Doctor Who Season 14, Episode 1 Achieves Something No Other Era Could Have

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 1, "Space Babies."

Summary Ncuti Gatwa shines in Doctor Who's "Space Babies," with the episode also highlighting Disney's high-standard VFX contributions.

Disney's financial support boosts Doctor Who's production quality, surpassing even Whittaker's era visuals.

Recent episodes have expertly manipulated CGI to create convincing digital effects, a marked improvement on past efforts.

Ncuti Gatwa's first full season of leading Doctor Who gets off to a flying start with "Space Babies," pulling off an impressive feat where previous eras would have fallen short. One of the harsh realities of Doctor Who's classic era is that it was often underwhelming in this particular area, even if it didn't seem so at the time. Now, Doctor Who's Disney era has leveled out the show, so it doesn't just have to rely on its incredible storytelling to wow the audience.

Out of all the actors to play the Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa has perhaps the biggest advantage to begin his stint as the famous Time Lord. His entrance to the franchise was already excitingly unconventional thanks to Doctor Who's bi-generation twist at the end of the 60th-anniversary specials. Thankfully, Gatwa's continued presence in the show has continued to improve even further due to a notable bump in production costs.

Related Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials Ending Explained The final Doctor Who anniversary special, "The Giggle," is a regeneration story like no other - and its ending sets up some tremendous adventures.

It's Hard To Imagine Doctor Who's Space Babies Looking THAT Good Pre-Disney

Disney's financial contributions to Doctor Who's VFX are easy to spot

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Doctor Who has a reputation for a great many things, and not all of them are positive. Through the decades, the show has included some less-than-stellar practical and digital effects. Fortunately, Doctor Who's strong premise has managed to carry the show through its weaker periods of upholding the illusion. Since Doctor Who's deal with Disney, the episodes the studio has helped the BBC to produce have been of an exceptionally high standard from a visual standpoint, and the CGI augmentation of the titular youngsters in Doctor Who season 14, episode 1, "Space Babies," is a shining example of that.

The Space Babies genuinely look like they're speaking in complete sentences, with the expert lip-synching helping to complete the digital deception.

It's perhaps unlikely that Doctor Who would have even attempted anything quite so ambitious in the pre-Disney era, and if it did, it's even less likely it would have looked convincing. The Space Babies genuinely look like they're speaking in complete sentences, with the expert lip-synching helping to complete the digital deception. It may seem like a small feature of the episode, but convincingly manipulating a human face in a live-action environment isn't a simple task. Those familiar with Henry Cavill's post-production mustache removal in 2017's Justice League movie will understand this all too well.

Disney acquired international distribution rights to Doctor Who in October 2022.

Doctor Who's Production Is A Massive Step Up (Even Compared To Whittaker's Era)

Gatwa's era already looks like one of the best

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Since Doctor Who began in 1963, the show has looked better and better as it's gone on. In the modern era, the changes are most prominent when a showrunner or lead actor is replaced. For instance, Doctor Who's visuals experienced a marked improvement when Steven Moffat took over as showrunner in 2010 and cast Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. Moffat also oversaw Capaldi's spell as the Doctor but stepped back when Chris Chibnall took the reins and brought in Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2018.

Related Doctor Who Now Risks Repeating The MCU's Oldest Avengers Plot Hole (But Worse) A recent addition to the Doctor Who canon means the show could experience a similar issue to one that often arises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While Chibnall's time in charge led to a divisive period in Doctor Who history, it's difficult to argue with the fact that the show looked better than it ever had. For that reason, it's all the more impressive that Disney has helped the BBC up its game once again as the show enters the next of its many eras. Whittaker's time as the Doctor set a very high bar for Doctor Who's visual aesthetic, and yet Disney has somehow managed to surpass it.

Episode Disney+ Release Date "Space Babies" & "The Devil's Chord" May 10 "Boom" May 17 "73 Yards" May 24 "Dot & Bubble" May 31 "Rogue" June 7 "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" June 14 "Empire of Death" June 21