Line of Duty finale pulls in record viewership numbers

Tuesday 4 May 2021 by Charlotte Whyatt  News

The highly-anticipated finale of Line of Duty’s sixth season drew a record 12.8 million overnight viewers, the BBC has said. 

This makes it the most watched episode of any drama series (excluding soaps) since records began nearly two decades ago.

The last time a program scored such large overnight viewing figures was a 2001 episode of ITV’s detective drama Heartbeat with 13.2 million.

The episode saw the conclusion of the show’s long running storyline about a secret network of corrupt police officers with the reveal of the fourth participant, known as H.  

Reception from both critics and fans has been mostly negative with many describing it as “disappointing” and “anti-climatic.”

Season 6 saw AC-12’s DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston), DI Kate Flemming (Vicky McClure) and Superintendent Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) begin to investigate DS Davidson (Kelly McDonald) after her suspicious conduct results in a murder suspect escaping.

It’s yet to be confirmed whether the acclaimed show, which is written by its creator Jed Mecurio, will return for a seventh season. 

"Addictive event television, Line of Duty has kept the nation guessing for the last seven weeks, so it's no surprise that last night's jaw dropping finale set a ratings record,” said the BBC’s chief content officer Charlotte Moore.

All six seasons of Line of Duty are available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer now. 

Source: BBC