Line of Duty might not finish filming season 6 until next year

The police thriller was one of many popular television shows forced to halt filming earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, only four weeks into its tight shooting schedule in Belfast.

Mercurio appeared on The Andrew Marr Show, where he was asked whether production would resume this year.

"I think it is still something that's in doubt," he said. "There's a lot we can do within the industry, but until wider society has the public health infrastructure of test, trace and isolate in place it's going to be very hard for anyone.

"We can't make productions in a bubble. The cast and crew will go home, they will come into contact with other people and be interacting with the rest of society."

Interestingly, the producer went on to speak about possible changes they could make to the story of Line of Duty in order to accommodate filming in an unfamiliar world of social distancing.

Mercurio added: "We shot for four weeks in a pre-lockdown, pre-Covid world and all that material would have to be reshot if we were going to change things. It's something that has huge cost implications, but we are discussing it."

Line of Duty follows the work of a police anti-corruption unit, starring Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure. It was one of the most-watched programmes on BBC iPlayer last year, with more than 27 million requests.

Line of Duty is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV guide.