Is Thandie Newton’s character corrupt and was she about to be chopped up by a chainsaw? 12 questions we need answering in tonight’s Line Of Duty, by Jim Shelley

Published: 08:16 BST, 2 April 2017 | Updated: 08:49 BST, 2 April 2017

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Line Of Duty may be the best cop show on British television but is, last week’s return reminded us, two forms of torture: the watching and the waiting.

Millions of viewers happily subjected themselves to the opening episode’s trademark nail-biting tension, heart-racing plot twists, and frankly mind-blowing/bonkers finale.

But after the anticipation and adrenaline is afterwards we are then left with the comedown: confusion and several key questions.

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'Absolutely bonkers': Viewers were left thinking after last week's 'heart-racing plot twist' on Line of Duty - ‘Has the move to BBC1 turned Line Of Duty into Dexter?’

The first of these, as with the previous three series, was: ‘what the hell was going on?!’

A less generous interpretation could also have been: ‘has the move to BBC1 turned Line Of Duty into Dexter?’

Tonight the torture of waiting seven days for explanations is finally over.

Here are 12 questions about Episode One that we want answering in Episode Two - but probably won’t be...

Left wondering: Here are 12 questions about Episode One that we want answering in Episode Two - but probably won’t be

1. Is Tim Ifield going to chop Thandie Newton’s head off with a chainsaw – as he was about to just as she opened her eyes?

2. How could a leading forensics expert like Ifield not have realised DCI Roz Huntley (Newton) was not actually dead and just left her on his kitchen floor to go and buy the equipment for disposing of her body?

3. Is Tim definitely the killer ‘Balaclava Man’, as he appeared to be but can’t be (as it surely wouldn’t be revealed in the first episode)? Could he in fact be a weird forensics vigilante who’s seen too many boxed sets of Dexter?

2. How could a leading forensics expert like Ifield not have realised DCI Roz Huntley (Newton) was not actually dead?

3. Is Tim definitely the killer ‘Balaclava Man’, as he appeared to be but can’t be (as it surely wouldn’t be revealed in the first episode)?

4. If Ifield is NOT ‘Balaclava Man’ why did he appear to be targeting a waitress identical to the previous victim Hana, why did he have a balaclava like the killer, and why was he about to cut up DCI Huntley with a chainsaw?

5. If Ifield IS the killer why did bring the flaws in the case to AC-12 given that if Michael Farmer was convicted for the murders it would have allowed Ifield to carry on killing?

6. Was DCI Huntley corrupt or the fallguy (fallgirl?) for a larger conspiracy? And is the actor playing ACC Hilton deliberately badly?

4. If Ifield is NOT ‘Balaclava Man’ why did he appear to be targeting a waitress identical to the previous victim Hana?

5. If Ifield IS the killer why did bring the flaws in the case to AC-12 given that if Michael Farmer was convicted for the murders it would have allowed Ifield to carry on killing?

7. If DCI Huntley DIDN’T frame Michael Farmer why did she ignore all the forensic evidence exonerating him, why did she interfere with Kate Fleming’s questions when she interviewed Farmer in prison?

8. Why didn’t DCI Huntley or any of her team recognise Kate Fleming as an undercover officer from AC-12 when she had just won a highly publicised commendation?

8. Why didn’t DCI Huntley or any of her team recognise Kate Fleming as an undercover officer from AC-12 when she had just won a highly publicised commendation and promotion for her work on The Caddy case?

9. Where was Roz Huntley’s husband during the raid on Michael Farmer’s home when he was supposed to be with the Huntleys' children and why was there a shot of the Huntleys’ car boot that looked eerily similar to the one that Hana was shoved into when she was abducted? And what was in the mystery bag in their boot?

9. Where was Roz Huntley’s husband during the raid on Michael Farmer’s home?

12. What is going on with Michael Farmer’s strange solicitor - the useless shambles who sat in Farmer’s police interview?

10. Is it suspicious that the actor playing Nick Huntley (Lee Ingleby) would have such a minor role?

11. Who does the Size 10 shoe print (thought to be from whoever planted the evidence in Michael Farmer’s home) belong to? Do Tim Ifield or Nick Huntley wear a Size 10? Did Roz Huntley or could she have planted it wearing DELIBERATELY LARGE SHOES?

12. What is going on with Michael Farmer’s strange solicitor - the useless shambles who sat in Farmer’s police interview looking like a dosser who had fallen asleep? Was he a wrong ‘un or just a scene-stealing actor building up his part?