Netflix has let the third season of prison drama Orange is the New Black out early. The 10-episode season was originally scheduled to arrive on the US version of the streaming service on Friday 12th, but appeared some six hours early, just in time for US audiences to enjoy an impromptu Thursday night binge viewing session.

The third season maintains and introduces a raft of interesting personalities, but suffers slightly from the increasing irrelevancy of its top-billed character, Piper Chapman. Originally a cipher for the viewer, she's been overtaken by more sympathetic, charismatic, or just plain interesting inmates. As The Verge's Kwame Opam says in his review of the new season, the show wouldn't suffer much from having Piper and on-again-off-again love interest Alex escape Litchfield penitentiary.