SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
Have you watched ‘Line of Duty’ Episode 3 yet? If you haven’t, look away now.
If you have... what can we say? This could be a game-changer...
’Line of Duty’ Series 4 had already had its share of fist-in-mouth moments with Tim Ifield’s apparently botched attempts to chop up his commanding officer, and DCI Roz Huntley’s ice-cool actions in swapping evidence around so that she stay clear of the frame, while putting others firmly in it.
But Episode 3 brought something else entirely, possibly the demise of the show’s central character DS Steve Arnott, played by Martin Compston.
The detective had been having a rough time of it this series, competing with his freshly promoted colleague DS Kate Fleming, and feeling isolated in his belief in Huntley’s guilt. But it seemed he’d had a breakthrough - putting Huntley’s husband’s car at the scene of the crime, spotting a flaw in her alibi and off to get his man. And then it all went a bit wrong.
Arnott was attacked on his way up to Nick Huntley’s office by a man in a balaclava - again! - and holding a baseball bat. Viewers have reached for social media to express their shock as Arnott was thrown over the bannister to hit the stone stairs, where he lay in a pool of blood. Is that the end for Arnott? We have a week to wait before we find out. Fans are not happy...
‘Line of Duty’ continues next Sunday. Catch up on BBCiPlayer.