Met chief Cressida Dick 'outraged' by police portrayal in Line of Duty and Bodyguard
Britain's most senior police officer has criticised Jed Mercurio's crime drama about a police anti-corruption unit
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick has criticised Line of Duty's "absolutely outrageous" portrayal of police corruption.
Speaking to Radio Times, Dick revealed that she had initially been unaware of Jed Mercurio's crime drama, which stars Vicky McClure and follows AC-12, an anti-corruption unit responsible for uncovering corruption within the force.
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"I was absolutely outraged by the level of casual and extreme corruption that was being portrayed as the way the police is in 2018," she said. "It's so far from that. The standards and professionalism are so high."
Britain's most senior police officer also revealed that Mercurio's smash-hit drama Bodyguard, starring Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden as a police protection officer, "drove everybody round here absolutely up the wall".
"I actually did have to switch it off after about 20 minutes — the moment when the home secretary [Hawes] made a pass at the protection officer was just beyond me, I'm afraid," she said.
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However, Dick did admit that Line of Duty made for "good drama," and that both of Mercurio's dramas could prove to be unexpected sources of recruitment.
“Both series actually make us look a bit cool and interesting – a net positive, probably,” she said, before adding: “They bring in interest and applications. Even though it’s all completely ludicrous.”
Cressida Dick's full interview can be found in the current issue of Radio Times, on sale now
