Top 20 Greatest Sci-Fi & Fantasy TV Show Finales*

( *And we do mean proper finales, not just episodes that happened to be final episodes because the show was cancelled final episodes… )

Last month we asked you to vote for your favourite final episodes... but with a bit of a twist. We wanted you to restrict your votes to shows that knew they were ending, as opposed to the heartbreaking cliffhangers we're left with when shows are suddenly cancelled mid-story (sadly, there are way too many of them). This means that while shows like Merlin could feature – as the showrunners knew they were making the final episode long before any of us did – other shows such as Terra Nova didn't count, because the series finale was filmed before anyone knew it wasn't coming back for season two.

We've counted up all your votes, including the ones that didn't make sense, such as votes for shows which are still running (did some people not get the point of this poll?), shows that aren't SFX such as Downton Abbey or, er, Glee , and that one inexplicable vote for Merlin 's Bradley James. (Thank you, Bradley's mum. Possibly.) And no matter how many times people voted for them, we weren’t counting Doctor Who “Survival” (because hastily scripting a voiceover dubbed onto the end doesn’t count), or “The End Of Time” (just because the show died for you with Doctor 10, that doesn’t count either). Sorry Whovians, this is one vote you couldn’t fix! (Another fanbase saw to that.)

And so here's your list of the best final episodes of shows which were prepared to say goodbye... We miss them all.