Entertainment
Line Of Duty: Why spelling mistake ‘Definately’ is a huge clue to finding H
*Warning: Contains spoilers for Line of Duty*
It says a lot about the nuance and levels of detail in Line of Duty that a tiny spelling mistake can come to hold huge significance to the entire plot.
Fans spotted a familiar detail during the latest tense episode on Sunday – the misspelling of ‘definitely’ as ‘definately’, which could prove a vital piece of information in the search for illusive bent copper H.
In the most recent instalment, after we discovered that Jo Davidson (Kelly Macdonald) is related to Tommy Hunter (Brian McCardie) in shocking scenes, Jo logged into her laptop for a chat with H.
As ever, the figure only ever communicates via text chat on encrypted PCs, and they weren’t happy with the latest developments.
Following the death of two OCG members during AC-12’s raid on the workshop, H ordered Jo to ‘get rid of’ DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure).
‘As long as it’s my last job,’ Jo said, to which H replied: ‘Definately.’
Now, long-standing fans of the show will recognise the typo, as it played a big part in series five.
In the previous run, H communicated with John Corbett (Stephen Graham) and his partner Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall) and misspelled the word there too.
The mistake could have been a detail that most viewers overlooked. However, things took another turn when AC-12 managed to hack into the laptop and set up a fake call by impersonating H.
When Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) took over and began to type as H – in a move which left Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and Kate shocked – he too misspelled ‘definitely’ as ‘definately’ in the sentence ‘Eastfield Depot is definately high risk.’
When later questioned, Ted claimed that he had studied the spelling habits of H in order to impersonate him. It did however lead some to believe that the clue proved Ted was the bent copper all along.
As if we didn’t need reminding how important the piece of information is, Adrian appeared on Good Morning Britain and confirmed to Susanna Reid that the misspelling is a ‘big clue’.
While any number of high ranking members of the police service could still prove to be H, Hastings is still very much under scrutiny.
In other suspicious scenes from series five, Ted was seen disposing of the laptop he was using in the Edge Park Hotel room. The latest episode of series six also saw Steve discover that Ted left the lost £50,000 bribe money to John Corbett’s wife, Stephanie (Amy De Bhrún).
We also can’t really believe Ted, a man who spends his entire career upholding standards, would make such a mistake accidentally. Could be?
Only time will tell whether Ted is the grammatically challenged H, or if his one-off spelling mistake was exactly that – a one off.
Meanwhile, Line of Duty fans turned detectives themselves after the shocking end to episode five, as Kate and corrupt copper Ryan Pilkington (Gregory Piper) ended up in a tense standoff. However fans think they know what the outcome will be thanks to a trailer that was released in March ahead of the start of series six
Line of Duty continues on Sunday night at 9pm on BBC One.
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