10 Greatest CGI Moments In Doctor Who History

by Ellie Littlechild

1. Mr Ring-A-Ding (Lux)

Doctor Who Lux Mr Ring-a-Ding
BBC Studios

Lux brought something entirely new to Doctor Who – an impressive achievement for a show that’s been running for over 60 years. Animation combined with live action isn’t a new concept by any means, but the Disney dollars meant that it was now possible to explore in the Whoniverse, and explore it they did.

Mr Ring-a-Ding wasn’t a CGI creature with limited screentime and quick cuts in the edit to avoid noticing any inaccuracies in the VFX, he was a main character with plenty of dialogue and plenty of screentime. There was no room for error here and the final result was remarkable. The attention to detail in the cartoon design, the seamless combination of Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu’s live-action performances with the added animation, the entire old-school cartoon aesthetic, complete with film grain and flicker – this episode, and this character, was a sight to behold.

Sometimes the oldest tricks work the best and that is certainly the case here. Mixing cartoons with live-action is a technique as old as Doctor Who itself but with the development of computers and computer-generated imagery, it’s a technique far easier to achieve nowadays and one which delivered one of the strongest episodes of Season 2 and one of the greatest examples of CGI used in Doctor Who history.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.