Line Of Duty: Series 1-3 [2017]

Wow, what a roller-coaster ride of a story – in fact 3 inter-related stories culminating in an inevitable but nonetheless highly charged edge-of-your-seat finale. With home-produced tightly-woven, credible plot, electrically paced dialogue, and wonderfully engaging characterisation and acting to match, why do we as the viewing public ever have to look over our shoulders to the US.‘Line of Duty’ is yet one more colossally creative British monument standing proudly alongside the classics of crime drama that include ‘Prime Suspect’, ‘Morse’, ‘Foyles War’, ‘Poiret’, ‘Luther’ and all the rest. True to say that there are tiny blips of anomaly and incredulity as the plots race along like an Aintree winner on speed, but if you choose to pause and ponder you will be left well and truly behind. And where’s the fun in that? There is absolutely nothing that sours the overall taste and aroma of this brilliant recipe – let’s hope that a series 5, 6, 7, and beyond, maintain this purity. BBC Northern Ireland is to be loudly and effusively commended for taking this tried and tested format and beautifying it with a fresh new face – not cop v baddie, but cop v bad cop.And that’s where this fantastic entertainment exposes a serious, sinister underbelly posing some tough questions in the process. How should real policemen and women react if they witness, first-hand, the corrupt or unlawful behaviour of fellow officer? I can only imagine the trepidation, stepping into the scary career threatening unknown, if they have the moral and physical courage to break ranks and report their concerns. And what of the whole issue of badly paid police officers being tasked - against the backdrop of the public’s expectation of unqualified commitment - to tackle and dismantle the multi-million pound world of organised crime (whether it be blue-collar cyber crime, drug trafficking, trade in counterfeit goods and medicines, people trafficking etc etc)? The reality of criminals ruthlessly using their illicit wealth in order to ‘buy’ police officers thereby perverting the course of justice with the immense enduring damage this does to our society is deeply troubling and must remain an ever clear and present concern for police authorities and government alike. It’s way too smug and trite (and unreasonable) to posture that television like ‘Line of Duty’ plays a role here but it is certainly realistic to hope that it can’t hurt in focussing the collective mind and demanding attention…….

Bought this to watch series three after watching and becoming hooked on series 1 & 2 on Netflix. The series' follow the investigations of the Anti Corruption unit of a fictional Midlands police force and are linked together by the source of the suspected corruption. The AC unit are despised by the coppers they have to investigate and by colleagues in general and this adds a tension to the proceedings. From my limited knowledge of the police, through my work I got to know some of them quite well many years ago, The depiction of suspected and innocent officers closing ranks to thwart an investigation is all to true. The body count in all three series is high and if it happened for real would lead to public enquiries,whitewashes and cover ups. There are outstanding performances, as the suspected bent coppers, from Lennie James in S1, Keely Hawes in S2 and, all too briefly, Daniel Mays in S3. The actors who comprise the AC unit are all excellent, especially Adrian Dunbar as the head of AC, and hold the whole thing together. I'm not a great fan of cops and robbers shows but I thoroughly enjoyed this. It keeps you guessing particularly, I found, with the Keeley Hawes character Did she? Or didn't she? Still not certain as my head says one thing and my emotions another. This is a brilliant series with everything you could ever need for a box set binge. I'm delighted to see that series 4 will be on BBC soon and am really looking forward to it.

There's nothing that can beat Line of Duty and if, like me, you came to this great series rather late in the day then this will enable you to catch up - as well as spotting all the loose ends that got sorted out in the most recent series. I'm still not sure who 'H' is - but I think I've got a better idea......I might be completely wrong though (like when I was certain Joyce Barnaby had to be the killer in Midsomer Murders and her husband was just protecting her...........!). Anyway this is a really cheap way to catch up and I would even recommend it to those of you who did watch it from the very beginning, as there must be a new series soon, and so many parts of the jigsaw date back to the start.

Thinking about a career in the Police force? This series purports to show what it is really like to be a copper. Take home message: trust no one, certainly not your colleagues. You thought the Police were there to protect the public from criminals: think again - the Police are nobody's friend, not even their own! Actually, it's all about career advancement and climbing the greasy pole; the public are not even on the radar screen. A good copper is like a weather vane - sensitive to even the slightest shift in the political wind - able to change his/her tune according to the career needs of the moment. Do you have an administratorial mentality? The Police force is for you! A sad reflection of the current state of British society.

The very best Police series I've every had the pleasure to watch on TV. Great plot development, top production values, wonderful dialogue, impressive acting, sustained tension + the unexpected always happening. The 'interview' scenes are a revelation and I like the fact that an assumption is made that the viewing public has the intelligence to follow the (sometimes) serpentine story-lines. One thing is for sure, you can't afford to doze on the settee when viewing, and it is vitally important that the three series in the box are viewed in strict order, because some story-lines and characters are carried forward from one series to another in the sequence. P.S Series four is just as good!

I been fan of "Line Of Duty" since first series in 2012. It head and shoulders above usually police dramas, especially those on ITV, and has actors who fit roles with incredible ease taking you into dark world of police corruption.All three series have reached high mark in TV drama. The interview dramas have been hallmark in all series. They played key role in the storylines from the start.Well worth viewing again.

This has become my favorite of the UK Police Dramas. The series centers around a specialized group of anti-corruption police who, obviously, investigate suspicious police who may be corrupt. The first series centers (and the guest star gets top billing) of a successful DCI with incredible close rates for his station. However, despite those seemingly out of sorts records leads to another story of a much more complex crime and crimes in the city.Excellent portrayal as the cop under suspicion by Lennie James as the DCI who winds up in the investigation. The second has to do with an armed response team, and a shooting, excellently played by Daniel Mays. My favorite is Keeley Hawes as Lindsay Denton (Season 3), who while helping, by request of a local police station, to move a protected witness then gets dragged into a horrific story line. Her portrayal as the smart, sharp DI who has been overlooked by her superiors is impressive. I believe she won an award, as did Lennie James (Season 1) and Daniel Mays (Season 2). It is that good that the temporary star gets top billing.Last, Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, Andrian Dunbar, and Craig Parkinson play the team investigators, with other supporting staff. The support staff are also excellent, as are the upper police brass characters who work at odds with the team because nothing is ever simple or easy with people looking over your shoulder.All three series have a continuity thread through them, though they are entirely separate stories, separate investigations with separate star/protagonists. Excellently done to write separate stores with the most subtle of continuity for the viewer.A final shout-out to Jed Mercurio to write these series and keep it all straight so that the viewer does not get lost. But not so simple that a viewer will find the scripts to be simplistic. These are not simple cases. Highly, highly recommended.

Great acting and story lines. Will watch it again

Excellente série britannique. D’un côté des policiers souvent remarquables mais présentant des failles et des faiblesses. Les héros sont plutôt du côté de la Police des Police et ce n’est pas si simple. De bons acteurs, des scènes chocs, des histoires complexes de quoi réjouir les amateurs.Les DVD sont en anglais sous titres anglais.

Great!

This is on-the-edge of your seat TV. Every episode is jammed packed full of stuff and always a "I did not see that coming!" moment. Every season gets better and better. I can't stop watching thus show! Best. TV. Show. Ever. Created! I hope it goes on for years. It's a shame American TV is so pitiful in comparison. Watch one episode and you will be hooked.