To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Line of Duty this week, RadioTimes.com asked fans to pick their favourite moment from Jed Mercurio’s hit police corruption drama – and now the results are in.
We drew up a shortlist of 12 iconic moments from across all six seasons of the show, and with more than 1,500 fans having had their say, the clear winner is Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan’s dramatic escape from police custody in the season three finale – after he had been unveiled as The Caddy.
The moment – often referred to simply as URGENT EXIT REQUIRED because of the text message Dot sent to arrange his escape – scored a whopping 32% of the vote, 5% ahead of its closest challenger, Ted Hastings’s use of the phrase “Jesus Mary and Joseph and the Wee Donkey” in season six.
URGENT EXIT REQUIRED. #LineOfDuty pic.twitter.com/0w16kaNOGA
— BBC One (@BBCOne) March 30, 2019
The dramatic season two moment in which new character DC Trotman was thrown to her death from a window came in third place, while the top five was rounded out by the season one scene in which Tony Gates is set up for Jackie Laverty’s murder and Lindsay Denton’s violent attack on her neighbour in season two.
Dot actor Craig Parkinson provided a statement to RadioTimes.com in which he thanked voters for the result and praised the show for continually providing such talked about moments.
“It’s testament to the consistently exciting writing of JM that RadioTimes.com has a wealth of iconic scenes over the last 10 years of Line Of Duty to choose from,” he said.
“I’m thrilled to be included in two major scenes that made such an impact in the history of the show. I didn’t really think that all these years later ‘Urgent Exit Required’ would have the repercussions it would have. A good friend of mine jokes that it’ll be on my gravestone…..she’s probably right!”
He added: “A huge thank you to all the readers of RadioTimes.com for taking part in the poll, not an easy decision to make considering all the shocking, exciting and sometimes emotional moments you had to choose from. What a 10 years they’ve been.
“We started as a small show on BBC Two and it’s the audience that catapulted Line of Duty to the show it became. A massive thank you!”
Line of Duty is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Take a look at more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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