S01.E01 (BBC/D+): Space Babies

[DanaK]

New era, new Season 1, now streaming on Disney+ and US fans don't have to worry about when the BBC is showing it on BBC One each week

As stated in the production topic, the episodes will debut on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ internationally at midnight Saturday mornings UK time (then on linear BBC One Saturday evenings). For those of us in the US, that will mean starting at 7pm ET Fridays

Episode 1 premiering May 10 in the US/May 11 at Midnight UK time on Disney+ (and BBC iPlayer)

Synopsis: 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?

Runtime: 46 minutes

Writer: Russell T. Davies

Director: Julie Anne Robinson

Full production listing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001z8bz 

 

Edited May 3 by DanaK

[DanaK]

Clip preview

 

[NeenerNeener]

Why does he keep saying he's the last Time Lord? Tennant's #14 still exists as far as we know. 

[tkc]

Oh, the *bogey*man...

...that snot funny.  😲

[Sailorgirl26]

not just babies . . . SPACE babies! 

Everything about Ncuti is infectious -- I was smiling throughout this and the next episode, all because of his energy. He and Millie Gibson play off each other very well. 

And we still have "mavity." 

[DanaK]

Though I had issues with some things, I thought it was pretty entertaining

[Lantern7]

Good episode. I figured this Doctor was way too happy, but given that he was dealing with talking babies -- SPACE BABIES -- I think he deserved some slack. Who wouldn't be smiling throughout the episode?

[bugsmum]

I enjoyed this.   Ncuti is terrific, space babies are entertaining, and I’m interested to see where this apparent through line of abandoned babies will go. 

[QuantumMechanic]

I like Ncuti but that was the RTD I was dreading.  Some good RTD next, please.

[DanaK]

Linear overnight ratings on BBC One were 2.6 million viewers. The streaming numbers beforehand are not counted in the overnights, but will be counted in the +7 day ratings. I believe it was 2nd for the night, after the Eurovision final

https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/doctorwho-s1e1e2-ovratings

 

[arachne]

"Space Babies" was okay, but not an episode I'll treasure. Nice foreshadowing at the end, with Ruby's DNA scan and the snow. And I'm glad Ruby got to come home for Xmas, though I hope the Doctor can fix that ceiling somehow. (Will that be a running gag this season?)

I did not appreciate the denouement involving mucus and feces. Sorry, to some folks it might be baby cheese, but to me it's still shit. 🤢

Hoping the next episodes will be more fun to watch. 

[gail56]

I couldn't get over that the. babies were six years old but were still in diapers and strollers. Like, what caused them to stop growing, and they are going to spend the rest of theirs lives that size??

That said, loved watching the Doctor and Ruby, and the Nan E lol!

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, gail56 said:

I couldn't get over that the. babies were six years old but were still in diapers and strollers. Like, what caused them to stop growing, and they are going to spend the rest of theirs lives that size??

There was some vague technobabble about the parthenogenesis and teaching machines going wrong, but they very much glossed over that point.

On 5/11/2024 at 1:00 AM, NeenerNeener said:

Why does he keep saying he's the last Time Lord? Tennant's #14 still exists as far as we know. 

But 14 and 15 are the same person, they are both the Doctor, and the Doctor is the last Time Lord.

Many versions of the Doctor can exist at the same time, technically. There have been many occasions where different Doctors landed in the same year and had different adventures at pretty much the same time - heck, the 12th Doctor was living at that university in Bristol all through the 70s while the 3rd Doctor was stranded on Earth having adventures with UNIT. But they were still the same person. The fact that multiple incarnations of the Doctor exist and are occasionally in roughly the same place at roughly the same time doesn't change the fact that the Doctor is the last Time Lord.

 

Edited May 12 by Llywela

[supposebly]

But what about the Master? Or does the Doctor think he is dead at the moment?

[Llywela]

1 hour ago, supposebly said:

But what about the Master? Or does the Doctor think he is dead at the moment?

I have completely lost track, but if the Doctor is back to calling himself the last Time Lord, I guess that means the Master is dead again, currently.

[NeenerNeener]

15 hours ago, Llywela said:

I guess that means the Master is dead again, currently.

Until he shows up again, and you just know he will. If there wasn't all that back story about the Master and the Doctor knowing each other as children the Master could be a previous bi-generational Doctor, and that's why he's so obsessed with the Doctor. Unless the bi-generation happened when the Doctor was a child....nah, that's more complicated than this show usually is.

Edited May 13 by NeenerNeener

[Eulipian 5k]

Well, Capaldi dealt with monster eye boogers, now Monster nose boogers and a GIANT Space Fart. All to Corrupt and Impurify Our Precious Bodily Fluids.

[tennisgurl]

Oh RTD, you really came in hot with that "boogerman" bit didn't you? Like he wanted to let everyone know what they would be getting, he has always been pulled to the campy and the wacky.

This was a pretty fun episode, there was a LOT of exposition about who the Doctor is and how all this works. You almost expect him to wink at the camera or ask us if we all got that before moving on. I really like this Doctor so far and Ruby was a lot more fun in this one, in the Christmas special she was alright but a bit bland, but here she had a lot more personality. 

I assume the reason the *babies were all still babies instead of being six is because of some technobabble, but I wish they had dealt with that a bit more, it bugged me more than it probably should considering it involved a booger monster that came to life via storytelling AI. 

*Space babies

[RobertDeSneero]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

there was a LOT of exposition about who the Doctor is and how all this works.

I think this season was pitched as a jumping on point for new viewers on Disney Plus, so I actually expected more of it.

[dalek]

I was mostly "meh" about this episode, although I did like the "Sound of Thunder" bit.  

Given that Davies had the farting Slitheen on his first go round with Dr Who, I shouldn't be surprised he had a snot monster and a giant fart moving a space station.

Liked what I'm assuming was a dig at a certain type of pro-lifer.

Overall, I found it fun but nothing special, although thanks yo Disney money, everything looked great (although what I think were CGI lips on the babies did seem a bit uncanny valley)

 

[Sakura12]

This was an interesting first episode for Disney+. They got all the exposition out of the way quickly. 

I don't know why the Doctor was surprised Ruby thought they were going to eat the babies. They just fought goblins that ate babies. 

A monster made from boogers was gross. But that is definitely an RTD thing to do. Are we going with a fairytale/fable theme. 

Queen Charlotte from Bridgeton is a nanny now. Jocelyn was a good character too. She stayed behind when everyone else just left all those babies. 

Most of the companions are brave but Ruby showed she will just take charge without waiting for the Doctor.  She just ran to save Eric and the Doctor followed her. I guess that's why he gave her key. 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I didn't think the Doctor was going to go for Roslin-ing the monster. 

On 5/13/2024 at 6:09 PM, dalek said:

Liked what I'm assuming was a dig at a certain type of pro-lifer.

I'm not complaining, but I was surprised at the political issue sliding in there. 

I assume that the crew resigning in protest was due to leaving the babies behind, but I would have liked a little more from them.  

I always have to laugh when the Doctor talks about 'fixed points' or 'paradox'. Of course you can go back to Ruby Road. 

And I did enjoy the callback to Nine about being slapped by "someone's mother before."

[John Potts]

I was confused at the reference to the Doctor being the Last of the Time Lords as I don't remember the Master dying last time we saw him (not that that would make much of a difference anyway!) - leaving aside any Time Lords scattered around the Universe whose fates are unknown (the Rani, Susan, Jenny, River Song*...). But in an episode full of callbacks, was anyone else worried that (Room) 357 was uncomfortably close to "the 456" (though a Children of Earth reference would definitely jar with the tone of this story)?

The conclusion where the Doctor saves the Bogeyman felt suitably Who-ish. I guess in this Universe, Aliens has a very different ending!

* OK, technically we do know her fate as we saw her final death, but as a time traveller, she could be alive at the time of the episode

[DanaK]

1 hour ago, John Potts said:

I was confused at the reference to the Doctor being the Last of the Time Lords as I don't remember the Master dying last time we saw him (not that that would make much of a difference anyway!) - leaving aside any Time Lords scattered around the Universe whose fates are unknown (the Rani, Susan, Jenny, River Song*...). But in an episode full of callbacks, was anyone else worried that (Room) 357 was uncomfortably close to "the 456" (though a Children of Earth reference would definitely jar with the tone of this story)?

The conclusion where the Doctor saves the Bogeyman felt suitably Who-ish. I guess in this Universe, Aliens has a very different ending!

* OK, technically we do know her fate as we saw her final death, but as a time traveller, she could be alive at the time of the episode

The Master seemed dead at the end of Jodie’s final episode “The Power of the Doctor”

[DoctorAtomic]

The Master is dead until they're not. It's like 'no Jedi escaped Order 66." Until you need them to. 

 

Edited May 18 by DoctorAtomic

[DanaK]

+7 Day ratings for this episode: 4.008 million viewers and #10 for the week

Link to the BARB ratings https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/most-viewed-programmes/

Only a few shows got above 5 million viewers for the week

[baldryanr]

On 5/17/2024 at 9:40 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

The Master is dead until they're not. It's like 'no Jedi escaped Order 66." Until you need them to. 

The Doctor knows the Master was sealed in the Toymaker's tooth. Of course, naturally he didn't notice that tooth lying there after he was defeated.

[DoctorAtomic]

I forgot about the tooth. So, there you go. 

 

[Affogato]

I rewatched this, enjoyed it even more the second time. Loved the use of farts to get them to the refugee planet. The baby’s were not expressive and considering the sophistication of their thoughts the disconnect was disturbing, but I’m sure they didn’t have months to wait for them to randomly express the needed emotions. I’m sure it was something a lot of kids liked even better that I liked it, because it was just up gross and personal.

[Eulipian 5k]

E-Trade Baby Eric always looks like he's trying to hold back that giant fart.

 

[DanaK]

Per Doctor Who Magazine, 28-day number 4.43 million viewers, 9th for the week

[Dobian]

Just catching up with this season and finished the 60th specials the other day.  I always enjoy Who episodes on spaceships and space stations.  This was a typically zany affair and was pretty entertaining.  My only criticism is why are time paradoxes suddenly such an issue?  The Doctor has messed with timelines so much in past seasons that our world and the whole universe would be unrecognizable if they were sticking to the rules.  But no matter.

As for the new Doctor and companion, they are both likable and have great chemistry.  I like Ncuti as the Doctor.  He captures the joy and wonder of the character which is critical.