Tuesday, October 6, 2009

New Doctor Who Logo Unveiled

The BBC yesterday unveiled the new logo for the venerable sci-fi series, and I for one like its simplicity. The logo is accompanied for the first time by an insignia, which will appear on marketing materials such as books and toys and whatnot.

As
you can see, the logo is more of a return to the classic, 1960s logo. But the insignia is totally new, with the "DW" initials fashioned to resemble the TARDIS.

To
me it's a perfect way to freshen things up for the arrival of the eleventh Doctor, and his new show runner, Steven Moffatt, who had this to say:

The
eleventh logo for the eleventh Doctor - those grand old words, Doctor Who, suddenly looking newer than ever. And look at that, something really new - an insignia! DW in Tardis form!

Simple and beautiful, and most important of all, a completely irresistible doodle.

I apologise to school notebooks everywhere, because in 2010 that's what they're going to be wearing
.

I do think it's an improvement over the logo that they've used (with minor revisions) since the relaunch in 2005:

It's a little too......I don't know, sunny? Maybe it's the fact that they background seems to be more interesting than the title? Well, here's some logos of Doctors past:



The 1996 TV Movie:


It's okay. It is pretty much a direct recreation of an earlier logo, except it is more glitzy.




The Seventh Doctor Logo (1987-1989):



Wow, that's awful.




The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Doctors (with minor revisions) 1980 - 1986:


It looks pretty godawful and 1980s now, but it worked for the time.



The Third and Fourth Doctor (1973-1980):


That's the iconic logo, also known as the "diamond logo". It's the logo, until the relaunch, that most people associated with the show. It's a little cartoony and cheesy now, but it still has a punch, especially when included in the "time tunnel" effect as see above.



The Third Doctor (1970 - 1972):


Cool, retro but timeless. This might be the most effective logo, which is why it is obviously the inspiration for the new one.


The Second Doctor (1967-1969):

Boring, really, but not objectionable. But it doesn't really have any personality at all.




The First and Second Doctors (1963 - 1966):



For it's time, this was rather cool. It had a modern, sci-fi sort of look without going over the top. It's clean and simple but still somehow conveys a space-age, mysterious feel.

So, what do you think of the new logo? Good, bad, or indifferent?

2 comments:

Timelords said...

I like the new logo, though I liked the earlier relaunch one as well. I never thought of it as sunny, but mysterious and glowy.
Don't really care too much for the insignia. Its a little to "street" for my liking, especially considering they've gone with a young Emo looking Doctor as well. And if they start calling "the Doctor", "D.W." on the show instead, ohhh, there will be trouble....

Anonymous said...

I thought the background in the logo for the 9-10th Doctors was supposed to be Galifrey, not some strange sun.