Deep Breath: Doctor Who premiere leaked online six weeks early

Deep Breath, the debut story of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, is due to receive its television debut in several countries on Saturday, August 23, just three months before the 51st anniversary of the BBC's flagship science-fiction drama series. However, as reported by the Radio Times, "a rough black-and-white edit of Peter Capaldi's first full episode as the Doctor has appeared on the Internet six weeks ahead of its scheduled transmission date." Apparently, the feature-length episode has surfaced online through the same security breach that emerged last week when five scripts from the upcoming season appeared in public Google searches despite being stored on BBC Worldwide servers. A report in the Latin Post, meanwhile, confirms that Deep Breath "is already on video piracy websites [...] it's not the final product, the leaked footage shows the full premiere episode, though with a rough edit." More worryingly for Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is that, according to Radio Times, a total of "six Doctor Who video files were listed on this server," the fear being that "there appears every chance further videos could still emerge online." As highlighted by Digital Journal one week ago, five scripts for the new season of Doctor Who, including the premiere, "were leaked online after having being sent to BBC Worldwide's office in Miami for translation," Miami being the home to the organisation's base of operations for Latin America. At the time, a BBC Worldwide representative said, "We deeply regret this and apologise to all the show's fans, the BBC and the cast and crew who have worked tirelessly making the series." The organisation also pleaded to anyone who might have any of the material and spoilers associated with it "not to share it with a wider audience so that everyone can enjoy the show as it should be seen when it launches." However, that plea has obviously fallen on deaf ears. The leaks have been especially felt in Wales itself, the home of Doctor Who production since 2003. Moffat has spoken out about the leaks, as Doctor Who News reported at the weekend. Asked about the scripts leak at the London Film & Comic Con on Saturday the Doctor Who showrunner said its was "horrible, miserable and upsetting for Doctor Who team." On Radio Hafren, meanwhile, Andrew John asked, "'Who leaked ‘Who?'" [...] as five scripts for the new season of the Wales-produced sci-fi series Doctor Who have leaked online [...] the BBC's commercial arm says it's investigating [and] urged fans not to distribute the spoiler material." Revelations of the Doctor Addressing the latest revelations, a spokesperson for BBC Worldwide told RadioTimes.com: "This is part of BBC Worldwide's ongoing security investigation into leaked unfinished Doctor Who materials. This content is currently being removed and originates from the same Miami server we disabled last week, it is not a new issue. We'd like to thank the amazing Doctor Who fans who are continuing to keep fansites and social media spoiler-free but would remind anyone downloading and sharing this material that it is illegal to do so." This isn't the first time there have been leaks of new Doctor Who material. Back in 2005, ahead of the 21st-century relaunch of the show, the first new episode for nine years was also leaked onto the Internet a few weeks prior to its official broadcast. The episode in question, Rose, starred Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Bille Piper (Penny Dreadful) as Rose. In 2013, Doctor Who's 50th-anniversay year, the series finale, The Name of the Doctor, was released early in the US on DVD and Blu-ray, this time due to a mistake in the American distribution. Also in 2013, a part-trailer for the anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, leaked online ahead of a planned TV broadcast of the full trailer. Something similar happened thirty years earlier, during the show's 20th anniversary in 1983, when the Target novelisation of the TV anniversary special, The Five Doctors, was published two weeks before the story had been transmitted by the BBC. Doctor Who returns to television screens in the UK, US and elsewhere on Saturday, August 23. For the first episode, Peter Capaldi is joined by regular companion Clara (Jenna Coleman), and the three members of the Paternoster Gang: Madame Vastra ( Neve McIntosh), Jenny (Catrin Stewart) and Strax (Dan Starkey).