Sunday, 2nd May 2021 at 10:00 pm
Halfway through the Line of Duty season six finale, AC-12 finally found out the identity of ‘H’, or the “Fourth Man” who they had been chasing for so long. Did we, the viewers, find out at the same time? No, we most certainly did not.
Advertisement
For another excruciating eight minutes, the team passed around print-outs and made cryptic remarks, exchanged knowing looks, and got sidetracked into other conversations. “All this time we’ve been chasing shadows! If this is right he’s been under our noses from the very beginning!” declared Steve. (Who was he talking about? Surely it’s Chief Constable Osborne, we thought.) And then we had a montage of armed officers drawing up to AC-12 and marching an unseen interviewee into the building, while DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) tap-tapped on his iPad and linked up the DIR. Of course, the camera pulled away before he typed in the name of the interviewee.
Published:
By:
Advertisement
Did you hear that mass scream from sofas nationwide at around 9:34pm on Sunday? It was the sound of millions of blindsided Line Of Duty viewers exclaiming a single word. And that word was “Buckells?!”.
Yes, recurring character DSU Ian Buckells (played by Nigel Boyle) was at last unmasked as the corrupt cop pulling strings on behalf of organised crime. Once erroneously code-named H, latterly known as the Fourth Man and now forever associated with baffled cries of: “What the… Buckells? Are you sure? Yes but Buckells, though? Mother of God!”
Despite fan theories proliferating online, bookmakers taking bets and everyone having their own pet theory, the big Buckells reveal miraculously managed to still pull off a major surprise. But has writer Jed Mercurio been laying a nine-year, six-series trail of subtle hints all along?
A guide to Line of Duty characters who keep cropping up and are linked to H manchestereveningnews.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from manchestereveningnews.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published:
By Michael Hogan
Advertisement
So rotten Ryan and Jimmy Nesbitt-in-a-Just-For-Men-advert have joined Line Of Duty’s ever-growing list of casualties – killed in a moonlit lorry park and a labyrinthine Spanish villa respectively.
Acting DSU Joanne Davidson is languishing in a cell at HMP Brentiss, with scowling warders waiting for the security cameras to mysteriously malfunction so they can duff her up (or worse).
Meanwhile, anti-corruption unit AC-12 is falling apart at the lanyard-clad seams. Supt Ted Hastings is going all wibbly in the glass lift. DI Steve Arnott looks increasingly like a confused teddy bear in a waistcoat. DI Kate Fleming’s cheekbones are getting sharper by the minute with the stress of it all. Frankly, 15m frazzled viewers feel her pain.
A full list of all the Line of Duty characters who are linked to H
After six seasons, the BBC s hit police drama Line of Duty has built up a lot of characters who it likes to keep referring back to. Here s your guide to the main protagonists
Jessica Sansome
Many past Line of Duty characters have been getting a mention lately
Want the best food, film, music, arts and culture news sent straight to your inbox?Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Sign up for regular updates of events happening in Wales
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Your information will be used in accordance with ourPrivacy Notice.