Series 4 (SJA)

Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures is expected to air on CBBC or BBC One in the autumn of 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 5th series for 2011 had also been commissioned.)

The 4th season will see the return of all the core cast members (though the 4 March 2010 announcement did not indicate whether K9 would appear, K9 was seen on set when filming began) for a 12-episode series.

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

Primary cast

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
• Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Mr. Smith - Alexander Armstrong
• K9 Mark IV - John Leeson (seen on set)

Guest cast

• Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• Jo Grant - Katy Manning
• Celeste Rivers - Floella Benjamin
• Nightmare Man - Julian Bleach
• Herself - Lucie Jones
• Tia Karim - Laila Rouass
• Ocean Waters - Cheryl Campbell
• Gavin - Joe Mason
• Mysterious Shopkeeper - Cyril Nri
• Ruby White - Julie Graham
• Santiango Jones- Finn Jones

Aliens and enemies

• Nightmare Man (DWM Issue 419)
• Shansheeth (DWM Issue 419)
• Androvax
• Slitheen
• Blathereen
• Alliance of Shades (DWM Issue 423)

Television stories

The Titles and writers of this season's episodes were revealed in Doctor Who Magazine. All of Series 4 episodes will be 2 parts.

#	Title	Writer	Director	Notes
1	The Nightmare Man	Joseph Lidster	Joss Agnew	Final appearance of Luke Smith and K9 Mark IV [1]
2	The Vault of Secrets	Phil Ford	Joss Agnew
3	Death of the Doctor	Russell T Davies	Ashley Way	Guest appearances of the Doctor and Jo Grant.
4	The Empty Planet	Gareth Roberts	Ashley Way
5	Lost in Time	Rupert Laight	Joss Agnew
6	Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith	Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman	Joss Agnew

Notes

• Luke is leaving the show in the first episode and goes off to Oxford University, along with K9. [2]
• For the first time in the series, the group will visit an alien world, breaking the Judoon's confinement of Luke, Rani and Clyde to Earth (SJA: Prisoner of the Judoon). (DWM Issue 419)
• The group will embark on a "dangerous journey back into history". (DWM Issue 419)
• The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) will both appear.
• Luke was not present on the set for filming of episodes 3 and 4. This seems to back up the rumour that he is leaving in the first story. Set reports indicate that the character that will replace Luke in Series 5 is a (approximately) 12 year old blond girl.

Novels

As of August 2010 only two stories from this series has been announced for adaptation as a novelisation.

• The Nightmare Man
• Death of the Doctor

Rumours

• Gareth Roberts may write an hour long special.
• On-set videos show Luke saying goodbye to Sarah Jane and the rest of the cast, making it likely that he will leave in this series to be replaced by the new character of Series 5. Alexander Armstrong has also said that Luke goes off to university, and that K-9 leaves with him.