Series 4 of The Sarah Jane Adventures premiered on CBBC between 11 October 2010 and 16 November 2010. According to Doctor Who Magazine, [which?] pre-production was under way as early as November 2009. On 4 March 2010, the BBC officially announced that production had been commissioned, with filming expected to begin by the end of March. (The same announcement also confirmed that a fifth series for 2011 had also been commissioned.)[1][2]
The season saw the return of all the core cast members for the 12-episode series, plus guest appearances by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Jones.
For the new series, Brian Minchin joins as producer, with Phil Ford as co-producer. Russell T Davies remains as executive producer along with Nikki Wilson.
Cast
Recurring
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- Luke Smith - Tommy Knight
- Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
- Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
- Mr. Smith - Alexander Armstrong (voice)
- K9 Mark IV - John Leeson (voice)
- Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
- Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
- The Shopkeeper - Cyril Nri
- The Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
- Jo Jones - Katy Manning
Guest
- Nightmare Man - Julian Bleach
- Gemma - Lucie Jones
- Tia Karim - Laila Rouass
- Ocean Waters - Cheryl Campbell
- Mister Dread - Angus Wright
- Gavin - Joe Mason
- Ruby White - Julie Graham
- Santiago Jones - Finn Jones
- Louise Marlowe - Doon Mackichan
- Voices of the Shansheeth - David Bradley, Jon Glover
- Voice of the Robots - Jon Glover
Television stories
The titles and writers were revealed in Doctor Who Magazine. [which?] All of series 4's episodes were in 2 parts.
| # | Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
| 1 | The Nightmare Man | Joseph Lidster | Joss Agnew | Departure of Luke Smith and K9 Mark IV. Reappearance of the Slitheen family, of which a unique Raxacoricofallapatorian is briefly seen. |
| 2 | The Vault of Secrets | Phil Ford | Joss Agnew | Reappearance of Androvax. Return of the Alliance of Shades, first seen in the Doctor Who 3-D animated story Dreamland. |
| 3 | Death of the Doctor | Russell T Davies | Ashley Way | Guest appearances of the Eleventh Doctor and Jo Grant. David Bradley's first time being involved a Doctor Who-related production, as the voice of Azure of the Shansheeth. Introduction of the Groske, an alien species related to the Graske. |
| 4 | The Empty Planet | Gareth Roberts | Ashley Way | Most of the story is limited to two characters, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra. |
| 5 | Lost in Time | Rupert Laight | Joss Agnew | First appearance of the Shopkeeper and Captain. |
| 6 | Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith | Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman | Joss Agnew | Return of Luke Smith and final appearance of K9 Mark IV. |
Aliens and enemies
- Slitheen
- Nightmare Man
- Androvax
- Groske
- Men in Black (Mister Dread)
- Shansheeth
- Tia Karim
- Automatons
- Dark Horde
- Qetesh (Ruby White)
Novels
As of August 2010 only two stories from this series were announced for adaptation as a novelisation. These were later reported as being cancelled. [3][4] However the novelisations were later published in e-book format. These were the final novelisations published as none were commissioned in any format for Series 5.
Audiobooks
DVD and Blu-ray release
UK release of the series on DVD and, for the first time, Blu-ray occurred on 31 October 2011, followed by North American release on DVD only on 6 December. The UK edition included TV: Pyramids of Mars as a bonus feature (this is not included in the North American release).
A slight alteration to the first episode of the season was made for DVD with the addition of a dedication in memory of Elisabeth Sladen.
Footnotes
- ↑ BBC - Press Office - Sarah Jane returns to CBBC for two further series of adventures accessed 5th October
- ↑ The Doctor Who News Pafe: Sarah Jane Adventures Series 4 (and 5!) commissioned accessed 5th October
- ↑ Tardis Base - THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES BOOK COVERS accessed 5th October
- ↑ sarahjane.tv - Pulled accessed 5th October
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| Previous series: SJA Series 3 |
Next series: SJA Series 5 |
