We knew we had another Line Of Duty series in us, says Martin Compston

The cast of Line Of Duty knew the show had one more season in it, Martin Compston has said, as he gets set to film its seventh series.

The Scot, who plays anti-corruption officer Steve Arnott, said he is “excited” for the show to “go out on a high”.

The actor spoke to the Press Association as he promoted his new Paramount+ thriller series The Revenge Club, which follows a divorce support club plotting revenge.

But it also came after the BBC confirmed Line Of Duty is set to return.

Compston said he had been ordered to stay tight-lipped about what the new series will bring – but he said that is part of the allure.

“I don’t think people want to know,” he said.

“It’s kind of weird. People always go, ‘Is it this?’ and then say ‘Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me’.

“I think people love the surprises and that’s one of the big things about the show, the twists and turns is what makes it appealing.

“I definitely think The Revenge Club is so, so bingeable, and it’s right that this drops all at one time, because you can blast through it.

“But I think Line Of Duty is one of the kind of last staples of a show where you leave it the week in between.

“I don’t think we’ll ever drop all the episodes because it is that water cooler thing where people talk about our work during the week, come up with theories and build the suspense.

“I think the secrecy is a big part of it.”

The Greenock-born actor said it was more than the storyline that drew him back to the programme.

He said: “I think you need distance from it. The other [series] went so mental that we kind of all needed a break from it for a bit, but I think we’re pretty sure we had one more in us.

“From a selfish point of view, we’re all really close, we’re all really good pals, so we genuinely have a really good time working together.

“We’ve been lucky the last few times, with The Revenge Club and stuff because you’ve got such an amazing team and it’s such a joy to film it.

“But Line Of Duty can ruin it for other jobs because you’re just with your pals all the time.”

In 2021, Compston was shown in a widely-shared clip bringing filming of Line Of Duty to a standstill as he celebrated Scotland qualifying for the Euros, screaming “come on Scotland” around the set.

With Scotland now having qualified for the men’s World Cup for the first time in a generation, and their matches in America coinciding with filming of the new series of Line Of Duty, Compston said similar clips could surface in the new year.

“I’ll be filming Line Of Duty so maybe you’ll get another one of them,” he said.

“But I’m definitely going to try and get to a game. It’s been a long, long time coming.

“I can’t miss it all. I’ve got to get to one game. I’ve got to experience Scotland in the World Cup, because who knows when it come around again.”

He added: “Look, Brazil is the glamour game, I mean, you could potentially get a scuddin’ there.

“Playing Brazil in Miami in the World Cup, I don’t think it gets much better than that.

“Morocco is a really tough game. That’s probably toughest.

“And Haiti, no doubt will be a tough game, but if you don’t win that, I don’t think you deserve to go through.

“I think we’ve got quite lucky. I mean, it’s a tough group, but we’ve got really lucky the way it’s been drawn with Haiti first.

“So if you get three points on the board at first, and then you think, we just need one from the second two, four will get you through.”