Line of Duty series 2


The second series of the British police procedural television programme Line of Duty was broadcast on BBC Two between 12 February and 19 March 2014.
The series follows the actions of the fictional Anti-Corruption Unit 12. AC-12 is led by Superintendent Ted Hastings, who is assisted by his team DS Steve Arnott, DC Kate Fleming, and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan. The unit investigates DI Lindsay Denton, the sole survivor of an attack on police officers, and the possibility of a corrupt police officer conspiring to murder a protected witness in the ambush. Jessica Raine stars in a single episode as DC Georgia Trotman. Beginning with this series, Dunbar and Parkinson are credited as main cast members in the opening credits. Supporting characters include DCC Mike Dryden, Jo Dwyer, DCS Lester Hargreaves, DC Nigel Morton, and Tommy Hunter.
The series was created and written by Jed Mercurio, who also serves as an executive producer. Filming took place in Belfast in 2013. Six episodes were directed by Douglas Mackinnon and Daniel Nettheim with cinematographer Ruairi O'Brien. The series received positive reviews and multiple accolades, most notably for Hawes's performance as Denton, leading to the commission of a third and fourth series.

Cast and characters

Main

Starring

Recurring

Guest

  • Allison McKenzie as DS Jayne Akers
  • David Maybrick as Sergeant Alex Wallis
  • Antonio Magro as PC Vincent Butler

Episodes


Production

On 25 July 2012, the day after the first series had concluded, BBC Two commissioned a second series of Line of Duty from World Productions. Creator Jed Mercurio wrote the series's episodes and executive produced it alongside Simon Heath for World Productions and Stephen Wright for BBC Northern Ireland. Peter Norris produced the series.
Actors Martin Compston and Vicky McClure returned from the first series. Adrian Dunbar also returned to the series and was promoted to the main cast. Craig Parkinson reprised his role beginning in episode three. Keely Hawes, Robert Lindsay, and Jessica Raine were announced as new members of the cast. Lindsay departed from the series after two days of filming due to "creative differences" and was later replaced by Mark Bonnar. Hawes stated that when she first received the script Mercurio had not yet decided if her character would actually be a corrupt police officer. Supporting cast members include Neil Morrissey, Brian McCardie, and Tony Pitts.
For the second series filming moved to Belfast and began in mid-2013. The six hour-long episodes were split into two filming blocks with Douglas Mackinnon returning to direct the first block of episodes and Daniel Nettheim directing the second. Ruairi O'Brien also returned as the series's Director of Photography. The headquarters of Invest Northern Ireland doubled as Anti-Corruption Unit 12's office building, while the exterior of Belfast Central Library served as the police headquarters façade. One scene filmed with McClure, Compston, and Bonnar covered 18 pages of a script. Due to the success of the second series a third and fourth series were commissioned in April 2014.

Release

Broadcast and streaming

The series was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two beginning 12 February 2014 and concluding six weeks later on 19 March. Some episodes also aired on BBC Two HD. In the United States the series is available to stream on Acorn TV, BritBox, and Hulu. It was also broadcast on the American basic cable channel AMC beginning 9 May 2020. In Canada and Australia the series streams on Netflix. The series was later re-broadcast on BBC One beginning 6 February 2021 due to COVID-19 filming shutdowns delaying production of the sixth series.

Reception

Viewing figures

By the time the third series had concluded airing, Line of Duty was the eighth-highest-rated series to air on BBC Two since 2002. The series maintained a 12.3% share in consolidated data.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the series holds a 100% rating based on five reviews. The Huffington Posts Caroline Frost said that the series opened to a story stronger than that of its predecessor. Reviewing the series premiere for Den of Geek, Louisa Mellor praised Hawes' performance, comparing it favorably with that of Lennie James from the first series. Yvonne Roberts from The Guardian also admired the performance of Hawes, writing that the series "smash gender stereotypes". Rob Smedley of Cult Box mentioned the moral ambiguity between the officers being investigated and AC-12 themselves. Following the series finale Mellor stated that the final episode once again felt rushed. Alex Fletcher, writing for Digital Spy, commended Mercurio's scripts for ending the series on a less-than satisfying resolution. Smedley also applauded the series use of an ensemble cast. During its 2021 re-broadcast on BBC One ahead of the sixth series, The Daily Telegraphs Michael Hogan wrote that this series was Line of Duty at its best. Euan Ferguson later ranked the series number one on The Guardians "Best British TV dramas of 2014" list.

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2014British Academy Scotland AwardsBest Television ActorMark Bonnar
2014Crime Thriller AwardsBest TV DaggerLine of Duty
2014Crime Thriller AwardsBest ActressKeely HawesWon
2014Crime Thriller AwardsBest Supporting ActressVicky McClure
2014Freesat AwardsBest TV DramaLine of DutyWon
2014Royal Television Society Craft & Design AwardsEditingAndrew McClelland
2015Broadcast Magazine AwardsBest Drama SeriesLine of Duty
2015Broadcast Magazine AwardsBest Independent Production CompanyWorld Productions
2015Broadcast Magazine AwardsInternational Programme SalesKew Media Distribution
2015British Academy Television AwardsBest Mini-SeriesLine of Duty
2015British Academy Television AwardsBest Leading ActressKeely Hawes
2015British Academy Television AwardsBest Supporting ActressVicky McClure
2015British Academy Television Craft AwardsBest Writer - DramaJed Mercurio
2015Broadcasting Press Guild AwardsBest Drama SeriesLine of Duty
2015Broadcasting Press Guild AwardsBest ActressKeely Hawes
2015Broadcasting Press Guild AwardsBest WriterJed Mercurio
2015Royal Television Society Northern Ireland AwardsBest DramaLine of DutyWon
2015Royal Television Society Programme AwardsBest Drama SeriesLine of DutyWon
2015South Bank Sky Arts AwardsTV DramaLine of Duty
2015Televisual Bulldog AwardsBest Drama SerialLine of Duty
2015Televisual Bulldog AwardsBest EditingAndrew McClelland
2015Writers' Guild of Great Britain AwardsBest Long Form TV DramaJed Mercurio