As millions get ready to watch what looks set to be a gripping final episode, the new series of Line of Duty has been blamed for a sharp rise in sales of police themed 'adult' products.
The latest run of the BBC crime drama has had huge audiences hooked with its many cliffhangers over the past month but, findings suggest its already had Brits reaching for their debit cards to snap up items to help them get into character themselves.
Research from communications agency Finn has showed, that since the start of Line of Duty series 6 in March, Google searches for “sex handcuffs”, “sexy police” and “sexy police costume” have drastically increased.
During last Sunday's sixth and penultimate episode, which saw Ryan Pilkington found dead and Kate Fleming and Jo Davidson tracked down and hauled into custody as a result, Google searches for “sexy police costume” increased by 1,567%, and “sex handcuffs” by 733% in the hours between 10pm and 3am.
It’s now estimated that in the region of 5,000 Brits are searching for “sexy police” and “sexy police costume” every month.
Memes and audience-generated content has taken over Twitter, having a much larger online presence than during the last series.
Searches for the show are at their highest ever with a 79% increase since the last peak in April 2019.
And they are set to reach new heights on Sunday, May 2 when an audience of well over 10 million is expected to tune into the final part of series 6 to see what happens to Jo and Kate and hopefully, finally find out who H is.
The big money is on it being Patricia Carmichael, with her odds slashed dramatically after her slippery behaviour on last Sunday's show.
Chief Phillip Osborne is also well tipped and there are even odds on H being Kate or much loved colleague Steve Arnott.
