Doctor Who Logo

Over the decades, numerous **logos** have been used for the *Doctor Who* televised series.

## Overview

### 1963-67

*An Unearthly Child* -*The Moonbase* (Seasons 1-4)

The first logo featured the words "DOCTOR WHO" in block white capitals, written in a simple sans serif font. The weight and size of the two words were arranged to keep both at the same width, a trend that would continue through the next two logos. Emphasis was placed on the word "WHO" by use of a heavier, more elongated typeface than that used for "DOCTOR".

Although this logo is primarily associated with William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor, it remained in use for Patrick Troughton's first four stories, through to *The Moonbase*. This logo saw some use in merchandising; such as Doctor Who annual and the Frederick Muller novelisations. The latter utilised a variant of this logo, in which the word "WHO" is shown to be fuzzy and distorted. In the 1980s, Marvel Comics merged elements of the 1963 & 1973 logos for its Doctor Who comic book.

### 1967-69

*The Macra Terror* - *The* *War Games* (Seasons 4-6)

his logo again featured white capital letters, this time presented in 'Times New Roman'. The use of identical font and weight in both words severely diminished the differential emphasis featured in the 1963 logo.

This logo made its first appearance in Patrick Troughton's fifth serial, *The Macra Terror,* alongside a new title sequence and theme. This logo was not widely used in merchandising, but an altered version of the logo was featured on record release *Variations on a Theme* years later.

### 1970-73; 2022-

*Spearhead from Space* - *The* *Green Death*; *Army of Silver* - (Seasons 7-10; Seasons 56-)

This logo gave the programme a much more unique visual identity. It featured a specially styled typeface and was presented in a bold shade of cyan, contrasting the simplistic, white logos of the 1960s. The enlargement of "WHO" as opposed to "DOCTOR" continued a trend that would remain in all future logos until 2000. This logo was the first to be shown in colour, debuting with the Third Doctor's first serial.

In 2022, when John Dorney became showrunner, an updated version of the 1970 logo returned to the show. Since 2000, the 1993 version of the logo had been used on most merchandise pertaining to the 20th century era of the programme (that is, the first nine Doctors), and the then-current version of the logo was used for most merchandise related to the 21st century incarnations. However, with the re-introduction of this logo, that practice was abandoned, with the 2022 version of the logo being used on all new Doctor Who merchandise.

### 1973-80

*The Time Warrior* - *The Horns of Nimon* (Seasons 11-17)

This logo, known informally as the "diamond logo", featured a bluish tint when used on-screen. The diamond-shaped background was often omitted in merchandising, with the colouring of the lettering and background also sometimes changed.

Although commonly associated with Tom Baker's time as the Fourth Doctor, this logo was introduced during Jon Pertwee's final season as the Third Doctor. This logo was used greatly during the 1980s and 1990s, being used for video releases.

### 1980-84

*The Leisure Hive* -*The Caves of Androzani* (Seasons 18-21)

This logo featured the words "DOCTOR WHO" presented in a neon-tubing style, leading to it being commonly referred to as the "neon-tubing logo". After one season of use, the logo was noticeably cleaner when Peter Davison made his debut as the Fifth Doctor, with fringing around the edges having been removed.

Introduced in the final season of Tom Baker's era, this revamp of the logo complemented the new "star-field" title sequence, as well as the first non-Delia Derbyshire arrangement of the theme. It was then used throughout Peter Davison's entire tenure as the Fifth Doctor.

### 1984-86

*The Twin Dilemma* - *The Ultimate Foe* (Seasons 21-23)

With the introduction of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, the logo was tinted purple to give it a more colourful hue, matching the updated title sequence. It also took on a slightly curved appearance.

This variation of the logo was used almost exclusively on TV, with merchandising and books from the Colin Baker era tending to use either the 1973 or 1980 logos.

In the "Season 23: The Collection" re-edited standalone version of *Terror of the Vervoids*, the curved sign was presented inside a star-filled purple-ish space-like Time Tunnel instead of a "star-field".

### 1987-90

*Time and the Rani* - *Lungbarrow* (Seasons 24-29)

This logo was the first to be a three-dimensionally animated element of the title sequence. The word "Doctor" appeared at an angle over "WHO", which was presented in a metallic style with a red glow surrounding it.

With the introduction of Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor, the logo was tinted to have the word "Doctor" a dark orange as well as the glow around the word "WHO" now glowing pink

### 1993-99

*Transit* - *Cracked Time* (Seasons 30-36)

With the 30th anniversary around the corner, a new logo was introduced. The logo was designed to be more simpler design. It was designed to harken back to the 1970 logo while being it's own thing. The logo was later inherited by Hugh Bonneville after Griffiths departed from the show.

This later became the logo that was used to represent 20th Century Who, with it being used for all merchandising from Seasons 1-36 except for VHSes.

### 2000-03

*The Flood - The Dusk of War* (Seasons 37-40)
With a new era of Doctor Who approaching, it was decided to update the show's logo. It was a lot more simpler in design than the previous one but still worked as a Doctor Who logo. For the first time, the two words of the title were presented horizontally. This logo was used for Aidan Gillen's tenure as the Tenth Doctor.

This logo was used greatly during the 2000s, being used for all merchandising that came out in the Gillen era of the show, including DVDs & VHSes.

### 2004-08

*The Night of New Life* - *The Final Farewell* (Seasons 41-45)

When Steven Moffat took over as Head Writer, he commissioned a new logo for the show. Like it's predecessor, he new logo was slim & simple in design but looked more interesting.

The logo was used for Liam Cunningham's tenure as the Eleventh Doctor. When Robert Carlyle took over as the Doctor, the logo remained in usage, though recoloured from dark grey to gold & with less weathering to it.

### 2009-13

*The Human Market* - *The Fall of the Doctor* (Seasons 46-49)

*To be added.*

### 2014-20

*The Uprising* - *The Saviour of Gallifrey* (Season 50-55)

*To be added.*