Line Of Duty series six continued tonight with more intriguing twists and turns, but fans were on tenterhooks as Ryan Pilkington made a dramatic return.
Ryan (played by Gregory Piper) has been a villain throughout the whole of Line Of Duty’s five-series run.
And now he’s back.
But who is he and how does he fit into the Line Of Duty universe?
Where did Line Of Duty fans first see Ryan Pilkington?
Ryan had a tough upbringing on the Borogrove Estate in Line Of Duty’s fictional Midlands city.
With his mother and father absent, it didn’t take long until young Ryan was recruited by gangster Tommy Hunter in series one.
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Ryan’s job in Hunter’s gang was to steal mobile phones and act as a courier.
The mobile phones were then reconstituted as burner phones, so Hunter could give them to those he was blackmailing and issue his demands.
What trouble did Ryan Pilkington get into in series one of Line Of Duty?
An easier question would be: what trouble didn’t Ryan get into in series one?
To say that he was in the thick of it would be an understatement.
First, he delivered a burner phone to dealer Wesley Duke on the estate and, on instruction from Hunter, collected his drugs.
After a brush with the law, and being chased by PCs Karen Larkin and Simon Bannerjee, he threw the drugs over a fence.
To save face, he then told Hunter that Duke refused to give up his drugs. Duke later ended up dead.
What is Ryan’s connection with Terry Boyle?
Ryan and his teenage gang pals Carly and Dean visited Terry’s apartment in series one, and began to terrorise him.
Noticing how big his freezer was, and because of Terry’s learning difficulties and unsuspecting nature, he decided that his apartment would be the perfect place to hide Jackie Laverty’s body.
Along with Miroslav and Lisa McQueen, he took a visit Terry’s apartment once again in series five to demand images on a phone, showing Steve Arnott and the print business opposite.
Has Kate Fleming seen him before?
Yes, so it’s no wonder Kate wonders where she’s seen him before.
In series one, Ryan was involved in the kidnap and torture of both Tony Gates and Steve Arnott.
At the end of the series, Ryan was apprehended by Tony Gates and subsequently arrested by Larkin and Bannerjee.
He was then taken in for questioning and was interrogated by Kate and a social worker.
Under questioning, he admitted he stole phones for Hunter.
He was returned to the estate without charge.
Where did we last see Ryan?
Ryan shocked fans when he turned up in series five.
Now a grown man, his role in the OCG increased.
He was now a cold-blooded killer, and viewers were horrified as he and Lee Banks took bent copper Maneet Bindra to a quayside.
With Ryan holding her down, Banks slit her throat.
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We also saw Ryan take out John Corbett after his cover was blown. He used the same grisly method of killing to get rid of John.
The last viewers saw of Ryan was at a police college, where he said he wanted “to help people”.
In a passing out ceremony, fans saw him become a bona fide member of the police.
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