Season 4 (Doctor Who 1963)

It consisted of nine serials and forty-three episodes. This season 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 the baton 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) occurred in The Tenth Planet, the second story of the season, 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 Dalek 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 pure 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 the "electronic spangles" sound and the tape echo effect that would both be retained through to 1980). Most significantly, this new opening established the tradition of showing the current Doctor's face.

Season 4 consisted of nine serials and forty-three episodes, the majority of which are considered lost; as of 2019^[update] 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. The Power of the Daleks, episode 4 of The Tenth Planet, The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones received animated reconstructions. The opening sequence of 2017 story, Twice Upon a Time, recreated parts of Tenth Planet that were lost).

It was during season 4 of Doctor Who that its long-standing rival, Star Trek, first aired on American television.

Along with season 21, it was one of only two seasons of the classic series to have a completely different cast in the final story of the season than in the first story.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Episodes	Notes
1	The Smugglers	Brian Hayles	4	First serial placed on development hold as part of a later season for ease of production.
2	The Tenth Planet	Kit Pedler Gerry Davis	4	First regeneration - final regular appearance of the First Doctor and introduction of the Second Doctor; first appearance of the Cybermen.
3	The Power of the Daleks	David Whitaker	6	Reintroduction of the Daleks; first Dalek story completely written by someone other than Terry Nation.
4	The Highlanders	Elwyn Jones Gerry Davis	4	First appearance of Jamie McCrimmon; final historical story until Black Orchid.
5	The Underwater Menace	Geoffrey Orme	4	First appearance of a place deemed Atlantis.
6	The Moonbase	Kit Pedler	4	Reintroduction of the Cybermen. First story to take place on the Moon.
7	The Macra Terror	Ian Stuart Black	4	First appearance of the Macra.
8	The Faceless Ones	David Ellis Malcolm Hulke	6	Final appearances of Ben Jackson and Polly Wright, who appear only in episodes 1, 2 and 6. First story to be written by Malcolm Hulke.
9	The Evil of the Daleks	David Whitaker	7	Reintroduction of the Daleks; first appearance of Victoria Waterfield; introduction of the Dalek Emperor. Narrative attempt to permanently write off the Daleks; later reversed with Day of the Daleks.

Cast

Recurring

Victoria Waterfield - Deborah Watling
Cybermen Voices - Peter Hawkins, Roy Skelton
Dalek Voices - Peter Hawkins, Roy Skelton

Guest

Stories set during this season

The Bonfires of the Vanities is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
Ten Little Aliens is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
Food for Thought is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
The Crumbling Magician is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
The Three Paths is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
The Plague of Dreams is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
Falling is set between The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet
Invasion of the Cat-People is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
The Murder Game is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
Dying in the Sun is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
Wonderland is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
The Curator's Egg is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders
The Roundheads is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
Resistance is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
Polly's Story is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Forbidden Time is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Selachian Gambit is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
House of Cards is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Yes Men is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Night Witches is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Forsaken is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Outliers is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Morton Legacy is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
Something at the Door is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones
The Home Guard is set between The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

VHS releases

The Tenth Planet (2000) (with telesnap reconstruction of episode 4)
Cybermen: The Early Years (1992) (The Moonbase episodes 2 and 4)
Daleks: The Early Years (1992) (The Evil of the Daleks episode 2)
The Reign of Terror (2003) (The Faceless Ones episodes 1 and 3)
The Missing Years (Included in UK The Ice Warriors Collection (1998), US, The Edge of Destruction and Dr. Who: The Pilot Episode (2001) (The Underwater Menace episode 3)

Loose Cannon VHS releases

The Smugglers (1999/2008)
The Tenth Planet (1998) (Episode 4 only)
The Power of the Daleks (1999)
The Highlanders (1999/2007)
The Underwater Menace (2005)
The Moonbase (2002)
The Macra Terror (1998/2006)
The Faceless Ones (1998/2009)
The Evil of the Daleks (2009)

DVD & Blu-ray releases

Five serials of season 4 that were released individually on DVD have had their missing episodes reconstructed through animation; The Tenth Planet, The Power of the Daleks, The Moonbase, The Macra Terror and The Faceless Ones, from 2013 to 2020. The Underwater Menace episode 3 was previously released on the Lost in Time box set prior to the recovery of episode 2. Both episodes were later released on DVD in 2015 with telesnap reconstructions of episodes 1 and 4, after plans for animated reconstructions of the missing episodes fell through.

The Power of the Daleks was the first wholly missing serial to be completely reconstructed using animation. It was also the first to have its missing episodes animated in colour, and the first Patrick Troughton serial to be released on Blu-ray. Subsequent releases of animated missing serials have been released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital streaming with colour and black & white animation.

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
The Tenth Planet (with animated reconstruction of episode 4)	4 x 25 min.	14 October 2013	30 October 2013	19 November 2013
The Power of the Daleks (animated reconstructions of all 6 episodes)	6 x 25 min.	21 November 2016	14 December 2016	24 January 2017
The Power of the Daleks - Special Edition (black and white & colour animated reconstructions of all 6 episodes)	6 x 25 min.	6 February 2017	22 February 2018	N/A
The Underwater Menace (with telesnap reconstructions of episodes 1 & 4)	4 x 25 min.	26 October 2015	2 December 2015	24 May 2016
The Moonbase (with animated reconstructions of episodes 1 & 3)	4 x 25 min.	20 January 2014	22 January 2014	4 March 2014
The Macra Terror (animated reconstructions of all 4 episodes)	4 x 25 min.	25 March 2019	17 April 2019	12 November 2019
The Faceless Ones (animated reconstructions of all 6 episodes and surviving episodes 1 & 3)	6 x 25 min.	16 March 2020	8 April 2020	2020
Lost in Time: Patrick Troughton The Underwater Menace (episode 3 of 4) The Moonbase (episodes 2 & 4 of 4; soundtracks of 1 & 3) The Faceless Ones (episodes 1 & 3 of 6) The Evil of the Daleks (episode 2 of 7) (also includes surviving clips from The Smugglers, The Tenth Planet, The Power of the Daleks, The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace and The Macra Terror)	6 × 25 min. + 2 × 25 min. audio	1 November 2004	2 December 2004 (Original release) 1 July 2010 (Re-release)	2 November 2004

Download/streaming availability

Serial name	Amazon Video	BritBox	Google Play	iTunes
The Smugglers
The Tenth Planet
The Power of the Daleks (6 episodes with animated reconstructions of all episodes)	Austria, Germany, UK, US	✓		✓
The Power of the Daleks (6 episodes with coloured animated reconstructions of all episodes)	Austria, Germany, UK, US			Except Australia, France
The Highlanders
The Underwater Menace (4 episodes with telesnap reconstructions of episodes 1 & 4)	UK		✓	Except France, Germany
The Moonbase
The Macra Terror
The Faceless Ones
The Evil of the Daleks

BritBox is available only in the US. iTunes stores carry Doctor Who serials in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and US, unless stated otherwise.

Novelisations

Audiobooks

External links

BBC Website Guide to Season 4