Line of Duty
Series 2
DVD cover
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes6
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release12 February (2014-02-12) –
19 March 2014 (2014-03-19)
Series chronology

The second series of Line of Duty, consisting of six episodes, premiered on 12 February 2014 on BBC Two. The series follows Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and DC Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) as they lead an investigation into the corrupt actions of DI Lindsay Denton (Keeley Hawes). Additional characters include DI Matthew Cottan (Craig Parkinson) and DC Nigel Morton (Neil Morrissey). Beginning with this series, Dunbar and Parkinson are credited as main cast members in the opening credits.

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [1]
61"Episode 1"Douglas Mackinnon12 February 2014 (2014-02-12)2.74

A police convoy escorting a civilian under a witness protection scheme is attacked. The witness is hospitalised and all police officers are killed – with the exception of Detective Inspector Lindsay Denton, who organised the operation, and only informed DCC Mike Dryden. Superintendent Ted Hastings asks DS Steve Arnott and DC Kate Fleming to investigate Denton, but Fleming asks not to take part. She explains that she trained together with DS Jayne Akers, one of the dead officers, but she does not disclose that she has also been having an affair with Akers' husband, Richard. She is replaced on the case by DC Georgia Trotman, an ambitious but less-experienced officer, who is troubled that the team are treating Denton as a suspect and delving into her finances. However, she and Arnott quickly grow close and begin a sexual relationship, while Hastings tries to keep up appearances with his estranged wife. Denton, shunned by her fellow officers, is transferred to a missing persons unit and Fleming, undercover once again, becomes her assistant.

In a parallel sub-plot, Denton has a dispute with her alcoholic neighbour. One evening Denton snaps and strikes her with a wine bottle, which she then wipes down and disposes of. When the neighbour reports the attack, Denton flatly denies it.

Fleming follows Denton to the nursing home where her mother lives and sees Denton ring the hospital where the injured witness is being treated. Trotman and Arnott race to the hospital and confront a man disguised as a nurse. Arnott is knocked unconscious, Trotman is thrown out of a window to her death and the witness is killed.
72"Episode 2"Douglas Mackinnon19 February 2014 (2014-02-19)3.21
Arnott discovers that a nurse on the witness's ward, Claire Tindall, was threatened into giving the killer access by a man she knows as Joe, whom she is unable to identify. Denton begins her work in missing persons with the case of a vanished 15-year old, Carly Kirk. Denton's neighbour's music again disturbs Denton, who tries to reason with her to keep her music lower at night. The neighbour demands £100 to keep quiet, but Denton gives her only £10. Later, Denton finds her neighbour's door open and the woman asleep, while a chip pan is heating up. On reflection, Denton turns the heat off, takes the money and leaves. As they work together, Fleming attempts to gain Denton's confidence, but Denton sees through this, assaults Fleming and steals her phone. Denton is interviewed by AC-12 and claims that she called the hospital to ask that the witness exonerate her, but the team do not believe her and Hastings arrests her for conspiracy. At this point Denton turns the tables and gives evidence, on the record, that Arnott made an unofficial romantic visit to Claire, Hastings has financial problems (something he previously cited as making Denton vulnerable to bribery) and Fleming's mobile phone has an "interesting" call history (alluding to her affair with Richard Akers). Meanwhile, a story surfaces in the press that DCC Dryden took penalty points for his wife when she committed a driving offence.
83"Episode 3"Douglas Mackinnon26 February 2014 (2014-02-26)3.34
Denton is remanded in custody, where she is victimised by both staff and prisoners, having her hands badly burnt and warned not to speak to the authorities. Hastings requests witness protection records from Dryden, allowing AC-12 to discover the identity of the dead witness: Tommy Hunter, the gang leader previously arrested by DCI Tony Gates. Fleming visits Denton, who knows about Fleming's affair with Akers' husband, which Cottan also suspects. Denton's accusations cause friction between Hastings and Arnott. Meanwhile, Dryden's driving offence continues to occupy the press. To draw attention away from himself, Dryden leaks the information that Denton is the officer under investigation. Arnott begins a relationship with DS Nicola Rogerson of Major Violent Crimes, who promises to pass him information. At the site where Denton stole Fleming's phone and blew her cover, Fleming discovers a body, assumed to be that of the missing girl, Kirk. She re-interviews Denton, who claims that Dryden, a married man, had an affair with her and has set her up. Fleming discovers that Dryden and Denton did previously work together, lending some credence to this story. Cottan discovers from forensic accountants that Jayne Akers received a large sum of cash shortly before she died. Arnott visits Denton in prison and says, "I believe you."
94"Episode 4"Daniel Nettheim5 March 2014 (2014-03-05)3.46

Arnott and Fleming persuade Hastings to bring Dryden in for questioning, but find the DCC uncooperative and frosty. AC-12 face a further problem when the Major Violent Crimes team bring in Richard Akers before they can do so, as Arnott mistakenly assumed Rogerson would tell him if they were going to and that Akers was unaware of his wife's corruption and decided he was not a priority. When they do get to interview Akers, he reveals that Jayne kept recordings of Hunter as leverage and stored them at a PO Box. The recordings show Hunter threatening to inform on various parties, including corrupt police officers "from the two-faced bastard right down to The Caddy", unless they ensure his witness protection and immunity are maintained. A recording of Dryden publicly criticising the immunity Hunter and others like him receive suggest he is the corrupt officer in question, and AC-12 begin seeking the identity of 'The Caddy'.

Denton is granted permission to visit her dying mother at her nursing home, but on the return journey, Denton's prison van is run off the road. Fleeing for her life, Denton finds herself confronted by two corrupt police officers, DS Manish Prasad and Trotman's killer, DC Jeremy Cole.
105"Episode 5"Daniel Nettheim12 March 2014 (2014-03-12)3.73
Prasad and Cole torture Denton in a parking garage to find out what she has told investigators, and she reveals only that Dryden set her up. Prasad kills Cole for being "a liability", before Denton manages to escape from her kidnappers. Using the car, she pins Prasad to the wall and forces him to record a confession implicating Dryden before calling Arnott. She escapes on foot and goes to her mother's bedside, where Arnott allows her some quiet time before she is returned to custody. AC-12 find themselves forced to decide where their loyalties lie between Denton and Dryden. With the evidence mounting against the latter, the discovery of pictures showing Dryden and Kirk in a compromising situation is the final nail in the coffin, resulting in Arnott and Fleming finally arresting the DCC. However, when presented with AC-12's evidence, Dryden still strongly maintains he is being set up. Meanwhile, Cottan approaches DC Nigel Morton from his old team. Morton is the officer who sold the story about Dryden's driving offence to the papers, and Cottan blackmails him into falsely saying Cole, the deceased kidnapper, was nicknamed "The Caddy" by fellow officers.
116"Episode 6"Daniel Nettheim19 March 2014 (2014-03-19)4.12

Dryden claims that Denton was at the car park when he was photographed in the car with Carly Kirk. Arnott gets closer to Denton and tells Fleming that he is, as she was earlier, undercover. Arnott finds the pay-off money hidden among the possessions Denton took from her mother's room.

In flashback, events prior to the ambush:
Denton follows Dryden to the reception, where she sees Kirk flirting with him. After talking to her in the ladies' cloakroom, Denton follows Kirk and Dryden to the car park, where she sees Kirk fellate Dryden and sees Hunter assault her after she leaves Dryden's car. Denton uses a colleague's computer to report the assault. She later approaches Hunter but DS Akers intervenes. Akers visits Denton at home to request help in saving Carly Kirk by handing Hunter over to his criminal associates, who fear he will inform on them under witness protection. With a pay-off, and appealing to Denton's desire to protect Kirk, Akers persuades her to assist in the handover, which also involves Cottan. The ambush on the convoy is made possible by a tracker on Denton's vehicle. Akers and Hunter are killed to protect Cottan's identity, and Denton is left alive to take the blame, but moves the tracker to the burning vehicle.

The buried body turns out not to be that of Kirk, who has fled the country. Prasad, who carried out the ambush and kidnapped Denton, gives evidence against her in return for reduced sentencing. Morton and Cottan come to an arrangement whereby Morton does not reveal his knowledge of Cottan's activities and Cottan keeps quiet about Morton selling confidential information to the press. Dryden receives a suspended sentence for perverting the course of justice regarding his wife's speeding ticket and resigns from the police force. Denton is convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and given a life sentence. Cottan is asked to remain in AC-12. Major Violent Crimes continue to investigate who organised Hunter's murder, but no police officers beyond Denton are suspected.

Reception

Series two received even better reviews than its predecessor,[2] and was ranked the best television drama of 2014 by The Observer.[3] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times praised the series as "original and surprising", whilst also citing an improvement on the first season, describing it as "more brutal and thrilling".[4] Sarah Hughes of The Guardian praised the series' finale, stating "Well done to Jed Mercurio and co for a powerful, satisfying and, best of all, believable conclusion that, while quieter than the end to series one, resonated far more."[5]

Awards

Keeley Hawes received a Leading Actress nomination for her role as DI Lindsay Denton at the 2015 British Academy Television Awards.[6]

Home entertainment releases

Online

iTunes releases for Line of Duty

Name Release date Episodes Additional Information
Line of Duty, Series Two 12 February 2014[7] 6
  • The complete second series
  • Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series
  • Rated "Caution" by iTunes
  • High-definition & Standard-definition version

Blinkbox releases for Line of Duty

Name Release date Episodes Additional Information
Line of Duty, Series Two 2014[8] 6
  • The complete second series
  • Ability to buy single episode(s) or whole series
  • Certificate 15
  • High-definition & Standard-definition versions
DVD

DVD releases for Line of Duty

Name Release dates Episodes Additional Information
Region 2
Line of Duty Series 2 24 March 2014[9] 6 The two-disc box set includes all six episodes from series two, with a classification age of 15
Running time: 360 minutes
Blu-ray

Blu-ray releases for Line of Duty

Name Release dates Episodes Additional Information
Region B
Line of Duty: Series 2 25 September 2015[10] 6 The two-disc box set includes all six episodes from series two, with a classification age of 16
Running time: 369 minutes
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

References

  1. ↑ "Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 8 February 2014. (User must select "BBC1" in the Channel field and then select the appropriate year, month and week to retrieve the figure for each episode)
  2. ↑ Hogan, Michael (26 February 2014). "Line of Duty, series two, episode three, BBC Two, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Ferguson, Euan (7 December 2014). "The best British TV Dramas of 2014". The Observer. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  4. ↑ Stanley, Alessandra (1 January 2015). "Cops and Crime Versus Crumpets: Two Shows Reveal Two Britains". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. ↑ Hughes, Sarah (19 March 2014). "Line of Duty recap – season two, episode finale". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Ritman, Alex (8 April 2015). "BAFTA TV Awards: Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Third Nomination for 'Sherlock'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Line of Duty – Series Two (iTunes)". Apple. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Line of Duty – Series 2 (Blinkbox)". Blinkbox Entertainment. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Line of Duty – Series Two [DVD]". BBC Worldwide. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Line of Duty – Series Two [Blu-ray]". BBC Worldwide. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
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