Note: There are spoilers for Line of Duty series five below.
Line of Duty star Martin Compston is weighing in on two of the biggest mysteries lingering over the forthcoming sixth series.
The BBC's gripping police procedural left off earlier this year with Superintendent Ted Hastings' (Adrian Dunbar) reputation in tatters as his own department continued to question if he was truly a bent copper.
During a recent interview with Radio Times about his new Alibi series Traces, DS Steve Arnott actor Compston also weighed in on the theory that Hastings could actually be Line of Duty's ultimate villain.
"I think that's the thing with the show... there's so many grey areas," he admitted. "That doesn't mean that [Hastings] is the big bad, but whether he's been up to something shady at some point, that's a possibility.
“I need to wait to read the scripts, but from everything I've seen and what I've been told, it's very exciting where it's going next year.”
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The fifth series left off with the bombshell that OCG member Ryan Pilkington (Gregory Piper) had infiltrated the police service to act as a mole – yet Compston isn't sure Ryan and Steve will ever have a rematch after their gruesome run-in.
"I couldn't even tell you if the character Ryan will come back, but if he does or doesn't, then you know he's there – he's planted, and it's just something that keeps ticking over in the background," the actor hinted.
While fans will likely have to wait until at least next year for definitive answers, Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio did recently confirm that his new episodes are currently in "the planning stage".
Line of Duty airs on BBC One.
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