Line Of Duty’s sixth season is set to hit screens in China, after ITV Studios bosses inked a new deal with local video app Pumpkin Film.
The hit BBC show, which came to a nail-biting conclusion earlier this month, is also set to launch on Britbox in North America next week and has been picked up in a slew of deals worldwide with both linear and streaming platforms.
Among the other countries the Jed Mercurio-created series is headed to are New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Latvia.
Deal: Line Of Duty’s sixth season is heading China, after ITV Studios bosses inked a deal with video app Pumpkin Film. Pictured (L-R) Vicky McClure, Adrian Dunbar and Martin Compston
It follows on from last month’s announcement that Britbox, the streaming service from BBC Studios and ITV, is the exclusive US home for Season Six, with the deal including premiere rights in Canada.
Britbox Australia also picked up rights to the series, with the show – starring Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar – having launched there in April.
Julie Meldal-Johnsen, EVP Global Content, ITV Studios said: ‘Line of Duty is a phenomenon and we’re delighted to be able to take the show to an even wider audience as a result of these sales.
‘It’s great that fans everywhere from Finland to China will be able to watch this thrilling season of the show. I’m sure there will be more countries on the horizon too, which can only be a good thing for audiences across the globe.’
Anticipated finale: During the highly anticipated finale earlier this month, it was revealed that DCI Ian Buckells, played by Nigel Boyle, was the elusive ‘H’
The first episode of this series was watched by 9.6 million overnight viewers on BBC One in the UK, with a consolidated audience of 13.8 million.
The live audience figures surpassed the show’s previous record of 9.1 million for the finale of series five in 2019. And last Sunday night’s finale saw a consolidated 16 million after 12.8 million viewers had tuned in live.
It comes as Line Of Duty fans across the nation were left ‘fuming’ as the nail-biting series finale drew to a close on Sunday and the mysterious antagonist ‘H’ was finally unmasked.
Seasoned fans took to social media in their droves to share their frustrations as officers from the police anti-corruption unit AC-12 discovered the identity of the elusive ‘fourth man’, who had been colluding with the organised crime group (OCG), was none other than DSU Ian Buckells.
It saw the words ‘fuming’, ‘disappointing’ and ‘underwhelming’ all trend on social media in the aftermath of the show.
And the disbelief it could be him was compounded by the way he was only caught because of his repeated mis-spelling of the word ‘definitely’ – hardly the blunder of a hardened criminal mastermind.
The detective – widely thought until the finale to have been just a bungling stooge – was first introduced to viewers in series one as the SIO in the case of murdered businesswoman Jackie Laverty by then Chief Superintendent Derek Hilton.
He later went on to become Detective Chief Inspector in series four before being promoted once more to Detective Superintendent in this final series.
Sharing their disappointment on the revelation, one disgruntled Line of Duty fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Can’t believe I watched six seasons of line of Duty for Ian Buckells, the most pointless character to be the fourth man. Fuming.’
While another viewer added: ‘I’m fuming, can’t believe I waited this long for Ian Buckells to run the roost.’
And while the finale tied up many unresolved storylines, there were still some gaping plot holes and storylines left unanswered.
The sixth series of the Jed Mercurio creation also saw DI Steve Arnott, played by actor Martin, finally called in for a meeting with Occupational Health, who noted that while he had not broken the law through his excessive painkiller use, he would have to surrender his firearms licence.
However, the 60-minute episode’s end failed to offer any resolution on whether the team of DI Steve Arnott, DI Kate Fleming and Superintendent Ted Hastings would return, ending on the revelation that the team has ‘never been weaker.’
The mystery surrounding the identity of ‘H’ has been up for speculation since his character was first mentioned at the end of series three, which aired in 2016, and detectives at the anti-corruption unit discovered there were four officers working within the force who had links to the underground criminal network.
All over: It comes as Line Of Duty fans across the nation were left ‘fuming’ as the nail-biting series finale drew to a close on Sunday and the mysterious antagonist ‘H’ was finally unmasked
Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio defended the BBC police drama after droves of fans slammed the ‘disappointing’ series six finale.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the writer, 55, responded to critics in an impassioned post and said that it is ‘impossible’ to satisfy all viewers’ expectations.
An eye-watering 12.8million viewers tuned in to watch the show’s sixth season conclude on Sunday night with a 56.2 per cent share – recording the BBC’s ever overnight rating, yet some disappointed fans were left with unanswered questions.
Responding to the fan backlash over the finale, Jed admitted that the episode ‘divided social media opinion’ yet he found a ‘a far less extreme picture’ when taking in the audience research.
Word: The disbelief it could be him was compounded by the way he was only caught because of his misspelling of the word ‘definitely’ – hardly the blunder of a criminal mastermind
He tweeted: ‘1. No one disputes the Line of Duty finale divided social media opinion but the audience research so far shows a far less extreme picture.
‘We knew a “down” ending would rate less favourably with some viewers, however all 7 episodes varied by under 10 per cent on average viewer score…’
Jed continued: ‘2. The research determines the episode ratings based on randomly polling viewers, rather than sites like imdb where scores can be skewed by users strongly motivated to register their immediate anger/adulation …
‘3. 1000 random viewers submitted scores from 1-10 which have been used to calculate the Appreciation Index (AI) as a score out of 100. The AI for the “down” finale was only 7 points below the next lowest in Season 6 (Ep 1) …’
Hitting back: Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio defended the police drama after droves of fans slammed the ‘disappointing’ series six finale on Sunday night (pictured 2019)
Jed concluded with: ‘4/4 These figures won’t stop the debate, of course, nor should they – that’s still all part of the experience of shared TV viewing. Thanks again for watching.’
Despite the backlash, last Sunday’s season finale proved to be a ratings hit for the BBC, with 12.8 million viewers tuning in for the broadcast.
The huge and impressive numbers comfortably beating Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, which drew 11.4 viewers when it aired in March.
BBC bosses are yet to confirm whether the show will return, despite an average of 13 millions viewers tuning in for the latest series, which faced multiple delays due to the COVID pandemic.
‘Impossible’: Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the writer, 55, responded to critics in an impassioned post and said that it is ‘impossible’ to satisfy all viewers’ expectations
MOTHER OF GOD! WAS THAT IT? VIEWERS LEFT ‘FUMING’ AFTER MINOR CHARACTER BUCKELLS IS UNVEILED AS THE FOURTH MAN…
Line of Duty fans across the nation were left underwhelmed and disappointed by the identity of mysterious antagonist ‘H’.
Loyal viewers took to social media in their droves to share their frustrations as officers from the police anti-corruption unit AC-12 discovered the identity of the elusive ‘fourth man’.
But the revelation the bent copper colluding with the organised crime groups (OCGs), was actually DSI Ian Buckells infuriated many seasoned Line Of Duty fans.
It saw the words ‘fuming’, ‘disappointing’ and ‘underwhelming’ all trend on social media in the aftermath of the show.
And the disbelief it could be him was compounded by the way he was only caught because of his repeated mis-spelling of the word ‘definitely’ – hardly the blunder of a hardened criminal mastermind.
The detective – widely thought until last night to have been just a bungling stooge – was first introduced to viewers in series one as the SIO in the case of murdered businesswoman Jackie Laverty by then Chief Superintendent Derek Hilton.
He later went on to become Detective Chief Inspector in series four before being promoted once more to Detective Superintendent in this final series.
Sharing their disappointment on the revelation, one disgruntled Line of Duty fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Can’t believe I watched six seasons of line of Duty for Ian Buckells, the most pointless character to be the fourth man. Fuming.’
While another viewer added: ‘Buckells, the most pointless character’.