Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar says ‘the real H’ will be revealed in new season

Adrian Dunbar has once again teased the possibility of the return of Line of Duty, with the actor this time giving a clue into the real identity of the infamous ‘H’.

Last year, fans of the BBC crime drama were dismayed when the nonsensical DS Ian Buckells was unveiled to be ‘H’ – the criminal mastermind operating a network of corrupt police officers – in the final episode of the sixth season.

However, Dunbar – who plays the role of the beloved Superintendent Ted Hastings – has now announced that Buckells wasn’t ‘H’ after all, hinting that the supervillain’s real identity could be revealed next year.

Speaking to The Radio Times, the actor said: “He’s not H. We just got the guy we could actually pin a charge on. We didn’t get H, we got Buckells, the patsy.”

BBC

He went on to say that Chief Constable Philip Osborne – played by Owen Teale – was ‘probably’ the guilty man, ‘unless there’s another twist and someone’s pulling his strings’.

And speaking of the possible return of the series, Dunbar added: “There’s been talk about a movie or a four-parter or two [episodes of] ninety minutes. We’d love to do it again. I’m really hoping something might happen next year.”

Earlier this week, Dunbar revealed that he has a curry date pencilled in with his Line of Duty co-stars Martin Compston and Vicky McClure, and the show’s creator Jed Mercurio, to discuss the series making a return.

The actor told The Times: “There’s a big appetite for more Line of Duty. It could be three or four episodes, I don’t think there’s going to be six for some reason.

BBC

“It’s all entirely down to Jed what the storyline is going to be. It’s a big ask for him. It’s going to be really good.”

He also revealed that ‘maybe someone will die’, adding that Mercurio isn’t afraid of killing beloved characters off.

Dunbar added: “Someone’s going to be under threat. He [Mercurio] doesn’t mind killing characters off. Maybe he’ll kill us all off. A terrible car crash when we’re rushing to the scene of a crime? We’ll have to leave it to him.”

Line of Duty’s series finale smashed all records on the night of its release, with an average of 12.8 million people tuning in to watch – so we can expect even bigger things if a new season does arrive.

The BBC are yet to confirm a seventh season of Line of Duty.