***WARNING*** THE FOLLOWING THREAD CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT DOCTOR WHO, SERIES 3, EPISODE 4 "DALEKS IN MANHATTAN" IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET - DO NOT READ ON!!

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***BREAKING NEWS*** Following an e-mail I sent to the Editor of Radio Times, with regard to the "spoiler" photograph they published on the front cover last week, I have just received a reply and it makes for quite interesting reading.

Here follows my original e-mail, their reply and my further response. Enjoy

"FAO The Editor,

I am writing with regard to the front cover of Radio Times Magazine, dated 21st April 2007.

This particular cover depicted the "Human Dalek" that was to be revealed in the next episode of Doctor Who.

While it was a generally known fact that the Daleks would feature in the story "Daleks In Manhattan" the introduction of the hybrid "Human Dalek" creature was supposed to be a shocking revelation at the climax of part one, forming part of a dramatic cliffhanger.

By publishing the photograph five days ahead of broadcast, all shock value was lost when the moment finally came on Saturday.

I do not for a minute believe you would have published the offending photograph without the permission of the production team and so they too must come in for criticism on this occasion, if this is indeed the case, not least because Russell T Davies recently spoke out against people who have been revealing "spoilers!" A case of pot and kettle methinks.

I think it is very sad that the chase for circulation numbers and television ratings has been put ahead of the enjoyment of the viewing public, through the propagation of this completely unnecessary publicity stunt.

I trust that greater consideratuion will be given to the Doctor Who audience in future...

Yours faithfully

(My name and location edited out for this post but supplied to RT)"



"On Tue Apr 24 16:08 , 'Radio Times Reader Services' <radio.times@bbc.co.uk> sent:



Thanks very much for your email.

Difficult one, this, as we don't do anything without the full approval of the Doctor Who team, who are understandably keen to get as much publicity as they can for the new series, and for every fan who doesn't want to know stuff in advance, there's another one saying "give me more, more, more!"

We do try to tread a very careful line between whetting people's appetites and not spoiling the treat (there's a lot of stuff we simply don't give away at all, you might be relieved to know), and we talk long and hard with the production team to make sure we're all happy with the balance being struck (although it's particularly galling when we've deliberately kept quiet on something, only to find that the newspapers sometimes subsequently break the story anyway). I can only apologise if you feel we overstepped the mark on this occasion.

Kind regards,


DAVID HODGES
Radio Times Reader Services
0870 608 4455
radio.times@bbc.co.uk "



"Dear Mr Hodges,

Thank you for your reply - your comments and apology are appreciated.

I hope both the Radio Times and Doctor Who teams will both learn from this unfortunate episode, as I know for a fact that there are a great number of people who felt let down by the "spoiler" picture last week. I am sure that with hindsight, you would probably have made a different decision and, indeed, will take this in to account in the future.

I also share your frustration with the tabloid press when it comes to divulging programme secrets...

Kind regards

(My name and location edited out for this post but supplied to RT)"

They didn't just cross the line, they did the long jump over it. There was no surprise whatsoever as a result of that cover.

And that is not an apology for printing the cover.
Last edited by kramer : 24-04-2007 at 22:22

nice one for taking the time and trouble to do that.

what is galling is the hyprocrisy.

Majority rules of course!

I would imagine that the RT are catering to the millions of DW viewers who actually have a life and for whom DW is just a piece of escapist entertainment for 45 minutes a week.



LCDMAN..............The man with no sig!

You don't have to be a huge fan of a TV show to not want to know how an episode ends before you've watched it.

Thanks!

I'm sure if they had published a photograph of the climatic moments of "Life On Mars" before the final episode, there would have been many people around here with plenty to say... And that's just one example.

In this case I think they went too far - ideally this would have been the following week's cover (for "Evolution of the Daleks") which chimed with what they did last year for "Doomsday" (the Daleks or Cybermen playing football cover).

And RTD specifically says in that very issue (referring to "Coronation St") how he hates when a cliffhanger ending is given away.

G

I sent them a Doctor Who related e:mail yesterday (not on this subject) maybe I will get a reply.

what does that tell us about RTD then?