diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 66aadde82fa..c2ea52595f9 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ matrix:
            BUILD_DOCS=true
            BUILD_CMD="cd ${TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR}/package && python setup.py build_ext --inplace"
            INSTALL_HOLE="false"
-           PIP_DEPENDENCIES="${PIP_DEPENDENCIES} sphinx==1.8.5 sphinx-sitemap"
+           PIP_DEPENDENCIES="${PIP_DEPENDENCIES} sphinx==1.8.5 sphinx-sitemap sphinx_rtd_theme"
 
     - env: NAME="Lint"
            PYLINTRC="${TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR}/package/.pylintrc"
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/custom.css b/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/custom.css
index cd04a426b8f..480aa325f03 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/custom.css
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/custom.css
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 /* MDAnalysis gray: #808080 */
 /* MDAnalysis white: #FFFFFF */
 /* MDAnalysis black: #000000 */
-
-@import url('readable.css');
+/* Darker orange: e76900 */
+/* Even darker orange: #a24900 */
+/* RTD dark grey: #343131 */
+/* RTD light grey: #e6e6e6 */
 
 /* -- page layout --------------------------------------------------------- */
 
@@ -20,27 +22,53 @@ div.body {
 }
 
 div.sphinxsidebar a:hover {
-    color: #FF9200;
+    text-decoration: none !important;
 }
 
 div.sphinxsidebar p {
     color: #808080;
 }
 
+/* Home MDAnalysis colour */
+.wy-side-nav-search > a {
+    color: #343131;
+}
+
+/* Side MDAnalysis version colour */
+.wy-side-nav-search > div.version {
+    color: #808080;
+}
+
+/* Menubar caption colour */
+div.wy-menu-vertical span.caption-text {
+    color: #FF9200;
+}
+
+/* Mobile layout menubar option */
+nav.wy-nav-top {
+    background: #343131;
+}
+
+/* Menu search bar outline (default blue) */
+.wy-side-nav-search input[type="text"] {
+    border-color: #808080;
+}
+
 
 /* -- body styles --------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-a {
+/* Different coloured links for sidebar vs body) */
+div.rst-content a {
     color: #FF9200;
     text-decoration: none;
 }
 
-a:visited {
+div.rst-content a:visited {
     color: #FF9200;
 }
  
 a:hover {
-    color: #FF9200;
+    color: #FF9200 !important;
     text-decoration: underline;
 }
 
@@ -66,6 +94,7 @@ a.headerlink:hover {
     color: #fff;
 }
 
+/* ------- admonition boxes ------- */
 
 div.admonition {
     margin: 10px 0px;
@@ -75,4 +104,103 @@ div.admonition {
 div.admonition p.admonition-title {
     font-size: 100%;
     font-weight: bolder;
+}
+
+/* ----- Tables ----- */
+
+/* override table width restrictions */
+/* wrap tables instead of scrolling */
+@media screen and (min-width: 767px) {
+
+    .wy-table-responsive table td, .wy-table-responsive table th {
+       /* !important prevents the common CSS stylesheets from overriding
+          this as on RTD they are loaded after this stylesheet */
+       white-space: normal !important;
+    }
+ 
+    .wy-table-responsive {
+       overflow: visible !important;
+       max-width: 100% !important;
+    }
+ }
+
+/* ----- Field lists ------ */
+
+.section > dl.field-list {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-wrap: wrap;
+    margin: 0;
+    padding: 0;
+}
+
+dl.field-list > dt::after {
+    content: ":";
+}
+
+.rst-content dl:not(.docutils) dt {
+    background: none;
+    color: #000000;
+    border-top: none;
+}
+
+.section > dl.field-list dt {
+    margin: 0;
+    padding: 0;
+    flex-basis: 20%;
+    display: block;
+}
+
+.section > dl.field-list > dd {
+    flex-basis: 70%;
+    margin: 0;
+}
+
+.section > dl.field-list > dd p {
+    margin: 0;
+}
+
+/* ----- MDAnalysis coloured elements ------ */
+
+.rst-content dl.class dt, .rst-content dl.function dt {
+    color: #ca6500;
+    background: #FFEBD0;
+    border-top: solid 3px #FF9200;
+}
+
+.rst-content .viewcode-link, .rst-content .viewcode-back {
+    color: #808080;
+}
+
+.rst-content .guilabel {
+    background: #efefef;
+    border: 1px solid #808080;
+}
+
+
+.rst-content .seealso p.admonition-title {
+    background: #808080;
+}
+
+.rst-content .seealso {
+    background: #e3e3e3;
+}
+
+.rst-content  .error p.admonition-title, .rst-content  .warning p.admonition-title {
+    background: #F45F4B;
+}
+
+.rst-content .error, .rst-content .warning {
+    background: #FFEEED;
+}
+
+.rst-content .caution p.admonition-title, .rst-content .note p.admonition-title, .rst-content .important p.admonition-title  {
+    background: #FF9200;
+}
+
+.rst-content .caution, .rst-content .note, .rst-content .important {
+    background: #FFEBD0;
+}
+
+.rst-content code:not(.xref).literal {
+    color: #ca6500;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/logos/mdanalysis-logo-thin.png b/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/logos/mdanalysis-logo-thin.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e7d372f0812
Binary files /dev/null and b/package/doc/sphinx/source/_static/logos/mdanalysis-logo-thin.png differ
diff --git a/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py b/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
index f1cfeceee83..0ff7a93752e 100644
--- a/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
+++ b/package/doc/sphinx/source/conf.py
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
 import sys
 import os
 import platform
-
-# http://alabaster.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
-import alabaster
+import datetime
+# https://sphinx-rtd-theme.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
+import sphinx_rtd_theme
 
 # If extensions (or modules to document with autodoc) are in another directory,
 # add these directories to sys.path here. If the directory is relative to the
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
               'sphinx.ext.mathjax', 'sphinx.ext.viewcode',
               'sphinx.ext.napoleon', 'sphinx.ext.todo',
               'sphinx_sitemap',
-              'alabaster']
+              'sphinx_rtd_theme']
 
 mathjax_path = 'https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.0/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML'
 
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
 author_list = __import__('MDAnalysis').__authors__
 authors = u', '.join(author_list[:-1]) + u', and ' + author_list[-1]
 project = u'MDAnalysis'
-copyright = u'2005-2017, ' + authors
+now = datetime.datetime.now()
+copyright = u'2005-{}, '.format(now.year) + authors
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@
 #show_authors = False
 
 # The name of the Pygments (syntax highlighting) style to use.
-pygments_style = 'sphinx'
+pygments_style = 'default'
 
 # A list of ignored prefixes for module index sorting.
 #modindex_common_prefix = []
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@
 
 # The theme to use for HTML and HTML Help pages.  See the documentation for
 # a list of builtin themes.
-html_theme = 'alabaster'
+html_theme = 'sphinx_rtd_theme'
 
 # Theme options are theme-specific and customize the look and feel of a theme
 # further.  For a list of options available for each theme, see the
@@ -141,34 +142,22 @@
          'black': '#000000',}
 
 html_theme_options = {
-    'logo' : "logos/mdanalysis-logo-200x150.png",
-    'github_user': "MDAnalysis",
-    'github_repo': "mdanalysis",
-    #'travis_button': "MDAnalysis/mdanalysis",
-    'travis_button': False,
-    'github_type': 'star',
-    'github_banner': True,
-    'show_related': True,
-    'fixed_sidebar': False,
-    'sidebar_includehidden': True,
-    'sidebar_collapse': True,
-    # style
-    'link': color['orange'],
-    'link_hover': color['orange'],
-    'gray_1': color['gray'],
-    'narrow_sidebar_bg': color['gray'],
-    'narrow_sidebar_fg': color['white'],
-    # typography
-    #'font_size': 17,
-    'font_family': "'PT Sans', Helvetica, Arial, 'sans-serif'",
-    'head_font_family': "",
-    'code_font_size': "smaller",
-    'code_font_family': "Menlo, Monaco, 'Courier New', monospace",
-    'caption_font_size': "smaller",
+    'canonical_url': '',
+    'logo_only': True,
+    'display_version': True,
+    'prev_next_buttons_location': 'bottom',
+    'style_external_links': False,
+    'style_nav_header_background': 'white',
+    # Toc options
+    'collapse_navigation': True,
+    'sticky_navigation': True,
+    'navigation_depth': 5,
+    'includehidden': True,
+    'titles_only': False,
 }
 
 # Add any paths that contain custom themes here, relative to this directory.
-html_theme_path = [alabaster.get_path()]
+# html_theme_path = ['_themes',]
 
 # The name for this set of Sphinx documents.  If None, it defaults to
 # "<project> v<release> documentation".
@@ -179,7 +168,7 @@
 
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top
 # of the sidebar. --- use theme
-##html_logo = "logos/mdanalysis-logo-200x150.png"
+html_logo = "_static/logos/mdanalysis-logo-thin.png"
 
 # The name of an image file (within the static path) to use as favicon of the
 # docs.  This file should be a Windows icon file (.ico) being 16x16 or 32x32
@@ -189,8 +178,9 @@
 # Add any paths that contain custom static files (such as style sheets) here,
 # relative to this directory. They are copied after the builtin static files,
 # so a file named "default.css" will overwrite the builtin "default.css".
-# For alabaster: custom.css to override theme defaults.
+# For RTD theme: custom.css to override theme defaults.
 html_static_path = ['_static']
+html_css_files = ['custom.css']
 
 # If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
 # using the given strftime format.