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| Wins | 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nominations | 115 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Line of Duty is a British police procedural and serial drama consisting of six series that was created by Jed Mercurio and broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). [1] [2] The first three series spanned a total of 17 episodes and aired on BBC Two between 2012 and 2016. [3] The remaining three series comprised 19 episodes and aired on BBC One from 2017 to 2021. [4] Produced by World Productions, [5] the series was primarily filmed in Belfast although filming for the first series took place in Birmingham. [6] Mercurio wrote all 36 episodes and serves as an executive producer alongside Simon Heath and Stephen Wright. [7] [8] It was distributed internationally Content Media Group which was eventually purchased by Kew Media Distribution [9] and later ITV Studios following Kew Media's collapse. [10]
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The series primarily follows the actions of Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12), a task force located within the fictional Central Police Constabulary. [11] AC-12 is led by Superintendent Ted Hastings, portrayed by Adrian Dunbar, who appeared in the first series and was promoted to the main cast beginning with the second series. [12] Martin Compston and Vicky McClure also starred in all six series as AC-12 officers Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming. [13] Each series features an additional actor as part of the main cast who portrays a police officer that is being investigated by AC-12. [14] These roles were performed by Lennie James in series one, [15] Keely Hawes in series two, [16] Daniel Mays in the third series, [17] Thandie Newton in series four, [18] Stephen Graham in series five, [19] and Kelly Macdonald in the sixth and final series. [20] Craig Parkinson was an additional member of the second and third series cast, [21] while Hawes' role extended into the third. [22] Parkinson also appeared in the first series prior to being promoted. [13] The characters of Parkinson and Hawes were both killed off at the end of series three; [23] Parkinson however, appeared as a guest star in one episode of each of the two following series in flashback scenes. [24] Jessica Raine starred in a single episode of the second series [25] and Jason Watkins appeared in two episodes of the fourth series; both were credited with the other principal cast members. [26] Additionally, Anna Maxwell Martin was also featured as part of the starring cast in the fifth and sixth series, but only appeared in the latter portion of each series. [27] Over the course of the series, an overarching storyline develops that connects numerous characters to an organised crime group which is found to be in a large conspiracy with high-ranking officers of the police department. [28]
Viewing figures increased significantly over the course of the series, [29] leading to record-breaking broadcasts [30] [31] and causing it to become the subject of critical acclaim [32] [33] [34] [35] as well as gaining a cult following. [36] Line of Duty has been nominated for a total of 115 awards, winning 27 of them. A large portion of the nominations resulted from British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Royal Television Society-related awards, which are collectively responsible for 42 of them. A third of the series' successful awards were won at the TV Choice and Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. Dunbar and McClure tie for the most nominations received by cast members, each holding seven, followed by Compston with five and Hawes with three. McClure and Hawes have the most wins by a cast member with two each. Individual series and the programme as a whole secured a total of 46 nominations. The largest portion were acquired by the sixth series while the fifth and sixth series gained the most wins in this aspect. Four awards out of 12 nominations were given to Mercurio for his writing on the series. Internationally, Line of Duty has also picked up a win from the American Edgar Allan Poe Awards and a nomination in the Australian Directors' Guild Awards.
