15 Shocking Doctor Who Plot Twists That Nobody Saw Coming

7. Regeneration Shocks The Nation

Sticking with the theme of regeneration now as the TARDIS takes us back to 2008 for one of the most game-changing moments to date. It's safe to say that the show entered part one of the epic Series 4 finale, The Stolen Earth, with all of its guns blazing (and then some) and viewers should've known from the sheer scale of the proceedings - even the cast of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures had come along for the party - that the action was building up to one of the most climactic cliffhangers in Doctor Who history. Nobody could have predicted just how Earth-shattering it would turn out to be, though, when Rose Tyler and the Doctor were finally reunited before the latter was shot dead by a Dalek and proceeded to regenerate before our very eyes. Blimey. "What... what... what!?" (to quote the Tenth Doctor himself) was the general vibe that followed suit as the end credits rolled and the nation was left to try and digest what the hell had just happened. Russell T Davies must have been sat in a chair and laughing menacingly as he stroked a white cat at this point. Suffice to say, the media went into an unprecedented frenzy in the week building up to the grand finale, Journey's End, and for a scary moment it really looked like they'd managed to pull off one of the biggest twists in televisual history by casting a new Doctor without anyone even knowing. It didn't help matters that rumours were already circulating that the Christmas Special would introduce 'The Next Doctor' (as it turns out, another case of narrative misdirection) but David Tennant's legion of devoted fans had nothing to worry about in the end when the Tenth Doctor managed to cheat death by pouring his regeneration energy into his handy spare hand. Thank God for that. Still, the moment itself was pretty damn scary, wasn't it? Everyone had something to say about it which resulted in Doctor Who securing one of its highest ratings ever as nearly 11 million tuned in for the long awaited aftermath. The fandom might have been in turmoil but the BBC were laughing all the way to the bank.