Moffat Thanks Yanks Who Kept the Faith — and the Blockbuster Secret!

Thanks to a bunch of American DOCTOR WHO fans who kept their mouths shut, the rest of the world was able to enjoy the incredibly shocking finale to series seven the way Steven Moffat intended: blindsided by a truly game-changing last-second reveal.

And don’t think the Grand Moff doesn’t appreciate it. The executive producer  penned a blog on The Guardian site thanking U.S. fans who got erroneous early shipments for not ruining the story for everyone else. Moffat wrote:

“Well that was all a bit Keystone Cops, wasn’t it? Our biggest surprise,our most secret episode, a revelation about the Doctor that changes everything …

… and we’d have got away with it too, if we hadn’t accidentally sent Blu-ray copies of Name Of The Doctor to 210 Doctor Who fans in America. Security-wise, that’s not GOOD, is it? I mean, it’s not top-notch; it’s hard to defend as professional-level, hard-line secrecy.

My favourite fact is that they’re Blu-Rays. Listen, we don’t just leak any old rubbish, we leak in high-def – 1080p or nothing, that’s us. Every last pixel in beautifully rendered detail. It’s like getting caught extra naked.

But here’s the thing. Never mind us blundering fools, check out the fans. Two hundred and ten of them, with the top-secret episode within their grasp – and because we asked nicely, they didn’t breathe a word. Not one. Even Doctor Who websites have been closing their comments sections, just in case anyone blurts. I’m gobsmacked. I’m impressed. Actually, I’m humbled. And we are all very grateful.

Now you might be thinking, what does all this matter? It’s a plot development in the mad old fantasy world of Doctor Who, why is that important? Well of course, it’s not important, and in the scheme of things, it doesn’t matter at all. Just as it doesn’t matter when you’re telling a joke, and some idiot shouts out the punchline before you finish. It’s irritating, that’s all. It’s bad manners.

Well, no bad manners here! Two hundred and ten Doctor Who fans kept the secret, and many, many more fans helped. I wish I could send you all flowers, but I don’t know where you live (and, given our record, you really shouldn’t be sharing private information with us). So instead, if we can get our act together – and I forgive you for thinking that’s a big if – there will be a little video treat released on the Doctor Who site later tonight.”

Moffat was referring to the Matt Smith/David Tennant video clip, which I will re-embed here, just because it’s so damn fun.

But before we watch that again, I just want to add, I was not one of those who received an erroneous shipment, but I would like to say, “Yay for our side!” The next time someone suggests that we Americans are not “real” fans or somehow lesser cousins and johnny-come-latelys, remember who literally kept the Doctor’s most terrible secret. The Yanks.