AFTER six thrilling series of chasing down bent coppers, the 2021 finale of Line of Duty has been voted among the most anti-climactic endings in British television history.
Despite huge audience ratings and rave reviews as each episode of the last series was broadcast, it was the underwhelming revelation that the criminal mastermind known as H was really just a painfully average officer, Ian Buckles.
Filmed in Northern Ireland, the Jed Mercurio-led drama starring Adrian Dunbar as the ever-quoteworthy Superintendent Ted Hastings (like the battle), the series finale reaction was so bad that it’s rumoured the show will return this year for a three part special to give the show the sendoff it deserves.
Research from the streaming website, WatchTVAbroad, said the series six ending had the sixth-biggest drop in audience approval.
The BBC’s Killing Eve finished as the worst, with Northern Ireland's biggest ever screen success - Game of Thrones – finishing second.
The researchers used the IMDb general ratings from the UK’s most popular programmes and compared them to the scores of the final episodes.
Even though the Line of Duty ending attracted a whopping 13 million viewers, it dropped to an audience score of 6/10 compared to the overall rating of 8.7.
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TV analyst Jeff Richey from WatchTVabroad.com said: “ “Viewers invest countless hours watching their favourite TV series so when a final episode flops, it can feel like a real kick in the teeth.
“Regardless of how exceptional a show may have been - or how many seasons it’s run — a lacklustre conclusion can tarnish everything that’s gone before and become the abiding memory for viewers.
“Millions tuned in to find out the identity of H in Line of Duty’s last episode and, two years on, many fans are still wondering why.
“If a three-part finale does air, the producers have a rare chance to put things right — anything less would be a crime.”
The good news is that Jed Mercurio fans won't have too long to wait for their next fix, with the pandemic drama 'Breathless' filmed in Northern Ireland earlier this year.
Starring Downtown Abbey's Joanne Frogatt as an NHS hospital consultant, the three-part series is based on doctor-writer Rachel Clarke's personal memoir of working on the Covid-19 frontline.
