Series 6

Which unbent bastard's post-LoC work do you like the most?

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Martin Compston reunites with Line of Duty pal in Waitrose Christmas advert as fans say 'this is so iconic' https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/tv/13825099/martin-compston-vicky-mcclure-waitrose-line-of-duty?utm_source=native_share&utm_medium=sharebar_native&utm_campaign=sharebaramp

Unpopular opinion, I know. Long post but the short of it: if the H/4th man drama wasn't forced in there and there was a more organic deduction that, barring small fish like Prasad and Trantor, AC-12 had narrowed the bent network down to the last active player, Buckell, the latter part of the show would be better for it.

Buckells is the last man standing from Thurwell's original bent squad of coppers, who are criminals in bed with the organized criminals, as distinct from the institutionally corrupt, unethical, incompetent cops that formed the backdrop allowing the organized criminal cops to flourish.

Now firstly, controlled coppers rather than bent ones would be Hari Bains, not Jo who was selected to be a copper at 16, therefore becoming a copper specifically to aid crime. Jo confesses to this, alongside a family connection to a mob boss and bent CSU Fairbank, yet she gets witpro whilst Hari rots in prison.

But the point is that Jo is further situated than Dot as a caddy, and it beggars belief he wasn't aware of a DCI but he was in the loop of an ACC being corrupt. AC-12 maintained Dot included himself in the 4 caddies he signalled with Morse code, which isn't a logical surmise—he'd surely be listing exclusive of himself, which he could then be signalling Jo, but why just Jo, Hilton, Gill, Buckells?

The likes of Cole and Prasad (a.k.a. Vice Squad) show there are other actively criminal (not institutionally corrupt) coppers that Dot could have revealed. He suppressed the list revealing the likes of Fairbank, and ideally would have known about Thurwell's bent squad if he was so close to Hunter. Buckells says the mantle passed from Thurwell and Fairbank, to Cottan and Hilton, to Buckells.

Apparently someone had Thurwell killed overseas (a stooge, so not actively criminal), and Hilton wasn't even jailed yet when he was killed. As to why Cottan ever gave testimony, I suspect the OCG gunman expressly shot him rather than Kate (what would be the point to that) should the getaway prove futile, or they were going to off him the same way as Hilton anyway.

The only sensible part of Dot's testimony is blinking for Gill (G) or Hilton (H), and the hand movements are dying spasms, because 4 caddies is just an arbitrary confession that takes more dying effort to divulge than just speaking. Hilton's brainiac idea was to turn the H notion back on Hastings to discredit AC-12, continued by Gill with Corbett in S5.

Essentially, without evidence, because Hilton had been killed Dot would be grassing on a puppet master higher than Hilton who must be H, not realizing that if Hunter would be killed by criminal elements, so would Hilton.

At some point the myth of H crossed into the OCG parlance, ergo Lisa McQueen believed Buckells on the computer was H, and that Hastings in person was that same H. No one seems to know why H would exist in the OCG purview if it came from Hilton throwing it on Hastings, and it was only supposed to be a first letter of a name too, not a codename. That means all this insane supposition comes from H being 4 dots in Morse Code.

On a second watch of S6 it is a satisfying half-ending in that it could be conclusive or be open to continue, as AC-12 is at its weakest in terms of investigation, but the criminal strength of the OCGs and the police ring is also at its most exposed. All that is left is the institutional corruption led by Osborne, covering up malfeasance of cops on duty.

Who should star as the new Lennie James/Daniel Mays/Keeley Hawes/Thandiwe Newton/Stephen Graham/Kelly MacDonald? And co stars Gina McKee, Jason Watkins, Anna Maxwell Martin etc?

I would love to see Paapa Essiedu in any role (though I can’t see him as total bad cop), Nabhaan Rizwan, Bel Powley, Paddy Considine (yes they were all in Informer and that was amazing); Jayde Adams, Asim Chaudhry - his role in Industry is transformative.

What are your thoughts?

Edit: I meant to add Erin Doherty to the above list

Hopefully that's a suitably vague title.

There's that scene (S4? S5?) where we see Hastings in his hotel room, sitting on his bed, and then his laptop pings with an encrypted messaging app.

Yes yes, we know Hastings was looking at porn, the wee beggar, Jesus Mary Joseph... But that one 5 second scene was a little different. It was the same messaging service used by the OCG.

I may have missed an explanation, so sorry if this is a wasted post.

Okay so did I miss out on something? Cause season 5 it clearly showed hasting instructing them about what to do.? How come he's not their leader and why season 6 completely let him off the hook?

https://www.geo.tv/latest/572665-popular-bbc-crime-drama-line-of-duty-gets-greenlight-for-series

It also really fails for me on some ways, such as...

The whole thing feels COVID-compromised, which many other shows managed to avoid (either through pausing or other measures). Scenes seem empty, there's rarely more than a few people together, the writing feels... Rushed? Or maybe that it had to bend around real world issues?

The interview with DCI Davison... It's kinda fun to see 20 minutes of "No comment" along with some revelations, but a little frustrating.

The inciting incident, the reporter murder... By never seeing the circumstances around it, the big mystery of the series just never kicks into life. You (well, I) just feel a bit cold to it. Every other season got us engaged with the antagonists / victims.

Eye Ryan Pilkington tried to kill Kate, the two of them going on the run... Makes so little sense. Why did they act like the whole police force was going to gun them down? Why did they try to pretend it was Davison who took the shot? Kate shot in self defence at a stand-off against someone who was now known to be OCG, and Kate had been lured there. Why was she acting like "Steve's in on it too?". It felt like melodrama for melodrama's sake.

The slightly dull Davison interrogation scene is mimicked in the opening episode when is with Terry (with Downs), where it's basically 20 minutes of "are you okay to continue?".

Now I don't need LoD to get "bigger" each season. I kinda like the choices, and I like seeing how this (fictionalized) policing works. So I kinda liked seeing different flavours of the interview scenes, but having them all like that just put the breaks on the series. Especially with distracting red herrings like "Here's James Nesbitt in Spain".

That said, after seeing it the first time, the second time round the Huckells reveal doesn't seem so bad. The idea of manipulation disguised as incompetence, with someone falling up the ladder of command is not a bad one. And the second time round, it works better. It holds together better and the theme plays out better, rather than feeling a bit of a damp squib.

It's the most mundane series, definitely lacks the writing polish - or production issues maybe getting in the way, but I did enjoy it more second time round.

Although that final CGI(?) shot of Kate, Steve and Hastings in the elevator... It looks like something out of Jurassic World. Maybe a COVID restriction as well? Either way, ending there, and with no resolution for the three... I get that they probably did it to keep all options on the table, but still it was an underwhelming bow.

I do hope a series 7 happens.

Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone had takes about series 6 after a second time around with some distance.

A seventh series of BBC monster hit drama Line Of Duty is reportedly in development, with The Sun newspaper reporting that the stars have met with creator Jed Mercurio with the aim of filming a new series.

https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/lineofduty-series7-development-rep1

Simple a beer (or whatever piss-water you young fellas like) with any character in the show?

And for all you horny readers, this isn't an excuse to flirt and try to get into someone's pants, just a drink to chat the breeze with - either about any of the cases or just in general because you think they'd be fun.

You can pick anyone alive or dead, good or bad, and at any point in the show, or just in general.

My easy choice is Hastings. Either to dig into war stories or take his mind off work. And the guy often seems like he needs a hug.

Three main actors all together right now (per Instagram) and Vicky has a Kate Flemingish haircut??????????

There is one part in I THINK season 1 or 2 where they are in a Jag XJ (I think) and then the car switches and is all of a sudden morphed into a Vauxhall Insignia. Anyone else noticed this?? They also do it in Blue Lights where the main characters car switches between an Audi A3 and a Skoda (assuming Fabia), then later on an Insignia turns into a Skoda Octavia (think it’s an Octavia from memory?) Any other vehicle inconsistencies we have noticed? Or am I just the loser that notices this nonsense? 😂

Edit: spelling

Does anyone have any good Tony gates GIFs they could share?

Love that fella, made me laugh every time he was on screen. Wonderful performance.

Specifically would like a "I was never bent" gif.

I’m not used to British television storytelling, as the only other British detective shows I watched are Luther, The Fall, and Broadchurch that I watched the last 2 months.  Here are some of my thoughts about Line of Duty

-The core three are unlikable since they are unrelatable.  I barely know anything about them in the series other than they put their job over their family.  I was actively rooting for the antagonists over them since we know so much more about them than the core 3.  Steve’s character was better once we find out that he is suffering from painkiller addiction due to his injuries, but it took until Series 6 to find that out.  Kate, I didn’t care about her situation with her kid and ex-husband since we barely know them.  Hastings is just a total buffoon that sees everyone as bent.  It gets tiring when he questions every person as if they are guilty, even if that might be true. 

-They should have ended Series 5 with Hastings being H.  Carmichael puts a compelling case during her integration of him and I bought that Hastings was H when it was revealed that Hasting spelled “definately” wrong too.   The way he acted in Series 5 was so out of character for him that I was shocked that he wasn’t made to be H.  There was never any doubt as to the overall outcome for all 6 series, so there was no suspense.

-Carmichael might be villainized, but she was right.  AC-12 should be keeping the investigation focusing on evidence instead of wild theories.  When they show us how much manhour AC-12 were wasting to do surveillance on 3 people, I understand why the upper management wants to disband this unit.  We audiences might know AC-12 is right to pursuit this since we can see the POV of the antagonist, but Carmichael don’t.  She also did the best integration in the show against Hastings.

-How does no one recognized Kate after her first undercover gig?  I know it’s different station, but all her undercover cases are high profile ones.  I’m shocked no one gossiped between stations.

-Do forensic team works 24/7 in Britian?  They managed to get evidence tested in the middle of the night and get the results in the morning for the integration.  I found that hilarious.

-Why do they keep sending the prisoner back to the same prison with the corrupt guards.  They know they are getting attacked, but why do they send them back instead of putting them in solitary confinement? 

-Overall, I would rank the series as 2>3>5>1>4>6, and the best antagonist as Denton.  Worst antagonist was Huntley as I still don’t understand why she covered up what she did as its self-defense. 

I just rewatched this series and absolutely cringed the whole time Roz was bent coppering. Even though Lindsey Denton, Lisa McQueen and Carmichael aren’t ‘good’ they are so fun and I just delighted seeing them. Anyone feel similarly? Was it the way the character was written or acted?

Fucks sake.

I think that sums up how I feel about the last season. A show that strong for 5 seasons with amazing twists and then they finish it like that? Just Fucks sake.

is there a compilation video anywhere of everytime someone says "bent coppers" in the series?

I always die laughing when they do, especially how john corbett would say it 😂😂

Does anyone think this was ever found? Obviously it would be clean of Gates’ prints. I’m just wondering if anyone from the station saw it amongst the collection and thought it looks familiar.

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Who is your favorite character in the show?

Me personally, I loved Hastings. His dialogue delivery was really good according to me.

Hey everybody! I am searching far and wide on the internet for Line of Duty music in Seasons 4-6. Unfortunately, the released music all seems to be older (2014 etc).

Does anyone know where I could get my hands on this? 😋

Thanks!

(P.S. Lindsay Denton is mother)

I noticed in series 4 ep 1 that the girl was snatched opposite a bar called 'The Hudson Bar in Smithfield'

A quick Google search for 'The Hudson Bar' found one in Belfast and one in Newcastle.

Who's got an idea of where Line of Duty was filmed?

One of the lesser Hasting Bingo/drinking game lines of the series is "best in the business", and Ted's use of superlative, in general. Here with the LOD faithful, I want to take a deeper exploration of this and what it really means. Think about all of the times Ted has stood up in front of (a) Steve and Kate, and told them that they're his "best" team of investigators; and (b) all of the times Ted has stood in front of a superior officer or other official and proclaimed his squad to the "best in the business." Contrast this with the reality. The first time Ted says this is probably to Dryden, and at that time, Steve and Kate's clearance rate is about a zero, given the inconclusive termination of the investigation into Gates. The viewers know that Steve and Kate were heroic, there, but what objective measures would justify their Super making that claim to a higher-ranking officer? And why is there no push-back? Each successive time he says it, it gets more indefensible.

My first reaction to it was that this was a bit of exposition-via-dialog. The writer is trying to tell us that... despite our seeing them commit some of their worst mistakes, what we want to believe about Steve and Kate being good people and good at their jobs, despite their flaws, is true, and maybe off-screen, they actually are clearing cases - other cases - less complicated cases, than the likes of Gates or Denton or Dryden or Huntleigh - uniquely capable adversaries. But, then, in S. 6, they rip that particular bandage off and tell us actually Steve has done basically... nothing... since the end of Season 5.

So, now, instead of contextualizing as this as "the writer wants to build these characters up and build up our faith in Steve and Kate", a different inference arises: if Steve and Kate are Ted's "best" during the 8 years between s1 and s5, what were his worst? What was the rest of his department doing?! It's a disturbing thought.

And it forces the viewer to consider a completely different idea: what if we're hearing Ted speak knowing falsehoods? What if this is not "I'll give you an old battle" Hastings the crusader; this is more like... Ted the used-car salesman, trying to unload an unwanted FIAT Panda still smelling of baby sick?

That would perhaps be a more accurate portrayal of the internal workings of institutions, and the sort of competition-for-resources that exists inside any public agency of a certain size. It's not dedication to the rule of law; it's need to maintain his department, avoid his budget being slashed; avoid being pushed into early retirement; avoid his personnel being reassigned against his will.

The reality is probably both more complicated, and more simple, than this. More complicated in that probably neither extreme is the whole truth - it's probably a mix. And simpler, in that maybe there was no deep meta-meaning to this line; it was just, "well, what would we expect someone to say in that situation? OK, let's have him say that." But, LoD exists inside a richly-detailed world, and there is a lot of deep meaning to it. A lot of its plot lines, dialog, and details are imbued with deeper meanings. I don't want to discount this one, just because it seems innocuous. It's also full of deliberate ambiguities, so maybe we're not meant to know with certainty which it is.

Has anyone else given any thought to these lines and recurring themes? Does Ted really believe in Steve and Kate as his "best team" and believe his department to be the "best in the business", or is he just desperately selling to try to keep the lights on for AC-12? I'd love to hear the takes of fellow faithful, here...

So many choices, my six...

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