Entertainment
Line of Duty finale will ‘shock and frustrate’ viewers, claims Craig Parkinson
(Picture: BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill)
Line of Duty star Craig Parkinson thinks fans will be ‘shocked and frustrated’ by the series six finale.
Fans are expected to tune into BBC One in their millions on Sunday night as series six of the critically acclaimed drama comes to a close, and we will finally find out who H is.
But it may not be a happy ending for AC-12, as Craig, who played Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan on the show for three series, has signalled a whole lot of drama.
Craig has seen the finale as he hosts the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Line of Duty, and gave some spoiler-free hints about what we can expect as he chatted with Dermot O’Leary on Radio 2.
When Dermot asked if we are ‘in for a belter’, Craig said: ‘I think it’s gonna shock people. I think people are going to be frustrated, it’s exhilarating, it’s exciting… these aren’t soundbites, I’ve seen it four times, honestly, and it really stands up to repeat viewing.’
The 45-year-old did a great impression of Jo Davidson during her AC-12 interrogation with his deflections of Dermot’s digging – when Dermot said he would be devastated if Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) turned out to be H, he said: ‘You know I can’t answer that.’
And when Dermot started discussing a fan theory that Chloe Bishop (Shalom Brune-Franklin) is Tony Gates’ daughter, he warned: ‘Don’t go there.’
Craig has been watching the episodes in advance, and said that he’s just as prone to overthinking a lingering camera shot as the rest of us, saying he has had some of his dodgy theories disproved.
He said: ‘I’ve been prone to a lot of overthinking, because a lot of my theories from episode to episode have been so wrong and so ridiculous.’
Creator Jed Mercurio has yet to confirm whether series six is the last time we’ll ever see AC-12, and Craig is just as in the dark as the rest of us.
When asked if he thinks it will return for series seven, he said: ‘We’re so emotionally invested in the show and certainly the main trio, I would love it to come back, I think everyone would love it to come back.
‘But you have to know when it’s a good time to get out and walk away with pride and dignity.’
It was Dot’s explosive exit in series three, after being exposed as the Caddy, that set the wheels in motion for the next three series, as his blinks and his taps during his dying declaration pointed towards ‘H’ and ‘the fourth man’.
Many characters are suspected of being H – from Patricia Carmichael (Anna Maxwell Martin) to Philip Osborne (Owen Teale) to Marcus Thurwell (James Nesbitt), who was seemingly found dead in a Spanish villa during last week’s episode.
While viewers are on the edge of their seats to uncover the truth, there are also fears that one of the main trio – Hastings, Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) – will meet their end.
Line of Duty series six concludes at 9pm on BBC One on Sunday night.
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