Long-time Line of Duty viewers are well used to shout-out-loud cliff-hanger moments, but were still caught unawares by last night’s shock twist.
The drama has been filled with incredible cliffhangers and viewers have been pulled in by the gripping storyline.
Fans were left devastated as they saw DS Steve Arnott lying unconscious in a pool of blood after being hit across the head by a man in a balaclava.
But did Martin Compston, who plays Steve in the BBC drama, already hint his character’s unfortunate fate?
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On Saturday the actor teased what fans of the show could expect from the latest episode of the drama.
He wrote: “24hrs to go it’s a biggie @Line_of_duty Trapdoor gonna kick off big time #BBCOne9pmEP3 #balaclavabaddie.”
Speaking about the drama previously Martin revealed the series will be a shock to fans.
He said: “Jed [series creator and writer] is so clever – he always lures you into this false sense of security.
“You might think, ‘I’ve seen this before…’ and then it just completely flips.
“There’s something that happens that’s a big shock to all of them [at AC-12].
“They’re all going through the wringer again, you can be sure of that.”
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The 32-year-old wrote to his 61.1K Twitter followers to thank fans following the dazzling cliffhanger.
He wrote: “Huge thanks to everybody tuning in again tonight been a pleasure #LineOfDuty4.”
However viewers watching from home were devastated with the shock twist ending.
One wrote: “#LineofDuty made me choke on my pudding. #whatjusthappened.”
Another said: “Last nights @line_of_duty had me like…I hope #stevearnott ain’t a goner @martin_compston #7sleeps till #ep4 #LineofDuty.”
“Still in disbelief at last nights #LineOfDuty! Killing off Steve Arnott is like #Eastenders killing off Phil Mitchell.. Unthinkable,” another added.
A fourth wrote: “Still can’t believe what happened on #LineofDuty last night!!!!”