It’s about time.
There was something conspicuously absent in last weekend’s global Doctor Who Series 11 premiere — and it wasn’t the Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS.
Yes, that venerable vehicle also didn’t put in an appearance until this weekend’s sophomore episode “The Ghost Monument” — but last week’s “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” started with a cold open, and none of the traditional flash opening title graphics and iconic theme tune (though a few strains of Segun Akinola’s new rendition of the classic music could be heard here and there, particularly when Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor first drops — literally — and a somewhat more complete take could later be heard as the backdrop for a promo reel of upcoming guest stars such as Alan Cumming, which you can catch below).
The new opening title sequence is gloriously weird, bringing to mind the surreal original titles of the black-and-white Sixties era (Doctor Who started in 1963 and ran until 1989 before taking a break, punctuated by a 1996 TV movie on Fox, until the modern era that began in 2005).
According to Mashable, the new kaleidoscopic title sequence (like Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi’s before it) was the creation of a fan. That last opening was less abstract and featured a clockwork motif.
And speaking of the TARDIS, it, like the Doctor, has regenerated (though on the inside), and there’s a great feature on the new central console:
