Line of Duty; fantastic BBC drama-series!

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Yovra, Mar 28, 2016.

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  1. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads Thread Starter

    Line of Duty is a cop-/drama-series about the investigations of AC12, a controversial Police Anti-Corruption Unit. Series 3 had just started and the past week I treated myself to a bit of a Line of Duty-marathon re-watching series 1 and 2. I think it's one of the best 'cop-dramas' of the latest years; nice plot-twist and attention-grabbing action. It does reward closer attention (especially when you know there are longer story-lines in it). There are no real 'villains' or 'heroes' in this; one episode's victim in distress an be a twisted character in the next. It keeps you guessing at the outcome, and series III has already kicked off with a great first episode!
     
  2. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Totally agree, it's a great series. They have the knack of making police interviews absolutely riveting, but everything else is also amped up, plotting wise and action wise. It's somewhat atypical of Brit crime shows, which are usually much slower paced, brooding, grim type affairs. Series three could not have started in a more interesting and dramatic fashion!
     
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  3. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    Watched Series 1 of this on Netflix a few months ago. Was really great till the end at which point it just fizzled out. Now that's probably true of most major real life investigations but this one left us a little disappointed.

    We'll probably get round to watching Series 2 some time.
     
  4. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads Thread Starter

    Next Thursday; the 90 minute season's finale! :goodie:
     
  5. royzak2000

    royzak2000 Senior Member

    Location:
    London,England
    Yes I wait till the series is over, then watch it through. Great television saw the first two the same way. Can't do this wait a week thing.
     
  6. joe1320

    joe1320 Forum Resident

    Location:
    dublin, ireland
    Great show, can't wait to see how it ends
     
  7. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads Thread Starter

    WHAT a finale! Although I found the
    final action scenes a bit Hollywood-y for my taste; the interrogation-scenes were great!
     
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  8. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    What a finale indeed, I wasn't expecting that when he sent the text message, I think this series was even better than the last and that was already excellent.
     
  9. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Spoilers...

    Yes agreed, the shootout scene and the ensuing foot chase was very tabloid-y, not all in character with the tactical nature of the series and took me out of tense interrogation scene. Still, I was happy to see the main AC-12 members unharmed.

    Another excellent season. Will there be more?
     
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  10. C4rl

    C4rl Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Fens
    Yes they announced it at the end of the final credits.

    I too thought the final 10-15 minutes would have been more at home in an episode of 24, totally out of character with the rest of the otherwise excellent episodes.
     
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  11. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads Thread Starter

    About halfway the episode it occurred to me that that I would have been very happy for the whole episode to play out ''in real time'' at the interrogation table and some side-moments, because the real tension was right there with the sips of water, the little tics, the moments the suspect almost 'breaks'.....
     
  12. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    I thought the ending was awful. Terminatoresque, even.
     
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  13. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Agree, Except that the guy playing Cottan didn't go to pieces very convincingly. No match for Adrian Dunbar.

    Hard to imagine Martin Compston in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen now I've seen him in Line of Duty!

     
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  14. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Interesting that so many hate the ending, I didn't mind it and it's not as though the end of the previous episode or the first episode of series two didn't have their share of action, if you see the last two series as a single story then it finished in a similar way to how it started with the ambush.
     
  15. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Hate's bit strong, but I thought it was out of the blue and disappointing.
     
  16. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads Thread Starter

    "Hate" is a big word for me here. I'll try to explain.
    In the weeks before series 3 started I re-watched the previous two and both of them ended on an ambiguous note.
    There still were loose ends, people got away, things were left unsolved, which were starting points for the next series, especially the characters of Cottan and DC Nigel Morton, who keep turning up, pulling strings and keeping things shady. Series three ends with a
    crashing major chord and it even rounds up the key players and the whole story line with a happy ending. I didn't see that coming, especially in combination with an all-out action scene that was less exciting than the interrogation-stuff. My guess was that the makers thought this was the last series when they were filming this ór the news series has totally different characters.
     
  17. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    I read recently that the showrunner knew that the series would continue to season 4 and that he wanted to do season 5 and beyond. So I think it's more the second part, ie, that he wanted to move on with another, new story (but with the same core AC-12 characters), perhaps for another trilogy of seasons.
     
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  18. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I think that they needed to end that story line and obviously the way it developed they really had to conclude it this series, but I'm not sure we discovered all the corrupt officers etc., who were pulling the strings, also we didn't touch upon where all the bribe money was coming from so the corruption obviously ran deep and beyond covering up the children's home abuse. I totally agree about the strength of the interrogation scenes and also they way they discover evidence and put the story together it's just I also liked the action scenes.
     
  19. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Here's an excellent, in-depth interview with Jed Mercurio (the show creator/writer) which delves into his creative process and the reasons for the decisions he's made during the series. He really comes across as very thoughtful and intelligent person.

    Line Of Duty: creator Jed Mercurio interview »
     
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  20. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    I actually thought the final episode was superb, action scenes and all. The guy who played DI Cottan was terrific. What a character. Roll on series 4.
     
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  21. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Series 4 is indeed rolling on - filming began in Belfast in September 2016.

    However the news I'm most excited about is the casting of Thandie Newton as DCI Roz Huntley. Her handling of a case attracts the attention of anti-corruption AC-12, and she apparently proves "their most devious opponent yet". With Lindsay Denton and The Caddy being on that list, that's really saying something!

    Line Of Duty series 4: first image of Thandie Newton's DCI Huntley »

    Can't wait.
     
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  22. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Great news. The Caddy was a brilliant character.
     
  23. Brenald79

    Brenald79 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Those scenes at the end of Season 3 where all the main characters are facing off at the interview table were brilliant!
     
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  24. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Yes. It's a real signature feature of the series - those extended, memorizing interview scenes. No other show does them better, and consistently so.
     
  25. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Line Of Duty series 4 has a start date - March 26th. Here's a trailer:

     
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