Season 4 (Doctor Who 1963)

For the fourth season of the revived series, see Series 4.

The fourth season of Doctor Who ran between 10th September 1966 and 1st July 1967. It starred William Hartnell as the Doctor in the first two stories and then Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

Overview

Season 4 featured the first Cybermen story, The Tenth Planet, and the last new Dalek story, The Evil of the Daleks, until Day of the Daleks in 1972. (A repeat of seven episodes of The Evil of the Daleks would air between Season 5 and 6 to fill the gap between new episodes.) The Tenth Planet also featured the Doctor's first regeneration, which at the time, even with advance warning from the Radio Times, would have surprised viewers.

The season introduced companion Jamie McCrimmon, one of the longest-serving and most popular TV companions. The Highlanders, broadcast this season, marked the end of the writers including occasional "historical serials" which featured no fantastic elements other than the TARDIS crew themselves. The next historical story would not appear until Black Orchid was broadcast in 1982. It consisted of 9 serials and 43 episodes, the majority of which are considered lost; as of 2008 this season has the sad distinction of being the only Doctor Who season for which not a single story survives in complete form (although audio recordings exist for all the episodes).

For most of the season, the opening sequence, theme arrangement, and logo of the Hartnell era was retained. Beginning with The Macra Terror, however, a new opening sequence was introduced, and along with it a new series logo and a modified arrangement of the theme music (introducing an echo effect that would be retained through to 1980). Most significantly, this new opening established the tradition of showing the current Doctor's face.

Stories

• The Smugglers
• The Tenth Planet
• The Power of the Daleks
• The Highlanders
• The Underwater Menace
• The Moonbase
• The Macra Terror
• The Faceless Ones
• The Evil of the Daleks

Main Cast

• The Doctor - William Hartnell (Departed in The Tenth Planet)
• The Doctor - Patrick Troughton (Introduced in The Tenth Planet)
• Ben Jackson - Michael Craze (Departed in The Faceless Ones)
• Polly - Anneke Wills (Departed in The Faceless Ones)
• Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines (Introduced in The Highlanders)
• Victoria Waterfield - Deborah Watling (Introduced in The Evil of the Daleks)

Stories set during this season

• PDA Ten Little Aliens (between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet)
• MA Invasion of the Cat-People (between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders)
• PDA The Murder Game (between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders)
• PDA Dying in the Sun (between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders)
• TN Wonderland (between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders)
• PDA The Roundheads {between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones)

Adaptations and merchandising

Video

VHS

• The Tenth Planet (with reconstruction of episode 4)
• Cybermen: The Early Years (Moonbase 2+4)
• Daleks: The Early Years (Evil of the Daleks 2)
• The Reign of Terror (Faceless Ones 1+3)
• The Ice Warriors Collection (Underwater Menace 3)

DVD

• The Tenth Planet (with animated Episode 4)
• Lost in Time (The Moonbase 2 & 4 with audio of 1 & 3, The Evil of the Daleks 2, The Faceless Ones 1 & 3, The Underwater Menace 3)

Novelisations

• The Smugglers
• Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet
• The Power of the Daleks
• The Highlanders
• The Underwater Menace
• Doctor Who and the Cybermen
• The Macra Terror
• The Faceless Ones
• The Evil of the Daleks

External Links

• BBC Website Guide to Season 4