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Maybe it's because there were so many months between specials, but the run-up to "The Waters of Mars" seemed to include a fair bit of angst over spoilers in the set reports and promotional material. How much do we care about having a story "spoiled," and what constitutes it anyway?
I actually care a great deal about not being spoiled! I haven't even seen it yet and will wait until the 6th of December at 8:30 AEST to see it. I'll be able to avert my eyes and not watch anything for another 2-3 weeks. You just gotta have persistence.
An interesting question, and thoughts.
Spoilers are so varied that it is difficult be specific in a reply to the subject to spoil or not to spoil.
I just wanted to talk about ones specific thing you mentioned, which went along the lines of "we have to trust the production staff to know what is best for us". When it comes to spoilers, there is no way a blanket statement like that can be correct.
Remember when we got our first two part story in new Who – Aliens in Lond/WWIII? Fans COMPLAINED because they saw the next time trailer in the middle of this two parter, and it showed the Doctor survived the cliffhanger! From then on the next time trailer in two parters is more cleverly hidden further into the credit sequence, or after it. That to me more than anything shows that you can't predict what fans will rail against in the spoiler department. You can be as careful as you like, you can think you are producing the most spoiler free promotional material possible, but you will always fail. Heck, I am sure some people even complained about knowing what the title of the recent special was, saying it ruined the story for them knowing where the TARDIS was going to land. it was Mars
I suppose what I am trying to say is spoilers take on so many forms, from set reports, trailers, out of focus fan shots etc that to come up with one answer is probably impossible.
And also, fans (fanatics) come in different sizes flavours and obsession levels. You are right in saying they have different levels of spoilery. So you are never going to please all of them all of the time.
I honestly don't mind spoilers and trailers. It's not like I won't watch the show because I have too much information beforehand. I'm easily swayed by hype, and the more information and buzz out about a show, the more I want to watch it. Knowing what will happen does not lessen the experience for me.