Line of Duty fans were left gobsmacked on Sunday’s episode of Line of Duty as character Ryan Pilkington made his return.
Ryan came face-to-face with DI Fleming as he was called in to replace Farida Jatri after she asked to switch departments.
Viewers were first re-introduced to Ryan as a police officer as he gave DCI Davidson (Kelly Macdonald) and DI Fleming an update on the crime scene of where Carl Banks’s body was found.
He told Davidson: “Good news mam, the search team has found a knife.”
DI Davidson then introduced Kate Fleming and Ryan, telling Kate Ryan was Farida’s replacement.
As Kate and Davidson walked away from Ryan, Kate shot a look back at him, appearing to recognise him.
She later asked him at the police station if they’d “worked together before” as it was “bugging” her as she recognised him.
Ryan told her that unless she’d undertaken a talk at the student college, (which she hadn’t), he’d never seen her before.
Upon seeing his return, one fans said: “I screeched when Ryan appeared on the screen!”
While another continued: “Ryan’s back.”
A third added: “Wow, Ryan is all grown up!’
Ryan (played by Gregory Piper) first appeared on the programme back in series one where he was interviewed over his connection with the balaclava gang.
Ryan’s job involved delivering “burner phones” and collecting drugs while driving around on his BMX wife.
His involvement with crime saw him interviewed by DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure).
He then wasn’t seen again until series five where it was revealed his nefarious ways had got worse and he was an affiliated member of an organised crime gang (OCG).
Ryan’s deeper dive into the world of crime saw him take the life of John Corbett (Stephen Graham) after the undercover copper fell into the OCG’s trap.
It was then revealed in the next episode that Ryan was taking exams to secure a normal job, much to the surprise of viewers.
(Image: BBC)
It transpired that Ryan’s exams were for him to join the police force.
And he did a stellar job in the interview, as he told recruiters: “Where I grew up, it was easy to fall in with the wrong crowd. My mum, she was off her face on drink and drugs a lot of the time.
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“The person who made me see another way and to be a useful member of society is a police officer called PC Simon Bannerjee. He’s the reason why I wanted to become a police officer too. To help people.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
