Series 4 (Doctor Who)

The term Series 4 of Doctor Who was one that had several different meanings, making a precise and universally-agreed definition difficult. It was nevertheless generally considered the "2008 series". It ran from 16 November 2007 to 1 January 2010. It mainly starred David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. The regular series was preceded by Voyage of the Damned, opened with Partners in Crime and concluded with Journey's End, before being followed by a number of specials ending with The End of Time.

Overview
It consisted of eighteen stories and twenty-one episodes. From a production standpoint, the series began with Voyage of the Damned, continued to Time Crash, and concluded with The End of Time. This view was amply supported by Russell T Davies in his memoir, The Writer's Tale, and by production code and production block numbering, and is how this wiki presents the series and information relating to it.

Subsequent home video releases suggested — by their very contents — that series could be considered as having begun with Time Crash and having ended with Journey's End. Additionally, while none of the non-weekly specials are given "series x, episode y" style numbering, Voyage of the Damned was listed on BBC iPlayer as part of series 3 (, Time Crash has no iPlayer listing). Whatever one's perspective, though, there was universal agreement that the regular, weekly portion of series 4 began on 5 April 2008 with the broadcast of Partners in Crime and continued through to the 5 July 2008 broadcast of Journey's End. It was the second series of BBC Wales to have received a BAFTA nomination in the "Best Drama Series" category, although it did not win, as series 1 had done. The four principal producers — Phil Collinson, Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Susie Liggat — were all named nominees.

The final two (or three in the case of Billie Piper) episodes saw the return of Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones), John Barrowman (Jack Harkness), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) and Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) to the main cast, accompanied by Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith), Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler), Penelope Wilton (Harriet Jones), Adjoa Andoh (Francine Jones), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), and Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones). Kylie Minogue starred as Astrid Peth in the Christmas special Voyage of the Damned. Peter Davison returned to the role of the Fifth Doctor for the Children in Need special Time Crash. It also featured the return of Davros, the creator of the Daleks, not seen on television since 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks. Davros was recast and was played by Julian Bleach.

Broadcast milestones
Series 4 featured several milestones. It is the 30th broadcast season of Doctor Who, and features the 750th broadcast episode; The Stolen Earth. The finale episodes The Stolen Earth and Journey's End also took the revived series to new heights of popularity, scoring the highest viewership ratings since the Tom Baker era and according to the media both episodes scored Appreciation Index ratings unprecedented for an ongoing scripted drama series.

In terms of production, the season marked the first production of a "Companion-lite" episode, Midnight (as opposed to the usual "Doctor-lite" episodes, ie. Love & Monsters and Blink), although a Doctor-lite episode, Turn Left was also produced. This was necessitated by the need to film several episodes at the same time, including an unprecedented 15th episode, The Next Doctor, which would air as the 2008 Christmas special.

Series 4 was the last time Davies, Collinson, and Gardner produced the show until all three reunited beginning with the 2023 specials. Collinson left after the regular episode Journey's End, and Davies and Gardner left after The End of Time, two of the five special episodes made after Journey's End. Before returning, Davies had no involvement in writing freelance for his successors as head writer, although he did contribute to the final scene of Chris Chibnall's outgoing story The Power of the Doctor, and wrote stories for Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, the Doctor Who: Lockdown! event and a novelisation of Rose in the interim.

When the show resumed weekly broadcast in 2010, Steven Moffat became the head writer and executive producer. It also marked the last full season featuring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor (he returned for the 50th anniversary, and, as the Fourteenth Doctor, for the 2023 specials) as, in October 2008, he announced his intention to leave the role following the production of the five specials; in January 2009 Matt Smith was announced as his successor, with Karen Gillan appearing as his companion Amy Pond.

From a retroactive standpoint, the series was also noteable for containing two instances that foreshadowed the Doctor's eventual twelfth incarnation. The Fires of Pompeii saw the Doctor saving Lobus Caecilius (portrayed by eventual Twelfth Doctor actor, Peter Capaldi) and his family from being killed in the destruction of Pompeii at Donna's urging, which would lead the Doctor to take on Caecilius' appearance in his twelfth incarnation, as a subconcious reminder to himself to always save people - no matter how impossible or "wrong" it might seem, as revealed in Series 9's The Girl Who Died. Furthermore, in Silence in the Library, River Song explains to the Doctor that a "future version" of him gave her her sonic screwdriver during their last night together at Darillium, this "future Doctor" would, indeed, turn out to be the Twelfth Doctor, and the events described would take place in The Husbands of River Song, 7 years later.

The arc of Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis that led to the Tenth Doctor wiping Donna's memories was also revisited in the 2023 special The Star Beast, with Catherine Tate reprising her roles as Donna and Sylvia Noble, and Tennant returning as the visually similar Fourteenth Doctor.

Awards

 * Winner, "Favourite Foreign Drama of the Year", 2009 Seoul International Drama Awards (shared with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
 * Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * - John Simm
 * Wilfred Mott - Bernard Cribbins
 * Astrid Peth - Kylie Minogue
 * Jackson Lake - David Morrissey
 * Christina de Souza - Michelle Ryan
 * Adelaide Brooke - Lindsay Duncan, Rachel Fewell
 * and introducing Matt Smith as the Doctor

Recurring

 * Midshipman Alonso Frame - Russell Tovey
 * Newsreader - Jason Mohammad
 * Sylvia Noble - Jacqueline King
 * Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey, Silas Carson
 * Voice of the Ood - Silas Carson
 * Harris - Clive Standen
 * Trinity Wells - Lachele Carl
 * Professor River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Capt Erisa Magambo - Noma Dumezweni
 * Oliver Morgenstern - Ben Righton
 * Harriet Jones - Penelope Wilton
 * Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
 * Francine Jones - Adjoa Andoh
 * Judoon - Paul Kasey and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
 * Daleks - operated by Barnaby Edwards, Nick Pegg, David Hankinson, Anthony Spargo, and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
 * Mickey Smith - Noel Clarke
 * Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
 * K9 - John Leeson
 * Cyber-Leader - Paul Kasey
 * Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
 * Lucy Saxon - Alexandra Moen
 * Miss Trefusis - Sylvia Seymour
 * Nerys - Krystal Archer

Guest

 * Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Max Capricorn - George Costigan
 * Cofelia - Sarah Lancashire
 * Soothsayer - Karen Gillan
 * Lobus Caecilius - Peter Capaldi
 * Klineman Halpen - Tim McInnerny
 * Luke Rattigan - Ryan Sampson
 * General Staal - Christopher Ryan
 * Commander Skorr - Dan Starkey
 * Jenny - Georgia Moffett
 * Cobb - Nigel Terry
 * Agatha Christie - Fenella Woolgar
 * Arnold Golightly - Tom Goodman-Hill
 * Colonel Hugh Curbishley - Christopher Benjamin
 * Doctor Moon - Colin Salmon
 * Charlotte Lux - Eve Newton
 * Lee McAvoy - Jason Pitt
 * Sky Silvestry - Lesley Sharp
 * Professor Winfold Hobbes - David Troughton
 * Fortune teller - Chipo Chung
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Davros - Julian Bleach
 * Shadow Architect - Kelly Hunter
 * Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * Mercy Hartigan - Dervla Kirwan
 * Carmen - Ellen Thomas
 * Andy Stone - Alan Ruscoe
 * Rassilon - Timothy Dalton
 * The Woman - Claire Bloom
 * Verity Newman - Jessica Hynes

Specials
Sometimes referred to "Series 4b," the "David Tennant Specials" and the "2009 Specials," five special episodes following the regular season were broadcast at Christmas 2008, Easter 2009, November 2009, Christmas 2009 and New Year's Day 2010. These four stories (the last two broadcasts were a single two-part story) were overseen by Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, but long-term line producer Phil Collinson did not return for them. All starred David Tennant. For these, the Doctor was travelling alone, with each story featuring a one-off companion. Catherine Tate had a smaller role as Donna Noble in the final specials but was not billed in the opening titles.

There had been conflicting reports given as to why a year was taken off. Initial media reports suggested this was to allow David Tennant to perform a season of Shakespeare during the time a regular season would have normally entered production. However, these reports were directly contradicted in Russell T Davies' book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, which has correspondence from the spring of 2007, months before the gap year plan was announced. Davies indicated the intent was to take the series off for a year, except for a few specials, to let the new production team make its transition. Davies had already informed the BBC that he would not executive-produce a fifth season.

Exactly how to refer to these specials is a matter of some debate. Aside from informal terms such as "2009 Special" or "Gap Year", it is known that Planet of the Dead was considered Episode 15 of Series 4 by the production team, as revealed by David Tennant in his video diary of the episode's read through, and The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter shows the specials were all numbered 4.X. On the DVD/Blu-ray release of the four specials plus The Next Doctor (in a box set titled The Complete Specials), a bonus feature of deleted scenes was entitled Series 4 Specials Deleted Scenes.

Animated special
Dreamland was a serialised animated story initially made available on the BBC's Red Button service before being televised in December 2009. Its writer has stated it takes place after the events of The Waters of Mars but it is not officially considered one of the Specials.

Other productions

 * David Tennant appeared as the Doctor in a two-part episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures entitled The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. This is not considered one of the 2009 Specials.
 * A 3-minute Doctor Who skit featuring John Barrowman with a cameo by David Tennant out of character aired as part of the Tonight's the Night talent series.
 * In December 2009, Tennant appeared as the Doctor in a series of brief Christmas idents produced for BBC One and BBC America.

DVD and Bluray
All episodes of Series 4 were released between 2008 and 2010. It was also included in the Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray boxset, released on November 5, 2013 in the US and November 4th, 2013 in the UK, split into the "Complete Fourth Series" and "The Complete Specials" sets respectively. In 2015, Series 1-4 were reissued on Blu-ray individually.

Series 4 was released on Blu-ray steelbook on 27 May 2019. The artwork created by Sophie Cowdrey.

Of note, the inclusion of "The Next Doctor" on the Complete Specials Bluray set makes this story the first standard-definition Doctor Who story to be upscaled for high-definition.

Soundtrack
The official soundtrack of the specials was released on 4 October, 2010.

With Donna
Between Partners in Crime and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End

Novels

 * Ghosts of India
 * Shining Darkness
 * The Doctor Trap
 * Beautiful Chaos
 * In the Blood

BBC Audio audiobooks

 * Pest Control
 * The Forever Trap
 * The Nemonite Invasion

Big Finish full-cast audio stories

 * Technophobia
 * Time Reaver
 * Death and the Queen
 * No Place
 * One Mile Down
 * The Creeping Death
 * Prequel to Donna Noble: Kidnapped
 * Out of this World
 * Spinvasion
 * The Sorcerer of Albion
 * The Chiswick Cuckoos

Post-Donna
Between The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and The End of Time

Novels

 * The Eyeless
 * Judgement of the Judoon
 * The Slitheen Excursion
 * Prisoner of the Daleks
 * The Taking of Chelsea 426
 * The Krillitane Storm
 * Autonomy
 * Code of the Krillitanes

BBC Audio audiobooks

 * The Rising Night
 * The Day of the Troll
 * The Last Voyage
 * Dead Air

Big Finish full-cast audio stories

 * Buying Time
 * The Wrong Woman
 * The House of Kingdom
 * Cycle of Destruction
 * The Trojan Dalek
 * The Lost
 * The First Son
 * The Dalek Defence
 * The Triumph of Davros
 * Splinters
 * The Stuntmen
 * Quantum of Axos
 * Out of Time
 * The Gates of Hell
 * Wink

TV

 * The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (from the Tenth Doctor's perspective)
 * Dreamland
 * The Day of the Doctor (from the Tenth Doctor's perspective)

Promotional trailers
As with previous seasons, promotional videos were created to promote the season, though this year they were shown in theatres as well as on television in the UK. Of particular note is the second video that was released, which utilised unique, specially shot footage of Donna sitting by a camp- or bonfire talking to either an unseen individual or the audience about the Doctor "coming back to save us" and "I'll be ready" interspersed with images of Sontarans, Ood and Daleks.

The other major trailers included another Donna-centric trailer utilising a scene between Donna and Wilfred Mott from Partners in Crime, and a mid-season trailer focusing in part on the return of Rose Tyler in Turn Left.

Other Series 4 promotional videos
There were also other non-narrative clips advertising the fourth series.

Christmas Special
On 1 December 2007, a 60-second BBC One Christmas Drama advert began airing on television, it featured several clips from Doctor Who. It was later released online on the Doctor Who website, and the music used was  by Sandra Church.

On 8 December, a 90-second advert began being screened in Odeon cinemas, the music used was "The Doctor's Theme" and "End of the World" by Terry Devine-King. After an exclusive cinema-only run the advert was released online on the Doctor Who website and YouTube on 14 December.

Also on 8 December, a 10-second teaser began airing on BBC One, and was released online as part of the Adventure Calendar on the Doctor Who website and YouTube. A further three trailers began airing on BBC One, a 40-second one on 15 December, a 20-second one on 16, and another 40-second one on 21; these too were released online on the Doctor Who website and YouTube. The last one marked the final use of the 2005 arrangement of the Doctor Who theme as the current theme.

Main series
A 90-second trailer began being screened in Cineworld, Empire & Odeon cinemas from 1 February 2008 as part of a deal with Carlton Screen Advertising. It used graphic elements created for the Christmas Special trailers, and the music used was "All the Strange, Strange Creatures". It featured clips from Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii, Planet of the Ood, The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Midnight, and Turn Left.

After an exclusive cinema-only run, the trailer began airing on television from 22 March 2008.

A 60-second mid-series trailer began airing from 24 May 2008, to make up for the Eurovision delay to episode 8. It used the Series 4 graphic elements, and the music was "Hellstorm" by Klaus Badelt. It featured clips from Silence in the Library to The Stolen Earth.

2008-10 Specials
The graphic elements created for the 2007 Christmas Special and Series 4 trailers continued to be used for the 2008-10 Specials.

On 24 July 2008, the first trailer for The Next Doctor was shown at the Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic-Con, but it wasn't released online until 29 October, alongside an interview with David Tennant regarding his departure from the show, on the Doctor Who website and YouTube. It was 40-seconds long, it featured the tagline "Coming Christmas 2008 The Return of the Cybermen", and the music used was "The Cybermen".

On 1 December 2008, a 60-second BBC One Christmas Drama trailer began airing on television, which featured several clips from Doctor Who. It was also released online on YouTube, and the music used was "Donna and Blitzen" by Badly Drawn Boy.

A second 40-second trailer began airing on BBC One from 15 December 2008, and was also released online as part of the Adventure Calendar on the Doctor Who website. Again the music used was "The Cybermen".

A 60-second trailer for Planet of the Dead began airing on BBC One from 31 March 2009, and the following day it was released online on the Doctor Who website. A minor variation of the trailer was also shown on BBC HD at part of the "BBC HD Preview", which was near identical expect for some shots in a different order.

On 26 July 2009, the first trailers for The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, Part One were shown at the Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic-Con, with the The Waters of Mars one being released online on the Doctor Who website the following day. It was 65-seconds long, and the music used was "Turn Left" and "Corridors and Fire Escapes". On 4 November 2009, a second 60-second trailer began airing on BBC One, and again the following day it was released online on the Doctor Who website. A third 20-second trailer began airing on BBC One from 6 November 2009. It was a narrative trailer, and utilised clips applied with CCTV effects to mimic found footage.

On 15 November 2009, a 30-second narrative trailer for Dreamland began airing on BBC One. It was narrated by Stuart Milligan in character as Colonel Stark giving a situation report. The music used was "Ear of God" and "Seismic Syndrome''" by Mel Wesson, Bruce Fowler, Steve Kofsky and Hans Zimmer. It was later released online on the Doctor Who website.

On 3 December 2009, a 60-second BBC One Christmas Drama trailer began airing on television, it featured several clips from Doctor Who. It was also released online on YouTube, and the music used was "Let Your Love Grow Tall" by Passion Pit.

A 40-second trailer for The End of Time, Part One began airing on BBC One from 16 December 2009. It used the diegetic sound of the Master's "drumming" instead of music. Another 40-second trailer for Part Two began airing on BBC One from 25 December 2009. It was also released online on the Doctor Who website, and the music used was "The Doctor's Theme Series Four" and "Final Days".