The BBC has promised to be more “mindful” of spoilers in news stories after viewers complained about an article reporting on Ncuti Gatwa’s final Doctor Who episode.
In a statement on the BBC’s website, the corporation said it received feedback from audience members who were “unhappy” about an online BBC News story headlined: ‘Ncuti Gatwa regenerates into Billie Piper as he leaves Doctor Who.’
“Some people contacted us to complain that the headline gave away the ending, spoiling this Doctor Who episode for them,” the BBC said. “Others requested that the BBC be more conscious of spoilers going forward, particularly in the use of headlines.”
In its response to the concerns, the BBC said the original headline — which featured on the news homepage — only referenced Gatwa stepping down as the Time Lord. The broadcaster added that it was later updated to include the detail of Gatwa regenerating into Billie Piper. The story itself also featured a spoiler alert.
The BBC continued: “BBC journalists are of course entitled to use their judgement to decide which stories to cover and the manner in which they are reported. We also want our headlines to be as informative as possible. Although every story is different, we have discussed your concerns on this occasion with senior editors and we will be mindful of your views for future coverage.”
Season 15 of Doctor Who ended last month, but there is uncertainty over the show’s immediate future and the BBC’s co-production deal with Disney.
Deadline has analyzed official seven-day viewing figures for the series, and it does not make for easy reading. Season 15 averaged 3.2M viewers over its eight episodes, which was half a million viewers down from last year’s season — Gatwa’s first as the Doctor.
Compare Season 15 to Jodie Whittaker’s last outing as the Time Lord, and things get grimmer. Season 13 pulled in 1.7M more viewers, averaging 4.9M in 2021, according to Barb figures.
