Space Babies

How not to start off a series - a guide.

Doctor Who has plenty of episodes with a tone similar to Space Babies. The Slitheen two-parter, Aliens of London/World War Three, springs to mind. As does Love and Monsters. One of those is a masterpiece that I would recommend gladly, the other lands about as badly as this one does.

Firstly, I don't think they should be babies. Babies, including physically infants with the brains of six-year-olds, would not be able to survive and do what they do in this episode, I'm sorry. Space Kids would also solve the awful CGI mouth issues by having actual six-year-old child actors as both the bodies and voices of the characters. You could spend that Disney money on a Beatles' song for the next, possibly meant to be later in the series, episode. Secondly, what's with the repeated title drops? Especially the times when the Doctor says 'Babies - Space Babies'. Even writing that out, I had to roll my eyes.

I mentioned AoL/WW3 earlier, and I feel like this is actually RTD going 'Oh, a child-aimed episode worked out well in 2005. So did taking the companion to the far future to show her space the first time' and mashing together AoL/WW3 and The End of the World in a big way... Mess.

Saving the Bogeyman is also something that just doesn't make sense. It's made of bogeys and animated by a computer. It's not alive. It's snot being piloted by a machine. And why does it turn into a werewolf at the end? Actually, why are there so many jokes about bodily fluids? This is as juvenile as Torchwood series 1, just about different, kid-friendly fluids. To quote Sixie, 'yuck!'

Also, why do the babies suddenly care for the Bogeyman, they were scared of it earlier.

No wonder the viewing figures went down, all that new audience RTD wanted to bring in, hence restarting the series numbering, probably saw this juvenile drivel, went 'Oh. I guess Doctor Who isn't for me' and turned off.

AoL/WW3 worked because the fart jokes were in moderation, and the story has both a light-hearted, child aimed surface and dark undercurrent (which becomes more apparent in part 2). Additionally, time is wasted setting up a mystery that isn't a mystery, with the Doctor's memory of the night of Ruby's birth changing. From a post-Empire of Death perspective, this ruins one of the few interesting scenes from my first watch of the episode. Don't worry, there's no mystery here, she was just pointing at something that doesn't exist because she was naming her daughter.

There was good political commentary in one of the other intriguing scenes, when Ruby and Jocelyn talk about societies that force babies to be born but don't want to look after them once they exist. No matter your personal opinions on abortion, other people need to be free to make their own choices. But that's about it. I mean, there was a funny joke about the butterfly effect, and some of the Doctor's info dump about Time Lords and TARDISes and everything was good (though I don't think it should have all been in one scene)... But yeah. I don't particularly want to go sifting through shit for less nuggets of gold than I can count on the fingers of one hand. Especially when one turns out to be more shit.

Babies are cute! You guys are just mean

Space babies, Space babies, Space Babies

The number of time the Doctor says this during the episode is ridiculous.

The Doctor takes Ruby off on her first adventure in the TARDIS, they find themselves on a space station with a monster and babies... I wasn't impressed with this on first viewing and I was interested in seeing it again. I thought a second watch might mean I'd reappraise it, get past the not so good aspects and enjoy a great episode, but no. Its not something I can be proud of as a fan, quite frankly I want to disown it completely.

Its RTD's Doctor Who by numbers, doing the same stuff as he did when he relaunched in 2005 - jiggy pokery with the mobile phone, almost idenitcal shots from End of the World.

The first 10 minutes isn't bad, going back in time seeing dinosaurs, Ruby treading on a butterfly, arriving at the space station but then the babies come out...

Each time there is a new Doctor, there's a period getting used to the new person, is this still the same character that I've known and loved. This Doctor seems less like the Doctor than ever, but then maybe thats how Colin Baker was recieved on his first story (I know my family turned off after the Twin Dilemma). Maybe it needs change to continue, but that maybe with out me.

Apart from the constant 'Babies, Space babies' said by the Doctor, there's also the ramming it home that the Doctor is an orphan reinforcing the worst retcon that ever entered the Doctor Who universe, and for me I find it alienating and unnecessary. The fact is that sooner or later a show runner will decided 'lets find out who the Doctor is' and write a story of how the Doctor was abandoned. Then there'll be no mystery left and a few years later someone else will want to put the mystery back and do another retcon.

The episode isn't as bad as I remembered, but as with Aliens of London/World War Three its not one I'll be revisiting much.

Doctor Who (2023 – 20XX)

#1.01. Space Babies ~ 8/10

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◆ An Introduction

A companion’s first adventure through time and space should always be a special one – unless your name is Hex or C’rizz, then you get lumbered with something experimental which does nothing for their character development – so here’s hoping Ruby has better luck.

On an unrelated note, I hope you’ve got some tissues to deal with the walking snot monster.

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◆ Publisher’s Summary

Ruby learns the Doctor’s amazing secrets when he takes her to the far future. There, they find a baby farm run by babies. But can they be saved from the terrifying bogeyman?

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◆ The Fifteenth Doctor

His parents abandoned him and he became the foundling of the Time Lords, so he can empathise with the inhabitants of Baby Station Delta and their worries that they “grew up wrong”. But he assures them that nobody grows up wrong: you are what you are, and that is magnificent. This episode does an excellent job of tying the Doctor’s backstory into the narrative.

Considering the Doctor is the only member of his species in the whole universe, it’s not surprising the horror on his face when Jocelyn tries to blast the Bogeyman out of an airlock! ‘Space Babies’ featured an amazing performance from Ncuti Gatwa.

Because he was adopted, and the planet that took him in, they were kind of posh. They’d use titles like the Doctor, or the Bishop, or the Rani, or the Conquistador: say Doctor for a thousand years and it becomes his name. His world was called Gallifrey, and it’s gone. There was a genocide, and they died, so the one that was adopted was the only one left. He is the last of the Time Lords. And he is so, so glad to be alive. The Doctor claims that most of the universe is knackered. He believes that there is no such thing as monsters, there’s just creatures you haven’t met yet. The Doctor doesn’t have a people. He doesn’t have a home. But he doesn’t have a job, either. He doesn’t have a boss, or taxes or rent or bills to pay. He doesn’t have a purpose or a cause, or a mission, but he has freedom. And so he keeps moving on, to see the next thing, and the next, and the next. And sometimes, it looks even better through his companion’s eyes. The Doctor’s parents left him, and he was found by the Time Lords, but it doesn’t matter where he comes from, because he is absolutely lovely. There’s no-one like him in the whole, wide universe. No-one like him exists, and that’s true of everyone. It’s not a problem, it’s a superpower. He’s met a million ugly bugs – he is an ugly bug! – but that thing made him run, and he wonders why.

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◆ Ruby Sunday

A companion’s first adventure through the fourth dimension always features a great deal of culture shock, and Ruby is clearly struggling with the idea that a bunch of babies are running a space station, and somewhat horrified that their parents / guardians decided to just up and leave. This episode also kick-starts a series of weird occurrences surrounding Ruby, including having the ability to summon snow when in danger…

Millie Gibson put on an excellent performance in ‘Space Babies’, really connected with the material.

Ruby worried about how safe seeing dinosaurs would be: what if she changed history by stepping on a butterfly or something? Lo and behold, she ends up doing exactly that… briefly transforming into Rubathon Blue of the 57th Hemisphere Hatchlings!

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◆ Walking Sneeze

Speaking as someone who is severely germaphobic, this week’s monster genuinely made me wretch when it was revealed to be made from actual snot, but I’ll admit that the lore behind it is actually quite interesting.

The parthenogenesis machine had inbuilt education software which started going haywire and taking things literally: babies need fiction, so it created a genuine nightmare creature so they had something to be afraid of! It was designed to have a roar with a frequency of 17Hz to instil fear in anyone who heard it, which even made the Doctor recoil when he first encountered it.

Certainly a fascinating concept, but one which I don’t find myself relating to in the slightest, because my nightmares as a child weren’t of unreal creatures like the Bogeyman. One nightmare from childhood has actually been lodged in my brain ever since I was three years old: being trapped in the Metrocentre ASDA and attacked by an evil swan! Considering I’ve never been frightened of birds, that nightmare still feels very random.

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◆ Set Design & Visuals

Our first destination is 150 million years in the past, and this is where production really start flexing their Disney budget; huge mountains surround a lush green valley, with a river and waterfall cutting right through the middle. Dinosaurs of several varieties are roaming around the plains below, while pterodactyls soar across the skyline. Rubes then steps on a butterfly and briefly becomes some form of avian-Silurian hybrid! It definitely makes sense to open on such a grandiose image, considering the majority of this episode falls into the traditional Doctor Who category of running round a load of cramped corridors.

We get this absolutely glorious shot of the TARDIS emerging from the time vortex, hurtling towards Baby Station Beta and shifting through the walls. The space station corridors are dark and cramped, hiding a slimy creature that immediately starts chasing the Doctor and Rubes. I particularly like how we get to see these corridors through the station’s onboard CCTV systems: it’s very reminiscent of ‘Sleep No More’.

As our dynamic duo explore the upper levels of Baby Station Beta, you can see drawings made on the wall in crayon, and various children’s toys being used to operate control panels. It’s more like a branch of Mothercare than a space station!

The constant switching camera angles make the Bogeyman absolutely horrifying, especially since it’s skulking around in those dark corridors. We never actually get a proper look at it until Cpt. Poppy attacks it with a flamethrower!

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◆ Conclusion

“You’ve literally got a monster living down below. It’s a children’s story! Come to life.”

Encountering a real-life bogeyman, our dynamic duo must uncover its surprising origins, and decide if it really poses a danger to the inhabitants of Baby Station Beta.

When the episode names were unveiled across social media, I immediately started cringing at this one, but the adventure itself turned out pretty good. Considering both the Doctor and Ruby are foundlings, it seems more than coincidence that they should find themselves on a space station inhabited by babies, where all the parents have just upped and left; the former also develops a connection to our antagonist, because they’re both the only member of their species in existence.

Ignoring the atrocious title for a moment, ‘Space Babies’ was genuinely a great episode to kick off the series with, though I was surprised just how many moments in the story were ripped wholesale from Rose Tyler’s first outing in the TARDIS.

It's crazy how long it feels since the last proper series of Doctor Who. The last time we had more than just Specials was back in 2021, with Flux, which in my opinion was Jodie Whittaker's strongest series. Space Babies gives us the first actual series to use Disney money, although I don't think it shows for most of Space Babies.

 

Possibly the clearest glimpse at that American investment is in the scene where the Doctor takes Ruby back to the prehistoric era, which is coincidentally also my favourite sequence from the episode. It's such a playful take on the idea that stepping on a butterfly in the past can change the timeline, and the way that Millie Gibson makes the reptilian version of Ruby seem so different really highlights just how incredible of an actor she is.

It also gives us a nice explanation for why the Doctor has never encountered the butterfly effect before, revealing that the TARDIS has a special switch to counter it. Whilst I did enjoy Space Babies, I do think a whole episode set in the prehistoric era and exploring the butterfly effect would have been a more dynamic episode.

 

The main narrative in Space Babies is decent, albeit unoriginal. It concerns a baby farm on a space station, where the babies themselves are in charge, and being terrorised by the Bogeyman. The Bogeyman itself is extremely well realised, and the way they film the babies to make it appear as though they are reacting to the Doctor, Ruby, and the Bogeyman is quite clever. I also liked the Wallace and Gromit-esque machinery for changing nappies and blowing noses, which fits Doctor Who's quirky nature like a glove.

 

However, a lot of the scenes are very similar to The End Of The World, to the point where it feels like a straight copy. Russell T Davies even does the exact same scene where the Ninth Doctor Sonics Rose's phone so she can call her Mum. It feels like watching one of those movies like Jurassic World, where they copy the same beats but with new actors, but Jurassic World at least added something new with the park now being fully operational.

 

There is also a massive exposition dump at the beginning, where the Doctor explains about the TARDIS, and how he was raised on Gallifrey to Ruby. I get that the aim is to bring new viewers onboard, and this scene is to get them up to speed with the basics of Doctor Who, but there must have been a better way to put that information across.

 

The Bogeyman, on the other hand, is explained very well as being comprised of snot from the babies, gathered by the ship's computer systems. The idea that they based the Bogeyman on the iconic children's story, believing the babies need fiction as much as food and sleep, and took its name literally as a being of snot, is a nice and unexpected reveal, as I was anticipating the Bogeyman's existence to come from the Doctor spreading salt in Wild Blue Yonder. I am also intrigued by the snowflakes that keep appearing around Ruby Sunday. It seems somewhat ominous, and I hope it doesn't mean Ruby will have an unhappy ending.

 

Overall, I would probably rate Space Babies a 5/10. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but it also copies a lot of what came before.

I think if it wasn’t for 15 n rubys chemistry the episode wouldn’t be as fun they honestly life the episode to new heights

i have no real words. i think i might be in love with ruby sunday.

A definitely fun introduction but weaker than other episode-ones RTD has done. Loved getting to see the instant friendship between 15 and Ruby is fun, Ncuti and Millie’s chemistry is undeniable and infectious. Was very glad to see RTD’s unsubtle social commentary, and was overjoyed that the Bogeyman wasn’t an evil to defeat but it’s own creature who was a victim of its circumstances.
I do wish RTD had included a moment where the Doctor talks to the Bogeyman after he saves it, and maybe offered it a toy to visually indicate to the ship’s crew that the Bogeyman wasn’t evil. The audience sees the flashbacks to directly compare the Doctor and the Bogeyman, but the babies don’t see this so their turn in opinion on the Bogeyman feels like it happens very fast. I’m glad that at the end they wound up rooting for the Bogeyman, but if the Doctor had said to a camera in the airlock “Hey, it’s safe, it’s a kid just like you” I think the babies’ reactions would have made more sense.
I could have also done without the toilet humor at the end, but it is a part of the RTD package.

🙏🏼65% = Fine! = Skippable!

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

THE ONE WITH THE MONSTER MADE OF SNOT!

They’ve improved the title sequence, fixing pretty much all the problems I had with the one from Church on Ruby Road! It's not perfect, but it's much better!

I quite like the opening scene, which is a traditional Doctor Who crash course meant to explain to the new companion and the audience what the show and the lead character are all about.

Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson feel like old mates already. Gatwa’s playful take on the Doctor is infectious, and Gibson is charming with her youthful energy and constant awe. They carry the episode very well, and Gatwa finally feels like the Doctor here, as he brings out a wide range of emotions, from happy energy to true fear and intense determination.

I don't find the first TARDIS trip, where Ruby steps on a butterfly and transforms into an alien, to be particularly funny. Additional jokes that fail to resonate include Gatwa's repetitive use of the episode's title and the snot and poop jokes (which feel so 2005! ), whereas the nanny filter gags are genuinely amusing.

It feels weird how quickly the Doctor and Ruby get into trouble after materialising onto the spaceship. They immediately begin exploring and encounter the monster, which is only glimpsed through quick cuts (a classic horror trope that is used rather effectively). This is the Bogeyman, a pretty traditional Doctor Who monster made effecively scary by the realistic rubber suit, the clever direction, and good editing whenever it appears on screen.

The entire idea of a spaceship run by babies and with a baby farm is equally creepy, bizarre, and silly, and somehow it feels a bit too weird, even for Doctor Who. These are also parts of RTD's political commentary on refugees and abortion that don't pop up too obtrusively.

The spaceship design is simple and effective (you can sense the scale and level of detail), and the visual effects are top notch (though the effect used for the babies' lip movements doesn't look right at all). The voice acting for the babies also feels a bit off, but that might be deliberate.

Space Babies has a simplistic plot that finds time to develop the mystery around Ruby's past while also developing the main narrative around the babies and the Bogeyman.

After a very rushed start, the middle of the episode takes some time to flesh out the setting and the reason for the space babies—a simple and logical reason. It then focuses on solving the monster's mystery, making good use of the characters and setting. I quite like the clever solution of why the Bogeyman exists, as it has been created by the spaceship computer, who has interpreted the Bogeyman fairytale literally (it’s a monster made of snot or bogies—only on Doctor Who!). It’s almost as silly as the Kandyman from The Happiness Patrol.

The climax and solution are pretty standard fare for Doctor Who.

 

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RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

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I love the new way the TARDIS materializes, sort of shooting onto the scene as if shot from a cannon, as it looks so cool!

The “phone your mom” scene is a wonderful hark back to The End of the World (2005).

So, we get new Time Lord names: the Bishop, the Conquistador, the Sag-ishi, and so on! Now we wait for the Big Finish spin-offs featuring these characters!

 

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

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Space Babies is silly, bizarre, and uneven; new viewers run the risk of being put off, while old fans are left wondering whether or not this is the weirdest season opener in Doctor Who history.

I think there are some really cool ideas here, but the episode doesn’t stop and take the time to fully explore any of them. The result is a fun episode with some funny moments, but ultimately it feels rushed and somewhat underdeveloped. I also don’t think this was the best introduction for a new fan. There was a lot of exposition piled on quite heavily and, while Ruby does a good job acting as a stand-in for the viewer, I don’t think it is the best way to ease people into the show. I enjoyed the opening gag a lot and only wish it could have been explored a little further.

I really liked this one! Not mind-blowing but a solid start for the series and a great first non-special episode for Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson.

Characters/Acting:

Ruby and Fifteen are sooo much fun. They already feel so real and fleshed out, and I think that mainly comes down to the fantastic job the actors are doing (welcome to the era of face acting btw we LOVE to see it.) The chemistry between them is perfect too - they feel more like actual peers on equal footing than any "best friends" TARDIS team we've had before. I could seriously watch them all day.

Plot/Writing:

Pretty boring plot overall but structurally sound enough that it doesn't read as truly bad and the acting really saved it. Every new series/Doctor/companion needs an exposition ep and this one did everything it needed to do very efficiently. Docking points for snot and fart jokes but it's a family show after all so whatever. The worst thing about this ep is the monster and its fate - I can get behind "the story needed a monster so the machine made one" because I love the meta stuff going on in this whole series but the jump from "the machine made it" to "it's beautiful and we have to risk our lives to save it" to "okay bye" was way too fast and incredibly shallow. I'm hesitant to interpret that are part of the "reality is falling apart and the story is telling itself" thing because it just felt like bad writing actually and if we start attributing all bad writing to that, we'll start excusing anything.

Overall very fun to watch though and makes me very excited to see more!

This is my first review here, so, sorry if I mess up the formatting or anything like that, still getting used to it all. Also, please don't expect this to be very formal or properly organised- I tend to go on tangents a lot! Spoilers only from the political section onwards.
So, first episode of the new season! I give it a 3/5- it was fun, it was entertaining, and it had some truly fascinating political ideas that RTD just failed to drive home. The dynamic between Ruby and 15 was well-developed and so much fun! So, let's talk about all this in more detail. First, a warning that in the 'politics' section, I'm going to be talking about some pretty dark themes like euthanasia of babies, so if you think that will upset you, please steer clear.

Overall
I saw a tumblr post refer to this episode as a "rent-lowering gunshot", and I think that's pretty accurate. It felt like RTD was so used to having to be implicit with his political ideas that now that he is able to be more explicit, he doesn't quite know how- something I'm sure will change as the season progresses, if TDC is any indication! But I also feel like it was almost there to scare off the people who aren't willing to stick with Who through it's lows as well as it's highs, or to keep with the show through it's genre change. It's a big shift, and so it's no surprise that there's some teething problems. I definitely don't think the new era should be judged on this episode, and again, I think it makes sense to have this out here to sort of scare away the people who the new era isn't made for. The people who are stuck in their ways, who think Who has "gone woke", and who don't want to see it become more fantastical. (More on that in my review of The Devil's Chord... I have a lot more to say with that one!). I liked it. I really did. It was fun, it was silly, it had it's heartwrenching moments, but it definitely wasn't carried through properly and there were a lot of themes that were just left dangling when they could have been driven home much more steadfastly. More on that in the next section...

Politics
One thing you cannot say about this episode is that it shied away from the big political debates. Abortion was the obvious one, though I also saw links with disability and anarchism. I am aware that the disability part of this especially seems to be grasping at straws, so I want to clarify: I don't believe RTD intended to explore this, but I think as a disabled person it is very difficult to ignore the implications.

Abortion. This one is pretty obvious- right from the beginning of meeting the babies, there was rage and a terrible kind of heartache. Who would do this to these children? Who would be so heartless as to allow this to happen, for children to be forced to become leaders and technicians and grow up so fast while still so young, all with only one adult to take care of so many? And the answer was, of course, the government. With the overturning of Roe vs Wade hanging over all our heads, I think the message being sent is clear: Not being allowed to turn off the baby farms is not being allowed to abort babies who will have no parents. The connection to our real-world issues around abortion continues to develop the more you think about it- the government, controlling the growth/birth of babies against the wishes of the population (those videos of the crew decrying this as cruel at the start); the babies who are produced like a commodity. The children, left with no supervision (ending up in care), because no support is provided for them to be looked after (by the parents/crew), forcing them to grow up too fast. A common pro-choice sentiment is expressed very explicitly upon meeting the real "Nan-E":

"Hang on, so the planet down below who refused to stop the babies being born... But once they're born, they don't look after them?"
"It's a very strange planet."
"It's not that strange."

I won't lie, I cried at that last line. It's not that strange. How much more clearly can you condemn the actions of a goverment who forces people to have children against their will (It's against the law to turn off the baby-making machine, just as there are places in our world where it is illegal to have an abortion), and then forces them to leave said children with no support, exactly as we do on Earth. And it's not that strange because that is what happens here. A heartbreaking moment of true, human emotion about what we are being forced through here in the real world. And, as much as this new season is all about the fantasy, we can see the show keeping it's sci-fi roots- sci-fi has always been there to criticise the present by showing it as a future dystopia, painting that issue in a clearly negative light. It has always been didactic, and always been political. I don't think we have to worry about Doctor Who stopping that any time soon.

And, if I may make one more connection on this issue- we saw that more babies were being grown. If those embryos had been born, and there were new, younger babies on that station, who do you think would have had to take care of them? Jocelyn wasn't supposed to stay behind. Logically, if no one was left to take care of the new babies, then the slightly older babies would have been forced into that role, despite being no more than children themselves. A sickening reminder of the fates of child sexual assault victims, forced to carry to term, despite this often leading to the victim's death. Again, RTD leaves no holds barred here; by making it clear that the babies are running out of food and oxygen, and so will die from lack of care and resources, he has once again presented a scathing indictment of the supreme court decision to overturn Roe vs Wade, and what this has led to.

However, here is where RTD fell short. He failed to drive his point home. He never showed us what happened- surely, the machines should have been turned off, aborting the embryos which would have killed the already living babies, if RTD is making a point about how SA victims are essentially sacrificed on the state's need to view a clump of cells as worth more than a living human being? By not actually addressing the issue of the baby machines still being up and running, despite this soon killing the babies, RTD has left a major plot thread dangling, and is failing his strongest theme. The issue of abortion deserves more than a question; it deserves RTD's full attention. It deserves to be tied up and resolved within the episode. And RTD failed to do this.

Now, disability. As I said before, I do not believe RTD was intending to explore disability, but once you've seen it, it's difficult to ignore. Let's start with the part of this that most closely connects to the last point- the aborting of embryos who are likely to become disabled children, and the euthanasia of disabled babies. There are some disabilities that you can detect in the womb, such as spina bifida, and sometimes down syndrome. In the UK, down syndrome can be seen as "justification for termination" up until birth, and there are all-too-many stories of pregnant people with a down syndrome embryo being pressured into having an abortion when they want to keep the embryo and have their baby.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-51658631

The reason I bring up aborting disabled embrbyos, and the related issue of withdrawing care from disabled newborns or euthanising disabled newborns against parental wishes, is because of the Bogeyman. When Jocelyn attempted to kill the Bogeyman against the wishes of the other children, given the new knowledge that this was "one of the children", and the previous focus on the horror of not allowing the baby machines to be stopped even when it meant the babies would surely die, this felt to me like a statement about disabled newborns. The Bogeyman was made of boogers; seen as disgusting, as scary, as a nightmare. I've heard the same words applied to disabled infants, which is perhaps why I made this connection so readily. As I said before, I doubt other people will have/that it was intentional, but this is definitely what struck me.

Something about the fear of the Other, of the different, even though this was still a child, hits me especially hard as an autistic person. I am used to being ostracised and ignored on the playground because I'm "too weird", "too different"; because the other children see my difference as "scary". And, with the episode's theme of teaching children that "Nobody grows up wrong"- not the babies who developed physically and mentally different from what was expected, not the autistic and other neurodivergent children watching behind the sofa- how could I not apply the same statement to the Bogeyman? Nobody grows up wrong is perhaps the most powerful thing you can hear when you have have been told all your life that you are wrong. The Bogeyman has, for six years, been told that they are scary, that their difference means they shouldn't be around the other children. They don't communicate like the others or look like the others or play the same role in the story-game as the others, so they are different. But that does not mean that they are wrong, or that they deserve to die. In today's day and age's focus on neurodiversity, maybe that seems obvious to most adults reading this, but I know so many people who have hurt themselves because they were taught by all the other children around them- and by the adults who were supposed to protect them (hi Jocelyn)- that their difference made them wrong, and so they didn't deserve to play and be loved and live like the other children. The dehumanisation- being treated like a "doggo", not a child, also hits especially hard with this neurodiverse lens. However, I think again I felt let down by the way RTD never really showed the Bogeyman being given a chance to communicate in their own way, to play with the other children, the point about difference not being wrong simply wasn't driven home. It's one thing to be told that you aren't broken; it's entirely another to actually be accepted by those who rejected you in the first place. The Bogeyman deserved a hug too.

Let's move on to something a bit less heavy: Anarchism! All the Doctor's talk of freedom interested me in light of other very political episodes like 'Oxygen' or 'The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances', as in these, the Doctor has always been presented as a socialist. While this was definitely an anti-capitalist episode, what with it's condemning of "the government clos[ing] the Baby Station to save money", and this leading to the deaths of the children, I would argue that the Doctor seemed to be taking on a more anarchist stance than a socialist one. He was consistently anti-capitalist, with the consolation for him having no home being no boss, no taxes, no rent (so true. go off babes), and the focus on "freedom" is especially linked to anarchism, as anarchism vies for freedom from authority. However, the talk of having "no cause" or purpose is where this starts to fall down, as anarchists definitely do have a cause... though, that could simply be a reflection of a poor understanding of anarchism. Though I can see a link, I definitely don't think the anarchism thread is a main theme, but it is worth mentioning.

Fantasy
The new genre is here, and it's off to a swinging start- the focus on stories, fantasy bleeding through, now that there's no more anchoring... It all just fits beautifully. I have a lot more thoughts on this that I'm saving for my Devil's Chord review, but I just wanted to note that the fantasy genre in a sci-fi setting struck a neat balance, and helped the episode feel more fun!

15 and Ruby: The Relationship
Their dynamic is everything to me. That's it. That's all. They're perfect and amazing and I would die for them.

Other/Final Thoughts
I think it's also worth congratulating the episode on it's foreshadowing. The way the butterfly effect was shown at the beginning (Obsessed, by the way, with the implications of the Doctor bringing that butterfly back to life. I saw no regeneration energy, so, was it some psychic trick rather than regenerative healing? Can he do this with people? So many possibilities...), and then undone so Ruby never knew it happened, and then how in the next episode she doesn't understand when the butterfly effect does occur... Beautiful. Well done.

Fun visuals, a lot of unanswered questions (How were the babies talking and yet not talking? Why didn't they grow up physically and yet did somewhat grow up mentally? RTD, I swear, I just want to talk-) that really brought it down for me, and the themes msot rich in exploration left dangling. Plot-wise, this made the episode a bit of a let-down, but it was still entertaining and worth a watch! Unlikely to rewatch, but still a good time.

I can't say I like this episode. I didn't have an issue with the general premise and the childish jokes weren't what put me off, but I've never been a fan of baby stories, and this was no different.

I found the opening to go by much too fast. There was no time to really see Ruby's reaction to everything she was suddenly exposed to. It felt almost like checking things off the list so we could get to the actual plot. While I enjoyed the butterfly-effected Ruby and the Doctor breathing life back into the butterfly and especially the switch to mitigate the effect, it felt very much like a moment written in exclusively to feature in the trailer and added nothing to the overall story, especially when it could have used a little more breathing room.

Many parts of this episode felt like RTD was stealing from his earlier stories: the reveal of the translation matrix and the phone call were both taken directly from The End of the World, the Doctor telling Ruby she can't see her mum was taken right from Father's Day (and without even a throwaway line about having been caught in such a paradox before!), and so on. Perhaps it was meant to be a nice call-back, but to me it felt more like he ran out of ideas.

Too much lore was dumped in this first story. The Doctor has always been secretive, and him sharing so much felt rushed and out of character. Yet another box to tick so we could move on. This is probably indicative of the switch to only 8 episodes a season, which is a change I disliked in every show I've seen it happen to so far. Fewer episodes mean less time to get to know our characters, means more infodumps with less time to digest the information.

I didn't really like Ruby in this. I enjoyed her well enough in CORR, but here every moment of awe from her was undercut by a gag, and then we quickly moved on to the next plot point. I know her saying "This is the worst day to happen to anyone ever" was supposed to be hyperbole to lighten the mood, but she got to see dinosaurs and space while I spent the day before rushing my cat to the emergency vet via public transport and paying my entire monthly income in vet bills - and that didn't even reach the top three worst days of my life. It felt a little like a personal attack, honestly.

I don't understand how Jocelyn could be the only person to stay on board with the children. Were none of the other crewmembers bothered by this? Also, don't children die without physical contact? There is also something to be said for this being the second story in a row where a Black woman who's entire character is centred around taking care of children that are not her own, half of whom are white, is introduced. Knowing RTD's track record with racism, I don't love this.

The political messages are nice, but terribly undercut by the babies doing child labour to keep the station running.

The climax was extremely underwhelming. I love the design of the Bogeyman, I thought having it made out of actual bogeys was clever and fun, but at no point was I made to believe that this creature was sentient, let alone sapient, or even *alive*. The message of "Even scary things deserve to live" is good and important, but there are definitely better ways to get it across. It doesn't help that it was probably still making the scary noise and wouldn't be able to cohabitate with the babies on their new planet, which appeared to be the goal by the end.

The running gag of the Doctor correcting himself from "Babies" to "Space babies!" was funny the first time, but got very old by the third. Even the "Press the button!" thing got tiring quickly, especially since I didn't get the point of it from the start.

I suppose this isn't really the first episode of the series - that would be CORR - but I did expect something that establishes Ruby and the Doctor a little bit more. It felt like they took a backseat to the plot. Not a great start.

I won't form an opinion on the snow scene until it either does or doesn't pay off.

Space Babies has got all the marks of a classic Doctor Who episode (classic as in notable, not classic as in Classic Who), and by that I mean a political metaphor so obvious you could close your eyes and still see it, the old "that's not a proper conversation that's just exposition", a deeply silly plot resolution, and of course, some incredible character work for both the Doctor and Ruby.

 

The plot was. fine? Pretty solid, nothing all that special imo, but where this episode shone was Ncuti Gatwa really being able to show what kind of a Doctor he's going to play, and how he acted alongside Millie Gibson as Ruby. God I love them

Doctor Who: The Gatwa Years - Episode 01

The new era of the show begins with...An average episode. It was fun, sure, but nothing special. And those babies...Ugh, the uncanny valley!

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

Fun, just pure, absolute fun.

I absolutely love that RTD didn't hold back, he's mentioned the Rani and talked about the Timeless Child in one episode, a monster made of bogeys and talking babies.

Before anyone says that's ridiculous, or too silly, New Who started with farting aliens and burping bins. This is RTD, same as he ever was, back in full force, again we've had competently written dialogue, a grounded companion and plenty of mysteries. In fact, plenty is an understatement, I'd sound like a conspiracy theorist trying to tie together all the things being setup so far. I only hope it will be resolved well.

The Disney money shows, Doctor who has never looked this good and it all feels so fresh. I'm positively buzzing for the rest of this season and this start has definitely exceeded my expectations.

I seriously don’t know how someone could make the talking baby premise work outside of a cartoon series.
This episode is a mess, and many of the jokes are bad. At least Ncuti and Millie were great in it

Quite good fun, but a bit messy at spots, and has some pacing issues.
I get that the first story is basically there to establish a bond between the characters while the plot takes a backseat, à la Smith and Jones, but here I feel like it took too much of a backseat.
I do like the ending of The Doctor saving The Bogeyman because it's the right thing to do, but the babies and Jocelyn being on the same page is completely left-field.
Also, I'm not sure I buy the chemistry between 15 and Rubes just yet, I could definitely get there, but, idk, it feels kind of forced, we'll see as the season progresses.
Finally, I don't like how the "make the companion's phone able to call the past" scene is ripped straight from The End of The World, but, those are all my gripes and nitpicks with the story, the rest of it is, as said, good fun.
I also feel like Millie's performance has improved, I wasn't much a fan of it in The Church on Ruby Road, but I can now comfortably say that that was just new-role-jitters.
6.5/10

Space Babies was quite a funny episode which covered most of the bases for new viewers as well. Ncuti and Millie's performances were very good, and the babies were cool. Some of the cuts when we were seeing the Bogeyman were a bit weird and it felt like there was something wrong / missing.

I also feel like the intro when Ruby stands on the butterfly was a bit quick, and I never knew the doctor could bring things back to life just by holding them and breathing (?) into them. It was cool and a nice touch though, teaching about the dangers of time travel in a comical way.

The Bogeyman was a good idea, looked great but I feel it didn't get enough attention or time at the end when they decided they shouldn't kill it. That part was a bit rushed, trying to fit into the 45-50 minute time, and I had to actually think about it before realising why they were saving it.

I noticed some political commentary, but of course they tried to keep it less for the first episode. I also noticed a mention of The Rani, and although I don't actually know what that is I've heard many people theorising they might bring it back.

Weirdly, on Disney+, this episode is marked as Episode Two with the christmas special marked as Episode One in one place and 'Special Four' in another. I guess that's good, just to make sure people watch The Church on Ruby Road first.

Overall, I enjoyed watching it and it has shown that Ncuti and Millie work very well together, so I am excited for the rest of the Season.

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