How The Text Messages Exchanged Between Characters In Line Of Duty Became The Stuff Of Fan Fiction

You’ve got to hand it to the Line Of Duty Props Department, they certainly put the hours in. They know that every file, computer screen and indeed phone featured in the show will be screen grabbed, zoomed in on and poured over by a legion of ardent fans within minutes of it appearing on the show.

And our mad weekly hunt for clues as to the identity of mysterious ‘H’ have been rewarded. Not with any actual intel mind (personally, I don’t think we’ll be finding out who H is for quite some time, certainly not in this series), but with some delightful text exchanges with some of our favourite characters.

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Twitter is, quite rightly, obsessed with a text exchange between DIs Kate Fleming and Steve Arnott, which viewers spotted when Kate was deciding whether to text him her location, after she agreed to meet Acting Detective Superintendent Jo Davidson in a very murder-y remote location.

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While we watched her hands over over the screen, deciding whether to send the address or not, we could see a very cute exchange between the two (who obviously referred to each other as ‘mate.'

Even more delightfully, you could just see the top part of a meme Kate sent Steve earlier in the chat, which was revealed to be this delightful chap, resplendent in his Steve Arnott-esque waistcoat.

This wasn’t the only bit of character development we got to witness via Kate Fleming’s phone in the latest episode. When she received the location of her (murdery, very dodgy) meet up with Davidson via text, we were treated to a view of the pair’s previous exchanges. With Kate offering to pick Jo up an almond croissant and a cappuccino on her way into work, which is a hilariously accurate depiction of the early days of a work relationship you’re activity cultivating, either for romance, friendship, or you know, to find out if they're in the pockets of an Organised Crime Group.

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Given that writer Jed Mercurio is successfully managing to weave characters and plot points from series one into the show now, nine years later, it’s no great surprise that the team have managed to develop some of the characters’ inner lives in even the most fleeting of on-screen moments, nor that they’ve been picked over by Line Of Duty obsessives within moments. And obviously texts and online messaging have long been used as plot devices in LOD land, from DI ‘Dot’ Cottan’s request for an ‘urgent exit’ to three numbers named ’removals,’ ’talk,’ and ‘ride,’ at the end of series 3, to chats on whatever the dark-web equivalent of MSN messenger is with a shady character who may or may not be ‘H’ (and definitely can’t spell).

And let's not ever, EVER forget the absolute genius that is the text exchange between Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells and a dodgy witness, as laid out in all its glory during his interview with AC-12.

And while 98% of the people who are watching Line Of Duty are desperately trying to remember where they've seen Chief Constable Osborne before, there are also a few of us who just want to see more of Steve and Kate's meme-ladened operation updates, or find out what Jo Davidson's Pret breakfast request becomes when she's got a hangover.

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After all, we only love LOD so much because we love the characters so much. And Mother of God, do we want to see more of the meme chat between Kate and Steve.