Adrian Dunbar doubts he will get a "better" role than Ted Hastings in 'Line of Duty'.
Adrian Dunbar as Ted Hastings
Season five of the hit BBC police drama is due to come to a conclusion on May 5, and the 60-year-old actor has admitted that "at his age" he doesn't expect to receive offers to play such big roles, which he can "really throw [his] stuff at", again, after playing the superintendent for seven years.
He told the latest issue of Radio Times magazine: "Obviously, it's brilliant for an actor at my stage in my career to get a part like this.
"I've been banging away at the coalface, if you like, for many years now, and I've done some really wonderfully interesting work, I've been very lucky.
"But I've never had a character that I could really throw my stuff at.
"I'm not going to get anything better than Ted. That's not going to happen, so don't worry. And I'd miss everybody too much."
However, he might not be bidding farewell to his cop alter-ego as soon as he expects, as the programme's creator Jed Mercurio recently hinted that the crime series - which also stars the likes of Vicky McClure (DI Kate Fleming) and Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott) - could continue beyond a sixth season, which has already been commissioned.
He recently said: "We're looking forward to a conversation with the BBC once series five has aired ... about whether there is an appetite from fans to have more, or whether there's a feeling the show is coming towards its natural arc.
"That conversation will be very specific, which is whether series six will be the last, or whether the BBC would be prepared to commission a seventh so we can approach series six knowing it's not the last."
Tagged in Vicky McClure Martin Compston