Anandi Shah
It was the most anticipated final episode in TV history, with viewers tuning in finally learn the identity of ‘H’. So why did it fail to hit the mark?
20:59. T-minus one minute until the start of the last episode of what was to become the most-watched TV drama in the 21st century.
On Sunday 2nd May 2021, approximately 15.24 million people in the UK eagerly sat down to watch the series finale. Die-hard fans of the show, such as yours truly, surely switched off phones and landlines for what was probably the most important hour of our lives.
The build-up to the hotly awaited episode was intensely palpable and for almost two years now – production was halted and postponed last year due to Covid-19 – fans across the country have waited patiently to find out the identity of the mysterious ‘H’ or ‘Fourth Man/Woman’, the unknown individual pulling the strings of police corruption and its links to organised crime.
Fan theories
“At 21:33, 15.24 million people sat on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the screen to find out perhaps the best-kept secret in TV drama history.”
Theories in the form of numerous tweets, posts, memes, GIFs and newspaper articles were circulating furiously since the show returned to our screens on 21st March, the most common suspect being the paradoxical man of integrity, Superintendent Hastings himself, played by Adrian Dunbar.
Other theories posited that Patricia Carmichael, played by the skilful Anna Maxwell Martin, the domineering interim leader who seemed to foil the progression of Operation Lighthouse – the operation established to locate ‘H’ and bring down police corruption – was the Fourth Woman.
Chief Constable Philip Osborne’s name was thrown into the hat – being one of the few investigating the controversial death of Lawrence Christopher and linked to corrupt former DCI Marcus Thurwell and who intervened to prevent Tommy Hunter’s son Darren – Tommy, being the senior figure operating a clandestine organised crime syndicate from being convicted as one of Lawrence Christopher’s killers.
There was even a cryptic insinuation put forward by none other than Vicky McClure’s (DI Kate Fleming) mother who hilariously suggested that H was Kate…
Alas, it seems that the entire Line of Duty fandom was wrong!
This was it. It was now or never. At 21:33, 15.24 million people sat on the edge of their seats, eyes glued to the screen to find out perhaps the best-kept secret in TV drama history.
In the interview room, the DIR monotone plays, prolonging this crucial, nail-biting moment as Steve, Kate and Hastings face their cryptic interviewee.
Steve introduces the three persons conducting the interview for the DIR and the camera finally cuts to the person whose identity we have painstakingly waited to find out for 9 years.
Drumroll please…
STEVE: Ian Buckells, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used in evidence.
Wait, what?
Ian Buckells, the hapless, bumbling detective superintendent who has only appeared here and there throughout three series is unmasked as ‘The Fourth Man’.
‘Mother of God!’
Many viewers were left underwhelmed with this revelation, with many posts and tweets showcasing GIFs and memes expressing national disappointment.
A disappointing twist
“It can’t simply finish with Buckells”
Despite drawing overall viewing figures of 15.24 million – cementing its place as the most-watched TV drama in the 21st century and with its special ‘Obsessed with…’ podcast on BBC Sounds, why was the finale ‘definately’ not a hit?
One dissatisfied fan tweeted: ‘Can’t believe I watched six seasons of line of Duty (sic) for Ian Buckells, the most pointless character to be the fourth man. Fuming!’
Another fan insinuated that the buck could not stop with Ian Buckells saying that they were: ‘Expecting a bit more drama and excitement for the final. It can’t simply finish with Buckells.’
It seems that a number of fans are convinced that Buckells is a misdirection and a small cog in the wheel and that the real ‘H’ is yet to be identified.
The show’s writer, Jed Mercurio however, defended the episode, stating that clues were given that Ian Buckells was ‘The Fourth Man’ back in Series One in 2012, saying that it was important that ‘H’ was someone who was there from the very beginning. So here’s a breakdown of the all-important clues:
- Buckells allowed Dot Cottan (known as The Caddy and one of the Bent Four who controlled police corruption to speak with Tommy Hunter alone in the back of a police van.
- He was assigned SIO in the case of Jackie Laverty’s disappearance.
- In 2017, in Series Four, Buckells hinted at his vendetta against AC-12 and said: ‘You lot treat everyone like mugs. Who’s the mug now?’ (A word he used in the finale: ‘I’m only the one who’s made total mugs out of you lot!’)
- Nigel Boyle, who has portrayed the nefarious character, warned that Buckells was ‘one to watch’.
- He has occasionally misspelt THAT word: ‘definately’.
Because, apparently all of that just screams a malicious person pulling the strings of a wide-reaching criminal network that has caused huge suffering and perverted the course of justice.
A feeling of disbelief
This deceptively dim-witted character turning out to be a criminal mastermind should have been reminiscent of a classic Agatha Christie twist, but it only left a feeling of disbelief.
Nonetheless, there have been positive reviews with the Telegraph contending that this reveal was ‘Mercurio’s political statement’, in that corruption does not merely extend to one individual. It is due to a collective of depraved individuals turning a blind eye, using nepotism, covering up and not biting the hand that feeds them.
Well, if that were his overall message, why then has the notion that four key individuals were at the head of police corruption been constantly perpetuated for the last six series and last nine years?
The elusive villain
“There is a thrill in knowing that following a single episode’s conclusion; there will always be an elusive figure lurking in the shadows, whose identity is to be revealed at the end.”
Because, for the last nine years, viewers have been drawn to this very notion of a running unknown adversary, the same reason Sherlock Holmes’s Moriarty (albeit a known entity) has remained a popular villain to this day. Younger viewers will recall the popularity of the TV series, Pretty Little Liars (all episodes on BBC iPlayer), whose running antagonist, this time codenamed ‘A’ was part of the reason it drew high viewership figures.
There is a thrill in knowing that following a single episode’s conclusion; there will always be an elusive figure lurking in the shadows, whose identity is to be revealed at the end.
Perhaps Buckells would have made an apt ‘H’ if he hadn’t already been arrested for perverting the course of justice, as that removed part of the element of surprise.
Or perhaps ‘H’ should have been someone higher up the ranks. If Mercurio were indeed relying on a twist, maybe PCC Sindwhani, whose loyalties have been dubious over the years, but who also encouraged Hastings to keep going after he received notice of his forced retirement should have been revealed as the mastermind in a shocking turn.
If, as the BBC tag-lined in its promos of the episode, ‘everything has led to this’, then indeed, there is something missing and Mercurio runs the risk of not being taken seriously again if there were no Series 7 to wrap this up.
The BBC has even recently been forced to defend the episode after a number of complaints were made.
In this case, maybe Buckells seemed a bit too inept to have been the ‘Fourth Man’. It almost beggars belief he never said in the interview: ‘And I would have got away with it, if it weren’t for you meddling AC-12’!
Featured image courtesy of Parker Coffman on Unsplash. No changes were made to the image. Image license can be found here.
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