Series 4 (Doctor Who)



Series 4 of Doctor Who, occasionally known as season 30 for clarity between it and season 4, will run in spring 2008.

David Tennant is staying on as the Tenth Doctor, and Catherine Tate will reprise her role as Donna Noble, who will attempt to track down the Doctor during an alien invasion. They will be joined again by Freema Agyeman, returning as companion Martha Jones for five episodes of the series after a brief spell with Torchwood. Jack Harkness will also return to the show later in the series.

The BBC have also confirmed that the Sontarans will appear in a two part story, which will feature the return of Martha. Christopher Ryan will appear as General Staal, the Sontaran leader. Another Sontaran has been named as Commander Storr.

Billie Piper has been confirmed to return as Rose Tyler. How she escapes the parallel universe has not been stated. She will appear for three episodes, but it has not been clarified if she will stay on for 2009. Sarah Jane Smith has also been confirmed for the final story, making this series the first in the new series to feature 5 companions

Doctor Who Magazine has confirmed one of the episode titles as Planet of the Ood, written by Keith Temple and according to the BBC Doctor Who website are set to meet Agatha Christie in episode 7, and go to Rome on the night before Pompeii is destroyed by Vesuvius in The Fires of Pompeii. More episode names have been confirmed: The Sontaran Strategem, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Midnight and Partners in Crime. The Unicorn and the Wasp will feature the wasp-like Vespivorms and a Pyrovile will appear in the Pompeii episode. The Ood will return in Planet of the Ood.

Series 4 will feature several milestones. It is the Thirtieth broadcast season of Doctor Who, and will feature the 750th broadcast episode (episode 12), the 50th new series episode (episode 7), and the 200th broadcast story of Doctor Who (The eighth story of the season).

Television stories

 * Time Crash - Children in Need Special
 * Voyage of the Damned - Christmas Special
 * Partners in Crime - 1
 * The Fires of Pompeii - 2
 * Planet of the Ood - 3
 * The Sontaran Strategem - 4
 * The Unicorn and the Wasp - 7
 * Silence In The Library - 8
 * Midnight - 10

Confirmed Cast

 * David Tennant as The Doctor
 * Catherine Tate as Donna Noble
 * Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones
 * Billie Piper as Rose Tyler
 * John Barrowman as Jack Harkness
 * Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith
 * Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott
 * Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble
 * Fernella Woolgar as Agatha Christie
 * Sarah Lancashire as Miss Foster
 * Christopher Ryan as General Staal
 * John Leeson as K-9
 * Alex Kingston as River Song

Rumours

 * It is rumoured that the air date for the series is 12th April 2008 but the BBC have confirmed that it will start on the 5th of April.
 * Since the Series 4 cinema trailer will be shown at 7.00 on Saturday 23rd March 2008 on BBC 1, coupled with the fact that David Tennant and Catherine Tate are booked as guests on Friday Night with Jonathon Ross on Friday 5th April, it seems the release date for Series 4 is Saturday 5th April.
 * It is widly believed Davros will return for the finale.
 * Many also belive the Daleks will battle the Sontarans in the finale.
 * A report in the Sun on 15/03/08 and pictures of the set of the finale that were leaked onto Youtube confirmed that the Daleks will appear in the final few episodes. These pictures also showed Rose on the streets of london carrying what looked like Jake's gun from Doomsday.
 * According to the unofficial Sylvestor McCoy website, Davros will return for a four-part finale that features the parallel world collapsing with Rose, Mickey, Jackie, and Pete coming to Earth along with the Daleks and Cybermen, who will fight each other and possibly the Sontarans. Sarah Jane and Captain Jack will also supposedly appear with K9.
 * According to the Sun, Harriet Jones appears in the finale as "the daddy of all Daleks" after being forced by Davros, played by Julian Bleach, to become a Dalek as she is an excellent leader.
 * The unofficial Sylvestor McCoy also states that the episodes leading up to the finale will be the Time War, and rumors say that the Eighth Doctor will appear as David Tenant is on leave.
 * Supposedly one episode will feature the Doctor's daughter, who has been cloned by his DNA, played by the actual daughter of Peter Davison, who according to the official Doctor Who site has been confirmed to guest-star for the duration of the series.
 * A movie will supposedly be released featuring Rose trying to find the Doctor after the present starts falling apart and time is supposedly ready to destruct from the Doctor's past actions and interferences in history.
 * Supposedly, the final episode will feature the Doctor regenerating, and he might again encounter problems with his regeneration as Tenant did in The Christmas Invasion, only rumors report that these problems will include regenerating into a woman, possibly as a Children in Need special. This however is contradicted by the fact that Tennant will be appearing in the 2009 specials.
 * Silence in the Library will feature Cybermen.
 * It has been confirmed that Daleks will feature in the finale.

Novels

 * Revenge of the Judoon
 * Martha in the Mirror
 * Snowglobe 7
 * The Many Hands
 * Ghosts of India
 * Shining Darkness
 * The Doctor Trap