The BEST Episodes of Line of Duty
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Apr 3, 2021
Network: BBC One
A drama about the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anticorruption unit.
#1 - Breach
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 28, 2016
DS Steve Arnott is arrested on suspicion of murder but continues to protest his innocence. Does DC Kate Fleming's undercover operation hold the key to Steve's guilt and the identity of the Caddy?
8.63 
#2 - The List
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired Apr 21, 2016
AC-12's loyalties are divided when DS Steve Arnott comes under scrutiny from his colleagues. With his career in jeopardy, Arnott turns to an unlikely source for help.
8.35 
#3 - Royal Hunting Ground
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 30, 2017
While Nick Huntley faces lengthy questioning, AC-12 remain convinced of Roz's involvement.
8.29 
#4 - Episode 6
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired May 5, 2019
In a nail-biting 90-minute finale, Hastings's secrets are laid bare. Will 'H' be revealed at last?
8.22 
#5 - Episode 2
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired Mar 28, 2021
Having opened an official inquiry into DCI Jo Davidson and Operation Lighthouse, AC-12 begin to suspect a cover up. Steve and Chloe dig into Gail Vella’s controversial reporting for clues to her murder, and find links to previous AC-12 cases. Their investigation takes a shocking turn when they begin to scrutinise Jo's personal life.
8.15 
#6 - Episode 4
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 21, 2019
Tensions rise in the OCG following the events at Eastfield. With troubling questions hanging over the identity of ‘H’, suspicions mount at AC-12.
8.15 
#7 - In the Trap
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired Apr 9, 2017
As AC-12 wrestle with the new forensic evidence casting doubt over Tim Ifield, Kate is approached by another woman claiming to have been assaulted by Michael Farmer. While Steve fumes over this contradictory testimony, Kate uses her newfound respect to inveigle herself with the Trapdoor team. Meanwhile, Steve challenges Roz's husband Nick to vouch for his wife's whereabouts on the night Tim Ifield went missing. With Nick proving evasive, Steve senses a whole new angle on the investigation.
8.12 
#8 - Last Words
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired Mar 12, 2014
Lindsay fights for her life as troubling details emerge of a vicious conspiracy involving corrupt police officers. With growing evidence of links between DCC Dryden and the ambush, Hastings is under pressure to arrest his senior officer.
8.08 
#9 - Lying Nest
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired Apr 23, 2017
DCI Roz Huntley struggles to allay her husband's suspicions. AC-12 find a new angle to pursue their case against her.
8.07 
#10 - Episode 5
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired Apr 28, 2019
As the hunt for 'H' intensifies, Steve and Kate wonder if Hastings is guarding a dark secret.
8.06 
#11 - Episode 2
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired Apr 7, 2019
Kate and Steve attempt to track down a lead. A fresh police leak enables another audacious raid. Steve’s attempts to gather information put him in a dangerous situation.
8.02 
#12 - Moral Superiority
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 16, 2017
Roz's husband Nick is brought in for questioning by AC-12. But while Nick denies any involvement in Steve's attack, his suspicions about Roz mount. Meanwhile, AC-12 discover new anomalies in the forensic evidence and issue DCI Roz Huntley with a second Reg 15 notice. AC-12's case appears watertight until Roz starts dismantling their evidence with inside information of her own.
8.02 
#13 - Blood Money
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Mar 5, 2014
Following the violent attack she suffered in prison, Lindsay is granted special dispensation to visit her dying mother. Meanwhile, deputy chief constable Dryden shrugs off allegations about his relationship with Lindsay and possible links to the ambush.
8.01 
#14 - The Caddy
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Mar 19, 2014
AC12's investigation finally exposes a vicious criminal gang run from within the police. But while Steve now appears convinced of Lindsay's innocence, Kate remains determined to prove she had a role in the ambush.
7.99 
#15 - Episode 3
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired Apr 14, 2019
Corbett’s most daring plan yet requires McQueen to exploit links with corrupt police officers. AC-12 make a shocking discovery.
7.98 
#16 - The Probation
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired Jul 24, 2012
With Gates on the run, the anti-corruption team come under pressure to close the case once and for all. Arnott is forced to make some tough decisions about where his loyalties lie. Fleming and Hastings go all out to catch Gates, leading to a shattering conclusion.
7.98 
#17 - Episode 1
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired Mar 31, 2019
Following the deadly hijack of a police convoy, AC-12 target a ruthless organised crime group known to have links with corrupt officers.
7.96 
#18 - The Ambush
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Feb 12, 2014
A brutal ambush on a police convoy leaves three officers dead and a protected witness fighting for his life. AC-12 turn their spotlight on Lindsay Denton, the officer who led the convoy but escaped unscathed.
7.96 
#19 - Negative Pressure
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 14, 2016
Fresh testimony launches AC-12 back on the trail of the Caddy, a corrupt officer with links to organised crime. But new disturbing evidence suggests the Caddy may reside within AC-12.
7.96 
#20 - In the Shadow of the Truth
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired Mar 26, 2017
DCI Roz Huntley is under intense pressure from her superiors to apprehend a serial murderer after months of fruitless investigation. When another young woman is abducted, Roz is on the scene to track down and charge a 24-year-old man. But doubts around the young man's guilt lead the chief forensic investigator to ask AC-12 to investigate. Is Roz ignoring forensic evidence that might prove the young man's innocence? AC-12's Supt Hastings places DS Kate Fleming undercover inside Roz's team to dig deeper into the case. With DS Steve Arnott piling on pressure from the outside, Roz is forced to act decisively. A mother of two and wife to Nick, Roz will do anything to stop her life from unravelling.
7.96 
#21 - Monsters
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired Mar 24, 2016
Police anti-corruption unit AC12 return for another investigation. Sergeant Danny Waldron and his armed response team shoot dead a hardened criminal, but cracks soon appear in their story. Are they hiding a cold-blooded murder?
7.95 
#22 - Snake Pit
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired Apr 7, 2016
DS Steve Arnott believes there is a dark secret in Danny Waldron's past. But while DI Cottan is commended for cracking the Waldron case, the spotlight falls on Arnott's questionable conduct in a previous enquiry.
7.91 
#23 - Who Sows the Wind
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired Apr 2, 2017
A dismembered body is discovered, and worries grow when DCI Roz Huntley fails to report for duty. AC-12 crank up their investigation into Operation Trapdoor, concerned that Michael Farmer will go to jail for crimes he didn't commit. With suspicions that Roz may have withheld crucial evidence, a new DCI is drafted in to run Operation Trapdoor. Kate makes progress in her undercover role, but AC-12's investigation falters when they realise that their main informant, forensic investigator Tim Ifield, has also gone missing.
7.90 
#24 - Behind Bars
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Feb 26, 2014
Lindsay is denied bail and finds herself targeted in prison. Growing increasingly desperate, she tells Kate about a relationship with an executive police officer and her theory of why she is being framed.
7.89 
#25 - Terror
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Jul 17, 2012
Desperate for proof of Gates's corruption, Fleming pushes her relationship with him to the limit. But her behaviour causes Morton to question if she might not be such a loyal colleague after all.
7.88