The SFX Factor ROUND 12
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
The latest round of voting is over and we’d love to say it was close again, but, in fact, three of the last five shows raced ahead, leaving two covered in dust, straggling well behind. And those two unlucky shows are:
The X-Files
True Blood
Yep, the most divisive title sequence is still in there: Red Dwarf . While some love its haunting simplicity others are confused how something so simplistic can still be in the running. Could it actually be coming first? The amazing thing is, when we revealed what order the shows were in during Round Eight, Red Dwarf was in ninth position. It's been picking up votes left, right and centre from people who’ve had their favourite shows eliminated!
So, only three left: Red Dwarf , Doctor Who and Game Of Thrones . Which one will win?
You can now only vote for your one favourite title sequence
And this will be the final round. We’ll reveal the winners tomorrow, in order.
Doctor Who
Loads of our Facebook followers suggested Doctor Who for this SFX Factor , but the problem is, the show has had so many different versions over the years. Should we put them all up for the vote? Or lump them all in as one? In the end the expert panel decided to choose its own favourite – the second Pertwee opening title sequence – as a representative.
We love this one because the slit-can* time tunnel is so immediately iconic, and the haunting theme tune was arguably blessed with its best arrangement at this point. Tom Baker has a similar title for six series of his seven-series run, but this one just wins out for us because of the Doctor-shaped time tunnel effect.
* The same FX technique Stanley Kubrick used to create the star gate in 2001: A Space Odyssey .
Red Dwarf
Specifically you’re voting for the opening title to the first two series here, before it stated using the more traditional clips approach. The version here is actually from the Remastered DVDs, but we didn’t think you’d mind it looking its best.
Game Of Thrones
Simply wonderful, and a refreshing divergence from the kind of clichéd sword’n’sorcery imagery we usually get with fantasy shows (see the Camelot titles, which are very classy looking, but exactly what you’d expect from this genre). They also brilliantly emphasise the sheer scope of the show, and new locations are added as they’re introduced into the show.
