11 Times Doctor Who Stupidly Spoiled Its Own Secrets

7. Christopher Eccleston's Exit Was Leaked, Denied And Then Confirmed Again

The Secret: Christopher Eccleston received critical and fan acclaim for his portrayal of the Ninth Doctor and as soon as he first appeared on our screens, it was undeniable that the role of TV's favourite Time Lord was a part he was quite literally born to play. You can never have too much of a good thing, though (as Doctor Who fans well know by now!), and viewers were left disheartened when it was revealed that Chris would be stepping down from his reputable role as the Universe's coveted defender at the end of his first series. How It Was Spoiled: By a tabloid, of course. It was a newspaper that first broke word of Chris' shock departure before pressuring the BBC into releasing an official statement, which they did as part of a slapdash press release featuring a quote from Christopher Eccleston admitting that he didn't want to become "typecast". The thing is, the quote was fabricated and the BBC later had to backtrack by revealing that they'd gone against their own guidelines by releasing false information about one of their actors. In short, nobody really knew what the hell was going on, but it's no wonder Chris doesn't like to talk about it!