Dr Who 'leaker' gets the sack

A Canadian television worker has reportedly lost their job after being identified as the source of a leaked episode of the new Dr Who series, which appeared on the internet weeks before its first terrestrial screening last Saturday night.

According to the BBC the culprit was identified by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, an international partner of the Beeb, although it is not clear whether the alleged pirate worked for that company or another organisation. The BBC would only confirm it was a "third party".

No further details have been provided regarding the identity of the dismissed Canadian. As such the news may do little to stem the conspiracy theories which suggested the leak was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the BBC.

Either way, the leaked episode screened on Saturday night to an audience of around 10 million viewers after word of the leak created a buzz around the show's return.

A statement from BBC Wordwide said: "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."

BBC Worldwide added that it is now considering further legal action.

TV piracy, driven by the boom in se of BitTorrent software in particular is becoming a major concern for television studios with shows such as 24 and Star Trek among those most commonly cracked and distributed online.