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Boris Johnson ‘interrogated by AC-12’ in Line of Duty parody

Clips of Johnson were spliced with footage from the hit crime drama

Sam Moore
Wednesday 19 January 2022 10:00 GMT
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Boris Johnson interrogated by AC-12 in Line of Duty parody

Boris Johnson has been interrogated by AC-12 over his role in the Downing Streetparty scandal.

In a spoof video made by Clips for Donkeys, extracts of the Prime Minister addressing the public are juxtaposed with snippets from Line of Duty to make it look as if he is being questioned for attending a gathering that many believe was against the law.

Johnson has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks for a series of allegations about past social gatherings among government staffers that were held in contravention of lockdown rules.

At the heart of the recent scandal is a leaked email sent by an aide, inviting staffers to “bring your own booze” to the event which Johnson has claimed was work-related.

In the viral clip, which was described by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio as “brilliant”, Johnson is grilled by the characters played by Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston.

The video sees Ted Hastings, played by Dunbar, tell Johnson “your corruption was mistaken for incompetence” with a clip of Johnson from a press conference saying he believed the party to be a “work event” serving as his answer.

Also included in the video is a mock evidence board that features a picture of Johnson enjoying cheese and wine in the garden of 10 Downing Street with his wife and several colleagues.

The satire blasting the government was warmly received on Twitter, with one user saying “If the Met won’t do it, at least we can always rely on AC-12” – in reference to the police’s recent affirmation that they would not be investigating the alleged lockdown-defying gatherings.

Another comment also made reference to plans formed by the government to axe the BBC’s licence fee: “If [culture secretary Nadine Dorries] didn’t have it in for Line of Duty before. She will now...”

Other reactions to the video described it as “hilarious”, “awesome” and “superb”.

One user also joked: “The new series of Line of Duty has a really evil villain. His crime syndicate has killed, cheated, lied, but goes down for a minor offense, kind of a Al Capone re-telling for modern Britain.”

While Johnson has apologised for attending the party, he has repeatedly claimed that he thought it to be a “work event”.

He has been called on to resign by Labour leader Keir Starmer and also some of his own MPs.

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