Title cards/Doctor Who

A title card is a card which has either the episode title/writers name/episode number written on it. They are superimposed over the opening title sequence to identify these three things, during the classic series this was usually done live in the studio recording but nowadays its done in post-production. Over the years various fonts and animations have been used on the title cards. This gallery show the episode title title card for each story of the series.

First Doctor
For Seasons 1, 2 and most of 3 each episode had its own title, so each episode title card is shown. For most William Hartnell episodes the title card was superimosed over the action instead of the opening titles. Font: Grotesque One Three Animation: Fade in, Fade out.

Second Doctor
While having the title card superimosed over the action was still the norm, starting from DW: The Macra Terror it started being superimosed over the opening titles for some episodes. During the Patrick Troughton era sereval stories had special film squences made for the title cards to be superimosed on to. In DW: The Ice Warriors where the title cards would appear burlrey, zoom out, become clear then disapper, over shots of glaciers and ice. In DW: The Wheel in Space they were superimposed over a mixture of the opening titles and shots of The Wheel. In DW: The Seeds of Death they were superimposed over shots of the Earth & Moon in space. And in DW: The War Games the were superimposed between shots of expolsions & gunfire, flashing in and out. Font: Eurostile (except DW: The Ice Warriors, The War Games) Animation: Fade in, Fade out.

Third Doctor
Starting with DW: Spearhead from Space the title card is superimposed over the opening titles, with DW: Inferno the only exception where the title card was superimposed over shots of a volcano erupting, with it appearing burlrey, zooming out, become clear then disappering. Font: Futura Bold (until DW: The Green Death)/Futura Extra Bold (DW: The Time Warrior onwards) Animation: Fade in, Disappear.

Fourth Doctor
Font: Futura Extra Bold (until DW: The Seeds of Doom)/Cantoria Bold (DW: The Masque of Mandragora - DW: The Horns of Nimon)/Helvetica Rounded Bold with Upper Case "G" & Lower Case "t", from VAG (DW: The Leisure Hive onwards) Animation: Appear, Disapear (DW: Robot – DW: The Horns of Nimon)/Fade in, Fade Out ((DW: The Leisure Hive onwards)

Fifth Doctor
Font: Helvetica Rounded Bold with Upper Case "G" & Lower Case "t", from VAG Animation: Fade in, Fade Out.

Sixth Doctor
Font: Helvetica Rounded Bold with Upper Case "G" & Lower Case "t", from VAG Animation: Fade in, Fade Out.

Seventh Doctor
For the first time in the shows history the episode title and writer’s credit appear on the same title card, this has now become the norm. Font: Univers Light Ultra Condensed (story/writers credit) & Eurostile Extended Bold ("by" credit). Animation: Fade in, Fade Out.

Ninth Doctor
Font: Futura Book

Animation: Fades in/Fades out

Tenth Doctor
Title Card fades in and out from 2005- 2009, in 2009 the title fades in, slightly zooms in and fades out.

Font: Futura Book

Eleventh Doctor
Title Card appears at the bottom for the first time since the 7th Doctor's era.

Font: SF Movie Poster

Animation: Blurs in, grows slightly, blurs out

K9 & Company
While not a Doctor Who story, A Girl's Best Friend was produced during the original Doctor Who production run and is included here for ease of comparison between it and the Doctor Who title cards of the same era.