6. The Time Lords Return
Throughout all of Russell T. Davies’ era, we’ve been told that the Time Lords were dead and the Doctor is the last of his kind. We were often given minor hints to the details of the Time War, but never a complete explanation of the event, only serving to the mystery of the Doctor’s character. Point is, at the time the Time Lords were dead and we probably weren’t seeing them again.
But finally, they were back at The End of Time Part One, with Timothy Dalton playing Rassilon, giving him an aura of authority and strength. Not only had we not seen the Time Lords since the 1980s, but their appearance completely changed the direction of the story which was thought to be based simply around The Master and the Tenth Doctor. Moreover, their return meant an epic finale was to be had for David Tennant, and fortunately, that was indeed the case.
5. Clara’s Debut…And Death
When Jenna Coleman was announced as the new companion, it became common knowledge that she would debut in the Christmas Special, The Snowmen, right after the Ponds’ farewell. So imagine all of our surprise when the first episode of the series, Asylum of the Daleks, featured Jenna Coleman…as a Dalek. No one expected her to be there, but there she was.
And that’s not all, for by the end of the episode, she had even died. I don’t think anyone quite knew what to make of it, and the best part is that the BBC was able to keep it a surprise till the episode’s premiere. Of course, this is only a big moment for those who watched it at the time and knew that she was not meant to appear. But it was excellently done, and set up quite an intriguing mystery for the rest of the series.
