Cold opening

A cold opening (or pre-title sequence) was the scene of a story that appeared prior to the title sequence.

The "cold opening" was a permanent installment of Doctor Who from the 2005 episode The End of the World (it was not featured for the previous 2005 story Rose) onwards. The show briefly departed from it during the 50th Anniversary story The Day of the Doctor and later during 2018's Series 11 (of which the opening story The Woman Who Fell to Earth and the Special Resolution had no title sequence at all). It was featured again in 2020 story Spyfall onwards.

A sequence somewhat similar to a "cold opening" was featured in 1983 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors (archive footage was shown).

Torchwood Series 1 and Series 2 (with the exception of Everything Changes) featured a sequence similar to a "cold opening".