Mother of God, have we not got a Line of Duty thread??

[E10 Rifle]

As an aside, I like Call the Midwife. It has better politics than practically every other primetime show on telly

[DCI Harry Batt]

I liked that den of geek review dd posted. And also this one from the often excellent Stavvers: https://anotherangrywoman.com/2021/0...he-fourth-man/

[DCI Harry Batt]

Also, the telling of the Lawrence Christopher (Stephen Lawrence / Christopher Alder) story made me cry.

[caja-dglh]

A Christmas special? It's Line of Duty not Call the Fucking Midwife.

They are one and the same - big ticket shows that draw numbers.

They done you up like a kipper.

[Sean of the Shed]

They are one and the same - big ticket shows that draw numbers.

They done you up like a kipper.

Well if you break it down in such simplistic terms then yes, but that's like saying One Direction and Idles are both bands or Manchester United and Lewes FC are both football clubs. Or Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg are both human beings.

[Benjm]

Here's the old Line of Duty thread, for interest.

https://www.onetouchfootball.com/for...9-line-of-duty

[MsD]

I think people wanted a Big Ending, but they did that with the Dot Cotton finale, and people moaned that it was unrealistic. This one was slightly disappointing but as others said, more realistic and I think ultimately more powerful (as far as a TV drama can be) for it. If it makes people think more about corruption and the sort of policing they want, even a little bit, that's a good thing; and in pure entertainment terms, I think it will stay in the memory a bit longer. It was satisfying for me in the way it tied up some of the loose ends.

Do OCG really have that sort of paramilitary manpower and command that level of silence? Why would anyone want to be part of an OCG like that, why would you not rat on them and then get the hell out of dodge? Did Ryan Pilkington have more of a life in his 23 years than he would have if he'd been law-abiding (he had more excitement, but must have been in fear much of the time)? The fact that we can think about things like that show that it wasn't just your average drama.

I rewatched Series 1 recently as I'd forgotten it. The horrible death of the dog really upset me - I looked online for a picture of the dog actor, hoping to see him happily chasing a ball of the set of his latest movie, but couldn't find anything. I know they're not allowed to harm animals for BBC primetime drama but it still really disturbed me.

[MsD]

Also, credit to the show for highlighting Mate Crime, the abuse of vulnerable people by people pretending to be their friends and protectors.

[pebblethefish]

I did find out at the weekend that "Dot" Cottan's character was initially going to be called "Babs" Winsor.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

This is not to disparage in any way the terrible situations people in real life must find themselves in, but I did find the T-Shirt meme going around saying "I joined an OCG and went into witness protection and all I got was this lovely house in the country" funny.

[gt3]

I love the fact its set in Belfast,

Shot in. But set in the Midlands, somewhere near or actually Birmingham.

Holte End Endings and the Claret sweatshirt? Is Mercurio a closet Blu-nose scum fan?!

Turned out Buckles was the anti-Muguffin. Like the postman in that Hitchcock film, always there, hiding in plain sight. Yeah, I can see why the ending might have felt a bit flat. But overall, I thought it worked well and MsD's post about why we are talking about it nails it. It wasn't your average drama. Can you imagine the size of Mercurio's whiteboard when he first started plotting the whole thing?! Will miss it.

[Tony C]

As an aside, I like Call the Midwife. It has better politics than practically every other primetime show on telly

Yes, my wife and I like it too and I agree with your comment about the politics.

[Benjm]

Well if you break it down in such simplistic terms then yes, but that's like saying One Direction and Idles are both bands or Manchester United and Lewes FC are both football clubs. Or Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg are both human beings.

The Guardian's Week in Books feature opts not to sweat the small stuff:

For Line of Duty fans in mourning, some good news. Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love is taking over the same slot on BBC1...

[diggedy derek]

A week on, and the Buckells bombshell seems a reasonable way to end. It was pretty amateurishly done though. For the Big Moment in the drama to be three people in a room pointing at a report going “that guy?” “What him?” is really weak TV and places a lot of weight on actors to pull it off.

talking of which, Kelly Macdonald was underused in this series, apart from the brilliant No Comment scene. Her character, which had no agency, just wasn’t nearly as interesting a guest character as those played by Stephen Graham, Thandiwe Newton or Keeley Hawes.

still, a decent primetime romp and I’m sure I’ll watch the next one

[diggedy derek]

talking of Call The Midwife, which is the most quietly radical programme on TV, it may be relevant that the main team behind it (creator, executive producers and producers) are all women.

[EIM]

I liked that den of geek review dd posted. And also this one from the often excellent Stavvers: https://anotherangrywoman.com/2021/0...he-fourth-man/

"All coppers are bent coppers is the moral of the story. And that’s also the moral of real life. There’s no such thing as a good cop."

They emphasise this point throughout by calling them AC-12, which is an amalgamation of ACAB and 1312, both shorthand for All Coppers Are Bastards.

[ursus arctos]

That seems incredibly obvious now

Is 1312 widely used? I don't recall having seen it (whereas ACAB is ubiquitous), but I also may not have noticed it.

[EIM]

That seems incredibly obvious now

Is 1312 widely used? I don't recall having seen it (whereas ACAB is ubiquitous), but I also may not have noticed it.

I only know 1312 through the European skinhead/antifascist movement. It appears on lots of t-shirts and tattoos. If I had to guess, I'd say it was used as it's less instantly recognisable and so less likely to lead to a baton round the chops.

[ursus arctos]

That also makes a lot of sense.

I could also see it being attractive as a way of turning the fash predilection for turning letters into numbers around on them.