Why We Love Line of Duty
Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey, tonight is the final episode in Series 6 of Line of Duty,! It will be airing on BBC One at 9pm. A show that has been on our screens since 2012, it’s clear to see why the nation will miss it.
Line of Duty has so many aspects which make it truly unique. The police drama offers a good mix of characters, a relevant backstory and sartorial elegance.
Characters to Love
TV shows need likeable characters. Line of Duty presents DS Steve Arnott, the only man in his unit to testify to the true events of the shooting of an innocent man during a police raid. From the get-go, Steve is presented as a character with a strong sense of moral duty, even if it would lead to his career being ruined. Steve is recruited in to Anti-Corruption Unit 12 by none other than Superintendent Ted Hastings in the very first episode. Ted has been in the service for over 30 years and like Steve has a very strong moral compass, working in anti-corruption to root out bent coppers (his favourite phrase). Steve joins DC Kate Fleming who is committed to ensuring the police operate effectively, without corrupt interference. The best thing about Steve, Kate and Ted is that they are loveable, but they are not perfect. This makes them human and believable, because being perfect is not the requirement for AC-12. Steve, Kate and Ted are good people who sometimes make bad choices, but they aren't bent. All three are committed to their jobs; their personal lives are non-existent because of the sacrifices they have made for their careers.
Image shows (from left to right): Ted Hastings, Kate Fleming, Steve Arnott and Allison Powell in Season 5
A Common Enemy
We need an enemy to hate. Here we have an issue which concerns individuals, namely corruption. Corruption is something we all despise, and in the show we can see how individuals in positions of power betray trust by working with organised crime groups (OCGs). Therefore, it is easy to side with Steve, Kate and Ted as they're the heroes of the tale, taking on corruption within the police to root out bent coppers and make the force more credible.
Grey Characters
There are goodies and baddies in every story. Steve, Kate and Ted are the good ones. Tommy Hunter and Ryan Pilkington are the bad ones. But what also elevates Line of Duty's writing is the questionable characters. I'm talking about Dot Cottan and Jo Davidson. DI Matthew Cottan was a police officer who has been working with the OCG since he was a child. He was bent, but as a viewer, you feel sorry for him too, which is a testament to Jed Mercurio's writing. Towards the end of Season 3, Dot is seen trying to leave the OCG and wants to be an honest copper, but he ends up dying. Before his death, he records a dying declaration, providing crucial information to AC-12 about finding the network of bent coppers. He also dies saving the life of Kate Fleming, demonstrating that he wasn't a completely bad person. Jo Davidson in this series is questionable too, because we find out that she is bent, yes, but she was forced to be. She was coerced in to joining the police by her uncle and father Tommy Hunter, and since then has been trying to leave the OCG. And Jo had no knowledge of Tommy being her father, which is heart-breaking for viewers to watch because we had assumed she knew of her parentage. Dot and Jo have done horrible things, Jo nearly had Kate killed remember, but both wanted out of their situations. This makes them grey instead of good/evil, so we as viewers have to decide whether we want to root for them or not.
Image shows Jo Davidson speaking to Kate Fleming in Season 6
Good Fashion Sense
We love seeing characters expressing their style via their clothes. Just look at the effect the BBC's The Serpent has had with Jenna Coleman's character rocking the 70s trends. In Line of Duty, Steve is always donning his signature waistcoats and suits, his way of appearing polished and ready to work. Kate is always dressed in her smart neutral blazers, her tailored trousers and turtlenecks. She occasionally dons a Tommy Hilfiger shirt, a nod to her promotion to DI. Clothes tell a story and are often used by writers to draw attention to things. For example, Jo Davidson and Kate Fleming were wearing the same black turtleneck in a scene, which is important as on set, characters are forbidden to wear the same item. This hints at a message: the twinning could highlight that they're on the same side and Jo isn't bent. Either way, the nation loves to copy key styles so we can feel like we're on our way to conduct some important business.
Image shows Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming sitting down in style
Catchphrases
Line of Duty literally has bingo sheets for this. From 'following the letter of the law', to 'houl yer whisht', Ted Hastings has become a household name for his iconic phrases. There are so many memorable ones, but his most famous is probably 'there's only one thing I'm interested in, and that's nicking bent coppers!'. His words reinforce his beliefs; even his surname indicates the strength of his personality and his fierce dedication to rooting out corruption. For the viewers, Ted's phrases are a core part of his identity, just as much as we expect DCS Patricia Carmichael to have an air of frosty authority. One of my favourite moments in Season 6 is when Jo Davidson begins quoting regulations and Ted just sits back, arms crossed and smiling. We know Ted loves his rules.
Image shows Ted Hastings delivering his *iconic* quote
Element of Escapism
Line of Duty has felt even more special this year because of the circumstances. Everywhere you look, there is news on COVID or vaccines. At 9pm on a Sunday, that stuff is pushed aside and the focus is Line of Duty. I love reading all the comments, theories and memes on Twitter after watching the episode. It is nice to focus on something else that everyone loves that isn't a reminder of the situation we are in. Especially because of the pandemic, more people are at home so will be more likely to watch TV. Line of Duty has served as a welcome distraction and allowed people to pick up skills, like being observant and picking out relevant information.
Relevance to Society
What makes Line of Duty so brilliant is its relevance in our society today. Steve, Kate and Ted are battling corruption within the police, and find that this issue is institutional, and involves not just the police but politicians and organised crime groups. They are met with obstacles at every turn, because corruption is so deep-rooted within the system, it is hard to know who is good and who is bent. This overriding arc in the last few seasons is so painfully relevant because in the UK, we have recently had a report which announced there is no institutional racism here. We have seen how our Ministers have defied lockdown rules and how our politicians have claimed public expenses for private refurbishments. Line of Duty is fiction but so much of what it discusses are issues today within our society. Budget cuts within policing and the merging of AC-12 with AC-9 rings true with political policy in recent years leading to dramatic reductions in the number of police officers. In the show, Ted is being forced to retire and told that his investigation in to institutional corruption will end, because they don't have the manpower to work on it, and they don't believe it exists. They being Patricia Carmichael and the Chief Constable, who is in the running to potentially be H or bent.
Conclusion
I am so excited for tonight's episode, so we can discover who H is, or whether H is a place or code. Line of Duty also has a podcast, it is currently being hosted by Craig Parkinson who played Dot Cottan on the show. Craig offers his perspective on the episodes and his own theories on what could happen, which is brilliant because the man has actually met and worked with Jed Mercurio, so has some insight in to how the writer thinks. The new podcast comes out at 10pm just after Line of Duty, so you can listen to it after the show.
Here's hoping our favourite trio Steve, Kate and Ted get a happy ending. The tagline of the season is 'Lies Cost Lives' which people are saying means one of our trio will die. If this happens, I want it to be a poignant end, and a meaningful death that is believable for their character. It is highly unlikely corruption will be solved in the final episode, but it would be nice to see a significant breakthrough in the investigation after 10 years of hard work. An ideal ending would be inspirational and perhaps encourage other characters to take the mantle in the battle against corruption, which will be ongoing.
Image shows Steve Arnott, Kate Fleming and Ted Hastings in AC-12 HQ
*The photo in the cover is from Vicky McClure's Instagram page. I do not own the rights to it, all rights are reserved.
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