It's with just a little twinge of sadness that I crack open my season four Doctor Who set. While executive producer Russell T. Davies and series star David Tennant still have a handful of episodes to go in their tenure until the all new cast and crew take over in 2010, the fact that they deliver dramatic, fun, heartbreaking and uplifting adventure through time and space week after week makes me sad to see them leave.

From 1963 to 1989 (and a couple of false starts thereafter) the BBC ran an immensely popular family program called Doctor Who. The main character is called The Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He travels the universe in the TARDIS, a wondrous spaceship that can go anywhere in time and space - provided that the Doctor can steer it correctly. During his adventures, he and his companion (usually a young human female with weak ankles and good lungs) combat evil and injustice wherever they find it. Key to the longevity of the series - Doctor Who can do what the James Bond movies have done several times. When fatally injured, Time Lords have the ability to regenerate, totally changing their faces and personalities, allowing the ability to swap out the lead roll when the actor wants to leave the series. So there have been several Doctors with different faces (ten, so far), but all of them the same character.

Oh, and the name of the show is Doctor Who. The main character is simply called The Doctor.

Right out of the gate, the best thing about season four is Catherine Tate's excellent performance as Donna Noble. When first announced a couple of years back, everyone* assumed that Catherine would destroy the show with the lowbrow brand of blue collar sketch comedy she's famous for in England - but these fears were quickly quashed as Donna turned out to be quite possibly the best companion to come along - new series or old - ever. Her sense of fun and adventure, her the ability to jump from lighthearted comedy to drama (and melodrama) in a heartbeat, her chemistry with David make her the outstanding companion of the run. Comparing this with the first season shows just how the program has subtly evolved character-wise, from 2005. Catherine will be such a tough act to follow.

*Well, at least everyone in the UK. Being from the states, I had never heard of her and had no such baggage.

And yes, the character was meant to be loud and obnoxious in The Runaway Bride - but she was meant to evolve over time. And apart from the occasional shouty misfire here or there, she continued to deliver on that front. The end of the Fires of Pompeii, her emotion at the Doctor's unwillingness to save the residents of the doomed town was probably the best moment of the visually impressive episode.

While Catherine is the best thing to come out of season four, close on her heels is the amazing Bernard Cribbins, of course. Hands down, Bernard pitch-perfect every time he appeared, with a childlike energy and a great chemistry with the two leads. And the man has range - the final scene with a rain-sodden Doctor all alone yet again. Brilliant! Bernard, I utterly forgive you for those "wacky" antics back in the movie adaptation of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

So then, what about David Tennant as the Doctor then? Still brilliant after all this time. Specifically he managed to pretty much single handedly save the lackluster The Doctor's Daughter with a wonderfully conflicted blend of loss of his former family and his sudden and unexpected fatherhood. And of course he was at the peak of his powers playing again the marvelous guest star Lesley Sharp in Midnight, making what could have been an utterly daft episode gripping and very watchable.

If there's a problem with the season, it that there's a certain level of familiarity developing, a certain pattern is setting in. We've got a modern day companion with a her family as the supporting cast, a host of returning monsters in the final series wrap up, and the Daleks again We've got a historical cameo by a famous person and the return of Captain Jack. Even the pattern of the show is becoming formula: modern day opener, story in the past, story in the future, modern day two parter, filler episode, the creepy as hell one that Steven Moffet writes that everyone loves, the Doctor Lite episode and the big two part climax that threatens the whole wide world - the (more or less) exact same season structure that we've had the past four years now.

And not every episode was a winner. The Unicorn and the Wasp, while not a bad episode, was a weaker entry - but then it's always a big gamble to try and do comedy. Drama has many layers that can save it, but either comedy straight up works or it doesn't. Sadly, it didn’t work for me. I also thought that Steven Moffit's episodes Silence in the Library and the Forest of the Dead - well, they were good episodes, but they didn’t totally blow my socks off like The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace or Blink. It was a nice, solid two part episode, but it wasn’t a pure masterpiece of writing that we've come to know and love from Steven. (also I think announcing his taking over of the show just before the broadcast of his two parter put much more scrutiny on it than it might have otherwise received.)

So while I loved the show and think that Russell T Davies did nothing but good things in his tenure as God of All Things Who, I do agree with his decision to move on. Handing the show over to Grand Moff Steven can only shake things up a bit and keep the show fresh. Thus the beauty of Doctor Who - if you don't like things, wait a year or two and you'll get an all new take on the show.

Since this review is getting way too long, I'll just briefly touch on a couple of the best episodes of the run -

PUDSLEY CUTAWAY: Time Crash
Before we get into the season proper, we get another Children In Need special mini-episode. This time, instead of the introduction of a freshly regenerated Doctor, we get a special treat: an appearance of the fifth Doctor! While we've seen old enemies and old friends before, this is the first time the Doctor's run into a former self since the Two Doctors some 20 years ago.

The episode is only eight minutes long, so writer (and soon to be future producer) Steven Moffat goes light on the plot and gives us a fanwanky and completely unabashed love letter to the history of the show. Much like Moffat and Tennant, I remember Peter's era the best as a kid - so I couldn't get a touch bleary eyed at David's "You were my doctor" monologue. He was my Doctor too, and I get all giddy when seeing the Doctor - a proper, old school Doctor - back in action again. Lovely stuff.

EPISODE ZERO: The Voyage of the Damned
Our first proper episode is the 2007 Christmas special, seeing the Doctor take a trip on the HMS Titanic - or at least a space going replica of the doomed ship. And like it's namesake, things start to go very wrong very quickly, with robotic servants killing the passengers, mystery and intrigue at every turn and a collision course with Buckingham Palace.

The episode is a shameless reworking of classic disaster flicks like the The Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno, with the Doctor leading a group of rag tag survivors to safety surrounded by danger and explosions. The pacing is brisk and RTD moves the story along from one disaster to another without much time to breath (or ponder the illogic inherent in the script). And more importantly, the theme of the Doctor as the Lonely God reappears again, as one of the underlying themes of the season. The Doctor finds himself emotionally lost and in desperate need of companionship yet determined to remain alone, not wanting to risk the lives of those he loves.

EPISODE ONE: Partners in Crime
It wouldn't be for another four long months until we get to the start of the fourth season (or 30th season, depending on how you're keeping score at home), and we finally meet Catherine Tate. It's a lighthearted episode (the Doctor/Donna interaction through the window is priceless), but surprisingly there's a good deal of teeth too.

Over the next thirteen episodes, Donna would become an equal to the Doctor despite her near constant dismissal of her importance. "But I'm just a temp!" she proclaims on several occasions - she has no faith in her own abilities, yet ultimately will play a key part in saving in stopping the Daleks and saving the entire universe. All of us, the show exclaims, has the capacity for much more than we would believe. None of us are "just" anything.

EPISODES FOUR AND FIVE: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poisoned Sky
This time, we get the Sontarans as this years returning classic series monsters. We get a cracking good performance from Christopher Ryan (his second appearance on the series), but overall the Sontarans were let down by poor direction in their episodes. Badly judged shot selection leading up to their unveiling meant that there was a notable lack of suspense, awe or anticipation, plus the battle scenes were a visual mess. That said, the plotting was cleverly structured and Rattigan's explosive suicide was highly effective.

However, the first proper return of UNIT to the series was a bit of a letdown. There was no real sense of spirit or familiarity like in the early 1970s golden years of The Brigadier, Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates. While it might have been a brave move to shake things up, I think killing off Ross - the only interesting UNIT member - was a bad idea. What a waste of a potentially cracking semi-regular character.

EPISODE TEN: Midnight
Midnight is the Doctor Lite episode of the series (meaning that while this episode is being shot, the cast and crew are divided so they can double up shooting on another episode). While this usually means that the regular cast is mostly unavailable and reduced to a cameo in their own show, this time we separate The Doctor and Donna into their own adventures. Aside from a brief appearance at the beginning, the Doctor is forced to go it alone.

The short summation of this episode is: take Hitchcock's Lifeboat, add it into a blender with a healthy dose of Twilight Zone-inspired paranoia and just a hint of Gilligan's Island, and set it to high. More precisely, Midnight is a counterpart to Voyage of the Damned, where instead of instantly buying into the Doctor's assumed authority when he strides boldly into a crisis with his usual arrogance and insufferable platitudes, they react realistically, turning on each other. It's a brilliant performance from Tennant as the events quickly spin out of the Doctor's control, rendering him utterly powerless to cope - or even speak. It's one of the most gripping episodes of the season.

EPISODE ELEVEN: Turn Left
In the eighties, about mid-point through the television season, most shows would be forced to rely on something called a clip show, where BA is shot while the rest of the A-Team is trapped in a cave and unable to get help. While their friend lies there unconscious, they reminisce about all the good times they had together, padding up the episode with clips from old shows.

That's kind of what we get here - sort of. Situations and characters (and effects sequences) from the last two years are revisited and reused, but from the point of view of a world that never knew the Doctor, and the examination of the relationship between the Doctor and his companion. Midnight was not just a companion-free tale, but a story ABOUT what it means to be the Doctor without a companion. Turn Left is the direct opposite: a story about what a companion is without the Doctor. And with the amazing performances by Tate and Cribbins - and a cracking good script from RTD - it's a damn good episode.

And oh, what a cliffhanger. . . .

EPISODE TWELVE AND THIRTEEN: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
WARNING! I've tried to keep the major spoilers out up to now, but there's no avoiding it from this point onwards. Leave now, lest ye be spoiled!

Ok, I'll put my cards on the table from the get-go: this two part episode doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What exactly happened to the moon while the Earth was away? Davros creates a handy control panel that can undo all his nefarious plans and then he places it in the same room as the Doctor and his companions? Dalek Caan goes to all that trouble of bringing back the Daleks just so he can kill them again? The 27 planets do what exactly? We get a veritable scorecard of who's who from the last four years in the form of Rose Tyler and her family, former Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Sarah Jane Smith and her son Luke, Martha Jones, K9, Captain Jack and his Torchwood team, the Daleks, and Davros in an avalanche of fanwank.

You know what - who cares! It's utterly brilliant!

It's masterfully written with some really powerful ideas - Davros (brought back to life perfectly by Julian Bleach) forcing the Doctor concede that he forges his companions into weapons to do his bidding was chilling stuff indeed, Actually Davros going completely over-the-top batshit bonkers, with his taunting and ranting and his utter madness - it could have easily been camp, but it was so downright chilling that it felt. . . right.

The tragedy of Donna Noble has to be one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen on television in a very long time. If she had died, she would have died a hero having become literally a better person for having known the Doctor - but to lose all of that, to lose everything. Yes it's cruel, yes it's terrible, but isn't that brilliant? Isn't that just amazing that this piece of drama when it's able to hit us in the gut like that?

And oh my god - what a cliffhanger. RTD managed to compose a perfect cliffhanger so that every one of its characters in dire straits with no hope of escape - especially the Doctor himself, whose final fate probably left millions of jaws dropped to the floor. Yeah the whole thing is bombastic and borderline over-the-top, but it's a blaze of glory that gives it's all, and frankly it's a perfect capper to the RTD era.

And that the glorious scene with the Doctor and his faithful companions at the controls of the TARDIS? I wouldn't give it up for anything.

THE DVD
Being that the series is only a couple of months old at this point, one would expect the video quality to be outstanding. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers of every episode are downright gorgeous, looking even better than their broadcast versions. Detail is crisp, colors are lively, black levels are deep and rich.

The Dolby 5.1 is equally exceptional, with crisp dialogue and a rich, full presentation of Murray Gold's lush musical score. Sound effects are nicely balanced. Optional English subtitles are included.

THE EXTRAS
If the boxed set is expensive (and it is), you have to admit that you get a lot of bang for your buck.

For starters, we get Doctor Who Confidential, a companion series that ran on BBC3 every week, detailing all the behind-the-scenes goings on and makings of that episode. There are fourteen in all, one for each episode, narrated by Tony Head. They have been cut down from a longer running time, but having see the originals, I can say that the short for is still more than enough, bordering on information overload at times.

We get two video diaries from David Tennant, and they're a blast. The one during the drive Blackpool gets funnier by the minute, playing out more like an episode of Extras with every passing minute, topped off by David being treated like a rock star. You don't see tens of thousands of people turning out to see most American television stars! The second diary has some nice moments too, like when a soft-spoken Elisabeth Sladen talks about her emotional response to seeing Davros again - it's pretty juicy stuff.

There are some deleted scenes with Howard Attfield, the actor who played Donna's father in The Runaway Bride who died a few weeks into shooting of Partners in Crime. It's some well done acting, and while I'd never give up Bernard as Donna's grandfather, I could see he would have been a valuable member of the cast had he continued.

There's a ton of deleted scenes from just about every episode, running the gauntlet from useless to "why the heck did they cut that???" I was glad to see the season ending "cliffhanger" cut - the lonely traveler ending was much more powerful than another "What? What? What?" from David, but I was sad to see some of the character bits from Voyage of the Damned on the cutting room floor. None of the extras have any post production processing (right down to the video processing that the footage gets to make it look "filmized" before broadcast) but it all looks great.

Following that come a whole bunch of trailers. We get promos for Torchwood season 2, Primeval season 1 and The Sarah Jane Adventures season 1, the theatrical trailer for Doctor Who, the spots promoting the return of the Sontarans and Daleks, and of course the spots for the season climax.

The Journey so Far retrospective was a cool summation of the RTD years, if just a touch premature given that we have another four specials coming up for RTD and Tennant year to go.

Anything else? Oh right - the commentaries! Every single episode gets a yak track. We hear from composer Murray Gold, actor Russell Tovey, and first assistant director Peter Bennett, executive producer Julie Gardner, director James Strong, and writer/producer Russell T. Davies, David Tennant and Catherine Tate of course, production manager Tracie Simpson, director Graeme Harper and actor Roger Griffiths, actor Dan Starkey, prosthetics designer Neill Gorton, producer Susie Liggat, actress Georgia Moffett, music orchestrator/conductor Ben Foster, actors Felicity Kendal and Fenella Woolgar, writer Steven Moffat, director Euros Lyn, script editor Helen Raynor, costume designer Louise Page, director Alice Troughton, actors Jacqueline King and Bernard Cribbins. In fact the only thing that doesn't get a commentary - it really should have - was Timecrash. It would have been a blast to have David and Peter record one.

Speaking of things that should have been included, there was no preview for the upcoming Christmas special The Next Doctor (not counting the teaser on Journey's End). Since the series 1 set was able to include a preview Confidential installment for the Christmas Invasion, it's surprising they didn't include something to promote this years special.

They could have also included Music of the Spheres, the short episode for the BBC Proms concert from July 07, and it might have been wise to included some Torchwood or Sarah Jane fact files to catch up viewers who don't follow the other two shows. At the very least, they should have included the Captain Jack Monster Files from the BBC's webpage. Ah well - it's still a package loaded for bear.

THE BOTTOM LINE
While it doesn't have a School Reunion or Blink as a far and away best episode ever, Doctor Who season four is consistently the best season of the run. The climax ties the previous four years together in such a spectacular way, an enormous love letter to everyone who helped not only revive the franchise, but expand it beyond our wildest dreams.

OTHER DOCTOR WHO EPISODES ON DVD:

DOCTOR ONE -
The Beginning * Doctor Who and the Daleks * The Aztecs * The Dalek Invasion of Earth * Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. * The Web Planet * The Time Meddler * The War Machines * The Lost in Time Collection

DOCTOR TWO -
Tomb of the Cybermen * The Seeds of Death * The Mind Robber * The Invasion

DOCTOR THREE -
Spearhead From Space * Doctor Who and the Silurians * Inferno * The Claws of Axos * The Sea Devils * The Three Doctors * Carnival of Monsters * The Green Death * The Time Warrior

DOCTOR FOUR -
Robot * The Ark in Space * The Sontaran Experiment * Genesis of the Daleks * The Pyramids of Mars * Planet of Evil * The Brain of Morbius * The Hand of Fear * The Robots of Death * The Talons of Weng-Chiang * The Horror of Fang Rock * The Ribos Operation * The Pirate Planet * The Stones of Blood * The Androids of Tara * The Power of Kroll * The Armageddon Factor * Destiny of the Daleks * The City of Death * The Leisure Hive * The Keeper of Traken * Logopolis

DOCTOR FIVE -
Castrovalva * The Visitation * Black Orchid * Earthshock * Time-Flight * The Five Doctors * Warriors of the Deep * Resurrection of the Daleks * The Caves of Androzani

DOCTOR SIX -
Vengeance on Varos * Timelash * Mark of the Rani * The Two Doctors * Revelation of the Daleks * Trial of a Time Lord

DOCTOR SEVEN -
Rememberance of the Daleks * Ghost Light * The Curse of Fenric * Survival * The Television Movie

THE NEW SERIES -
Doctor Who - Series One * Doctor Who - Series Two * Torchwood - Series One * Doctor Who - Series Three * The Infinite Quest

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12