Entertainment
Line of Duty series 6: Who is H? All the suspects ranked, from least to most bent
Line of Duty’s AC-12 has some of the best coppers in the business, but in series six the real detective work has been happening in the homes of viewers.
As the search for H intensifies in Jed Mercurio’s stupidly good drama, just about every fan has been following their own lines of inquiry – with viewers spotting hidden clues after forensic revaluation.
Just like Gogglebox’s Jenny Newby with her Steve Arnott-style notebook, viewers have been cracking down hard on who they believe to be the rotten apple at the heart of the police service.
Every main character has been under suspicion at one time or another and, as the series hurtles towards its conclusion, the search for H is stepping up more than ever.
We love catching bent coppers just as much as the next fella, and we too have been running our own investigation. Like AC-12, you can also guarantee we’ve followed everything to the letter of the law – the letter!
Here are all the main H suspects ranked from least to most bent.
Kate Fleming
There is a growing contingent out there that believes Kate – the squeaky clean detective with the best intentions since day one – could in fact be the elusive bent copper at the top of the tree.
It would be one hell of a twist to see Kate unmasked as H, but we can’t see it happening. There’s not one scrap of evidence out there, even if some internet-dwellers do think an H on an underpass wall counts as proof she’s the guilty party.
Besides, for the series to work so well, there needs to be morality running through it all the way. If the honest to goodness hero turns out to be the worst of them all, the show would lose some of its integrity – wouldn’t it?
Bent rating:
We need our heroes, and we have to believe our Kate is one of them.
0/10
Steve Arnott
Steve, though, is a different kettle of fish. He’s the most determined copper around, but his record is hardly as spotless as Kate’s. In fact, it’s downright filthy.
From sleeping with suspects to illegally liaising with rogue undercover coppers (and then sleeping with their ex-wives), Steve arguably should have been kicked out of AC-12 three series ago. The fact he moaned about not getting a promotion sooner is frankly baffling after everything he’s done.
There’s also his secret painkiller addiction and the upcoming drug test ominously hanging over his head, which we’re expecting could have grave consequences towards the end of the series.
Not for a second do we believe he’s H, though. For one, a bent copper with piles of tainted cash to burn wouldn’t turn up at work in the same old waistcoat every week.
Bent rating:
A little rough around the edges to say the least, but this fella isn’t H.
4/10
Patricia Carmichael
The ice queen of anti-corruption, Patricia has become the great Line of Duty anti-hero fans love to hate since her arrival in series five.
After putting Ted through the wringer and coming up short last season, she’s back for more in the latest episodes. There could be more than meets the eye with her, too.
Patricia has been put in place to take over the new, highly reduced and re-structured anti-corruption unit from Ted – but could her real intention be to make it easier for the bent coppers on the force to get by unscrutinised?
Any esteemed Line Of Duty fan would also note that Patricia was fast-tracked to the top in her 40s. Could her meteoric rise be due to her connections with the shady corrupt coppers embedded in the police?
There’s also a speculative cryptic clue out there that fans think proves she is H. Everything has yet to be proved, but there’s something we don’t like about Patricia – and it’s not just that incredibly passive-aggressive smile of hers.
Bent rating:
We can prove nothing at the moment, but we reckon there could be a bent copper under that icy exterior.
5/10
Ted Hastings
Mother of God, please say it aint so.
We don’t want to believe it, but Ted has been skating on thin ice for some time now, and the infamous ‘definitely’ and ‘definately’ mix-up could be the thing that eventually verifies his guilt.
The case against Ted, and indeed the mystery at the heart of Line of Duty, could well hinge on a single spelling mistake.
As fans will remember, H communicated with John Corbett (Stephen Graham) and his partner Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall) in series five and misspelled the word as ‘definately’.
Later, AC-12 managed to hack into the laptop and set up a fake call. When Ted took over and began to type pretending to be H, he too misspelled ‘definitely’ as ‘definately’.
Ted was also seen destroying his laptop last series, as the eye of suspicion fell upon him. Whether or not it proves Ted is the guilty party, it’s a big clue. Adrian even went on Good Morning Britain to tell Susanna Reid as much.
There’s also the issue of his money struggles and the lost bribe money, which Steve found stashed in Stephanie Corbett’s loft this series.
Safe to say, Ted isn’t as clean as he’d like others to think he is. But there’s also an argument to say that he’s just an unlucky but ultimately honourable guy who made some bad choices along the way.
Bent rating:
Please don’t let him be H – Jed Mercurio we’re begging you. We can’t deal with Ted turning out to be a wrong’un.
7/10
Andrea Wise
We’re going to put it out there, we’re very suspicious of Andrea. Very suspicious indeed.
Why? Because ever since she’s turned up in season five, she’s done everything she can to reduce the impact of AC-12.
For starters, Andrea tried to remove Ted and his team from the investigation into Operation Pear Tree. Was it because they were getting too close to the conspiracy at the heart of police, perhaps?
Andrea also ordered an inquiry into Ted in series five – could she have been trying to frame Ted for being H?
It also feels very convenient that Andrea has decided to cut anti-corruption by 90%. Maybe she’s tired of AC-12 being a thorn in the side of the OCG, and the reason she’s forcing Ted into early retirement is that she tried and failed to frame him for being H.
Or maybe – just maybe – she’s not bent at all. Maybe she’s an honourable copper with decades of exemplary service. This show has ways of messing with your head.
Bent rating:
Based on no concrete evidence whatsoever, we think Andrea could be the one AC-12 has been looking for.
At the moment it’s 0/10 (but secretly we think it’s more like 9/10)
Philip Osborne
What an awful bloke. Just dreadful. Never mind working for him – imagine just having to be in the same room as him.
Since the first episode of the entire show, viewers have seen first hand how he lied to prevent justice being done. While working in counter terrorism he ordered members of the team that killed Karim Ali to manipulate their statements. When Steve refused, he was kicked out. That much is a fact.
Not only that, it was revealed in the most recent episode that Osborne and imprisoned Ian Buckells were part of the team investigating the death of Christopher Lawrence in 2003. We heard how the charges were mysteriously dropped against the five suspects of the racially motivated killing, one of which happened to be the son of Tommy Hunter.
Buckells is too boring to be H, we’re sure of it. But Osbourne attracts corruption like a magnet. He’s the kind of nasty figure who we could wholeheartedly believe is capable of the crimes of an OCG mastermind.
Bent rating:
Even if he turns out not to be H, he’s a bent copper through and through.
10/10
Line of Duty continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One.
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