49 Fun Facts About Line of Duty

Who created and wrote every episode of Line of Duty?

Jed Mercurio says he planned the hunt for "H" from the start, giving several characters names beginning with that letter so he could keep viewers guessing and still change his mind.

In Line of Duty, Superintendent Ted Hastings insists he is interested in one thing only: catching what?

Bent coppers: the line fits a part that was first written as a jaded timeserver, until the actor's fiery audition persuaded the creator to turn him into a zealot.

On which channel did Line of Duty first air in 2012?

BBC Two took it after BBC One passed, fearing a drama about police corruption might be "problematic for a mainstream audience"; five years of record ratings later, the bigger channel took it back.

In Line of Duty's series 5 finale, a dying officer's twitching fingers are decoded as which kind of message?

Morse code: he had been tapping four dots, the letter H, which AC-12 took to mean four corrupt insiders; the extra footage had been shot two years earlier and held back.

Which Scottish actor plays DS Steve Arnott in Line of Duty?

Martin Compston drops his own accent to play Arnott as an Englishman; an actor who lost out to him at the auditions was cast as a fellow detective instead and stayed for three series.

Vicky McClure plays which AC-12 officer in Line of Duty?

Kate Fleming is the unit's undercover specialist: viewers first meet her as a new recruit to a suspect detective's squad, and only later learn she was spying on him for anti-corruption all along.

Who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty?

Adrian Dunbar was only a supporting player in series 1; the reaction to his character was so strong that he was brought back and promoted to the main cast for series 2.

Which actor plays DCI Tony Gates, the detective under investigation in series 1 of Line of Duty?

Lennie James's Officer of the Year ends the series by stepping in front of a lorry, asking with his last words to be reported as killed in the line of duty.

Which actress plays DI Lindsay Denton, the officer under investigation in series 2 of Line of Duty?

Keeley Hawes was meant to appear for one series only; viewers took to her tormented detective so strongly that the creator tore up his plans for series 3 to bring her back.

Which actor plays firearms officer Sergeant Danny Waldron in series 3 of Line of Duty?

Daniel Mays was billed as the new lead and shot by the end of the first episode: the plan for the series had changed, and his character made way for two returning ones.

Which actress plays DCI Roz Huntley, the detective under investigation in series 4 of Line of Duty?

Thandiwe Newton, a Hollywood name who wanted to work in Britain again, plays a detective who charges the wrong man and then swaps blood samples at a crime scene to cover her own tracks.

Which actor plays undercover officer John Corbett in series 5 of Line of Duty?

Stephen Graham prepared by quizzing a friend in Army intelligence who had worked undercover for real; his Corbett is in so deep that he leads the gang's armed raids himself.

Which actress plays DCI Joanne Davidson, the detective at the centre of series 6 of Line of Duty?

Kelly Macdonald's detective leads a murder inquiry by day and takes orders over a laptop at night, in a flat the designers built as a lonely bunker.

Which misspelt word in messages to the crime gang finally exposed the Fourth Man in Line of Duty?

Definately: a junior detective trawling old case files found the same slip in one officer's handwritten notes, matching the laptop messages that had been ordering the gang's killings.

In which city was the first series of Line of Duty filmed?

Birmingham was meant to be the setting too, until BBC lawyers advised late on against naming a real city or a real department; the story moved to a fictional force in an unnamed Midlands city.

From series 2 onwards, in which city was Line of Duty filmed?

Belfast plays an English Midlands city without anyone on screen saying so: a government agency's office block is AC-12's base, and the Central Library doubles as police headquarters.

Roughly how many people were watching live as Line of Duty's series 6 finale unmasked the Fourth Man?

About 13 million: the overnight audience peaked at 13.1 million, the biggest for a UK drama episode, soaps aside, since modern records began in 2002, though the reveal itself split viewers.

Who is finally unmasked as "the Fourth Man" in Line of Duty's series 6 finale?

Ian Buckells had looked too much of a blunderer to be the villain, which was his cover; he calmly asks for immunity and witness protection, is told he qualifies for neither, and is arrested.

In Line of Duty's early series, what codename is given to the crime gang's man inside the police?

The Caddy once carried golf clubs for the gang's boss; viewers knew exactly who he was from the end of series 1, so the suspense lay in whether AC-12 would ever catch him.

Which three-word text summons an armed escape during an AC-12 interview in series 3 of Line of Duty?

Urgent exit required: seconds later an armed officer bursts in to free the cornered mole, starting a shoot-out and chase that the show's makers argued over as too far-fetched.

Which AC-12 officer shoots Lindsay Denton dead in series 3 of Line of Duty?

Dot Cottan offers her money for the list of abusers she has dug out of a dead man's emails; she sends it to Hastings instead, and he kills her for it.

Which senior officer accuses Ted Hastings of being "H" in series 4 of Line of Duty?

Derek Hilton plays Hastings a dying man's recorded words as proof, but it is Hilton himself who has been feeding the gang, and he is found dead before AC-12 can arrest him.

What does Roz Huntley lose to an MRSA infection in series 4 of Line of Duty?

A hand: the wound she is hiding dates from her struggle with a forensic officer, and when the bacteria in it are traced back to him the infection becomes evidence that she killed him.

Whom does Roz Huntley frame for the killing of Tim Ifield in series 4 of Line of Duty?

Her husband: she lets Nick be arrested for a death she caused herself, and confesses only when evidence turns up in woodland she was seen driving to; she gets ten years.

In Line of Duty series 5, what is the codename of the undercover operation that embedded Corbett in the OCG?

Operation Pear Tree put an officer so deep inside the gang that he was leading its raids, and the legal adviser who helped choose him was secretly working for the gang herself.

In Line of Duty series 6, the investigation into journalist Gail Vella's murder is known as what?

Operation Lighthouse is led by a detective who keeps steering it off course: she overlooks that the victim was making a podcast on police corruption and that her home had been ransacked.

In Line of Duty, the murder of Gail Vella was based on the 2017 killing of which journalist?

Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta's best-known investigative reporter, was killed when her car was blown up after years of exposing corruption; the fictional victim borrows her maiden name, Vella.

In Line of Duty's very first scene, armed police kill an innocent man they have mistaken for what?

A suicide bomber: the raid hits the wrong flat, and Steve Arnott's refusal to help cover it up lands him in anti-corruption; the scene drew on the 2005 shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

What is the name of the boys' home at the centre of the abuse storyline in series 3 of Line of Duty?

Sands View put a real scandal on screen: the storyline referred to Jimmy Savile by name, and a nervous BBC had to be talked into leaving the reference in.

In Line of Duty series 6, Davidson's murder squad is based at which police station?

Hillside Lane, the Hill to its officers, gives AC-12 an early humiliation: they storm in to seize the case files and leave with nothing, because a former colleague now on Davidson's team has tipped her off.

In Line of Duty series 6, Davidson's DNA is found to be a partial match to which crime boss?

Tommy Hunter's match shows she was born of incest within his family, which is news to her: she had always believed that a retired senior policeman was her father.

What do investigators find hidden in Ted Hastings's hotel room in series 5 of Line of Duty?

A stash of cash: £50,000, which the man who handed it over later says was only half the sum; the other half turns up two years later in a widow's loft.

Which Line of Duty character, a child courier for the gang in series 1, returns years later as a police officer?

Ryan Pilkington was played both times by Gregory Piper, 13 in series 1; the creator had left the boy's story open in case he needed it, then checked whether the grown actor was still working.

In Line of Duty, what does Steve Arnott call his boss, Ted Hastings?

The Gaffer: the name stuck so well that the show's creator uses it himself, telling a fan who spotted a real-life clue that the Gaffer would probably ask them to join AC-12.

Which comedian played hapless lawyer David Rickman in Line of Duty's 2020 Sport Relief sketch?

Lee Mack's brief keeps making his client look guiltier, then, left alone in the interview room, admits that he is "H" himself, not knowing the tape is still running.

What was the profession of Line of Duty's creator before he became a television writer?

Hospital doctor: he answered an advert in a medical journal and, with almost no writing experience, ended up scripting a BBC drama about junior medics while still on the wards.

Which other hit BBC thriller did Line of Duty's creator make in 2018?

Bodyguard came from the same writer and the same production company, and gave one of Line of Duty's former leads a second role, as a home secretary guarded by a troubled Army veteran.

In Line of Duty, DS Steve Arnott became famous among fans for wearing which item of clothing?

Waistcoats: the actor took the look from a friend's story about a smarmy call-centre colleague who came to work in three-piece suits, and decided an ambitious young detective would too.

Which actor quit series 2 of Line of Duty after two days of filming and was replaced by Mark Bonnar?

Robert Lindsay had signed up to play a deputy chief constable but felt at once that it wasn't right; he and the programme-makers "fell out with each other", he said, and they were happy to see him go.

Which streaming service premiered series 6 of Line of Duty exclusively in the United States and Canada?

BritBox won the rights after the show's international distributor went bust in 2020; before that American viewers had to follow it from Hulu to Acorn TV to AMC.

What did the series 5 crew have to import from London because local sales are restricted?

"Balaclava Man" is a recurring menace from series 4 onwards.

Which supermarket accidentally sold the Line of Duty series 5 DVD a day before the finale aired?

Sainsbury's put the box set on shelves in some stores before the last episode had been shown: the discs were not due out until the day after the finale.

Where does the crime gang keep Jackie Laverty's body for years after her murder in series 1 of Line of Duty?

In a freezer: the gang used her killing to blackmail a detective whose fingerprints they had put on the weapon, and stored her for years in the flat of a vulnerable man they bullied.

What sound famously marks the start of an AC-12 interview recording in Line of Duty?

A long beep: the recorder's drawn-out tone was first heard in series 2 and became the show's signature, the cue for interrogations that can run to most of an episode.

In Line of Duty, Anna Maxwell Martin plays which officer who interrogates Ted Hastings in series 5?

Patricia Carmichael arrives only for the last two episodes of series 5, all insincere smiles, to take Hastings apart; by the end of series 6 she has taken over AC-12 itself.

What is the name of the fictional police force that AC-12 investigates in Line of Duty?

Central Police is vague on purpose: late in pre-production BBC lawyers steered the makers away from real department names and real places, so the force and its patch were both invented.

Of what is Lindsay Denton convicted at the end of series 2 of Line of Duty?

Conspiracy to murder brings her a life sentence, but at a retrial in series 3 the jury clears her of it, and she walks free on a lesser charge with time already served.

What punishment does Ted Hastings receive at the end of series 5 of Line of Duty?

A final written warning lets him keep command of AC-12, a soft landing for a man who one episode earlier had been suspended and charged over an undercover officer's death.

Which secret does Steve Arnott hide from his bosses for most of series 6 of Line of Duty?

A painkiller habit: he dodges Occupational Health and deletes its emails, and when he finally turns up the counsellor traces the pills to his fall down a stairwell in series 4.