Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio claims 'every series' he created was 'cancelled prematurely'
The prolific TV writer made the comments in response to a question about his '90s medical drama Cardiac Arrest.
Jed Mercurio has claimed that all of the TV projects he has created have been "cancelled prematurely" by broadcasting executives.
The Line of Duty creator made the comments on X (formerly Twitter) in response to a question from a fan about his '90s medical drama Cardiac Arrest, which he wrote under the pseudonym John MacUre.
The series – which starred the likes of Andrew Lancel, Helen Baxendale and Ace Bhatti – ran for three seasons between 1994 and 1996, and Mercurio has now revealed that plans were firmly in place for a fourth run.
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"We were developing season 4 as full hour-long episodes with all the same cast," he said, before explaining that the show had eventually met the same fate as several others he's worked on.
"Sadly, every series I’ve ever created has been cancelled prematurely by a new executive taking over at the broadcaster, leaving us, and more importantly the audience, high and dry," he said.
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Mercurio has been responsible for a huge number of hit dramas including The Grimleys, Bodies and Bodyguard – but it is the police corruption drama Line of Duty for which he is best known.
The immensely popular series aired its most recent run in 2021, and various cast members have since teased a possible seventh season on numerous occasions.
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Speaking to the Restless Natives podcast – which is co-hosted by star Martin Compston – earlier this month, Mercurio said that he "would love to" get the cast back together but added that "at the moment, there’s no news."
Meanwhile, Compston added: "There absolutely is no immediate plans. Jed’s on strike. We’re all filming different stuff. We’ve got a WhatsApp group that was 'Line of Duty 6', and then a while ago Jed changed the name of it to 'Line of Duty 7'.
"And what I love about it is, we’ve never spoken about it since!"
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