Doctor Who logo

Over the decades, numerous logos have been used for the Doctor Who series and associated merchandise.

Logo One
Used from 1963-1967, Season 1 - Season 4

The first logo was simply the words "DOCTOR WHO" written in block capital sans serif white text against a black background. The relative weight and size of the two words were arranged to keep both the same width, with emphasis placed on the word "WHO" by use of a heavier, more elongated typeface than that used for "DOCTOR". It is associated with William Hartnell's tenure as the First Doctor, but remained in use for Patrick Troughton's first few stories up through The Moonbase.

Logo One saw some use on merchandising such as Doctor Who Annual and the Frederick Muller novelisations, the latter utilizing a variant of the logo in which the WHO is shown fuzzy and distorted. Much later, in the 1980s, Marvel Comics combined Logo One with elements of Logo Four for its Doctor Who comic book.

Logo Two
Used from 1967–1969, Season 4 - Season 6

This logo made its first appearance with The Macra Terror. Simple block capital lettering was used again, but presented in a more uniform serif typeface (probably derived from Times Roman) removing the differential emphasis to the two words. A completely new "howlaround" pattern was created and Patrick Troughton's face was added for the first time. Initially it used the same music as the previous logo, but starting from Episode 2 of The Faceless Ones, a new arrangement of the theme replaced the old one.

Logo Two does not appear to have been widely used on merchandising, though it did appear on the record release Doctor Who: Variations on a Theme years later.

Logo Three
Used from 1970–1973, Season 7 - Season 10

This logo marks the beginning of a modern visual identity for the programme, being much more of a distinct logotype than previous versions. Instead of following classical serif or sans serif forms, the lettering in this version has been uniquely styled for the programme. As with Logo One the relative sizing and placement of the words "DOCTOR" and "WHO" foregrounds "WHO" in a trait which would remain through all future logos until the series' revival in 2005.

Primarily associated with Jon Pertwee's time as the Third Doctor, this logo was also used as the basis for Logo Eight in 1996 for ''Doctor Who: The TV Movie. While the title sequence was shown in colour in order to achieve an effect similar to the previous sequence, it was originally designed in black and white.

Logo Four
Used from 1973–1980, Season 11 - Season 17

Known informally as the "diamond logo" and commonly associated with Tom Baker's time as the Fourth Doctor, Logo Four was actually introduced during Jon Pertwee's time as the Third Doctor for his final season. Although known as the diamond logo, in fact the diamond-shaped background was often omitted when the logo was used on books and other merchandise. The logo returned to service in the 1980s and 1990s when it was used for video releases of the series (in lieu of Logos Five and Six), as well as for the Virgin Missing Adventures book line. It also ultimately replaced Logo Seven on most tie-in publications and merchandising, though not the Virgin New Adventures book series, in the two-three years immediately preceding the introduction of Logo Eight.

The non-diamond Target Books variant of this logo has the distinction of being the first and only series logo to be acknowledged in an in-universe context. The audio drama BFA: The Kingmaker includes references to a series of books, Doctor Who Discovers (an in-joke reference to a real-world series of books of the same title. The cover art for the audio incorporates the cover of one of these books, including Logo Four.

Logo Five
Used from 1980–1984, Season 18 - Season 21

Introduced in the final season of Tom Baker's era, this revamp of the logo complemented the new title sequence of a "star field". It was then used throughout Peter Davison's time as the Fifth Doctor. This logo is known colloquially as the "neon sign" or "neon tube" logo.

Logo Six
Used from 1984–1986, Season 21 - Season 23

Introduced as Colin Baker took the role of the Sixth Doctor, this was similar to the previous logo, but tinted purple along with the rest of the title sequence giving it a more colourful hue. It also takes on a slightly curved appearance.

Logo Seven
Used from 1987–1989, Season 24 - Season 26

For Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor, a new title sequence was produced using computer-generated imagery, with the new logo being a three-dimensionally animated part of the title sequence. Following the TV series' end in 1989 this logo would continue to be used for the Virgin New Adventures novels and other merchandise including Doctor Who Magazine until the early 1990s when it was replaced on most products (except the New Adventures books) by the more famous Logo Four. It was also used for BBC Video's "Years" series of retrospective VHS releases in the early 1990s, and for the 1993 special Dimensions in Time, which remains its final TV use.

Logo Eight
Used in 1996, on Doctor Who: The TV Movie

This logo was used for Doctor Who: The TV Movie, with Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and is essentially a modified version of Logo Three. Colouring is changed and a metallic texture has been applied. Some letters are slightly reshaped from those in the early-70s version (most noticeably C, T, R, and W) and - unlike Logo Three - it is presented as a solid three-dimensional object in space (echoing Logo Seven). During the TV Movie's credits, the logo is briefly viewed from the rear.

Following the TV Movie it was used as part of BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures: from The Eight Doctors to Autumn Mist it was silver, then from Interference - Book One onwards was blue. It was also used for the BBC Past Doctor Adventures novels (again starting off silver and then changing to blue).

During the 40th-anniversary year, 2003, a variation of this logo appeared on some merchandise: The "H" in "WHO" was modified to form a "4", creating "W40".

Although it was replaced when the series was revived in 2005, this logo remains the franchise's official logo on merchandise such as books, DVDs, and audio releases (including the Big Finish Productions line) which relate to the first eight Doctors. The logo has now been in continuous use in one form or another since 1996, making it the longest-running logo.

In 2009, the Canadian Doctor Who Information Network news page reported that BBC Video was considering replacing Logo Eight with the new Logo Eleven on its classic-series DVD releases. As of July 2010, there has been no indication of such a change happening.

Logo Nine
Used from 2005-2006, Series 1 - Series 2

For the first time the two words of the title are presented horizontally rather than vertically, and the new design was initially controversial with some fans. This logo was used for Christopher Eccleston's tenure as the Ninth Doctor and the first series with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Logo Nine variant appears to only be used for TV broadcasts, as book releases and other merchandise such as toys used Logo Ten even before its use in Series 3 up until the 2009 Specials.

Logo Ten
Used from 2006-2010, Series 3 - 2009 Specials

This logo was a "cleaner" version of the Doctor Who logo originally designed in 2005 and featured in the 'Coming Soon' trailer. This logo is also an animated component within the title sequence moving three dimensionally during the credits. The lettering is considerably more squat than that used in Logo Nine. Introduced in The Runaway Bride as the new logo within the title sequence, this has become the logo for David Tennant's tenure as the Tenth Doctor. Variations of this logo have also been used for various merchandising and promotions (including Doctor Who Magazine, BBC trailers, the BBC Tenth Doctor Adventures book line, comic books, and in a modified form in the supplementary series Doctor Who Confidential. Variations include changing the shield to off-white or grey, with black lettering, a more flat gold or olive colouring for the shield, and occasional dark coloring of the shield with white lettering.

Logo Ten was used in merchandise even when Logo Nine was still in use.

Logo Ten was used for the last time on television for DW: "The End of Time: Part Two", broadcast on 1 January 2010. Soon after, the BBC began releasing promotional material for the Eleventh Doctor featuring a new logo (see below). Doctor Who Magazine used its version of the logo for the last time with Issue #416, published on 12 December 2009. The Doctor Who Adventures also changed in March 2010, in order to accompany the new Doctor and Logo change.

The logo was not completely phased out right away, however, as several pieces of merchandise, including Tenth Doctor audios from BBC Audio, a Quick Reads novel and the American Doctor Who Ongoing comic book series continued to use the logo into April 2010.

Logo Eleven
Used from 2010-Present, Series 5

The BBC unveiled the latest version of the logo on 6 October 2009 to coincide with the start of the Matt Smith era of the series in 2010. Unlike any previous visual identity, Logo Eleven comprises two distinct elements which can be presented in different arrangements for different purposes: the words "DOCTOR" and "WHO" comprise one element with a "DW" icon motif representing the shape of the TARDIS making up the second element.

The first released arrangement of the logo had the words "DOCTOR" and "WHO" on two levels, forming a square-shaped logo, with the DW/TARDIS icon sitting alongside. The BBC Television logo was also included under this initial release.

A horizontal arrangement of the logo was shown later. The DW/TARDIS icon was positioned between the two words. This layout of the logo has been used on most eleventh Doctor merchandise, including books, audios and magazines.

A slightly different horizontal arrangement is used in the TV series itself (beginning with DW: The Eleventh Hour in April 2010). The words "DOCTOR" and "WHO" are again divided by the DW/TARDIS icon, but to incorporate the logo into the title sequence the icon is significantly larger in relation to the words (see illustration).

The DW/TARDIS icon rotates into place as the full logo appears, then as the logo leaves the screen the icon continues to rotate revealing the sides of the TARDIS in flight in its place.

The DW/TARDIS icon element has also been used by the BBC in promotions for the series, often without any other wording. For example episode trailers released online by the BBC, which end simply with the DW icon.

Some fans have criticised the horizontal arrangement of Logo Eleven, complaining that it suggests the show being renamed "Doctor DW Who".

The BBC began using Logo Eleven for promotional trailers and its website within days of the broadcast of The End of Time, and the horizontal version of the logo was adopted by Doctor Who Magazine beginning with issue #417, published on 7 January 2010 - making it the first piece of commercial merchandise released with the new logo, however its sister publication Doctor Who Adventures continued to use Logo Ten up to the end of March 2010. The two-level arrangement has yet to be used on any merchandise.



Sci Fi Channel Variant Logo
Used from 2006-2009

For promoting its broadcasts of Doctor Who starting in 2006, the American Sci Fi Channel network created a unique logo. In basic shape and form the logo resembles a mix of Logos Two and Three/Eight (and is very similar to that used by Target Books novelisations between 1973 and 1975), however the O is modified to include the silhouette of a man. As such, the logo resembles that of the 1960s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The logo has been used on television ads, print, and on Sci Fi's website, but has otherwise never been used within the programme itself. BBC America did not retain this variant when it took over American broadcasts of the series in 2009 and so far has only used the official BBC logo in its promotions.