Season 4 (Doctor Who 1963)

This article is about the 1966-67 season of the original series. For the fourth season of the revived series, see Series 4 (Doctor Who). See Series 4 for the fourth seasons of other programmes..

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 was a season of major changes for Doctor Who, including some that have influenced the series and franchise ever since.

Most notably, Season 4 saw William Hartnell's First Doctor hand off to Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor in the very first regeneration. When Hartnell announced his plans to leave the series, the show's writers came up with the idea of having the Doctor change his appearance and personality. In 1966, while it was not uncommon for actors to change in ongoing TV and film roles, this was possibly the first time a change in appearance was written into the very nature of the character.

The regeneration (a term that wasn't introduced until some years later) occured in The Tenth Planet, which carried double significance in that it also introduced the Cybermen, a recurring menace that would quickly establish itself in a strong second-place position behind the Daleks in the Doctor Who rogues gallery. As for the Daleks, an era ended with the series finale, The Evil of the Daleks, which at the time was expected to be the final Daleks story ever (although a Dalek later made a cameo in 1969's The War Games and the Daleks returned full-time to Doctor Who in 1972's Day of the Daleks).

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.

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.

Season 4 consisted of 9 serials and 43 episodes, the majority of which are considered lost; as of 2010 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 which has allowed cassette and CD reconstructions of the stories to be commercially released).

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