Line of Duty (series 5)

The fifth series of Line of Duty, consisting of six episodes, began broadcasting on 31 March 2019 on BBC One.[1] The series follows the actions of Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) and DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) as they investigate an Organised Crime Group with links to missing undercover officer DS John Corbett (Stephen Graham). Anna Maxwell Martin stars in episodes five and six as DCS Patricia Carmichael. Supporting characters include underboss Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall) and the special counsel to the police and crime commissioner Gill Biggeloe (Polly Walker).

Line of Duty
Series 5
DVD cover
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes6
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release31 March (2019-03-31) –
5 May 2019 (2019-05-05)
Series chronology

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast
  • Maya Sondhi as PC Maneet Bindra
  • Polly Walker as Gill Biggeloe
  • Tony Pitts as DCS Lester Hargreaves
  • Aiysha Hart as DS Sam Railston
  • Patrick FitzSymons as Mark Moffatt
  • Susan Vidler as DSU Alison Powell
  • Ace Bhatti as PCC Rohan Sindwhani
  • Elizabeth Rider as DCC Andrea Wise
  • Sian Reese-Williams as Sergeant Jane Cafferty
  • Richard Pepple as Sergeant Kyle Ferringham
  • Taj Atwal as PC Tatleen Sohota
  • Gregory Piper as Ryan Pilkington
  • Tomi May as Miroslav Minkowicz
  • Tommy Jessop as Terry Boyle
  • Andrea Irvine as Roisin Hastings
  • Maanuv Thiara as Vihaan Malhotra
  • Alastair Natkiel as Lee Banks
  • Laura Elphinstone as DI Michelle Brandyce
  • Natalie Gavin as PS Tina Tranter
  • Rosa Escoda as Amanda Yao
  • Peter De Jersey as Rossport
  • Caroline Koziol as Mariana
  • Richard Sutton as PC Bloom

Episodes
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date [2]UK viewers
(millions) [3]
241"Episode 1"John StricklandJed Mercurio31 March 2019 (2019-03-31)[4]13.20
An organised crime group (OCG) hijacks a police convoy transporting seized drugs and kills three armed officers; AC-12 suspect that undercover police may be involved. Sergeant Jane Cafferty survives the attack, drawing suspicion. PC Maneet Bindra is interviewed by Superintendent Hastings, DS Steve Arnott and DI Kate Fleming, due to her involvement with her cousin, Vihaan Malhotra, in spying on AC-12 and leaking information to the organised crime group for ACC Derek Hilton. In a further attempt to protect Malhotra, she contacts the organised crime group. Corbett accuses her of infiltration and she is killed. AC-12 discover that the undercover officer (UCO) is DS John Corbett and not, as originally assumed, Lisa McQueen.
252"Episode 2"John StricklandJed Mercurio7 April 2019 (2019-04-07)12.43
Lisa McQueen blags her way past a police guard and Cafferty's husband to talk to her in private. Another police leak enables the OCG to carry out a raid led by Corbett on a weapons convoy. Cafferty is found with £5,000 in a brown envelope by Arnott in his attempts to gather information. Corbett convinces him he is "straight". Hastings is approached by Mark Moffatt regarding his failed property investment. Moffatt hands him a big brown envelope. Roisin Hastings insists on their divorce. From photographs, Cafferty identifies who recruited her.
263"Episode 3"John Strickland[5]Jed Mercurio[5]14 April 2019 (2019-04-14)12.59
Arnott tells Fleming and Hastings of his liaison with Corbett. After their initial shock, they agree to continue with Arnott's proposal. AC-12 identify that the organised crime group are involved in sex trafficking at a block of flats. AC-12 raid the flats and the group's front print shop. Corbett tips Arnott off about a larger-scale raid on the Eastfield police depot and states that a corrupt senior police officer will be there. Arnott is drawn away from the raid by a false ‘Status Zero’ call. Corbett shoots the senior police officer, who arrives with tracker information, and is revealed to be DCS Hargreaves. Corbett, on learning of his death, flees. Using false AC-12 ID, he enters Roisin Hastings's flat.
274"Episode 4"John Strickland[6]Jed Mercurio[6]21 April 2019 (2019-04-21)12.34
AC-12 discover that Corbett has links to Northern Ireland. Arnott arranges to meet Corbett, backed up by armed officers. Corbett tells Arnott that he had attacked Hastings's wife Roisin who is now in hospital. Hastings orders Arnott via his wire to shoot Corbett, but he refuses. Corbett reveals the location of a meeting between the OCG and "H" and then escapes. AC-12 and the Cybercrime unit impersonate "H" and make contact with the OCG via a laptop. The OCG transport a group of women to their base to be trafficked. Corbett wants to free the women and thinks that McQueen will support him in this. However, the OCG kill Corbett as they realise that he is the rat.
285"Episode 5"Sue Tully[7]Jed Mercurio[7]28 April 2019 (2019-04-28)12.91
The OCG dump the bodies of Corbett and Jackie Laverty which are later found by police. AC-12's investigation into Operation Pear Tree is suspended. Hastings continues to make contact with the OCG. He persuades McQueen and Miroslav Minkowicz that he can handle the goods from the raid, until armed officers catch up with Hastings. Minkowicz is killed and McQueen is arrested. AC-12 discover that Hastings visited Lee Banks in prison, leading Fleming to raise concerns with senior officers. Hastings is suspended and investigated by DCS Patricia Carmichael, and is subsequently charged with conspiracy to murder Corbett.
296"Episode 6"Sue Tully[7]Jed Mercurio[7]5 May 2019 (2019-05-05)13.67

Carmichael and her team continue to interview Hastings. They question him about the £50,000 in banknotes they found in his hotel room. Gill Biggeloe, who sits in on the interview, identifies errors in the police search procedure of Hastings's hotel room. This leads Carmichael's team to interrogate Hastings's communications data for further evidence. Meanwhile, Fleming and Arnott revisit Corbett's widow and DSU Powell. They discover that Biggeloe was involved in selecting Corbett for Operation Pear Tree, and specifically identified Hastings as someone to pursue. Fleming and Arnott present their findings to Hastings. Biggeloe was recruited by the OCG while she was working as a defence solicitor. She texts the OCG for her escape but to no avail. One of Carmichael's team, PS Tina Tranter, attempts to stab Biggeloe but is shot by Arnott.

The epilogue reveals that Operation Pear Tree is now officially closed. Fleming received a commendation for her investigation into Pear Tree. Arnott was commended alongside her after an independent panel cleared him in shooting Tranter. McQueen received immunity in exchange for providing information about the OCG, and now volunteers as a youth worker. Ryan Pilkington is now a student police officer. Biggeloe received immunity and a new identity. Hastings received a final written warning, but continues to lead AC-12. Moffatt, standing trial, claims that the £50,000 found in Hastings's hotel room is only half of the sum that was handed to him. The remaining £50,000 is never found, but Hastings is seen approaching Corbett's widow with an envelope.

Reception

Despite less positive reviews than the previous series, series 5 was still ranked highly among critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes holds an approval rating for series 5 at 90%, with an average rating of 8.40/10, based on 29 reviews.[8] The website's critics consensus reads: “Line of Duty's sterling ensemble all maintain a stiff upper lip, but audiences' limbs will be quavering throughout this tense fifth season that dives deep into moral murk.” On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the series has a score of 88 out of 100 based on 5 critics.[9]

Radio Times drama editor Eleanor Bley Griffiths wrote: "With epic interrogation scenes, surprise betrayals, grisly murders, untold secrets, massive twists... "[10] Pat Stacey of The Irish Independent wrote: "Episode by episode, the plot is thickening, like soup that's been left sitting on a hot stove for too long."[11] Rachel Cooke of the New Statesman was less complimentary in her review, suggesting that Mercurio struggled to give the audience a logical resolution – leading her to call series five “Jed Mercurio’s ropiest bit of work ever sent our way.”[12] Brian Donaldson of The List had solid praise for the actors, but felt the series's plot was somewhat vague; he was critical of the script, stating: “The writing leaves many of them discussing the gravest of matters as though they're reading the contents on the back of a shampoo sachet.”[13]

Ratings

Series 5 saw a major increase in viewing ratings from previous series. By the May 2019 series finale, it was the BBC’s most watched programme of year.[14] The show was reported to have had an average peak of 12.34 to 13.67 million viewers per episode.[15][16]

References
  1. "List of Line BBC1 air date time and cast".
  2. "Line of Duty – Listings". Next Episode. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. "Four-screen dashboard BARB". Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  4. "Line of Duty – BBC Series 5". BBC. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  5. "BBC One – Line of Duty, Series 5, Episode 3". BBC. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  6. "BBC One – Line of Duty, Series 5, Episode 4". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  7. "BBC One – Line of Duty, Series 5, Episode 5". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  8. "LINE OF DUTY: SERIES 05 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  9. "Line Of Duty: Season 5". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  10. "Line of Duty spoiler-free review: a triumphant return – with a menacing new villain and plenty of twists and turns". Radio Times. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. Stacey, Pat (15 April 2019). "Line of Duty review: 'The plot is thickening, like soup that's been left sitting on a hot stove for too long'". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  12. "The finale proves it – Line of Duty has gone from gripping to preposterous". NewStatesman. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  13. "TV review: Line of Duty Series 5, BBC One". The List. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  14. "Line of Duty season finale is UK's most watched TV show of 2019". The Guardian. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  15. "Line of Duty finale draws biggest audience of 2019 so far". BBC News. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  16. "TV Ratings". The Guardian. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
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