Despite security efforts, a number of Doctor Who scripts have found their way onto the Internet.
Bleeding Cool News first broke the story. Apparently, the BBC just opened up a satellite office in the Miami, Florida area, and somehow the following scripts managed to see the light of day: “Deep Breath” by Steven Moffat, “Into the Dalek” by Phil Ford, “Robots of Sherwood” by Mark Gatiss, “Listen” by Steven Moffat and “Time Heist” by Steve Thompson. The scripts were all watermarked with the name “Marcelo Camargo.” Who Mr. Camargo is, and what his connection to the BBC and Doctor Who is, remains unknown.
According to the Radio Times, “The scripts are understood to have been disseminated online after being sent to the BBC Worldwide’s newly opened Latin America headquarters in Miami for translation. ‘The opening episode is being simulcast globally so of course translations have to be prepared in advance’ said a BBC source.”
Adding insult to injury, not only were scripts leaked, but apparently video footage was leaked as well. Fortunately for the BBC, the footage was not viewable due to either corrupted files or security measures. The episodes, in presumably their final version, were not seen.
This is not the first time in recent memory that Doctor Who footage released early, or was accidentally leaked. BBC America famously released DVDs containing the ending to series 7 roughly a week before the last episode in series 7 aired.
After that snafu, showrunner Stephen Moffat commented, “Erm – security-wise, that’s not GOOD, is it? I mean, it’s not top notch, it’s hard to defend as professional level, hard-line secrecy. My favourite fact is that they’re BLU RAYS. Listen, we don’t just leak any old rubbish, we leak in high def. 1080p or nothing, that’s us. Every last pixel in beautifully rendered detail. It’s like getting caught extra naked.”
Scripts were also accidentally leaked for the Neil Gaiman episode “Nightmare in Silver.” A cast member accidentally left his script in the backseat of a taxi in Cardiff, and a university student found it and returned it. Fortunately, that script was returned without its content being divulged.
The BBC in commenting on today’s leak stated, “BBC Worldwide is currently investigating a security issue around Doctor Who Series 8 where unfinished material has inadvertently been made public. We deeply regret this and apologise to all the show’s fans, the BBC and the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly making the series. We would like to make a plea to anyone who might have any of this material and spoilers associated with it not to share it with a wider audience so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen when it launches. We know only too well that Doctor Who fans are the best in the world and we thank them for their help with this and their continued loyalty.”
Similar pleas were made back in 2013, when the series 7 DVDs leak occurred. The 210 fans that received their DVDs early seemed to respond, and no footage or summaries ended up online (at least not in any obvious way) that resulted in spoiling the public at large.