NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Jed Mercurio reveals law & order frustrations behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard

By Chris Reed
Reporter·NZ Herald·
3 Jun, 2020 11:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure star in Line of Duty, streaming on Acorn TV. Photo: Supplied

Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure star in Line of Duty, streaming on Acorn TV. Photo: Supplied

His biggest shows have more twists than a Chubby Checker retrospective, but in real life Jed Mercurio won't leave you guessing.

The brains behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard is frank about his inspiration for the TV juggernauts: institutions failing to front when they stuff up.

"I think anybody now going through life bumps up against the great bureaucracy and self-protection of a lot of the institutions we have here in the UK, and it's the same the world over.

"What you'll often see is, rather than being open and trying to learn lessons and apologise and compensate people they've harmed, they close ranks, and they evade and obfuscate. And they try and avoid accountability.

"No one's expecting them to be robots who get everything right constantly, but it's how the institution handles that and, to a certain extent, that was the inspiration for Line of Duty."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Line of Duty creator and showrunner Jed Mercurio (left) on set. Photo: Acorn TV
Line of Duty creator and showrunner Jed Mercurio (left) on set. Photo: Acorn TV

Mercurio - early 50s, married father of two, arguably the most powerful creator of TV drama in the UK - is on the phone from his home in London.

Friendly, thoughtful and, unsurprisingly, precise in dialogue, he's promoting the arrival of the fifth and latest series of Line of Duty on Acorn TV, a boutique streaming platform specialising in UK drama.

For newcomers, the show's about a fictional police unit that tackles corruption in the force. As series five rams home, boss Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) and his sidekicks Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) and Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) face a sprawling crime network with many cops in its pocket.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Existing fans won't be disappointed: present and correct are the usual gripping interview scenes, brilliant guest stars, shocking deaths and labyrinthine plotting.

A major storyline is a cloud of suspicion over Hastings, a character with enough catchphrases to inspire a drinking game among fans.

Discover more

Entertainment

Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar talks new thriller Blood

30 Jan 02:00 AM

"People are interested in the characters and it makes them speculate about maybe what secrets they hold, even if they've got very little to go on. It seems that you don't need to do very much with the character of Hastings for speculation to run riot."

Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar (left) listens to creator/showrunner Jed Mercurio on set (right). Photo: Acorn TV.
Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar (left) listens to creator/showrunner Jed Mercurio on set (right). Photo: Acorn TV.

Mercurio's frustrations with institutions stem from his time as a doctor in the UK's public health service. That job informed two early hits, medical dramas Cardiac Arrest (written in the mid-1990s under a pseudonym while he was still practising) and Bodies.

Bodyguard is his biggest success. About the tribulations of a police protection officer (Richard Madden) assigned to a Government Minister (Keeley Hawes), it was a cultural phenomenon when broadcast in the UK in 2018.

The series gave the BBC its biggest audience for a decade, with the finale watched by 17 million people, almost a third of the population.

Success on that scale must create pressure.

"I certainly don't regard it as pressure," says Mercurio, "the reason being that I've had my ups and downs in my career over the years. And pressure actually comes when something isn't performing well."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Filming on series six of Line of Duty was already under way when Covid-19 intervened and production ceased.

Unsure when it will resume, Mercurio has already spoken of possible reshoots. The shutdown has also delayed decisions about another series of Bodyguard.

Frank in conversation, he's forthright on social media too. Blunt with trolls, and sometimes journalists, he's a frequent critic of the UK Government's response to the pandemic.

"Like a lot of people, I've seen the way in which it has been mishandled here and a lot of the influence for my opinion comes from reading the views of experts.

"I've read the analyses that have been coming out of various departments of public health, and now we have an independent scientific advisory group who are very transparent.

"The Government has hidden behind saying that they followed the science. But It's pretty clear something has gone very wrong in terms of the relationship between scientific advice and public health policy and, I think, with unfortunately tragic consequences."

Despite the shutdown, Mercurio has much to do.

Beyond posting Line of Duty bloopers and skits on social media to support an appeal buying equipment to protect frontline UK medical staff from Covid-19, he co-owns a newish production company. It's already commissioned highly anticipated dramas starring Line of Duty's McClure and James Nesbitt (Cold Feet).

"I still really enjoy my writing. I'm still very intent on developing new projects for myself and writing for the next few years. It's just a diversification into being able to work on projects that I wouldn't be able to write or I wouldn't be the right person to write, and to work with really talented people on helping get those works on screen."

And with that he's off for another interview. Duty calls.

LOWDOWN
Who: Jed Mercurio
What: Creator of premium British dramas Line of Duty and Bodyguard.
When: Line of Duty series 1-5 are on Acorn TV. Bodyguard is on TVNZ from Monday.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Entertainment

World

Ozzy Osbourne's final Black Sabbath gig draws thousands in Birmingham

06 Jul 02:09 AM
New Zealand

NZ actress accuses Australian policeman of using CCTV to spy on her

06 Jul 12:48 AM
Premium
Entertainment

Lights! Camera! But not enough action in a fading, worried Hollywood

06 Jul 12:00 AM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Ozzy Osbourne's final Black Sabbath gig draws thousands in Birmingham

Ozzy Osbourne's final Black Sabbath gig draws thousands in Birmingham

06 Jul 02:09 AM

He performed with his original bandmates for the first time in 20 years.

NZ actress accuses Australian policeman of using CCTV to spy on her

NZ actress accuses Australian policeman of using CCTV to spy on her

06 Jul 12:48 AM
Premium
Lights! Camera! But not enough action in a fading, worried Hollywood

Lights! Camera! But not enough action in a fading, worried Hollywood

06 Jul 12:00 AM
Noel Edmonds to marry again: British TV star proposes in hot tub in NZ

Noel Edmonds to marry again: British TV star proposes in hot tub in NZ

05 Jul 09:00 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP