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Movies & TV

06th Apr 2021

Line of Duty fans realise they’ve seen that prison guard before

Charlie Herbert

A familiar face, if not a very friendly one.

Eagle-eyed Line of Duty fans have spotted the reappearance of a familiar prison guard from a previous series of the BBC drama. And, shock, she’s a bent copper.

Before going any further, if it wasn’t already clear: spoiler warning.

In Sunday’s episode, Farida Jatri, the character who first raised suspicions about the behaviour of DCI Davidson, is called in for questioning by AC-12. However, the prison guard who goes to collect her breaks Jatri’s wrist so that she has to go to the prison hospital and cannot attend the interview.

This wasn’t the first time that the guard in question, Alison Merchant, had appeared in the show. It also wasn’t the first time that she’d been involved in some pretty grim acts.

Pearson appeared in the second season of the show, when she attacked Lindsay Denton to stop her talking to Superintendent Hastings and company. Back then, as you may recall, she poured boiling water on Denton’s hands and mixed her food with faeces. A real good egg.

Merchant had not been seen again in the show until Sunday night’s episode and it now seems clear she’s another bent copper and part of the pesky OCG that have been making trouble for Steve Arnott, Kate Fleming and Ted Hastings over the past few years.

It’s just another of a number of references and call-backs to previous series that we’ve seen since the show’s return. After a slow-burner of a start as pieces were put in place, based on the last episode it looks like the scene has now been set for an explosive storyline, which could see a number of strands and storylines come together and reach their conclusion.

Mother of God, we can’t wait.