Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has admitted that he wants the BBC series to make a comeback before he gets any older and his character Ted Hastings ends up in "a zimmer frame."
As the sixth series came to an end and the identity of crime boss "H" was uncovered as the fumbling Ian Buckles, adoring fans were left "fuming" with the outcome.
Thousands of frustrated viewers took to their social media to air their annoyance and felt they had "wasted time" watching the officers from the police anti-corruption unit AC-12 discover Buckles as the elusive "fourth man", who had been colluding with the organised crime group (OCG).
Many more were left dumbfounded and unsure of the final outcome after AC-12 only managed to work out the identity of "H" due to his consistent misspelling of the word "definitely".
However, despite the many fans being unimpressed with the ending, they have still begged writer Jed Mercurio and actors Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston to return for another series.
Dunbar recently opened up about his wish to do a new series and admitted all of his fellow castmates are keen for it to happen soon.
Adrian Dunbar wants Ted Hastings to return without a "zimmer frame"
BBC
Speaking to The Times, he explained: "We all want it to come back. It’s apposite that today should be their [castmates Vicky McClure and Martin Compton's shared] birthdays because I really don’t want them getting any older.
"I don’t want to get any older either because we don’t want to be coming back when we’re in a wheelchair. Ted Hastings with a Zimmer frame."
Alongside his recent comments, he told actors' magazine The Stage: "Line of Duty came along and changed everything. I have a good sense of TV history and what it takes to create an iconic character. Looking back on it I feel we have done something that will resonate for many years.
"I feel a real sense of achievement. For me, the character is still alive. He’s out there somewhere. And, who knows, we might do something with him again."
Adrian Dunbar has teased that all cast members are keen to return
BBC
Adrian previously teased a return for the series, and told the BBC: "Yeah, I mean, it was Vicky [McClure] who texted me yesterday saying 'I'm about to do loads of press for Trigger Point but I know the only thing I'll be asked is are we about to do Line of Duty again?'.
"And the answer to that is we don't know, we'd love to, because the last time we did it, it was in lockdown. And so we kind of couldn't get out, we couldn't have fun. So we were kind of robbed of the experience of working together again.
"And so we'd really like to do it again. But you know, at the moment, we don't know."
His comment comes after McClure awkwardly dodged a question on whether there was another series being made after Ben Shephard said: "There's always going to be rumours and expectations, have you all agreed that you'd be ready and up for it when Jed gets himself together?"
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Vicky McClure has also teased the comeback of the BBC series
BBC
McClure replied: "There will always be rumours. I mean look. We have all said we love the show and would love to go again obviously but there's nothing to talk about so it's disappointing in terms of there is no news!"
Taking the opportunity, Cat Deeley probed: "Well is no news good news? Because it's definitely not a no..." leaving McClure to smile and cover her face with a cushion: "I'm just going to put this over my face...".