Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About The End Of Time

20. The Regeneration That Never Was

The End of Time was the swansong for the much-loved Tenth Doctor.

After saving good old Wilf from a radiation booth, Ten embarks on a goodbye tour for the ages, before regenerating into Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor in a blaze of glory. However, it could've been very different.

Russell T Davies originally wanted Ten's goodbye to be a subtle affair where the Doctor would die rescuing a seemingly unremarkable alien family. He liked the idea that the great Time Lord was so noble that he would sacrifice himself to save a group of ordinary people.

This was changed for two reasons: Davies was worried that such a simple story wouldn't play well over two hours, and that audiences would be disappointed to see a beloved character go out in such low-stakes circumstances.

He was probably right.