LINE OF DUTY: FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR SEVENTH SERIES ON BBC ONE AHEAD OF FILMING BEGINNING

The BBC has announced further cast for the return of Jed Mercurio’s hit crime thriller Line of Duty, ahead of filming beginning in Northern Ireland. Made by World Productions for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, series seven will air next year.

Tom Weston-Jones (Warrior, Sanditon) will play Detective Inspector Dominic Gough, leader of Tactical Operations Unit 7 (TO-7). A charismatic officer who has won plaudits for a string of takedowns of organised crime, Gough is accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator. But is his case a deliberate distraction from a bigger threat still operating in the shadows?

Alongside Gough and the previously announced Robert Carlyle as Specialist Rifle Officer DC Shaun Massie, TO-7 will also feature Line of Duty newcomers Laura Aikman (This City Is Ours, Gavin & Stacey) as DC Paula Beckman, Levi Brown (This Town, Girl Taken) as DC Luke Tobin, and Amy Leigh Hickman (Ackley Bridge, You) as DC Nira Rashid.

Returning to Line of Duty for series seven will be Mark Bonnar (former Deputy Chief Constable Mike Dryden), Owen Teale (Chief Constable Philip Osborne), Perry Fitzpatrick (DS Chris Lomax) and Christina Chong (DI Nicky Rogerson).

Further new cast members include David Calder (Motherland, Rivals), Steven Elder (Prisoner, Toxic Town), Dominic Mafham (Vigil, Killing Eve), Sarah Andre White (What It Feels Like for A Girl, Rocks), Aimee Powell (Believe Me, Art Detectives), and Naomi Yang (Under Salt Marsh, Maternal).

Jed Mercurio says: "I'm honoured to be working with our brilliant new cast members, and I know the audience will be thrilled to see some much-loved old faces returning from previous seasons."

Simon Heath, World Productions’ CEO and creative director says: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome such a great new cast to join so many well-loved actors from the history of the show."

Line of Duty series seven is written and created by Jed Mercurio, who will also direct episodes 4-6. It is made by World Productions, in association with ITV Studios, which is handling international distribution.