I wasn't expecting much going into this one, but it was a solid piece of television.

The Doctor and Ruby are immediately perfect, I'd seen complaints that they felt a bit cookie cutter from previews, but I don't get that at all, their interactions feel so genuine and so full of joy, yet there is absolutely still some tension between them early on.

That being said, a lot of it felt very "we need to do XYZ with  Ruby so she can be a full companion, so let's get it all over with ASAP", seeing space, the phone upgrade, the TARDIS key at the end, RTD doesn't seem too interested in a slow start for them, he wants to get right into the action and regular Doctor Who episodes, with a less likeable and talented cast, this might not work, but I think he might have just about pulled it off here.

The Space Babies themselves were... something. The CGI on their mouths never quite felt right, but even as someone who despises children, I couldn't help but find them a bit cute, primarily through the way the Doctor and Ruby interact with them.

The way this episode looks at the Timeless Child revelations through the lens of how it would affect a real person is such a breath of fresh air, finally seeing the Doctor actually talk about it, rather than just brooding, it's incredible. The links to Gatwa's real experience escaping the Rwandan genocide are also appreciated, Gatwa really does feel like the perfect person to be playing 15.

The Bogeyman was amazing visually, and the idea of him being made of the babies' snot was perfectly gross, but I feel they could have done a little more with him, as well as the overall allegory for the fight surrounding reproductive rights. Going too overt with it might have taken away from the episode a bit, but I feel like RTD was playing it a little too safe with this one. Maybe with an extended runtime they could have delved a little deeper into the questions it seems to be tepidly trying to raise, but at the same time this was a perfectly paced 45 minutes, and loading overt political commentary onto the new audience within the first episode would have probably been a mistake. (Although, that never stopped them from making an allegory for socialism in An Unearthly Child!)

We'll have to see the rest of the season to tell how good of an introduction this is to the concept of RTD2 when compared to past era-openers (although it's unclear if this or Ruby Road is intended as the jumping on point for new viewers, neither feels like it's truly without baggage) but I've got high hopes going forward.

7.5/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“SPACE BABIES: DIAPERS, DANGER, AND THE DOCTOR'S NEW ERA BEGINS”

Space Babies properly kicks off the Disney era of Doctor Who, introducing the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday's first adventure together. Following directly from The Church on Ruby Road, the episode wastes no time in giving Ruby the obligatory TARDIS crash course—what the ship is, who the Doctor is, and the rules of time travel. It’s a well-worn staple of the show, but it’s done efficiently and playfully enough to work as a reintroduction for new audiences.

The brief detour before arriving at the space station, where Ruby steps on a butterfly and momentarily transforms into an alien, is an amusing way to establish the mechanics of time travel. However, it ultimately feels like an isolated gag, with no real impact on the episode’s plot.

BABIES… IN SPACE!

The story itself has a wonderfully Doctor Who-ish premise: a seemingly abandoned space station that turns out to be run by highly intelligent talking babies. Before that reveal, however, we get an effective monster moment with the Bogeyman—a shadowy, menacing presence that adds an early layer of tension. The mystery unfolds at a steady pace, capturing the classic feel of Doctor Who space adventures while also setting up the emotional themes of the season.

Ruby and the Doctor’s dynamic is already sharp, with Ruby proving to be quick-thinking and clever under pressure. The story also takes time to flesh out this incarnation of the Doctor, reinforcing his compassion and moral stance early on—especially in his decision to save the Bogeyman despite its nature as a monster. This echoes past Doctor-defining moments, such as Eleven sparing the Star Whale in The Beast Below and Twelve’s plea for mercy in The Witch’s Familiar.

A GAG WITHOUT A PAYOFF

The running joke about "pushing the button" makes little sense, mainly because the scene that introduced it—a little moment where the Doctor and Ruby danced to Push the Button by Sugababes—was left on the cutting room floor. Without that context, the recurring phrase feels random rather than funny.

On a more positive callback, the Doctor upgrading Ruby’s phone to work across time and space mirrors Nine doing the same for Rose in The End of the World, a neat touch that subtly ties this new era to the show’s past.

VISUALS, BABY TALK, AND THE NATURE OF AI

Visually, this episode is stunning. The space station exteriors look breathtaking, and the set design captures both the sterile, mechanical feel of a high-tech facility and the strange absurdity of a baby-run spaceship. However, the CGI used for the babies’ mouth movements falls into uncanny valley territory, making them look unsettling rather than endearing. Coupled with somewhat wooden voice performances, the baby characters don’t quite land as well as they should.

Thematically, Space Babies plants the seeds for the overarching season arc. Themes of family, adoption, and feeling abandoned are deeply intertwined with both the baby characters' predicament and Ruby’s own ongoing mystery. Additionally, the episode touches on AI dependency and budget cuts—both timely concerns in real-world discussions. Doctor Who has always been at its best when blending sci-fi with social commentary, and Space Babies does a decent job of weaving those themes into its narrative.

NAN-E, BLEEPING SWEAR WORDS, AND THE POWER OF FICTION

Golda Rosheuvel shines as Nan-E (or Jocelyn), the babies’ only real guardian. She brings warmth, humour, and kindness to the role, making her a standout supporting character. The "Nan-E Filter," which censors any swearing with a loud "bleep," is a fun gag that adds a bit of levity.

There’s also an interesting undercurrent about the power of fiction, as the babies learn that their supposed "uselessness" is actually their greatest strength—something that ties neatly into both the Doctor Who ethos and the larger themes of the season.

SNOT MONSTER—MOFFAT VIBES OR TOO SILLY?

The concept of a monster made out of snot has a very Steven Moffat-esque quality—taking something mundane and making it terrifying. The Bogeyman’s design is effectively grotesque, but it doesn’t quite become an instant-classic monster. It’s a fun idea, though, and serves the story well enough.

📝VERDICT: 7/10

While Space Babies leans a bit too far into the childish side at times, it successfully establishes the themes of the season and the dynamic between the Doctor and Ruby. The visuals are fantastic (except for the odd baby CGI), the mystery is engaging, and there are plenty of fun moments—though some gags, like the "push the button" joke, feel incomplete.

It’s an exciting, whimsical, and occasionally heartfelt introduction to this new Doctor Who era. Not perfect, but a solid start.

Season 1 (Series 14); Episode One --- "Space Babies" by Russell T. Davies

It is an inevitable fact that eventually, Doctor Who will cover every genre. It's a show that can fit into any medium, with any tone and it can slot into any category. So, to sell a nation to the real, proper introduction of the new, weekly released series, RTD and the folks over at the BBC/Disney decided that the genre they'd be doing first would be... talking babies. A genre consisting of critically acclaimed works such as Look Who's Talking and Baby Geniuses. What did this choice result in? One of the most thoroughly confusing pieces of garbage I have seen in my life.

Taking Ruby for her first trip aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor lands the ship in an abandoned baby farm - a huge space station dedicated to breeding human children. But something's gone wrong, all but the babies have left, the ship is falling apart, and a Bogeyman roams the lower levels.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

So I guess Doctor Who's a kids show now. Ok, before that gets misconstrued, Doctor Who has always been kid friendly, in fact, I encourage it (at least for TV). The easiest way to induct people into the cult is to get them young, after all. The problem here is Space Babies is straight up for kids, with multiple "hilarious" jokes about various bodily fluids and the Disney budget being drained into animating infant actors' mouths. If I have to give this episode anything, it would be the budget mentioned last sentence. The episode looks glorious: brilliant exterior shots, immaculate sets and a masterful design for a monster of the week. Throw in some great directing and it's safe to say that the episode's beautiful. In addition, the chemistry between Gatwa and Gibson is incredible and the two bounce off each other like they've been working on the show together for years. However, even that comes with a negative.

The Doctor does not feel like the Doctor, still, even after this was already a complaint in my review for the Church on Ruby Road. This is no dig at Gatwa, he's infectiously fun in the role and he nails the lines and directions he's given but the characterisation for 15 just does not feel like the millennia old time immortal that the Doctor is; even the walking, talking piece of carboard that was the 13th Doctor felt closer to the character than him. Now, to address the elephant in the room, every time the babies were on screen, I wanted to die. I don't know if it was Russell or some executive who first pitched this episode but I now have a burning want to hunt them down. They're annoying, they're intrusive, they don't feel like they belong in the show and it feels like an element directly targeting actual toddlers, which makes no sense, since Doctor Who's prime demographic are people who've been watching since the Moffatt or original RTD era; plus, the next episode's about the Beatles, so actually who is the show for anymore? Besides that, the episodes just idiotic. It's full of countless plot holes too minor and too many to properly list here? Why does this computer created to care for small children actively create a creature that makes them fear for their lives? Why does the frequency specifically designed to inflict fear into people just stop working once the plot wraps up? Why is the Doctor so shocked he got scared? He gets scared all the time, he got scared two episodes ago, he gets scared in the next episode, why is this a thing?

Space Babies is a mess: an insulting, moronic, tiresome mess that I only wanted to end. It doesn't know it's own fanbase, it isn't clever, or well written or emotionally impactful. It forsakes good writing for fart jokes. It is, quite probably, the worst first impression this show has ever given and it was actively painful to sit through.

3/10

Pros:

+ The Doctor and Ruby have an incredible dynamic that is ridiculously fun to watch

+ Looks gorgeous, with great direction and a budget put (mostly) to good use

+ Great creature design on the Bogeyman

+ Immaculate set design

Cons:

- The choice to have the episode be about intelligent babies is a choice I actively despise

- Annoying, childish and embarrassing writing that consistently fails at humour

- 15 truly does not feel like the Doctor, featuring almost none of the character's consistent traits and never showing his age

- Utterly riddled with plot holes in a script that feels like an early draft

- Paced horrifically, never giving the audience any chance to breath and just throwing them directly into the deep end

- Completely misses its target demographic

What a terribly strange and baffling idea this was.  I'm not against the idea of Space Babies, I suppose.  I mean it is a tacky idea straight out of the 90s but any idea can be fun if executed well.  It looked just awful though and their whole side of the story was quite boring.  I don't hate the way we speed ran through Ruby's introduction to TARDIS life, but it does feel silly and makes the episode a poor introduction to Doctor Who when it really, truly shouldn't be one.  This is the big start to the new Disney partnership with Doctor Who (previous year specials aside) and it's a truly awful experience.

One thing working for Space Babies is the stuff around Ruby's mysterious origins.  In hindsight, this mystery has no pay-off down the road, and while that's not entirely on this episode, it does make that stuff feel pointless, because while those scenes are cool here, they aren't paid off in any way in this or any other episode.  So no, it's not very good.  It might be one of the worst, if not the worst, series premiere in all of Doctor Who.  And it's a real shame because I quite like the rest of this season.  It's pretty fun, but this was a bit of a train wreck.

An overhated story in my mind! The babies did not feel creepy at all to me. The ship farting itself to safety is really dumb, but I think this story actually shows some of the core traits of who the Doctor is when he risks his life to save the ultimately innocent boogeyman. I think it does a good job in showing who the Doctor is, but clearly the baby idea was too wild for some people.