Line Of Duty
Rating:
Mother of God. Line Of Duty (BBC1) is back for a fifth series and the show’s ten million viewers will be pleased to see that police corruption still flourishes at Polk Avenue Station like a thin blue line through a rotting Stilton.
Thank goodness, otherwise AC-12 boss Superintendent Ted Hastings (‘like the battle’) would be out of a job and nobody wants that, least of all me.
As always, this most superior police procedural was tightly plotted, skilfully produced and complete with a shocking death at the end.
Stephen Graham is the dream guest lead for this show, a truly gritty actor always adept at dissolving into his role, on whichever side of the police tape he finds himself. And here he is, starring as a nasty piece of work called John Corbett – an enigma wrapped in a balaclava
Writer and creator Jed Mercurio – the man who killed off the Keeley Hawes character in his hit series Bodyguard – has never been afraid of the swift despatching of key figures.
This is one of Line Of Duty’s many strengths, as viewers never know quite who or what is going to blow up next.
And it was certainly not that lovely PC Maneet Bindra (Maya Sondhi) would expire on a wooden jetty at the hands of an underworld heroin gang, her throat slit in gruesome jihadi fashion, her lifeblood draining away into the swirling waters below.
Another gasping moment from this darkest of dramas.
In a thrilling opening episode, AC-12 found themselves accidentally embroiled in Operation Peartree, a long-term investigation into criminality and drug dealing.
Kate (Vicky McClure), Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) and Steve (Martin Compston) are pictured abovein the show's new series. As always, this most superior police procedural was tightly plotted, skilfully produced and complete with a shocking death at the end
Straight away we were plunged into the delicious perplexity of cop shop jargon.
‘Is there a UCO embedded in the OCG that carried out the heroin hijack?’ wondered Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure). I think she means is there an Under Cover Officer working in the Organised Crime Gang who stole the heroin originally seized by police 18 months ago?
‘Correct, Superintendent Moir. Awaiting further instructions ma’am,’ she replied, but only in my dreams.
Speaking of which, Stephen Graham is the dream guest lead for this show, a truly gritty actor always adept at dissolving into his role, on whichever side of the police tape he finds himself.
And here he is, starring as a nasty piece of work called John Corbett – an enigma wrapped in a balaclava who turns out to be the UCO that Fleming was GOA (Going On About).
Is he a rogue rogue going rogue? I’m a bit confused already.
In the last series, Detective
