Line of Duty's Anna Maxwell Martin reveals she can't return to BBC drama for behind-the-scenes reason

Line of Duty star Anna Maxwell Martin has ruled out the possibility of her returning for any future series of the hit BBC police drama. Since fans found out the identity of crime boss H in the highly-anticipated 2021 finale, they've been crying out for AC-12 to make their return to BBC One.

Earlier this year, star Christina Chong revealed that the cast had been asked about their availability for later in the year - seemingly confirming that the .

However, there's one particular star who won't be reprising their role. Anna Maxwell Martin took on the role of hard-nosed anti-corruption officer Patricia Carmichael for series five and six, with the character becoming the interim leader of AC-12 when Superintendent Ted Hastings is suspended.

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At the BAFTA TV Awards last night, Anna revealed that there's no chance of her coming back to the show for a reason that is set to disappoint fans. "Sometimes you're not allowed to revise certain roles due to contracts with other streamers," she explained to the .

Earlier this year, Line of Duty's for a seventh series. He told 's TV Mag: "We're always talking about possibilities and schedules and whatnot.

"Everybody's got stuff going on at the minute, so I think anything, unfortunately, would be a way off.

"Because we're all so close and we all want the best for the show, we wouldn't do it again just for the sake of it. If it was just about doing it for the sake of it, we'd have probably done another three series by now.

"We really care about the quality of it. So if we come back, it would be for the right reasons."

While last month, it was reported that after the cast were finally able to clear space in their calendars to commit to make the show.

"The BBC almost immediately requested more episodes to continue the story, but the success of the show meant Vicky, Martin and Adrian were instantly snapped up for other projects," a source told The Sun.

Line of Duty's sixth series followed anti-corruption team Kate Fleming, Steve Arnott and Ted Hastings as they finally tracked down H - with the bent copper controversially being revealed as bumbling cop Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle).

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