Editorial Review:Product Description:Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/18/2008 Run time: 655 minutes
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Average Rating:
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Quite possibly the best season of Who *EVER*
I've been following Doctor Who for a long time. I wasn't able to do so actually FROM the beginning (I was only about 2 when it started!), but public TV in my area aired a lot of it. My favorite Doctor has always been a tie between Tom Baker's crazy-like-a-fox and the elegant gentleman of Jon Pertwee's reign.
But David Tennant has moved right up there with them. His portrayal -- quite consciously incorporating aspects of several of his predecessors -- is filled with a manic energy while still radiating an essential humanity-within. Even in his first season (the second season of the "modern" Doctor Who) he grabbed the role and made it his own; by now he has fully grown into the role, and it has become his.
This season has many wonderful aspects to it -- so many that I don't think I could do them all justice. However, one that stands out is the creation of Donna Noble as one of his greatest Companions. Donna, originally seen in the "Runaway Bride" Christmas Special, has been completely transformed from the narrow-minded, self-centered, usually clueless character she was when the Doctor first met her. Now -- though still brash, sometimes tactless, and just as loud -- she searches through London for the strange, the bizarre, the alien, because after meeting the Doctor, she simply can't go back to her humdrum world.
Instead she joins the Doctor in his travels, and becomes -- not a lover (or would-be lover, as was poor Martha) -- but the Best Friend that the Doctor really needs, someone who loves the adventures, who even after being put through hell and dragged back won't give up on the life she has found with the last of the Timelords, who has an indomitable spirit and unbreakable will and a courage you simply would not have BELIEVED in the Donna Noble we first met.
While there are a few weak episodes in this season, the strong points more than make up for it -- none stronger than the grand finale, featuring one of the Doctor's greatest adversaries in his most glorious appearance yet, grandeur and apocalypse and tragedy and victory all at once.
I am very saddened by the news that (apparently) David Tennant will be leaving Doctor Who after the next season; but he will have left his mark indelibly on the franchise, and whoever takes up the mantle will have one hell of a pair of boots to step into.
Rating: -
Time continues to be on the Doctor's side with the fourth series of "Doctor Who"
* Time is the Doctor's enemy in the Children in Need special \"Time Crash\" where the 10th Doctor (David Tennat) meets himself in his Fifth incarnation (Peter Davison)as the TARDIS from their respective eras collide. That's just the tip of the iceberg so to speak as we also get to voyage on the Titanic a spacecraft named after Earth's luxury liner (although the designers of the spacecraft clearly had no clue as to what really happened to the REAL Titanic)and the Doctor has to stop the ship from being destroyed in the 2007 Christmas Special featuring Kylie Minogue. The Doctor also gets a new companion is an old one--Donna (Catherine Tate) returns after her brief tenure with the Doctor from the previous year.
The 4th series of \"Doctor Who\" continued to introduce challenging stories such as the two part episode \"Silence in the Library\" and \"Forest of the Dead\" where the Doctor meets someone from HIS future that he hasn't met yet and while there were a few weak ones in the mix, the best episodes from the fourth series more than held up when compared to previous ones. While I like Russell T. Davies' scripts, I still find the best ones are usually penned by his successor as producer Stephen Moffat.
As with previous sets we get edited versions of \"Doctor Who: Confidential\", deleted scenes, commentary tracks with a variety of cast/crew on each episode. We also get two installments of \"David Tennant's Video Diary\" and a nice tribute to the late actor William Attfield who originally appeared as Donna's grandfather but passed away after the shooting of \"Partners in Crime\". His scenes were reshot with Bernard Crippins but we get Attfield's deleted scenes as a tribute to the actor. \"The Journey So Far\" allows cast and crew to comment on the fourth season and some of their favorite moments and we also get the episode teasers, teasers for \"Torchwood: Series 2\", \"Priveal\" and \"The Sarah Jane Adventures\". As with the previous seasons we get a booklet that gives us credits/extras for each episode. The show looks extremely good in its DVD presentation.
I personally though this was a better seaosn than the third and thought Catherine Tate was a nice contrast to the previous performers on the show. I also applaud Davies to cast a full figured woman vs. a skinny model for the part of the companion during the fourth season. Highly recommended. ...
Rating: -
Are you my mummy?
Ood, Daleks, Sontarans, oh my! The Doctor Who, season four, with David as the Doctor is one of the best. These episodes are wonderful, funny, filled with action and drama. Many of the lines, jokes, and themes cross time and space, their source coming from older episodes, some from the 70s and others from just a few years ago. Older Doctor Who fans will laugh and new fans will want to collect the older DVDs to see what the joke is about.
Tons of extras, such as David's video diaries, deleted scenes, audio commentary and the Children in Need Special, Time Crash. Donna Noble is such a great character, a true mate, somebody who can keep the Doctor on track and honest. When not yelling at him. The last few episodes are wonderful, but I really wish Davros was not in it. Loved the fat!
Rating: -
Same great series.....
* I'll admit, I was NEVER a fan of the original Dr Who series. I thought it had some great ideas, but such poor production value (and horrible acting) that it was hard to sit through. What I love about this new show is how Russell Davies haw been able to keep the same great ideas from the original (as to please old fans) and push the special effects through the roof (to make it MUCH more watchable for the casual viewer like myself)! Oh sure it's got it's silly moments...okay sometimes VERY silly moments but I think that was done to make it more accessible to younger viewers and they never seem to get in the way of the great story telling.
Also what's terrific is the casting choices. David Tennant makes the Doctor character classic from his first episode (I'd go out on a limb and say it's like Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones!), and every companion is instantly likeable.
Now, after three seasons of greatness comes this fourth season. If you're a Dr Who fan, purchasing this DVD is a MUST. It again has everything that makes the series great and seems to add some more physical action this time around. If you havent seen the show yet, obviously you have to start with season one (2005).
As I said before this season has the same great elements as the previousa ones (and I love Catherine Tate as the Doctor's new companion), but I have to admit things seemed a bit more typical and by the book this time around. This isn't neccessarily a bad thing, but after the last three seasons, each topping the one before it, I thought the season just felt a bit more redundant. It just didn't WOW me like it did in the previous season (though they did set the bar pretty high). Again, I don't think this is a bad thing at all, just same old great story-telling.
Again, if you're a Dr Who fan: buy it (while the price is still low on Amazon), if your new to the series: start with season one. It's not to be missed! ...
Rating: -
Brillant!
What a brilliant series!!! Catherine Tate is wonderful and David Tennant continues his reign as my favorite Doctor. They (and Russell T. Davies) will be sorely missed.
