Season 4 (Doctor Who 1963)
- You may wish to consult
Series 4for other, similarly-named pages.
Season 4 of Doctor Who ran between 10 September 1966 and 1 July 1967. It starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor in the first two stories and then Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and Michael Craze as Ben Jackson, Anneke Wills as Polly Wright and Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon. The season opened with The Smugglers and concluded with The Evil of the Daleks.
Overview
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 season also introduced Victoria Waterfield - originally and briefly with Denise Buckley cast in the role during production, before this was changed to Deborah Watling.[1]
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 2021[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. Episode 4 of The Tenth Planet, The Power of the Daleks, The Moonbase, The Macra Terror, The Faceless Ones and The Evil of the Daleks 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 on-screen 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 | 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 1982. |
| 5 | The Underwater Menace | Geoffrey Orme | 4 | First appearance of a place deemed Atlantis. |
| 6 | The Moonbase | Kit Pedler | 4 | 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. First story to be written by Malcolm Hulke. |
| 9 | The Evil of the Daleks | David Whitaker | 7 | First appearance of Victoria Waterfield. Introduction of the Dalek Emperor. |
Cast
- Dr. Who - William Hartnell
- Dr. Who - Patrick Troughton
- Ben Jackson - Michael Craze
- Polly Wright - Anneke Wills
- Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
Recurring
- Victoria Waterfield - Deborah Watling
- Cybermen Voices - Peter Hawkins, Roy Skelton
- Dalek Voices - Peter Hawkins, Roy Skelton
Guest
- Captain Pike - Michael Godfrey
- Cherub - George A. Cooper
- Jacob Kewper - David Blake Kelly
- The Squire - Paul Whitsun-Jones
- Josiah Blake - John Ringham
- Tom - Mike Lucas
- General Cutler - Robert Beatty
- Barclay - David Dodimead
- Dyson - Dudley Jones
- Wigner - Steve Plytas
- Krail/ Jarl - Reg Whitehead
- Talon/ Krang - Harry Brooks
- Shav/ Gern - Gregg Palmer
- Lesterson - Robert James
- Janley - Pamela Ann Davy
- Bragen - Bernard Archard
- Quinn - Nicholas Hawtrey
- Hensell - Peter Bathurst
- Valmar - Richard Kane
- Kirsty - Hannah Gordon
- The Laird - Donald Bisset
- Lieutenant Ffinch - Michael Elwyn
- Solicitor Grey - David Garth
- Perkins - Sydney Arnold
- Trask - Dallas Cavell
- Professor Zaroff - Joseph Fürst
- Damon - Colin Jeavons
- Ara - Catherine Howe
- Ramo - Tom Watson
- Thous - Noel Johnson
- Lolem - Peter Stephens
- Hobson - Patrick Barr
- Benoit - Andre Maranne
- Nils - Michael Wolf
- Sam - John Rolfe
- Dr Evans - Alan Rowe
- Pilot - Peter Jeffrey
- Ola - Gertan Klauber
- Medok - Terence Lodge
- Controller - Graham Leaman
- Officia - John Harvey
- Commandant - Colin Gordon
- Jean Rock - Wanda Ventham
- Blade - Donald Pickering
- Samantha Briggs - Pauline Collins
- Inspector Crossland - Bernard Kay
- Nurse Pinto - Madalena Nicol
- Edward Waterfield - John Bailey
- Theodore Maxtible - Marius Goring
- Arthur Terrall - Gary Watson
- Ruth Maxtible - Brigit Forsyth
- Kennedy - Griffith Davies
- Kemel - Sonny Caldinez
- Toby - Windsor Davies
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 - Collector's Edition (black and white & colour animated reconstructions of all 6 episodes) | 6 x 25 min. | 6 February 2017 | 22 February 2018 | N/A |
| The Power of the Daleks - Special Edition (updated and reworked black and white animated reconstruction of all 6 episodes) | 6 x 25 min. | 27 July 2020 | 26 August 2020 | 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 | 20 October 2020 |
| The Evil of the Daleks (animated reconstructions of all 7 episodes and surviving episode 2) | 7 x 25 min. | 27 September 2021 | 10 November 2021 | 16 November 2021 |
| Lost in Time: Patrick Troughton
The Underwater Menace (episode 3 of 4) (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 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
- 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
Audiobooks
- 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
External links
Footnotes
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