On Thursday, Amazon Prime made a tiny, not-very-important mistake, by which we mean a pretty darn big one that will no doubt get someone fired. In case you didn’t hear about it, U.S. viewers looking to watch last Sunday’s episode of Doctor Who season 11, “Kerblam!”, on the streaming service instead got to watch the following episode, “The Witchfinders”… which won’t air on TV until tomorrow.
Naturally, fans had a field day with this accidental leak. Not only because some of them got to see the episode half a week before they expected to, but also due to the irony of this involving “Kerblam!”of all episodes. As I pointed out in my review, the titular intergalactic retail company was clearly a parody of Amazon, with the show taking shots at some of the juggernaut’s less savory elements. With that in mind, Whovians have been joking that the company took umbrage at the satire and decided to get their own back.
The BBC aren’t taking this leak lightly, though, as an official statement released by BBC Studios confirms that the matter is being investigated to prevent it from happening again.
“We’re aware that an upcoming episode of Doctor Who was made available to Amazon Prime users in the US in error. We are investigating how this happened and have taken the steps to remove it. BBC Studios would like to apologize if anyone’s enjoyment of the series has been spoiled by this mishap.”
For those who don’t know, “The Witchfinders” takes the TARDIS team to 17th century Lancashire in the third historical outing of the season. Alan Cumming guest stars as King James I, but the hour’s also notable for being the only episode of the modern series to be both written and directed by women – namely, writer Joy Wilkinson and director Sallie Aprahamian.
It’s sure to be another exciting outing in what’s been a pretty solid season so far and you can catch Doctor Who the old fashioned way when it airs on BBC One/America this Sunday, November 25th.
