r/doctorwho • u/WhiteKnightPrimal • 1d ago
Question Thirteen's Title Sequence - Actor Names
It's been bugging me, so I thought I'd ask, see if anyone knew.
I'm watching Thirteen's run for the first time, and I've noticed they keep switching up the actor names in the title sequence, but can't figure out why. The first two stay the same, always Jodie Whittaker first, Bradley Walsh second, I figure because Whittaker plays the Doctor and Walsh is the most well known actor of the four. Makes sense the Doctor would be listed first, also makes sense they'd put the most well known actor for the companions second, though I note they didn't do that in Twelve's run, with Matt Lucas being the most well known actor playing a companion. I figure that's more because Bill was the official companion, not Nardole.
But the other two? They keep switching them around in the titles. At first, I thought it was based on which character gets the most focus, but half the time it's an equal focus, either because everyone's getting an equal focus, or because it's more centred on the Doctor or Graham. That does seem to be part of it, like the ep set in India was about Yaz's nan's past, so the ep was more focused on her, and her actor's name is third in the list that episode, not fourth. But they seem to swap the names around every episode, regardless of whether one of them has focus above the other one.
Did they just deliberately work the focused episodes so that it would work with switching them around every episode? Or was there another reason for the constant switching? Because I don't remember them ever switching actor names around when they've had more than one companion in the past.
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u/ThisDirkDaring 1d ago
Jodie is the star, Bradley next, the other two share billing. They are both billed on third position, therefore alternating in the credits so both have been mentioned third bill equally as often.
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
I understand it now, it makes sense, and I think this might be the comment that explains it in the simplest and easiest to understand way, so thanks for that!
I'm guessing the focus in certain eps is either done deliberately to make the cost of switching seem worth it or is just a coincidence, probably the former because it IS consistent that if one gets the focus in the ep then their name comes third in the list.
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u/Dakotaraptor98 1d ago
Could be a contract thing about billing position
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
Why would that switch names every episode? But just those two names, never the other two? I mean, I figure I'm right about Whittaker being first because she's THE main character, and Walsh being second as the most famous of the companion actors, but there doesn't seem to be a consistent difference with the other two. They switch every episode, sometimes there's a focus on one character other the other, sometimes there's not.
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u/FX114 1d ago
Because then they each get turns in the higher billed position.
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
Yeah, I think I understand it now. It's about prominence. The order they're listed suggests an actor is more prominent than the other, and neither of these two can be listed before Whittaker, the main, or Walsh, the most famous. So, it becomes a competition for which one gets third place and which one gets fourth, and switching every episode is the compromise so they both get third consistently.
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u/FX114 1d ago
Exactly. That's why you'll also see big actors in secondary roles get last billing accompanied by a "with" or "and" or even "as" on their credit. They're big enough for top billing, but not prominent enough for it, so they get to close out the credits with a special mention.
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
Is that why Matt Lucas got third place as Nardole? I was wondering, because he's the more prominent actor for the companions, but Bill was always listed in second place. I hadn't noticed it with anyone else in Doctor Who, because they're usually only there for an episode or two, so I always figured they came last because they weren't permanent characters.
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u/FX114 1d ago
Hard to say, but it's probably just because Bill was the main companion. Matt Lucas is big, but he's not that big, and there's usually something added to the credit to delineate it from the rest. I'm talking about something like "with John Hurt as the War Doctor". Samuel L. Jackson gets that credit in all the Marvel movies he's in, too.
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u/Downtown_Cheek1713 1d ago
If you count the episodes where both actors are in the main cast, I think both get 3rd billing on the same number of episodes. It's a contractual quirk. Billing order is important in the acting world so honestly switching the names so both get equal time in 3rd is pretty neat. Whittaker ofc got 1st because she was the main character, Walsh got 2nd because he was the most established actor of the 3 companions.
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
So, how come they never did this any other times NuWho had more than one companion? I figure there was no switching between Billie Piper and John Barrowman because Rose was always the main companion and Jack was only going to be in a few episodes, but I'm not sure how settled Jack's storyline actually was. Ten only has one companion at a time, just sometimes gets joined by others for an ep. Amy and Rory were never switched around, though, now were Bill and Nardole. I mean, Amy was the main companion, Rory was more Amy's companion than the Doctor's, so I assume that's why they didn't do it there. But Matt Lucas was the more well known actor, yet he was always billed third. Best I can guess is because Bill was the official companion.
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u/Worldly_Society_2213 18h ago
Series 11 is the first win modern Who where you have no clear "primary" companion. In the other instances (i.e.: Captain Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Rory Williams and Nardole) there is always another companion who was there "first" or was the main companion for that season.
In series 11 and 12, there is no clear "primary" between Yaz and Ryan. Yaz only becomes the clear "primary companion" after Ryan and Graham leave, and Dan is played by John Bishop, who would be considered the "most well known" of the cast anyway so his positioning of last in the credits works anyway.
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u/IceLord86 1d ago
I honestly never noticed the order ever changed, though I suppose I just zoned out after seeing it a few times.
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u/geek_of_nature 1d ago
I noticed it once, but assumed it was just in between series. I didn't realise it was actually in between episodes themselves.
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u/WhiteKnightPrimal 1d ago
I only noticed it because I keep trying to remember the actor names, I'm not quite there yet, which is why I didn't use them in the post. So, I'm paying attention when the titles are on. Then I noticed the switching, so started paying closer attention, and it happens every single episode, just those two names, constantly switching places.
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u/TARDIS32 1d ago
I believe they did it that way as a way to not treat any of Walsh, Cole, or Gill as more important than the other, even out the credit.
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u/Three_Twenty-Three 1d ago
It's probably contractual and not based on the actor's prominence in the episode. That's how almost all name presentations are determined. It's why you frequently see movie posters with a cast ensemble image, but their names are not above their heads. Everything from the relative size of the font to the positioning of the name is argued out by their agents.
One of the most revealing versions of this is in later seasons of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian when Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder appeared in the opening credits. They're the stunt actors who wear the costume, and they're on screen (but masked) more than Pedro Pascal. Their agents won a great victory.