Line Of Duty Ian Buckells actor Nigel Boyle defends finale and says ‘you can’t end every series with a big shoot-out’

LINE Of Duty actor Nigel Boyle has defended the series six finale saying “you can’t end every series with a big shoot-out”.

The 41-year-old actor – who plays DSU Ian Buckells – addressed fans’ “disappointment” after the big ‘H’ reveal last night.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD

During the highly anticipated finale viewers were told actually bungling Buckells had been helping to lead a network of corrupt coppers in collusion with the OCG.

He told BBC Breakfast: “The fans have been brilliant, so many people have invested so much.

“There’s always going to be some element of disappointment. You can’t have every series with a big shoot out and ‘urgent exit required’. Sometimes a subtler message is more important.”

He added: “If your expectations are somewhere, you’re setting yourself up sometimes for disappointment.

“That’s not to say that all the fans are doing that – [but] everyone’s got their own ideas and theories about how something’s going to pan out, and if everyone does that then someone’s not going to be happy somewhere along the line.”

Nigel said he had been sitting on the secret for a long time, only telling his wife Lainy that he was ‘The Fourth Man’.

He said: “Even if you tell someone you trust with your life, they might tell someone they trust with their life and then suddenly more and more people know!

“When friends have asked me who H is I’ve just said there isn’t an H!”

A seventh series of the hit drama has not yet been announced.

Vicky McClure, who plays DI Kate Fleming in the series, said in a tweet on Sunday the support for the programme “has been unreal”.

She added: “It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to be a part of Line Of Duty, not just because of the success of the show but the life long friendships we’ve all gained.”

Her co-star Martin Compston added on Twitter he hoped the programme will “deliver an ending you all deserve”.