Russia Suspected of Leaking Sherlock Finale

Russian authorities are suspected of doing something Sherlock's producers might consider as dastardly as meddling in the US election: leaking the hit BBC detective series' season finale online. A Russian-language version of the fourth season finale appeared on Saturday, a day before the BBC aired it, and evidence including a continuity announcement points to it being a leaked copy of the episode provided to state broadcaster Channel One, Vulture reports. "BBC Worldwide takes breaches of our stringent content security protocols very seriously and we have initiated a full investigation into how this leak has occurred," the British broadcaster said in a statement. It urged fans not to watch or share the leaked version.

In the British press, there has been plenty of speculation that the leaking of the episode may have been Moscow's revenge for British moves, including the expansion of the BBC's Russian-language output, Mashable reports. The episode received the lowest ratings in Sherlock's history, though the sleuths at the Telegraph have uncovered evidence that the Russians may not be entirely to blame: Critics called it "shockingly bad," "an abject, flailing, noxious mess," and "self-indulgent rubbish." (More Sherlock Holmes stories.)