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Who is Line of Duty's DCI Marcus Thurwell? Meet James Nesbitt's new character

19 April 2021, 09:09

Marcus Thurwell made his debut on Line of Duty. Picture: BBC

Line Of Duty series 6: James Nesbitt has joined the cast as bent copper Marcus Thurwell.

Line of Duty fans were left shocked by another dramatic episode of the series on Sunday night.

And as well as finally finding out who Joanne Davidson is related to, viewers were introduced to brand new character DCI Marcus Thurwell.

James Nesbitt has taken on the surprise new role, whose character is suspected to have something to do with the murder of investigative reporter Gail Vella.

But what do we know about Marcus Thurwell?

Line of Duty | Series 6 | Trailer

Who is Line of Duty's DCI Marcus Thurwell?

Marcus Thurwell is a retired cop who is now living abroad and has come to the attention of Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure).

While we don’t know much about Marcus, he is seemingly connected to the child sex crime ring which was being investigated as part of Operation Pear Tree.

While Steve was looking into the child exploitation in Sandsview Boys Home, Marcus’ name came up in relation to former Chief Superintendent Patrick Fairbank, who was charged for his role in the crime.

James Nesbitt is playing bent copper Marcus Thurwell in Line of Duty. Picture: BBC

Journalist Gail was investigating the lack of coverage of these crimes and even confronted the police and crime commissioner about it before her murder.

Marcus took early retirement in 2015, and fled the UK, so the hunt is on to track him down and find out his role in dodgy dealings.

What else has James Nesbitt been in?

James Nesbitt OBE was born 15 January 1965 in Northern Ireland and has had a long career in acting.

He got his breakthrough television role playing Adam Williams in Cold Feet between 1997–2003 and reprised his role in 2016.

James Nesbitt played Tony Hughes in BBC's The Missing. Picture: BBC

TV fans will also recognise James for playing Tony Hughes in BBC One drama series The Missing, while he recently bagged the role of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Brannick in police drama series, Bloodlands.

Other film credits include Waking Ned, Jekyll, Five Minutes of Heaven and The Hobbit film series.

Earlier this year, James joked that he was annoyed Line of Duty writer Jed Mercurio had never considered him for a role in the series.

He told RadioTimes: “I said, ‘Come on, Jed, when are we going to get a chance to work together?’

“Even though Line of Duty had been shot here for years I was never considered for it, which has always slightly galled me.”

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