Jed Mercurio, the brains behind Line of Duty, tweeted a cryptic message on Tuesday teasing the future of Superintendent Ted Hastings – and it's safe to say it got fans talking.
The writer, who also penned Bodyguard, retweeted a picture of the BBC's announcement that Anna Maxwell Martin would be reprising her role as DCS Patricia Carmichael, alongside the caption: "It's not looking good for the Gaffer…"
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Suffice to say, plenty of fans were trying to work out what this meant. One person wrote: "I'm wondering if Ted becomes ill and she comes in temporarily to cover?"
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A second replied: "I'm wondering whether she'd be the one [Police Chief Commissioner] Sindwanhi and [ACC] Price were hinting at heading up Anti-corruption when AC-12 AC-3 and AC-9 combine?! Maybe cos Ted got away last series she's still gunning for him."
A third also joined in on the guessing game, commenting: "Bloody love Patricia Carmichael, but how has she fared since one of her closest team members was involved with the OCG? Will she head up the new combined AC force? Or will she be Hastings replacement in AC12? #LineofDuty."
We'll have to wait for Sunday to find out what's behind Patricia Carmichael's appearance and whether she'll be the new boss of a merged Anti-Corruption unit. However, Adrian Dunbar recently assured fans that the beloved Gaffer is not the mysterious 'H' figure.
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© Photo: BBCJed teased that Patricia Carmichael's return could be bad news for Ted
Chatting on the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, the actor explained he was pleased to learn his character was not responsible. "Absolutely it was a relief for me, because I'd spent all this time playing this character, as I saw him, as having a kind of sense of duty and a moral core and so forth," he said.
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"And then to find out I was somehow an arch villain... I would have [had] real difficulty accepting that. Also Jed was aware that our audience, and most audiences in general, like to think that those people in charge do have a sense of moral fortitude and that there are people up there that will do the right thing and prevail in difficult circumstances. I'm glad he came out of it with flying colours."
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