Line Of Duty stars Adrian Dunbar and Martin Compston have been pictured on set as filming starts on the new series of the police drama.

The sixth instalment of Jed Mercurio’s hit thriller is due to air later this year.

A tweet from the BBC press office said: “Mother. Of. God. First look images released as filming begins on series six of #LineOfDuty.”

The new series is set a year and a half on from the events of series five and will feature a brand new case for AC-12, focused on an enigmatic detective chief inspector.

It has already been announced Kelly Macdonald will star as the DCI in question – Joanne Davidson – a senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder case.

Series leads Dunbar, Compston and Vicky McClure will all return.

Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is joining the Line Of Duty cast (Ian West/PA)

Other newcomers will include Shalom Brune-Franklin, Perry Fitzpatrick, Andi Osho and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

The fifth series of the popular police procedural aired last year, with Stephen Graham in the guest lead role as Detective Sergeant John Corbett.

Its final episode drew more than nine million viewers in May, making it the most-watched drama since Mercurio’s Bodyguard, which aired in 2018.

The new series of Line Of Duty will premiere on BBC One later this year.

All previous series are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.