Posted in: BBC, Disney+, Doctor Who, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: doctor who, opinion

Doctor Who: BBC Apparently "Sorry, Not Sorry" for Ncuti Gatwa Spoilers

The BBC has, in typical fashion, kinda, sorta, nah-not-really apologized for spoiling the ending of Doctor Who in their news headlines.

It's not another day in our messed up world if Doctor Who fans aren't pissed off about something, and now they're pissed off at the BBC for, what else? SPOILERS! Fans have complained to the BBC about spoiling the finale of the latest season, first that Ncuti Gatwa was leaving, then that he was regenerating into Billie Piper, before they even got a chance to watch the show. The BBC has issued a statement, kinda, sorta, nah-not-really, apologised for their reporter spoiling the show on their website.

The BBC's Full Statement on Spoiling "Doctor Who"

"Some people contacted us to complain that the headline gave away the ending, spoiling this Doctor Who episode for them. Others requested that the BBC be more conscious of spoilers going forward, particularly in the use of headlines.

Ncuti Gatwa's departure from the series had been widely speculated and many fans will have been aware that this was a possibility.

The headline on the news homepage that evening referred to Ncuti Gatwa's departure because this was a legitimate entertainment news story in its own right, and it is not unusual that we would carry this type of story once a programme has been broadcast and the details in the public domain.

While we cannot account for everyone's viewing habits, we initially held back from headlining the announcement of Ncuti Gatwa's regeneration into Billie Piper. This extra detail was added later in the evening and our approach was consistent across the BBC site.

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."

Once Again, We Play the Game, Time Lord

The BBC has, in typical fashion, issued a non-apology apology by saying they would be more "mindful" of spoilers in their own news reporting in the future, this long after the "harm" has already been done. Thanks, BBC! In many ways, these are British institutions in a nutshell. They do the crappy thing, everyone is pissed off, then they fake-apologise for the crappy thing, and wait for the next crappy thing to do. In case you didn't already know, journalists reporting on movies and TV shows looooooooove to troll the public with spoilers in their headlines for clickbait and trolling and lolz. It's not just restricted to the BBC; it's also present in The Guardian and even industry trade papers like Variety. If you want to avoid spoilers, you should simply not visit their sites, let alone read their headlines.

There are more nuances to all this, of course. Never mind real wars and culture wars, Doctor Who fans never stop ranting about how much they hate spoilers. They go off and read those spoilers in news reports and then complain about how much they hate what was revealed in those spoilers. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is our world now.

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