On Sunday, more than just a handful of American fans got their hands on the Doctor Who season 7 DVD that is not due out until later this month. Steven Moffat is now offering a bribe for keeping the secret.
We reported earlier on how there was a bit of a glitch in DVD distribution. Some fans have posted non-spoilery information such as photos of their DVD boxes or discs to prove the leak happened. Others are dishing out specific details. Regardless, if you don’t want to be spoiled, we highly recommend not visiting Tumblr and staying off the #drwho hashtag on Twitter.
Photographic evidence of the DVDs in the hands of fans:
When asked by my husband, “Wasn’t it incongruous of me to like set filming spoilers but not something like this?,” my reply was that releasing details when you actually know the information kills my imagination and expectation. I explained it further in the comments of our initial story, “I don’t mind set observation spoilers because it’s all guess work how it totally pans out, what the end CGI will be, total story arc, etc. In short, you still get to use your imagination and nothing is 100% certain. But actually having the fully completed item is like opening your Christmas presents early (which is fine) and then ruining Christmas for me by telling everyone exactly what you got (not so fine).” Just revealing everything smacks of self-importance and a look-what-I-have-and-you-don’t-attitude.
Doctor Who executive producer Edward Russell took to his Twitter earlier to beg fans to keep the secret.
Now the BBC official Doctor Who Twitter has announced a bribe from showrunner Steven Moffat.
Certainly this is not the first heartfelt plea issued by Steven Moffat. Close to 1,000 fans who got to see “Asylum of the Daleks” early were implored not to reveal that Jenna-Lousie Coleman was in the episode. The secret was kept. No word of her participation leaked online. On the other hand, key details did leak from the previous year’s screening eliciting Moffat’s ire.
Some of our own WhoHype listeners and Hypable readers echoed similar displeasure in what has happened. There is a major concern that GIFs of the footage will run rampant on social media, specifically Tumblr, or that text describing blow-by-blow action will not appear under spoiler cuts. Ravenclaw119 stated, “I will be so mad if I find any spoilers to this. Seriously. I’ll have to blacklist everything Doctor Who related on tumblr for the entire week.”
My co-writer for Doctor Who, Kyle, expressed his sentiments stating, “Here’s hoping that the honor of our fandom can stay in tact. A TON of people saw Clara in the season premiere at early screenings literally no one had spoiled a thing for the rest of us. If there’s any fandom that can have a leak like this but not spoil it for everyone else, I definitely think it’s the Whovians. *crosses fingers*”
Here’s to hoping the secret is kept!