| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Season 40 aired between 26 July 2003 and 18 October 2003. It contained eight stories, making up thirteen 45-minute episodes. It was the second and final season to be produced by Bill Shapter and script edited by Russell T Davies. It was also the third and final season of Richard E. Grant's run as The Tenth Doctor and the second and final outing for Anna Hope as Commander Sandra Armstrong.
This season specially marked the fortieth anniversary of Doctor Who and was followed by the first motion picture of the franchise.
Overview
Forty Years of Who
2003 was a special year for Doctor Who as it marked the 40th anniversary since the show began. Big plans were ahead for the show including a 40th-anniversary motion picture that would be released in cinemas on the anniversary week. Not only that but the news came early on that Richard E. Grant was to hang up the coat as The Doctor in the movie due to necessary continuity with it that would later result in the Doctor regenerating in future movies.
Return of some old friends
For this season, Renwick and Davies decided to bring back previous Doctors for their own stories in this season. Unfortunately, it resulted in the incumbent Doctor having very little screen time in this season with just two stories in single-part episodes with Doctors 4-9 returning with their companions making up the other eleven episodes. This would eventually be a problem fans would have after the release of the first movie with the similarities in structure.
As a result of Doctors 4-9 returning, Renwick decided to act out as if those stories were from that era, thus previous title sequences were brought back for the necessary Doctors albeit in 16:9 widescreen and with the BBC logo, in the beginning, to fit within the rules of most BBC titles and that of the incumbent titles introduced in Season 35 in 1998 (with several minor changes over time) when the rules were put in place.
Cast
Regular
Recurring
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- The Doctor - Colin Baker
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- The Doctor - Richard Griffiths
- The Doctor - Michael French
Guest
To be added.
Television Stories
| Serial | # | Title | Written by | Directed by | Air Dates (UK) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | The Curse of the Tower | Paul Cornell | Sandy Johnson | 26 July 2003 |
| 2 | 2 | The Sands of Time | Justin Richards | Hettie MacDonald | 2 August 2003 |
| 3 | 9 August 2003 | ||||
| 4 | 16 August 2003 | ||||
| 3 | 5 | Creatures of Beauty | Nicholas Briggs | James Hawes | 23 August 2003 |
| 4 | 6 | The Horrors of War | Robert Shearman | Graeme Harper | 30 August 2003 |
| 7 | 6 September 2003 | ||||
| 8 | 13 September 2003 | ||||
| 5 | 9 | LIVE 34 | James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown | David Livingston | 20 September 2003 |
| 6 | 10 | The Societal Step | Toby Whithouse | David Tucker | 27 September 2003 |
| 7 | 11 | Spare Parts | Marc Platt | Euros Lyn | 4 October 2003 |
| 12 | 11 October 2003 | ||||
| 8 | 13 | The Other | Russell T Davies | Sandy Johnson | 18 October 2003 |
Home Media
DVD
- This season released as the Complete Season 40 Box Set in February 2004.
- The season, along with all other Tenth Doctor stories was included in The Complete Richard E. Grant Era Box Set.