THERE is no need to go cold turkey now Line Of Duty has come to an end.
Choose from a long list of dramas and documentaries to get your fix of gripping police work.
And there are also shows featuring some of your favourite cast members from the BBC’s cop thriller.
Whether they are already available on catch up services or about to start on terrestrial channels, there is plenty to choose from when you start missing the presence of Jed Mercurio’s masterpiece.
We provide the ultimate guide to filling the big AC-12-shaped hole in your life.
Blood
ADRIAN Dunbar plays doctor Jim Hogan who becomes involved in a suspicious death in rural Ireland.
And if you thought his Line Of Duty character Supt Ted Hastings was a somewhat dubious character who has made some questionable decisions, just wait until you get a load of this guy.
The show ran for two series and got rave reviews when it first aired on Channel 5 in 2018.
Available on Amazon Prime Video.
Vigil
ACTOR Martin Compston, who played DI Steve Arnott in Line Of Duty, is a Royal Navy officer in this ocean-based drama.
His character Craig Burke and DCI Amy Silva – actress Suranne Jones — board the submarine HMS Vigil to investigate a death following the vanishing of a fishing trawler.
The trailer, which was released this week, features Martin saying: “There are 20 different ways you could kill Vigil’s crew single-handed.”
It is made by World Productions, the team behind Bodyguard.
Vigil is on BBC1 this spring.
Trigger Point
THIS cop thriller stars Vicky McClure – AC-12’s DI Kate Fleming – and its executive producer is Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio.
Vicky plays Lana Washington – a woman who lives life on the edge to protect the public.
She discovers the Metropolitan Police’s bomb disposal squad is embroiled in a terrorist bombing campaign in London.
But she also starts to suspect that the villains are actually targeting her unit.
You can expect the same level of thrills and spillls as Line Of Duty in the six-part series.
Airs later this year on ITV.
Bent Coppers
DELVING into the murky history of policing from the Sixties to the Eighties, this documentary examines the real-life inspiration for Line Of Duty.
It reveals how the Metropolitan Police was a rats’ nest of corrupt officers.
But the BBC2 programme also shows how a few good men were determined to root out the bad guys and restore the reputation of the force – albeit with mixed results.
It’s a fascinating portrait of the heroes who created A10 – the forerunner of the fictional police corruption unit AC-12.
Available on BBC iPlayer.
Giri/Haji
KELLY Macdonald’s DCI Jo Davidson didn’t seem much cop on Line Of Duty.
But give the Trainspotting star another try in this trans-continental crime thriller.
Kelly plays DC Sarah Weitzmann of the Metropolitan Police.
Along with a half-Japanese, half-British rent boy called Rodney (played by Will Sharpe), she finds herself caught in the crossfire of Japanese gangland warfare that stretches from London to Tokyo.
The six-part show was co-produced by Netflix and originally aired on BBC2 in 2019.
Available on Netflix.
Education
NIGEL Boyle – Buckells in LoD – plays a teacher in this harrowing tale of black children unfairly branded educationally subnormal by council authorities in the Seventies.
The drama is part of the Small Axe anthology created by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen which tells the story of West Indian immigrants’ experiences of living in London from the Sixties to the Eighties.
The series, which aired on BBC1 this year, has been nominated for a staggering 15 Bafta TV gongs.
Available on Amazon Prime Video.
The Rig
GET ready for an AC-12 reunion – in the North Sea.
Set on an oil rig which has been cut off from communication with the shore, this supernatural thriller stars LoD actors Martin Compston, Owen Teale (Central Police’s fishy Chief Constable Philip Osborne) and Mark Bonnar (dodgy Deputy Chief Constable Mike Dryden).
The cast also includes Rochenda Sandall, who was baddie Lisa McQueen in series five.
And it is directed by John Strickland – who also directed Line Of Duty.
Available later this year on Amazon Prime Video.
Between the lines
COPS, corruption and conspiracy – if that sounds familiar, it’s because this BBC1 drama is basically the daddy of Line Of Duty.
All the action is based around a unit just like AC-12, where an aged boss runs a tight ship.
The thriller, which aired from 1992 to 1994, was even made by Line Of Duty’s creative team, World Productions.
Its cast included some familiar Nineties faces – Neil Pearson, who later appeared in Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Soldier Soldier’s Jerome Flynn.
Available on BBC iPlayer.
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