Line of Duty fans have been sent into a state of panic by 'missing' cast members ahead of Sunday's crucial episode.
Millions of devotees of all things AC-12 are still reeling from the nerve wracking ending to last week's show when, after we finally discovered who Jo Davidson's blood relative was, she looked on as Kate Fleming and Ryan Pilkington aimed a gun at each other.
Shots rang out as the credits rolled, giving viewers another cliffhanger to come to process and setting things up very nicely for this Sunday's sixth and penultimate episode of the hit BBC drama's sixth series.
But Line of Duty fans are now concerned for the welfare of the three characters at the centre of episode 5's dramatic conclusion as all three are missing from the cast list for episode 6.
None of Kelly Macdonald, who plays DCI Davidson, Gregory Piper (Ryan) or Vicky McLure who plays fan favourite Kate, feature on the list seen on the BBC website and in Radio Times, in a move that has alarmed many viewers but others have seen as Line of Duty bosses playing a blinder to keep everyone guessing up until 9pm on Sunday or even beyond as writer Jed Mercurio is known for throwing a few curveballs into his shows.
Picking up on them all being missing, one alarmed fan tweeted: "Has Kate been killed? I notice neither she, Jo or Ryan is in next week’s cast list, so we can’t deduce from that (clever, if sneaky)" and another, who saw the cast list in Radio Times commented: "Devastated that @Vicky_McClure has not made it into the cast list for #LineOfDuty in next week’s @RadioTimes "
Sunday's 'shoot out' cliffhanger prompted all manner of theories from fans on Twitter, with one posting "That was definitely 2 shots from the same gun - but who?! OCG aiming at Jo & Kate? AC-12 aiming at Jo & Ryan? Two shots into Ryan?!"
Another reacted: "Argghhh! Drop the gun! And tell me who got shot!!! So much for a calm evening before returning to work after a week off!
"Now to calm down before I can sleep!!" and a third posted: "Omg that ending!! Who shot who!? Is Kate ok!? I bet Ryan isn’t dead. OMG"
