Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has revealed what he hopes will be his character’s latest catchphrase if and when a new series of the BBC drama is announced.
The Co Fermanagh actor has been doing the media rounds in recent days addressing talk of the Belfast-filmed show returning for a seventh series.
Created by Jed Mercurio, Line of Duty last aired May 2021 with Ted Hastings and his AC-12 anti-corruption team uncovering the identity of the ‘Fourth Man’ and derailing corruption from within the force.
The Enniskillen man’s character is famous for many of his typically Northern Irish sayings on the show, which have since went on to become mainstays of popular culture both in real life and on social media.
Today though he has revealed he has another one in the works he has been trying to get into the show’s script and that he hopes will make an appearance when the next series is greenlit.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy this morning on Virgin Radio UK the 66-year-old actor said: “The one I didn’t get in, which is kind of a really good Irish one about not stopping things happening is: ‘Don’t stall the digger’.
“Don’t stall the digger. That’s a good one, isn’t it? Like, you know: ‘You’ve got to keep going’.
“That’s going in the next season.”
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Rumours have been swirling in recent weeks about the prospect of a new series on the horizon and Dunbar has done little to dampen those suggestions, saying yesterday on ITV’s Lorraine: “We don’t want to tease the British public forever about it. We want it to happen, everyone wants it to happen so let’s make it happen but it just depends on when.”
“There’s more than a little bit of hope.
“It just depends on when all the stars align and of course Jed has to write it.”
It comes after many fans of the show were left intrigued when Dunbar was seen in London last month alongside fellow stars Martin Compston, who played DI Steve Arnott in the drama, alongside Vicky McClure who played DI Kate Fleming.
Sharing a video at the time in a rickshaw in the city, at one point in the clip Compston can be heard joking: “We’re back.”
Talking about the video on his show this morning, Ryan Tubridy asked: “So if he’s writing a series and you guys are meeting up for curry and singing and tuk tuk, I suspect the next season is on the way.”
The Northern Irish actor replied: “There’s something happening, isn’t there? I think it’s fair to say.
“The guy had no idea who we were. And I could see that he was kind of looking around and thinking: ‘Why is everybody looking at these people?’
“We had met up for a curry, as we normally do, and have a bit of a chat with Jed and all the rest of it. We just have a laugh every time we meet up, we can’t help it. It just gets hysterical. It’s just one of those things when three people who know each other very well [get together].
“The guy was driving around, and he kept looking back thinking, ‘What the hell is going on? Why are people in the street stopping?’”