Line of Duty
Series 4
DVD cover
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes6
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release26 March (2017-03-26) –
30 April 2017 (2017-04-30)
Series chronology

The fourth series of Line of Duty, consisting of six episodes, began broadcasting on 26 March 2017 on BBC One. The series follows Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and DS Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure) as they investigate the corrupt actions of DCI Roseanne Huntley (Thandiwe Newton). Supporting characters include Forensic Investigator Tim Ifield (Jason Watkins), DS Sam Railston (Aiysha Hart) and DC Jodie Taylor (Claudia Jessie).[1][2][3]

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [4]
181"Episode 1"Jed Mercurio26 March 2017 (2017-03-26)9.21
DCI Roseanne "Roz" Huntley identifies and captures a suspected serial killer after she rescues a victim, Hana Reznikova, before she is murdered by being immobilized in a burning building. The suspect is uncooperative under questioning and appears not to have an alibi. After months of fruitless investigation, ACC Derek Hilton puts pressure on DCI Huntley to charge the suspect. FC Tim Ifield informs DCI Huntley of concerns he has relating to the forensic evidence, which he believes proves the suspect's innocence, but DCI Huntley seems uninterested. Ifield alerts AC-12 to a possible miscarriage of justice. He tells DS Steve Arnott that he believes DCI Huntley is deliberately ignoring forensic evidence which proves the suspect's innocence. Ifield explains the forensics suggest someone has manipulated the crime scene in an attempt to frame the suspect. With the authorisation of Superintendent Ted Hastings, DS Kate Fleming goes undercover to investigate DCI Huntley, and also interviews the suspect. Arnott informs DCI Huntley that AC-12 are investigating. Ifield runs into Reznikova at a cafe where she works, and arranges for her to come to his flat to discuss engaging her as a cleaner. DCI Huntley suspects Ifield and turns up at his house at night, where she accuses Ifield of talking to AC-12. Ifield admits this, and a row breaks out over the guilt of the suspect. DCI Huntley causes Ifield to burn his hand and he slaps her. When she accuses him of assault, he pushes DCI Huntley who hits her head, appearing fatal. Fearing the worst, Ifield departs to a hardware store, purchasing cutting tools in order to dispose of the body. While he's preparing to carve DCI Huntley's head, she wakes up.
192"Episode 2"Jed Mercurio2 April 2017 (2017-04-02)9.04
When interviewed by Fleming, Michael Farmer, the alleged serial killer, correctly gives the name of the hospital he was in when Leonie Collersdale, the second murder victim, was killed, throwing further doubt on his guilt. DCI Huntley fails to report for duty. A dismembered female body is discovered, identified as Collersdale's. When she reappears, Huntley brushes off her absence, saying she had a bug. Hilton tells Huntley that Hastings is going to serve her with a Regulation 15 notice. AC-12 interviews Huntley and throws doubt on forensic evidence concerning the attack on Hana Reznikova, which Huntley alleges is by Farmer, and says Huntley failed to present any contrary evidence to the Crown Prosecutor. Hastings says he will be recommending she be taken off the case. Huntley is later shown examining Ifield's laptop in her car. Ifield is missing; Arnott goes to his flat, breaks in and finds his body. Three fingers have been amputated. Huntley arrives and takes charge of the crime scene, despite Arnott's protests. Inside, she notices the blood spatter on the edge of the kitchen counter, which is hers. She hears the sample being labelled KRG-13, but mistakenly notes it as KRG-30. Huntley obtains a sample of Ifield's blood from her car, labelling it KRG-30. Managing to gain access to the forensic samples, she cannot find KRG-30, but realises her error and over-writes her sample bag as KRG-13. Ifield's mobile phone records are investigated, and communications with Reznikova are found. Arnott learns from forensics that Ifield was probably wearing a white forensic oversuit at the time of death. Summarising the evidence, he implies to Hastings that Huntley is Ifield's killer. Huntley takes a further sample of Ifield's blood and inserts it into forensic submissions for Collersdale's murder, implicating him. She requests further forensic tests; forensics find the match to Ifield. Fleming passes the Inspector's exam. Hastings informally indicates to Fleming that he has decided on Arnott for promotion. Huntley tells Hilton that, if AC-12's informant was Ifield, the evidence against him undermines his evidence and therefore undermines the case against her. She tells him she's convinced Ifield's murder and Farmer's crimes are connected.
203"Episode 3"John Strickland9 April 2017 (2017-04-09)9.05
Huntley continually shuts Fleming out of meetings. The officers try to find links between Ifield and Farmer. In order to gain access to information from the investigation, AC-12 seize evidence forcibly, since Fleming is unable to gain access undercover. A security camera shot of Ifield in the balaclava mask and purchasing the cutting tools found at his flat does not convince Arnott that Ifield is 'Balaclava Man'. His requests to Hastings to open a second investigation are authorised. Arnott theorises Huntley was the one to kill Ifield after her phone history proves suspicious. DC Taylor notices Fleming checking the forensics (that Huntley had swapped) and reports back to Huntley. Reznikova is discovered to be a prostitute and admits having slept with Ifield. Arnott begins questioning Huntley's husband, Nick Huntley, regarding her whereabouts on the night Ifield died, but he refuses to confirm or deny his wife's alibi. DC Desford is assigned to assist Arnott with the investigation. Having heard no response from Nick, Arnott returns to his office to question him and misses various voice messages from AC-12 warning him Nick could be dangerous, as his car was identified both approaching and departing from the area near Ifield's flat on the night of his murder. On the way up in the lift, Arnott is attacked by a man in a balaclava, hit in the face with a baseball bat and thrown down the stairs on the third floor.
214"Episode 4"John Strickland16 April 2017 (2017-04-16)9.60
After the attack on Arnott, Huntley picks up her husband from his office and advises him to go inside away from CCTV and ask security to look for Arnott. Arnott is found to be badly injured, but alive. Nick Huntley is interviewed by Hastings and Desford. He says it was a coincidence that only he knew Arnott was to be at his office building when he fell down three flights of stairs. He did not explain why his car was seen near Ifield's flat when Ifield was murdered. Nick said his wife was asleep in the spare room that night. Nick's solicitor, Jimmy Lakewell, says that with no evidence or CCTV, Nick should be free to go. AC-12 find a CCTV image of a man in a balaclava by Nick's offices at the time of the attack on Arnott. In her car, Nick and Huntley argue, Nick stating he had seen her going into Ifield's flat that night. Huntley says she was having an affair. Quizzed by Hastings in hospital, Arnott is unable to identify his attacker. At a meeting in his club, Huntley appeals to Hilton to help her by making an official complaint against AC-12 and closing the case against Farmer. Hilton says there are some things he could tell Huntley to help her with AC-12. Despite her friendliness, she rejects his advances, but suggests they meet again. Huntley and Fleming talk with Kevin Gill, the forensics officer: KRG. Huntley's wrist injury is now worse; she has it examined by a doctor, who takes a swab. Huntley and her husband argue again, at home. He says he cannot believe anything she says any more and he knows she was in the flats where the murder happened. She slaps him, twice; he breaks down. AC-12 finds an anomaly in the second forensic examination of KRG-13, the blood-spatters sample with the overwritten label: traces of white fibres from a forensic oversuit. Huntley is interviewed by AC-12. After running through evidence, Hastings says he will be recommending she be suspended from duty immediately. Huntley then accuses Hastings of sexism. She has identified Fleming as an undercover AC-12 officer in her team. Huntley asks Hastings whether he is a Mason. All through this altercation, Hastings is asking her where she is getting this information. She suggests Fleming was induced to tamper with evidence concerning Ifield's murder, accuses Hastings of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the case against her, and brandishes a supporting letter from Hilton, recusing AC-12 from their inquiry. Hilton and Huntley meet again at his club, but Huntley again rejects him, saying she loves her husband. Afterwards, PC Maneet Bindra is seen handing a file to Hilton. After getting home, Huntley tells her husband he is no longer a suspect.
225"Episode 5"John Strickland23 April 2017 (2017-04-23)9.98

Hastings accuses Hilton of a wilful effort to bury allegations of wrongdoing. Hilton denies this and demands a copy of the recording of DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan's dying declaration. Hastings declines, claiming no reciprocity. At a team briefing, DS Twyler reports biometrics suggest the 'Balaclava Man' who attacked Arnott and the 'Balaclava Man' seen in the area of Collersdale's murder are the same man. Huntley says maybe, but Farmer may change his plea to guilty. Twyler has doubts and tells a colleague that Huntley is keen to pin Ifield's murder on Reznikova. Fleming tells Hastings the leak of her cover is likely to have been from within AC-12. More female body parts are discovered: they are more of Collersdale. Arnott arrives at the office in a wheelchair, returning to work despite his limited mobility. He says Huntley cannot be allowed to mislead the investigation and Hilton said nothing about AC-12 not investigating Ifield's murder. He suggests looking at Nick Huntley's alibi, to which Bindra finds it does not clear him. Bindra asks Desford for his username and password, claiming they are being changed, but uses them to enter the police system and download the recording of Cottan's dying declaration, which she passes to Hilton. Bindra then asks to take early pregnancy leave.

Fleming notes the sensitive information access and tells Hastings, who reprimands Desford. Desford says he is being scapegoated, requests a transfer and leaves the office. Arnott visits Farmer in prison, suggesting a change of solicitor; Farmer says he liked the one he had before. Arnott brings Farmer's Nan to the prison to try to prevent him from changing his plea; she succeeds. Arnott tells Fleming the framing of Farmer could not have been random and finds that Farmer's earlier solicitor was Lakewell. Arnott and Fleming visit Lakewell, but get nowhere. Huntley's wrist is beginning to stink; the doctor who took the swab tries to contact her. At home, she faints after taking off the dressing. Nick meets Lakewell, saying Huntley is lying and has a wound which dates from the night of Ifield's murder; he believes she murdered Ifield. Lakewell floats the idea of a voluntary interview and immunity. FC Rupal Pandit reveals proof the latest remains had been frozen and were buried after both Farmer's incarceration and Ifield's murder, and suggests a team briefing to Huntley. Pandit goes to the team office for the briefing, but no-one has been made aware of the information. Twyler, who hears this, meets Fleming and, stressing anonymity, relays the information. This triggers Arnott's memory: Jackie Laverty's body was buried after being kept in deep freeze and men in balaclava masks with baseball bats were involved. He suggests the Laverty case, which is unsolved, be re-opened, giving them the chance to examine the latest forensics. Huntley is in hospital. Her husband explains to her that her hand had to be amputated to save her life.

With the new forensic evidence, Arnott finds the blood sample of Ifield (relating to Leonie Collersdale's murder) was contaminated with white forensic oversuit fibres, just as the blood spatter on the kitchen counter had been; so both were falsified. He says he believes Huntley has been protecting her husband. Hastings says "to hell with ACC Hilton" and instructs Fleming to go and pick up the Huntleys, but DCI Huntley has discharged herself from hospital. Taylor picks Huntley up and tells her Lakewell has requested a voluntary interview with independent detectives about Ifield's murder, seeking immunity. Huntley meets her husband at home. She says they are getting a divorce and accuses him of amputating her hand in retribution for her having an affair. He says it was all her lies and she had MRSA in her wound. She arrests him for Ifield's murder. Once he has been taken away, Huntley reaches for the holdall she had kept with contaminated items from the scene of Ifield's murder and runs his hairbrush over one of her husband's jumpers.

Hastings, Arnott and Fleming visit Hilton. Arnott and Fleming explain evidence was planted in order to falsely implicate Ifield in Collersdale's murder and that Ifield had uncovered a conspiracy to frame Farmer for the murders. Hastings says he would like to arrest DCI Huntley on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Hilton brushes this aside and reminds them AC-12 is recused, and that these are DCI Huntley's cases. Hastings says they came across this as a result of looking again into the disappearance of Laverty. Hilton looks disturbed by this revelation, then praises their work, but again calls for their files to be handed over to an impartial authority. Hilton tells Arnott and Fleming to leave and plays Hastings the recording of Cottan's dying declaration in which it is revealed that the top corrupt official who promoted Cottan had a name beginning with "H". Hilton tells Hastings, referring to him as "H", that he will be served with a Regulation 15 notice. Fleming drives Arnott home, discovering he is unable to look after himself. He confesses to Fleming he may never walk again; she consoles him. Before he is interviewed, Nick Huntley again tells his solicitor that DCI Huntley is lying about everything.
236"Episode 6"John Strickland30 April 2017 (2017-04-30)10.40

Nick Huntley is interviewed regarding his movements on the night of Ifield's murder. AC-12 realise it is consistent with the few CCTV recordings and witness testimonies they have, but struggle to find any evidence to implicate DCI Huntley. Desford is transferred to Hilton's team and is in conflict with AC-12. DCI Huntley leads them to her husband's jumper, which allows Polk Avenue to formally charge him with Ifield's murder, as well as the previous crimes attributed to 'Balaclava Man'. Nick Huntley asks Lakewell to get AC-12 involved, but he does not. DCI Huntley asks Taylor to secretly analyse some telecoms. Arnott realises Ifield's killer stole a tracksuit, because his or her clothes would have been covered in blood, and then would have changed clothes again when they got home before hiding both. They narrow their search to a three-hour window shortly before Ifield's body is found, and are able to spot DCI Huntley driving towards a large woodland area. They discover the MRSA that infected DCI Huntley's wound is likely to be traceable to Ifield. Arnott works out that the time taken for DCI Huntley to drive to and from the area would have only given her a few minutes to hide the evidence. They find that she had previously led a search of the area and that she had hidden her own incriminating evidence in the same place.

DCI Huntley is subsequently arrested for Ifield's murder and requests Lakewell as her solicitor. After being interrogated and facing damning evidence against her, DCI Huntley admits to Ifield's accidental death in self-defence and to framing her husband. Just as the interview appears to be concluding, DCI Huntley arrests Lakewell for perverting the course of justice. It is revealed that Lakewell, whom Nick Huntley rang as Arnott was approaching his office, used a burner phone to tip off Hilton, who then contacted the man who attacked Arnott. The burner phone was also used by the man who kidnapped Hana, planted the evidence in the house of Michael Farmer, and attacked Arnott. Lakewell had attempted to frame Farmer, on the orders of the people running a scheme to get vulnerable police staff to manipulate evidence so that they can be pressured later. DCI Huntley proves Hilton's involvement through the number he gave her while attempting to seduce her. Hastings and Fleming head to Hilton's office, but Desford has tipped him off, and he has left by the time they arrive. Desford attempts to leave with Lakewell, but Arnott and DCI Huntley stop him, saying he has probably been set up to be murdered. Hastings and Fleming return but one of the balaclava men (Lakewell admits there are many) holds a security guard at gunpoint. Hastings promptly shoots him. When they get upstairs, Desford has pulled a gun on Arnott. However, Huntley is able to persuade him to surrender it. Hilton is found dead the next day, his death is ruled a suicide, but took place at the same location as a murder relating to the Sands View child molestation ring. Hastings, seemingly no closer to untangling the bigger conspiracy, admits he thinks this has become a lifetime's job. The biometric data of the dead balaclava man is revealed to match the data from photographs and footprint of the balaclava suspect.

The epilogue reveals DCI Huntley was sentenced to ten years for Ifield's manslaughter and the subsequent cover-up. She and Nick remain married. Lakewell pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, but declined witness protection and refused to testify. Farmer was released without charge, and the Regulation 15 order against Hastings was dropped. Hastings remains in charge of AC-12.

Reception

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes holds an approval rating for series 4 at 100% based on 15 reviews.[5] The website's critics consensus reads: "Line of Duty's gripping fourth season is an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride from start to finish."

Louise Wise of the Sunday Times wrote "Line of Duty is animated by a sharp intelligence in both the plotting and the writing."[6] John Boland of the Irish Independent wrote "Line of Duty (BBC1) came to a nail-bitingly exciting end, or rather to three nail-bitingly exciting ends, two of them unforeseeable by even the most imaginative of viewers."[7] David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun particularly praised the performance of Adrian Dunbar, stating "what I love is the great moral center to the series provided by Hastings, a quirky, sometimes cranky, hard to love, but easy to admire leader of this beleaguered anti-corruption team."[8]

Ratings

Series 4 saw a notable increase in viewing ratings from previous series, securing its largest audience as of 2017.[9] On average viewing ratings of around nine million were achieved for the show’s first five episodes, with the series' finale achieving 10.4 million, the highest rating the show had achieved as of 2017.[4][9]

Home entertainment releases

Online

BBC Store releases for Line of Duty

Name Release date
Line of Duty, Series Four 2017

References

  1. ↑ "BBC Two celebrates 50th birthday with ambitious new commissions". BBC Television. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "BBC Two announces Jed Mercurio's Line Of Duty commissioned for further two series". BBC Television. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Lazarus, Susanna (6 May 2016). "Line of Duty to move to BBC1 for two more series". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 "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)
  5. ↑ "LINE OF DUTY: SEASON 4 (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. ↑ "Television review: A perky tale of woman's bondage". Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "Thirteen reasons why controversial Netflix series scores for teens". Irish Independent. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "LINE OF DUTY: SEASON 4 REVIEWS". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Line of Duty season four finale cops 7.5 million viewers". The Guardian. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
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