The Best Pre-Title Sequences of the Revival (Part 2)
Guest contributor Sam Glover continues the countdown.
20. Amy’s Choice
What a marvellous surprise this episode was, and such an interesting premise was set up with real economy by both cast and crew. Flitting backwards and forwards between a heavily pregnant Amy Pond and a bemused TARDIS crew via the medium of bird tweeting, we all agreed whole heartedly when the Eleventh Doctor said: “This is going to be a tricky one.” And let’s not forget THAT hairdo. It’s an introduction buoyed by a combination of humour (“more of a really good… mare”) and the anticipation of conflict between Rory and the Doctor. Who will win? What will Amy’s choice be?
19. Deep Breath
“SHUSH!” Probably best seen at the cinema, the introduction to “Deep Breath” features an enormous dinosaur marching up and down outside the Houses of Parliament (rumours of joining an anti-tuition fees protest are unconfirmed). The arrival of Vastra, Jenny and Strax is immediately followed by the aforementioned reptile barfing up the TARDIS onto the river bank. It’s bewitchingly ludicrous. Capaldi’s debut as the Doctor (not counting “Time/Day of the Doctor”) begins with a tale of giving a giant dinosaur “the slip” before reciting off the names of the seven dwarves at Strax and passing out. The camera pans up and new titles beam in. Lovely stuff.
18. Human Nature
Season 3 has lots of death in its pre-credit sequences, (Shakespeare witches ripping a young man apart, Macra killing travellers in “Gridlock”… it’s all a bit gruesome when you think about it), but this one begins with explosions, an extremely agitated tenth Doctor interrogating Martha before insisting that “This watch is…” and he wakes up. And he’s human called “Mr Smith”. With a posh accent. And Martha’s a maid, refusing to prompt the Doctor to his true identity. What the hell is going on? It’s a breathless introduction.
17. Death In Heaven
After the bombshell Moffat exploded with the true identity of Missy we were left a full, agonising week before getting a few more answers. However, in true Moffat style, we entered the credits with further questions rather than answers. Before “Dark Water” aired there was a trailer covering the whole finale featuring the tantalising scene with Jenna Coleman proclaiming that “Clara Oswald has never existed.” When this didn’t appear in “Dark Water” we all knew it must show up and it did before the credits. As a fair few speculated, she announces herself as being “The Doctor”. There’s the tiniest hint of a mischievous smile on Jenna’s face as she says it. It’s this sort of scene which makes me think we can formally replace the word “Machiavellian” with “Moffatian.” To cheat with my criteria for a moment, it’s also a lovely touch having the names of Capaldi and Coleman switched in the credits, and instead of Peter’s attack eyebrows we get Jenna’s rather less intimidating ones.
16. Day Of The Moon
Ah yes, also known as “the casual murdering of the Doctor’s companions” or “there’s no way I could hold my breath in a body bag for that long” sequence. Following the swift recap of “The Impossible Astronaut” – an impressive achievement in itself – we are flung to the Valley of the Gods, Area 51, New York and a massive damn dam in Arizona to watch Amy and Rory be shot by Canton 3 and River Song take a leap out of a skyscraper. A bearded Doctor is chained up and being incarcerated in “the perfect prison” (let’s just ignore the Pandorica for a moment, shall we?)… it all looks a bit bleak. But shut the door, click the fingers, resurrect everyone (Rory giving tips I’d imagine) and oh look, the TARDIS is there. Putting aside a fair few implausibilities (really? NO ONE smacked their head on a massive invisible box whilst building a wall around it?) all is forgiven when the Doctor unveils his secret weapon: Neil Armstrong’s foot. Cue smiles and laughs across the world.
15. Army Of Ghosts
“I thought [travelling] would never end. But then came the Army of Ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the war. That’s when it all ended. This is the story of how I died.” I’m tempted to leave this entry with just Rose’s monologue, but that would be a bit of a disservice to other aspects. We get a glimpse of the very first episode of revived Doctor Who – and the wonderful Ninth Doctor – to squeal at for one thing. Tenth’s question of “how long are you going to stay with me?” and his pleasure at her answer (“Forever.”), all overwhelmed by the knowledge that Billie Piper was departing the show. There were to be many sad moments over the next two hours of Doctor Who, but the whole lot is kicked off in hugely ominous fashion.
14. Asylum Of The Daleks
Well, isn’t that a big Dalek? On a stormy Skaro (“look at the state of it!”), a grave woman intones about a man who died, but some say may have survived… I wonder who that could be? And holy hell what is that coming out of that woman’s head? And then, before we have time to adjust to the Doctor being shot and “acquired”, we’re being blasted with Rudimental’s “Feel The Love” as a very glammed up Mrs Williams is herself being blasted by a hair dryer… only to sort-of-cease being Mrs Williams by the end of the scene as she signs off divorce papers. For those who’d seen the mini-series “Pond Life” this wasn’t an enormous shock, but others might have been rather more thrown. But that’s another matter, because now our three heroes are surrounded by a “parliament” of Daleks ordering the Doctor to save them. “This is new” indeed, Doctor.
13. The Next Doctor
Showing that Mr Moffat isn’t the only show runner who knows how to troll the fans, Russell T’s penultimate Christmas special was teased as David Tennant’s last episode both in title and in casting; for there weren’t many who looked at David Morrissey and thought: “there’s no way he could be the Doctor”. He looks and sounds the part, (hands up, who’d happily have taken him as a future Doctor?), is authoritative – demanding the wonderfully named Rosita stand back – and bounces extremely well off David Tennant. “I’m the Doctor. The one, the only and the best.” *wink* It’s RTD to a tee: tickling, teasing and tantalising. Say that when you’re drunk…
12. The Sound Of Drums
It may get some stick but “The Sound of Drums” has a fantastic pre-credits sequence. After the ending of “Utopia” it had to come out of the traps sharpish. So it had the Doctor, Martha and Jack escape a horde with a vortex manipulator, followed by the revelation that the newly-regenerated Master had only gone and made himself the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Whilst these are of course pivotal what makes this introduction for me is the Master’s speech leading into the credits. I mentioned when talking about “Silence in the Library” in the first part of this series the thrill of fourth wall breaking, and watching a twinkly eyed John Simm inform you directly that “what the world needs, right now, is a Doctor” brings a grin to my face just thinking about it.
11. Mummy On The Orient Express
“Start the clock”. Peter Capaldi’s voice ushers in a visual treat to start off a very strong episode. With a stop clock ticking down from 66 seconds (err, what) a rotting Egyptian mummy (hang on a moment) is advancing on an elderly lady (seriously, stop ticking now) but no one else can see it (stop that blasted clock! She’s dying you fools!) and then the mummy grabs her head… and she dies. The clock stops, the camera pans away, the mummy’s gone and the fateful words “Orient Express” are revealed. You get a split second to remember Agatha Christie’s doomed train before watching it fly off into space. It’s breathless and rather scary. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some sofas across the world miraculously shielding some rather nervous adults children.
So, we go on to the top ten. “Now we’re in trouble; it’s only just beginning.” “You’d better find something to hang on to.” “Dinosaurs! On a spaceship!” Hang on, that last one doesn’t really work…
