Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #175 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-11-17
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6

Amazon.co.uk Review
Kicking off with a jam-packed Christmas special and ending with a blockbuster extended closing instalment, Doctor Who?s fourth series since it was revived is a breathless, exciting one, that also boasts some exceptional episodes.

You get fourteen episodes for your money here, and the ones in particular to watch out for are the outstanding Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead double header, the almost single-location creepfest that is Midnight, and the trio of Turn Left, The Stolen Earth and Journey?s End that round off the series. In the midst of those is also one of the very best cliffhangers that Doctor Who has ever employed in its long and glorious history.

This is also the series of Doctor Who that introduces Catherine Tate as full-time companion Donna Noble, working alongside David Tennant?s Doctor across time and space. And it?s--against initial expectations--arguably the best combination since the show returned. Here, there?s no hint of romance between the pair, as they instead knuckle down to business, occasionally helped by the likes of Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

Let?s not forget too the collection of monsters we meet this time round. The daleks and Davros are the main attractions in Doctor Who Series 4, while the return of the Sontarans proves to be a bit of a disappointment. But, after viewing the series, chances are you?ll be counting shadows around you, and wary of getting on the wrong side of the Ood.

As with most series of Doctor Who, there are one or two bumpy episodes and missteps, but this is still unmatched at what it does, and finds the show in even more confident form than last time round. That, along with the immense rewatch value, is what makes this terrific piece of family entertainment such a compelling buy. --Simon Brew

DVD Description
Hot on the heels of the acclaimed third series, Doctor Who returns for a fantastic fourth series with a familiar face alongside the Doctor.

Award-winning comedienne Catherine Tate returns as the Doctor's new companion, revisiting her role as Donna Noble who featured in the 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride. Martha Jones - who left the Doctor at the end of Series Three to break the unrequited circle of love she felt for him - will also return. The Sontarans and Ood are set to reappear.

Customer Reviews

Doctor Who at the peak
Almost perfection.
The superb Xmas episode with a good ending and the two doctors is briliant.

The series starts off like the previous series with an episode almost made for cbbc but then improves with Pompeii and the Ood. The sontorans are good with the Doctor's daughter (now weirdly David Tenant's girlfriend)with a plot twist.

The Agatha Christie episode is differently paced before Steven Moffatt's writing is to the fore in Silence in the Library two parter.

The errily Midnight is followed by the best episode in Turn Left and the return of everybody it seems with amazing ending with the Doctor shot by the lone Darlek (didnt he have any mates).

Journeys End brings everybody's storyline to the end and what feels like the end of the era.

The extras include David Tenant's diary, commentaries by cast and crew, trailers and hopefully please bbc some coverage of the Doctor Who Prom.

Best finale ever !!
This series had it ups and downs, but the final 2 episodes where the best I have seen in ages ! Davros, Supreme Dalek and a host of Fantastic companions made for a Spellbinding Finale. Planet of the Ood was very moving and The unicorn and the Wasp was Great fun! The biggest dissapointments for me were the episodes: Silence In The Libary, Forest of the Dead and Midnight. Loved the return of the Sontarans and of course the Brilliant Martha Jones.
All in all a Great series with the exeption of a few duds, but the Finale more than makes up for them.

A missed opurtunity?
After what I felt to be a very dissapointing season three, this new season represents something of a return to form for Doctor Who. The stories are never less than watchable (especially when it stays clear of Russel T Davies' own mythology)and can be excellent ('Planet of the Ood,' 'Silence in the Library.') I just feel like the season as a whole could have been even better if they'd just stuck to the task of making a TV series instead of trying to be clever.
The Good News first. Ignore all the quibbles from various sections of Who fandom and take it from me. Catherine Tate is a revelation as Donna Noble. In fact, I'd rank her as the best female foil for the Doctor since Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah-Jane Smith was in her pomp in the seventies. DW fans from the old era were probably weeping into their Target novels when they found out Catherine Tate would be returning as Donna. The number of people I've seen gripe that "she's not a proper actress" beggars belief. For the uninformed lets clear a few things up: 1) Tate might be best known for comedy roles but she's appeared in a number of dramatic roles since in between finishing doing her own show and joining Doctor Who. That would make her an actress, then. 2) Being a 'proper actress' didn't stop Freema Agyeman behaving as wooden as a barn door for most of season three. So there.
In fact the biggest problem with Tate is that there's not enough of her. And therin lies the problem for the entire season. With just about every actor/actress associated with the show since it's 2005 revival apperaing in some capacity throughout the season, it really does become a case of too many companions spoiling the broth. Never is this better demonstrated the 'Doctor's Daughter' episode. With The Doctor having two companions and a pseudo-companion for company, there simply isn't enough for everyone to do- to the extent that Donna has to be unrealisticly transformed into 'SuperTemp' just so she isn't sat twiddling her thumbs.
Not suprisingly then, the season fares best when the stories are concentrated on The Doctor and Donna, with no external inteferences. The honourable exception is 'Turn Left,' a one-episode lead-in to the two part finale. With the Doctor sidelined, a buck toothed, lisping Rose (should that be Roth? Who IS Billie Piper's dentist?) takes on the role of the Doctor herself to guide Donna through the adventure. It's a pretty chilling story and calls for some pretty good acting from Tate- thankfully she delivers, and by the end of the epsiode my heart was beating ten to the dozen- what a story!
As I've mentioned the other season highlights include 'Fires of Pompeii' and 'Planet of the Ood,' which although thought-provoking in their own way never try to be too clever, and aren't clogged up with unecessary baggage. Fans of New DW showrunner Steven Moffat will be pleased to see he's got a two parter this time around, 'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead,' which lives up to all his previous DW work.
Now about that finale. One of the previous reviewers makes reference to the ties-ins, cross overs with other series and everything else that goes on, and says that this should be done more often. Without wanting to offend that particular indivudual, I could not disagree with them more. The first part ('Stolen Earth') in particular is spolit by having to spend more than half the episode bringing all the companions and threads together. As such, the crucial bit with the Doctor and Donna at the Shadow Proclaimation is woefuly underwritten. And what for? So RTD can self-indulge himself by having Torchwood characters appear in DW. It's worth pointing out at this juncture that Torchwood is a post-watershed, adult-themed TV show and that at least half of DWs core audience will not have a clue who Ianto, Gwen and Rhys are, and probably care even less. This is exactly what happens when you let a bunch of fanboy fanatics like Davies and Phil Collinson have free reign on DW- they come up with with something that alienates (no pun intended) 90% of the casual audience. Without wanting to give the story away if you've not watched it, the second part is even worse for feeling like a bring-and-buy companion sale. I was half expecting Tom Baker to come out the TARDIS bawling 'Britain, Britain, Oh damn it! Wrong show!' Oh, and the very moving final few scenes lose some impact due to the fact that we've not spent as much time with the character in question as we should have.
I've already discussed Catherine Tate at length, which leaves me with David Tennant. I'm still not fully convinced he's as good as Tom Baker in his pomp, but there's no doubt he inhabits the role totally. His rapport with Tate is excellent, and the two clearly enjoy working with each other. Their relationship is good without descending into the luvee smug-fest that made so many of Tennant and Piper's scenes from season two grate so much. His moral indignation in 'The Doctor's Daughter' is worth the DVD price alone (up their with Tom's 'Homo Sapiens' speech IMHO), and whilst the Doctor-as-God portrayal so beloved of Davies can be a bit sickly at times, it's to Tennant's credit that he always makes it believable.
So there you go, then. It's by no means a bad season, don't get me wrong. In fact, it's probabaly the revival's best season since it's first season. It just could have been so much better if they'd forgotten about Big Ideas and just concentrated on little things like writing good stories. Then again, the ratings for season four are the highest DW has ever had in any of its incarnations, so what do I know?