Ncuti Gatwa stepped out of that TARDIS in a tank top and mustache, and honestly, the internet hasn't been the same since. It’s been a weird year for Whovians. For some, the Doctor Who Season 1 2024 relaunch felt like a breath of fresh air; for others, it was a jarring shift into "Disney-fied" territory that felt a bit too glossy for a show that used to be held together by bubblegum and string. But here’s the thing: Russell T Davies didn’t just make a shiny new show. He basically soft-rebooted the entire universe to make it survive the streaming wars.
The numbering is the first thing that trips people up. Why call it Season 1? It’s the 40th season if you’re counting from 1963. It’s Series 14 if you’re counting from the 2005 revival with Christopher Eccleston. But for the 2024 run, it’s officially Season 1. This wasn't just a marketing gimmick for Disney Plus. It was a tactical reset.
Davies knew that asking a 15-year-old in Ohio to watch 13 seasons of "New Who" and 26 seasons of "Classic Who" just to understand a plot point about a Dalek’s toilet was a losing battle. So, we got a fresh start. New Doctor. New companion in Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday. New vibe. It’s loud, it’s queer, it’s magical, and it’s deeply concerned with things like "The Pantheon" and gods of chaos rather than just another alien invasion of London.
The Goblin in the Room: Magic vs. Science
One of the biggest gripes people had with Doctor Who Season 1 2024 was the shift toward the supernatural. Since the 60s, the Doctor has always been a man of science. Sure, the science was usually "technobabble," but it was grounded in the idea that everything had a rational explanation. Then came The Church on Ruby Road.
Suddenly, we have goblins. Actual, flying, baby-eating goblins.
The Doctor explains this by saying the Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris in the specials) "cracked" the universe, letting superstition leak in. It’s a bold move. By introducing the Pantheon of Discord—including Jinkx Monsoon’s Maestro—the show moved away from the "monster of the week" and toward "deity of the week."
Some fans hated it. They missed the sonic screwdriver fixing things through physics. But if you look closely at episodes like 73 Yards, you see a level of psychological horror that the show hasn't touched in a decade. That episode didn't even have the Doctor in it for 95% of the runtime. It was just Ruby, an old woman on a cliff, and a terrifyingly persistent folk-horror vibe. That’s the kind of risk-taking that keeps a 60-year-old franchise from rotting.
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Ncuti Gatwa and the Emotional Weight of the Fifteen Doctor
Ncuti is different. He’s not the socially awkward alien who doesn't know how to hug. He’s the most emotionally intelligent Doctor we’ve ever seen. He cries. He dances. He wears a kilt. He feels deeply.
In Boom, an episode written by Steven Moffat (who finally returned to the fold), the Doctor spends almost the entire time standing on a landmine. It’s a masterclass in tension. Gatwa has to convey terror, brilliance, and heartbreak while literally unable to move his feet. It reminded us that despite the flashy Disney budget, the show is still about a lonely traveler who just wants to save everybody.
Then you have Ruby Sunday. Her mystery—the identity of her mother—drove the entire season. When we finally got the reveal in Empire of Death, it was... polarizing. People expected a god or a Time Lord. Instead, she was just a normal person. A "nobody."
Honestly? That was the point.
In a world of "Chosen Ones" and "Skywalkers," Davies chose to make the most important person in the universe an ordinary woman who just decided to leave her baby at a church. It’s a subversion of the "mystery box" trope that J.J. Abrams made famous. It’s a statement that you don't need a special bloodline to be significant.
The Disney Plus Factor: What Changed?
The money is visible. You can see it in the prosthetic work for the Bogeyman in Space Babies (which, let's be real, was a bit much for an opening episode) and the CGI for the space stations. But the Disney deal did more than just buy better graphics. It shifted the pacing.
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Doctor Who Season 1 2024 only had eight episodes.
That’s short. Really short.
Because of that, the season felt like it was sprinting. We didn't get as many "breather" episodes where the Doctor and Ruby just hung out. Everything had to move the plot forward. The "Pantheon" arc, the Susan Twist mystery (with the brilliant Susan Twist appearing in every episode as a different character), and the return of Sutekh—it was a lot to cram in.
Sutekh’s return was a massive deep cut for fans of the 1975 story Pyramids of Mars. Seeing the God of Death perched on top of the TARDIS was a genuine "holy crap" moment for long-time viewers. But for the new audience? It was a bit confusing. Why is there a giant sand-dog-god destroying the world? The show tried to bridge that gap with the "Time Window" sequences, but it was a heavy lift.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ratings
You’ll see a lot of headlines saying the ratings for the 2024 season were "low." That’s a half-truth that misses how TV works in 2026. Overnight ratings—the people watching on a literal television set at a specific time—are down for everyone.
The real story is in the consolidated viewing and the iPlayer/Disney Plus stats. The show is skewing much younger now. It’s hitting the Gen Z and Gen Alpha demographics that the BBC was terrified of losing. If you’re looking at the success of this season, you have to look at the engagement on TikTok and the streaming minutes, not just how many people in England turned on their telly on a Saturday night.
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Breaking Down the Standout Episodes
If you’re revisiting the season or jumping in for the first time, some episodes carry the weight more than others.
- Rogue: This was the "Bridgerton" episode. It was fun, sexy, and gave the Doctor a romantic foil in Jonathan Groff’s bounty hunter. It proved the Doctor can have a love life that doesn't feel forced.
- Dot and Bubble: This was a brutal satire of social media and ingrained racism. It felt like Black Mirror set in the Whoniverse. The ending—where the citizens of Finetime choose death over being saved by a Black Doctor—was one of the gutsiest scripts Davies has ever written.
- The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death: The big finale. It was messy, sure. It had a lot of "deus ex machina" moments. But the scale was undeniable.
How to Approach Doctor Who Moving Forward
If you want to actually get the most out of the current era, stop trying to link everything to the 1970s. Treat Doctor Who Season 1 2024 as a pilot season. It’s establishing a new set of rules where "belief" and "memory" have physical power.
The next step for any fan is to look at the "Tales of the TARDIS" spin-offs or the upcoming "War Between the Land and the Sea" series. The Whoniverse is expanding into a Marvel-style ecosystem.
Actionable Insights for New Viewers:
- Watch the 2023 Specials First: You cannot start with episode 1. You need The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle to understand why the Doctor is "bi-generated" and why he’s so much happier now.
- Ignore the "Season 1" Label: If you find yourself confused by a reference, just know it’s likely from the 2005-2022 run. A quick 5-minute YouTube recap of the "Time War" will save you hours of confusion.
- Pay Attention to the Music: Murray Gold is back, and his score in the 2024 season is more leitmotif-heavy than ever. The "Ruby Sunday" theme is a massive clue for the season's emotional beats.
- Embrace the Camp: Doctor Who has always been campy. If you can’t handle a drag queen god of music or talking space babies, this might not be your show—and that’s okay. But you’ll be missing out on some of the most creative sci-fi on television.
The 2024 season wasn't perfect, but it was necessary. It moved the show out of the "prestige drama" shadow of the Capaldi era and back into the realm of populist, weird, high-energy storytelling. It’s loud, it’s proud, and whether you like the goblins or not, it’s undeniably Doctor Who.