THE final episode of Line of Duty's season six finally saw bungling bent copper Det Supt Ian Buckells revealed as arch villain H.
It's something that continued to intrigue audiences as detective unit AC-12 pursued their hunt for the corrupt police officer at the heart of the BBC crime drama.
Who is Ian Buckells?
Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells is played by actor Nigel Boyle and was assigned to Hillside Lane Station Murder Investigation Team.
During series six, Buckells coaxed a false testimony out of Deborah Devereux to link Terry Boyle to the murder of journalist Gail Vella.
Buckells and Devereux had been romantically involved so she was a willing witness but AC-12 soon saw through their ruse.
When Buckells was arrested, AC-12 also found an incriminating laptop hidden in his car, although he denied having any knowledge of how it got there.
Buckells was also the one who had undercover OCG member PC Ryan Pilkington (Gregory Piper) join MIU, who then went on to threaten DCI Jo Davidson.
What were the 'H' fan suspect theories?
Kate Fleming
Kate became a big suspect in season 6.
Reddit has been going nuts with theories that 'Kate-is-H' .
The basis of the theory comes mostly from the idea that Kate is too good to be true.
Both Ted Hastings and Steve Arnott have both done bad things in the past, but Kate appears to have a spotless record, leading some viewers to think she could be 'H', or at least involved with the OCG.
One Reddit user claimed that show creators have been hinting at this with all the references to nights when she was late home, suggesting she was out doing criminal dealings.
Kate's departure from AC-12 in season six has only fuelled rumours further.
Ted Hastings
This theory gathered pace back in season 4.
It was after Hastings’ laptop pinged with an instant message just after we saw Lisa McQueen and John Corbett using IM to talk with ‘H’.
In addition, an unknown number calling Lisa mobile just as Hastings was ringing a number which didn’t pick up.
Hastings was also seen struggling financially, after a property investment in Ireland went wrong and his wife left him.
So he could be 'H', however the show's creator is implicating him so heavily that it seems a bit too easy.
Also his surname is Hastings, so having 'H' as a code name is rather too obvious.
Hasting's has come to blows a number of times with DCS Patricia Carmichael in season six, with Carmichael forcing Hasting's into an early retirement.
DCC Andrea Wise
There are two clues pointing to Detective Chief Constable Andrea Wise being 'H'.
First was her determination to remove AC-12 from the investigation into Operation Pear Tree.
This has led fans to think she wants to take them out as they were getting too close to uncovering the truth.
The second clue is that she was the one to order a separate inquiry into Ted Hastings, leading people to suspect she wanted to frame him for being 'H'.
DCS Patricia Carmichael
Patricia was brought in during Series 5 to investigate Ted Hasting, but her case against him fell apart.
However some fans are convinced that her determination to put the spotlight on Ted was her way to get herself out of trouble.
Adamant of his wrongdoing, she built a case against him and very nearly got him charged with conspiracy to murder. Additionally, she made it very clear to both Kate and Steve that she was going to prove that Hastings was the man behind the alias of 'H'.
Patricia is also Detective Chief Superintendent, so fans think she be using her high ranking as a way of running her own team of corrupt cops.
She has also just returned to season 6 and made sure she is embedded in AC-12's work.
Marcus Thurwell
The senior investigating officer on the historic Lawrence Christopher case, Thurwell has been recently introduced in season six, late on in the series.
AC-12 discovered some disturbing information surrounding the Christopher case that linked back to Thurwell.
He was part of a police team that failed to protect Christopher, instead wrongfully assuming he was a criminal himself rather than an innocent victim.
The custody officers also shouted racist chants as he died in custody from his untreated injuries, while the police went to great lengths to protect the attackers, one of whom was the son of crime boss Tommy Hunter.
Will there be a series 7 of Line of Duty?
In an interview with Radio Times, series creator Jed Mercurio says it’s “not entirely clear” if there will be a series 7 of the show.
“We’re in a situation where it’s not entirely clear that there will be a seventh series,
“We would hope there could be. But we’re having to do our planning coming out of COVID, and a whole bunch of other things around the idea that these things aren’t guaranteed at all now.”
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