Jed Mercurio is without a doubt one of the most talented television writers of all time. With his most-recent series, Line of Duty, currently running its fifth batch of episodes on BBC One, he's got the nation talking about all sorts of theories in regards to the show's overarching narrative. Whether or not any of them are accurate remains to be seen, but we've picked out our five favourites that seem crazy on first glance, but could turn out to be true...
1. Ted Hastings is 'H'
It may seem a little too obvious at this point, but could Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) have been playing his entire anti-corruption team ever since the show's earliest days? The actions he's taken during Series 5 would certainly point us to believe just that, but then there are those who think the scenes would make it far too obvious, when Line of Duty is renowned for delivering big surprises.
In the past four episodes alone, we've seen Hastings take his laptop to be destroyed after learning Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) had made contact with John Corbett (Stephen Graham); Hastings spell 'definitely' incorrectly, just as 'H' had done in previous chats with Corbett and Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall); seemingly attempt to contact McQueen over the phone in the very first instalment of the year; and receive a huge amount of cash from Mark Moffatt (Patrick FitzSymons) soon after the Eastfield Depot heist.
We know that Hastings has been in financial ruin ever since the series started, back in 2012. With a divorce looming over him, and his life away from work in tatters, could he be doing the unthinkable in a bid to get it all back on track?
2. Lisa McQueen is working undercover for Ted Hastings
At the end of episode four last week, we saw McQueen break down in private following the murder of undercover cop, John Corbett. We've also seen her spare the life of one of the police officers following the ambush in episode one, and feel regret following the murder of Maneet Bindra (Maya Sondhi). These aren't the actions of a cold-blooded criminal; they'd instead be quick to tie up loose ends and show zero emotion throughout.
After seeing Hastings take on the role of 'H' in an undercover online chat with McQueen and Corbett, as well as Hastings' misspelling of 'definitely', some think that this was done purposely so that McQueen knew exactly who she was really speaking to. And, when Hastings said to "end it", McQueen set up Corbett to be flushed out as the rat in the criminal team. Could it be that the two had concluded Corbett was too far gone, following the torture of Hastings' wife, that he had to be eliminated to save McQueen being exposed as another undercover cop?
3. Gill Bigelow is 'H', or at least working for them
There's something about Gill. She's been way too aggressive in her pursual of Hastings, and the majority of fans believe that if she isn't 'H' herself, she's helping the real man or woman set up AC-12's Superintendent. If true, could it be that Gill slept with Hastings so that she could collect a used condom and keep the DNA to blackmail, or indeed frame Hastings in the future?
This series, we've seen Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) learn that semen deposits were being kept by criminals to blackmail those who had visited the brothel, and slept with the trafficked girls, so that they would do the bidding of 'H' and those who work under him/her. If Hastings' semen turns up at the brothel, there's surely only one place it could have come from, save from him actually being a bent copper...
4. 'H' is not a person, but a place
ITV's chat show This Morning threw a spanner into the works this week, when former Undercover Detective, Peter Bleksley sat down with Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, alongside serving Detective Sergeant Marc Cananur, for a chat all about the show. Whilst they said the series was very 'unrealistic', they did have one unique idea surrounding the identity of 'H'.
Bleksley said: "Is it ('H') a person or a place? Cast your mind back to the flats where people were being held, do you remember one was Flat B?"
This is certainly possible, and some say that 'H' may be caught into all of the Northern Ireland dramas that have been explored this series. In the country, there's a prison called HM Prison Hydebank Wood, for women and young offenders. Is there somebody behind the bars at that very prison, pulling the strings to get one over on Hastings, for a job that went wrong during his time serving in Northern Ireland?
5. Kate Fleming is 'H'
The craziest theory to-date, but one that certainly would shock the nation if it turned out to be true. Kate has been one of the cleanest cops Line of Duty has ever seen, but has she been pulling the wool over all of our eyes? She's not in anybody's sights as being 'H', and so if she is the one pulling the strings, she's doing a fantastic job of it.
As the person to record The Caddy's (Craig Parkinson) dying declaration, she had the opportunity to manipulate what she heard him say. As the codename 'H' came from this moment, could it all have been created by her to point any suspicion in other directions?
In a previous series, we also saw her request to open an undercover operation against Hastings, going to a female superior so that she knew the information wouldn't be fed back to a member of the Masons. We never saw this undercover op come to a close, so was this another move by Kate to shift the glare of superior spotlight to her boss?
If Kate isn't one of the good guys, we're not sure who is!
Line of Duty continues Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
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