10 Biggest Doctor Who Leaks Ever
If Doctor Who was a boat, it would have sunk during the Moffat era...
It's a universally acknowledged truth that Doctor Who guarantees headlines, and in the constant search for some attention-grabbing material, publications sometimes ignore press embargoes, or even cultivate relationships with on-set "insiders" to get scoops on the future of the show.
These leaks aren't always deliberate, however, and some of Doctor Who's biggest leaks have been purely accidental.
An upload to the wrong server here, an unchecked box there, and all hell might just break loose. The BBC itself can even reveal information early, such as when it released the 1996 Paul McGann movie on VHS before it even aired in the UK. And who can forget when John Simm was shown off to the UK's press during the launch of Series 10? Umm, spoilers, you guys.
With so many leaks over the years, Doctor Who wouldn't make it from one side of a narrow canal to another if it was a boat. Which, thankfully, it isn't. From whole episodes releasing early to some major 50th anniversary spoilers, here are ten of the biggest leaks in the show's long history...
10. Series 11 Scenes Leak MONTHS Before Broadcast
The Chris Chibnall era of Doctor Who has been notoriously tight-lipped about what fans can expect from series to series. When that approach worked, it gave us the exciting reveal of Sacha Dhawan as the Master, and Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor. When it didn't work, fans had to make do with an underwhelming trailer that rattled off the names of guest actors.
At the same time though, the Chibnall era hasn't been free of the leaks and spoilers that have troubled its predecessors.
Early scenes from Jodie Whittaker's debut story The Woman Who Fell To Earth leaked online in June 2018, four months before its October broadcast. The BBC even went to court over the leak, issuing a subpoena to one of the websites responsible.
The leaked footage didn't do anything to lessen interest in the first female Doctor though, as The Woman Who Fell To Earth became the most-watched new Doctor debut ever, with ratings of 10.96 million viewers in the UK alone.