By Lidia Molina-Whyte

Published: Tuesday, 23 August 2022 at 12:00 am


Many Line of Duty fans were shocked when season 6 finally revealed who ‘H’ was. Mostly because Nigel Boyle’s blundering DSU Ian Buckells seemed an unlikely candidate to be the elusive villain who caused AC-12 so much trouble.

And, it turns out, they may be right. At least that’s according to Adrian Dunbar, who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings on the tense crime drama.

During a chat with Radio Times magazine, the actor was asked whether viewers who think Buckells is ‘H’ are assuming too much.

“Yes! He’s not ‘H’,” he said, before adding: “We just got the guy we could actually pin a charge on. We didn’t get ‘H’, we got Buckells, the patsy.”

He added: “There’s a scene when we look at each other and think: ‘Really? This t**t?’ He’s a distraction.”

 

When Chief Constable Philip Osborne (Owen Teale) was mentioned as the potential real ‘H’, Dunbar appeared to agree, saying: “That’s probably where it’s heading, unless there’s another twist and someone’s pulling his strings.”

The latter is entirely possible, considering creator Jed Mercurio’s track record. Of course, a seventh season has yet to be confirmed by the BBC, but Dunbar seems optimistic, and even said he’s “hoping something might happen next year”.

Whether it returns as a full season, a movie or a different format remains to be seen.

You can read the full interview in this week’s issue of Radio Times.

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