10 Greatest CGI Moments In Doctor Who History

When we think about insect-like creatures in the classic era of Doctor Who it’s difficult not to picture the likes of the Zarbi or the Wirrn – either blatantly obvious men-in-costumes or giant puppets made from pipe cleaners and papier-mâché. The modern era, however, had the luxury of CGI at its fingertips and aimed for more realistic creations.

You might not remember it being this good in your head, but the giant wasp in Series 4’s The Unicorn and the Wasp was incredibly accurate and believable despite its impossible size. It neither looked fake, nor did it look out of place in the scene. Creating an entirely new CGI monster or alien comes with a degree of freedom and artistic license in your designs but to recreate a believable image of an existing creature requires an arguably greater level of skill. We know what a wasp looks like. We know how wasps make us feel. So, it’s important for this CGI version to accurately replicate that.

The development of CGI technology opened up entirely new avenues for Doctor Who storytelling. Episodes like The Unicorn and the Wasp simply wouldn’t have been possible with only practical effects available – the giant wasp would never have looked believable or realistic as a man in a costume or a puppet on some string... just ask The Web Planet.