Line of Duty has become one of the BBC's most popular drama series ever, by subverting expectations and delivering killer twists – sometimes literally.

But the surprising plot turns that have aired across the show's five series are nothing compared to some of the wild choices that writer and creator Jed Mercurio considered then discarded.

These are the LoD stories that might have been.

1. Tony Gates – back from the dead

World Productions/Ed Miller BBC

The show's first guest lead, compromised copper DCI Tony Gates (Lennie James), memorably threw himself in front of a lorry when his misdeeds caught up with him. But actor James recently told Digital Spy that Mercurio once planned to bring Gates back.

"I was filming Critical [a Sky medical thriller, also written by Mercurio, from 2015] and he came in one day and said, 'I've just written a scene where Tony Gates comes back'," James explained.

The actor was thrilled to be making his LoD comeback, until Mercurio returned to set the next day and said he'd scrapped Gates' surprise return because, in his own words, "it was rubbish".

Presumably, Gates would have returned via archive footage or flashback, a la Craig Parkinson's 'Dot' Cottan, rather than having his demise undone. But we can't be sure...

2. Danny Waldron survives

BBC

The murder of series three's apparent antagonist Sergeant Danny Waldron (Daniel Mays) sent shockwaves coursing through the entire series. But it almost didn't happen at all...

"I'd actually delivered the first script – I think it had already gone to the BBC and I was working on the second script," Mercurio told Digital Spy back in 2016. "In the version of the first script I'd delivered, Danny's character survived – that incident didn't happen, something else happened.



"I just had this feeling that we needed to do more with the end of that episode, so that's when – unilaterally – I rewrote the ending and sent it to the team. I just said, 'I've tweaked the script, tell me what you think' and they read it and everybody was massively shocked, so it felt like that's what we should do."

Episode 3.1 originally closed with a different twist, with Danny executing his subordinate PC Hari Bains (Arsher Ali). "Danny killed Hari," Mercurio confirmed. "Danny isolated Hari, shot him and then started to develop a cover story to blame it on an outside force."

3. Lindsay Denton kills The Caddy

BBC

The dramatic forks in the road for Line of Duty's third series don't stop there. One of the 2016 run's most stunning moments – Lindsay Denton's murder at the hands of dirty 'Dot' – was very nearly flipped on its head.

"It seemed like the obvious thing to do – to put those two characters into a combustible situation and only one of them would survive it," said Mercurio. "But at that point, we weren't sure which way it would go.

"One option was that Keeley Hawes' character would actually unmask The Caddy – and then another option would be that Dot would kill Denton."

4. Steve Arnott murdered by 'Dot'

World Productions BBC

But wait, there's more! Mercurio revealed that there were "a number of options" as to how the pulse-pounding climax to series three, episode five might play out – in one potential ending, DS Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) met his maker.

"There was one [ending] that involved Steve," Mercurio confirmed. "Potentially Steve might be the victim – and then Dot blames it on Denton. So we talked about a number of different things and all of them had their merits. In the end, we settled on the one that we thought was the strongest."

Explaining why he didn't go the route of having 'Dot' kill Steve and frame Denton, Mercurio would later explain: "The problem with that was, it landed Lindsay back where she was at the end of series two – she just goes to prison again. There were all kinds of reasons why it felt too circular."

5. Balaclava Man is... Jamie?

BBC

Before 'Who is H?', there was 'Who is Balaclava Man?', with LoD fans speculating wildly about the identity of the man who put Steve in the hospital.

In the end, the masked marauder was revealed to be just a random thug – one of a number in league with the Organised Crime Group.

But it could have been very different. Mercurio revealed in 2017 that he considered a number of alternate endings to the plot, including one that revealed a major character to be BM.

"There was a possibility that Jamie [AC-12's new recruit, played by Royce Pierreson] would be revealed as Balaclava Man," he explained.

Instead, Jamie went rogue after being falsely accused of leaking sensitive AC-12 intel, partnering with corrupt ACC Hilton (Paul Higgins) and ending up in cuffs.

6. Roz Huntley escapes justice

World Productions / BBC / Bernard Walsh

Thandie Newton's Roz was relentless in her pursuit of the truth and it ended up taking her down a dark path.

Originally an honest cop, her accidental murder of Tim Ifield (Jason Watkins) and subsequent attempts to cover up the crime saw Roz lose her freedom... and her left arm.

Prior to her conviction, though, Huntley's hapless husband Nick was arrested on suspicion of killing Tim, and Mercurio briefly considered letting Newton's character get away with it.

"There was a possibility that... Roz got away with it and Nick was convicted," he confirmed. "There were any numbers of things that we were considering. But in the end, we went for the one that was the most conclusive and close-ended for Roz's story."

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