10 Doctor Who Cliffhangers That Made You Say WHAT?!

5. The Universe Ends (The Pandorica Opens)

Doctor Who The Pandorica Opens
BBC Studios

It’s no secret that when Matt Smith took over from David Tennant, there were a lot of concerns that he wouldn’t be up to the task. It’s a tale as old as time, or at least a tale as old as Doctor Who – the newbie won't ever be as good as the one before – and it’s also a tale that generally gets proven wrong.

Series 5’s The Pandorica Opens proved once and for all that Matt Smith really was worthy of this role, and also explored a concept that seemed so obvious and yet so inconceivable at the same time.

It stands to reason that the most feared being in the universe would be the one person who constantly prevails over the rest of the meddlesome creatures in the galaxy. The whole premise of the Doctor's enemies working together in an alliance was a great one by Steven Moffat, and left us with a chilling cliffhanger as Eleven gets dragged into the Pandorica while the TARDIS explodes and destroys the universe.

There were so many questions and concerns left by this ending! How was the Doctor going to escape this perfectly-designed prison? How was he going to fix the universe? Did robot Rory really just kill Amy? And, most importantly, did River manage to escape the exploding TARDIS?!

Only one thing was certain: silence had fallen.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.