Martin Compston teases "phenomenal" Line of Duty return that was "hardest one" they've ever shot

After an agonising wait, Line of Duty season 7 is finally heading to our screens in 2027, and star Martin Compston has teased that it's going to be worth it.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy ahead of his new series Martin Compston: Living Las Vegas, the Steve Arnott actor said that the strength of the story was matched only by how difficult it was to film.

"You know what, the scripts – and I don't want to sound like, a band trying to flog their new album and say it's the best one ever – but I genuinely think, I think this is the best one [Jed Mercurio has] done," he said.

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"I think it would be fair for me to say, this wraps up everything, you know?

"I mean, I wouldn't know whether to say if it's the last one or whatever, but in terms of the story arc, we went through, everything gets wrapped up in the series."

"But it was, it was a strange one, because I kind of thought, 'cause COVID was so miserable when we did the last one," he added, before heaping praise on one of the new cast members, "and we’ve come back, we've got the [Robert] Carlyle, who's my hero, and was the kindest, most patient man, which is a dream to work with.

"And the scripts were so good."

Related: Adrian Dunbar shares viral moment to look out for in the next season of Line of Duty

He continued: "So in some way, I think we all kind of thought it was going to be a lap of honour, you know, and just that, but it was, it was genuinely the hardest one we've ever shot. It was a tough old shoot.

"Yeah, it was full on, but we got it in the can and I'm excited for to go there.

"The scripts are phenomenal. It'll probably [be] what everybody wants. You know, he's hitting all the all the big favourites, ton of action, interview scenes, everything, you know?”

He said something similar on The One Show earlier this week, explaining that "the sheer amount of interview scenes in this one is something we have never done".

Robert Carlyle isn't the only actor joining the cast for season 7, as Gavin & Stacey's Lauren Aikman is also board.

She recently let slip that she thinks the show will be back in January. Did she give the game away, or was she fed false information by an OCG?

Line of Duty seasons 1-6 are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. Martin Compston: Living Las Vegas premiers on Wednesday 23 September at 10pm on Channel 4.

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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.