Line of Duty’s Gregory Piper on his villain Ryan – and whether he’ll face off with Ted Hastings The actor discusses growing up with the hit BBC show – and whether his character will face off against AC-12’s Ted Hastings Villain: Gregory Piper as Ryan Pilkington in Line of Duty Credit: Steffan Hill/BBC Gregory Piper remembers the nerves and excitement he felt when he was first asked to play Ryan Pilkington. He was 13, and Ryan was a foul-mouthed, vicious little BMX errand boy for organised criminals in series one of Line of Duty. He recalls the glee of running around swearing on set. That was a decade ago. It almost felt like a dream, until he got a message from his agent in 2018: “You’ll never guess what? Line of Duty has got in contact.”