant assigned to AC-12, one of twelve anti-corruption units that operate within the West Midlands Police Force. Steve Arnott first appeared as an anti-terrorism officer who refused to collude with his fellow colleagues following the shooting death of an innocent man. During series three, Arnott is accused of being a gangland informant known as The Caddy, framed for the murder of DI Lindsay Denton, and is later arrested. He is cleared of all charges.
• Vicky McClure as Kate Fleming (17 episodes); Fleming is a Detective Constable and an undercover specialist. A consummate professional, Kate is willing to investigate officers both within, and outside of, AC-12. In series two, Kate begins investigating DI Lindsay Denton. She is promoted to Sergeant at the end of series three. Kate has children, though her ex-husband retains custody.
• Adrian Dunbar as Ted Hastings (17 episodes); Hastings, a police Superintendent, is the Senior Investigating Officer of AC-12. He personally recruited Arnott, Fleming, and Cottan, and has a black-and-white view of the law. In series three, it is revealed that Hastings is a Mason, which causes both Arnott and Fleming to doubt his commitment to AC-12.
• Craig Parkinson as Matthew "Dot" Cottan (15 episodes); Cottan first appears as a Sergeant working with DCI Tony Gates. Promoted to Inspector and recruited to AC-12 at the end of series two. It is revealed that Cottan is the corrupt officer known as The Caddy. He murders Lindsay Denton and is shot dead later.
• Keeley Hawes as Lindsay Denton (11 episodes); Denton is a Detective Inspector. The sole survivor of the ambush of a witness protection convoy, Denton is accused of being complicit in the murders of her fellow officers, and is arrested and charged shortly thereafter. In series three, Denton is granted an appeal trial, and is acquitted on the basis of an improper sexual relationship with Arnott. After refusing to accept a bribe, she is murdered by DI Matthew Cottan. Prior to her death, Lindsay discovered crucial evidence pertaining to the Danny Waldron murder investigation and historic child sex abuse.
• Neil Morrissey as Nigel Morton (9 episodes); Morton is a Detective Constable originally assigned to Tony Gates' team, working alongside DI Matthew Cottan. In series two and three he is seen infrequently before retiring on full pension and disability benefits.

Supporting cast and characters

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Production

Series one and two were created and written by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions, on behalf of BBC Two. David Caffrey and Douglas Mackinnon directed series one. Mackinnon was retained as Director for series two's first three episodes, whilst Daniel Nettheim directed series two's last three episodes. Mercurio produced series one and acted as executive producer for series two, with Peter Norris taking over as producer for series two.

Inspiration

The police refused to co-operate with the programme's producers. Consequently, the production team was advised both by retired police officers and anonymously by serving officers; production also made use of anonymous police blogs.

Locations

Series one was filmed in Birmingham (including pub interiors in the Queens Arms) and series two and three in Belfast by BBC Northern Ireland, per the end credits, though the city is not identified in the script in either series - set dressings and props indicate that the unnamed city is Birmingham (maps of Birmingham appear on walls, and telephone numbers use an 0121 area code). A photo gallery of exterior scenes from series two shows the 4th Street Station on Ormeau Avenue in Belfast.

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
			Series premiere	Series finale	Region 2
	1	5	26 June 2012	24 July 2012	3 February 2014
	2	6	12 February 2014	19 March 2014	24 March 2014
	3	6	24 March 2016	28 April 2016	2 May 2016

Episodes

See List of Line of Duty episodes for more information

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2012	2012 Royal Television Society Awards	Actor (Male)	Lennie James
		Drama Series	Line of Duty 1
		Writer - Drama	Jed Mercurio
	2012 Royal Television Society Midlands Awards	Best Drama/Fictional Programme	Line of Duty 1
		Best Acting Performance (Male)	Lennie James
		Best Acting Newcomer	Gregory Piper
	2012 Crime Thriller Awards	The TV Dagger	Line of Duty 1
2013	2013 Broadcast Awards	Best Drama Series or Serial	Line of Duty 1
	2013 South Bank Sky Arts Awards	TV Drama	Line of Duty 1
	Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	Best TV Drama	Line of Duty 1
2014	2014 Freesat Awards	Best TV Drama	Line of Duty 2
	2014 Crime Thriller Awards	The TV Dagger	Line of Duty 2
		Best Actress Dagger	Keeley Hawes
		Best Supporting Actress Dagger	Vicky McClure
	BAFTA Scotland	Best Actor - Television	Mark Bonnar
	2014 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards	Best Editing - Drama	Andrew McClelland
2015	Writers' Guild of Great Britain	TV Drama - Long Form	Jed Mercurio
	2015 Broadcast Awards	Best Drama Series or Serial	Line of Duty 2
		International Programme Sales	Line of Duty 2
	Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	Best Drama Series	Line of Duty 2
		Best Drama Writer	Jed Mercurio
	2015 Royal Television Society Awards	Best Drama Series	Line of Duty 2
	BAFTA Television Craft Awards	Drama: Writer	Jed Mercurio
	BAFTA Television Awards	Leading Actress	Keeley Hawes
		Supporting Actress	Vicky McClure
		Drama Series	Line of Duty 2
	2015 South Bank Sky Arts Awards	TV Drama	Line of Duty 2
	Royal Television Society Northern Ireland Awards	Best Drama	Line of Duty 2
2016	TV Choice Awards	Best Drama Series	Line of Duty 3

Censure by Ofcom

Following the complaint of one viewer, the media regulator Ofcom found the BBC guilty of a "serious lapse" in its duty of care for a 13-year-old actor, Gregory Piper, who had appeared in scenes which were "of a particularly violent nature and included sexually explicit language" by breaching broadcasting rules requiring that "due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of people under 18". In its full report, Ofcom cited the programme's failure to involve an independent expert, such as a child psychiatrist, to determine the actor's intellectual and emotional capacity to participate in the controversial scenes; however, the regulator found that there was no actual harm, distress or anxiety caused to the child actor.

Home media releases

Online

iTunes releases for Line of Duty

Name	Release date	Ep #	Additional Information
Line of Duty, Series One	30 August 2013	5	The complete first series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series Rated "Caution" by iTunes Standard-definition versions
Line of Duty, Series Two	12 February 2014	6	The complete second series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series Rated "Caution" by iTunes High-definition & Standard-definition version
Line of Duty, Series One & Two	26 June 2012	11	The complete first and second series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series one and two Rated "Caution" by iTunes Standard-definition version

Blinkbox releases for Line of Duty

Name	Release date	Ep #	Additional Information
Line of Duty, Series One	2013	5	The complete first series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series Certificate 15 Standard-definition version
Line of Duty, Series Two	2014	6	The complete second series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series Certificate 15 High-definition & Standard-definition versions

DVD

DVD releases for Line of Duty

Name	Release dates	Ep #	Additional Information
	Region 2
Line of Duty Series 1 (DVD)	3 February 2014	5	The two-disc box set includes all five episodes from series one, with a classification age of 15. Running time: 300 minutes.
Line of Duty Series 2 (DVD)	24 March 2014	6	The two-disc box set includes all six episodes from series two, with a classification age of 15. Running time: 360 minutes.
Line of Duty Series 1&2 (DVD)	24 March 2014	11	The four-disc box set includes all eleven episodes from series one and two, with a classification age of 15. Running time: 660 minutes.