Line of Duty creators announce new crime series for Channel 4

Virgin Radio

26 Aug 2022, 08:47

Line of Duty makers World Productions have announced they will be teaming up with Channel 4 for a new crime series set in Merseyside.

The six-part series has the working title The Gathering and has been written by novelist and filmmaker Helen Walsh.

Not much is known about this new drama, but it will explore a violent attack on a teenager named Kelly while she at a rave.

Kelly lives two very different lives. By day, she is an accomplished gymnast on the road to Team GB but she finds herself at odds with her super-competitive teammates and their parents.

By night, she spends her time with a group of rebellious urban free-runners, who are a million miles away from the discipline and restrictions Kelly faces as a series gymnast.

The plot will then focus on a group of teens from disparate backgrounds and their parents who are suspects in the crime.

Head of Drama at Channel 4, Caroline Hollick, said of the project: "We are thrilled to be working with the brilliant Helen Walsh and World Productions on this exciting series; The Gathering, which forms part of our strategy to commission drama which also appeals to younger viewers.

"Through this absorbing story, with Helen's beautifully drawn, real and relatable characters, the series looks at how family, friendship and aspiration is influenced and shaped by the highs and lows of modern-day parenting.

"Exploring relevant and urgent themes around what it means to be a teenager, as well as a parent today, The Gathering is cleverly wrapped up in a compelling whodunnit thriller, where the stakes are upped episode after episode."

Walsh also said: "I wanted to write a twisty, state-of-the-nation take on Philip Larkin's notorious 'they f**k you up' observation about parents and kids.

"In an era where the micro-managing of children's lives has become the new normal, The Gathering throws today's surveillance parenting into sharp focus and asks who is really to blame when our kids f**k up.

"I'm thrilled to be working with the excellent team at Channel 4 and World Productions and look forward to seeing the kinetic worlds of free-running and tumbling gymnastics brought to our screens."

The Gathering is still in very early stages of production, so no release date has been announced yet.

This comes after rumours started circulating that Line of Duty could be returning for a new series, however star Kelly Macdonald told Virginradio.co.uk that she couldn't see that happening. You can read the full interview here.