Thandie Newton gets in Line for top cop drama

THE wait is almost over for fans of Line Of Duty — and series four is set to be the best yet, promises actress Vicky McClure.

“I think it’s the most complex case we’ve ever dealt with,” says McClure, who plays DS Kate Fleming.

“The forensic side of it is going to give the audience a lot to play with. You won’t be able to get up and make a cup of tea, you are going to have to listen and pay attention to lots of small details.”

Last year, Line Of Duty was crowned BBC Two’s most successful series in 15 years. It’s now transferring to BBC One, and a prestigious Sunday slot.

A new twist on the standard police procedural drama, Line Of Duty follows anti-corruption unit AC-12, featuring Kate, and colleagues Superintendent Ted Hastings (Irish actor Adrian Dunbar) and DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston).

In the first episode, we’re introduced to the main ‘antagonist’, DCI Roz Huntley, brought to life by series newcomer Thandie Newton.

Having been off work to bring up her children, she’s under huge pressure to climb back up the career ladder and crack a serial killer case.

POST TRUTH

“One of the higher aims of this series is to look at that theme of, what is truth? What is objective reality? If you weren’t in the room, and you didn’t witness what happened, how can you derive an understanding of what actually happened between those two people?” says series creator Jed Mercurio, who acknowledges his theme uncannily echoes the era of ‘fake news’ and post-truth.

“Over the years, I’ve been getting more and more exasperated at the lack of respect for facts and proper research, being able to tell the difference between an opinion and a fact. Unfortunately for the world, that has become a bigger issue now than it was,” says Mercurio.

The series is shot in Belfast, and Mercurio starts the conversation over plot lines with long-standing cast members Dunbar, McClure, and Compston long before they get there.

“Often when I’m starting to construct the overarching story of the season, we’ll meet for a drink and I’ll get a sense if there’s something they want to delve into for their character. Usually that is Martin saying, ‘I want a gun’, and then the other two piss themselves laughing and I say, ‘No, Vicky can have the gun’, and Martin gets the hump!”

Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar, and Vicky Mcclure in Line Of Duty.

UNDERCOVER ACTION

As DS Fleming, Vicky McClure has to go undercover, and her all-action turn in series three saw her tipped to play the next James Bond. But the truth is a little different for the actress: “Last year, I’m under the bridge and say, ‘I’m too knackered to run’. Jed knew I would be knackered, and I delivered that with conviction every time!”

McClure is thrilled to have Thandie Newton and Jason Watkins on board. “I love the fact that the casting is never obvious,” she says.

“Thandie’s character is so far removed from her and any character we’ve seen her play. And the same with Jason, his character is quite unique, we can’t quite work him out. What great additions to the Line Of Duty family!”

Newton, who describes McClure as “spellbinding”, says: “I had a call from my agent, who’s represented me since I was 17, and she said, ‘If you ever want to work on British television, this is the best thing you could ever do’. I watched the third season with my husband, and we just could not stop, from episode to episode, it was phenomenal.”

Line of Duty begins on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm