Line of Duty viewers think DC Chloe Bishop’s surprise link to former character will be revealed in episode 7

Fans are convinced bombshell will be revealed in final episode

Line of Duty fans are convinced one of the series six characters has a link to an earlier character.

The hit BBC drama’s latest run is drawing to a close with its seventh instalment on Sunday (2 May), and viewers are preparing for a handful of twists and turns to go down before the credits roll.

While the main reveal is expected to be the identity of “the fourth man”, the nickname given to the final copper who is a member of the corrupt syndicate known as “H”, some fans think DC Chloe Bishop (Shalom Brune-Franklin) will be at the centre of another shock.

Chloe was introduced in the latest series as AC-12’s newest recruit, replacing DI Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), who has been working alongside DS Joanne Davidson (Kelly Macdonald) at MIT.

The character has quietly shown she is just as capable as Kate throughout the past few episodes, uncovering the main lead which led AC-12 to the presumed dead former Detective Chief Inspector Marcus Thurwell (James Nesbitt) – now one of the leading suspects to be “the fourth man”.

Earlier this series, some viewers noticed that Chloe shares a name with a character seen in the series when they were much younger – namely Chloe Gates, the daughter of Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates.

Tony was the first ever copper viewers saw under AC-12 investigation in the show’s first series back in 2012. He was played by Lennie James.

Tony had two daughters with his wife Jools (Kate Ashfield) – one was named Natalie, and the other was named Chloe.

Fans have worked out that, if it’s the same Chloe as Tony’s daughter, then she would be approximately the same age as DS Chloe Bishop.

It could be revealed that, after Gates died “in the line of duty”, she took her mother’s maiden name or her stepfather’s surname.

Lennie James in the first series of ‘Line of Duty’ (BBC)

Of course, viewers will remember that Gates dying in the line of duty is what he asked DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) to tell his family; he died by suicide in the final episode of series one after walking in front of a lorry.

Regardless of whether this comes to fruition, many fans think Chloe will be at the centre of some form of revelation – with some believing she could be corrupt, just like PC Ryan Pilkington (Gregory Piper).

Others think she learned vital information alongside Steve via Jimmy Lakewell (Patrick Baladi) in the convoy shootout back in episode four.

Time will tell.

Line of Duty concludes its latest series at 9pm on BBC One.