Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has addressed the recent riots that took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and halted filming on the latest episodes of the hit BBC thriller.
The violence broke out after the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie in the city earlier this month. A Sudanese man, named Hadi Alodid, has been charged with attempted murder in relation to the incident.
Ofcom declared that some of the “racially motivated incidents of violence, arson attacks on homes and vehicles, and attacks against police… appear to have been incited online”.
Line of Duty has been filmed in Belfast since its second season, back in 2013, with the forthcoming seventh chapter being no exception.
Northern Irish star Adrian Dunbar (who plays Ted Hastings in the BBC series) has now addressed the impact of the recent violence, telling RTE Radio 1: “We did have to pause for that. That wasn’t great.
“There’s a lot of stuff being stirred up in Ireland I think from outside of the country at the minute, and a lot of social media stirred a lot of pots here, and a lot of idle hands sitting around were able to get on the street.
“I think the demonstration that happened a few days later by the people of Belfast shows you what the real sentiment in Belfast is towards immigrants and this is a small minority of people who are allowed to get on the street, so it was really unfortunate.”
Ogilvie’s own family also condemned the unrest in no uncertain terms, in a statement released via the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened,” they said.
“We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family, and peaceful protest is only ever the way forward. We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work.”
They added: “We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility – do not do this in the name of our loved one as we do not share the same values.”
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Filming has since resumed on the new episodes of Line of Duty, which are reportedly eyeing a 2027 premiere date.
The synopsis for Line of Duty season 7 reads: “AC-12 has been disbanded and rebranded the Inspectorate of Police Standards. Anticorruption work has never been more difficult and in this challenging climate Steve Arnott (Martin Compston), Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) and Ted Hastings (Dunbar) are assigned their most sensitive case so far.
“Detective Inspector Dominic Gough (Sanditon’s Tom Weston-Jones), a charismatic officer winning plaudits for a string of takedowns of organised crime, is accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator. But is Gough’s case a deliberate distraction from a bigger threat still operating in the shadows?”
Robert Carlyle (The Hack) guest stars as “gruff loner” DC Shaun Massie, who works under Gough, and whose “demeanour changes drastically” when his boss faces an investigation.
Line of Duty season 7 is coming soon to BBC One and iPlayer.
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