During last night's press screening of the Doctor Who Series 10 opening episode 'The Pilot', Steven Moffat teased an "enormous spoiler" in the trailer that precedes it.
Moffat apparently encouraged the audience to close their eyes at a certain point during the Episode Two trailer;
"This is just a public warning... some people hate spoilers and some people love spoilers; and everybody hates me whatever way they think about it. So this is my last attempt in this role to avoid hatred.
At the end of the episode there will be yet another awesome trailer for Doctor Who. At the very end of the trailer there is, frankly, an enormous spoiler, a spoiler that may actually melt your brains. But I promise you, you'd be better off not knowing because - awesome though it will be here - it will be even more awesome in a few weeks' time. So we're gonna give you the option, in our frankly camp and ridiculous way.
There will come up a warning and then there will be a countdown to the spoiler, and then there will be a warning to 'blink now'. If at that point you close your eyes and wait until you hear the cliffhanger noise, you will have a better experience in a few weeks’ time."
So what could this spoiler be?
Well, as the loyal readers among you will know, DWO is a spoiler-free site, but that can't get in the way of a gentle bit of speculation. Now we could be completely way off with this, but we believe the spoiler *may* be centred around The Doctor's granddaughter, Susan [Foreman]... and here's why:
Let's cast our minds back to yesterday, when the Radio Times released an image featuring 13 clues from Series 10. One of the clues (No.3) was a book that Pearl Mackie was holding - a book that anyone who is familiar with the Penguin Classics will know as 'Northanger Abbey'.
What a lot of people don't know is that Jane Austen (the author of the book) originally titled it 'Susan'. Based on the prominent placement in the image, as well as the brief shot of a photo of Susan in a recent clip from the episode, our money is on Susan being the big spoiler.
We could, as we say, be completely wrong, but it's a very exciting prospect if true! There are other possibilities of what the spoiler could be, including a regeneration, another Doctor or even something connected with the Time Lords...
We'd love to hear what you think the spoiler is. Do you agree with us? Do you have another theory? Let us know in the comments box below or in the DWO Forums, by clicking the 'Discuss' button.
+ Series 10 of Doctor Who airs from Saturday 15th April 2017.
[Sources: DWO; Radio Times; Sean Lassiter]
Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions
Written By: Marc Platt
RRP: £8.99 (CD) / £7.99 (Download)
Release Date: January 2013
Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online
Review Posted: 19th January 2013
The TARDIS materializes in Spain in the late sixteenth century. The country is at war with England – and the travellers find themselves on the wrong side of the battle lines.
When Ian and his new friend Esteban are captured by the Inquisition, the Doctor, Susan and Barbara plan to rescue them.
But these are dark days in human history. And heretics face certain death...
* * *
It makes sense that the first release from Big Finish for the Fiftieth anniversary year would be a First Doctor story. What makes The Flames of Cadiz an extra special release is that it is a four part adventure which is magnificently performed by two of the original TARDIS crew.
The Flames of Cadiz deals with the perils of time travel and interference in the course of history. It is also a study of opposing sides. In the story we have Catholics against Protestants and the warring factions of Spain and England. Both of the opposing sides are not shown to be positive as one is just as ruthless and fanatical as the other. Platt uses our heroes to examine this in relation to time travel when The Doctor accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotaging the timeline to provide a positive outcome for their country in the upcoming battle with the Spanish Armada.
Marc Platt has crafted a story which very much echoes the historical stories of Doctor Who’s early years whilst being both entertaining and thought provoking. Platt knows The First Doctor well, having written many incarnations of the character in different media. He gets the grumpiness and the distrust between him and his companions spot on. The Doctor is flawed, making mistakes and getting things wrong, setting off a catastrophic set of events into motion out of anger. It harks back to those early years when we didn’t know just who The Doctor was and what he wanted.
William Russell and Carole Ann Ford deliver excellent performances as Ian and Susan, both picking up the narrative parts of their story with ease but for me it is Russell who is the star of the show. I have said in past reviews that we are lucky to have William Russell continuing to play Ian Chesterton and as we head into this Anniversary year I stand by this even more so.
The story is a little long and it could quite easily have been edited down into two parts but the thoughtful pace and the comic and reflective moments would have been a casualty.
The Flames of Cadiz is well worth your time and a lovely example of that era fifty years ago.
