Adrian Dunbar addresses Line of Duty fan theory about Boris Johnson

Fans speculated that the divisive series finale could be related to the prime minister

Adrian Dunbar has addressed a Line of Duty fan theory concerning Boris Johnson.

The sixth season of the hit BBC police procedural came to an explosive end last year, with a finale that divided fans.

In a new interview with The Independent, Dunbar – who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings – addressed the controversial ending as well as one popular fan theory about the prime minister.

***Spoilers for Line of Duty season six below***

The finale revealed the identity of corrupt senior police officer “H” to be the bumbling background character, Buckles.

Many fans took issue with the revelation, arguing that it was an unsatisfying conclusion to the long-running mystery.

“There were very few other ways of finishing it,” said Dunbar. “There never really is a kind of ‘Mr Big’ where the police are concerned – it’s usually just someone not passing on a piece of information, turning a blind eye.

“It’s the very simple things like that, that actually make the big crimes work – somebody’s decided not to pay attention to a piece of information because they’re in the pocket of some criminal. So I thought it was a very clever – if not wholly satisfying dramatically – way of ending the series.”

Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar from Line of Duty (World Productions/BBC One/PA) (PA Media)

Critics also questioned the plausibility of a clown-like persona such as Buckles misdirecting AC-12 from his nefarious deeds, with some suggesting that the show’s writers may have been making an indirect comment on the now-departing prime minister.

In one scene, Hastings tells Buckles: “Your corruption has been mistaken for incompetence.”

Addressing the theory that the show was commenting on Johnson’s behaviour, Dunbar said: “Without us having to really think about that, I think people drew their own conclusions.

“If Boris Johnson hadn’t put himself in the crosshairs of all of that – if he hadn’t fulfilled all of the imaginings of that particular phrase, I mean... ’cause he did.

“So therefore, I think, the public naturally thought, ‘Well, who do we know who’s all of those things? Obviously Boris.”

Dunbar recently suggested that the next series of Line of Duty could have as few as two episodes.

While there has so far been no official confirmation that the crime drama is returning for a seventh series, a renewel is widely expected.

You can read the full interview with Dunbar here.