This story would make the Doctor proud…
A few days ago a University student Hannah Durham took a cab and found, of all things, the read-through script for Neil Gaiman’s ‘Doctor Who’ episode in the back seat. So what’s a girl to do? Does she read it and sell the info to a tabloid? Sell it to the highest bidder on e-Bay? Post it all over the internet?
Durham did the noble thing. She attempted to get the script back to the BBC.
A photo of the left script was posted on Facebook with the caption “found Dr Who script in the back of a taxi. Cheeky spoilers, anyone?” Durham tried to get the script back to the BBC but no one was contacting her back as to where she could make sure the script was back in the proper hands.
It wasn’t until a Facebook friend of Durham’s posted the photo on Reddick that Whovians began to help get the “holy grail” back to its home. Some tried to contact the BBC on her behalf, others gave possible phone numbers where she could call and speak to someone while others even contacted Gaiman on Twitter to see what he could do:
Thankfully, the story does have a happy ending. As Shrimpdude on Reddit noted:
“Been in touch with various members of the production team (Nerdgasm) and we’ve arranged a return of the script. Thank you everyone that upvoted this post so it got the attention of the BBC. This thread has made my life – I never would have believed I could help out the Doctor Who production team!”
So, in the end, the script is back in the hands of the BBC with hardly a spoiler exposed… well almost.
Because of the photo, several spoilers were to be had like the title of the episode and verification of the new companion’s name. After much consideration, it was decided not to post the photo of the script on the site, but if you really want to see it, you can click here. Remember, however, you are not dealing with Torchwood and can’t be retconned once you see it nor do you have a TARDIS to go back in time to leave a message to tell yourself not to look. As River would say, “Spoilers!”
Durham has said she hasn’t read the script and is touched by the outpouring of gratitude expressed by Whovians:
Even Gaiman offered to autograph something for her for her good deed:
This goes to show that there are indeed good people out in the world, but I have to ask: If you found the script would you have returned it to the BBC unread as Durham did or would you have kept it?
