Line of Duty fans can’t believe James Nesbitt’s cameo was literally just a couple of photographs

*Warning: This article contains spoilers for Line of Duty*

There were plenty of big reveals made during series six of Line of Duty – but none were quite as unexpected as James Nesbitt’s brief appearance as Marcus Thurwell.

The Cold Feet actor was introduced in the new role back in episode four, and immediately became a person of interest in the investigation into the murder of investigative reporter Gail Vella.

Through Steve Arnott’s (Martin Compston) investigation, Thurwell’s name came up as part of the Sandsview Boys Home – and child exploitation including former Chief Superintendent Patrick Fairbank (George Costigan), who was charged for his role in the crime.

The fifth episode saw Spanish police conduct a raid to infiltrate Marcus’s last known address. Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) and AC-12 watched via video link as police officers found two corpses in green and black night vision footage.

For a moment some fans believed that Marcus was still alive after spotting what they believed to be a hidden clue. However, it was quickly proven to be incorrect and his fate was confirmed in the final episode.

As it turns out, James’ appearance really did amount to just two photographs, and fans can’t quite get their head around it.

The best part was, the actor previously lied about being angry with Jed Mercurio for never casting him in the show.

‘Even though Line Of Duty had been shot here for years I was never considered for it, which has always slightly galled me,’ he previously said.

Writing after Sunday’s finale, novelist Elizabeth Day seemed to sum up the mood of viewers by writing: ‘Whatever happens, please can we take a moment to acknowledge the genius of casting James Nesbitt, who joked he was offended never to have been asked, only to kill him off after one shoddy holiday snap and before a single line of dialogue was spoken?’

Another fan said ‘wonder how much James Nesbitt got paid for this,’ posting the two pictures of him that were featured in the show.

Elsewhere, fans were left shocked after Ian Buckells (played by Nigel Boyle) was rumbled by AC-12’s Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) and was unmasked as H.

The episode recorded its highest-ever overnight ratings with 12.8million of us tuning in.

Line Of Duty is available to stream on catch-up on BBC iPlayer

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