“Space Babies” may go down as one of the great messes Doctor Who has been known to contain. One of its most tried and true methods is that if its material and runtime do not agree, then to throw pacing out the window for lack of a desire to organize things in such a way that you don’t either have dreadfully slow runarounds or a breakneck speed that can never let anything rest. Series fourteen starts with a generally familiar failure. While the thin plot of last episode was charming in its ineptitude, here the lack of a strong story is grating. This episode still cares about the leads and their overall story more than the individual episode, though to a lesser degree than last time. Both are fighting each other for screen time. The product is that you get odd moments like when Ruby talks to the Doctor about trauma before sharply turning to a positive tone about going on an adventure. You’re left pondering that we could’ve gone anywhere in the universe, so couldn’t it have been a good script? A solution here may have been to make these two episodes one overall story that is slightly broken up. What if the goblins they previously defeated needed to be tracked down?
There are some nice little moments, mainly some degree of character development, such as when the Doctor holds Ruby in a protective way and says hi to the seemingly scary monster, as if giving it a chance to not be perceived as merely a threat. Amusingly, after the two run off, Ruby is screaming bloody murder like she’s in a classic era serial (one of the most famous screams being in The Macra Terror), but it’s so buried by other noises as to be easy to miss. This in turn makes a crucial difference in tone. If the scream was easier to hear, which may have been the intention, the monster would be seen as more horrific and the episode would seemingly be set up as a horror piece. As is, this feels like a light runaround just to get things moving. Note the lack of much actual threat due to how easily the leads escape this situation. They just conveniently find an elevator and the Doctor knows how to use it. If this was supposed to be horror, then why not create some dread by having the heroes in danger for more than a few seconds? The fact she screamed like this at all implies this scene may have been intended as horror. The rest of the story is comparatively lighter.
Usually, the Doctor’s oddities are treated as just quirks to be accepted. He’s the Doctor because he is. The opening scene sets the stage for someone more introspective of his own oddities. He basically acknowledges his chosen name to be strange, but merely tradition. It does indeed seem odd that his species would do this. Wouldn’t it get confusing if multiple people pick the same title? He also mentions a few other Time Lords. He lists classic series villain the Rani and two not before heard of ones, clearly a nod for older fans paying attention and possible ground setting if those Time Lords get represented more. That being said, the intention of the scene seems to be to appeal to a new and cynical crowd that wants the explanation. This trope has popped up in plenty of media like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which often tries to give a more logical and grounded explanation for these costumed superheroes and camp villains to exist. Something like 1960’s Spider-Man wants you to just accept it, which might mean it only appeals to the small crowd that “gets it”.
Another favorite moment is when Ruby is in disbelief that the Doctor had previously been to 1963. That’s a very human reaction to such incredible information, being exacerbated by something so small in the grand picture. Despite this, the explaining of information about the Doctor just goes on and on, with it all simply a series of facts laid one after the other. An old fan would know this stuff and a new one wouldn’t know what to make of it. While questions like where the Doctor comes from are to be expected based on Ruby being depicted as curious, there were far better ways to have it presented. Ncuti Gatwa especially suffers having to relay all this exposition, unsure how to discuss his character’s planet literally being destroyed and him the last of his species. He just shouts “Gone!” in reference to this, as if in a pitiful attempt to give him an emotional moment. The score tries to emphasize his sadness, but either you’re a newbie with too little context about what’s even going on to connect with the character or you’ve been through this already.
Current showrunner Russell T. Davies admittedly couldn’t control this plot development, but it really stands in contrast with the idea of starting over and trying new things. We’ve literally already had the Doctor try to manage the loss of his planet. This also creates an impossible situation where either he has to not be the trauma-free Doctor he’s supposed to be, or he acts carefree anyway, like this doesn’t matter. In the episode, the Doctor is so quick to completely move on from talking about his planet, as if it doesn’t matter. While you could say he’s trying to suppress it, that isn’t portrayed on Gatwa’s face. This moment of vulnerability also could have happened at another point, namely the ending. The Doctor saying he’s glad to be alive is an example of the more clever end of the dialogue. It comforts Ruby and reassures the audience that he has his lust for adventure, but considering the old rule that the Doctor lies, this could come back around as either him lying to Ruby or himself. This also could connect to some sort of survivor’s guilt, like he wants to make himself be glad enough for all the Time Lords that were lost.
The titular space babies are depicted as actual infants that talk and are of reasonable intelligence, but in other ways have the emotionality and interests of children. Why they even were babies is confusing, especially considering many of the episode’s issues would be solved with them as adults. There is a surprising amount of humor related to things like boogers and farts, which are so juvenile as to make you wonder if this episode was literally made for babies to laugh at. The first boogie scene is even edited and scored like a children’s sitcom, with quick cuts and silly faces on the protagonists. The main thing that them being babies adds that would be lacking in an episode with adults is this type of humor, which is just embarrassing. The music for some of these moments is similarly very incidental and happy, like it’s to create pleasant noise and stimulus that would once more be found in a children’s show. Davies also included farting in 2005’s “Aliens of London”, but that at least provided some sense of the mentality of the ones doing the farting.
The special effect of the babies’ mouths moving is not as bad as it probably would have been if this was tried not even that long ago, but here it looks reasonably realistic. The issue is that the faces of the babies are for apparent reasons not invested in this situation, which constantly works to keep the audience from getting invested, though this problem extends to the use of babies at all. The episode never hopes to escape its surreal and childish tone. This would be the case even if the bad jokes were removed. Note when a baby, Captain Poppy, says she was brave. The music swells and contrives an emotional moment from nowhere, after a small line from a brand new character and situation. To this score Ruby says they did a good job. Beyond the problem of how manipulative the music feels, Millie Gibson looks unsure of how to respond, probably due to having little to base her delivery off of. She can’t base it on something she’s interacting with, as on set the babies wouldn’t have been speaking, and she can’t base it off of the story so far due to this scene being at the beginning. It feels like she’s forcing herself to find something reassuring to say, while the music implies this is genuine reassurance. Her awkwardness by contrast gives the impression she is not at all sure of herself and this should be seen as a sign of foolishness.
A moment like this suggests that the simple fact they’re babies is supposed to endear us to them and their story without any other lifting. As much can be said for when the Doctor, with an intensely grave performance, asks one of the babies when she’s last had a hug. When she said never, he hugs her with the music suggesting this is supposed to be a heartwarming moment, with the episode literally having to stop so our lead character can act like a nanny. This does further the characterization of this incarnation of the Doctor, especially concerned with the emotional support of others, but this could have been handled so much better, such as after a point where we could have grown to learn more about the situation at hand. Even the mouth movements aren’t perfect. Taking the baby that appears the most, Eric, he often looks uncomfortable and confused. At one point he says he’s “very happy”, but his face doesn’t show that at all. This is even contrasted by an earlier shot of all the babies clearly genuinely happy and not speaking. Another problem with the babies is that it basically is guaranteed they won’t die as if they did that’d be a real downer.
Later on, Ruby assures the space babies the monster they’re afraid of is not real, despite the fact everyone knows they are, so why lie? The episode doesn’t view her as someone too quick to reassure or focus on any potential mistakes. Scenes like these are only here to achieve a certain story beat or emotion, but don’t appear to resonate further or offer real pathos due to how dropped in they are. The Doctor later reassures Poppy that she didn’t grow up wrong and is what she is, as if the baby was intensely self hating. Such a line feels like something that was written to be said to a depressed LGBTQ+ character. If the babies are intended allegories for queer or disabled people, the message doesn’t come across considering that the Doctor doesn’t know what’s going on or caused them to be in this state. There is a difference between hating yourself for happening to be in a social category that receives unnecessary backlash from the culture and a sci-fi anomaly that as far as we or the Doctor know could be dangerous to the health of the babies and isn’t causing social ostracization.
The matter of the Doctor’s mysterious backstory is once again emphasized, only now in a way delivered to appeal to the babies, taking from some of the mystique, like this is something the Doctor is at least trying to be positive about. These lines are delivered as just more affirming that could go anywhere and don’t add to the story. The intention of this might be for Russell T. Davies to make it clear beyond clear that he’s not going to ignore the infamous 2020 episode “The Timeless Children”. One of the weaker points is when the Doctor says how perfect he is, with the baby agreeing, like the episode is desperate for us to believe this instead of letting it just be seen. For almost this whole episode he often talks and acts like he’s a babysitter. The result is him seeming goofier and more childish than the Doctor usually does. This goes on to the point that it is hard to move past this and take him seriously. This same problem is usually cited as one of the weaker moments of 2011’s “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”.
The Doctor, and other roles, have sometimes been written as quirky throughout the revived series. Here he says “spoor” is a good word, which feels like a case of trying to find a line for him to say that would get a laugh or be quoted by fans. Beyond these small dialogue choices, the acting is not up to snuff for the entire episode. Gatwa’s over-animation is particularly noticeable in the scene where he’s talking about something confusing him a little over halfway in. Such animation feels directionless and as if the actor has to make it over-apparent how he feels, possibly so even a baby can understand him. Other times he and Gibson just seem lost as to what level of emotionality to give this episode. Should they play along with the absurdism, or try to be serious? The brief focus on Ruby and the coincidences they’ve dealt with are interesting, but are not delivered differently than the other dialogue about what’s going on with this episode, like it’s not something to stand out when it should. This is part of a bigger season plot. Even in a serious moment the Doctor appears to be strutting as he runs. This scene actually shows the Doctor in a slight state of panic, which is an interesting contrast from how he’s usually portrayed, but it doesn’t come to anything. One positive is seeing the Doctor have fun trying to get Ruby to pick a random year to go to, like he really is looking forward to it. Arguably Gatwa animates this scene too much, but it makes more sense with this.
Just like in Ncuti Gatwa’s other appearances in the series, the show is in love with his body. For most of the episode he wears a revealing sweater that gives you a good and constant look at his chest and muscles. While he’s not as sexualized as last episode, his appearance here might be intended to serve as something for younger people to connect to, not unlike how some felt David Tennant and Matt Smith brought in a greater female audience. His look is more normal than is typical of the Doctors. He also later talks about not having a job or bills, as if to appeal to a modern viewer that would probably desire to be like him. These traits serve to make him seem less distinct from a more typical person. Ruby at one point asks someone something and the Doctor interjects to answer, as if he’s so flawless he just knows the answer over someone that’s been here longer, relating to the sort of confidence that a younger person of now might have or want to have.
At one point, after the Doctor knows of the monster and that it’s scaring the children, the Bogeyman, our hero for no reason at all yells the name and sticks up his arms, as if to imitate it. Why would he want to do this? The only apparent reason for this was to create a mini-jump scare for the audience. The responding sounds of crying babies isn’t exactly pleasant or relevant to the story. Without any seriousness in his tone of voice, later the Doctor says that if something goes wrong then “Baby boom”, in reference to them dying. You’d think this would be handled with more dramatic concern and weight, instead of as just another piece of dialogue. Thankfully he doesn’t say this loud enough for the babies to hear, despite being in the same room as them.
Considering how short the runtime is, there is a lot of explaining instead of showing in order to give us an understanding of what’s going on. Seeing as the episode mostly conveys information by the Doctor being told about things that we aren’t seeing, in which he then runs to another place and finds more information that has to be explained so he or us understand it, the question may come up that there’s no reason this whole adventure couldn’t be like five minutes. Imagine if the Doctor had simply walked around the set for a second, got some contacts, then just put the pieces together in no time? Closer to the end he finds and analyzes some goo on the ground. He very well could have found it as soon as he arrived, so an excuse is made by the plot for it to take much longer, thus resembling the pace of a normal story structure. When the Doctor reads off a computer and explains what it says, the Doctor isn’t doing much, just being an interpreter. The whole episode feels like it’s just everyone interpreting things that have already happened. That’s how we learn about the babies’ backstory, the Bogeyman’s, and even the Doctor’s with the Time Lords. The forced nature of the story is emphasized by a scene of Ruby listing off everyone’s name, not having a more natural way to portray that info.
Some lesser negatives include; the briefly seen CGI dinosaurs looking pretty fake. At one point, the Doctor enables Ruby’s phone to be able to call her mother thousands of years into the past. This exact concept was used in the second episode of Russell’s first season as showrunner, like he couldn’t think of something different. Golda Rosheuvel as Jocelyn delivers a joke with no real comedic emphasis, like it’s another piece of drowning exposition. The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver is used as a magic tool that can perfectly fix everything. Why even write in certain problems if they can so easily and immediately be fixed? The screwdriver is even able to adapt with some technology like it’s a USB port. How convenient it can fit with this space computer. Fortunately the screwdriver problem is slightly subverted, but that doesn’t change how it is used overall. At the end we flashback to scenes earlier in the episode, like there’s no faith anyone would remember them. There was sort of a flashback last installment, but there was enough time travel blended in to make it work as a positive novelty.
There are more positives than have been mentioned… The jukebox builds on the theme of contradiction. The Doctor is modernizing the TARDIS by adding in a relic of the past. It does seem that usually the TARDIS doesn’t look comfortable or livable, but one exception is the First Doctor era, which is maybe being alluded to with an object associated with the 50s and 60s. Shame we couldn’t get the chair with a panda on it. Especially when Ruby has her ear to the phone, her face is pretty adorable. Her face is all puffed up with a slight frown of disbelief! By extension, both of the leads are dressed very well. Ruby’s has a traveler-like look, though it seems it might be a bit warm. The Doctor’s is colorful and cozy in appearance, despite the aforementioned issues. The TARDIS being used as a transportation device for any ol’ character is a fun and underused idea that seems to be an obvious way to solve certain issues. This would also make it seem more friendly to people. It’s not just for main characters.
SPOILERS
Ruby being briefly turned into a different person after she stepped on a butterfly raises a lot of questions. Time travel has had many varied depictions over the years, which can be inconsistent. Understandably, the one we’re seeing here, where anything you do has the potential to radically change everything, is not usually used because it often stifles stories, especially one like Doctor Who that is constantly moving on from one idea to the next and wouldn’t have the interest to maintain continuity on this niggle. Logically, every time the Doctor has ever gone to the past, it should have some significant impact on the future. His behavior could presumably prevent him from in the future deciding to take the TARDIS back to the past, which is a paradox. Taking the scene on the face of it, it worked best as a little novelty in the trailer for the season, but here is just a sidestep that seems like it should be in one of the many shorts that anticipated new episodes over the past twenty-odd years. This tangent doesn’t make a lot of sense in its actual context as we don’t ever address it really. The problem of the Doctor being too magical and perfect comes up when he seemingly brings the butterfly Ruby stepped on back to life. One interpretation of this is that the Doctor could have been reviving way more people than he ever has in the past. Frankly how this whole scene was supposed to work, with Ruby’s brief transformation, the Doctor’s power, why he doesn’t just use it all the time, and how things conveniently went back to the way it was before and didn’t splinter off into something wholly different; is probably something that more thoughtful fans than myself can find some sort of explanation for, no matter how contrived.
Addressing potential themes mentioned in the last episode review, the Doctor mentions the supposed coincidence of both adventures relating to babies, with Ruby then throwing down that his time machine could help her find her parents. It’s good that this is being noted in the episode in some way, but it’s written and performed with the same issue of multiple somewhat disparate elements happening one after the other because there’s so much going on. Note how after the Doctor says that things connect, Ruby near-stutters about finding her parents, with a tone of voice that suggests this was related to what the Doctor just said. The Doctor then walks away with a smile like he’s exploring the area and Ruby moves on to talking about the current thing they’re looking at. There’s no reference to how suddenly they go from one topic to the other. It doesn’t appear that the Doctor was trying to avoid the topic, based on how casually the two are acting. While the two actors don’t come off very well in scenes like this one, to be fair it would be hard to pull off.
After this Ruby looks at a window and sees space. She is exacerbated by the fact humans made it this far developmentally. This being a stronger moment is spoiled by the scene being cut short so she can sharply shift to talking about the Doctor’s people, like these two mildly related matters were pasted together in the script because they needed to go somewhere. The cerebral spaciousness of the area was so pretty, with Ruby just taking it in. The Doctor gets a decent monologue, which also suffers due to the pace. Even when Ruby is on the phone with her mom, she ends the calls extremely suddenly, as if a slightly longer and more substantial one couldn’t have fit in the runtime.
While the idea of things functioning like a children’s story is a cool concept, the way this is discovered by everyone just thinking it out from a few clues is so easy. They just happen to know the right answer. It’s often on the nose when they don’t. Not only was Ruby’s line about the Bogeyman not being real ridiculous, its reason for being in the story is more so. Any intended dread from Eric facing the creature is lacking primarily due to how much of a stretch it was to get us to this point, and also that you know it’s not about to eat a child. To emphasize the reason for this, he had to say this action is because of Ruby. Due to the baby struggling to emote, the voice seems weirdly lifeless. In order for the baby to really be terrified, CGI would be needed for the whole face or you’d actually have to scare the actor. The threat of what will happen here goes against the idea of this episode being for children. Ruby has a great look of fear when she realizes she’s partially responsible for this, but this is once again never to come up.
The Doctor seemingly picking on Ruby for getting covered in boogers, despite the childish tone, is notably a proper character moment. It also shows him as imperfect in his meanness. While the past Doctors have sometimes had some degree of hostility or other negative behavior, it has usually been for some greater reason, at least to show how he is unlike people or needs to change. These Ncuti episodes have so far been trying to show him as more approachable and notably kindhearted to the point of stopping the plot. His characterization fluctuates with the needs of the story. The Doctor doesn’t show much respect towards the Bogeyman until the very end. If he inherently loves life and doesn’t want it killed, then why not show that before we’re literally at the point that’s directly being dealt with? We could’ve had something like him debate with Jocelyn that the monster is deserving of life earlier. If he thinks the creature only deserves to live because it was created from the same machine as the babies, then how come? That would go against the more loving approach of this incarnation.
Jocelyn’s hostility towards the Bogeyman, while coming from an understandable place, seems very sudden. Foreshadowing where she doesn’t agree with the Doctor generally, doesn’t look at the creature as deserving of respect, or isn’t just a one-note role whose only traits so far are to give information and care about the babies would all help. We never get to go in her head and receive any complexity. She even seems to like the Bogeyman after the climax, with the closest thing to a reason that the Doctor risked life and limb for them. Jocelyn’s emotional fragility is briefly touched on when Ruby just telling her to save the Bogeyman is enough to cause her to cry. Themes related to abortion and capitalism have been picked up from this episode by fans. They seem minute, but her mental state could have made a fascinating opportunity to see these ideas play out. What if she had believed in whatever the standin for capitalism is supposed to be, and when it fails her and these actual babies she doesn’t know what to do with the situation or her trauma?
While the Doctor saving them could have had more thematic setup, like if it came after several stories of the Fifteenth Doctor seeing misunderstood monsters and other bigotry, on its own it’s not a bad scene and makes for a solid opportunity to show the Doctor use his newfound emotions and youthfulness to do what he thinks is right. He even gets a chance to cry again. There isn’t much of an idea of what will be done with the Bogeyman and how it will live. The ending implies that it won’t hurt anyone, but only because we’re being told it’s a happy ending. What if it does? That doesn’t mean it deserves to die, but can’t something be done to address this, like a prison planet at least?
The Doctor dismissing Ruby’s concerns that they almost died feels especially thoughtless and insensitive considering two episodes ago he was reminded of multiple past companions that were killed. Even if that hadn’t happened, it seems idiotic that her concerns would have no effect on him, especially seeing as he’s supposed to be more tuned into emotions. This could become a character flaw, like his newfound youth means he’s less concerned about these sorts of things. The scene improves when he gives Ruby a TARDIS key. It shows he’s trusting in someone to a greater degree than is usual, which could go in many directions. A reference to something like his hostility for giving companions control at points would make now more powerful. It does also raise the possibility of either his trust being challenged or the key getting stolen later.
Ruby stepping on the butterfly seems to have been foreshadowing for the end when the Doctor addresses why they can’t go back to where she was dropped off, but this also can clearly be read that they should at least not go to any point before the present, but probably not travel at all for fear of messing up something for everyone else. The concern over going there could have been shown in a million less offensive ways to the nerds that care about this. Ruby being open to her family about being a time traveler could be a solid twist on when the companions try to be secretive from their loved ones about the Doctor, so hopefully we don’t repeat themes of old, but now just sooner. There is the fear of this just repeating Jackie Tyler’s story, but without all the setup. The Doctor also seemed to have destroyed Ruby’s family’s home, which makes him seem like an idiot. This does seem to be set up for the admittedly funny reference to 2005 when the Doctor tells Ruby to not let her mom slap him.
The cliffhanger is basically all building for the future. The idea of flashbacks, or at least Ruby’s abandonment, being significant events that create strange things is a fascinating idea that you end up wanting more of an answer to due to the cliffhanger. To be speculative, this might end up being related to the Toymaker a few episodes ago saying he made a mess of the Doctor’s timeline. Another idea is that maybe this is in someway a product of them going to the past? Doing so already created something very wacky, and what might be claimed is that even if you reverse what happened, there’s some sort of ripple through time?
OVERVIEW
Some of the Doctor’s erratic tendencies could be looked at as comparable to how a child to young adult acts when excited by the world around them. If some of these behaviors are honed in a little more, such as as someone who is well meaning, but too headstrong and ready to use their newfound youthfulness, some of these negatives could become positive essentially. It would be like seeing what the Doctor was like when he was young. We already know that the First Doctor prior to the first episode of the show was rebellious against the Time Lords and Fifteen also seems mildly rebellious.
It should be noted that many of these criticisms, from juvenile humor to lots of dialogue to bad acting, are not uncommon in Doctor Who or even the original Russell T. Davies era. Despite “Space Babies” struggling more to escape these issues, with the very base elements of featuring children and a dull, inexpensive set adding to all of the worst habits, it very well won’t be representative of the era as a whole. There is a joke among sci-fi fans that what makes a great show is having many of the worst things you’ve ever seen, as that suggests they’re trying to be creative. To give the episode some props, using babies makes for something you haven’t seen before. While the babies makes this an exceptional failure, it still would be boring with the same basic plot and adult actors. Seeing how lacking the regulars are, maybe this one at least could have been moved up a few slots down the line, so we can see more of them at their best?
The Filme Diary 