Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Doctor Who The Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 26, 2024

Note: This version of this series/season is available as part of BBC's Doctor Who Limited Edition New Who Collector's Set, featuring what BBC is describing as a "newly upscaled" video presentation.

The fourth series/season of Doctor Who may feel a little like déjà vu all over again for those coming to it directly from Doctor Who The Complete Second Series, since after the now customary Christmas special, Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), who actually was in the second series/season's Christmas special, is back as a full time companion. This series/season also was transitional in other ways as well, including being the swan songs for David Tennant (at least for a little while) and showrunner Russell T. Davies.

And in fact there's a "family reunion" of sorts in terms of then relatively recent companions for the Doctor, for along with the suddenly back in action Donna, Martha Jones (Freema Agyaman) is on hand for several episodes, as is perhaps a bit more unexpectedly Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Much as with the two prior series/seasons, the show can't seem to help but try to promote Torchwood, albeit probably not to the lengths offered previously.

Once again, there's a nice array of time periods and storylines offered, even if some of course may have sillier aspects. Some are rather fun "riffs" on actual historical characters like Agatha Christie, but The Sontaram Strategy and The Poison Sky in particular may be of some interest to home theater fans since part of their plots hinge on a nefarious device called ATMOS. This series/season may arguably also rely a bit more on multi-episode arcs than some of the previous series/seasons, though kind of interestingly in that regard, there's nothing quite analogous to the use of "Torchwood" in Series Two or "Vote Saxon" in Series Three in this series/season.

Doctor Who The Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.75:1 (for the upscaled episodes) and 1.78:1 (for the HD specials). This discrepancy in aspect ratio and resolution is due at least in part to the fact that this era of the show was during the transition from standard definition to high definition, as I got into several years ago in my Doctor Who: The Complete David Tennant Collection Blu-ray review. I wasn't especially impressed with Series Three's "newly upscaled" versions, which to my eyes really didn't look that much different from the original upscales, though that said, I found some more noticeable improvement in Series Two's offerings. I'd say that Series Four is more similar to Season Two in that there isn't quite the processed, sharpened appearance that afflicted Season Three, though these are still obviously upscales, prone to some of the same anomalies I've mentioned in the reviews of the two previous seasons. Once you get into the subsequent specials, though, things improve markedly, with "true" high definition quality in detail levels and general clarity. I'd rate the episodes at 3-ish levels, while the HD specials are at least at 4 levels, and I'd even argue pushing toward 4.5 at times, so I've kind of split the difference and given the entire set a 3.5.

Doctor Who The Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Series Four offers another nicely immersive set of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, and virtually every episode and special offers great examples of surround activity, often unsurprisingly in some of the big VFX scenes, where either creatures or objects like the TARDIS can be flitting around the frame and the sound design mimics those "travels". Once again the vast differences in settings and timeframes also provides nice opportunities for both "natural" ambient environmental effects and more supposedly "high tech" sounds in various environments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Doctor Who The Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Series 4, Disc 1

• Children in Need - Time Crash (SD; 8:01)


• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (SD; 14:54)


• Voyage of the Damned Deleted Scenes (SD; 2:36)


• Howard Attfield Deleted Scenes (SD; 6:46)


• Deleted Scenes (SD; 10:38)


• BBC Trailers (SD; 7:21) include:

  Cinema Trailer

  
  

  Cinema Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  TV Trailer

  
  

  TV Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  Teaser

  
  

  Series 4 Cinema Trailer

  
  

  Series 4 Launch Trailer

  
  

  Series 4 Launch Trailer (Short Version)

  
  

  "OOD" Trailer

  
  

  Episode 2

  
  

  Episode 3

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 2

• Deleted Scenes (SD; 13:47)


• BBC Trailers (SD; 1:38) include:

  "Sontaran" Trailer

  
  

  Episodes 4 and 5

  
  

  Episode 6

  
  

  Episode 7

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 3

• BBC Trailers (SD; 2:19) include:

  Episode 8 (Season Finale Teaser)

  
  

  Episodes 9

  
  

  Episode 10

  
  

  Episode 11

• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

Series 4, Disc 4

• David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diaries (SD; 15:44)


• The Journey (So Far) (SD; 30:57) looks over the four years of Tennant's tenure in the role.


• Doctor Who Confidential (SD; 2:37:42) offers featurettes on the following episodes:

  Christmas Confidential

  
  

  Episode 1 - A Noble Return

  
  

  Episode 2 - The Italian Job

  
  

  Episode 3 - Odds & Ends

  
  

  Episode 4 - Send in the Clones

  
  

  Episode 5 - Sontar-Ha!

  
  

  Episode 6 - The Sins of the Fathers

  
  

  Episode 7 - Nemesis

  
  

  Episode 8 - Shadowplay

  
  

  Episode 9 - River Runs Deep

  
  

  Episode 10 - Look Who's Talking

  
  

  Episode 11 - Here Come the Girls

  
  

  Episode 12 - Friends and Foe

  
  

  Episode 13 - The End of an Era

• BBC Trailers (SD; 1:32) include:

  Dalek Teaser

  
  

  "Supreme Dalek" Teaser

  
  

  Episode 12 Finale

  
  

  Episode 13 Finale

• Deleted Scenes (SD; 6:34)


• Commentary for all episodes can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew; for a complete listing, please see Ken Brown's Doctor Who: Complete Series 1-7 Blu-ray review.

The Specials, Disc 1 ( The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars )

• Doctor Who at the Proms 2008 (HD; 1:02:07)


• Commentary for all specials can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew.

The Specials, Disc 2 ( The End of Time, Parts 1 and 2 )

• David Tennant Doctor Who Video Diary - The Final Days (SD; 40:41)


• Doctor Who Christmas Idents (SD; 00:53)


• Doctor Who at Comic Con (HD; 21;23)


• Deleted Scenes with Introduction by Russell T. Davies (HD; 17:16)


• Commentary for all specials can be found under the Setup Menu. The commentaries feature a grabbag of cast and crew.

The Specials, Disc 3

• Doctor Who Confidential offers featurettes on the following specials:

  The Next Doctor Confidential (SD; 55:34)

  
  

  Planet of the Dead Confidential (HD; 57:16)

  
  

  The Waters of Mars Confidential (HD; 58:07)

  
  

  The End of Time, Part 1 Confidential (HD; 57:16)

  
  

  The End of Time, Part 2 Confidential (HD; 57:07)

  Note: These Confidential featurettes are the sum total of the contents of this particular disc.

Doctor Who The Complete Fourth Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is probably my favorite David Tennant series/season in this particular collection, and there's a nice variety in the writing in these episodes that doesn't rely so flagrantly on "recycling", as in some of the prior series/seasons (either with or without Tennant). The episodes' video quality is okay, and maybe arguably marginally improved by the "newly upscaled" versions, while the HD specials look great for the most part. Audio on everything is fine, and as usual, there are some excellent supplements. Recommended.