Line of Duty creators announce new crime drama

Line of Duty cast.
World Productions is bringing a new crime drama to Channel 4, and they're best known for creating BBC hit Line of Duty. (Image credit: BBC)

Line of Duty creator World Productions is working with Channel 4 to create a brand new six-part crime series that is set in Merseyside.

The series currently has a working title of The Gathering and will explore a violent attack on a teenager named Kelly during a rave. It is written by novelist and filmmaker Helen Walsh.

Kelly is described as a "straddler" between two very different groups of friends. She's an accomplished gymnast well on the way to Team GB status, but her life isn't quite as perfect as it might sound as she's feeling the pressure due to teammates and their incredibly competitive parents.

When she's not training, Kelly hangs out with a reckless group of friends who are very different from the discipline she's used to in the gymnastics world, and the series will follow Kelly and her relationships with these people.

Speaking about the project, Helen Walsh said: "I wanted to write a twisty, state-of-the-nation take on Philip Larkin's notorious 'they f**k you up' observation about parents and kids.

"In an era where the micro-managing of children's lives has become the new normal, The Gathering throws today's surveillance parenting into sharp focus and asks who is really to blame when our kids f**k up."

She added: "I'm thrilled to be working with the excellent team at Channel 4 and World Productions and look forward to seeing the kinetic worlds of free-running and tumbling gymnastics brought to our screens."

Helen Walsh at the BAFTAs

Helen Walsh is working on The Gathering for Channel 4. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Channel 4's Head of Drama Caroline Hollick added: "We are thrilled to be working with the brilliant Helen Walsh and World Productions on this exciting series; The Gathering, which forms part of our strategy to commission drama which also appeals to younger viewers.

"Through this absorbing story, with Helen's beautifully drawn, real and relatable characters, the series looks at how family, friendship and aspiration is influenced and shaped by the highs and lows of modern-day parenting."

She added: "Exploring relevant and urgent themes around what it means to be a teenager, as well as a parent today, The Gathering is cleverly wrapped up in a compelling whodunnit thriller, where the stakes are upped episode after episode."

We don't have a release date for The Gathering just yet, but we'll keep you updated once we have more information about the new crime drama.

Meanwhile, previous episodes of Line of Duty are on BBC iPlayer.

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Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress