Why have they ruined them with the larger font and different arrangement?

What was wrong with the previous length and font?

Let's not even mention the music.

Half way through the last series, the BBC brought in new guidelines for end credits which said they had to be no longer than 30 seconds and needed to be squeezed into a little box as they advertise what's on other channels and what's on next etc. This made the old credits hard to read and I think on some weeks they didn't even bother using the new BBC graphics, probably because it didn't work very wekk with the old Doctor Who credits. But no doubt fron now on they'll have to change the way the credits work to meet the new guidelines and it seems the first attempt was to make the text bigger and speed them up.

They were shown on the back of the trailer for the next series and a few seconds were used by the Verity Lambert tribute so it's unclear whether this was just something they bodged for the Christmas special and there will be a neater format when the new series starts, or this is how it will be from now on.

It did look pretty bad so hopefully it will get changed one way or another.

I thought it looked bodged and rushed. Very American with the speed of the credits.

It looked cheap. They need to stop advertising other shows over the end credits. The production team should get their mention as much as the stars!

Exactly.
I thought (obviously erroneously) that we were supposed to be able to read the credits, as quite often I see what I think is a familiar face but there's no time to confirm who it was.

It's not quite the same as the rolling end credits but if you go to the BBC VotD page there's a "Cast And Crew" link with a reasonably comprehensive list.

To be honest with you I think the Christmas credits should not have been seen by ANYONE, so avoiding the embarrassment of being associated with such a mediocre programme. Come on, Dr Who makers, you can do MUCH better than that. Unfortunately having Kylie in it did not save it. You MUST do better next year.

I am surprised by what some people say about the xmas special, I liked it and thought Kylie did a fine job!
To the surprise of most people, I really liked the new arrangement on the theme and thought it lightened it up a bit.
The credits at the end were confusing... I mean... they came and went without being seen but to tell you the truth I turned the channel over when the show finished and don't really pay attention to those anyway... I flicked back for the series 4 and Torchwood trailers!

Even though many of the forum members here appear not have enjoyed it much this year, the poll for the Christmas special is very positive.

Agreed, all involved deserve to be credited cast and crew alike.

This talking over the end credits thing is getting beyond the pale now, it's all getting very Americanized, I've noticed ITV have started plugging whats on next whilst the currant show is mid way through it's airing.

I only hope that they restore the proper credit font and speed along with the proper theme tune for the DVD release.

The larger font is part of the new BBC credit guidelines, if you look at all new BBC programmes (e.g. EastEnders) they now have much larger text than before, so the credits can still be read when they're shrunk down to the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Man-God Charlie Brooker explains all here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrm2dj6bIU0

Unfortunatley the TV bosses seem to think that the viewers cannot read so no point in showing end credits. They think we are like goldfish and have a memory retention of around 2 seconds so we need to be told whats on next during the current programme , when the end credits are showing and again in between programmes. What they tend to not realize is that we are smarter than this and switch off!

Spot on. Too bad no-one at the BBC actually watches the programmes and could take heed.

They even talk all over the musical guests on the Graham Norton Show (paid for by our licence money but not to be heard when there's some frigging announcer wanting to butt in).

Or the recent Pink Floyd documentary. Hell, let's talk all over that crappy music that the frigging show is actually about.

Hey, we pay for those announcers too. I'm glad we're getting more value out of them now!

edit: And what's more we pay for those people who decide to fix the end credits so they work better and all that other stuff. Imagine the outcry if we just ignored their recommendations after paying them good licence-payer's money to come up with them.

If they arent going to show credits in full without interuption - I dont think they should show them at all. They should maybe have a ten second version of the opening to end the show.

If they showed the credits at a reading speed at the beginning it'd make more sense, as you could then look out for special guests etc.

The new end credits did spoil the show and made it look very cheap indeed. I understand the need to promote upcoming shows, but that shouldn't be detrimental to the quality of the show currently broadcasting. DW is a high quality programme and should be treated with greater respect by the BBC.

Cranford's credits were given more respect.

I guess the Beeb see Doctor Who as 2nd rate drama.

I don't think the production team are any happier about this than the rest of us. On the VOTD commentary RTD, Phil Collinson & Julie Gardner mention the speedy credits and say that the new BBC rule is that if you don't keep the credits to within 30 seconds then the senior BBC management comes round to your house and punches you in the face.

I don't think the credits willbe treated like this during season 4. Just the BBC trying to keep up with the Christmas day schedule.

I also enjoyed this DW special much more than the previous two. The Runaway Bride was dreadful

I haven't seen the Xmas episode yet - it's waiting for me on my Sky+.

These new-style credits really annoy me - after all, if you want to know what's on the other channels that's what the EPG is for and god knows there are enough television magazines out there. Not as bad but equally annoying are announcers talking over the theme music, especially with a cracking theme like DW. I wouldn't mind but it's us, the viewers, that are paying through the nose for it and those of us with digital subscriptions are paying twice.

Sorry, rant over now.

RTD describes them as 'Horribly condensed credits' and I think he's right on that one!