Title Sequence

A title sequence is that part of a programme which typically gives the series or episode name. It may also provide the names of the principal actors involved, as well as that of the writer.

Doctor Who
Historically, the title sequence has been of great interest to Doctor Who fans, especially when it has been overhauled, as at the beginning of a new actor's tenure as the Doctor, or simply when a producer decided to do so. Changes to the title sequence can be rigorously scrutinised by fans, who may be interested in such minutiae as the font used in the title cards or even relatively minor variations in the theme music.

The 1963-1967 version of the programme titles did not feature an image of the Doctor, but from 1967 onwards, the title sequence included a shot of the current Doctor's head floating either through space or the time vortex. However, the presence of the head — or in the case of Season 11, then later Seasons 33- the body — of the Doctor during the Troughton, Pertwee, Baker and McGann eras rendered the title sequences more abstract. The one exception was the Broadbent era titles which did not feature the Ninth Doctor's face or body.

John Nathan-Turner's radical redesign of the title sequence completely eliminated the time vortex, and replaced it with a representation of space that was never seen in that way within the body of episodes — mainly because the visual effect of space was far more expensive than the production team could afford on a weekly basis.

Throughout much of the 90s and early 2000s, the title sequence would occasionally change each season; usually in terms of the colour schemes, theme tunes and general effects.

1963-1966
(An Unearthly Child - The Moonbase)

The first title sequence consisted of a simple "howlround" effect over the stark original arrangement of the Doctor Who theme. The logo was mixed into the image in such a way that the title momentarily looks like DOCTOR OWO or DOCTOR QHO. The logo then moves into the distance as the sequence cross-fades into the first scene of the episode. The title and writer of the episode is superimposed over this scene, except The War Machines and The Tenth Planet experimented with specialised title cards for the episodes. The original title sequence was filmed by Bernard Lodge, Hugh Sheppard and Norman Taylor.

1967-1969
(The Macra Terror - The War Games)

A more active howlround effect is employed in the second title sequence. This is the first to truly illustrate the time vortex effect. The Doctor's face is now incorporated into the sequence: a closeup of a smiling Patrick Troughton which breaks apart to reveal a redesigned logo. Like its predecessor, it moves towards the back of the image. For the most part, the howlround effect continued as the episode title, episode number and writer appeared superimposed over the image, though some stories such as The War Games placed the titles over specialised footage.

A modified arrangement of the Doctor Who Theme accompanied this version from episode 2 of The Faceless Ones onwards, except on episodes 4 and 5 of Fury from the Deep where, due to an error, the 1963 arrangement of the theme was used.

1970-1973
(Spearhead from Space - The Green Death)

A shift to colour production and a change to a new Doctor resulted in a new title sequence being commissioned. Although similar to the 1967-69 version, only now given a red hue, a more tunnel-like howlround is employed. Now, instead of moving away from the camera, the logo is stationary, but it changes colour. The episode title and the name of writer are stationary as well, except for during the title sequences of The Ambassadors of Death and Spearhead from Space, in which the title goes towards the screen. A new image of Jon Pertwee replaced that of Troughton. Some variants were attempted during the 1970 season: The Ambassadors of Death experimented with interrupting the title sequence with a scene from the episode, while Inferno employed a one-off use of volcano footage as the backdrop to the episode title and writer credit. Otherwise, from here on in, the episode title and writer and episode number would be consistently featured as part of the opening titles.

Unused Titles
An unused version of Pertwee's first titles were included on the DVD release of Season 7 with slightly different colours, and incorporating a larger image of Pertwee holding his hands up followed by the usual one. A new version of the theme was also created in 1972, known as the "Delaware theme". This version was never officially employed due to being disliked by BBC executives, but did accidentally go out on an international print of Episode 2 of Carnival of Monsters, and Episode 5 of Frontier in Space. One modification to the theme that became permanent was the use of a melodic sting (a repeating musical phrase) that gave the opening sequence a definite conclusion; before it simply cross faded into the first scene of the episode; the "middle eight" section of the theme, occasionally heard during the 1963-69 openings, was no longer included due to the sting.

1973-1974
(The Time Warrior - Planet of the Spiders)

Bernard Lodge created a new version of the title sequence for Pertwee's final season. A slit-screen effect was used to render stars shooting through space and the sequence begins with a close-up of Pertwee's face which pulls back to reveal a full-length image of the actor. He then becomes an outline, which shows the time vortex, heading towards the camera and completely vanishing. The show's iconic diamond logo was introduced with this version.

1974-1980
Robot - The Horns of Nimon)

The sequence was similar to its predecessor, it opens with an image of the TARDIS going through the vortex; the TARDIS becomes an outline as it draws closer to the screen, showing the Time Vortex. A close up of Tom Baker's face appears, fading away to show the time vortex. Used for six seasons, this version of the opening was used longer than any title sequence to date. It is also the first opening sequence to have the TARDIS in it. This would not happen again until the Seventh Doctor Era.

For the first part of Tom Baker's second serial (The Ark in Space), the sequence colour was changed from blue to orange, pink, and brown tones. However, all later episodes reverted to Tom Baker's first sequence.

1980-1984
(The Leisure Hive - The Caves of Androzani)

John Nathan-Turner commissioned a radical reimagining of the title sequence in 1980. Delia Derbyshire's arrangement of the Doctor Who theme was retired and a new Peter Howell rendition was introduced. The diamond logo was retired for a neon-tube-styled branding. To go with these new elements, Lodge's howlround and slit screen were also retired and a new starfield influenced by Star Wars was introduced. A new image of Tom Baker forms out of the stars in this version, the face moving towards the camera.

The same title sequence was used in the Peter Davison era, except with Davison's face used now instead of

Baker's and extra stars filled the right side of the shape. In addition a "venetian blinds" effect is added to introduce Davison's image. The reason behind the new "venetian blind" effect was because, unlike Baker, Davison had a more normal hair style, thus the shape the stars would form is less interesting.

1984-1986
(The Twin Dilemma - The Ultimate Foe)

On the foundation of the starfield from the 1980-84 sequence, a new one was constructed. Prism effects added colour to the image, and the logo was modified slightly to have a curved appearance as well as the added colour. For the first time, animation was added to the Doctor's image in an official title sequence; he now went from a sombre expression to a smile. According to commentary on the DVD release of The Twin Dilemma, this sequence was produced so it had subtle differences from episode to episode. The Howell version of the Doctor Who theme was replaced by a new version by Dominic Glynn for the 1986 season, but the title sequence remained unchanged. This was changed in 2019 with the release of "Season 23: The Collection", which had a special edition of the story Terror of the Vervoids, which offered a new rendition of the entire title sequence.

1987-1990
(Time and the Rani - War World)

For new Doctor Sylvester McCoy, a completely new title sequence was commissioned. Now computer animated, it begins with an explosion, which turns into stars that surround a galaxy. Three rocks then fall into the galaxy, in rhythm with the theme. The TARDIS, inside a sphere of blue energy, rotates into the galaxy, vanishing just as a spiral of blue energy swirls inside the galaxy. The Doctor's face then appears, which now has three expressions for the Doctor (sombre, then a wink, then a smile). McCoy's face was painted silver for this sequence to make him seem like he had been computer-animated. The series title (the logo once again redesigned) now appears at the very end of the sequence. It forms with the letters "W", "H" and "O" floating in space until they form the word "WHO", with the word "DOCTOR" appearing in cursive afterwards. The episode title and writer now appear on screen at the same time as the logo. The episode number, in a return to the old style, is now superimposed over the first scene of the episode.

1991-1995
(The Cult of Maulden-The Two Masters)

With a new Doctor and a new showrunner, a new title sequence was commissioned. The sequence was similar to the Davison era titles, in that it showed a camera traveling through a starfield, however it had a more 90s look to it and featured the TARDIS flying through space; this was done due to the show competing with Star Trek. @ new 3D logo was also produced; it was silver in colour and harkened back to the Pertwee era logo.

1996-1998
(Vengeance from Beneath-The Fate of Gallifrey Part 2)

With a new Doctor, a new title sequence was produced. The sequence featured the camera traveling down a transparent, colourful version of the time vortex that had meteors in it and featured the TARDIS at the end, and for the first time, cast credits were shown instead of the Doctor's face. A new, 2-D version of the logo was introduced; still harkening back to the Pertwee logo.