 The fourth series finale was first planned in early 2006 . Its epic scale — including the threat of the destruction of reality and large number of guest stars — was required to compensate for Doctor Who 's reduced airtime in 2009 and the imminent departure of producers Davies , Julie Gardner , and Phil Collinson between mid @-@ 2008 and early 2010 . The episode 's story was defined in early 2007 , when Davies disseminated his summary of the fourth series to the production team . In his brief , he described the finale — already titled " The Stolen Earth " — as : 
