✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper plus a pair of free tickets to a London event sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • About us
  • Tickets
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Tickets
Get our exclusive content
+ choose a pair of free tickets from our edit of favourite events
TV

Line of Duty episode 4 review ★★★★★

21 Apr 19 – 21 Apr 20, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM

In Line of Duty episode 4, John Corbett (Stephen Graham) is under greater threat to keep his cover and Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) is more aggressive than ever

By Euan Franklin on 19/4/2019

1 CW reader is interested
Martin Compston and Stephen Graham in Line of Duty series 5, BBC
Martin Compston and Stephen Graham in Line of Duty series 5, BBC
Line of Duty episode 4 review 5 Line of Duty episode 4 review Euan Franklin
Jed Mercurio’s writing attracts countless theories week by week. It’s part of the fun of watching Line of Duty unfold, seeing tiny details and exploding their significance. Very often the theories are correct, with eagle-eyed viewers posting their predictions online.


What they can never predict is the tone Mercurio pulls them into. It’s difficult to know how a perilous action scene or a violent confrontation will take form, which is where Mercurio unleashes his vicious surprises.


Episode four brakes and steers into a different tone, not only raising the emotional stakes but shuddering into something close to a horror movie that feels all too real. This is series 5’s most brutal episode yet.



After the events concluding episode 3, Ted (Adrian Dunbar) is more aggressive than ever


Last week glanced into the true evils facilitated by the OCG, led by John Corbett (Stephen Graham), chiefly in their trade of sex slaves. AC-12 freed those slaves from an overlooked Print Shop.


McQueen (Rochenda Sandall) and her goons visit a man with downs syndrome who keeps an obedient eye on the Print Shop for the OCG. It’s dark in the flat, one goon is rather unpleasant. But that’s nothing compared to what they find in the freezer, so bluntly and blithely revealed. There’s no pussyfooting here: true horrors bleed into these criminals, their immorality knowing no bounds.


The tension has also never been higher, sharply fiddling with the characters’ greatest weaknesses. After the events concluding episode 3, Ted (Adrian Dunbar) is more aggressive than ever. Mercurio is careful not to create too much melodrama from Ted’s pain, with Dunbar’s emotionally tortured performance being more than enough. He’s in a genuinely fragile state we’ve rarely seen before and it’s hard to watch him break.



Ted's fling with Gill (Polly Walker) is another annoying misstep


That sadness and fear and loneliness drifts to Corbett, whose undercover guise is starting to slip. At times, it’s like Dunbar and Stephen Graham are competing in their exhibitions of upset, with Graham only just beating him. There’s another scene when Corbett phones his wife, and watching Graham’s face is like watching a tortured soul splitting in half.


It’s difficult to justify all of Corbett's courses of action, but it’s easy to understand them. It’s what makes him such a morally discordant character and one of Mercurio’s finest creations.


Ted’s fling with Gill (Polly Walker) is another annoying misstep, but it’s only a slight stumble in an otherwise impeccable episode. This week proves that Mercurio is never afraid to push his plots and characters to their darkest limits. Make sure you're prepared.


Line of Duty continues Sundays at 9pm on BBC One




What Line of Duty episode 4 review
When 21 Apr 19 – 21 Apr 20, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £n/a
Website

You might also like
Free for Members
Cinderella and An Act of God, The Vaults
Free pairs of tickets available
22 Nov 19 - 10 Dec 19

Cinderella & Act of God, The Vaults

All booked Members only

Most popular

UK Disneyland? Paramount Theme Park, Kent. Photo: Paramount
Everything you need to know about UK Disneyland, Kent's London Resort
Things to do in London this weekend: 6 – 8 December
Things to do in London this weekend: 6 – 8 December
Ring in 2020: London's Best New Year's Eve Parties
Ring in 2020: London's Best New Year’s Eve parties to book early

Editor's Picks

Josh O'Connor plays Prince Charles in The Crown season 3
Josh O'Connor interview: 'I don’t see real-life Prince Charles as my character'
Alessandro Nivola as Lee Berger in Chimerica, Channel 4
Chimerica, Channel 4 review
Beyoncé's historic Coachella performance is on Netflix now
Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, Netflix
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) greet the hungry dragons
Game of Thrones, season 8 episode 1 recap
Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 3, Amazon Prime
What to watch on TV this week
Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern in Big Little Lies season 2, Sky Atlantic
Big Little Lies season 2, Sky Atlantic review
1

Line of Duty

BBC

TV

Jed Mercurio

You might like

  • Kate Beckinsale and Mathilde Warnier in The Widow, ITV

    The Widow episode 3 & 4 review ★★★★★

  • Vicky McClure in Line of Duty series 5, BBC

    Line of Duty episode 3 review ★★★★★

  • The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, BBC

    The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, BBC. The dark American fairytale of a Hollywood Starlet

  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY
TO CONTINUE TO ENJOY CULTURE WHISPER

You’ve clicked to view the best of our content that we
save exclusively for our members.

If you liked what you saw, subscribe from just £15 and get
unlimited access to our unique culture service as well as
all of our membership benefits.

BECOME A MEMBER ×

Want a pair of free tickets every month?
Upgrade to Gold Whisper now
and save 10% with GOLD10.
Become a premium member today.

UPGRADE NOW ×