Halesowen actor praises 'amazing' Line of Duty show

Gregory Piper, who stars as Ryan Pilkington, has become a sensation after his re-appearance in BBC One's fifth season Line of Duty – despite not featuring since season one.

The Halesowen star, who trained at Dramaworkshop in Stourbridge, appeared in the show when he was 13.

He featured as a bicycle-riding envoy between Tommy Hunter, played by Brian McCardie, and Tony Gates, played by Lennie James, back in 2012.

The now-21-year-old returned to the show this season and said it had produced a lot of "excitement" – adding the major scene featuring Stephen Graham's character, John Corbett, was "scary" to film.

The actor said: "There's been a lot of excitement.

"It's been nice to see a lot of people guess that I was Ryan and people were like 'oh yeah' and clocking onto it.

"My family has been very excited by it, too."

Gregory's character, Ryan Pilkington, was last seen killing John Corbett – before he headed off to take an exam.

Gregory said: "It was very scary to find out that was me doing that scene when I read the script.

"Stephen Graham is so brilliant and it's such a big responsibility to do that.

"He was great and I talked to him about doing the scene which made it great to do.

"I did get a few nerves – there was a lot going on when you shoot a scene like that. It was great to see it put together because it's a long process.

"It was really great to see the end product.

"There's no hard feelings between us [in real life] – that scene was shot very early on so it was nice to have the rest of the time to bond with Stephen.

"Ryan went off to study after that, so it was made known he had an exam to do."

The 21-year-old said the Line of Duty cast were "inspirational" – and praised Stephen Graham and creator Jed Mercurio.

"Obviously being in the first series, to have such a great script – to see it get what it was worth – was really nice to see," the former Windsor High pupil added.

"Especially during the second, third and fourth series – to see it get bigger and bigger was great.

"It's an amazing thing – Jed is amazing.

"With Stephen Graham you just feel him on set and he knows exactly what he's talking about and it's nice to see people thriving in the industry – it's inspirational.

"A lot has been secret, but I've had a really great response from people.

"I think when I was getting into acting I slowly saw my family watch and give me pointers, but the more I grew up the less they were watching me – with Line of Duty they're getting lost in the show."

But the question, ahead of tomorrow's season finale, is the identity of H.

"It's a big secret – I can't say anything." Gregory added.