Lennie James’ ‘Line of Duty’ character Tony Gates was originally given a different name.
Jed Mercurio, the show’s creator, has taken to Twitter to share some behind-the-scenes facts during reruns of the first series of the hit show, and has revealed why he decided to change the name of Lennie’s character.
He wrote: "Last night’s episode featured the first ever clandestine meeting between Steve and undercover Kate, filmed in Paradise Circus, Birmingham. Sharp-eyed viewers may have spotted that you never see their faces when they say ‘Tony Gates’.
"That’s because a couple of days into filming, we had to change the name of Lennie James’ character. The actors re-voiced their lines in postproduction and we had to hide their mouths delivering the original names. (sic)"
The BBC began airing reruns of the popular police drama when it was announced the upcoming sixth series would be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Martin Compston has hinted at an exciting twist in the script.
He said: "For this year, I think we’ve filmed [episodes] one and two, and as a cast, we’ve got [the scripts for] three and four, and Jed [Mercurio] is writing five and six and we haven’t seen them, and there’s a bombshell at the end of four and I’m desperate to find out what happens."
Despite this, Martin and the rest of the cast are still clueless about the show’s biggest mystery of the organised crime group and the hidden identity of the villainous H.
He confessed: "We’re just the same as everybody else and as far as H goes, as soon as we find him we’re out a job."