Series 4 (SJA)

Series 4 — 2010
Main character:	Sarah Jane Smith
Regular characters:	Clyde Langer, Luke Smith, Rani Chandra, Mr Smith, K9 Mark IV
Key crew
Executive producer(s):	Russell T Davies, Nikki Wilson
Producer(s):	Brian Minchin Phil Ford
Series details
Start date:	11 October 2010
End date:	16 November 2010
Premiere network:	CBBC
Typical episode length:	25'
← Previous	3
Next →	5

Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures premiered on CBBC between 11 October 2010 and 16 November 2010. According to Doctor Who Magazine, pre-production was under way as early as November 2009. On 4 March 2010, the BBC officially announced that production had been commissioned, with filming expected to begin by the end of March. (The same announcement also confirmed that a fifth series for 2011 had also been commissioned.)

The season saw the return of all the core cast members for the 12-episode series, plus guest appearances by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Jones.

For the new series, Brian Minchin joins as producer, with Phil Ford as co-producer. Russell T Davies remains as executive producer along with Nikki Wilson.

Cast

Recurring

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
• Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Mr. Smith - Alexander Armstrong (voice)
• K9 Mark IV - John Leeson (voice)
• Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
• Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
• The Shopkeeper - Cyril Nri
• The Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• Jo Jones - Katy Manning

Guest

• Nightmare Man - Julian Bleach
• Gemma - Lucie Jones
• Tia Karim - Laila Rouass
• Ocean Waters - Cheryl Campbell
• Mister Dread - Angus Wright
• Gavin - Joe Mason
• Ruby White - Julie Graham
• Santiago Jones - Finn Jones
• Louise Marlowe - Doon Mackichan
• Voices of the Shansheeth - David Bradley, Jon Glover
• Voice of the Robots - Jon Glover

Television stories

The titles and writers were revealed in Doctor Who Magazine. All of series 4's episodes were in 2 parts.

#	Title	Writer	Director	Notes
1	The Nightmare Man	Joseph Lidster	Joss Agnew	Departure of Luke Smith and K9 Mark IV. Reappearance of the Slitheen family, of which a unique Raxacoricofallapatorian is briefly seen.
2	The Vault of Secrets	Phil Ford	Joss Agnew	Reappearance of Androvax. Return of the Alliance of Shades, first seen in the Doctor Who 3-D animated story Dreamland.
3	Death of the Doctor	Russell T Davies	Ashley Way	Guest appearances of the Eleventh Doctor and Jo Grant. David Bradley's first time being involved a Doctor Who-related production, as the voice of Azure of the Shansheeth. Introduction of the Groske, an alien species related to the Graske.
4	The Empty Planet	Gareth Roberts	Ashley Way	Most of the story is limited to two characters, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra.
5	Lost in Time	Rupert Laight	Joss Agnew	First appearance of the Shopkeeper and Captain.
6	Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith	Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman	Joss Agnew	Return of Luke Smith and final appearance of K9 Mark IV.

Aliens and enemies

• Slitheen
• Nightmare Man
• Androvax
• Groske
• Men in Black (Mister Dread)
• Shansheeth
• Tia Karim
• Automatons
• Dark Horde
• Qetesh (Ruby White)

Novels

As of August 2010 only two stories from this series were announced for adaptation as a novelisation. These were later reported as being cancelled. However the novelisations were later published in e-book format. These were the final novelisations published as none were commissioned in any format for Series 5.

• The Nightmare Man
• Death of the Doctor

Audiobooks

• Wraith World
• Deadly Download

DVD and Blu-ray release

UK release of the series on DVD and, for the first time, Blu-ray occurred on 31 October 2011, followed by North American release on DVD only on 6 December. The UK edition included TV: Pyramids of Mars as a bonus feature (this is not included in the North American release).

A slight alteration to the first episode of the season was made for DVD with the addition of a dedication in memory of Elisabeth Sladen.

Footnotes

Previous series: SJA Series 3

Next series: SJA Series 5