There may not be a long wait for the return of Line of Duty on BBC. One of the stars of the series apparently revealed the show is coming back for its fifth season in April.
Line of Duty co-star Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott) sat down on ITV's Lorraine to discuss the series last December. He told the host that they have finished filming the fifth season and it's likely going to begin its run on the network in April.
It was also confirmed that Line of Duty season 5 will have six episodes. Apart from the familiar faces expected to return, such as Vicky McClure (DS Kate Fleming) and Adrian Dunbar (Supt. Ted Hastings), there will also be a handful of new cast members. Taj Atwal and Richard Pepple are going to be the new regulars as PC Tatleen Sohota and PS Kyle Ferringham, respectively. Susan Vidler, Sian Reese-Williams, Ace Bhatti and Elizabeth Rider are also in this new season.
Stephen Graham, on the other hand, has been tapped to be this season's big bad. According to the BBC press release he's going to play John Corbett, who has ties to an organized crime syndicate.
Last season, the team on Line of Duty discovered that the "Balaclava Man" they were going after was actually not just one person but a group. The cliffhanger from season 4 will open up the storyline for season 5.
But viewers of Line of Duty may also be in for a big surprise as there have been rumors Craig Parkinson may return to reprise his role as Dot Cottan, as per Digital Spy. The talks sparked after Compston posted a photo of himself with Parkinson in Belfast, where the show has been filming.
Dot, the corrupt cop, died in the previous season in an attempt to cover up how he protected criminals. Later on, video footage of Dot resurfaced where he apparently almost confessed who among the top brass at the police department also knew of the cover-ups. But Dot could only muster to utter "H" before his death.
It might sound impossible to have the character back in the flesh on Line of Duty season 5. However, as Compston hinted, show creator Jed Mercurio is an incredible writer and may have creatively figured out how to bring Dot back to explore the real identity of "H."
"There are things we haven't done before, characters we haven't seen before, and that I think's part of the construction of the series," Mercurio told the press. "We have that architecture which allows us to rejuvenate the format."
