'Line of Duty' viewers spy huge spelling blunder
Line of Duty showmakers have ‘definately’ decided to disregard their spell-checker.
Eagle-eyed viewers last night spotted a calamitous typo in the secret online communications between Stephen Graham’s John Corbett and the show’s shadowy crime lord, known as H.
Read more: 11 million tune in to Line of Duty
Corbett, who is in deep cover, received the message: “Eastfield depot is definately high risk.”
It was seized upon immediately by viewers, who were briefly brought out of the drama by their appetite for proper spelling and grammar.
Bit nervous…do I let ‘unknown’ know that they have misspelt ‘definitely’? 😬 #LineOfDuty pic.twitter.com/bwjkFE5wzw
— Euan Kellie (@euankellie) April 14, 2019
I think the most monstrous thing H has done, is not being able to spell ‘definitely’ #LineOfDuty #Spelling pic.twitter.com/cFlxzZ0oGL
— Jay Gujral (@JayGujral) April 14, 2019
Whoever 'H' is, he deserves to get caught for his criminal spelling of definitely 👮🏻♀️ #LOD5 #LineOfDuty @BBCOne
— Sherry C (@SherryScribbles) April 14, 2019
Ted would definitely know how to spell definitely. To the letter. #LineOfDuty
— Katy O'Brien (@katyobrien15) April 14, 2019
Others thought that it could be a clue, however…
I feel the spelling of “definately” is going to be a crucial piece of evidence. #LineOfDuty
— Suzanne Wheatley🇪🇺 (@suzyredred) April 14, 2019
Ok so anyone want to go back re watch all seasons to see when definitely was spelt wrong on a whiteboard or a dying declaration or a text #LineOfDuty
— Thurston (@Thurston_FW) April 14, 2019
The fifth season of the show, the first hit helmed by Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio, has been a ratings smash for the BBC so far.
It launched to an audience of over 11 million tuning in to the next case for the AC-12 anti-corruption unit, starting with the robbery of a police convoy transporting seized drugs.
That makes it the highest-rated TV show of the year so far, on any channel, beating the previous records set by Bodyguard.
It’s not yet known who ‘H’ is, though Mercurio has said he’s been plotting this twist since he first began developing the show, and has deliberately been throwing in red herrings all along.
He told an audience at the BFI: ”I suppose if I had an idea later on that was even better then, yeah, of course I would change it, because you want it to be as good as possible and surprising and so forth.
“Sometimes there were characters whose name could be corrupted or nicknamed into being an ‘H’ if I wanted to.
“Some of the characters were given names where they could have been revealed as having an ‘H’ connection if it was required.”
The show continues on BBC One on Sunday, 9pm.