Wholeheartedly agree with this post. That wasn't an attempt to finish him off for her own sake, it was an attempt at mercy killing - she couldn't leave him lying there, suffering a slow death like some poor dog in the middle of the road. Worth remembering as well there were no witnesses there, so no need whatsoever to "appear" being upset.
Mercy killing?
First she gets him to "confess" on tape - pretty much the "version" of the confession that she wanted - then she proceeds to finish him off.
Let's not forget she'd called the police and knew "help" was on it's way.
I find it quite a stretch to consider it a mercy killing.
Just watched all 5 episodes once more as upon reading much of this thread, felt I must be watching a different programme or seeing and hearing things that is completely at odds to some posters. Glad to say it is as I thought and without some almost daft or ridiculous change in direction is rushed through in the finale, then Dryden, not Denton will get his just deserts.
It's taken just about all the series to finally expose Dryden and whilst he may suggest Denton is deceitful and to be wary of her, he may not know of her pregnancy and termination and thus would have surely thrown this in as evidence of motive to set him up. Arnott now will question if he should reconsider his belief in Denton, but it may well be she had accepted the end of the affair and was just doing her job and keeping her head down.
I don't think Denton was linked to Prasad or Cole and the photos found in Prasad's car I doubt were taken by anyone else than him, to be used as leverage if things turned against him.
The only odd and little explained role is Richard Ackers, who had £20k or so, seperate from his wife and may have been giving Dryden the information his wife was getting from Tommy and his intentions, which brought about the plan and ambush.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
Maybe Tommy? He was getting tired of being in witness protection and arranged for himself to be publicly killed off so he could assume a new identity for himself and no longer be in debt to the police.
Perhaps Akers was paid to go along with it by smuggling another victim into the car - supposedly Tommy. She got cold feet and tried to ring Fleming for help. They killed her because they knew she couldn't be trusted and the other policemen in her car were just in the way.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
Maybe Tommy? He was getting tired of being in witness protection and arranged for himself to be publicly killed off so he could assume a new identity for himself and no longer be in debt to the police.
Perhaps Akers was paid to go along with it by smuggling another victim into the car - supposedly Tommy. She got cold feet and tried to ring Fleming for help. They killed her because they knew she couldn't be trusted and the other policemen in her car were just in the way.
Hmm, not liking this as much as the rest of your theory (which is so good that I suspect might be spot on).
How about, Akers was in on it being Tommy, and was getting paid accordingly, but it wasn't part of the deal for her to die too - she looked shocked to me when she realised what was about to happen to her Dryden also looked at the wreckage with a look which might translate as 'it wasn't supposed to be like this'.
So... must be Les Hargreaves. And its never been made clear why Hargreaves seems to be almost permanently glued to Dryden.
First she gets him to "confess" on tape - pretty much the "version" of the confession that she wanted - then she proceeds to finish him off.
Let's not forget she'd called the police and knew "help" was on it's way.
I find it quite a stretch to consider it a mercy killing.
She wanted to finish him off (The Asian) so that he could not retract his story as recorded by her. If he was alive and able to speak and contradict the info it may not go well for her, the tape would be seen as having been obtained under extreme duress and inadmissible.
She wanted to finish him off (The Asian) so that he could not retract his story as recorded by her. If he was alive and able to speak and contradict the info it may not go well for her, the tape would be seen as having been obtained under extreme duress and inadmissible.
I have to admit to not being quite sure about this. She did look as though she was struggling to cope with his suffering. She had cried at all deaths so far - well, except for Cole's. She'll cry if she finds out whats happened to Carly.
If she was in on it with the 2 bent policemen why, when she was hiding in the woods, and they persuaded her to come out because they were police did she come out. It certainly looked like she never knew who they were, she came out because she saw their badges.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
If that's the case then how did Denton plant the tracker device in Aker's car ? It was stated that it was an irrelevance what route she took the convoy, the attack was inevitable.
If that's the case then how did Denton plant the tracker device in Aker's car ? It was stated that it was an irrelevance what route she took the convoy, the attack was inevitable.
It's a very mistaken assumption by Arnott. The ambush was head on, therefore they would have to know in advance the exact route in order to be in the right position. The tracker would tell them how far away they were from the ambush point and when to expect them.
If that's the case then how did Denton plant the tracker device in Aker's car ? It was stated that it was an irrelevance what route she took the convoy, the attack was inevitable.
There's no requirement for Denton to have done it. The most likely thing is for Akers to have done it.
The head on collision was the easiest one to get the right outcome and the easiest one to arrange (that doesn't mean I agree nomd2king is right - yet !)
There's no requirement for Denton to have done it. The most likely thing is for Akers to have done it.
The head on collision was the easiest one to get the right outcome and the easiest one to arrange (that doesn't mean I agree nomd2king is right - yet !)
I would like to know where the ambush car would have been sat, so that once they knew the final, as yet supposedly unknown route, they could face it head on. If it was going to be on the short section of 2 roads(A4 & Crown Avenue) that were parallel to each other, that would work. They could sit at the other end of the 2 roads and when they knew which one, head down it. The ambush took place past that point. In addition, if the ambush had taken place on a wider road, ie not the narrow Long Lane, isn't there the risk that the convoy could have easily gone around the oncoming ambush car? So much had been made about the route within the story, it seems unlikely that all this would have been overlooked by the writer.
It's a very mistaken assumption by Arnott. The ambush was head on, therefore they would have to know in advance the exact route in order to be in the right position.
Not so. If they were originally based at the destination they could move to meet Denton's car head on once they knew which of several routes she was on with her options narrowing as she approached the destination.
Call me stupid, but having found a tracking device wouldn't you examine it and perform various enquiries with the aim of detecting where it came from, where its been downloaded, and stuff like that?
I have to admit to not being quite sure about this. She did look as though she was struggling to cope with his suffering. She had cried at all deaths so far - well, except for Cole's. She'll cry if she finds out whats happened to Carly.
She already knows. "A nobody when she was alive and a nobody when she is dead" or words to that effect.
During Drydens' interview, the Chief Constable of East Midlands, Barry Lightwater was call on to sit in. (Episode4)
Did anyone else notice when Hastings told Dryden that this officer was coming he was shocked and said "Barry Lightwater is coming here?"
I wonder if he was shocked since he knew this was the boss of the group who have incriminating evidence against Dryden (ie young girls when he was head of vice) and who have been pulling all the strings? He obviously knows the guy.
And agree with the poster who asked questions about the tracker -- of course they would have tried to find out everything about it, but the chief of the opposite team to Arnott would not willingly share that information.
During Drydens' interview, the Chief Constable of East Midlands, Barry Lightwater was call on to sit in. (Episode4)
Did anyone else notice when Hastings told Dryden that this officer was coming he was shocked and said "Barry Lightwater is coming here?"
I wonder if he was shocked since he knew this was the boss of the group who have incriminating evidence against Dryden (ie young girls when he was head of vice) and who have been pulling all the strings? He obviously knows the guy.
And agree with the poster who asked questions about the tracker -- of course they would have tried to find out everything about it, but the chief of the opposite team to Arnott would not willingly share that information.
He was shocked because he realised that wasn't going to be a simple cooperation interview, he clocked that he was going to be questioned. Officers when being interrogated by AC12 (or similar dept) have the right to be questioned by an officer one rank above theirs. As Hastings stated, in that case wasn't possible because Dryden is the most senior officer in that regional force, hence another officer of the same rank as his but from another force being called in. Hope that helps.
Edit:
PS: If I watched 5 episodes to come to the conclusion in the sixth that, Barry Lightwater, a character that came out of nowhere, is going to be the big mastermind behind it all, I would be furious. Also, Jed Mercurio stated on his interview to Radio 4 that it's not going to be one of the minor characters the person behind the ambush.
Here's my theory. Denton has been involved from the off. She was paid to lead Aker's car into the ambush and agreed to take part because of cash flow problems and in her slightly skewed view of moral justice, Tommy deserved to get killed.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
I like your theory and I've always said that she didn't chose Carly's case by chance when she was transferred to Missing Persons. If she didn't know the full extent of her case, at least she had a good idea where it would lead.
I don't think Denton was linked to Prasad or Cole and the photos found in Prasad's car I doubt were taken by anyone else than him, to be used as leverage if things turned against him. .
If that's the case then why did Prasad and Cole go to such lengths and risk by abducting Denton from the prison van, then having driven her to the car park they tortured her and threatened to kill her because they believed she grassed them? If she was not involved (ambush or killing of Carly Kirk) they'd have known that Their actions seem to suggest otherwise, else their behaviour makes no sense.
He was shocked because he realised that wasn't going to be a simple cooperation interview, he clocked that he was going to be questioned. Officers when being interrogated by AC12 (or similar dept) have the right to be questioned by an officer one rank above theirs. As Hastings stated, in that case wasn't possible because Dryden is the most senior officer in that regional force, hence another officer of the same rank as his but from another force being called in. Hope that helps.
Edit:
PS: If I watched 5 episodes to come to the conclusion in the sixth that, Barry Lightwater, a character that came out of nowhere, is going to be the big mastermind behind it all, I would be furious. Also, Jed Mercurio stated on his interview to Radio 4 that it's not going to be one of the minor characters the person behind the ambush.
What an interesting reply, thank you.
Yes, he has said elsewhere that it will not be a minor character behind it, he is trying to portray corruption at the highest levels.
So who else can it be apart from Dryden? Denton is not high enough and neither then are Hastings, Les Hargreaves, or any of the others we know.
He did show a rather nasty side of himself in the interview, or is that a red herring ?
If she was in on it with the 2 bent policemen why, when she was hiding in the woods, and they persuaded her to come out because they were police did she come out. It certainly looked like she never knew who they were, she came out because she saw their badges.
Denton may never have met them previously but she could have used an intermediary to do the legwork, eg plant the tracker device, recruited Prasad and Cole from Vice.as the hitmen They certainly knew who she was and believed that she grassed on them implying that she must have been involved.
Could there have been a link between Dot and Denton, as he certainly would have known about WP arrangements and the cops in Vice?
Comments
First she gets him to "confess" on tape - pretty much the "version" of the confession that she wanted - then she proceeds to finish him off.
Let's not forget she'd called the police and knew "help" was on it's way.
I find it quite a stretch to consider it a mercy killing.
It's taken just about all the series to finally expose Dryden and whilst he may suggest Denton is deceitful and to be wary of her, he may not know of her pregnancy and termination and thus would have surely thrown this in as evidence of motive to set him up. Arnott now will question if he should reconsider his belief in Denton, but it may well be she had accepted the end of the affair and was just doing her job and keeping her head down.
I don't think Denton was linked to Prasad or Cole and the photos found in Prasad's car I doubt were taken by anyone else than him, to be used as leverage if things turned against him.
The only odd and little explained role is Richard Ackers, who had £20k or so, seperate from his wife and may have been giving Dryden the information his wife was getting from Tommy and his intentions, which brought about the plan and ambush.
It's possible that Dryden put her up to it too - I don't think he's the mastermind but it's likely he was being leaned on by the baddies as they needed his cooperation to set up the ambush. He thought Denton could be trusted to carry out the job. Between the two of them, they arranged for her to be on duty that night and for him to be the only one who was available to authorise the job.
But getting three policemen killed too was never part of the deal as it was initially put to Denton (or Dryden) and she's been trying to distance herself and squirm her way out of it all ever since. In her view, she was set up.
She had something else on the people who paid her though as she knew (perhaps through Dryden) that they had done something to Carly. Investigating Carly's disappearance was her way of trying to turn the tables - like she turned the tables on AC12 too by investigating them at the same time.
Whoa.........I like it!
Who do you think is the man at the top?
and any theory on Akers and Mr Akers?
Yes, I like that theory.......
Maybe Tommy? He was getting tired of being in witness protection and arranged for himself to be publicly killed off so he could assume a new identity for himself and no longer be in debt to the police.
Perhaps Akers was paid to go along with it by smuggling another victim into the car - supposedly Tommy. She got cold feet and tried to ring Fleming for help. They killed her because they knew she couldn't be trusted and the other policemen in her car were just in the way.
This would all make sense to the series yeah
Hmm, not liking this as much as the rest of your theory (which is so good that I suspect might be spot on).
How about, Akers was in on it being Tommy, and was getting paid accordingly, but it wasn't part of the deal for her to die too - she looked shocked to me when she realised what was about to happen to her Dryden also looked at the wreckage with a look which might translate as 'it wasn't supposed to be like this'.
So... must be Les Hargreaves. And its never been made clear why Hargreaves seems to be almost permanently glued to Dryden.
She wanted to finish him off (The Asian) so that he could not retract his story as recorded by her. If he was alive and able to speak and contradict the info it may not go well for her, the tape would be seen as having been obtained under extreme duress and inadmissible.
I have to admit to not being quite sure about this. She did look as though she was struggling to cope with his suffering. She had cried at all deaths so far - well, except for Cole's. She'll cry if she finds out whats happened to Carly.
If that's the case then how did Denton plant the tracker device in Aker's car ? It was stated that it was an irrelevance what route she took the convoy, the attack was inevitable.
The head on collision was the easiest one to get the right outcome and the easiest one to arrange (that doesn't mean I agree nomd2king is right - yet !)
She already knows. "A nobody when she was alive and a nobody when she is dead" or words to that effect.
Did anyone else notice when Hastings told Dryden that this officer was coming he was shocked and said "Barry Lightwater is coming here?"
I wonder if he was shocked since he knew this was the boss of the group who have incriminating evidence against Dryden (ie young girls when he was head of vice) and who have been pulling all the strings? He obviously knows the guy.
And agree with the poster who asked questions about the tracker -- of course they would have tried to find out everything about it, but the chief of the opposite team to Arnott would not willingly share that information.
He was shocked because he realised that wasn't going to be a simple cooperation interview, he clocked that he was going to be questioned. Officers when being interrogated by AC12 (or similar dept) have the right to be questioned by an officer one rank above theirs. As Hastings stated, in that case wasn't possible because Dryden is the most senior officer in that regional force, hence another officer of the same rank as his but from another force being called in. Hope that helps.
Edit:
PS: If I watched 5 episodes to come to the conclusion in the sixth that, Barry Lightwater, a character that came out of nowhere, is going to be the big mastermind behind it all, I would be furious. Also, Jed Mercurio stated on his interview to Radio 4 that it's not going to be one of the minor characters the person behind the ambush.
I like your theory and I've always said that she didn't chose Carly's case by chance when she was transferred to Missing Persons. If she didn't know the full extent of her case, at least she had a good idea where it would lead.
What an interesting reply, thank you.
Yes, he has said elsewhere that it will not be a minor character behind it, he is trying to portray corruption at the highest levels.
So who else can it be apart from Dryden? Denton is not high enough and neither then are Hastings, Les Hargreaves, or any of the others we know.
He did show a rather nasty side of himself in the interview, or is that a red herring ?
Could there have been a link between Dot and Denton, as he certainly would have known about WP arrangements and the cops in Vice?