Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar clutches a bottle of beer – as friends revealed he is back on the booze after two decades on the wagon.
The 60-year-old actor, who plays whisky-loving Supt Ted Hastings on the hit BBC cop show, quit drinking on his 40th birthday and admitted at the time he went to AA meetings.
But pals confirmed he had been drinking again recently in London.
Adrian was pictured drinking bottles of Peroni beer at last year’s BAFTA Craft Awards, with Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio and football commentator John Motson.
Adrian, whose AC-12 character Hastings is suspected of being the mysterious “H” in series five which ends Sunday, has spoken candidly about his battle with booze – including the moment he decided to quit for good.
He said in 2004: “At my 40th, I was in this club, with loads of friends, but I was thinking, ‘there’s something wrong. I’m not happy and maybe it’s something to do with drink.’
“So I went to an AA meeting and, the first time I did, I listened to everything everyone was saying and it all made sense.
"I was one of those lucky people who stopped himself drinking before going too far down that road.”
In 2008 he told how alcohol was a “great friend of mine for a while, but the amity went sour. The penny dropped – I thought, I don’t like who I’m becoming.”
He added: “Once I’d decided to stop, I just did. No going back.”
He said drink made his “thought processes extremely negative”, explaining: “You begin to think everyone has an agenda.
"Sure, I thought I was at my best when drinking – erudite, generous, smart – but there always was the morning after. At times like that I became mean-spirited.”
The same year he admitted he had “not attended AA meetings recently”, adding: “But if I needed to I would… It is tough when everyone else is drinking, but it’s just not an option, is it?”
He said he toasted his 50th birthday with elderflower and was also a tea fan.
Married to actress Anna Nygh, Adrian has become a sex symbol after starring as Hastings in every series Line of Duty.
He said this week it was because fans thought: “Oh, Ted, he’s so easily led.”
Both the BBC and Adrian declined to comment.
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