The Intrigue

One of the best Cop shows out there, to put simply. A must watch. Long story short, Line of duty is Unmissable.

All through the series we were waiting for a glass box head to head. We finally got it in the finale and in spades too. Superb showing from Dunbar going through the full spectrum of emotions in this epic interview scene surpassing that of the series 3 finale. Hats off to the cast. This is what LOD is all about. Big long interview scenes packed with information and intrigue in full Tarantino'esque fashion.

Hastings feels the wrath of an anti-corruption enquiry into his conduct.

This is a good finish to the fifth season with some great performances.

The plot is enjoyable and gives several characters the opportunity to shine. I think the main draw is writing, staging and acting of the interrogation scenes. "As you well know" Line of Duty produces strong drama out of this type of character exchange and this one has the benefit of using Adrian Dunbar to great effect along with Anna Maxwell Martin.

At this point in the show we have seen a lot of this type of drama before so it feels quite by-the-numbers. You know all will seem lost before some piece of evidence pulls it out of the fire. As for the characters, there aren't many left now who haven't either been locked up or both sides of the interrogation desk.

Series 5 started out very well but for me lost a bit of momentum after the best character was killed off. Overall it is solid entertainment.

And so another gripping series of "Line Of Duty" ends, like its predecessors apparently captivating the nation avid to learn the fate of Adrian Dunbar's AC12 commanding officer, Ted Hastings and whether he himself was actually the "bent" top cop "H" his unit has been pursuing for years. With its by now almost traditional double-length season finale, again the bulk of the programme featuring an intense interview principally between Ted and the chief investigating officer determined to find him guilty, although more than one of the other attendees at said interview also had a significant part to play in the denouement as things turned out.

The run-up in the previous episodes to the big finish was probably better than the conclusion with Stephen Graham excelling in the principal role of the undercover cop John Corbett who embeds himself so deeply into H's criminal organisation that he crosses the line with his conduct so much that he is suspected of having gone rogue. The series duly delivered on a shocking "didn't see that coming" moment but it just seemed to me after that to run out of steam and ideas to get to the finishing line even down to repeating almost exactly the ending to the Dot Cotton / The Caddy saga from three series back.

I also found the suspension of disbelief required and level of coincidence deployed to be just a bit too much to swallow this time, such as the preponderance of police top dogs bearing the surname initial "H", to the revealed connection between Ted and Corbett. It also helped to have a long memory of the preceding series as back-references to them abounded, although I think this helped bolster credibility given the ongoing nature of the investigation going back almost to day one.

There were compensations in the acting however. Besides Graham's terrific turn, Adrian Dunbar acquitted himself well as the cornered commander, beset by personal issues both financial and marital and I was especially impressed by the performance of Anna Maxwell Martin in the icy-cool, Grand Inquisitor role.

Even as the end credits rolled, it was unsurprisingly announced, especially given the tease inserts placed just before the end seeming to centre on a new young recruit to the police force, that there would be another series to come, but that will have to wait for another day.

For now, I and millions of other viewers will have to wait a while to see just who the mysterious kingpin is. Even if not one of the best of the series to date, it was still a mostly compelling contemporary drama which almost makes it worth paying the licence fee for.

Some strong scenes intermixed with a lengthy and eventually yawn-worthy interrogation scene, despite the brilliance portrayed by all the actors. I especially enjoyed the twin scenes in the toilet - and surely the writers deliberately mirrored each character's private despair in the loo. Vivid fight scene, too! Surprise! I wasn't surprised by the big twist in terms of the real rotten apple but I didn't see the backstory happening the way it did. Corbett is a tragic figure indeed. McQueen may well be back again working for OCG, as I see her as a career criminal. This wasn't her first conviction nor her first easy-going sentence. We can expect to see more of the new police academy recruit. But the big question is HOW WAS CADDY SO FLUENT IN MORSE CODE?