The Single Biggest Mistake Every Doctor Who Series Has Made
4. Series 10: Spoiling John Simm’s Return
By the time Series 10 aired, Doctor Who had been back on our screens for over ten years. As such, the show was beginning to look to its more recent past for inspiration.
In 2015 alone, the Shadow Proclamation, the red Supreme Dalek, Julian Bleach, and Alex Kingston all returned. But the biggest surprise of all would come in 2017, when Mr Razor was revealed to be John Simm’s Master. Dun dun duuuuuuun!
Except, it wasn't a surprise at all.
At the press screening for The Pilot, a trailer was shown containing Simm, on the condition that the assembled journalists would keep quiet… which The Sun took as an invitation to leak the story almost immediately. Even if the news hadn’t been leaked, it would still have been confirmed well in advance in the 'Coming Soon' trailer attached to the end of the first episode.
With ratings dipping from Series 9, holding the reveal back until the moment itself would've been a vital injection of hype, giving the BBC a whole week before The Doctor Falls to drum up promotion.
The fact that they chose to spoil one of the show’s most shocking moments instead is baffling.