Doctor Who: 10 Biggest "OMG!" Moments In New Who
4. Four Knocks - The End Of Time
By the time part 1 of The End Of Time rolled around, fans had known for a while that beloved Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, was going to be taking his final bow and leaving the series. Russel T. Davies, head honcho during the Tennant era, began laying the clues of The Doctor’s demise in the first of the specials which aired during the show’s brief hiatus after season 4. “He will knock four times” The Doctor is warned. As fans of nerd shows tend to do, this sent the internet into wild speculation and, of course, there could be only one candidate, right? The Master, as played by John Simm, had a habit of knocking on items four times, mimicking a repetitive drum beat he heard in his head. The problem was, The Master had been killed at the conclusion of season 3, seemingly refusing to regenerate after being shot by his wife.
When it was confirmed that John Simm would indeed be returning as The Master for David Tennant’s final two part episode; The End Of Time, fans thought it was a dead lock. The entire episode built in anticipation of The Master making those four fatal knocks and finally triumphing over The Doctor. But this is Doctor Who, the villains don’t get to win. The Doctor succeeded in sending The Master, along with the returning Time Lords (long story) back into the time lock which imprisoned the Time War. The soundtrack kicks up, Ten stands victorious yet again and fans, desperate not to lose the most popular Doctor since Tom Baker, begin to think that perhaps it was all a mistake. Perhaps this was RTD and Tennant elaborately pranking the audience with a fake regeneration (we’ll get there) or perhaps Tennant had changed his mind and decided to stay, after all it was well known that the BBC basically begged him to stay for season 5. But then-
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Tennant’s acting is phenomenal as realisation dawns on his face both for the inevitability of his death and the realisation of who has caused it. This is The Doctor, his enemies never defeat him, but his friends often do. Wilfred Mott, the lovably grandpa who had featured throughout the fourth season and The End of Time, has gone and got himself trapped in the machine that powered The Master’s evil scheme. Any moment now radiation is going to vent through the machine and kill anybody inside. He begs The Doctor to leave him, he’s an old man after all, he’s had his life. The Doctor throws a tantrum (he’s entitled to, right?) but ultimately, we know he will do the right thing. Stepping into the next pod he is able to redirect the radiation vent and release Wilf whilst suffering a fatal dose himself. There are some who find the end of Ten too saccharine but for a good deal of us, it was heart breaking.