Honorable Mentions:
3. “He will knock four times!”
The Tenth Doctor’s end was foretold by the Ood near the beginning of Series 4, but it didn’t get real until Planet of the Dead, where a prophecy was made that The Doctor’s song was ending and that “he would knock four times.” At the time there were all sorts of theories and speculation regarding who the “he” referred to. Many people wondered whether the song was in some way related to River Song, or whether the knocking referred to the sound of drums that The Master kept hearing inside his head.
No one really knew for sure until The End of Time two-parter, and I don’t think anyone expected it to be Wilfred Mott, grandfather of Donna Noble. It wasn’t the Master or the Daleks or some epic villain, it was much simpler and more intimate than that. After being set up in a big way, it was surprising to see what it came out to be, but also all the more better for it.
2. The Face of Boe
Captain Jack Harkness is one of the coolest companions the Doctor has had to date, and he’s one of the companions that I would be super excited to see come back any day. The bromance between him and the Tenth Doctor rivals that of Jamie and the Second Doctor’s. The Face of Boe is a character we’ve only met a few times, yet the Doctor developed a huge sense of respect towards him very quickly, and there was always the implication that there was some history between them that even The Doctor didn’t know about yet.
I don’t think anyone can really believe that the handsome, egotistical yet lovely Captain Jack might grow old to become a giant face, yet when it was revealed in the Series 3 finale, it made total sense. Of course, nothing is explicitly confirmed about them being one and the same, and this moment is more of a revelation than a proper surprise. Regardless, it was still something that no one saw coming, and it was a nice little twist.
1. Rose Returns
Rose had a nice but sad ending in Doomsday and there was probably no need for her to return in Series 4. Some may argue that her return ended the character’s arc on a worse note than before, and that may all be true. Regardless, when she showed up at the end of Partners in Crime, the Series 4 premiere, it was quite frankly, chilling. While it did not turn the episode on its head or anything, it did leave us wanting to find out more. I, for one, did not expect Rose to return, and I think anyone would agree that her return was a bit of a shock, regardless of whether they liked or disliked the character.
Continue reading on the next page…