Doctor Who: Paul McGann Title Sequence

What if, one day, Paul McGann was finally given his own series as the Doctor?

Back in May, I decided to tackle the concept. I wanted to produce a title sequence for a fictional series where McGann returns to his role as the 8th Doctor, where we’d see him fight to defend his home during the Time War. I knew I wanted the title sequence to have a totally different flow, and not simply be bound the imagery of abstract space and time that we usually see. Instead, I wanted the sequence to take place (mostly) surrounding Gallifrey.

The whole sequence was based around the idea of the setting Suns of Gallifrey, showing the contrast from light into darkness. We initially see them sink behind the planet, and then we see them submerge behind the mountains and sandy dunes on Gallifrey’s surface. Silhouetting the departing TARDIS, and casting the distant Citadel into darkness. The tone of the project needed to be relatively doom-laden - we know the ending of the Time War wasn’t exactly a happy one.

I was also very keen to include the imagery of a Dalek in the sequence. I planned to show the Dalek as an oncoming presence. I ended up taking a much more stylised approach to this, with thanks to a brilliant 3D rendering by Anthony Lamb (who is linked below). We see a lifeless Gallifrey, falling into the cosmos to be ‘consumed’ by the image of a Dalek.

The project was scored by the immensely talented Peter Miles (Dalekium) who you can follow here:

Youtube:    / pjm25595  
Twitter:  / dalekium  

Thanks again to Anthony Lamb for lending his 3D talents:

Portfolio: http://www.antlamb.co.uk/index.html
Twitter:   / anthonylamb  

Lastly, thanks to Jonathan Picard for his TARDIS render:

Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/JonathanPicard
Twitter:  / _jonathanpicard  

Doctor Who and it's associated material belongs to the BBC.

All original content and concepts © David Burgess Motion Graphics and Design 2013-2020