Did that Line of Duty episode two cliffhanger really just implicate Adrian Dunbar’s AC-12 leader Superintendent Ted Hastings as a member of a syndicate of corrupt coppers? We think not, thanks to some contradictory evidence put forward by a few eagle-eyed viewers...
In a tense interview scene at the close of the BBC1 drama's second instalment, we saw corrupt sergeant Jane Cafferty asked to identify the police officer who had recruited her into a series of criminal conspiracies.
Placed on the desk in front of her were photos of cops from AC-12’s ‘who is H’ investigation board – CC Hilton, DI Matthew “Dot” Cotton (AKA The Caddy), DS Jeremy Cole and Manish Prasad (both series two) and CS Patrick Fairbank (series three) – alongside another image taken from a drawer of current AC-12 officers.
But who was the unseen photo of? And which of the faces did Cafferty point to? At first, it seemed we'd have to wait until next week to find out.
However, after a bit of detective work of their own, some viewers think that although Hastings was indeed placed in front of Cafferty, it was in fact the photo of DI Matthew 'Dot' Cottan (Craig Parkinson) that she picked out.
If the screenshots do indeed show Cottan as Cafferty’s corrupt copper contact then it looks like Hastings’ shifty behaviour during the interview may just have been a Ted herring after all.
However, it doesn't change the fact that DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) apparently chose to place Hastings in the line-up in the first place.
Even if he's not the officer who recruited Cafferty, could he still be the mysterious 'H' at the top of the chain of corrupt officers?
Ted, a bent copper? Mother of God, we hope not.
Line of Duty continues Sunday at 9pm on BBC1
