‘Line of Duty’ creator Jed Mercurio is keen to write at least two more series of the hit cop show.
The fifth instalment of the BBC One crime series – which stars the likes of Adrian Dunbar (Superintendent Ted Hastings), Vicky McClure (DI Kate Fleming) and Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott) – is currently playing out on screens and the showrunner has revealed he is set to hold discussions with the broadcaster to see if there is still an "appetite" for more episodes and whether after series six, which has already been commissioned, the show will continue.
Jed needs to know if a seventh series will go ahead in order to be able to write the next episodes according to the plot.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column, Jed said: "We’re looking forward to a conversation with the BBC once series five has aired … about whether there is an appetite from fans to have more, or whether there’s a feeling the show is coming towards its natural arc.
"That conversation will be very specific, which is whether series six will be the last, or whether the BBC would be prepared to commission a seventh so we can approach series six knowing it’s not the last."
Meanwhile, the current series hasn’t been short of dramatic storylines.
Maya Sondhi’s alter ego PC Maneet Bindra was left for dead at the close of the opening episode of season five after an organised crime group (OCG) turned on her and slashed her throat when she was found with a bugged mobile phone.
The actress admitted the shock twist came after she begged the showrunner for more to do whilst drunk.
She said recently: "The moral of the story is never get drunk with Jed and suggest something.
"Months before he had written this series, we were at an awards do and I was sat next to Jed and I was saying I was chuffed to come back but I said ‘what are we going to do with her because we have to resolve what happened with Hilton? She can’t just carry on working there’.
"And he said ‘We do need to do something’. So I said ‘We could do something really dramatic’.
"Then when he rang me to talk about storylines he said ‘you know that stuff you were talking about that was quite interesting’ so we kind of colluded. I was up for doing something quite dramatic because I just thought you wouldn’t expect it from Maneet because she is just basically paper pushing in the background and giving information and doing searches."
Despite Maneet having her throat slit by the balaclava gang, Maya teased that it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s gone for good.
She said: "You never know with Jed, look what he did with Keeley in ‘Bodyguard’, the whole thing was about the Bodyguard and her and then he killed her off. Craig Parkinson’s character came back in ‘Line Of Duty’ before and with Jed you never ever assume anything because you never know what is going to happen. That is all I can say really.
"It was a night shoot for those scenes we did so I am not gonna lie it was pretty freezing, but the crew are so amazing and clever what they do. We had some of the guys that work on ‘Game Of Thrones’ that were dealing with the blood, it is so exciting when you see the final thing and the finishing shots, you think that was worth lying around and getting cold for."
Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio keen to continue show
