LINE of Duty has been renewed for both a fifth and a sixth series, the BBC has confirmed.
The popular Belfast-filmed crime drama's fourth series finished last weekend, scoring its highest viewing figures so far with 7.5 million tuning in.
While a fifth series was already on the cards, a sixth has now been confirmed by the BBC's director general Tony Hall.
"I am very excited to say there's not one, but two more series of Line Of Duty," he said.
Series 6 confirmed!!! We will be back for 2 more series!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!! #LineofDuty https://t.co/XBA5wBeZI5
— Line of Duty (@Line_of_duty) May 5, 2017
Referring to the series' anti-corruption unit, he added: "So hooray for AC-12!"
The latest series starred Thandie Newton as DCI Roz Huntley, as well as show regulars Martin Compston as DS Steve Arnott, Vicky McClure as DS Kate Fleming and Co Fermanagh's Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings.
Audiences were kept on the edge of their seats with a tense storyline and plenty of plot twists, and the last episode saw the identity of the mysterious 'balaclava man' revealed.
But fans will have to wait for two years for the next outing, as the fifth series will not arrive on screens until 2019, the show's writer Jed Mercurio said earlier this week.
He told ITV's This Morning: "I hope it won't be too long, we are filming the next series next year, but it will be in the second half of next year so there is enough time to get the script right and get the cast together.
"The earliest I can imagine it will be on air is early 2019."
He has also dismissed speculation that Line of Duty is being remade for US audiences, saying: "I have no idea what that's about, or why it's been printed now."
