8 Doctor Who Episodes With Alternate Endings
1. Journey's End
The Televised Ending
After leaving the real Rose and the discount Doctor on the parallel Earth's Bad Wolf Bay, our main Doctor returns to the TARDIS and wipes Donna's memories, dropping her off at home with Wilf and Sylvia.
Having lost his friends and companions, he's naturally a little bit glum, and the final shot of the episode shows him stood at the TARDIS console, rain-soaked and alone.
The Alternate Ending
The Series 2 finale and the Series 3 finale both ended with scenes that led directly into their upcoming Christmas specials, with Doomsday including a shot of runaway bride Donna Noble, and Last Of The Time Lords concluding with the space Titanic bursting through the walls of the TARDIS.
Originally, Russell T Davies had something similar in mind for the Series 4 finale too, but he was eventually persuaded to cut it by Doctor Who Magazine writer Ben Cook.
As well as adding in an extra shot of Donna appearing to recognise the sound of the TARDIS, this alternate ending shows two Cybermen appear behind the Doctor while he's stood at the console (and of course, Tennant delivers his signature "WHAT?!"), leading directly into 2008's Cybermen-centric Christmas special, The Next Doctor.
Cook felt that this ending was tonally inconsistent with the overall sadness of the episode. The Doctor has just lost everything, so ending on this lighter note didn't feel right. Davies agreed, and the televised ending was put together instead.
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