Line of Duty: Ian Buckells was not 'H' according to lead actor, so arch-villain could return in series 7
"Buckells was just a distraction"
Line of Duty fans got the news they’d been dreaming of this week, when BBC One confirmed the series would be back in 2026 – but will arch-villian ‘H’ feature in the plot after Ian Buckells was exposed?
The series 6 finale of the crime drama finally revealed the identity of ‘H’ when it aired in 2021. And not everyone was happy with the ‘twist’.
Viewers were shocked when underwhelming and rarely featured character Ian Buckells was exposed as ‘H’ in Line of Duty. He flew so far under the radar that nobody guessed he was a “bent copper”. Kind of like Cat Burns in The Celebrity Traitors.
And while the nation – more than 13million of us tuned in – tried to make sense of the big reveal, one of the show’s leading actors cast doubt over the whole thing. So how will this all play out in Line of Duty series 7?
Here’s what we know about Ian Buckells’ double-identity as ‘H’ and if he’ll be back in the upcoming series…
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 woman called Lorraine saying: “Making a brain dead Brummie the head honcho? 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?
At the end of Line of Duty series 6, Buckells had been arrested and thrown in jail. Which, as far as we know, is where is he now. After he was denied immunity and witness protection, he was carted off to a maximum-security prison.
However, as the credits rolled it was revealed that Central Police had applied for Public-interest Immunity. Public-interest immunity (PII), previously known as Crown privilege, is where English courts can grant a court order “allowing one litigant to refrain from disclosing evidence to the other litigants where disclosure would be damaging to the public interest”.
This means the police – or elements within the force – wre trying to keep him quiet. The closing onscreen comments said: “If successful no evidence will be heard in court.” That raises the probability of a cover-up.
So who was silencing Buckells? And is the real threat still out there? Of course, like Adrian Dunbar said, suspicion still surrounds CC Osborne. He was part of the original team – along with Thurwell and Buckells – who investigated the murder of Lawrence Christopher. Was Osborne at the centre of all this, and the real ‘H’? And will he be in series 7?
