Line of Duty WILL be back for a sixth series

Thandie Newton starred in the recently-concluded fourth series

Line of Duty has been commissioned for a sixth season, before the fifth has even started being made.

The show's creator Jed Mercurio told BBC News last week he was uncertain about the possibility of a sixth series.

But BBC director general Tony Hall has now confirmed fans can look forward to two more outings.

"I am very excited to say there's not one but two more series of Line of Duty. So hooray for AC-12!" he said.

Mercurio had previously told Radio Times: "I certainly would make six. Whether I would go beyond six would depend on how series five went."

The fourth series of the BBC One police drama reached a dramatic climax on Sunday, with an average of 7.46 million viewers tuning in to the finale.

An average of 7.46 million viewers watched the finale of the current series on Sunday

The new season of Line of Duty was one of a whole load of new commissions the corporation announced on Thursday including:

• A new adaptation of HG Wells's novel The War Of The Worlds.

• Little Women - a three part-series based on the classic 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott.

• Apple Tree Yard writer Amanda Coe will adapt the 1939 novel Black Narcissus, Rumer Godden's tale of sexual repression and forbidden love.

• A Suitable Boy - the eight-part adaptation of Vikram Seth's bestseller marks the BBC's first period drama to star an entirely non-white cast.

• The Wilsons - a three-part drama inspired by a true story and set in the 1960s, which will see The Affair star Ruth Wilson play the role of her own grandmother.