Davies starts off with a comedic banger showcasing the new dynamic duo. There will be spoilers ahead but, without any further ado, Allons-y!
It’s been five months since the Doctor Who Christmas Special “The Church on Ruby Road” was released, and since then, Russell T Davies has had fans anticipating this upcoming season.
“Space Babies” is the first episode released in the unexpected double bill, and the start of the ‘New New Who’.
The episode is full of Davies’ camp, silliness and all-around playful nonsense! Sure, it’s expected to receive some hate, due to the unorthodox way to begin a series, but this has to be one of the most ‘Doctor Who‘ episodes there is.
It is filled with lighthearted fun which is a refreshing break from the angst that still follows The Doctor after being dubbed the ‘Timeless Child’.
This isn’t just the introductory episode however, it is also the start of a new era as Doctor Who reaches a wider audience, now being streamed on Disney+ as well as BBC.
The plot is not the most crazy or exciting, but it definitely helps pave the way for the new season and helps the audience learn more, or more accurately, crave to learn more about these new characters.
Can you speed-run a show?
Picking up where we left off in the Christmas Special, the first five minutes are set to explain who is the Doctor, the TARDIS and the Time Lords, and even putting in a small gag about the butterfly effect and Ruby’s transformation.
For long-time fans, this is easy to listen to, like skimming a page from your favorite book. However, for new Whovians coming to the show that may have joined recently, or this being their first ever episode, it could feel a little wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
While this is indubitably put in place to help new viewers and show off their new budget, it is refreshing to see them not spend an entire episode trying to reach that premise.
Babies? In Space?
Space Babies officially starts in the sixth minute where the TARDIS takes them to an abandoned space station in the year 21506 ran by… you guessed it, babies!
But this is not all as we are first greeted with the frightening monster, referred to as ‘The Bogeyman’, living on the decks below. Be warned, even the Doctor had to run away.
This is not before he could say “push the button” though, which is clearly foreshadowing with an iconic reveal at the end of the episode.
The babies has been left to run the space station after being abandoned during a protest about the recession.
This meant the government had to close the baby making station but could not turn off the birth machine, leading to 6-year-olds in baby form.
This also led to the real terror of this episode… The CGI.
There’s something about the way their mouths move that definitely takes a lot of getting used to, as it doesn’t feel right.
The first instance was when Eric was introduced, and they should have realised then it did not look good.
What’s so special about Ruby Road?
While searching for Nan-E, the Doctor and Ruby paused for a moment, trying to figure out what is actually going on… Why are there so many babies!
The peak of this episode was when we got to see a glimpse of what is to come with the snow and Ruby’s origin.
After an obvious amount of foreshadowing, Golda Rosheuvel’s Jocelyn Sancerre, or Nan-E, breaks the tension and gets the episode back on track.
It felt necessary to involve another adult in the episode, as while it is important to repeat in the back of your mind not to take this episode seriously, it can’t all be fun and games.
However, this was not a synonym for a revival for the episode. There is a lot that needed to change.
Are you scared of the bogeyman?
The bogeyman is the villainous monster for this episode, or more accurately “the creature we have not met yet”.
This foe is definitely is not one to scare the viewers, nor will it be that memorable in a few episodes time, but it does the job to read the story… Quite literally.
After the first introduction, the fairy-tale like monster’s reveal was unanticipated.
Finding out that the station took the bogeyman quite literally reminds the audience to not take this episode seriously.
Davies definitely likes to play with his words, even throwing in the line, “It’s snot!” “It’s not!” to further prove this.
However, it feels a little whimsical to provide yet another comedic foe at the forefront of Gatwa’s debut, he needs a moment of seriousness, instead of yet another episode about babies.
Doctor, doctor… what is going on?
One of the takeaways from “The Church on Ruby Road” was that there wasn’t enough screen time for Ncuti Gatwa’s doctor.
It felt very quick and rushed, which is definitely synonymous for the Doctor, but one of the drawbacks is that this Doctor is completely new. The question of who this doctor is never got answered.
It is very clear from this singular episode, the fifteenth doctor is the most complex and he plays a favourable one at that.
He combines the likes of Tennant and Smith, the fan favourites of the show, but there is definitely something new to look for, something alien.
By his side this season is Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday. She is definitely playing a role that feels all to familiar to Doctor Who viewers, especially when her defining traits are curiosity, boisterousness and spunk.
However, it is the way she interacts with Gatwa which makes this dynamic feel refreshing and energising.
What does this mean for the future of Doctor Who?
While it does feel like a slow-burn episode, it’s clever in the way that the show is perfectly aware of the fact that there are no longer 13 episodes to create the story, only a narrow eight.
Even with this episode, which some may call a ‘filler episode’, it is easy to see that the storyline is building, that there is a pace to this new chapter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHLwEQnfoHo
