You do not have to read this. But, it may spoil Series Six of Line of Duty if you do so. Anything you do read may be given in evidence.
What will I do with my life after Line of Duty ends on Sunday?
Ahead of the finale, speculation is rife over the identity of H, aka The Fourth Man (or Woman). There’s been a natural shift throughout the series. According to the site True Crime Mania, after Episode Four, the most searched character was Ted. They report a 2500% increase in searches for Philip Osborne during Episode Six, and based on search data, rank the current suspects as follows:
1. Philip Osborne
2. Patricia Carmichael
3. Marcus Thurwell
4. Ian Buckells
5. Jo Davidson
That’s a huge hike in searches for our dodgy Chief Constable, and Jed Mercurio wants us believing he’s the bad guy. Osborne has lied, encouraged officers to lie, and tried to stitch up our Steve. Plus, he was chummy with ACC Hilton. As bent coppers go, Hilton was as bent as a plate of spaghetti served in a Mafia owned restaurant. But, while actor Owen Teale has form for playing baddies, remember that the last time before Series Six we saw Osborne was in the first series. No wonder people are Googling who he is.
And there’s another theory doing the rounds. Jed herring, or massive clue? You be the judge.
That theory is, that while he remained alive, the second smuggest person that Central Police have ever met, Jimmy Lakewell, said the following, “Look beyond the race claim to find H.”
If you combine ‘race claim’ with ‘H’, you get an anagram of … ‘Carmichael’.
A brilliant piece of cryptic deduction, with which there is only one problem: Lakewell didn’t say it. I’ve checked.
However, I may have stumbled over a clue of my own, which, in the highly unlikely scenario I am right, will have me recruited into AC12 in double-quick time. Fella.
The exhilarating trailer for the finale (above) features this brief shot of the misspelt ‘definite’ that’s been a clue since we first saw the encrypted conversations with H in Series Five:
Is it me, or does that handwriting have a pronounced feminine quality? It’s also written in black biro. A biro like the flashy one wielded by Carmichael in her interview scene with Davidson.
As I said in my review of that episode, Carmichael looked as dodgy as the cast of Dodgeball driving a Dodge Challenger to Dodge City. While drunk. And high. At night, and without shoes or socks on.
She even drank from the ‘Glass of Shiftiness,’ something every nervous suspect in LoD history has done.
We hardly ever saw her writing, but we saw a full page of her handwritten notes (Black biro. Just saying.)
We also saw her having opened a second page of the notebook when ‘chivvying’ Steve along from his and Ted’s enquiries when they were looking for evidence to identify H. In that screenshot above, you’ll see not only the text could match, but it’s at the top of the page.
Hardly definitive (definative?) evidence. I’m highly unlikely to second guess Jed, but it sure is fun trying. The biggest thing for me watching that interview scene again was its sheer quality. Kelly Macdonald hasn’t received enough praise for her acting. She was fantastic during that scene, amply justifying her casting. And Anna Maxwell Martin deserves a comparison to the late great Alan Rickman for her brilliant portrayal of villains who stay just outside the Pantomime.
Villain? Of course, she is, for now. Is she H though?
I’d like to see a final twist, and the news that Brandyce, the DI who incurred Carmichael’s wrath in the last series may return, hints that there is more to her. Equally, I’d love to see a further series with her in charge – frosty, but straight.
The few who know the answers won’t rat, that’s for sure. Until Sunday Jed has us all stretched tightly on tenterhooks. He’s certainly under enormous pressure to deliver.
Come back next time to see if he can produce a crack shot worthy of AC12, or if it all floats off down the Lagan in a bubble…
Until then, I’m definately Code 11.
