Life

Lynette Fay: So Line of Duty's over – now what?

In the absence of live drama and music, I have enjoyed the communal experience of shock and awe, along with 11 million other people, of the final few minutes of each episode of Line of Duty

Lynette Fay

Lynette Fay

Lynette is an award winning presenter and producer, working in television and radio. Hailing from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, she is a weekly columnist with The Irish News.

Lynette Fay – I took my obsession very seriously in recent months. Picture by Press Eye/Darren Kidd
Lynette Fay – I took my obsession very seriously in recent months. Picture by Press Eye/Darren Kidd Lynette Fay – I took my obsession very seriously in recent months. Picture by Press Eye/Darren Kidd

MOTHER of God! – is how I imagine I reacted to the finale of Line of Duty, viewed by millions last night, myself included. At time of writing, I have no idea who the ‘fourth man’ is, who H might be or if Jo Davidson survived her ‘prison break’.

I have not been lucky enough to receive a press preview of the final episode – but I won’t complain. In the absence of live drama and music, I have enjoyed the communal experience of shock and awe with 11 million other people, in the final minutes of each episode, albeit virtually.

I have been glued to, and completely obsessed with Series 6. I took my obsession very seriously in recent months, and, in preparation for the latest series, I rewatched the previous five, definitely picking up a few new clues along the way!

When watching each episode, it can be too easy to become distracted by the game of trying to identify the film locations across the city of Belfast, even hoping to see yourself in a scene or two because you might have passed by the set when filming was in full flight.

I am looking forward to going on a Line of Duty tour when the city opens up again because I can’t for the life of me work out where Steph Corbett’s house is.

It now feels like we know the characters and care about what happens to them. If there is another series, I would love to go to Maddens or Kelly’s for a few pints with Adrian, Vicky and Martin – because they’d be cool enough to seek out the Belfast pubs where real people hang out, and the craic is good.

With the prominence of Ted Hastings’s fabulous colloquialisms – Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey being the best one of all – it feels like Belfast owns Line of Duty. I read a comment on Twitter last week suggesting that the latest ‘Tedism’ should adorn a wall in Belfast as soon as possible.

I happened upon the series when it was on BBC2. Yes, that long ago – proving, detective, that I am a true obsessive. Jed Mercurio’s scripts are exceptional. He has taken on corruption at a high level in public office and shown the extent to which it is covered up.

The storylines this year alone indirectly referenced the Stephen Lawrence and Christopher Alder cases.

Mercurio has created a world that has captured our attention, a storyline that has kept us guessing week after week and he has created a core of great characters in whom we have become invested. Even DCI Patricia Carmichael is now a favourite television villain.

Last week I got the opportunity to mix two of my current obsessions – Line of Duty and Mammy Banter. The Line of Duty buzz has been brilliant and I have enjoyed the build-up to each weekly episode immensely. I had the opportunity to speak to Amy de Bhrún who plays Steph Corbett on my radio show last week and couldn’t believe me luck. I was in my element.

My daily entertainment at the minute, comes from Mammy Banter – relatable, funny, comedy sketches created by Derry mother Serena Terry. She is hilarious. While laughing at her antics, I know that I am laughing at, and about, myself.

From the realities of home schooling, to the different stages of a woman on her period, to the world of ‘soccer moms’, she views the world with a cheeky humour that I just love. I know that I am not alone in thinking this – Serena has nearly half a million followers on Tik Tok and 90k followers on Instagram.

Just in case the fellas feel left out, her husband runs a Daddy Banter account – but it’s not as popular as Mammy Banter, as Serena told me last week, with her tongue firmly in her cheek.

Mammy Banter and Line of Duty are linked. Serena has been creating Line of Duty sketches since the most recent series began, and she made a sketch proving how obsessed she has been with it. Then, to her delight and shock, Ted Hastings ‘dropped a Mammy Banter’ saying last week. Yes, Serena claims ownership of the wee donkey spake.

Mammy Banter continues, Line of Duty is over. I will have to find a new obsession.