Line of Duty recap – Who is 'H', is he Ted Hastings and who are the other main suspects?

THE main question that seems to plague viewers is Who is ‘H’ in Line of Duty?

It’s the question that’s continued to intrigue audiences well into series five, with AC-12 on the hunt for the corrupt police officer at the heart of the BBC crime drama. But who are the main suspects?

What do we know about 'H'?

  • The letter 'H' was first mentioned in in Dot Cotton’s dying declaration.
  • However, could this be the first letter of a name i.e. Hastings, Hilton or could it be a codename as suggested in the series.
  • He (or she) seems to be a senior in the police force able to communicate with corrupt police officers and keep their name out of the investigation.
  • We also know they communicate with the balaclava gang by instant messenger to preserve anonymity.
  • Another clue is that the character spells "definitely" with an 'a' that could also give away clues about their accent. They have also benefited financially from balaclava's lucrative crimes.

So now that we have the evidence down, let's take a closer look at the suspects.

Gill Biggeloe (Polly Walker)

Fans are convinced she's going to set up Ted Hastings and frame him for his wife's murder after Corbett appeared to go and kill her in last night's episode.

Indeed, 'H' could stand for 'Her'. A possibility that would explain how she has managed to stay hidden for so long, considering most people assume 'H' is a man.

The OCG contact H, or at least the mystery person on the other end of the laptop is only identified by their username, which in this case is USER 2972.

One said: "User: 2972. Put the numbers against their letters of the Alphabet gives us: BIGI 2972 BI(gelow) GI(ll).

Now while this could just be a random number, fans think there is a code to be cracked here.

In the season three finale Gill made it clear she was stemming the tide of police corruption convictions – but claimed it was for the public good.

She told Ted: "Anti-corruption is a double-edged sword. We need to find just enough bent coppers to avoid accusations of a cover up, but not so many that the public starts to wonder if the police can be trusted."

So the question remains – How will she stop more corruption being uncovered?

Gill knew Corbett is inside her gang as an undercover officer and needed him out before he discovered who she is.

She couldn't have him killed without raising suspicion – though he did died anyway – instead she demanded they arrest him.

"Find Corbett, Ted and then all this other bulls*** will vanish like the bulls*** it is," she told him, suspiciously.

Les Hargreaves (Tony Pitts)

Hargreaves’ surname began with H, and he also held a senior position in the police force which is clue number two.

During the series he has repeatedly admitted that he was never a big fan of AC-12, and at this point it's crystal clear that he's at least "bent".

The first "corrupt" signs came to light around season two, but he never seemed especially equipped to be a criminal mastermind.

However, he might be working very closely with 'H' as he seems familiar with his ways.

Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar)

It took Line of Duty's creator and writer Jed Mercurio four season's to tarnish Ted Hasting's reputation by spreading some serious doubt around his character.

It all happened around the end of season 4 when Hastings’ laptop pinged with an instant message just after we saw Lisa and John Corbett (Stephen Graham) using IM to talk with ‘H’.

In addition, an unknown number calling Lisa McQueen’s mobile just as Hastings was ringing a number which didn’t pick up.

Last night, fans think they spotted proof Hastings is H after he misspelled 'definitely' just like the corrupt OCG cop. The character took over a chat with the notorious gang they are trying to catch but eagle-eyed viewers quickly noticed how Hastings spelled definitely with an A just like H did.

Hastings has been struggling financially for the past two seasons, after a property investment in Ireland went wrong and his wife left him.

So he could be 'H', however the show's creator is implicating him so heavily that it seems a bit too easy.

Derek Hilton (Paul Higgins)

Here's another senior police officer with a surname beginning with 'H'. Derek Hilton is a Deputy Chief Constable and was a prime suspect.

Before his death, Hilton was shown to be involved with the balaclava gang and was one of the highest ranking police officers to be implicated.

In one episode he arranged to have Steve killed by a balaclava man at Nick Huntley’s offices, and he blackmailed Maneet to get vital documents and files from AC-12.

Hilton is now dead and ‘H’ is still active.

So while he was on the corrupt side he probably is not 'H' unless he has an excellent copycat executor or rises from the dead.

Alison Powell (Susan Vidler)

Another name on the suspects' list is Alison Powell, who is on first-name terms with Ted Hastings, and was placed in charge of a mission to place undercover officer John Corbett inside an organised crime group.

As far as we know, she has kept her actions out of AC-12’s sight with a Mopi notice to block the files on the police database, and failed to report that Corbett had gone Awol for months.

She repeatedly avoided to cooperate with AC-12, and key information is missing from the files.

It seems likely that Powell is implicated in some way, but we don't know in what way.

Also, we don't want to state the obvious but there's no H in her last name.

'H' mystery

At this point in the series, the show's creator has implicated so many character plotlines that anything goes.

Tune in next week as the Line of Duty puzzle continues…

When is Line of Duty series five on BBC One?

The fifth season of Line Of Duty started on BBC One on March 31, 2019 and continues tonight Easter Sunday, April 21 at 9pm.

Filming for the series began in Belfast in September 2018.

After series four concluded, the BBC announced Line Of Duty had been renewed for two more series – so we'll be getting a series six too.

BBC director-general Tony Hall said: "I am very excited to say there’s not one but two more series of Line Of Duty. So hooray for AC-12!"

Source: Read Full Article