8 Ways Doctor Who Could Actually End

5. An Open-Ended Regeneration

Doctor Who David Tennant Tenth Doctor regeneration
BBC Studios

In much the same way that a "flying off into the sunset" ending would be a fittingly optimistic way to wrap up Doctor Who, an alternative approach here would be to show the start of a regeneration... but cut away just before the end.

Circling back to Twice Upon A Time, and there's a shot at the end of that episode where the camera pulls back on the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration (pictured above), before cutting to an extreme close-up of his eyes.

We linger here for a moment, until the screen is consumed by a burst of white, and the Thirteenth Doctor is revealed, standing in front of the TARDIS console.

Okay, now picture this exact ending, only without the reveal of the next Doctor: that burst of white holds, the theme tune starts up, and the credits begin to roll.

Like the sunset ending, this allows the legend of the Doctor to live on, letting us know that they'll always be out there, making the universe a better place. Even if Doctor Who does have to end, why shouldn't the legacy continue on?

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.