Oh, and there was a Fox TV-movie in 1996 that has been incorporated into the show's backstory, but it really sucked.

Poor Paul McGann. Such a great choice for the role, but so the wrong version to showcase him.

Didn't that iteration have a really woo-woo spiralling graphic in the opener, too?

Tom Baker credits start at about 2:50 in this video: [link]

OMG I can't believe I'm using the complete set of Doctor Who credits as reference material.

Anyway, most of the sequences have done spirally trippy tunnel things (I, err, think it's supposed to represent time travel or something), but you can totally see the state of special effects at any given time. The current show has way more budget than some of the earlier iterations, and correspondingly less effects consisting of turning the screen funny colors and spinning the image around. (Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).

The current show has way more budget than some of the earlier iterations, and correspondingly less effects consisting of turning the screen funny colors and spinning the image around. (Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).

The most recent iteration has raised some disturbing associations, though.

(Also less costuming with bubble wrap and spray paint).

Don't forget the wobbly walls.

And since they're no longer doing each story in four half-hour segments, there's less need to have tons of filler of the Doctor and his companion(s) running here and there, although they do still have a few minutes of it in most episodes. (I loved Donna Noble's line when she's describing life with the Doctor as "...running. There's a lot of running.")

Why would anyone spell my name iTa?

Maybe they think you're an Apple product?

Maybe they think you're an Apple product?

I am not paid enough to be Apple, let me tell you.

The "T" in iTa is creepy and weird and hanging its arms over the little "i" and "a". I don't like it.

They're trying to avoid saying eeda.

I was on a call today with someone WHOSE NAME RHYMES WITH MINE that pronounced it eye-ta.

PEOPLE. What's your problem?

Damn, I'm all covered in the cranky today.

Okay. Back to the flowchart.

My father used to watch Dr. Who and I recall seeing it (probably in the mid-80s) and being so appalled by the obviously cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects that I was not interested. I didn't realize that the cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects were in fact a great tradition to be cherished.

I didn't realize that the cardboard-and-tinfoil special effects were in fact a great tradition to be cherished.

There's a great spoof of Doctor Who that was done for Comic Relief in England called "Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death" with Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, Julia Sawalha as his companion, Jonathan Price as the Master (his nemesis), and special cameos by Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, and Joanna Lumley, which celebrated every last cliche of the classic series, from the cheesy overacting, to the running, to the cheap costumes and set.

ETA: Which I only just found out now was written by Steven Moffat, who is the new showrunner!!