Vicky McClure knew she had to "pull [her] socks up" after Stephen Graham was cast in ‘Line of Duty’.
The 35-year-old actress was delighted when she heard her ‘This Is England’ co-star would play master criminal John Corbett in the fifth season of the police corruption drama but she felt the whole cast needed to raise their game to match the standards set by the "powerhouse" actor.
She said: "I’ve worked with Stephen a lot.
"He’s one of my best mates. But knowing he was coming on this, the minute I heard about it, I just thought, ‘Oh God, we’re all going to have to pull our socks up again!’
"He’s a powerhouse, he’s something else, and you see that from the minute he steps on screen."
However, the actress – who plays DS Kate Fleming – admitted she doesn’t share many scenes with her old friend.
She told reporters: "I’ve got to say, there’s not an awful lot with me and Ste in this. Which is fine, I’ve done my bit with him!"
The new season sees the police "changing tact" to target a criminal gang, rather than "bent cops" in a bid to bring down widespread corruption.
Martin Compston, who plays DS Steve Arnott, explained: "Usually, AC-12’s remit is going after bent cops, but we’re getting to a stage where we’ve been chasing this mythical character ‘H’ and we’re not getting any luck going through the cops.
"So we’re changing tact and we’re actually going after the criminal gang who the cops have been in league with. So you’re going to see behind the balaclava!"
And Martin teased the twist has made the new series "one of the most exciting" as the officers come face-to-face with their "scariest" nemesis yet.
He added: "The people we’re usually chasing are cops – they’re not out-and-out bad people, some of them have been forced into criminal acts by the situations they’ve found themselves in…
"But he’s just a criminal, he’s a murderer, he’s the leader of this gang… one of which threw me down a flight of stairs! So they are just scary people. In terms of dangerous situations, it’s definitely the scariest."
Line of Duty cast had to improve to match Stephen Graham
