Doctor Who: The Biggest Shocks Of The Show

Doctor Who may be on a bit of an extended break with the show now out to tender, but that doesn't mean we can't look back on some of our favourite moments.

The show became renowned for it's plot twists since coming back in 2005, and they tended to not disappoint. But, which are the best of the show's revival? I'm so glad you asked...

12. River Song’s True Identity

The identity of River Song was a mystery as far back as David Tennant's era as the Time Lord. Since her introduction in 2008's two-parter Silence in the Library/Forest of The Dead, everyone has wondered her connection to The Doctor and who she really is. Well, it was in 2011's A Good Man Goes to War that Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor found out.

The episode revealed that River is actually the daughter of The Doctor's then-companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams. She was the baby we had seen minutes earlier; Melody Pond.

Was it a HUGE twist? Not so much. River Song. Melody Pond. Synonyms of each other backwards more or less. Not so easy to unpick. But it was a good twist for the main characters to contend with and effected their dynamics moving forward.

11. The Daleks In The Void Sphere

The penultimate episode of the revived series' second run saw The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler working to uncover the identity of the mysterious "ghosts" roaming around the Earth, whilst also dealing with the reveal of Torchwood and taking on the historic Cybermen.

But, The Doctor also had to deal with the mystery of the Void Ship Torchwood were monitoring. It was in the final section of the episode that we were all probably thinking it was something tied to the Cybermen, but then The Doctor heard from the robotic horses mouth that it was of a completely different origin.

That's when the final moments revealed that they housed the Cult of Skaro. Better known by their racial name...Daleks! The Doctor's arch enemies hadn't been seen for a while, and they were the enemies of the first series' finale, so it wasn't a huge stretch that they may be a shock reveal. Especially when we discovered the ship wasn't of Cybermen origin. But alas, it made for a great cliffhanger we moved into the series finale.

10. The Timeless Child Reveal

It was in Jodie Whittaker's first series as The Thirteenth Doctor that we first heard the muttering of the "Timeless Child", and this paid off in the series 12 finale.

The Master returned to take The Doctor to the ruins of Gallifrey, where he showed her the story of this mysterious child who became the foundation of Time Lord society and their ability to regenerate. The Master signed this off by revealing that this Timeless Child is none other than The Doctor herself.

The reveal was...well, you'd think it would be too obvious for it to be The Doctor to be honest. It would have been more compelling to reveal it was The Master. But, Chris Chibnall decided to make it our main character. It changed the trajectory of The Doctor's story forever more, which is interesting and holds potential for future stories. So yeah, quite the twist for the character's life.

9. Sutekh’s Return

Ncuti Gatwa's first series as The Doctor saw him and companion Ruby Sunday coming into contact with the same woman over and over across the universe. The mystery led them back to Earth for the series' penultimate episode, where they were led to believe this may be Susan Foreman, The Doctor's granddaughter. However, it was in the episode's closing minutes that we were on the edge of out seat. We learned that this latest version of the woman, Susan Triad, was an old enemy of The Doctor's; Sutekh.

The lead up to the twist wasn't all that great. We knew it wasn't going to be The Doctor's granddaughter. A bit of a weak misdirect if you ask me. But those closing minutes? The pressure was on as so much was happening at once and tensions were rising as it was slowly revealed who Susan really was.

This was definitely a cliffhanger that had us looking forward to what came next. That was a killer week to wait. And it felt good for Doctor Who to give us that feeling again after so long.

Speaking of The Doctor's granddaughter...

8. Susan Foreman’s Appearance

Susan Foreman was interestingly brought up a couple of times in Ncuti Gatwa's first series. This all led to The Interstellar Song Contest, when Susan finally returned for the first time in decades.

The Doctor, floating out in space, suddenly had visions of Susan, in his current Tardis, calling out to him. Asking for him to come and find her.

It was a very unexpected appearance for a mid-series episode. And it was definitely enough for us to be interested in where this was going to lead. A plot twist that none of us could have seen coming really.

Susan was of course due to show up again that series' finale, but of course that was scrapped, which led to another plot twist we'll discuss in a bit.

7. Conrad Clark Reveals His Plan

The episode Lucky Day started off as loved-up, sweet Doctor-lite episode. But then it totally pulled the rug from under our feet.

The episode centred around The Doctor's former companion, Ruby Sunday, finding love with the curious Conrad Clarke. A man who encountered The Doctor as a child and has searched for him ever since.

Everything seemed lovely and innocent, that was until an apparent alien attack that turned out to be put together by none other than...Conrad himself.

Conrad turned out to be the leader of a group called Think Tank, who were dedicated to debunking the existing of alien life, including UNIT's activities. And he'd used Ruby as the catalyst for this the entire time.

A cruel but effective twist that we didn't see coming, and it made Conrad go from one of the sweetest characters in Doctor Who history to one of the most hated.

6. The Return of The First Doctor

It was time for Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor to bid us farewell, but that wasn't before we got a big twist to send him on his way.

The Tardis took The Doctor to the North Pole as he refused to regenerate, where we got to meet the First Doctor once again, now played by Harry Potter's David Bradley.

The twist allowed us to see the OG Doctor's activities right before his first regeneration, which was all off-screen during OG actor William Hartnell's final episode. This gave the opportunity for Doctor Who to have these two Doctors interacting as they refused to change, and it was a big shock to have our first Time Lord return in such a fashion.

5. Mrs Flood’s True Identity

It was the mystery that plagued Russell T. Davies and Ncuti Gatwa's tenure on the show, and it did come with a fun pay off in the form of this killer twist.

Mrs Flood, Ruby's (and then Belinda's) next door neighbour, kept popping up here and there. She was breaking the fourth wall. She was suddenly showing her sinister side from time to time. She had knowledge of The Doctor more importantly. Well, it was again during the episode The Interstellar Song Contest that we got another twist in the form of Mrs Flood's true identity.

The closing moments of the episode revealed that she was in fact an old enemy and fellow Time Lord/Lady of The Doctor's; The Rani. But this came in the form of a DOUBLE twist with Mrs Flood bi-generating, giving us two versions of the villain for The Doctor to deal with in the two-part finale.

Truth be told, it was a twist that was worth waiting for and it was cool to unveil a long awaited baddie.

4. Missy’s True Identity

From one old Time Lady reveal to another. Series 8 introduced us to the mystery that was Missy. A sadistic, eccentric Mary Poppins-styled character who seemed very aware of The Doctor and had a plot up her sleeve that ran throughout the entire series.

It was in the penultimate episode, Dark Water, that we finally learned Missy's true identity. To The Doctor's horror, and ours, she was revealed to be a female incarnation of The Master.

It was a twist that fans had theorised heavily online already (Missy. Mistress. Master. It's not all that hard to figure out). But that didn't take away from the reveal and the build up we got. It was a very welcome twisteroo and it was worth seeing that surprise on The Doctor's face.

3. The Fifteenth Doctor’s Exit

The end of Ncuti Gatwa's second series seemed to tie up the taking down of the villain fairly quickly. And there was a reason for that.

It was near the end of The Reality War that the Fifteenth Doctor decided to work some magic to save his wished-up daughter Poppy. Doing so meant blasting his regeneration energy into the Tardis console in order to tweak reality and bring her back into existence.

Doing so brought the Time Lord's current life to an abrupt end, and fans everywhere were shocked to find out that Gatwa's Doctor was regenerating, after just two years on the show.

This is easily one of the biggest twists ever on the show, both narratively and in reality. The show's story gave no hint at this Doctor exiting in this story. We also had no forewarning in the press that Gatwa was officially leaving, which was the usual way of doing things.

Alas, it gave us one heck of a mighty twist and since then...well, we're none the wiser as to why the regeneration appeared to turn The Doctor into Rose Tyler. But I do have my theories on what it means.

2. Professor Yana’s True Identity

Utopia from David Tennant's tenure stands as one of the greatest episodes of the show's revival. And this twist is single handedly responsible.

The episode brought The Doctor and Martha into contact with Captain Jack Harkness, where they ventured to the end of the universe and worked to help a lonely scientist and the last of humanity to reach their salvation - a place called "Utopia".

The episode ticked along until we found out the humble and pleasant Professor Yana owned a fob watch. Very much the same as the one shown earlier in that series. One owned by The Doctor. One he used to hide his Time Lord identity and live as a human in hiding. Same design. Same everything.

The final section of the episode became a real slow burn as we learned Yana was a Time Lord with his identity hidden. Which Time Lord? Why was he hiding away? What was he up to?

It was easily one of the best twists of the show's history, as learned Yana was actually the villainous Master. The first time we got him in the new era of Doctor Who, and we got him in the form of brilliant actor, Sir Derek Jacobi. The twists got even larger when he regenerated in the episode's final moments and we got John Simm's iconic, maniacal take on the character.

A chef's kiss of a twist all in all.

1. The Fourteenth Doctor’s Bi-Generation

David Tennant's return to the show as the Fourteenth Doctor was brilliant twist in itself, but it was his (kind of) exit that had us all gobsmacked.

The Doctor spent the third of the 60th anniversary specials taking on Neil Patrick Harris' Celestial Toymaker, and it all led to our Time Lord getting a laser through his chest. We knew this was the moment we'd get to meet Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor, but it didn't happen in the way we expected.

Instead of Tennant disappearing and Gatwa taking his place, we got our first bi-generation, as the pair split into two and got to interact as they defeated The Toymaker side by side.

It was a joyous pairing to watch, and it was one hell of a way bring Ncuti Gatwa into the show.

-

Like our picks for Doctor Who's biggest plot twists? Agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts!