Robert Carlyle has joined the cast of Line of Duty series 7

He will play Detective Constable Shaun Massie in the next instalment of Jed Mercurio’s hit crime thriller.

What do we know about series 7 and the character Robert Carlyle is playing

From the press release, we learn:

Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty, Once Upon a Time, 28 Weeks Later) has been cast as guest series lead in the new series of Line of Duty.

The BAFTA-winning actor will play Detective Constable Shaun Massie in the next instalment of Jed Mercurio’s hit crime thriller when it films this spring. Made for the BBC by World Productions, Line of Duty series seven is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One next year.

Joining returning series leads Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar, Carlyle is the first new cast member to be announced for series seven. He follows in the footsteps of previous Line of Duty guest series leads Kelly Macdonald, Stephen Graham, Thandiwe Newton, Daniel Mays, Keeley Hawes and Lennie James.

As previously announced, in series seven AC-12 have been disbanded and rebranded the Inspectorate of Police Standards. Anticorruption work has never been more difficult and in this challenging climate Steve Arnott, Kate Fleming, and Ted Hastings are assigned their most sensitive case so far.

Detective Constable Shaun Massie is a Specialist Rifle Officer (SRO), a veteran marksman, operating with Tactical Operations Unit 7 (TO-7) to take down Organised Crime Groups. A gruff loner, Massie keeps himself to himself, but when his boss, TO-7’s commanding officer DI Dominic Gough, is accused of being a sexual predator, Massie’s otherwise detached demeanour changes drastically.

We look forward to bringing more information when we have it.