Ted Hastings may be going 'full throttle' to weed out the bent coppers in the East Midlands police force (his words, obvs), but there are still plenty of bad apples in the cart, as evidenced by the first five episodes of season six, which has been a veritable reunion party for the shadiest characters in the series. Philip Osborne is quickly shaping up to be the shadiest of the lot, so here's where you've seen him and some of the other recurring characters from season six before.
Chief Constable Philip Osborne
Chief Constable Osborne is the only shady character featured on this list to still be both a serving police officer, still alive and not in jail, so he certainly wins that particularly game of Tom Trumps. He was mentioned several times in tonight’s episode - as a DI in the same squad as Buckells and Marcus Thurwell, investigating the murder of Lawrence Christopher.
He is also revealed to be the architect of AC-12 disbandment, and Hasting’s early retirement, with Police And Crime Commissioner Rohan Sindwhani revealing to Hastings that he’s been resisting the action, and has now been left with no choice but to resign himself.
You might also remember that Osborne is the senior officer seen giving a statement to the press in this television report by the murdered journalist Gail Vella (the case that kicked this season off).
But you may also remember him as then-DS Steve Arnott’s commanding officer in the first episode of season one. Arnott is a member of an anti-terrorism squad, and passes down to the firearms unit the order to enter the property of a suspected terrorist. However, the unit enter flat 59, rather than flat 56 in error, and after mistaking a baby carrier for a bomb, shoot an innocent father dead.
Arnott believes the job was rushed and mistakes were made, and is the only member of the team not to follow Osborne’s instructions to cover up what happened, much to Osborne’s anger. He’s then transferred to AC-12 to work with Hastings and Fleming, so really, we have Osborne to thank for getting the gang back together.
But either way, Osborne is shaping up to be a pivotal character in Line Of Duty folklore, if only for the fact that when something shifty seems to happen, he increasingly appears to be hanging around on the periphery.
Tommy Hunter
Tommy Hunter was head of an Organised Crime Group and one of the main antagonists in season one of Line Of Duty. He was Glasweigan, and also proper nasty piece of work, who’s strong association with organised crime plants him firmly at the heart of the conspiracy Hastings and his team are trying to unravel. This would definitely explain Arnott’s furrowed brow and Hasting’s yelp of ‘MOTHER OF GOD,’ when the identity of Davidson’s mysterious relative was revealed.
READ MORE: All The Easter Eggs And Clues You May Have Missed From Season Six Of Line Of Duty So Far
Hunter entered a witness protection programme at the end of season one, but perished in season two of Line Of Duty following a plot to draw him out of hiding and an attack on the convoy of police cars moving him to a new safe house. In the latest episode of Line Of Duty it was revealed that it was his DNA that matched Jo Davidson’s, throwing into question her potential links with organised crime groups.
Lee Banks
Lee Banks cropped up in season five, as an associate of John Corbett and Lisa McQueen. Amongst his various dastardly deeds was the murder of PC Maneet Bindra in one of the most shocking scenes of the season. After taking part in the hijaking of several police convoys, Banks is finally arrested when he attempts to give Jane Cafferty, a police officer the OCG was blackmailing, and who Banks had shot, an envelope of money. AC-12 were carrying out surveillance on Cafferty and caught Banks.
Later in the series, Banks is visited in prison by Hastings, who promises to reveal something to Banks he’d be interested in. In season six we find out that Hastings revealed to Banks that Corbett was a rat and an undercover police officer - a revelation that led to Corbett’s murder, and explains why Hastings went on to give Corbett’s widow Stephanie £50,000 he’d fraudulently acquired.
And let’s not forget Banks’ latest violent turn: in episode four of season six he’s seen throttling former solicitor and fellow inmate Jimmy Lakewell to death in a prison cell after believing he’d talked to AC-12, while a nervous Ian Buckells looks on.
Patrick Fairbank
Former Chief Superintendent Patrick Fairbank appears in season six of Line Of Duty, when DS Arnott and DC Chloe Bishop pay him a visit to see what he remembers about the case of Lawrence Christopher a young black man who died in police custody after being attacked, in a case that has echoes of the Stephen Lawrence case. Gail Vella was looking at the case prior to her death AC-12 start looking into the Christopher case with relation to new character Marcus Thurwell played by James Nesbitt. Fairbank was Thurwell's senior officer, but when questioned by Arnott, he appeared unable to answer any of his questions and appears confused and distressed, even wetting himself when Steve loses his temper.
But this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen Fairbank - he first appeared in series three when Steve and Kate were investigating the disappearance and murder of Oliver Stephens-Lloyd, a social worker, in the 1990s. Kate became suspicious after noticing that Fairbank was on the distribution list for he missing person’s report, despite working in a completely different office at the time. After Fairbank is identified by a victim of child sexual abuse at the Sands View Boys Home, AC-12 realise that he played a pivotal role in the sexual abuse of young boys, both taking part in and enabling the abuse and in covering it up. He is arrested for sexual activity with a child, perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office, and although his legal team almost get the charges dropped due to his early-onset dementia, DI Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan’s dying declaration, which confirms the abuse, is enough to send him to jail - he is sentenced to 10 years.
DCI Ian Buckells
Ah Buckells, who appears to have become the OCG’s fall guy. We learnt more about Buckell’s time on the police when it was revealed that he was a DC in the murder of Lawrence Christopher, and that his senior officer was Marcus Thurwell, played by James Nesbitt.
Buckells first appeared in series one of Line Of Duty, and is appointed SIO in the investigation into the disappearance of Jackie Laverty by Superintendent Derek Hilton (who is later revealed to be one of the ‘H’s’ or inside men working on behalf of Organised Crime Groups at senior levels in the police force). Buckells is frequently mocked by Tony Gates, and is generally seen as bumbling and incompetent by Gates and his team, as well as then DC Kate Fleming (who is undercover).
Buckells reappears in Line Of Duty in season four, replacing DCI Ros Huntley (Thandwie Newton) as the SIO on Operation Trapdoor - Buckells has been promoted to a DCI at this point. He recognises Kate Fleming who is undercover at Polk Avenue police station and is warned against blowing her cover (which he doesn’t do, although he also refuses to cooperate with her).
Again, Buckells is generally seen as fairly incompetent and is eventually replaced again with Hunter, as she gets the upper hand over AC-12.
Finally we see Buckells again in series 6, where he has been promoted to Detective Superintendent. He still appears to be as lazy, unobservant and dim as ever, which either makes him the perfect senior officer for DCI Davidson to set up, or his apparent buffoonery is a front designed to disguise his links to organised crime (which might explain his fairly consistent promotions over the course of the series).