Line Of Duty star Adrian Dunbar has said he will never get a better role than that of Ted Hastings.
The actor, 60, has been playing the BBC show’s popular superintendent since 2012, and said he is very grateful for the part.
“Obviously, it’s brilliant for an actor at my stage in my career to get a part like this,” he told Radio Times magazine.
“I’ve been banging away at the coalface, if you like, for many years now, and I’ve done some really wonderfully interesting work, I’ve been very lucky.
“But I’ve never had a character that I could really throw my stuff at.”
Nope. Nope. Nope. We don't like this. #LineOfDuty pic.twitter.com/ZxIdolKdyd
— Line of Duty (@Line_of_duty) April 28, 2019
Discussing whether he could be tempted to move on, he said: “I’m not going to get anything better than Ted. That’s not going to happen, so don’t worry. And I’d miss everybody too much.”
The character has become something of a heartthrob, which the actor said is “a subject of some amusement”.
Dunbar was even asked on to Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 to explain Hastings’ appeal.
The actor said: “They were asking me why I thought women responded so much to Ted and I think it’s because they all realise they could have him round their fingers within 20 minutes.
“Women like that. ‘Oh, Ted, he’s so easily led’. In personal relationships I think that’s where he’s at.”
This week’s Radio Times is out on Tuesday.