Is Doctor Who Planting Leaks in Its Own Show to Mess With Fans?

Full spoilers travel for Doctor Who Season 2, Episode 2, “Lux”.

Doctor Who’s latest episode, “Lux”, is simply a gloriously weird outing from showrunner Russell T Davies that delivers conscionable the close equilibrium of chaos and charm. But beyond the surface-level delights of its fourth-wall-breaking mischief, thing astir this occurrence is present rattling astir successful my encephalon and won’t beryllium still. Not lone due to the fact that it was entertaining, but due to the fact that it mightiness beryllium the smoking weapon for thing acold much ambitious and unusual going connected down the scenes.

Over the past fewer weeks, an progressively bold leaker known lone arsenic 'Andrew' has been dropping oddly circumstantial crippled details from Season 2 of Doctor Who (15th of the revived era, and 41st of the bid overall). Detailed, beat-by-beat spoilers, including quality returns, large twists, and adjacent claims that Ncuti Gatwa is departing astatine the extremity of the season, with nary replacement successful show and different Who-hiatus looming.

Normally, I’d record this nether the accustomed sound and determination on. Doctor Who fans and haters alike person ever fixed disconnected a spot of a doomsday cult vibe. But, “Lux” has since aired, and 1 of the leaks was bang on: The Doctor and Belinda literally interruption done a TV surface to chat with Doctor Who fans, arsenic characters successful the show, watching the episode. It’s an incredibly meta, knowingly cliché gag, and a large 4th wall-breaking moment. But astir interestingly, 1 of the fans turns to the camera and says, “I knew this would hap due to the fact that it leaked online. #RIPDoctorWho.”

So what’s going connected here? That country was filmed immoderate 2 years agone (Season 1 and 2 had back-to-back accumulation schedules) and volition present surely rise much than a fewer eyebrows. And yet, I tin already spot a fewer ways this mightiness beryllium playing out. First: Maybe it’s each conscionable a coincidence. The leaks were unintentional, and that standout enactment successful "Lux" is simply 1 of those absurd, once-in-a-blue-moon alignments of fabrication and reality. The benignant of mind-bending prediction you’d expect from The Simpsons, and 1 that’s got maine spiralling into conspiracy territory with nary 1 astatine the wheel. Still, weirder things person happened.

Second: Somehow, Russell T Davies had a prophet-like vision, saw it each coming 2 years successful advance, and wrote it in. Yeah, that’s besides a spot of a leap, truthful I highly uncertainty it.

Third: What if the leaks aren’t accidental astatine all? There were a mates from the opening occurrence that were accurate, and present immoderate successful the follow-up. Perhaps they were planted deliberately, but lone small, mostly harmless titbits, and are meant to premier the fandom discussions without giving excessively overmuch away. The rest? A bluff, conscionable sound to muddy the waters.

But indulge maine successful a fourth script for a moment. What if there’s much to this? If the leaks were deliberate, I’m not wholly convinced the amusement would opt to lone messiness with the halfway fandom conscionable the once. Stay with maine here, but what if each azygous leak was planted arsenic portion of a larger meta-marketing campaign, with the communicative yet folding that chaos into itself? Light the kindling with the enactment from “Lux”, and ticker it pain each the mode to the finale arsenic fans effort to portion the play together, matching it up to the leaked info and wonderment if they are getting played, oregon if this is conscionable 1 large mess.

It mightiness dependable outlandish, but Davies has already been gleefully rewriting the rules of Doctor Who since his return. He’s not conscionable playing with form; he’s baked successful fantastical elements, permanently swapped “gravity” for “mavity,” pushed the amusement into strange, reality-warping territory it’s ne'er afloat embraced before, and thrown successful much than a fewer 4th partition breaks. What’s 1 much measurement implicit the borderline to him? And present this? It’s conscionable a spot excessively connected the chemoreceptor to ignore.

And what astir that #RIPDoctorWho line? With nary renewal announcement from Disney and vigor soundlessness from the BBC, Davies hasn’t precisely done overmuch to quell fears of a looming hiatus, adjacent hinting astatine a interruption successful interviews similar his caller 1 connected BBC’s Newsround. So keeping that enactment successful feels… deliberate. It could’ve been chopped without fuss.

Just however acold does this go? Is Davies, successful a devilishly meta bid for buzz, deliberately feeding the thought that the leaks awesome the show’s end? It’s besides not the lone notation to the show’s expected “end” either, arsenic “Lux” closes with Mrs Flood dropping this zinger: “If you privation to spot a bully amusement darling, I tin urge this one. Better pass you though, constricted tally only, amusement ends May the 24th.”

On archetypal impression, it’s conscionable different playfully ominous enactment that harks backmost to the 4th partition breaks from earlier successful the episode. But that May 24th day isn’t random: it’s erstwhile portion 1 of the play finale airs, and it’s besides the nonstop day the Doctor is trying to instrumentality companion Belinda to arsenic portion of the season's communicative arc. Doctor Who has flirted with airdate symmetry before, but ne'er this overtly, folding it close into the script.

Taken unneurotic with the #RIPDoctorWho gag, these consciousness little similar throwaway jokes and much similar morbidly self-aware nods to show’s recurring decease knells, written agelong earlier the existent soundlessness astir its future. Or, possibly much optimistically, these are meta breadcrumbs starring to thing acold bigger, similar a astonishment recommission waiting successful the wings. Hopefully, it’s the latter.

Yet, if the amusement truly is weaponising instrumentality anxiousness implicit its future, gathering an full meta-marketing run astir it years successful advance… past it’s either a changeable of unhinged, runaway genius oregon the stupidest happening I’ve ever heard. I conjecture we'll person to hold and see.

Robert Anderson is simply a deals adept and Senior Editor, Commerce, for IGN. You tin travel him @robertliam21 connected Twitter/X oregon Bluesky.