Line Of Duty fans in meltdown with more than 15m set to tune in for tonight’s finale… but have Sainsbury’s given the game away by putting the DVD on sale early?
- Disc was found by a shopper in a Sainsbury’s store and he posted picture online
- Fans have reacted angrily on Twitter and one user prayed the disc was just a fake
- Sainsbury’s spokesman said it had been a mistake and item had been removed
A shopper in Sainsbury’s found the Line Of Duty series five disc already on sale
Line Of Duty fans are in uproar after the series five DVD hit shops before the highly anticipated last episode comes out tonight.
A shopper in Sainsbury’s found the latest season alongside the series one to five boxset in the store ahead of the highly anticipated finale.
An unnamed branch of the high street giant had accidentally stacked the DVD early and HMV workers in Aberdeen tweeted that they had a copy since Friday.
One person wrote on Twitter: ‘#LineOfDuty I hear that @sainsburys has released series 5 on DVD already, @BBC need to issue a reg 15.Not on with just over 24 hours to go for the finale.’
The latest series was on sale for £15 and the boxset of series one to five was also up for grabs for £30. One Twitter user said she hoped the discs were fakes
A man said: ‘Very disappointed about #lineofduty spoilers – apparently some Sainsbury’s accidentally selling the S5 DVD early. Avoiding the Facebook group and hashtag now.’
And another wrote: ‘@jed_mercurio Just wondering what you think of @sainsburys, they’ve been selling Series 5 DVD today, instead of Monday! The 47k members of the @Line_of_duty FB fan page are NOT happy.’
A HMV in Aberdeen added in a tweet: ‘When you realise that the explosive #LineOfDuty series finale is this Sunday night, but we have the DVD copies in store now for Monday’s release…#itsajoke #we’llwait #temptingthough #whosH #AC12.’
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s confirmed the mistake but said it had been removed from shelves.
Fans react angrily that a Sainsbury’s store has stocked series five of Line of Duty before it airs on BBC One tonight. HMV Aberdeen added in a tweet that they had the disc since Friday but said they will not sell it
Tonight’s episode is expected to draw a huge audience of more than 15million and will be a feature-length 90-minute show as the police anti-corruption officers work to uncover who the real H is.
The first four episodes of series five attracted larger audiences than any other programme on UK television this year.
The episodes averaged 10.6million viewers in seven-day four-screen consolidated figures.
Finale: Line Of Duty have unveiled a series of new images from the series five final episode, which airs on Sunday
Helping: The new photos suggest Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar, pictured centre) isn’t ‘H’ as after being thrown in a prison cell last week
Popular: The episodes averaged 10.6million viewers in seven-day four-screen consolidated figures, with the penultimate episode receiving the highest overnight figure for Line Of Duty ever. Pictured: DS Steve Arnott (left) and undercover copper John Corbett (right)
Last Sunday’s show got the highest overnight figure for Line Of Duty ever – peaking at 8.3million and averaging at 7.9million.
Line Of Duty showrunner, Jed Mercurio, said of the new figures: ‘We’re thrilled and flattered by the amazing response to this series of Line Of Duty.’
He added: ‘On behalf of the whole production, I want to thank our viewers for their fantastic loyalty, and World Productions and the BBC for their unstinting support.’
Superintendent Ted Hastings, played by Adrian Dunbar, 60, faces a grilling from the shadowy Patricia Carmichael from rival AC-3 over whether or not he is this series’s ‘bent copper’.
The list of evidence against the Northern Irishman is staggering and last week’s episode saw him shakily defend himself against Carmichael.
Mystery: Line Of Duty series five concludes on Sunday night, and during the epic 90-minute finale fans are hoping the show’s biggest mystery will be solved – who is ‘H’?
Suspect: Hastings seemed the most unlikeliest of candidates to be a ‘bent copper’ going into series five, but faces a grilling from a rival anti-corruption group story
New face: Patricia Carmichael (Anna Maxwell Martin), who had her first scenes in the show on Sunday, is the latest name in the frame as she interrogates Ted Hastings over being H
One of the major mysteries yet to be solved is what Hastings said to OCG (organised crime group) member Lee Banks in episode four during his visit to Blackthorn Prison.
The visit was used in Hastings’s interrogation last week as a huge piece of evidence that he had conspired to murder undercover copper John Corbett.
Line Of Duty series five concludes on BBC One at 9pm.