Regenerations hold a special place in any Doctor Who fan's heart, and for good reason, they are a special type of episode that are held to a higher standard than most. And as such there are some rules for how to do them: they have to be timely in that they ought to come at a key moment in the series; they should be emotional for the companions, the audience and the Doctor. And they need to include some sort of imminent danger to the Doctor - which is clearly a given - as well as some element of surprise, fitting for the occasion. Whether that surprise comes from William Hartnell's unannounced first "rejuvenation," the utilization of the Watcher in Tom Baker's final moments, or the extra regeneration cycle bestowed upon Matt Smith, it's important to surprise the audience. Regenerations definitely come as more of a shock for those who don't closely follow behind-the-scenes happenings of the show. Fans learn to expect them, recognising the warning signs, but sometimes even the most fastidious of fans can expect incorrectly, because some episodes have all of the qualities of a regeneration except for the regeneration itself. That means that Who is punctuated by episodes and moments that would have made exceptional regeneration moments, ticking every box necessary, apart from the last, most important one. Of course, not all regeneration stories come in the form of television episodes, but the alternatives are no less worthy of note. And to celebrate those almost moments, we've compiled a list of the best Doctor Who episodes that could have been good regeneration moments.
