Russian hackers get blamed for everything these days – from Hillary Clinton’s loss of the presidential election in November to, in a latest, the leak online of the final episode of the BBC drama Sherlock a day before it was due to air.
And Russian state broadcaster Channel One blamed hackers for the leak of the final episode of the fourth series of the popular detective drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch on Saturday, complete with Russian dubbing.
It was shown just after midnight Moscow time Monday, simultaneously with Britain.
In a rare show of cooperation, spokeswoman Larisa Krymova Channel One “has been in close contact with the BBC from the moment it learnt of the leak and is carrying out an investigation to identify the source of the material uploaded onto the Internet.”
The BBC reportedly said Sunday that it had launched a full investigation, with a source at the corporation as claiming that the leak was “more than an accident.”
On Russian-language Twitter, hashtags and jokes about the leak were trending over the weekend. “That moment when the Russians have watched your show before you,” wrote one Twitter user, nfzaz1995.