He described this iteration as "a hero for a young audience"; contrasting the Doctor to traditional superheroes who "punch through walls", but instead he's the "cheeky kid at the back of the classroom".

[11]In December 2023, Gatwa commented that he was told off for using profanity while in-costume, and that the younger audience of Doctor Who contrasted with what he had become used to from his previous role on Sex Education.

[27] Following her appearance in "Wild Blue Yonder" (2023) as Mrs Merridew, Susan Twist held multiple roles in the series' first six episodes as seemingly disparate characters.

[45] Indira Varma, who previously starred as Suzie Costello in the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood, appeared as the Duchess of Pemberton in the same episode.

[47] Seven additional guest stars were revealed on 31 March 2024 which included Golda Rosheuvel, Callie Cooke, Siân Phillips, Bhav Joshi, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, Tachia Newall and Caoilinn Springall.

"[57] Before any scripts had been written, Davies pitched "the concept of the entire first series" to Disney, providing them with a "rough format of how it would go and the shape of it and what it would look and feel like.

[76] He believed this would create a unique bond between the Doctor and Ruby, and the question of a person's background and their family history would "strike a chord" with the audience.

[88] The two-part season finale is a disaster plot on modern-day Earth with key ongoing story threads reaching their peak, including the discovery of Ruby's birth mother, and the answers behind Susan Twist's characters.

[90][91] The finale reintroduces the classic series enemy Sutekh, previously seen in the serial Pyramids of Mars (1975), with Davies wanting to "prove that the show hasn't severed its roots".

[94][91][95] Following up on the Toymaker's return and warning in "The Giggle", Davies wanted this series to take a "sly step" into fantasy; with more supernatural antagonists including gods and legendary creatures.

Elaborating further on why he opted for a more supernatural approach, Davies said that he wanted the show to start deviating from a predictable narrative structure and "break those rules", lending the chance to "have fun and go wild" with the stories and have enemies that seem "impossible to beat".

[105] For certain episodes, the series employed "top-of-the-range technology" such as virtual LED screens and the use of drones in-studio, to depict alien landscapes and boost visual scale, similar to the tech used by Marvel and Star Wars.

[109][110] Principal photography began on 5 December 2022, with the first production block — consisting of "73 Yards" and "Dot and Bubble" — directed by Dylan Holmes Williams.

"[111] Filming for the second block — consisting of the 2023 Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road" — began during the first week of February 2023, directed by Mark Tonderai.

[117][118] The fourth production block — consisting of historicals "The Devil's Chord" and "Rogue" — began filming on 19 April 2023, directed by Ben Chessell.

[119] The fifth production block — consisting of the two-part finale "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death" — began filming on 5 June 2023, directed by Jamie Donoughue.

[127] "The Goblin Song" was written by Davies and composed by Gold, along with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, for the musical number during "The Church on Ruby Road".

[132] "Rogue" featured orchestral covers of songs by Billie Eilish[133] and Lady Gaga,[134] as well as including tracks from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory[135] and Kylie Minogue.

[145] A March 2024 press release teased that the series will feature "adventures all the way from the Regency era in England, to war-torn future worlds".

[149][150][151] On 25 April, a double-decker bus toured locations in Central London before arriving at Regent Street Cinema for the UK press launch.

[152][153] Gatwa and Gibson promoted the series in New York City; advertisements were streamed on billboards in Times Square, and interviews were featured on Good Morning America, ABC News and Late Night with Seth Meyers.

[159] Gatwa appeared as the Doctor on Match of the Day alongside the show's presenter Gary Lineker in an opening sketch to promote the series.

[164] The series was preceded by three specials which aired during November and December 2023, marking Davies' return and the show's 60th anniversary, as well as the first episodes to be released internationally on Disney+.

[168] On 20 June 2024, a new episode of Tales of the TARDIS was broadcast on BBC Four featuring the first appearance of Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars (1975) and bookended with new scenes of Gatwa and Gibson.

The website's consensus reads: "Ncuti Gatwa's dashing interpretation of The Doctor brings a breath of fresh air aboard the TARDIS, piloting this perennial sci-fi series into an exciting new era.

"[191] Many critics and viewers criticised the resolution of the series overall story arc, feeling that revealing Ruby's mother to be a regular person was unsatisfactory and underwhelming following the build up in earlier episodes.

[193] "The Church on Ruby Road", Gatwa's first full episode as the Doctor, lost over two million viewers compared that of his predecessor, David Tennant, in "The Star Beast" (2023).

[194] Additionally, his first series opener, "Space Babies", received over five million fewer viewers than Jodie Whittaker's regular-series debut in "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" (2018).

[193] Ahead of the two-part finale, Davies admitted that the ratings were not as high as the producers had expected them to be but noted that viewing figures were growing in 28-day data.

However, taking the advanced marketing campaign and budgetary increase into account, its performance in the U.S. was still described as "underwhelming" and a Disney employee referred to it as "okay but not stellar".