Line of Duty’s creator Jed Mercurio shares cryptic post after final airs

Line of Duty’s creator Jed Mercurio shared a cryptic post after the finale on Sunday night as the show’s future hangs in the balance. 

The writer, 55, shared a picture of the AC-12 sign to his Twitter after the episode had aired and simply captioned it: ‘Carry the fire’, which gave no indication if there will be a seventh series or not.  

BBC bosses are yet to confirm whether the show will return, despite an average of 13 millions viewers tuning in for the latest series, which faced multiple delays due to the Covid pandemic.  

Uncertain: Line of Duty’s creator Jed Mercurio shared a cryptic post after the final on Sunday night as the show’s future hangs in the balance

However earlier on Sunday Jed, along with the show’s main actors Vicky McClure and Martin Compston, all appeared to hint series six could have been the last. 

Hours before the hotly-anticipated final episode Vicky, 37, tweeted: ‘Please excuse the slightly over emotional post but it’s been quite a surreal time! Now . . . Let’s wrap this up.’

Jed added: ‘Working with Vicky McClure, Martin Compston (and) Adrian Dunbar has been the highlight of my career. Thanks to the rest of the cast, our brilliant crews and the production team for six incredible seasons.’

Cryptic: The writer, 55, shared a picture of the AC-12 sign to his Twitter after the episode had aired and simply captioned it: ‘Carry the fire’, which gave no indication if there will be a seventh series or not

While Martin, 36, said: ‘Been a wild few weeks and mental ten years. A job of a lifetime only made possible by the fans tuning in series after series. I can’t thank you all enough. Answers coming? Definately.’ 

Millions of viewers were still left with unanswered questions after Sunday’s final including who was the man Jo Davidson believed was her father and if Steve was sacked for failing his drugs test.

But in March Jed admitted that he ‘doesn’t know’ if there will be a series seven and it isn’t ‘guaranteed’ due to the coronavirus crisis.

Emotional: Vicky McClure, who plays DI Kate Fleming, continued to fuel fans’ concerns that the series could be coming to an end in a lengthy Twitter post on Sunday

Goodbye? Meanwhile Martin, known to many as DI Steve Arnott, described working on the series as ‘the job of a lifetime’ and vowed that fans will finally get answers

Speaking to The Radio Times he said: ‘We don’t know. Since probably season four, we’ve been talking to the BBC about the realistic longevity of the series.  

‘I’ve experienced broadcasters pulling the plug while we were still developing a storyline –Bodies and Cardiac Arrest both ended prematurely on the BBC. So it’s an ongoing discussion, is all I can say.’

Jed added: ‘We’re in a situation where it’s not entirely clear that there will be a seventh series. We would hope there could be.

‘But we’re having to do our planning coming out of Covid, and a whole bunch of other things around the idea that these things aren’t guaranteed at all now.’

Although Jed added that the ‘BBC remains very supportive’ and that ‘conversations have been very reassuring’ ahead of a formal commission.  

Exciting: Line Of Duty’s much-anticipated sixth series came to its conclusion on Sunday night with the identity of the elusive criminal ‘H’ finally unmasked as DSU Ian Buckells

Line of Duty fans across the nation were left ‘fuming’ as the nail-biting series finale drew to a close on Sunday and the mysterious antagonist ‘H’ was finally unmasked. 

Seasoned fans took to social media in their droves to share their frustrations as officers from the police anti-corruption unit AC-12 discovered the identity of the elusive ‘fourth man’, who had been colluding with the organised crime group (OCG), was none other than DSU Ian Buckells.

The detective was first introduced to viewers in series one when he was appointed as SIO in the case of murdered businesswoman Jackie Laverty by then chief superintendent Derek Hilton.

Who is it? It was at least revealed that the so-called fourth man was actually DSU Ian Buckells, who had been originally imprisoned after appearing to have been framed by Davidson

The sixth series of the Jed Mercurio creation, also saw DI Steve Arnott, played by actor Martin Compston, finally called in for a meeting with Occupational Health, who noted that while he had not broken the law through his excessive painkiller use, he would have to surrender his firearms licence.

However, the episode’s end failed to offer any resolution on whether the fan-favourite team of DI Steve Arnott, DI Kate Fleming and Superintendent Ted Hastings would return, ending on the revelation that the team has ‘never been weaker.’ 

The mystery surrounding the identity of ‘H’ has been up for speculation since his character was first mentioned at the end of series three, which aired in 2016, and detectives at the anti-corruption unit discovered there were four officers working within the force who had links to the underground criminal network.   

It is over? As the final shot of the AC-12 elevator showed the trio reunited as they travelled down the lift together, viewers were less hopeful on whether they’ll get to see them together again in a seventh series