Doctor Who: EVERY Regeneration Story Ranked Worst To Best

What's interesting about Doctor Who's regeneration stories is that most of them are at least pretty good. And some of them weren't intended to be regeneration stories to begin with.

Despite what Ncuti Gatwa might tell you, Wish World/The Reality War falls into that camp. Both camps, actually. There’s no getting away from the fact that the final 20 minutes was reworked to accommodate Gatwa's decision to leave, but fortunately, it has a thrilling “end of an era” feel to it anyway, thanks to the fact that it’s the last of Disney’s initial order of episodes.

All the key players from RTD2 are back, from Rose Noble to Susan Triad, and there are some blockbuster movie-worthy VFX – from UNIT’s battle with the Bone Beasts to the Doctor’s ride on the Rani’s air scooter.

And those final, tacked-on 20 minutes are surprisingly convincing. Above all, the idea of the Doctor sacrificing himself to save an innocent life is just so intrinsically Doctor-y – and the regeneration itself, from Jodie Whittaker's cameo to the Doctor bursting into starlight, was spectacular.

It’s by no means perfect. And it’s frustrating that Fifteen didn’t get a properly-planned regeneration story. But in the circumstances, it could have been so much worse.