Jed Mercurio to receive royal honour after being appointed an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours

He was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours.  

And, Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, 56, will be among a host of high-achievers to be recognised with a royal honour on Tuesday.

The Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal are to hand out medals at two investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. 

Investiture: Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, 56, will be among a host of high-achievers to be recognised with a royal honour on Tuesday (Pictured in April 2019)

Jed, whose hit shows also include the political thriller Bodyguard and medical drama Bodies, is being honoured for services to TV drama. 

After being appointed an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours, he tweeted about his inclusion.

Jed wrote: ‘I’m honoured to received an OBE, and humbled to have been included in the New Year’s Honours List alongside recipients who’ve achieved so much more, in particular for their charity work and in the Covid pandemic’.    

Jed Mercurio OBE: He was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours (Pictured in 2019)

Honoured: After being appointed an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours, Jed tweeted about his inclusion

The sixth series of Line Of Duty, his BBC drama about a police anti-corruption unit, was a ratings juggernaut last year, with 15.9 million viewers tuning in to see H finally unmasked in the season finale, making it the UK’s most-watched drama series of the 21st century so far.

His latest series Trigger Point, a six-part ITV thriller about a terrorist summer campaign, again starring Vicky McClure, recently debuted to rave reviews.

Jed, who hails from Nelson in Lancashire, began his screenwriting career penning medical dramas such as Cardiac Arrest after practising as a hospital doctor for four years.

He has also taken his writing skills to another medium, authoring several books and a graphic novel called Sleeper with writer and actor Prasanna Puwanarajah.

Latest drama: His latest series Trigger Point, a six-part ITV thriller about a terrorist summer campaign, again starring Vicky McClure, recently debuted to rave reviews

In December, Jed revealed he’d ‘love to do more’ episodes of his critically-acclaimed drama Line Of Duty, after dividing fans with a jaw-dropping sixth series.

Speaking in a Q and A for his ITV drama Trigger Point, the producer said he wanted to pen a new series that returned to the classic release method, with viewers tuning in each week as opposed to bingeing the whole series at once.

Vicky McClure, who starred in both Line Of Duty and Trigger Point, added that she ‘isn’t concerned’ by comparisons between her characters in both shows because they were ‘roles she wanted to play.’   

Asked whether Line Of Duty will return to screens for a seventh season, Jed told MailOnline: ”We would love to do more series if people like it. We’ll see. We wanted to do this new show as one episode released every week. 

Leading lady: Vicky McClure starred in both Line Of Duty and Trigger Point (Vicky McClure is pictured in Line Of Duty)

‘It’s about serving the experience. Some people still love scheduled TV, They love the mystery and it adds to the show’s shared experience, you can avoid spoilers and everyone talks about it together afterwards.’

Trigger Point focuses on bomb squad operative Lana Washington and her tea when London is threatened by a terrorist campaign, with the operatives at the centre of discovering who is behind the bombings. 

Trigger Point also saw Vicky reunite with Jed, after playing DI Kate Fleming on Line Of Duty since its inception in 2012.

Asked about working with Vicky again, Jed joked: ‘It was fantastic. It was good without Adrian [Dunbar] and Martin [Compston] getting in the way! Vicky is the real talent!’ 

Joker! Asked about working with Vicky again, Jed joked: ‘It was fantastic. It was good without Adrian [Dunbar] and Martin [Compston] getting in the way! Vicky is the real talent!’ (Pictured in 2018)

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk