Fans have spotted a true story inspiring Line of Duty’s Gail Vella storyline

Line of Duty fans have spotted a true story inspiring series six’s Gail Vella storyline.

Parallels have been drawn with the case of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered by a car bomb after her journalism exposed corruption in Malta.

In the BBC series, Gail Vella was murdered after investigating links between police corruption, organised crime, and child sex abuse.

Beyond the plot similarities, the show contains a few subtle nods to the case: Caruana Galizia’s maiden name was Vella, and the Peugeot 108 Vella was murdered whilst exiting is the same as the Maltese journalist’s.

Series creator Jed Mercurio copped to it – saying nobody had yet clocked the clues.

Mercurio went on to call Caruana Galizia “incredibly courageous in her fight against corruption” after her son, Matthew, said “I can imagine coming home to find her watching Line of Duty.”

Line of Duty has form in blending true stories into its fictional universe, integrating Jimmy Savile into series three’s Patrick Fairbank storyline, and including a coded reference to the BBC’s coverage of the raid on Cliff Richard’s house..

Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed when a bomb exploded under her Peugeot 108 in Malta in 2017, and the scandal in the aftermath of the killing led Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign.

Muscat’s chief of staff and his government’s energy minister also resigned, but all three denied any wrongdoing.

Her journalism had previously highlighted corruption and cronyism within Maltese politics and business, and she had played a part in the Panama Papers leaks, which showed how powerful figures used shell companies and offshore tax havens to avoid scrutiny and tax.

A man was jailed for 15 years in February after pleading guilty to Caruana Galizia’s murder.

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