Doctor Who: The art of a simple and memorable title

Over the decades, we’ve had many Doctor Who stories, and therefore, many titles for those stories. But what makes one title stand out from the others?

While I was watching and reviewing The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, one thing suddenly occurred to me. Specifically, how tricky the title was to remember, especially for a Doctor Who story. Because honestly, how many of us can remember a title as complicated as that?

Doctor Who titles should be memorable, and therefore, they should be simple. It can be difficult to sum up a story in just a few words sometimes. But then again, maybe that’s exactly a good starting point for a story, anyway.

Take The Empty Child, for example. In some ways, it’s vague. It doesn’t reference the child wearing a gas mask, or imply that it causes its condition to spread to others. But it puts the main “monster” of the story as the title, and leaves you intrigued as to what it is.

Blink is an even better example. Just one word, and it doesn’t even reference the monster in the title. But it is a key part of the story, and it’s a very simple word that at the same time isn’t likely to be used for other episodes.

In fact, Steven Moffat seemed to have a good handle on story titles, particularly during his own era as showrunner. From The Eleventh Hour to Twice Upon a Time, there are many episodes by him that stand out as simple and memorable.

Can the same be said for Chris Chibnall, however?

The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos’s title did reflect the story. But did that also make it memorable?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Series Eleven titles

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Looking back on Series Eleven, Chibnall’s titles could be a bit hit-and-miss. Sometimes, they could work really well, such as The Woman Who Fell to Earth. Rosa was particularly direct and instantly memorable.

But other times, it was almost like he was trying too hard. Take The Tsuranga Conundrum, for example. While having a made up word in the title isn’t a problem, (The Brain of Morbius is a particular favorite of mine), having it followed by a word as rarely used as “conundrum” doesn’t help. Particularly as it’s a little too vague with its last word.

But the worst offender, by far, was The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos. Be honest: how many of you have had to look up that title more than once? Some titles, you can instantly remember, but The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos was definitely too forgettable.

Alternative titles

While Ranskoor Av Kolos is the planet’s name, if Chibnall needed to have that complicated name in the episode, could he have not gone with something simpler for the title, at least? Maybe nothing like Vengeance of the Stenza, as I’m sure he wanted to keep Tzim-Sha’s return quiet, even though we all saw it coming.

But something along the lines of The Power of the Ux could have been just as effective. Not only is it simple, but the name of the race in the story is only two letters long. Certainly, much easier to remember than Ranskoor Av Kolos!

Still, despite my complaints, Series Eleven has given us plenty of strong titles. The Ghost Monument, Demons of the Punjab and Kerblam! all stand out as effective titles. And Resolution is definitely a simple title for the upcoming New Year’s Day special. I just hope that Chibnall is able to give us even simpler titles next year.

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Do you agree on the importance of having simple titles? What’s your favorite title for a Doctor Who story? Let us know in the comments below.

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