Line of Duty diehards finally got the update they’ve been craving, with BBC One confirming the hit drama will return in 2026 – but the big question hanging over AC-12 is whether disgraced mastermind ‘H’ will have any part to play now that Ian Buckells has been unmasked.
When the series 6 finale dropped back in 2021, the long-teased identity of ‘H’ was revealed at last… and it’s fair to say the reaction wasn’t exactly unanimous joy.
Fans were floored when the seemingly irrelevant, barely-there Ian Buckells emerged as the so-called criminal kingpin. He’d slipped through the cracks so thoroughly that nobody suspected he was a “bent copper”.
And while more than 13 million viewers scrambled to process the low-key twist, one of the show’s stars even cast doubt over whether we’d really seen the full truth. So what does that mean for Line of Duty series 7?
Here’s the latest on Ian Buckells, his shady stint as ‘H’, and whether he could resurface when the thriller returns in 2026…
Ian Buckells wasn’t the real ‘H’ in Line of Duty
After the big reveal at the end of Line of Duty series 6, leading actor Adrian Dunbar dismissed the idea that Ian Buckells was really ‘H’. The now 67-year-old floated the idea it was a red herring. Well, this is a Jed Mercurio drama we’re talking about, so it wouldn’t surprise us from the king of twists!
Talking to Radio Times, he said: “Ian Buckells is not ‘H’. 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 was a scene when we looked at each other and thought: ‘Really? This [bleep]?’ He’s a distraction.”
So if Ian Buckells wasn’t really the elusive bent copper ‘H’ in Line of Duty, who was? Adrian shared his belief that Chief Constable Philip Osborne was ‘H’. This was a popular idea at the time with fans.
Adrian added: “[If the show returns] that’s probably where it’s heading, unless there’s another twist and someone’s pulling his strings”.
Owen Teale played Chief Constable Osborne in the cast of Line of Duty in series 1 and series 6. He was actually the leader of the Counter Terrorism Unit of Central Police, before being promoted to Chief Constable of Central Police.
Literally everyone who had ever passed through AC-12 was a suspect. It was all so exciting. The misspelled “definately”, the memes and, of course, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey.
Ian Buckells revealed that there was no ‘H’ in the Line of Duty S6 finale
AC-12 heroes Steve Arnott, Kate Fleming, and Ted Hastings spent six series – the equivalent of nine years on screen – chasing ‘H’. He was teased as the kingpin of a group of corrupt police officers involved in organised crime.
So when Nigel Boyle’s character Ian Buckells was revealed to be the bad guy, lots of fans were left feeling flat after the ‘big reveal’ wasn’t very big at all. In fact, bumbling cop Ian Buckells revealed that there was no ‘H’. Instead he was the last man left standing in a corrupt ring which included senior police figures and various members of the OCG.
While many fans felt robbed of their Hollywood blockbuster ending, others pointed out that it was a more realistic ending. Some viewers complained on socials about the ending, with one calling it an ‘absolute joke of an ending’.
Jed responded to the bizarre rant with a jokey response about one of Line of Duty’s less fortunate characters. He said: “Lorraine is the result of what would happen if Jackie Laverty’s body parts were reassembled in the wrong order.”
Jackie Laverty of course had her throat slit in series one by members of an OCG – organised crime group. Her body was subsequently chopped up and stored in a freezer.
Jed Mercurio defended Buckells as ‘H’
As some viewers complained after incompetent DS Ian Buckells was revealed to be the final ‘H’ or the Fourth Man, Jed defended the decision.
He said on the BBC’s Shrine of Duty’s podcast: “I suppose it was really down to the decision to kind of hold him to account, sort of mid-season.
“It was always really important to me that it was someone who had been in season one, someone who had been there the whole time.”
He added: “I think we’d been directing the audience towards a particular image of the kind of character that ‘H’ would be – that he would be a criminal mastermind. And we wanted to make a different commentary on the way in which someone can do a lot of harm without necessarily being a mastermind.”
Meanwhile, Steve Arnott star Martin Compston said: “Fully understand it wasn’t the ‘urgent exit’ type ending some anticipated but we appreciate you sticking with us.”
Was ‘H’ a red herring?
By the time Line of Duty wrapped up its sixth series, Ian Buckells was safely tucked away behind bars. And as far as we know, that’s exactly where he remains. After being refused immunity and binned off for witness protection, he was shipped straight to a maximum-security prison.
But those final moments offered a far juicier hint that all was not as settled as it looked. As the credits rolled, viewers learned that Central Police had applied for Public-interest Immunity – a legal mechanism that lets the courts block evidence from being shared if revealing it would harm the public interest.
In other words, someone inside the force seemed very keen to keep Buckells’ mouth firmly shut. The closing caption spelled it out: “If successful no evidence will be heard in court.”
Not exactly reassuring, and it certainly points towards a cover-up.
So who was trying to silence him? And does that mean the real danger hasn’t been dealt with at all? As Adrian Dunbar has hinted more than once, the cloud of suspicion still hangs over CC Osborne. He was part of the original trio – along with Thurwell and Buckells – who handled the Lawrence Christopher case. Could Osborne have been the one pulling the strings all along, the true ‘H’?
And if so, will he finally be forced into the spotlight when series 7 lands?
Read more: Suranne Jones’ BBC thriller Doctor Foster ‘will return’ for series 3 next year
Line of Duty series 1 to 6 are currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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