10 Doctor Who Cliffhangers That Made You Say What?

WhatCulture

Those Doctor Who moments that left your jaw on the floor.

Transcript

00:00When David Tennant appeared at the end of The Power of the Doctor and said his iconic

00:04what, I think that's probably what millions of Doctor Who fans said as well. Now obviously we

00:10knew he was returning, but just seeing him back in this role after so long was just crazy. I

00:16personally was stunned, in fact I was pretty much lost for words, which you'll be able to see

00:20if you go back and watch our ups and downs review of the episode, I just didn't know what to say.

00:24But with this most recent cliffhanger dropping, we thought now would be a good time to take a look

00:29at some of the other amazing cliffhangers that Doctor Who has given us. So with that in mind,

00:34I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Doctor Who cliffhangers that made you say what?

00:40Number 10, the Dalek fleet in Bad Wolf. Now as if Bad Wolf didn't already have enough going on with

00:47the killer android, the rather permanent Big Brother evictions, and Captain Jack Harkness hiding a gun

00:53somewhere. On top of all that madness, RTD just had to go and throw Daleks into the

00:59mix as well. The revelation at the end of Bad Wolf that these Scarrow natives had survived their

01:04apparent destruction, and were the ones in control of the game station, was actually probably the

01:09first major cliffhanger of modern Doctor Who. Now the backstory of Christopher Eccleston's Ninth

01:14Doctor kind of implied that the Daleks had all been defeated in the Time War, and so the discovery

01:19of an entire Dalek fleet heading straight for our heroes was quite the bombshell for both the Doctor

01:25and for the audience. And that closing moment where the Doctor basically defies the Dalek's orders

01:31and risks Rose's life is quite inspiring, but also rather risky, and audiences were left unsure

01:38whether they should applaud his nerve or chastise his recklessness.

01:43Number 9, the 12th Doctor meets Santa Claus in Death in Heaven. Considering that Doctor Who aired a

01:49Christmas special every year from 2005 to 2017, it is quite surprising that it wasn't until 2014

01:57that we finally saw the Doctor encounter Father Christmas. And I'm going to say Father Christmas

02:03because in England, that is what he is called. Not Santa Claus. I feel very strongly about this.

02:09Midway through the closing credits of the Series 8 finale, the Doctor is suddenly awoken by a knocking

02:15at the TARDIS door, and then Nick Frost's Father Christmas just casually strolls in and asks the

02:20Doctor what he wants for Christmas. We knew that the next episode was going to be a Christmas special,

02:25so that in itself wasn't massively surprising. But what was surprising was the introduction of a

02:30mythical creature here, or a mythical being. Mostly mythical beings in Doctor Who are given some sort

02:37of supernatural explanation, but here it genuinely seemed like Father Christmas had walked into the

02:42TARDIS. And also, he seemed to be an acquaintance of the Doctor's, which left us with quite a few

02:47questions. Mainly, what's on the Doctor's Christmas list? This was also a mid-credits scene, something

02:53that was unheard of in Doctor Who at the time, and so people were a little bit jarred, a little bit

02:58shocked, and had a lot of questions. Number 8, Donna in the TARDIS in Doomsday. Doomsday really was an

03:06emotional rollercoaster of an episode, and marked the end of an era for modern Doctor Who, as it saw the

03:11departure of its first companion. Now, there wasn't a dry eye in the nation, as we witnessed the

03:17Tenth Doctor and Rose saying goodbye to one another on Bad Wolf Bay. But, before we or the Doctor had time to

03:24process any of it, a massive bombshell was dropped in the form of Catherine Tate, in a wedding dress, in the TARDIS.

03:32Now, the Doctor's iconic, what, what, what reaction debuted in this moment, and the no-nonsense banter of

03:40Catherine Tate immediately set a new dynamic and tone for the following episode, The Runaway Bride. But this

03:46ending left audiences in a really conflicted state of utter devastation at the loss of Rose, but also a somewhat

03:53guilty feeling of excitement and anticipation for what was to come. Number 7, floating in space in The

04:00Woman Who Fell to Earth. Jodie Whittaker's debut episode introduced a lot of new elements to Doctor

04:06Who. You had a new Doctor, a new gang of companions, and a new central location on Earth, which was nice,

04:13it was a nice change to just always ending up in London. But one thing that is recognised by audiences

04:18as a mainstay of Doctor Who was missing. The TARDIS. It's not unusual for the TARDIS to take a bit of a

04:24beating following a regeneration, and a redesign was expected to accompany this kind of fresh vision of

04:32Doctor Who. But expectations were quickly subverted when the episode ended not with this new TARDIS team

04:38beaming to the TARDIS, but just into open space. Now, some fans were a bit disappointed at the lack of a

04:44new TARDIS reveal, and others were just in complete shock that these new companions were now floating

04:50in space, rapidly running out of air. And it was a really good hook for the following episode. Now,

04:56say what you will about the Whittaker Chibnall era, but this was certainly a gripping ending to their

05:01debut episode. Number 6, the Doctor is still blind in oxygen. This series 10 episode centres around a space

05:10station and the value of oxygen amongst its crew. So, they aptly named it Oxygen. We see the 12th Doctor,

05:16Bill and Nardole, take on these zombies in spacesuits. Seriously, what is it with Steven Moffat and spacesuits

05:23that have a mind of their own? And also, the inhumane values of a company who places profit above human

05:31life. Now, the episode does give you a few near-fatal moments. Just to give you a bit of a fright, you have

05:36Bill's suit malfunction and the Doctor give her his. Then he goes blind as a result of his prolonged

05:41lack of oxygen. And then Bill's suit malfunctions again and seemingly kills her. Luckily, the Doctor

05:47is able to save Bill and Nardole is able to restore the Doctor's sight. Or so we thought. It's revealed

05:53at the end of the episode that the Doctor is in fact still blind when he says to Nardole, I can't look

06:00at anything ever again. Now, it is very rare to see the Doctor suffer major injuries and it certainly

06:06left us with a lot of questions heading into the following episode. Number 5. The universe ends in

06:12the Pandorica opens. Now, it's no secret that when Matt Smith took over from David Tennant, there was a

06:18lot of concern that he wouldn't be up to the task. But it's a tale as old as time, or at least as old as

06:23Doctor Who. The new guy is never going to be as good as the one before. And it's a tale that's

06:28generally proven wrong. And I think that series 5's The Pandorica opens really proved that Matt

06:35Smith was worthy of the role. And it also introduced a premise that was so obvious and yet inconceivable

06:43at the same time. Now, it stands to reason that the most feared being in the universe would be the

06:48one person who constantly prevails over all the other menacing creatures in the galaxy. The idea of

06:55all of the Doctor's enemies working together in an alliance was just brilliantly created by Stephen

07:01Moffat, and left us with a truly brilliant cliffhanger as the Doctor is dragged into the

07:07Pandorica and sealed inside as the TARDIS explodes, destroying the universe. Now, this ending left us

07:13with so many questions. How is the Doctor going to escape this perfectly designed prison? How is he

07:19going to fix the universe? Did Robot Rory really just shoot Amy? And most importantly, did River get

07:26out of the exploding TARDIS in time? Number 4, Bad Wolf in Turn Left. Turn Left was a brilliant

07:32what-if episode, and it really highlighted just how many times the Doctor has saved the world,

07:37but also how many people he's influenced to follow in his footsteps. But of course, the biggest element of

07:43this episode was the return of Rose. Now, we had seen glimpses of Rose's return throughout Series 4,

07:50but this was the most prominent appearance, and really laid the groundwork for the upcoming two-part

07:55series finale. Now, there still was a lot of mystery surrounding Rose. She wouldn't give her identity to

08:01Donna, and there was no explanation how she was travelling from her parallel universe to Donna's.

08:07But it was made clear towards the end of the episode that her one goal, her one mission,

08:11was to warn the Doctor of the impending darkness. What was really thrilling about this cliffhanger

08:18was that it was so personal. Rather than just explain to Donna what was going to happen so she

08:23could tell the Doctor, she gave her a simple message that not only warned the Doctor of the

08:29upcoming destruction, but also had a personal meaning that instantly gave him just a glimmer of

08:34hope that he would see her again. And then seeing the words Bad Wolf plastered everywhere on screen

08:39just created such a buzz for the following week's episode, and it also gave the audiences that

08:46glimmer of hope that they would finally see the Doctor and Rose reunited.

08:50Number 3. River's identity in A Good Man Goes to War

08:53The identity of River Song had been a long-standing mystery ever since her first appearance in Silence

09:00in the library. And while some people, including Amy, had guessed that she would become the Doctor's

09:05wife, there was a second layer to her identity that perhaps people didn't see coming.

09:11Now in hindsight, maybe it was obvious. There were a few hints and clues dropped in the build-up

09:16to this reveal, but it was executed so well that the reveal still felt like a shocking twist.

09:22River Song is Melody Pond. Melody Pond is Amy and Rory's daughter.

09:27What?! Now the range of reactions, from the Doctor's

09:32flustered excitement to the sheer look of shock on Amy and Rory's face, is probably a pretty

09:38good representation of the spectrum of audience responses as well.

09:42Now while it was brilliant to finally know who River Song was, we actually were left with

09:47more questions than we started with. Like, how can River Song be older than her parents?

09:52What happened to her once she was taken from Demon's Run?

09:55Why didn't she say anything sooner? And how does Steven Moffat's mind work?

10:01Number 2. The Angel Doctor in Village of the Angels

10:04Now, say what you will about Flux, but it cannot be denied that Episode 4, Village of the Angels,

10:11ended on one hell of a cliffhanger. After discovering a weeping angel inside Claire's mind,

10:18the Doctor enters Claire's mind to try and expel the invader. But instead, she learns that this

10:24weeping angel is hiding from the Division and offers the Doctor a deal, her missing memories,

10:30in exchange for helping the Angel escape. Immediately, this seems reckless. Why would

10:35you trust a weeping angel? And of course, when the moment arrives, the Angel double-crosses the

10:39Doctor and offers her to the Division in exchange for its own freedom.

10:43But what happens next is truly, truly unexpected. Now, it's not uncommon to see the Doctor find

10:50themselves in a sticky situation, but very rarely do we actually see them defeated. And yet, in the

10:56closing moments of this episode, we see the Doctor transform into a weeping angel. This was a moment

11:02that left many an audience member with their jaws on the floor and a what-the-f expression on their face.

11:10Number 1. David Tennant's return in The Power of the Doctor

11:13The return of Russell T. Davis and David Tennant is a massive twist for modern Doctor Who. The pair

11:20worked so well together from Series 2 to Series 4, so the prospect of them creating new content just sent fans

11:27into a frenzy. With the announcement of David Tennant's return and Shuti Gatwa's casting, the question on

11:33everybody's lips in the build-up to Jodie Whittaker's final episode was who was she going to regenerate

11:39into? Now, it was fairly obvious that it was going to be one of these two actors, but the fact that it was

11:45David Tennant left us with so much more confusion than if it had been Shuti Gatwa. A new face is to be

11:52expected. An old face revisited? Well, that's something completely different. Now, in this

11:58instance, the reveal itself wasn't massively shocking. We knew that David Tennant was going to

12:03be returning, but the mystery and the confusion surrounding his return, that made for a brilliant

12:10cliffhanger. One that will now keep fans guessing for an entire year before they get any sort of

12:17answers. Damn you, Russell T Davies! And that concludes our list. Now, there are some obvious

12:22ones that we purposely left out because we wanted to look for the more obscure answers, but if you

12:28think we did miss any really good examples, then do let us know in the comments below. And while you're

12:33there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell so you never miss a Who

12:37Culture video again. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there and Instagram as well, and I can be

12:42found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. Don't forget to look for Sean

12:47Ferrick as well, and Dan the Meigs too. I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong

12:53herself, goodbye, sweeties.

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