10 Times Doctor Who Trolled You (And You Fell For It)

Doctor Who was conceived in an age long before internet trolling was a thing. But intentionally misleading viewers has since become an inevitable part of the show.

Indeed, it’s often necessary to lead us up the garden path in order to drum up press attention or pull off major plot twists. It can be frustrating, and the alternative is sometimes more exciting than what we actually get. But when done right trolling is ultimately worth it, making big reveals all the more satisfying.

Given how many fans Doctor Who has accrued over its 62 year history – and, let’s face it, how gullible we can be (just look at the response to that AI “leak” of Billie Piper and Paul McGann) – it’s safe to say the show will continue to playfully mislead us for as long as it’s on air.

These are some of the best examples so far – some of which you might have even fallen for yourself. Some are quite throwaway, others are genuinely pretty clever. And as will become clear, some eras, and some writers, have pranked the audience more than others (we’re looking at you Moffat!).

So if any future writers or showrunners are reading, take note: this is how to trick a Doctor Who fan...

In a sense, the Fourteenth Doctor’s tenure was one great big prank.

To begin with the BBC tried to pull the wool over our eyes and hide the fact that he’d be played by David Tennant, by leading us to believe that Jodie Whittaker would regenerate into Ncuti Gatwa.

But fans saw through this cunning ruse when it was pointed out that Gatwa had never actually been referred to as the Fourteenth Doctor... and then Tennant was spotted on set alongside Whittaker’s TARDIS. But nice try.

When it later came to Fourteen’s own regeneration in The Giggle, the show tried to troll us again by making it seem like it would just be a standard transition from one Doctor to the next. Trailers were edited with different backgrounds, and Tennant and Gatwa were shown separately in all promo material, hiding the fact that they’d be appearing together.

Then there was the moment itself – the way the camera dramatically pushes towards Tennant as if he’s about to morph into Gatwa, and the appropriateness of his “final” line, “Allons-y!”, making it seem like it will be business as usual.

Unless you were one of those people who believed the Reddit leaks then there was no reason to suspect that anything unusual would occur, and the show's playful misdirection did a really great job of keeping you guessing right up until the very last second.