15 Shocking Doctor Who Plot Twists That Nobody Saw Coming

11. The Doctor Shot Dead

Doctor Who has now been on our screens for over half a century - excluding the odd 'gap' year and prolonged hiatus - and it's a testament to the writers that they're always managing to find new ways of starting off each new series with an almighty bang. Steven Moffat went the extra mile (and then some) back in 2011 to ensure that the Series 6 two-part opener was the most ambitious premiere to date when the Eleventh Doctor quite literally popped his clogs within 10 minutes of his return to our screens. Even his attempt to regenerate was ultimately in vein as he was shot dead before our very eyes and this time it was no gimmick, either. The titular Time Lord really had been killed in cold blood by a mysterious lake-dwelling astronaut (his heartbroken friends proceeded by burning his body to prove that it was all the real deal) and it marked the start of one of the show's most timey-wimey narrative arcs to date. It's basically far too complicated to get into it all today so let's just say that it actually wasn't the Doctor that got shot (which you had probably already figured out anyway) and be done with it. It's a controversial move to kill off your show's protagonist at any point in the series but to do it at the very start of a brand new one is a whole other level of craziness. As such, fans certainly didn't see the Doctor's untimely death coming (even though it had been previously announced in the press) and is was one hell of a way to kick off a brand new series!