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

One of the things the original Christmas specials did so well was provide a strong hook to lure viewers in. 2007’s winning formula of Kylie Minogue and the Titanic in space attracted an audience of just under 14 million (the biggest in all of NuWho).

In 2008 the show took a slightly different, but equally audacious approach. With David Tennant having announced his departure in October, and Matt Smith’s casting not yet announced, there was a perfect opportunity to pass off a fake Eleventh Doctor as the real deal and get away with it.

And Russell T Davies gladly took that opportunity – anything for a bit of 'content', eh Russ?

As such, the 2008 Christmas special was built around the premise of the Tenth Doctor coming screwdriver-to-screwdriver with his apparent successor. The actor chosen for this elaborate ruse was David Morrissey, someone who could conceivably have followed on from David Tennant and would also make an excellent Doctor.

Though there were doubts about Morrissey’s character from the start (with eagle-eyed fans noticing that his sonic screwdriver, glimpsed in an early preview clip, was nothing more than an actual screwdriver), no one could categorically say he wasn’t the Doctor until broadcast.

It was undeniably one of the most effective publicity stunts in the show’s history, managing to score NuWho’s second largest audience (13 million viewers). Which makes it the widest-reaching Doctor Who troll ever!