Those Doctor Who moments that left your jaw on the floor.
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00:00 When David Tennant appeared at the end of The Power of the Doctor and said his iconic
00:04 "What?"
00:05 I think that's probably what millions of Doctor Who fans said as well.
00:09 Now obviously we knew he was returning, but just seeing him back in this role after so
00:13 long was just crazy.
00:15 I personally was stunned, in fact I was pretty much lost for words, which you'll be able
00:19 to see if you go back and watch our Ups and Downs review of the episode.
00:22 I just didn't know what to say.
00:24 But with this most recent cliffhanger dropping, we thought now would be a good time to take
00:28 a look at some of the other amazing cliffhangers that Doctor Who has given us.
00:33 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Doctor Who Cliffhangers that
00:38 made you say "What?"
00:40 Number 10.
00:41 The Dalek Fleet in Bad Wolf.
00:44 Now as if Bad Wolf didn't already have enough going on with the killer android, the rather
00:48 permanent Big Brother evictions and Captain Jack Harkness hiding a gun... somewhere.
00:54 On top of all that madness, RTD just had to go and throw Daleks into the mix as well.
01:00 The revelation at the end of Bad Wolf that the Skaro natives had survived their apparent
01:04 destruction and were the ones in control of the game station was actually probably the
01:09 first major cliffhanger of modern Doctor Who.
01:12 The backstory of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor kind of implied that the Daleks
01:16 had all been defeated in the Time War, and so the discovery of an entire Dalek fleet
01:21 heading straight for our heroes was quite the bombshell for both the Doctor and for
01:25 the audience.
01:26 And that closing moment where the Doctor basically defies the Daleks' orders and risks Rose's
01:32 life is quite inspiring but also rather risky, and audiences were left unsure whether they
01:39 should applaud his nerve or chastise his recklessness.
01:43 Number 9.
01:44 The Twelfth Doctor meets Santa Claus in Death in Heaven.
01:48 Considering that Doctor Who aired a Christmas special every year from 2005 to 2017, it is
01:54 quite surprising that it wasn't until 2014 that we finally saw the Doctor encounter Father
02:00 Christmas.
02:01 And I'm going to say Father Christmas because in England that is what he is called, not
02:06 Santa Claus.
02:07 I feel very strongly about this.
02:09 Midway through the closing credits of the Series 8 finale, the Doctor is suddenly awoken
02:14 by a knocking at the TARDIS door, and then Nick Frost's Father Christmas just casually
02:19 strolls in and asks the Doctor what he wants for Christmas.
02:22 We knew that the next episode was going to be a Christmas special, so that in itself
02:26 wasn't massively surprising.
02:28 But what was surprising was the introduction of a mythical creature here, or a mythical
02:32 being.
02:34 Mostly mythical beings in Doctor Who are given some sort of supernatural explanation, but
02:38 here it genuinely seemed like Father Christmas had walked into the TARDIS.
02:42 And also he seemed to be an acquaintance of the Doctor's, which left us with quite a few
02:47 questions, mainly, what's on the Doctor's Christmas list?
02:51 This was also a mid-credits scene, something that was unheard of in Doctor Who at the time,
02:56 and so people were a little bit jarred, a little bit shocked, and had a lot of questions.
03:01 Number 8, Donna in the TARDIS in Doomsday.
03:04 Doomsday really was an emotional rollercoaster of an episode, and marked the end of an era
03:09 for modern Doctor Who, as it saw the departure of its first companion.
03:13 Now there wasn't a dry eye in the nation as we witnessed the Tenth Doctor and Rose saying
03:18 goodbye to one another on Bad Wolf Bay.
03:21 But before we or the Doctor had time to process any of it, a massive bombshell was dropped
03:27 in the form of Catherine Tate in a wedding dress, in the TARDIS.
03:32 Now the Doctor's iconic "what, what, what" reaction debuted in this moment, and the no-nonsense
03:39 banter of Catherine Tate immediately set a new dynamic and tone for the following episode,
03:44 The Runaway Bride.
03:45 But this ending left audiences in a really conflicted state of utter devastation at the
03:51 loss of Rose, but also a somewhat guilty feeling of excitement and anticipation for what was
03:57 to come.
03:58 Number 7, floating in space in The Woman Who Fell to Earth.
04:02 Jodie Whittaker's debut episode introduced a lot of new elements to Doctor Who.
04:07 She had a new Doctor, a new gang of companions, and a new central location on Earth, which
04:12 was a nice change to always ending up in London.
04:16 But one thing that is recognised by audiences as a mainstay of Doctor Who was missing.
04:21 The TARDIS.
04:22 It's not unusual for the TARDIS to take a bit of a beating following a regeneration,
04:26 and a redesign was expected to accompany this kind of fresh vision of Doctor Who.
04:33 But expectations were quickly subverted when the episode ended not with this new TARDIS
04:37 team beaming to the TARDIS, but just into open space.
04:42 Some fans were a bit disappointed at the lack of a new TARDIS reveal, and others were in
04:46 complete shock that these new companions were now floating in space, rapidly running out
04:51 of air.
04:52 It was a really good hook for the following episode.
04:55 Say what you will about the Whittaker-Chipnall era, but this was certainly a gripping ending
05:00 to their debut episode.
05:02 Number 6.
05:03 The Doctor is still blind in Oxygen.
05:06 This series 10 episode centres around a space station and the value of oxygen amongst its
05:12 crew.
05:13 So they aptly named it Oxygen.
05:14 We see the 12th Doctor Bill and Nardole take on these zombies in spacesuits.
05:20 Seriously, what is it with Stephen Moffat and spacesuits that have a mind of their own?
05:25 And also the inhumane values of a company who places profit above human life.
05:31 Now the episode does give you a few near fatal moments, just to give you a bit of a fright,
05:35 you have Bill's suit malfunction and the Doctor give her his, then he goes blind as a result
05:40 of his prolonged lack of oxygen, and then Bill's suit malfunctions again and seemingly
05:45 kills her.
05:46 Luckily, the Doctor is able to save Bill and Nardole is able to restore the Doctor's sight.
05:51 Or so we thought.
05:52 It's revealed at the end of the episode that the Doctor is in fact still blind when he
05:58 says to Nardole "I can't look at anything ever again".
06:01 Now it is very rare to see the Doctor suffer major injuries and it certainly left us with
06:06 a lot of questions heading into the following episode.
06:10 Number 5.
06:11 The universe ends in The Pandorica Opens.
06:14 Now it's no secret that when Matt Smith took over from David Tennant, there was a lot of
06:18 concern that he wouldn't be up to the task.
06:20 But it's a tale as old as time, or at least as old as Doctor Who, the new guy is never
06:25 going to be as good as the one before.
06:27 And it's a tale that's generally proven wrong.
06:30 And I think that series 5's The Pandorica Opens really proved that Matt Smith was worthy
06:36 of the role.
06:37 And it also introduced a premise that was so obvious and yet inconceivable at the same
06:43 time.
06:44 It stands to reason that the most feared being in the universe would be the one person who
06:49 constantly prevails over all the other menacing creatures in the galaxy.
06:54 The idea of all of the Doctor's enemies working together in an alliance was just brilliantly
06:59 created by Steven Moffat and left us with a truly brilliant cliffhanger as the Doctor
07:05 is dragged into the Pandorica and sealed inside as the TARDIS explodes, destroying the universe.
07:12 Now this ending left us with so many questions.
07:14 How is the Doctor going to escape this perfectly designed prison?
07:18 How is he going to fix the universe?
07:21 Did Robot Rory really just shoot Amy?
07:23 And most importantly, did River get out of the exploding TARDIS in time?
07:28 Number 4.
07:29 Bad Wolf in Turn Left.
07:31 Turn Left was a brilliant "what if" episode and it really highlighted just how many times
07:35 the Doctor has saved the world, but also how many people he's influenced to follow in
07:40 his footsteps.
07:41 But of course, the biggest element of this episode was the return of Rose.
07:46 Now we had seen glimpses of Rose's return throughout series 4, but this was the most
07:51 prominent appearance and really laid the groundwork for the upcoming two part series finale.
07:56 Now there still was a lot of mystery surrounding Rose, she wouldn't give her identity to
08:00 Donna, and there was no explanation how she was travelling from her parallel universe
08:05 to Donna's.
08:07 But it was made clear towards the end of the episode that her one goal, her one mission
08:11 was to warn the Doctor of the impending darkness.
08:15 What was really thrilling about this cliffhanger was that it was so personal.
08:20 Rather than just explain to Donna what was going to happen so she could tell the Doctor,
08:24 she gave her a simple message that not only warned the Doctor of the upcoming destruction,
08:29 but also had a personal meaning that instantly gave him just a glimmer of hope that he would
08:35 see her again.
08:36 And then seeing the words "Bad Wolf" plastered everywhere on screen just created such a buzz
08:41 for the following week's episode, and it also gave the audiences that glimmer of hope
08:46 that they would finally see the Doctor and Rose reunited.
08:49 3.
08:50 River's identity in A Good Man Goes to War
08:54 The identity of River Song had been a long standing mystery ever since her first appearance
08:59 in Silence in the Library.
09:00 And while some people, including Amy, had guessed that she would become the Doctor's
09:05 wife, there was a second layer to her identity that perhaps people didn't see coming.
09:11 In hindsight, maybe it was obvious.
09:13 There were a few hints and clues dropped in the build up to this reveal, but it was executed
09:18 so well that the reveal still felt like a shocking twist.
09:22 River Song is Melody Pond.
09:25 Melody Pond is Amy and Rory's daughter.
09:28 WHAT?
09:29 Now, the range of reactions from the Doctor's flustered excitement to the sheer look of
09:34 shock on Amy and Rory's face is probably a pretty good representation of the spectrum
09:39 of audience responses as well.
09:42 Now while it was brilliant to finally know who River Song was, we actually were left
09:46 with more questions than we started with.
09:49 Like how can River Song be older than her parents?
09:52 What happened to her once she was taken from Demon's Run?
09:56 Why didn't she say anything sooner?
09:58 And how does Evil Moffat's mind work?
10:01 2.
10:02 The Angel Doctor in Village of the Angels
10:05 Now say what you will about flux, but it cannot be denied that Episode 4, Village of the Angels,
10:11 ended on one hell of a cliffhanger.
10:14 After discovering a weeping angel inside Claire's mind, the Doctor enters Claire's mind to
10:19 try and expel the invader, but instead she learns that this weeping angel is hiding from
10:25 the Division and offers the Doctor a deal, her missing memories in exchange for helping
10:31 the angel escape.
10:32 Immediately this seems reckless, why would you trust a weeping angel?
10:35 And of course when the moment arrives, the angel double crosses the Doctor and offers
10:40 her to the Division in exchange for its own freedom.
10:43 But what happens next was truly, truly unexpected.
10:47 Now it's not uncommon to see the Doctor find themselves in a sticky situation, but
10:51 very rarely do we actually see them defeated.
10:55 And yet in the closing moments of this episode, we see the Doctor transform into a weeping
11:00 angel.
11:01 This was a moment that left many an audience member with their jaws on the floor and a
11:06 what the ffff expression on their face.
11:10 1.
11:11 David Tennant's Return in The Power of the Doctor
11:14 The return of Russell T. Davis and David Tennant is a massive twist for modern Doctor Who.
11:19 The pair worked so well together from series 2 to series 4, so the prospect of them creating
11:25 new content just sent fans into a frenzy.
11:28 But the announcement of David Tennant's return and Shuti Gatwa's casting, the question
11:33 on everybody's lips in the build up to Jodie Whittaker's final episode, was who was she
11:38 going to regenerate into?
11:39 It was fairly obvious that it was going to be one of these two actors, but the fact that
11:44 it was David Tennant left us with so much more confusion than if it had been Shuti Gatwa.
11:50 A new face is to be expected.
11:53 An old face revisited?
11:54 Well that's something completely different.
11:57 In this instance, the reveal itself wasn't massively shocking.
12:01 We knew that David Tennant was going to be returning.
12:04 But the mystery and the confusion surrounding his return, that made for a brilliant cliffhanger.
12:11 One that will now keep fans guessing for an entire year before they get any sort of answers.
12:17 Damn you Russell T. Davis!
12:20 And that concludes our list.
12:21 There are some obvious ones that we purposely left out because we wanted to look for the
12:26 more obscure answers, but if you think we did miss any really good examples, then do
12:30 let us know in the comments below.
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12:38 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and Instagram as well, and I can be found
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12:46 Don't forget to look for Sean Ferrick as well and Dan The Meegs too.
12:49 I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye sweeties.