Line of Duty season 5 pulls in 8m viewers for the show’s highest ratings yet — with Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar all returning

LINE of Duty drew eight million viewers on its return — its highest ratings so far.

The BBC One cop drama is on track to beat last year’s big hit Bodyguard in the telly charts.

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Episode one of Line of Duty series five had a peak audience of 8.04million — with 4.5million more expected on catch-up.

Bodyguard, also written by Jed Mercurio, pulled in 6.9million for its debut and only topped eight million in the penultimate episode.

A source said: “Bosses are blown away by Line of Duty’s success. They knew it had a huge following, but didn’t expect this response.”

The Sunday night show follows an anti-corruption unit. Stephen Graham made his debut on Sunday as a cop apparently gone rogue while undercover. Regulars Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar returned.

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