Daniel Mays: 'I was gutted about being killed off in Line of Duty' (VIDEO)

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Daniel Mays is not bitter though - and says he'll definitely be tuning into the new series of Line of Duty when it starts on Sunday...

Daniel Mays has admitted he was 'gutted' about his character being killed off in series three of Line of Duty.

Fans expected big things when it was revealed Daniel had signed up to play the main protagonist, sergeant Danny Waldron, for the third series of the Jed Mercurio-created crime drama, shown last year.

But they were left in shock when Waldron was left fighting for life after being shot at the end of the first episode and, by the second, it was revealed the character had died from his injuries.

Talking to What's on TV on the blue carpet at the Royal Television Society Awards 2017, where Line of Duty 3 had been nominated in the Best Drama category, Daniel said: "You should have seen my reaction when I read it for the first time in the script, I was stunned," he said. "But I was really thrilled to be a part of it, I was a massive fan of the first two series and we couldn't have asked for it to have gone down any better. It was one of the best parts I've played to date, without question."

When asked how he felt about not getting to do more in the drama, Daniel admitted: "My honest answer is I was gutted. I thought there was a lot of legs in that character; he was kinda like a box of tricks waiting to be opened."

Line of Duty returns to BBC1 for its fourth series on Sunday night with Westworld actress Thandie Newton playing AC-12 newest adversary, Detective Chief Inspector Roz Huntley.

And Daniel insisted he'll definitely be tuning in: "I'm just really intrigued to see what Jed does next. I hope it's a roaring success for them. I'm sure they'll have many more series to come."

Daniel also told us about his upcoming project for Sky Atlantic, Guerrilla, a six-part thriller, which is produced by and stars Idris Elba.

Talking about working with Luther actor Idris, Daniel said: "He was just phenomenal, that man spins a lot of plates. He's the exec producer on it as well, so Idris was really instrumental in bringing the story to London. It's based on actual facts but it asks the question of what would happen if black activists decided to resort to violence. It's a thrilling story and an important one."

Catch the new series of Line of Duty on Sunday March 26 at 9pm on BBC1. Guerrilla starts on Sky Atlantic next month.

Victoria Wilson
Feature Writer for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and WhatToWatch.com

With over 20 years’ experience writing about TV and film, Vicky currently writes features for What’s on TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite Week magazines plus news and watching guides for WhatToWatch.com, a job which involves chatting to a whole host of famous faces. Our Vicky LOVES light entertainment, with Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice UK among her fave shows. Basically, if it’s got a shiny floor, she’s all over it! When she’s not watching TV, you might find Vicky in therapy… retail therapy that is!