Doctor Who Regenerations: A Tribute To 11 Epic Changes

1. January 2010: Tenth/Eleventh Doctor

As desperately sad Doctor departures go, this is the one to end them all. The End Of Time is the only story of the revived series to feature serial-style numbered episodes and Part Two was the one that all David Tennant fans had been dreading since before they'd even known it was coming. Somehow, between his first appearance in June 2005 and his final one in January 2010, Tennant managed to become one of the most popular Doctors - if not the most popular Doctor - with both new and old fans alike. Was it the character? The storytelling? The fact that he was a massive fan of Doctor Who for decades before starring in it? Who can say. Something certainly gelled with viewers and, to this day, Tennant is consistently up there with Tom Baker in fans' affections. By Part Two of The End Of Time, in a hugely condensed nutshell, there's been a great hoo-ha involving the Time Lords and the Lord President's desire to avoid The Doctor using The Moment to end the Time War and destroy both Gallifrey and The Daleks. The Master, too, is eager to cheat death and plays with both The Doctor and the Time Lords, as the Doctor battles to reverse Gallifrey's revival and its escape from the Time War. But The Lord President, having been identified as Rassilon, is enraged at the thought of dying alone and, refusing to accept this outcome, is determined to kill The Doctor. The Master, now fully cognisant of what's going on and what needs to be done, decides to save the day by shooting Rassilon. In doing so, he sends the Time Lords, Rassilon and himself back to Gallifrey and back into the last days of the Time War. The Doctor believes he's cheated the "knock four times" prophecy, only to realise that Donna Noble's grandfather Wilf is trapped inside a glass chamber and about to cop a fatal dose of radiation. He knows the only way to get Wilf out is to get into the second chamber and take the massive hit himself. He also knows that this will damage him irreparably. Still alive and kicking after all of this, The Doctor delivers Wilf home before heading out and about, across time and space, to revisit his former companions and friends one last time. As he does, silently saying goodbye as he goes, he finds himself in the right places at the right times to either save them from something nasty or set them up for something nice. As he begins to rapidly descend towards death, he finds himself back at Rose Tyler's council estate on New Year's Eve. He bumps in to Rose, who doesn't yet recognise him. She tells him it's January the 1st 2005 and he promises that she'll have a great year. As he staggers towards the TARDIS near death, he realises the prophecy is close to being fulfilled when he sees Ood Sigma, who tells him that "this song is ending, but the story never ends". He manages to get into the TARDIS and dematerialise just before the golden glow of the regeneration energy begins emitting from his body. Standing by the console, his breathing heavy, tears forming in his eyes, the TARDIS begins to burn and break up as the Tenth Doctor utters his final immortal words: "I don't want to go". Murray Gold's score for The End Of Time was incredibly stirring. The particularly emotive section throughout the final minutes of the episode is as powerful today as it was four years ago. That the whole thing was so very emotional, with viewers all over the world unable to avoid shedding at least a tear or two, was testament to the cumulative effect of Tennant's portrayal of The Doctor, his stories and the Tenth Doctor's era as a whole. The End Of Time Part Two was, very simply, the most unforgettable send-off that any Doctor has ever had.