Other than, “because it will ruin the show for everyone” there is a very specific reason why new Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall can’t stand spoilers.
Evading the long lens of interlopers and setting the BBC’s legal terrorhawk on those who say, happen to leak footage from Jodie Whittaker’s debut episode (maybe it was the BBC in a double, super-secret reverse bluff, he says, stroking his chin), Chibnall told Digital Spy exactly why he doesn’t want anyone ruining any potential secrets before the Series 11 has aired.
Reiterating his comments at SDCC where he said, “secrecy is not an end in itself”, he added:
“I mean, you always try and do it on everything. We did it on Broadchurch.
“Wouldn’t it be brilliant if everybody watches these episodes at the same time, as much as possible? Doctor Who is one of those shows that can still hopefully do that.
“So it’s not out of a desire for secrecy, it’s a desire for that moment when it goes out of people experiencing it together.”
Any attempt to preserve that collective experience in an age of increasingly fractured viewership is commendable and, as Chibnall goes on to say, totally worth the extra layer of security.
“That gets harder and harder to do. Obviously people will watch at different times. But that moment – and certainly we got it a few times on Broadchurch – where everybody’s having the same conversation is special.
“And… Jodie’s Doctor and these characters, they’re going to be worth having a conversation about, because they’re really fantastic. So if we can get it to the screen so that everybody’s experiencing it at the same time, that’d be lovely.”
It certainly would be lovely.
Doctor Who returns this autumn on BBC One.