New Who’s Best Cliffhangers (Part 2)

Guest contributor Sam Glover concludes the rundown of the best cliffhangers from the past decade.

10. “It’s alright, I’m dying. But I can fix that.”

Series 6, Day of the Moon

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened? This was pretty much the go-to response from commenters, reviewers and stunned viewers alike as the little girl in the astronaut suit suddenly began to regenerate. Who was she? Was she a time lady? Amy’s daughter? Did that make Amy a time lady too? It took five more weeks for any of these questions to be answered, and those weeks of puzzling were cruelly long, but the hours of debate were hugely enjoyable. It was simultaneously a relief and a shame when questions were answered in “A Good Man Goes To War”.

9. “Location: Earth. Life forms detected… Exterminate!”

Series 2, Army of Ghosts

Whilst the Cybermen were revealed in the trailer, as well as earlier in the series, the second that the Daleks came floating out of the void ship was awesome. The dissonant chanting Murray Gold war march blasting out of TV speakers across the UK as the most famous of Doctor Who foes emerged was – and remains – a fantastic moment of television. I personally wasn’t overwhelmed by Doomsday following this (save perhaps for a certain Norwegian beach) but take nothing from the moments preceding the credits. The Doctor, facing the three most powerful villains ever: the Daleks, the Cybermen and Jackie Tyler. Brilliant stuff.

8.  “Well dear, you’re ready to pop, aren’t you?”

Series 6, The Almost People

…and the internet exploded. This cliffhanger sat on the back end of an enjoyable if unspectacular two-parter, but showed that Moffat can put in a rug-pull that answers questions, asks more and completely makes sense. The reveal that Amy Pond wasn’t the REAL Amy Pond but instead a Ganger was beautifully handled. The Doctor is forced to be brutally blunt in ordering Rory to step away from his trembling wife, and Amy’s confession of being “properly frightened” is heartbreaking; for me it’s one of Karen Gillan’s very best performances, and that’s saying something! And then the woman with an eye patch is telling her to give birth. I think we can safely assume that it was an unusual day for Miss Pond.

7. “For Gallifrey! For victory! For the end of time itself!”

Specials, End of Time Part 1

The return of the Time Lords, whilst inevitable, was brilliant. After a rather insane preceding episode (that I thoroughly enjoyed) our narrator is revealed in full Gallifreyan garb, bellowing to a massive chamber of other Time Lords/Ladies about the end of time. The impending arrival of such figures, the precise identity of Timothy Dalton and the mouth-watering prospect of the Doctor meeting his peers built a cliffhanger worthy of the Tenth Doctor’s penultimate episode. I can still remember the shivers.

6. “I couldn’t very well keep calling myself… The Master, now, could I?”

Series 8, Dark Water

Technically there are three cliffhangers in Dark Water, but of course I’m looking at Missy’s reveal as the Master. Enough has been written about the Master changing gender (personally I’m in the “I don’t see what the problem is” camp, but let’s not go there) but, like it or not, it was a huge moment. Peter Capaldi’s face, (a terrific mixture of shock and terror), Murray Gold’s rising score and the thundering background noise of Cybermen marching made my jaw drop not just TO the floor but through it and down to the cellar I never knew I had. There are dozens of reaction videos on YouTube that echo my reaction of, to use appropriate terminology, going absolutely bananas.

5. “The TARDIS is exploding right now and I’m the only one who can stop it!”

Series 5, The Pandorica Opens

Another case of three cliffhangers for the price of one, and this time there is no clear winner; they’re all brilliant. We have River Song, fresh from figuring out all is not well at Stonehenge, in the process of being blown to pieces by an exploding TARDIS. We have Amy Pond, dying in the arms of her killer – an Auton version of her late/forgotten husband – as constellations shatter over their heads. And we have the Doctor himself, being sealed into a perfect prison by an alliance of all his enemies, from Daleks and Cybermen to Silurians and Sycorax. It’s utterly ridiculous and, if you’re happy to go on with it, it’s one of the best episodes of the Eleventh Doctor’s tenure. And what an ending it is too. The wise decision to not include a “next time” only ramped the excitement up a notch.

4.  “Rose? I’m coming to get you.”

Series 1, Bad Wolf

Well, if you’re only going to do one season, your penultimate episode might as well end with a great stinking Dalek fleet appearing out of thin air. Well, no air, but shush. Christopher Eccleston’s conversation with the newly detected villains is sensational. How can the word “no” be so brilliant? Because it really is brilliant. Russell T. Davies has always had a knack for epic dialogue, but this tiny word may just be his finest moment. The music and sounds effects are crackingly crackers, and the shock of the moment is at first enormous to the uninitiated, but this cliffhanger is just all about Eccleston. His swansong gave his all-too-short stint a real moment of wonder, a moment where everything feels magnificent, and the tenterhooks we are left on are sharp indeed.

3. “I’m regenerating…”

Series 4, The Stolen Earth

Ah, a time before proper spoilers. Today this may not have worked, but a mere five years ago we really didn’t know if David Tennant was regenerating. Being shot by a Dalek moments after being reunited with possibly the love of his life was so cruel on the Tenth Doctor, but crueller on the audience was RTD’s tantalising final moments. Slowly pulling himself to his feet with Rose, Captain Jack and a very confused Donna watching from the sidelines, the Doctor flings his arms wide, lights explode and we’re left with an image of Tennant’s illuminated face as the words “TO BE CONTINUED? bang onto screen. Completely out of left-field, and absolutely brilliant, it was everything a cliffhanger should be.

2. INTRODUCING JOHN HURT AS… THE DOCTOR

Series 7, The Name of The Doctor

… followed by “to be continued in six months muhahahahaha!” Or so it felt. Moffat’s finest cliffhanger had it all. It added to Doctor Who-canon. It introduced a brand new Doctor. It brought one of the greatest actors of his generation into the Doctor Who universe. The slow strings are wonderful, Matt Smith’s turns from relief to horror to anguish and to resentment is majestic, and all of this happened immediately after we all thought the mystery of the episode, nay, the season, had been resolved. A swift rug-pull and a meltdown across the fan base loud enough to drown out the credits later, we were left agonising over Hurt’s identity for months. Was he REALLY the Doctor? Was he a future Doctor? Was he a pre-Hartnell Doctor? Was he the Valeyard? Was he, as it turned out, an incarnation between McGann and Eccleston? Possibly the best single television moment of 2013. Well, until the 23rd of November anyway.

So, what’s at number one?

To be continued…

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