Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About The End Of Time
6. It Was Almost Broadcast On A Single Day
The second instalment of The End of Time did something that Doctor Who hadn't done since 1977 – air on New Year's Day.
The first instalment kept the NuWho tradition of airing on Christmas Day, forcing fans to wait an agonizing week for the conclusion. The stress at the time was unbearable.
Said stress would've been alleviated had one of the original ideas gone ahead, which was to put out both episodes on Christmas Day. The BBC had previously done this with Eastenders, but this time around, they weren't having it, and the Christmas/New Year split was chosen instead.
Davies was then forced to remove most of the Christmas-related references from Part Two, which makes you wonder if Rassilon was initially going to be wearing a Santa hat when he came through the portal.