7 Things That Line Of Duty Fans Want To See In Season 6

Having dealt with what feels like an endless pandemic for months, TV fans will be glad about one thing after all this time; Line Of Duty – or, more specifically, Line Of Duty Season 6 – has recently resumed production!

And, if all goes according to plan, the next series will air in 2021. (More information here.)

While we wait, I took a look at what fans – myself included – would like to see in the next update.

And if you haven’t seen the series, you need to go and watch it – or, if you need to catch up, re-watch it on Netflix.

(There are spoilers from this point onwards.)

1. Can we give Steve Arnott a break?

Credit: BBC

Poor old Steven Arnott, he’s been through some rough patches, no?

Series four left viewers shocked when the hero of the series was, well, shoved/pushed/dropped down several flights of stairs – and not just down the steps.

Imagine you’re in an office block, and the staircase – which is square-shaped – is shaped so that you can see the bottom floor.

Steven ‘Steve’ Arnott was dropped over the side, pretty much right down the middle, right to the bottom.

The week-long wait to see if the officer had survived was downright cruel.

The last series gave a glimpse of Arnott dealing with – and suffering somewhat from – the fallout of his fall.

There’s also some tension, as Kate Fleming now outranks Arnott – and it seems that the balance of power has shifted somewhat.

2. Who makes up the core group of corrupt officers known as ‘H’?

Speculation was rife for months; just who was ‘H’?

And some fans *ahem* were trying to guess by process of deduction – as the series has many cast members who have an ‘H’ surname.

Dramatically ending with a shoot-out and chase scene, series three ended with a corrupt police officer leaving a ‘dying declaration’ naming an officer ‘H’ as being a leader of a corrupt core group of police officers.

Fast forward two series’, and we now know this; ‘H’ refers to four officers – and we know this from a Morse code message that was just spotted a long time after the shooting.

‘H’ is still being debated over, and is the under-the-surface plotline – all the while with an active investigation going on.

While viewers are guaranteed two more seasons, we need to know who H is – and what exactly is the reason for the corruption.

3. And what about the legacy of Matthew Cotton?

As he lay dying, Matthew Cotton – a corrupt officer known as ‘the caddy’ – left behind a dying declaration. And yet, there has been some consternation about what he said – enough so you need significant clearance to access the tape, and a “junior rank” lands in hot water for doing exactly that.

There is also potential for something viewers do not know – such as when the music and cast listing credits rolled over the shot of him dying, something else may have been said.

Senior officers are also regularly busted for accessing the file by Ted Hastings – like the battle – because it is almost an obsession.

Has the legacy of DCI Matthew Cotton truly been resolved?

Will we still be seeing the impact of his rotten legacy reverberate throughout the rest of the series?

And just who are ‘H’ – the four officers he implicated, who we know to be corrupt?

There are too many unresolved questions for this to be the last of Cotton.

4. Can someone explain about Stephen Graham?

Credit: BBC

Stephen Graham played the main new character in the last series – an officer who has gone undercover in an organised crime group.

People are more complicated than they seem, and he was an infinitely complex character – with questions over his motives, especially once it emerged that the officer had lost contact with his handler.

Towards the end – before a rather gruesome death – a ‘plan’ was being teased, especially when it came to releasing women who had been trafficked.

But that was never truly released, some could say – and that officer thought he’d identified one of the ‘H’ officers.

Though Hargreaves was uncovered, there were too many unresolved questions, too many conflicting accounts.

5. Ted Hastings

Who saw that coming? Though that being said, Jill Biggeloe was made to resign on the basis of her ethics – so wasn’t it obvious that she was going to be the big bad wolf?

Ted Hastings is the lead officer in charge of AC12, who investigate complaints of police corruption – and it seems that his romantic entanglements could maybe be his downfall. Almost ‘fitted up’ for corruption, there was another dramatic showdown – especially when two younger officers take on the boss, which is often seen as something taboo. (Want to be shunned by your co-workers? Be my guest!)

Adrian Dunbar plays Hastings, who, although once mighty, is beginning to show vulnerability – and that corruption is not necessarily as black and white as sometimes suggested.

Is it ‘game over’ for Hastings?

The question has been hanging over the particular character’s head for some time now – and things could be brought to ahead in the next instalment.

6. COVID 19 is very real

Line Of Duty is shot in real-time – and there have been suggestions (source) it’ll reflect the current pandemic situation.

7. Kate Fleming needs a plotline

Credit: BBC

Though the last series focused on Steven Arnott, not much attention has been paid to Kate Fleming.

Just a few seasons ago, she was experiencing personal problems – such as being locked out of her marital home, and being forced to sleep in her car.

The character has come so far – such as by being promoted, awarded for hard work. She is now the ‘boss’ – and outranks her male colleague, who previously raised tension by being promoted over her.

There’s something oddly feminist about this – to see a woman leader in a man’s world – and she is the hero we so deserve.

Meanwhile, if you need a ‘true crime’ fix while you wait, you should listen to the Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder podcast – and you can find out more here. (An officer associated with the case advised the Line Of Duty creators, it has been said.)

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What would you like to see happen in Line Of Duty Season 6?

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