9. The intro
Doctor Who had already given us several great iconic intros at this point. But the Fourth Doctor's intro still feels special and continues to stand out as one of the best.
For one thing, it was the first-ever intro that featured the TARDIS. It's a simple and natural addition, especially as the TARDIS is such an important part of Doctor Who. But it's used so perfectly. The almost entirely dark opening. The visual of the TARDIS. The look of the time vortex. Tom Baker's scary face appearing. And of course, the iconic diamond logo. It's all blended together to one of the greatest theme tunes in television history.
More than just how great the intro looks however is how influential it became. This was the first Doctor Who intro to feature the TARDIS, but it certainly wasn't the last. While we didn't see it appear in Peter Davison's or Colin Baker's eras, almost all Doctors from Sylvester McCoy's era onwards featured the TARDIS in their intros. (The only exception to this is Jodie Whittaker.)
We've seen the effects improve a great deal over time. But there's something brilliant about the simplicity of Tom Baker's first intro. The fact that it was partly created using aluminum foil only helps to make it more magical.