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Season 30 (New Series 4)
Tenth Doctor Logo

General Information

Season Start:25 December 2007
Season End:05 July 2008
Season Length:28 Weeks
Actual Weeks:14 Weeks
Writers:Gareth Roberts, Helen Raynor, James Moran, Keith Temple, Russell T Davies, Stephen Greenhorn and Steven Moffat
Directors:Alice Troughton, Colin Teague, Douglas MacKinnon, Euros Lyn, Graeme Harper and James Strong
Producers:Phil Collinson and Susie Liggat
Executive Producers:Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Russell T Davies
Script Editors:Brian Minchin, Helen Raynor, Lindsey Alford and Nikki Smith
Visual Effects:The Mill
Special Effects:Any Effects
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Incarnation of the Doctor: The Tenth Doctor
Number of Companions: 7
The Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Rejoins and Departs), K9 Mk III (Rejoins and Departs), Rose Tyler (Rejoins and Departs), Captain Jack Harkness (Rejoins and Departs), Mickey Smith (Rejoins and Departs), Martha Jones (Rejoins and Departs) and Donna Noble (Rejoins and Departs)
Number of Acquaintances: 4
The Acquaintances: Jackie Tyler (Rejoins and Departs), Astrid Peth (Joins and Dies), Wilfred Mott (Joins) and River Song (Joins and Departs)
Number of Stories: 11
Number of Incomplete/Missing Stories: 0
Number of Episodes: 14
Number of Incomplete/Missing Episodes: 0
Percentages:
 Full Stories Held  100%
 Episodes Held  100%


Television Stories

No. Title Number of Episodes Production Code Status
188 Voyage of the Damned14-XAll Held
189 Partners in Crime14-1All Held
190 The Fires of Pompeii14-3All Held
191 Planet of the Ood14-2All Held
192 The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky24-4/4-5All Held
193 The Doctor's Daughter14-6All Held
194 The Unicorn and the Wasp14-7All Held
195 Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead24-9/4-10All Held
196 Midnight14-8All Held
197 Turn Left14-11All Held
198 The Stolen Earth/Journey's End24-12/4-13All Held


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 8.4
The Best StoryVoyage of the Damned (13.3)
The Worst Story The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky (6.8)
Voyage of the Damned (13.3)Partners in Crime (9.1)The Fires of Pompeii (9.0)Planet of the Ood (7.5)The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky (6.8)The Doctor's Daughter (7.3)The Unicorn and the Wasp (8.4)Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (7.0)Midnight (8.1)Turn Left (8.1)The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (9.7)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)
Season: 75.73%  (Position = 4 out of 31)
Best Story: Turn Left (84.63%)
Worst Story: The Doctor's Daughter (63.60%)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)
Season: 74.21% Lower (Position = 10 out of 36)
Best Story: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (83.23%)
Worst Story: The Doctor's Daughter (62.30%)


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The Villains

Daleks The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
Sontarans The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky
Others Cobb (The Doctor's Daughter), Davros (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), Max Capricorn (Voyage of the Damned), Midnight Entity (Midnight), Miss Foster (Partners in Crime), Mr Halpen (Planet of the Ood), Ood (Planet of the Ood), Pyrovile (The Fires of Pompeii), The Host (Voyage of the Damned), Time Beetle (Turn Left), Vashta Nerada (Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) and Vespiform (The Unicorn and the Wasp)


Quote of the Season


 'Astrid Peth, citizen of Sto. The woman who looked at the stars and dreamed of traveling... Now you can travel forever. You're not falling Astrid... you're flying...!'

The Doctor
(Voyage of the Damned)


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A Seasonal Summary


Astrid Perth
Astrid Perth
As before the Christmas special became the most watched story. "Voyage of the Damned" though went one better than the previous two seasonal stories by topping the 10 million mark. In fact it was watched by a total of 13.3 million. Helped of course by the fantastic Kylie Minogue as one-off companion Astrid Perth.

For the season proper, starting in April, we had the comical "Partners in Crime" which introduced us to the return of Donna Noble (played by comedy actress Catherine Tate). After the well developed companion/Doctor relationship between both the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor with Rose Tyler in Season Twenty Seven (New Series 1) and Season Twenty Eight (New Series 2) and then the equally good Martha Jones in Season Twenty Nine (New Series 3) you would not think that Catherine Tate would make such an impact. But she did.

As the season continued her role got better and better and it was clear that her character had improved far beyond her introductory story "The Runaway Bride" in 2006.

This season contained many other good points as well. Not only did we get to see tantalizing references and glimpses of former companion Rose – before her eventual return in the penultimate story of the season "Turn Left" and the season’s finale "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" – but also the return of Martha Jones in two stores as well as the season’s finale.

Monsters and enemies also abound with both first time appearances of classic monsters the Sontarans and the fantastic Davros but also the return of The Ood and of course Daleks. We even got to witness the first monster that was never seen nor identified.

This season also contained other notable firsts – namely the first story where The Doctor had no companion ("Midnight") followed by the first story where the companion was centre stage with no Doctor to aid them ("Turn Left"). We also had, in "The Fires of Pompeii" the first full ‘foreign’ story and we even got to see "The Doctor's Daughter"!

Overall this season turned out to be yet another good one. Yes it had its low points but these were overshadowed by some great story lines, some great acting (notable between Lesley Sharp and David Tennant in "Midnight") and some very high production standards.

However, everything must come to an end and so after making such an impact to the show, the forced departure of Donna at the end has to be the saddest part of the whole season and so, as it began, The Doctor is once more travelling alone. Again…



Things to Watch Out For


Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Within this season we have the return of a number of recurring companions and enemies as well as the introduction of another ‘classic’ enemy from the past.

First was the Christmas special ("Voyage of the Damned") – the first unique Christmas story and the one that will always be referred to as ‘the one that includes Kylie Minogue’ and what a good actress she turned out to be.

Of the recurring companions the last story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" contained nearly all of them - including Sarah Jane Smith and K9 - as well being the first crossover with spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures and so included characters from these shows.

Of significant interest was the return of Rose Tyler especially as throughout the season there were numerous mentions of Rose and a number of tantalizing shots until her full return in the penultimate story of the season "Turn Left".

And as for the enemies the season finale included Davros - the first time since the shows return and his first television appearance since the 1988 Seventh Doctor story "Remembrance of the Daleks".

Other returning enemies include the Sontarans (their first appearance since the 1985 Colin Baker story "The Two Doctors") and the Ood.

And watch out for "The Doctor's Daughter" where we get to see The Doctor's daughter (Jenny), played by The Doctor's daughter (Peter Davison's real-life daughter Georgia Moffett).



High and Low Points


The Return of Donna
The Return of Donna
With the news that Catherine Tate would be returning to the show – this time as a fully fledged companion since she played the part of Donna Noble in the Christmas 2006 special "The Runaway Bride" the press and fan base were full of comments and opinions that this would be the biggest mistake since the shows revival. Thankfully they were all proved wrong as Catherine Tate certainly made a good regular companion and the role of Donna removed a lot of the friction that existed between The Doctor and his other female companions.

Donna’s role became clear early on as a calming influence to that of The Doctor and she even ended up in a Doctorless story where her character took center stage and despite this story being Rose’s full story of the season Donna was able to hold her own.

The low point of the season is a toss between "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky" and the season’s finale "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".

In the former the return of the Sontarans are not given the chance to become a real threat and with so much going it was far to easy to lose the plot. This was not helped by having a cloned version of Martha. Being a classic monster the war-like Sontarans could just as easily have been replaced with the Daleks.

And for the season finale this suffered by the attempt to cram so much into it. Despite being a two part story the impact of the Daleks, and especially that of Davros, became lost. Like "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky" we ended up with a double character – in this case a double of the Tenth Doctor. The TARDIS became, for the first time ever, as being rather over-crowded.


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First and Last

The Firsts:

 The introduction of companion Astrid Peth played by Kylie Minogue. (Voyage of the Damned)

 Excluding Captain Jack Harkness's repeated deaths, Astrid Peth is the first companion to die in the revived series (and the first since Kamelion in 1984's "Planet of Fire"). (Voyage of the Damned)

 The first Doctor Who story, of the revised series, to be watched by more than 13 million viewers. (Voyage of the Damned)

 Catherine Tate's first full story as official companion, Donna Noble. (Partners in Crime)

 The first appearance of The Sontarans in the revived television series and the first for 23 years - since the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "The Two Doctors". (The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)

 The first time, in the revived television series, that The Doctor has an adventure alone without the assistance of a companion. (Midnight)

 Billie Piper's first full story in the show, as companion Rose Tyler, since she left at the end of Army of Ghosts/Doomsday. (Turn Left)

 The first crossover with spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 Catherine Tate's last regular story as companion Donna Noble. (The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)



In Print

Doctor Who Magazine - Countdown to 50Issue 461 - (Released: July 2013)


Additional Stories

TitleRelease Date (UK)FormatSourceCompanions
Time CrashOctober 2007TVBBC 1
Pest ControlJuly 2008AudioBBC Tenth Doctor Audio Donna Noble
Shining DarknessSeptember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories Donna Noble
The Doctor TrapSeptember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories Donna Noble
Ghosts of IndiaSeptember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories Donna Noble
The Forever TrapOctober 2008AudioBBC Tenth Doctor Audio Donna Noble
The Story of MarthaDecember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories Martha Jones
The EyelessDecember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories
Beautiful ChaosDecember 2008Novel/AudioThe Tenth Doctor Stories Donna Noble
The Nemonite InvasionFebruary 2009AudioBBC Tenth Doctor Audio Donna Noble

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions/Acquaintances

 
David Tennant
The Tenth Doctor

   
Elisabeth Sladen
Sarah Jane Smith
John Leeson (voice only)
K9 Mk III
Billie Piper
Rose Tyler
   
Camille Coduri
Jackie Tyler
John Barrowman
Captain Jack Harkness
Noel Clarke
Mickey Smith
   
Freema Agyeman
Martha Jones
Kylie Minogue
Astrid Peth
Catherine Tate
Donna Noble
   
Bernard Cribbins
Wilfred Mott
Alex Kingston
River Song




On Release

Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   


Magazines

 
Doctor Who Magazine - Countdown to 50: Issue 461
Doctor Who Magazine - Countdown to 50: Issue 461

Marvel Comics
 
   


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