10 Doctor Who Episodes That Should Have Been Two-Parters

The Eleventh Doctor's final story gives Matt Smith a heartfelt send-off with a memorably melancholy regeneration scene, but sadly fails to satisfyingly wrap up Steven Moffat's ambitious story arcs that had followed the Doctor throughout his tenure. It's a lovely episode, but ultimately not a satisfactory resolution to years of build-up, and that's mostly due to the fact that the pacing feels rushed and the script feels overstuffed with ideas. What should have been big reveals come at you so quickly and without fanfare that you're left wondering if you've accidentally pressed fast-forward, and the sense of impact from the plot therefore doesn't quite match up to the epic scale of the visuals.

If this Christmas special had been extended into a two-parter like The End of Time, it would have been perfect. We could have had more time with the Doctor taking care of the people of Trenzalore, more screen-time from the Daleks, Cybermen, Silence, and Weeping Angels, more of everyone's favourite one-off companion Handles, and properly satisfying explanations for the Eleventh Doctor's story arcs to give fans the resolution they deserved. A popular fan rumour says that, had Matt Smith stayed for Series 8, the Siege of Trenzalore would have formed the basis for that entire season. But that might have been a little excessive: a solid two-parter would have been more than enough to wrap up the Eleventh Doctor's reign with a neat little bow-tie.