.png)
BBC's much-loved police procedural Line of Duty is coming back. (Hooray!) What's more, it might just make up for that disappointing season 6 ending.
The show, which first premiered back in 2012, follows DS Steve Arnott who works with a unit dedicated to rooting out police corruption. According to a new press release, the upcoming season will “reopen” what we all previously thought to be a closed case – namely, the identity of “H.” Apparently, just when we thought we'd all put that long-running mystery to bed, it seems that the “H” can of worms is coming back – and considering just how unhappy some fans were about the season 6 finale, this can only be a good thing!
Jack Thorne has done it again.
What is the controversial plot line that's coming back?
Yes, the whole “H” of it all is back, people.
Season 6 was filled with Easter eggs about the mysterious “H," from the “H” in Steph Corbett's kitchen to the graffiti “H” in a tunnel. It all started to feel a bit Taylor Swift.
Finally, we got our answer – and for many, it was a disappointing one. In the season 6 finale, it was revealed Nigel Boyle’s DSI Ian Buckells was “H" all this time. And let's just say, fans were a little bummed.
X content
X content
Apparently, the fans who couldn't believe that Buckells was really “H” were onto something. “Yes! He’s not ‘H’," actor Adrian Dunbar, aka Superintendent Ted Hastings, told Radio Times in 2022. "We just got the guy we could actually pin a charge on. We didn’t get ‘H’, we got Buckells, the patsy."
He added, "There’s a scene when we look at each other and think: ‘Really? This t**t?’ He’s a distraction.”
Ok, so if Buckells isn't “H” after all, who is? It seems like season 7 will be reopening that can of worms all of over again.
“There was genuine anger about the way series six ended and that was part of the reason that a seventh outing was ordered," a source told The Sun. “But this is the first time that there’s been any news on whether they’ll bring back the ‘H’ storyline — and devotees will be thrilled to hear [series creator] Jed [Mercurio] will be giving them just what they want."
So, get out your spyglasses, because we are going Easter egg hunting one more time.
From New Order to Prodigy: Here's all the music from the latest season of the hit BBC show.
What will Line of Duty season 7 be about?
Ok, so “H” is still on the loose. But what else can we look forward to in season 7?
Well, apparently, we'll still be getting a new villain as has become customary for the show. “There is still likely to be a new villain introduced into the new season, just as there has been with every series since the show was launched," the source told The Sun. “But the incoming baddie’s storyline is likely to be intertwined with that of ‘H’ in a sensational double-whammy.”
According to the latest BBC press release, that baddie will be Detective Inspector Dominic Gough, “a charismatic officer winning plaudits for a string of takedowns of organised crime, is accused of abusing his position of trust to act as a sexual predator.” The press release goes on: "But is Gough’s case a deliberate distraction from a bigger threat still operating in the shadows?”
