‘Line Of Duty’: BBC Drama Targets Late August For Production Restart
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BBC One’s hit police drama Line Of Duty is looking to resume production again in late August after being forced to shut down in March due to the coronavirus crisis.
Deadline understands that producer World Productions has penciled in the week commencing August 24 as a potential restart date, but nothing is yet set in stone as the pandemic continues to be a fluid situation.
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Shot in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Line Of Duty was one of the first major BBC productions to be derailed by COVID-19 when it was paused in March, so its resumption will be a symbolic moment for the broadcaster.
Line Of Duty’s potential restart comes as creator Jed Mercurio has voiced caution on production work getting back underway. “Until wider society has the public health infrastructure of test, trace and isolate in place it’s going to be very hard for anyone,” he said in May. Since then, testing has dramatically increased in the UK.
Line Of Duty is unlikely to be the BBC’s first drama series out of the blocks during the pandemic, however. Deadline revealed last month that BBC One’s adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s classic novel, The Pursuit Of Love, is targeting the end of July.
Fox Networks Group and Canal+’s co-production War Of The Worlds today becomes the first major UK drama series to get cameras rolling again. Season 2 of the H.G Wells adaptation is now shooting in Newport, Wales.
Other BBC series impacted by coronavirus are looking at restarts later in the year. This includes Peaky Blinders, which was shut down on the same day as Line Of Duty, and Call The Midwife. The two shows have mooted return dates in November and September respectively.
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