Trainspotting star Kelly Macdonald joins the cast of Line Of Duty as 'the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced'

  • The actress, 43, will guest star in the sixth season of the BBC drama as Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson, the senior investigating officer of a murder 
  • The star is best known for her breakout role as Diane in Trainspotting, and has also appeared in Gosford Park, No Country for Old Men and Boardwalk Empire
  • Kelly will start work on Line Of Duty series six when filming begins next year, opposite series leads Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar
  • Line of Duty writer and showrunner Jed Mercurio said: 'DCI Joanne Davidson will prove the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced' 
  • Kelly will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Keeley Hawes, Thandie Newton and Stephen Graham, all of whom have been big name additions to the cast

Kelly Macdonald has joined the cast of Line Of Duty as 'the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced'.

The actress, 43, will guest star in the sixth season of the BBC drama as Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson, the senior investigating officer of an unsolved murder, whose 'unconventional' conduct raises suspicion with the anti-corruption unit.

The star is best known for her breakout role as Diane in Trainspotting, and has also appeared in Gosford Park, State of Play, No Country for Old Men, Boardwalk Empire and The Victim and Giri/Haji.

New role: Trainspotting star Kelly Macdonald has been confirmed as the guest lead in the next series of BBC's Line of Duty (pictured in The Victim)

New role: Trainspotting star Kelly Macdonald has been confirmed as the guest lead in the next series of BBC's Line of Duty (pictured in The Victim)

In duty: She will take on the role of Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson alongside  Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure

In duty: She will take on the role of Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Davidson alongside  Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar and Vicky McClure

Kelly will start work on Line of Duty series six when filming begins next year, opposite series leads Martin Compston, 35, (Steve Arnott) Vicky McClure, 36, (Kate Fleming) and Adrian Dunbar, 61, (Ted Hastings) who are also confirmed to return.

Line of Duty writer and showrunner Jed Mercurio, 53, said: 'We're honoured that Kelly Macdonald will join Martin, Vicky and Adrian in Series 6 of Line of Duty. 

'DCI Joanne Davidson will prove the most enigmatic adversary AC-12 have ever faced.'

Kelly will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Keeley Hawes (series two and three), Thandie Newton (series four) and Stephen Graham (series five), all of whom have been big name additions to the cast of the police corruption drama.  

Acclaimed: Her most iconic role to date is perhaps as Diane in Trainspotting alongside Ewan McGregor

Acclaimed: Her most iconic role to date is perhaps as Diane in Trainspotting alongside Ewan McGregor 

Incredible: She received a 2011 Emmy Award nomination for her role as Margaret Thompson alongside Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire

Incredible: She received a 2011 Emmy Award nomination for her role as Margaret Thompson alongside Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire 

Martin Compston took to Twitter soon after the news was announced and said: 'Another magnificent addition to the Line of Duty team. Said it before huge part of the show’s success is the phenomenal guest actors we've had. 

'Kelly Macdonald will be up there with the best of them, what a talent what a career Buzzing to get the tape started #lineofduty6.' 

The official Line Of Duty account tweeted: 'Listen up fellas! Please give a warm welcome to Kelly Macdonald, the newest edition to #LineOfDuty!' 

Martin gave a nod to one of the major clues about 'H' as he responded by saying: 'Good chance whoever wrote this was at the other end of a laptop misspelling ‘definitely’.

Vicky McClure also tweeted: 'Can’t wait to get back to work and a huge welcome to the phenomenal Kelly Macdonald!!' 

Face of the screen: Kelly in a still taken from BBC show The Victim, a Scottish thriller series

 Face of the screen: Kelly in a still taken from BBC show The Victim, a Scottish thriller series

Happy: Both Martin and Vicky tweeted their joy upon hearing the exciting news

Happy: Both Martin and Vicky tweeted their joy upon hearing the exciting news 

The most recent episode of Line Of Duty, series five’s finale on BBC One back in May, is the most watched programme of the year so far, with a 28-day figure of 13.7 million viewers across all TV and online viewing. 

The announcement comes less than a week after Vicky, Martin and Adrian reunited for a boozy night out ahead of the sixth series. 

The actors, who play AC-12's Kate Fleming, Steve Arnott and Ted Hastings in the show, took a break from catching bent coppers to drink pints together. 

Martin shared a picture of the trio by the bar and wrote: 'Cannae beat a catch up with these two. Next time we’ll most likely be in uniform or at least Adrian will, I’ll be in a new 3 piece.' 

Is that you, H? The Line Of Duty stars reunited for a boozy night out last week... and fans thought they had spotted a MAJOR spoiler

Is that you, H? The Line Of Duty stars reunited for a boozy night out last week... and fans thought they had spotted a MAJOR spoiler

And Vicky shared a picture of the trio looking a little worse for wear out in the street after their night out together.

Earlier on, the show's creator Jed Mercurio joined them for dinner and wrote: '#LineofDuty Series 6 team. The Gaffer Adrian Dunbar nervously awaiting arrival of secret guest stars.'

The BBC1 drama following the investigations of police anti-corruption unit AC-12.

Looking for bent coppers? Vicky, who plays Kate Fleming shared this picture after the cast had been to the pub

Looking for bent coppers? Vicky, who plays Kate Fleming shared this picture after the cast had been to the pub

But fans took to the comments section of their social media posts, convinced that Adrian was dropping major spoiler clues. 

He was wearing a Helly Hanson jacket which had the initials 'HH' emblazoned on the front. 

Given that series five hinted that Hastings could be corrupt police officer 'H', they believed this was further proof that it was indeed him. 

Something for the pocketbook: The show's creator Jed Mercurio shared a snap of the group dining earlier in the evening

Something for the pocketbook: The show's creator Jed Mercurio shared a snap of the group dining earlier in the evening

Could it be? Fans couldn't help but notice the double 'H' on Adrian's jacket and were convinced that he was dropping a clue that he could be the corrupt police officer

Could it be? Fans couldn't help but notice the double 'H' on Adrian's jacket and were convinced that he was dropping a clue that he could be the corrupt police officer 

They wrote: 'Double H!!!! Spoiler alert!’ 

'Adrians jacket proving he’s either H, or a Celtic fan (hail hail)'

'Notice Adrian is wearing H...hmm lol,' and 'Look at the H on his jacket.' 

Mercurio has revealed that we should expect a sixth series in 2020 – but there has been no confirmation of this as yet.

He told RadioTimes.com in October 2019, 'I would hope it’s sometime in 2020, next year.' 

Lol: Martin also shared this picture with a funny comment as the night wore on

Lol: Martin also shared this picture with a funny comment as the night wore on