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The sixth series of Line Of Duty may have to be rewritten due to coronavirus, writer and creator Jed Mercurio has revealed.
Production of the latest season of the hit BBC drama was halted back in March amid the pandemic, with conversations now on-going about how filming might resume.
One option being considered means that four week’s-worth of footage they’ve already shot in Belfast could be binned.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, Jed said: “We’re all considering [a re-write]. We shot for four weeks in a pre-lockdown world, and all that material would have to be re-shot if we were going to change things.
“That would have huge cost implications, but we are considering it.”
However, Jed admitted he thinks it is unlikely work would restart again this year, unless a better public health infrastructure was in place.
He said: “The problem was when [testing] was abandoned by the government, we were looking at a situation where we couldn’t apply that.
“Nobody knows how this is going to unfold and we’ve just got to make sure everybody’s safe. I feel for a lot of the crew, it’s a difficult time when you’re out of work.
“I want to get back as soon as we can, but that’s got to be when it’s safe. We’re not a show that is similar to the soaps where there’s a possibility of bringing the actual subject of corona into the storyline, where that could make it slightly easier for them to adapt to it, whereas it’s currently not in Line Of Duty’s world.”
He continued: “To be honest with you there’s a lot we can do within the industry, but until wider society has the public health infrastructure of test, trace and isolate in place it’s going to be very hard for anyone...
“I just don’t think, unless wider society has got the process right, we’ll be able to work in isolation.”
The sixth series of Line Of Duty was set to see Kelly Macdonald join the cast, playing a brand new Detective Chief Inspector who had been dubbed the “most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced”.
Vicky McClure, who plays DI Kate Fleming on the show, added that she is keen to get back to work, “even if it means re-shooting what we’ve already shot”.
On Monday, a host of major UK broadcasters joined forces to introduce broad guidelines which aim to help the TV industry work through the pandemic.
They include reducing the number of people involved in production and incorporating social distancing into scripts, as well as a heightening of precautions on set and special measures for people at higher risk of harm.
Last week the BBC’s director of content, Charlotte Moore, said in The Telegraph that the BBC plans “to begin filming again on both EastEnders and Top Gear by the end of June”.
Coronation Street and Emmerdale are in the “final stages” of working on plans to return to production, a spokesperson for the ITV soaps said last week.