Jed Mercurio

“I don't normally think of a specific actor. I concentrate on the character, and then when we get into pre-production, that's how names come up.”

“It's always useful to know that people are emotionally invested in a series because it means that you can take them down a certain road, and they should be interested.”

“I think that the audience is smart enough to know that just because a drama is relating to real-world parallels, it doesn't mean that its story is exactly that story.”

“The part of my life where my character was defined was at work because of the decisions I make and the things I do, and I guess that's what I feel qualifies me and attracts me to write the characters I do.”

“'Line of Duty' had originally been conceived as a returnable drama, with the premise being that the fictional anticorruption unit AC-12 would move on to a new case in each series, centred on a high-profile antagonist accused of corruption.”

“The doctor part of me recognises the light and shade of medical life, but the writer in me is more attracted by the darkness, perhaps because it is the road less travelled.”

“So with 'Ascent,' one of the things I wanted to do was not make it too remote from the reader, for it to be engaged with the human side and not just to be about the cold metal of planes and spacecraft.”

“'Bodies' remains the drama I'm most proud of.”

“You can have characters that say one thing and do another, and in certain kinds of drama, you can't get away with that because the audience will become confused - or certainly, the commissioners will become confused and tell you to stop doing it!”

“It was an absolute pleasure working with Stephen Graham. I've admired his work for many years, and what he brings is that real sense of authenticity.”

“If we have friends over for dinner, I do the cooking. I like the pressure of a big meal and the technical challenges of a roast.”

“Cannock is a friendly place. You can stroll down the road to a decent pub and have a good curry, and it is not too faceless.”

“Certain people in politics and the press felt there was a political spin to 'Cardiac Arrest,' but there was no political agenda to what I was doing.”

“Some shows do nosedive at the end, or some piece of content could become incredibly controversial and affect the way the show is seen.”

“We earned the 'Line of Duty' audience's loyalty over a number of years, and I feel privileged to have that.”

“In the modern workplace, sexism has adopted a more subtle persona; therefore, people can be accused of sexism where it's far harder to determine whether they're actually committing sexism or thinking in a sexist way.”

“The problem with individual opinion is that it doesn't necessary correlate with what the mass audience is thinking.”

“With 'Cardiac Arrest,' I wanted to show that there were times when doctors really didn't care.”

“I try and relate my writing to something I know about, and I had a primary experience of being in a competitive, military environment and being part of a squadron.”

“I am a social realist writer.”