The writer of BBC thriller Line of Duty has revealed the identity of criminal mastermind H remains unknown to the majority of people working on the show.
Jed Mercurio has claimed to the Mirror’s website there are only about ten people who are in the know about which character – believed to be a corrupt cop – is pulling the strings of the OCG in the TV ratings hit.
Burly DCS Les Hargreaves was previously unmasked to have been the most recent bent police officer to fall under the control of H’s villainous network.
But suspicions he may have been the mysterious ringleader seemed to have faded following the revelation after his death during the Eastfield depot heist that he had only been blackmailed into assisting the OCG for a matter of months.
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However, while viewers are being guided to believe Superintendent Ted Hastings may be in the frame, Mercurio seems to have also hinted fans should have a bit more faith in DI Kate Fleming and DS Steve Arnott’s mentor.
Asked about how much of a secret H’s identity is with programme makers, Mercurio is reported to have told the tabloid: “You will be reassured to know that I do actually know who H is and very few of us do.
“The number of people who genuinely know right now is probably less than a dozen and I’m looking forward to the day when it can be measured in millions.”
Apparently tipping off viewers to where their sympathies should lie, the series’ creator continued: “I think I do write characters that have certain characteristics and one of them is the characters that we are meant to get behind, Ted and all the AC-12 characters who aren’t baddies. The characters who believe in doing the right thing. They also believe in facts and evidence.”
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Writer Mercurio – also behind Bodyguard and Bodies – has previously teased he would be open to switching up his plans if inspiration strikes late on during production.
He told an audience at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival: “I suppose if I had an idea later on that was even better then, yeah, of course I would change it.
“Because you want it to be as good as possible and surprising and so forth.”
He also admitting to deliberately created character names that could fit into being known as ‘H’ as red herring plot clues.
“Sometimes there were characters whose name could be corrupted or nicknamed into being an ‘H’ if I wanted to,” he said.
“Some of the characters were given names where they could have been revealed as having an H’ connection if it was required.”
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