Doctor Who is getting a new look in Season 11, and the show's redesign includes changes beyond the celebrated gender-swapped version of the Doctor. Current word is that Doctor Who Season 11 will probably feature some pretty amazing visuals, with showrunner Chris Chibnall having replaced the show's now-former effects company with the studio Double Negative, which has gotten a lot of buzz lately for their work that has been prominently featured in films like Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther.
If Doctor Who fans are impressed by those films appearing on Double Negative's resume, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The VFX company has covered visual effects for many Christopher Nolan projects, for instance, from the Batman trilogy to Dunkirk, and it gained major awards recognition with an Oscar for Inception in 2011. As well, the studio has worked on James Bond films, DC's Justice League and Wonder Woman, and Alex Garland's Ex Machina and the upcoming Annihilation. The television division DNeg TV doesn't boast quite as many prestigious titles as the film side, but there are still quite a few projects on there that indicate Doctor Who is in good hands for Season 11. DNeg TV's work on Netflix's sci-fi shows Altered Carbon and Black Mirror alone should be proof that these artists don't skimp when it comes to television effects.
Beyond those shows, DNeg TV has also worked on the Starz drama Outlander, both seasons of Marvel's Agent Carter, and HBO's The Young Pope. Really, the only mark on DNeg TV's resume that may cause concern for Doctor Who fans is that this team also worked on Marvel's Inhumans; although in all fairness, that series had troubles beyond visual effects. Even in the case that Doctor Who's visual effects aren't quite as stunning as we've seen in Double Negative's latest works, it's a safe bet their work on the show will be noticeably different than the show's previous visual effects company, MILK VFX. Viewers actually got a taste of it in the Christmas special during the regeneration sequence.
As far as why Doctor Who is making the change in visual effects companies now, MILK's effects producer Louise Hastings said the order came down from the top, telling RadioTimes the departure of former showrunner Steven Moffat affected the series across the board, and not just MILK VFX.
The decision was made that when Steven Moffat and the rest of his team stood down from Doctor Who and the new team came in, that they would also mix up the vendors as well. So we've handed the baton over to our friends at DNEG for the next series.
With possibly even more new sights and sounds on the way, Doctor Who will return to the BBC for Season 11 sometime in the fall of 2018. For a look at when to expect other upcoming shows set to premiere in 2018, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For more on Doctor Who, check out which former Doctor just got cast to play an iconic deranged psychopath in Quentin Tarantino's new film.
