Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Line Of Duty’ Season 6 On BritBox, Where Kelly Macdonald Is The Focus Of A Police Anti-Corruption Investigation

Line Of Duty has been one of the most popular UK crime series of the past decade for a good reason: It not only focuses on a division we usually don’t see in dramas — Anti-Corruption, known as Internal Affairs on this side of the pond — but it pits them against a multi-layered cop on the other side of the equation, played by one of the country’s top actors. In Season 6, Kelly Macdonald plays the “big bad”, and the mystery that’s set up is pretty complex right off the bat.

LINE OF DUTY SEASON 6: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A phone rings and a police officer answers. She’s getting a tip on a murder cast that has gone cold.

The Gist: The tip is from a “rent boy” that’s an informant for a cop in another division of the Belfast police. He said that one of his customers claimed to have killed an up-and-coming journalist in 2019. That case has been bothering DCI Joanne Davidson (Kelly Macdonald, who you probably know from either Trainspotting or No Country For Old Men), the senior investigating officer on the case, and she’s determined to take this tip and run with it. She wants to pick him up, but her boss won’t authorize it without more evidence.

When she finally does get the green light, she stops her caravan of detectives and SWAT troops when she sees a suspicious van parked on a side street. She diverts the caravan to what she suspects is an armed robbery; she turns out to be right, but one of the SWAT members shoots a suspect who appears to be unarmed. All of this delays their arrival at the murder suspect’s apartment; the man they bring out (Tommy Jessop) is certainly not what Davidson expects, because he has Down syndrome.

The delay causes one of Davidson’s team, PS Farida Jatri (Anneika Rose), to report Davidson’s methods to the Anti-Corruption division AC-12 and DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston). He thinks he has enough to send DC Chloe Bishop (Shalom Brune-Franklin) into Davidson’s team as an undercover informant, but his boss, Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), coming off an investigation that got him censured by his bosses, wants more evidence.

As Davidson investigates, she finds out that the man they have in custody gave a false name, and didn’t live at the address where they found him. However, there was some evidence that tied him to the reporter in both the flat where he was arrested and the flat where he actually lived. But the flat where he lived was cleaned very well by someone.

Davidson’s second in command, DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), finds that surveillance was off the building where the suspect was arrested during the time they were foiling the armed robbery, due to a bungled order from Davidson’s boss. Fleming, newly transferred from Anti-Corruption, vows to keep this info between the two of them, but when Jatri goes silent to Arnott, he turns to his former colleague for information.

Fleming, stuck in the middle of a bad situation, gives him some information about the fingerprints found in the suspect’s residence, which are linked to a career criminal. That gives Arnott enough information to start an investigation on Davidson’s quirky investigation methods and if something else is brewing.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Line Of Duty is a massive hit in the UK because it combines the best of Law & Order style police procedural drama with season-long story arcs like the best UK cop dramas, including Sherlock.

Our Take: There’s a reason why, after nine years and six seasons, Line Of Duty continues to be popular in the UK; writer Jed Mercurio is adept at layering the drama during a season. Yes, the focus of the show is on the Anti-Corruption unit, a unit that other cops see with derision, because “nicking bent coppers” feels like a waste compared to catching murderers. Over the past five seasons, being a part of the unit has worn down the best of them; Fleming has already made her way out and Arnott is looking to be the next one to be transferred.

But Mercurio takes the time to build ambiguity around the season’s designated “villain;” this season, it’s Macdonald’s intense Jo Davidson. From her side of the investigation, it looks like things are just not adding up. But then we see a side of her that shows that her ethics might be compromised; there’s a reason why PS Jatiri called Arnott in the first place. And how the hell did she know an armed robbery was in progress down a side street when her convoy was speeding to where she thought the murder suspect lived?

By focusing on the new character (Davidson) as much as he does with the returning characters, Mercurio gives new viewers an entryway into the story even if they don’t know what Arnott, Hastings and Fleming have been doing the past five seasons. There are a few references that may need to be filled in, but not enough to deter new viewers. And having a compelling actor like Macdonald as the target of AC-12’s investigation (previous targets were played by Lennie James, Keely Hawes, Thandiwe Newton, Daniel Mays and Stephen Graham, among others) just gives Mercurio more of an opportunity to make the “big bad” a more nuanced character than just a corrupt cop.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Davidson looks on as the suspect she questioned is being led out of the station by his solicitor, released for the time being due to lack of evidence.

Sleeper Star: We might see a lot more of Shalom Brune-Franklin as Chloe Bishop, especially if Arnott turns to her to infiltrate Davidson’s team.

Most Pilot-y Line: None, though this may be a good opportunity to suggest that you turn the closed captioning on if you have trouble with Irish accents.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Line Of Duty continues the formula that has been successful for almost a decade, and with Macdonald as the lead target in Season 6, the promise of a tense and dramatic arc is something we’re looking forward to.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Line Of Duty Season 6 On BritBox