Doctor Who bosses worried about spoiler leaks after new script went astray

Russell T Davies is worried about 'Doctor Who' leaks after a script for the new series went astray.

The showrunner has revealed how a script for the upcoming run of episodes - which will see Ncuti Gatwa take control of the TARDIS for his first official season - was found "on an open server in Brazil", leaving bosses concerned about spoilers being shared online.

Speaking to SFX magazine, he said: "I just hope we can get from here to transmission without things being spoiled, because things do get spoiled.

"Things get spoiled to an extraordinary degree."

Former 'Sex Education' star Ncuti was worried it was his fault after he'd been in Brazil.

He interrupted: "I was going to say, oh my God - I was in Brazil."

Thankfully, Russell added: "It wasn't you."

The boss - who returned for last year's 60th anniversary specials with David Tennant and Catherine Tate - will be at the helm for Ncuti Gatwa's upcoming first series in the TARDIS, and he recently reflected on the significance of the partnership between the BBC and Disney+.

He told the 'Firecrotch and Normcore: They Like To Watch' podcast: "You've got to look in the long term at the end of the BBC, which is somehow surely undoubtedly on its way in some shape or form.

"What, is Doctor Who going to die then? No, you've got to prepare for that kind of stuff – but all of that is kind of the flim flam on top of the fact that I love it and it's the only chance you have in television, for me, to really write in pictures."

With the likes of 'Stranger Things' and 'The Mandalorian' proving to be such huge successes on streaming platforms, the 'Doctor Who' boss insisted it would be a "real shame" if the beloved show wasn't given the same treatment.

That meant seeing the programme "become a co-production", because "there's no way the BBC is going to fund" something on that scale.

He said: "If Disney collapsed tomorrow and we had to go back to making 'Doctor Who' on a normal BBC budget, we'd all rally round and make it and suddenly stories would become claustrophobic ghost stories, and a lot of people would like that very much.

"So I'm not saying you have to have this happen, but while it's happening elsewhere I think it's unfair that it doesn't happen to 'Doctor Who' and it does open up stories that are now sometimes on a vast scale."