UPDATE: The Doctor Who social media accounts have now been reactivated along with the launch of new information on season 13, which you can read about here.
Original post follows:
The usual thing to do when a popular TV series is about to return for a new season is to, you know, actually promote the thing, but the BBC has taken a pretty unique approach when it comes to the thirteenth season of Doctor Who. Instead of announcing anything about the run, this weekend has seen the BBC wipe Who‘s social media accounts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If you visit the Doctor Who Twitter or Instagram, you’ll be met by a message reading “This account doesn’t exist” or “Sorry, this page isn’t available”. Meanwhile, the YouTube channel is still there but it’s empty with a message saying “This channel doesn’t have any content.”
The official website has also been wiped, too, with it only featuring a very Doctor-y error message that reads, “Oh my giddy Aunt! The stuff, it’s gone wibbly (1313).”
This all happened on Friday afternoon and since then Whovians have collectively lost their minds on social media, with #WhereIsDoctorWho trending as the fandom is desperate for answers on what the heck is going on here.
This mystery is up there with the whole Timeless Child thing.
EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!
So what are we to make of this? Well, the plan is probably to get fans talking about the social media blackout before eventually reactivating all the accounts – maybe along with a first-look trailer at season 13, something we’ve been waiting ages for. But how long will this blackout last? Well, the “1313” error message on the website might mean that something will happen on October 13? Or it could just be a reference to the Thirteenth Doctor and the season number.
If this is inspired by the recent Facebook outages then this is a stroke of genius from the marketing department. But we’ll just have to be patient to see what it’s actually building up to. Hopefully, at the end of it, we’ll finally find out when Doctor Who season 13 – a shortened six-episode season – is actually set to get here.
