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Line of Duty reveals airdate - and 2021 is looking better already!

We can't wait for the return of AC-12!

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Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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While Line of Duty bosses have previously said that they were feeling hopeful that season six would be out by 2021, the BBC has recently revealed a more precise airdate - and it's sooner than you might think!

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Season six of the popular procedural drama will be out by the end of March 2021, so we can safely say that next year is already looking up!

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The show was forced to postpone filming at the beginning of the year due to lockdown restrictions but was then able to continue while keeping social distancing rules in place. 

Speaking on Lorraine about having to make major changes to the series, the showrunner Jed Mercurio said: "It’s been pretty tough, to be honest with you. Firstly I’ve got to pay tribute to our brilliant cast and crew.

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We’ve been diligently and rigorously wearing masks the whole time, social distancing, sanitising any objects that pass between people, fogging spaces that we go into as well as having to take other steps such as changing scenes from interior locations to exterior locations.

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Are you looking forward to the return of AC-12? 

"Some of our on-location shoots have been moved into the studio so that we were able to ventilate the spaces… so there has been a lot that we’ve had to do. We hope that these changes will be invisible to fans when they watch the series." 

Jed has been sharing plenty of hints about what to expect from the coming series, including tweeting an image of a large fruit and vegetable warehouse named 'Arnotts' – the surname of leading character DS Steve Arnott – with someone dressed in a hazmat suit looking across from the distance. 

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The show should return in early 2021

Jed captioned the post: "#LineofDuty6 cryptic plot clue", and it certainly got fans thinking. One person tweeted underneath: "Steve has moved into selling fruit and veg?", while another wrote: "Arnotts? Seriously?"

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