Watch Jed Mercurio in conversation with William Gallagher as he talks about the upcoming series of Line of Duty, adapting on set to the pandemic, and shares his advice on how to write drama for TV.
Line of Duty has become a national institution, with series six still to come.
In a whole new spin on the police procedural, Line of Duty puts the coppers themselves under the microscope, as the series follows the anti-corruption investigations of AC Unit 12.
Set in contemporary London, the six-part series portrays the death-defying and life-saving work of the Metropolitan Police Bomb Disposal Squad, also known as “Expo”.
A summer terrorist campaign wreaks havoc on the capital, and it’s up to Expo to defuse a series of improvised explosive devices.
Vicky McClure (Line of Duty) plays the experienced but reckless operative Lana Washington. As Lana begins to suspect her unit is the bomber’s true target, she sets out on a desperate search for proof and the bomber’s identity.
Series six of the police procedural will rejoin AC-12 a year and a half on from the closure of Operation Pear Tree, following the Unit in their investigation of Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson (Kelly Macdonald), who is working on an unsolved murder case.
“DCI Joanne Davidson will prove the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced,” said writer and showrunner Jed Mercurio.
Coventry’s Guz Khan took home the Best Male Actor award for his performance in Tiger Aspect’s BBC Three comedy series Man Like Mobeen and the Best Writer prize, jointly with co-writer Andy Milligan. The two prizes, presented at the late-November ceremony, brought Khan’s tally to five RTS Midlands Awards in just two years.
Davidson is the senior investigating officer of an unsolved murder, but her unconventional methods raises suspicion at AC-12.
Macdonald is best known for her roles in Trainspotting, No Country for Old Men and has recently starred in The Victim and Giri/Haji.
Filming for series six begins next year and Macdonald will join Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar, who have all been confirmed to return.
More than 350 people attended a series of workshops, masterclasses and panel events run by industry professionals from across the creative sector.
BBC Studios talent manager Julie Forbes and BBC NI senior resourcing advisor Nicola McConville ran a CV masterclass. The duo offered advice on how to break into the competitive TV and film industries, and gave one-to-one “creative clinics” to hone interview skills and CVs. Their tips included: “Never send the same CV twice – get to know the companies around you.”
Veteran arts programme The South Bank Show has celebrated the best of TV drama from its earliest days. In the very first series it aired a film on Dennis Potter. Since then, Andrew Davies, Paul Abbott, Jimmy McGovern and Sally Wainwright have all featured.
Melvyn Bragg was talking at a special live edition of The South Bank Show, featuring four of the UK’s leading TV writers – Jed Mercurio (writer and creator of hit police corruption thriller Line of Duty); Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (black comedy anthology Inside No. 9); and Heidi Thomas (period drama Call the Midwife) – discussing their craft.
It’s 4pm on a Friday afternoon, a time of the week when most of us are preparing to wind down the working week. Not Gurinder Chadha, co-creator and director of ITV’s new period drama, Beecham House, otherwise known as “Downton in Delhi”.
She’s at work in a Soho edit suite, putting the finishing touches to another project, her latest movie, Blinded by the Light. The film is based on journalist and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir, Greetings from Bury Park.
