Line Of Duty
Crooked cops. Masked thugs. Violent assassinations. Wild heists and conspiracies that reach the upper echelons of the government. And one plucky trio determined to root out every “bent copper” they can find. This is a recipe for truly great television.
British police drama Line Of Duty has been on my radar for years now. I’d written something about Fear The Walking Dead and how badly I despised Morgan, and a reader told me that it’s a real shame because actor Lennie James is actually a great actor in the right context. They suggested I check out Line Of Duty, and I assumed he must be one of the main characters in that show.
I was wrong. James plays one of the compromised police officers that the series’ heroes at AC-12 investigate in the first season. AC-12 is a fictional police department in the UK’s Midlands region. The AC part stands for anti-corruption. Line Of Duty is all about the efforts of AC-12 to track down crooked cops and moles within the police working for organized crime—and the many inside and out of the police force that seek to curtail their efforts.
The show is written and created by Jed Mercurio who also made the excellent Bodyguard, which is a British limited series police thriller I highly recommend.
Line Of Duty
I’ve been sick over the past couple weeks and this afforded me ample time to binge the heck out of this series. I’ve watched the first five seasons (a total of 30 episodes) over the last 14 days or so, sometimes knocking out an entire season in a single day. I am not usually this much of a binge-watcher, but Line Of Duty really gets its hooks in you, especially Seasons 2 and onward. While I really enjoyed Lennie James as DCI Tony Gates, the first season is clearly still working out some kinks. It just gets better from there.
I have not watched the sixth and final season yet, though I intend to soon. I decided to write this mostly spoiler-free review before I watched the last season because I’ve heard from a number of readers that it’s their least favorite. I thought I should get this bit of gushing praise out of the way before any crushing disappointment.
What makes Line Of Duty great is that it’s both very smart and very exciting. The police work is all really fascinating and feels very real (though how would I know the first thing about British police procedures and rules?) and the show pays a lot of attention to detail. But on top of all the great police work, you have some really exciting, over-the-top action sequences, and lots of twists and turns and suspense. You often know who the bad guys are, but there’s still a lot of mystery in terms of what actually happened or how the AC-12 detectives will figure out the truth. It’s very cat-and-mouse, and they pull it off really well.
“There’s only one thing I’m interested in and that is catching bent coppers.”
I also love both the main cast and the seasonal guest stars. The main detectives at AC-12 are DS Steven Arnott (Martin Compston), DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) and Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar). All three of these characters are well-drawn and likable, though I admit to having an extra soft spot for Hastings and his rigid sense of duty and the rule of law, not to mention his terrific Irish accent and intimidating death looks when he’s unhappy with someone. What a gem of a character.
Guest stars include the aforementioned James as well as some really great actors like Thandiwe Newton and Stephen Graham. But the acting all around, right down to the bit parts, is consistently great—a perfect match for such sharp writing.
I will say that the first three seasons are by far the strongest. Seasons 4 and 5 have some great bits, but there’s certainly a drop in quality that I’ll dive into in a separate, spoilery post. They’re still plenty addictive and worth watching, but the first three are by far the best in terms of writing, character development and story. Do yourself a favor and give it a try. You can find Line Of Duty on Amazon, Britbox, Hulu and elsewhere.
Steve Arnott and Kate Fleming
I’m adding this to some of my other police drama and mystery recommendations, including:
- 7 Great Mystery Shows For Fans Of ‘True Detective’
- Tasmania-set Deadloch is a mystery masterpiece and also hilarious.
- Happy Valley is now probably my favorite British police drama of all time, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
I’m on a huge mystery/police drama kick these days, and am scouring the internet for all the best ones to share with you, dearest readers. I’m also always happy to have you share them with me, so please do let me know your favorites on Twitter and Facebook.
