Line of Duty

Line of Duty

Genre	British police drama crime Detective fiction thriller
Created by	Jed Mercurio
Written by	Jed Mercurio
Directed by	David Caffrey Douglas Mackinnon Daniel Nettheim Michael Keillor John Strickland
Starring	Martin Compston Vicky McClure Adrian Dunbar Craig Parkinson Keeley Hawes Neil Morrisey
Theme music composer	Carly Paradis
Ending theme	"Line Of Duty End Theme"
Composer(s)	Carly Paradis
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	17 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stephen Wright (BBC) Simon Heath (World Productions) Jed Mercurio (Series 2–3)
Producer(s)	Jed Mercurio (Series 1) Peter Norris (Series 2–3)
Location(s)	Birmingham (Series 1) Belfast (Series 2–3)
Cinematography	Ruairi O'Brien(Series 1–2) Peter Robertson(Series 3)
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	World Productions
Distributor	Content Media
Release
Original network	BBC Two (2012-16) BBC One (2017–)
Picture format	16:9 1080i
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original release	26 June 2012 (2012-06-26) – present
External links
BBC Two website
Production website

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^[1] and is a winner of the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama Series.^[2] Line of Duty was included in a list of the Top 50 BBC Two shows of all-time,^[3] in a list of the 80 best BBC shows of all time^[4] and was the highest ranked current series in a list of the best cop shows of all time.^[5]

The first series was BBC Two's best-performing drama series in 10 years, with a consolidated audience of 4.1 million viewers.^[6] The drama was recommissioned for a second series and the first episode was broadcast on 12 February 2014.^[7] The second series achieved widespread public and critical acclaim,^[8] and on 8 April 2014, the BBC commissioned two more series.^[9]

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".^[10]

In the United States, the first series was aired on Hulu in August 2012 as an exclusive series.^[11]

Main cast and characters

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

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

Lennie James as DCI Tony Gates (episodes 1–5)
Gina McKee as Jackie Laverty (episodes 1–3)
Kate Ashfield as Jools Gates (episodes 1–5)
Paul Higgins as Ch. Supt. Derek Hilton (episodes 1–5)
Claire Keelan as DS Leah Janson (episodes 1–5)

Series 2

Jessica Raine as DC Georgia Trotman (episode 1)
Tony Pitts as Det. Ch. Supt. Les Hargreaves (episodes 2–6)
Christina Chong as DS Nicola Rogerson (episodes 2–4, 6)
Mark Bonnar as Dep. Ch. Constable Mike Dryden (episodes 1–6)
Steve Toussaint as Ch. Supt. Mallick (episodes 1–2, 6)
Liz White as Jo Dwyer, Dryden's press officer (episodes 1–2)

Series 3

Daniel Mays as Sgt. Daniel Waldron (episodes 1–2)
Arsher Ali as PC Harinderpal "Hari" Bains (episodes 1–4)
Leanne Best as PC Jackie Brickford (episodes 1–3)
Will Mellor as PC Rod Kennedy (episodes 1–2)
Shaun Parkes as Ch. Supt. Terry Reynolds (episodes 1–3)
Aiysha Hart as DS Sam Railston (episodes 1–2, 4–6)
Polly Walker as Gill Biggeloe, a lawyer assigned to AC-12 (episodes 1–6)
Lisa Palfrey as Inspector McAndrew (episodes 1–3)
Maya Sondhi as PC Maneet Bhandra (episodes 2–6)
George Costigan as Patrick Fairbank, former Ch. Supt. (episodes 4–6)
Jonas Armstrong as Joe Nash (episodes 3–5)

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.^[12]

Locations

Series one was filmed in Birmingham (including pub interiors in the Queens Arms)^[13] 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.^[14]

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
Series		Episodes	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

Main article: List of Line of Duty episodes

Awards and nominations

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

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".^[15] 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.^[16]

Home media releases

Online

iTunes releases for Line of Duty


Name	Release date	Ep #	Additional Information
Line of Duty, Series One	30 August 2013^[17]	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^[18]	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^[19]	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^[20]	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^[21]	6	The complete second series Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series Certificate 15 High-definition & Standard-definition versions

BBC Store releases for Line of Duty

Name	Release date
Line of Duty, Series One - Three	2016

DVD

DVD releases for Line of Duty


Name	Release dates	Ep #	Additional Information
Name	Region 2	Ep #	Additional Information
Line of Duty Series 1 (DVD)	3 February 2014^[22]	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^[23]	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^[24]	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.

References

↑ Plunkett, John (28 April 2016). "Line of Duty outranks Wolf Hall to take BBC2 ratings crown". The Guardian.
↑ "RTS Programme Awards 2015".
↑ Hogan, Michael et all (18 April 2014). "The Top 50 BBC Two shows of all-time". The Telegraph.
↑ Tate, Gabriel; et al. (2 November 2016). "The 80 Best BBC Shows of All Time". The Telegraph.
↑ Ross, Graeme (12 November 2016). "The 20 Greatest TV Cop Shows of All Time". The Independent.
↑ Jed Mercurio: taking aim at target culture | In-depth | Broadcast
↑ Sperling, Daniel (25 July 2012). "'Line of Duty' renewed for second series by BBC". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
↑ Moir, Jan (17 March 2014). "Is Line of Duty the best cop show ever?". Daily Mail.
↑ Sweeney, Mark (8 April 2014). "Line of Duty set to return for third and fourth series". Guardian.
↑ "Express.co.uk". 28 April 2016.
↑ Thomas, June (24 August 2012), "The Global Network", Slate, retrieved 28 January 2013
↑ Jed Mercurio (26 June 2012). "Line of Duty – a police drama that swaps reassurance for reality". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
↑ "Line Of Duty". Retrieved 15 February 2015.
↑ "Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery". BBC. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
↑ BBC censured over violent Line of Duty scene featuring child actor, The Guardian, 17 December 2012. Accessed 27 April 2013.
↑ http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/enforcement/broadcast-bulletins/obb220/obb220.pdf
↑ "Line of Duty – Series One (iTunes)". Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series Two (iTunes)". Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series 1&2 (iTunes)". Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series (Blinkbox)". blinkbox Entertainment Limited. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series 2 (Blinkbox)". blinkbox Entertainment Limited. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series One [DVD]". BBC Worldwide LTD. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series Two [DVD]". BBC Worldwide LTD. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
↑ "Line of Duty – Series 1&2 [DVD]". BBC Worldwide LTD. Retrieved 17 May 2014.

External links

Line of Duty at BBC Programmes
Line of Duty at Hulu
Line of Duty at the Internet Movie Database

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