Mother of God, last night’s episode of Line Of Duty was a genuinely thrilling ride from start to finish – but, while we can’t help but love the drama (we’re only human), many of us couldn’t help but let out a cry of actual anguish when we were hit with that horrifying cliffhanger of an ending.

Why? Well, because we love DI Kate Fleming, and we hate bent copper Ryan Pilkington. Because the last thing we saw was them locked in a terrifying standoff in an incredibly dodgy location, guns pointed squarely at one another. Because the last thing we heard was two gunshots ringing out as the screen faded to black.

Because… well, because Kate has been with LOD since the very beginning, and we can’t stand the idea that something bad may have happened to her.

Annoyingly, though, we have to wait one whole week to find out who got shot, and how badly.

In the meantime, though, Vicky McClure has sat down with her old Line Of Duty colleague, Craig Parkinson (that’s DI Matthew ‘Dot’ Cottan, to you) on his Obsessed With… podcast to chat about the fate of her character.

Refusing to dish out much hope, McClure explained: “Well you know, every episode of Line Of Duty history is terrifying, and Jed [Mercurio] is always there to serve the story, and it’s exactly what happened with Dot.

“Dot’s time came when it was time to serve the story and that’s what Jed will always do, so I don’t wanna put anything out there, but Jed serves the story.”

Hmm. It’s worth noting here that Mercurio previously hinted that McClure – as well as her co-stars, Adrian Dunbar, and Martin Compston – might not be safe this season.

“One of the things about the show is that nobody is safe and that’s what keeps the audience on the edge of their seat,” he told Hello. “I know that it would be a sad day but I think all the main cast realise that it is possible and you know, we’re mates and we talk about it and we joke about it and it’s something that no one would relish but everybody would understand.” 

Throw in the fact that Kate isn’t even working with AC-12 anymore – in fact, she’s been replaced by Shalom Brune-Franklin’s mysterious new MVP character, DC Chloe Bishop – and you have a recipe for disaster.

Then again, Kate (and her ever-changing hair) is an essential part of Line Of Duty’s makeup. And fans are finding it incredibly difficult to believe she would be killed off just like that.

In fact, they’ve since begun flooding Twitter with ‘evidence’ of her survival, which comes in the form of screenshots from an old season six trailer.

“Screengrab from #Lineofduty session 6 @BBC trailer,” wrote one. “#katefleming looks pissed, #jodavidson has her hands in the air. THIS SCENE HASN’T OCCURRED YET. #katefleming lives for at least 1 more episode. #motherofgod.”

We like to think this could be proof of Kate having survived her encounter with Ryan to fight another day.

Then again, would anyone really put it past Mercurio to include several red herrings in the trailer, just to throw us off the scent?

BBC One’s Line Of Duty returns at 9pm on 25 April.

Images: BBC