More than 12 million people watched the Line of Duty season six finale on BBC last week - but will there be another series?

Jed Mercurio's police drama was named the UK's highest-rated TV drama in 13 years. 

The penultimate episode became the show's most-watched with an impressive average of 11 million viewers tuning in to watch Ryan Pilkington's exit.

The finale faired even better, beating its own record after being watched by an average of 12.8 million viewers.

But will there be another series?

Watford Observer: Vicky McClure as DI Kate Fleming and Martn Compston as DI Steve Arnott in Line Of Duty (Steffan Hill/BBC/PA)Vicky McClure as DI Kate Fleming and Martn Compston as DI Steve Arnott in Line Of Duty (Steffan Hill/BBC/PA)

Will Line Of Duty return for season seven?

BBC has yet to confirm if there will be another series of Line Of Duty.

Charlotte Moore, BBC's chief content officer said: "Jed Mercurio [Line Of Duty creator] is a master of his craft, and I would like to congratulate him and the entire cast and crew for delivering such an incredible drama series.

"I'm looking forward to having a conversation with the team about where we go next and what the future of the series might be."

Speaking ahead of the season six finale, show stars Vicky McClure and Martin Compston said they "don’t know anything" about the future of the series.

Martin said: “That’s nothing different for us. Jed always takes months after… there’s stuff above our pay grade, analytics, figures and all that kind of thing that comes in.

"He always takes time off.

"But I think it is important to say, I think this natural story arc that we’ve been on for the last six years...

"We won’t come back just for the sake of it. That’s for sure.

Watford Observer: Line Of Duty's castLine Of Duty's cast

"We’ll come back if there’s a story to tell.

"But, so as well, if it ends well maybe sometimes it is best to leave it.

"But, so, genuinely we don’t know.”

Jed himself recently said a seventh season of Line Of Duty wasn't currently guaranteed.

He told the Radio Times: "We’re in a situation where it’s not entirely clear that there will be a seventh series.

Watford Observer: Jed Mercurio has not confirmed if there will be a new Line of Duty series on the BBCJed Mercurio has not confirmed if there will be a new Line of Duty series on the BBC

"We would hope there could be. But we’re having to do our planning coming out of [the pandemic], and a whole bunch of other things around the idea that these things aren’t guaranteed at all now."

TV presenter Giles Coren gave a huge indication that there will indeed be a seventh series.

He tweeted at the start of the week: "A friend of mine was cast in series 7 last week.

"There’s no secret."

But the tweet was quickly removed.

The actor who turned out to be H, Nigel Boyle, was also tight lipped on whether there will be another series.

Nigel, who plays Buckells, said "I honestly don’t know" when asked if there would be more episodes and went on to defend how series six ended.

He told BBC Breakfast on Monday: "The fans have been brilliant. So many people have invested so much in this series.

"I think there’s always going to be some element of disappointment but you can’t have every series with a big shoot-out, urgent exit required. Sometimes the subtler message is more important."

Watford Observer: Line Of Duty’s DSU Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle) – (C) World Productions – Photographer: Steffan HillLine Of Duty’s DSU Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle) – (C) World Productions – Photographer: Steffan Hill

What happened in season six?

Season six focused on the investigation of the murder of a journalist named Gail Vella.

But it soon turned into a man-hunt or the fourth man, a theory set up in season five.

The fifth series finale left us reeling as it was revealed there were four top corrupt coppers - Gill Biggeloe, ACC Hilton and DI "Dot" Cottan, with the final member remaining at large.

The latest series heavily featured guest lead Joanne Davidson, who had been described by producers as AC-12's "most enigmatic adversary yet".

She headed up the MIT, who were responsible for the Gail Vella investigation.

But it transpired she was the least of AC-12's worries - during the series it is revealed that while Jo is the daughter of Tommy Hunter, but it is not her leaking information to the OCG.

The final episode saw Jo enters Witness Protection.

Meanwhile, Steve has been struggling with a prescription med addiction, and in the finale finally goes to occupational health.