Line of Duty
A densely written police procedural that revels in the intricacy of its plot
7.3
TV Show
UK, United Kingdom
English
Crime, Drama, Mystery
2012
Adrian Dunbar, Claire Keelan, Craig Parkinson
60 min
7.3
The Staff
TLDR
The coppiest cop show to ever cop.
What it's about
Officers of Anti-Corruption Unit 12 (AC-12) investigate their own at the Central Police force.
The take
Though it may be self-serious nearly to the point of parody, Line of Duty is that rare hard-boiled police show that actually works because of its commitment to being cold and clinical. As each season focuses on a new case of corruption within the police, it chooses not to focus on character but on packing as much meticulous detail as possible into its investigations. The result is a slower paced drama that may take some getting used to, but it's one whose every additional clue or revelation makes the nature of this modern police work feel that much more draining to the soul—a great change of tone from the heroic police shows we tend to see on TV.
What stands out
Where Line of Duty really sets itself apart as something unique is in its interrogation scenes, filmed entirely within confined locations, written with obsessive attention to detail, and running up to half an hour in length. As much as these sequences may sound uninteresting on the page, they act as each season's centerpiece, often having the main suspect matching wits and wills with the main trio of anti-corruption officers trying to catch them in a lie. It's a real credit to the show's directors and its creator and lead screenwriter Jed Mercurio that these scenes of extensive dialogue wind up being the series' most exciting and most memorable.
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