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Sci-Fi Media Television

Culprit of Leaked Doctor Who Episode Found 217

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-thats-to-bad dept.
marekk writes "The person responsible for leaking the premeire episode of the new BBC Doctor Who series has reportedly been uncovered and fired according to BBC . Looks like the speculation over possible viral advertising by the BBC didn't pan out. "
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Culprit of Leaked Doctor Who Episode Found More

Culprit of Leaked Doctor Who Episode Found

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  • One Less to Cut? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:47PM (#12038477) Homepage Journal
    One less to cut [bbc.co.uk]?

    If you're not a regular follower of the BBC, there are large structural changes and job cuts afoot. Remember those glorious days you could catch the World Service via shortwave in North America? I still can, from the Carribean. But where am I supposed to watch the latest Dr. Who? Are there BBC TV channels carried via satellite? Will I be able to download it? I get blocked from live sports casts, which usually say 'to UK only'

    Note to /. ed: 'too-bad'

    • Note to /. first poster (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It's not a person at the BBC.

    • Re:One Less to Cut? (Score:3, Informative)

      by dauthur ( 828910 )
      You can still listen to World Service at night on any NPR station.

    • Re:One Less to Cut? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Sentry21 ( 8183 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:58PM (#12038643) Journal
      Except that the person who leaked the show worked for the CBC in Canada, not the BBC.

      Anyway, as for watching overseas, dozens of TV channels from around the world have picked up the series - except no American channels have decided to do so. If you can't get those channels, maybe you should talk to your local cable or satellite provider instead of complaining to the BBC.
      • Personally, I'm hoping no American networks pick up the show.

        PBS now broadcasts nearly full-time in 1080i wide-screen High-Def for free over the air in most markets, and they usually rebroadcast the best British shows about a year later.

        I would rather see it that way than a 4:3 540i digital broadcast like what I get from most of the other networks most of the time.

    • No world service (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Dekks ( 808541 )
      The reason they no longer do shortwave world service to north america is because its available on most NPR stations, but also because its available 24/7 streaming over the web, as is all of their radio stations. Why bother broadcasting to a country where internet access is a given for the the majority of the country in crackly unreliable shortwave when you can get it in crackly unreliable but much easier to access internet feeds?

  • too bad.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:48PM (#12038500) Homepage Journal
    I was hoping the rumours of it being an intentional leak were true. That leak generated a lot of interest in the new series. (and Rose is a good episode ;))

    • Re:too bad.. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by buckhead_buddy ( 186384 )
      There was a quote from Russel T. Davies (the co-producer, and writer of the leaked episode) that I'll paraphrase because I can't track it down right now. But the essence of it was that despite others panic about the leak, he didn't see it as a bad thing.

      His logic was that only the hardcore fans will go to the trouble to download the episode, and that if it doesn't meet their expectations they'll only watch it 20 times instead of 30. New viewers will not be motivated to download it in the first place, and i

    • (and Rose is a good episode ;))


      Are you fraking kidding me? The story is awful, the acting from some of the supporting cast is laughable, Rose herself is annoying as hell. The only thing that works is Ecclestone as the Doctor, but that alone can't carry the show.

      Under tens might enjoy it but personally I think it's dreck.
      • The story does depend way too much on just pure action. But seeing as how this is the first Doctor Who episode in a long time and it needs to grab the attention of a lot of people who are not hardcore fans, I can forgive them for now. If the whole season continues the same way, however, it will suck.

        The acting from the supporting cast has always been on the cheesy side, but part of Doctor Who's charm is that it is a bit cheesy. Hell, the acting from extras on older episodes like The Talons of Weng-Chian
        • I'm regurgitating vague memories here, but IIRC the controll room we normally saw was only the backup (with lots of manual controlls for what was normally automatic) The Doctor used for some reason related to his Tardis being a bit finicky.
          The main controll room looked more like a den with nice dark woodwork and such with the controlls all in a center collum that had something that looked like a shaving mirror on top for a viewer and wooden cabinet doors over the few knobs needed during normal operatio

  • Sounds like a cover up now more than before! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:49PM (#12038511)
    BBC Worldwide said in a statement: "After a thorough investigation by BBC Worldwide's Canadian broadcast partner, the source of the leak of episode one of the new Doctor Who series has been traced to a third party company in Canada which had an early preview copy for legitimate purposes. The individual responsible for the leak has had their employment terminated by that company as a result.

    So basically they didn't like the possiblity of negative press over the viral advertising issue and decided to issue a vague statement that doesn't prove anything and instead leads me to believe even more now than before (I didn't care at all before) it's a cover up.

    • Re:Sounds like a cover up now more than before! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      instead leads me to believe even more now than before (I didn't care at all before) it's a cover up.

      It's not Watergate. It's Doctor Who.
    • Oh for heaven's sakes. It was a rough cut with unfinished editing, audio work, and SFX. They're not going to leak that deliberately, as it would (and did) reflect negatively on the show.

      It's a credit to the production staff that even that was so well recieved.

      • Re:Sounds like a cover up now more than before! (Score:5, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:02PM (#12038681)
        It was a rough cut with unfinished editing, audio work, and SFX. They're not going to leak that deliberately, as it would (and did) reflect negatively on the show.

        It's Doctor Who... it's always got bad editing, audio and SFX!
        • Haha. You have a point ... but seriously, watch the episode when it's released; you'll notice the difference.

          One obvious one would be that IIRC the "leaked" copy didn't have the new version of the theme song.
          • You know, I hope they don't `fix' the theme music in the release version. I've always liked the original version so much better... and I'm not the only one.

            I thought the use of the original music was a nice touch.

            Compare the original (1960s/1970s) Dr. Who music to the 1980s versions sometime, see what you think. The newer ones sounds like total cheese to me.. synthesized guitars? yuck. The original uses an analog synth that deliberately sounds unearthly and alien (not fake versions of real Earth musical i

          • No, they're keeping the theme music - and the dematerializing/materializing noise.

            I heard a radio interview on BBC Radio 2 (Steve Wright Show) this last Tuesday afternoon with the guy who plays the new doctor WHo and he stated that, along with a lot of other stuff. Was a cool interview, catch it in the BBC Radio archives... about halfway thru the show
    • So basically, you like the viral marketing story, and don't want to hear anything that contradicts it.

      People just have to have their conspiracy theories, even when they're a much simpler explanation.

    • Canadians are pretty big on sharing, we might have done it the badway.

      Our government is really regretting teaching us sharing was good in kindergarten :P

  • Viral advertising at it's best (Score:4, Interesting)

    by gothzilla ( 676407 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:49PM (#12038513)
    Employee leaks episode
    Damage control team decides to leak story of viral advertising
    Millions download the first Dr. Who episode

    Why not?
    • except I was the first person to mention a disbelief in unintentional leakage, and I don't work for ANYONE..

      yeah.. right.. (Score:5, Funny)
      by peculiarmethod (301094) on Monday March 07, @10:45AM (#11867776)
      (Last Journal: Friday April 11, @10:05AM)
      can anyone say "Promotional Ploy that Slashdot fell for"?
    • You know, can we save the tinfoil hat shit for important conspiracies, please? High-profile assassinations, mysterious alien landings, strange court decisions... you know, that type of thing.

  • Scapegoat? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DrKyle ( 818035 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:50PM (#12038525)
    How come when a DVD or game gets leaked on the net people manage to get away with it but this poor chap not associated with the BBC gets tracked down and fired? Is he just really stupid, bad at covering his tracks, or someone they could blame?

    • Is he just really stupid, bad at covering his tracks, or someone they could blame?

      Or all three?

    • What makes you think they always get away with it? Sometimes they don't. They just don't always make the headlines on SlashDot.

      Bryan

    • It's all gets pack to property ownership. Nobody has any right whatsoever to disseminate material that does not belong to them. If you choose to do otherwise, you assume all the risk that goes with it. You could up a folk hero, or bubba's favorite squeeze. If you end up in the latter situation (or in some other pool of hot water), too bad . Make better decisions next time.

  • QUICK! (Score:5, Funny)

    by DragonMagic ( 170846 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:50PM (#12038526) Homepage
    Find the phone booth and go back to tell yourself NOT to leak the show!

    • Re:QUICK! (Score:4, Funny)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:04PM (#12038717)
      Can't do it. My phone booth always runs on San Dimas time.

  • Not a suprise (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MyLongNickName ( 822545 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:51PM (#12038535) Journal
    I posted in the "speculation" news item, that the BBC is unlikely to do this type of thing. When looking for conspiracies one must take into account the character of the "persons" involved. The BBC is very above the board, and very conservative. Those two items combined made it hard to believe they would use misdirection in advertising. Combine that with the "accusers" were making wild speculation without any substantiation, and the conclusion of this story was obvious.
  • I must be missing something, but what reason could a nationalized television station possibly have to generate buzz? They've already got a captive audience that is required to pay up front whether they watch the channel or not. Who would think this was some sort of conspiracy to get viewers?

    I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. Dr. Who is good TV, and "lost episodes" are as legitimate as mainline stories in my book. It's kind of like the Star Wars books, sure they may not hold as stead
  • Unless it turns out that they contracted the Canadians specifically so that this guy could be fired? Anyone talk to his coworkers?

    • Re:zerg (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      He wasn't fired. He was exterminated.
  • Who Dunnit

    So now we know who leaked who maybe they can find out why since where and when and what are clear...

    okay ?
  • For all the obvious reasons. This is the future of generating interest in new series(es?). Look at the bold move by Battlestar Galactica. There's going to come a time when you're not going to NOT see this. How do you generate interest in your new series if none of the eyeballs look first to the Television for entertainment anymore?
    • Well, uncontrolled release on the Internet of your programming by third parties is not exactly what I would call a "solution."

      Next you will be telling us how paper books cannot compete with pirated e-books...

    • The 'bold move' by BSG happened AFTER the first episode aired in the UK, US and Canada - right there you have probably 90% of the market that it was going to hit, and theyd already seen it!

      Anyway, I really think decisions like this are best left to those who actually owns the content, not some schmoe who gets his hands on it during the course of a days work and thinks 'I know, Ill release this to drum up some interest. They will thank me later because Im doing them a favour!'.
    • This may be the future, but why should any joe schmoe get to decide that, rather than at least the executive producer or director of the series?

  • Fired? Or fired upon? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Megane ( 129182 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @02:58PM (#12038637)
    The BBC has denied rumours claiming that they sacked him while chanting "EX-TER-MI-NATE! EX-TER-MI-NATE!"

    /planning to download and watch the official broadcast version too

    • As a matter of fact they were changint EX-TERM-I-NATE (eks-term-eh-naete)

  • Lame, but... (Score:4, Funny)

    by nottsp1 ( 854247 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:00PM (#12038671)
    At least they know who the tard is...

  • Tough read ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:02PM (#12038690) Homepage
    Culprit of Leaked Doctor Who Episode Found

    Culprit of leaked, Doctor Who episode found.
    Culprit of leaked doctor, who episode found.
    Culprit of leaked Doctor Who, episode found.
    Culprit, of leaked Doctor, Who, episode found.

    Man. It took several false starts to actually be able to fully decode this headline. It seemed strangely right-recursive.
  • I wasn't intrested in Dr. who (infact I disliked it while friends loved it) and didn't even know about the new series untill the leak. Now I see it all over TV (and billboards in town) and I'm wanting to see the first episode or two to see what it'slike and if the geeks who loved it/hated it were right/wrong in my opinion.

    So while this guy may of been leaking stuff, he also got someone intrested in the series when beyond they would of just been sick of the adverts and gone "Man Billie Piper pisses me off t

  • Picture of the culprit (Score:5, Funny)

    by raider_red ( 156642 ) on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:07PM (#12038758) Journal
    A picture of the culprit can be found here [richardwho.com].
  • Culprit of Leaked Doctor Who Episode Found

    I had no idea how to read the subject line until I jumped into the comments. Might have been easier if they had put "Doctor Who" in quotes.

    Different ways to have read the subject:
    Culprit of the Leaky Doctor (he soiled himself) was found (while watching) an Episode (of Desperate Housewives)
    Culprit of leak? A clumsy Doctor! Who found the episode?
    • I second that. I first tried parsing it as the cuprit who wrote a virus called Leaked Doctor was found by Episode. I started thinking "What's Episode?" Was it some government initiative I haven't heard of or some monitoring software? And "What's Leaked Doctor?" Perhaps it was a runaway therapist AI or something. After a second and third parse, I grouped the overlapping phrases correctly. So, yeah, how about some quotes around titles.
  • Where in the US are we going to be able to see this?? I'm assuming PBS, same as before... but will we get it in a timely manner? Months, years later? If not PBS... who else does BBC shows? No One? Only those with the BBC channel (sattelite and some digital cable)???

    And I agree, invade canada. They're evil.

    • Re:Where in the U.S.? (Score:3, Informative)

      by zzyzx ( 15139 )
      Anyone who can get a CBC channel (such as us in Seattle who have cable) can watch it on that.
    • Get digital cable and bug the hell out of them to broadcast BBCAmerica. It's well worth it, as many of the British shows are far superior to our copycat reality tv shows and been there done that tv station mentality.
      • Yes, BBC America is so superior to American television. If, that is, you happen to like gardening shows, home decorating shows, and antiquing shows. If not, then it's not worth it for that one hour a day when they show other programming.

  • Those responsible for the sacking... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24, 2005 @03:15PM (#12038837)
    have just been sacked.
  • I mean, not that I don't figure being fired is appropriate to the situation, but really... is this expression something you would normally see used by a professional journalist?
  • And he would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids!
  • Since the show has BBC Wales in the credits, shouldn't it be "Culprit of Leeked Doctor Who Episode Found"?

  • Those responsible for saying that the person who was sacked was fired, have been sacked...

    • Those responsible for sacking those responsible for saying that the person who was sacked was fired, have been sacked, as well as those doing the afore mentioned sacking.

      And I myself have been officially sacked for posting the sackings sayings...
  • How did it go from Dr. Who to posting a Monty Python skit?

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