In which the Doctor and Ruby encounter a group of hyper-intelligent toddlers, after first visiting prehistoric Wyoming to see some dinosaurs.
Ruby accidentally alters evolution by stepping on a butterfly, leaving reptilians as the dominant species on Earth - until the Doctor corrects the timeline by reviving the insect.
The TARDIS then arrives on a seemingly deserted spaceship, where they discover some savage creature prowling on the lower decks.
They come upon a chamber in which there are a number of child embryos, and learn that the vessel is suspended in space above the planet Pacifico Del Rio.
Exploring further they find that the ship is far from deserted, as they encounter a group of humanoid babies with the power of speech. First they meet Eric, who asks if they are his mummy and daddy, and he then takes them to meet the rest. In charge is a girl named Captain Poppy.
They are afraid of the monster, which they call the Bogeyman. They claim to have been abandoned here - prompting the Doctor to recall Ruby's abandonment as a baby, and he is shocked to see snow begin to fall inside the vessel.
Told of a room numbered 3-5-7 Nan-E, they go there and find an adult - a woman named Jocelyn. She explains that there was a recession on the planet below and this baby farm was closed down. Everyone left, but she could not bring herself to abandon the children, even though she was only an accountant here. There is a chance that they can find a new home on a neighbouring world - Mondo Caroon - but the ship has run out of fuel and the Bogeyman stands in the way of the engines.
Eric decides to go off alone to challenge the creature, but is rescued by the Doctor and Ruby - accompanied by Poppy.
The Doctor is able to get an organic sample from it and discovers that it is made from the babies' bogeys, having been generated by a parthenogenesis device six years ago - just as the children were born.
Jocelyn attempts to destroy it after it is lured into an airlock, to be sucked out into space.
However, the Doctor realises that it is a child also and ought to be saved - which he is able to do by closing the outer door.
He then finds that a fuel boost can be created from methane generated by the mountain of soiled nappies onboard - enough to get the ship to Mondo Caroon.
After giving Ruby a TARDIS key, the Doctor secretly scans her - and sees snow fall within his ship.
Space Babies was written by Russell T Davies and was first broadcast on Saturday 11th May 2024.
It marks the opening of his first full season back in charge - the 14th of the revived series, though it was officially titled "Season 1" thanks to the new partnership with Disney+. As you can see, the series also returned to its traditional Saturday evening slot, after its Sunday runs during the tenure of Chris Chibnall. Additionally, the second episode of the new series was broadcast immediately afterwards - more of which next time.
If you read my review at the time, you'll know that I really hated this episode. I haven't been able to bring myself to rewatch it, so the opinion pretty much remains the same today. Look away now if you're a fan.
I could simply leave it at that and save myself time and effort, but I suppose I'll need to give some reasons for my dislike...
First of all, I accept that series openers do tend to be fairly light - especially ones from RTD. This is certainly that - and maybe that's one of the problems. Its infantile nature makes it far too lightweight.
Back in 2005, RTD gave us burping wheelie-bins and farting Slitheen. The latter felt far more at home in The Sarah Jane Adventures on CBBC, as more adult fans didn't respond well.
RTD's comment on this story was "well, why not have talking babies in space?". My answer would be: just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should... A bad idea is a bad idea, even if you have the desire and the authority to bring it into being. Just ask any politician.
My second issue is with the whole set-up of the episode. It just doesn't make sense that babies - hyper-intelligent or not - would be abandoned in the first place and need rescuing. How the creature came into being is also silly and contrived.
Thirdly, it's that lavatorial level of "humour". We have a monster made of snot, and the resolution involves converting soiled nappies into fuel to shift a spaceship full of talking babies. Were I Disney and this was the synopsis placed in front of me, my enthusiasm for two whole years of RTD2 Doctor Who would have withered and died there and then. (It has been suggested that Disney fell out of love with the series almost from day one and, no matter how good Series 15 was, they would be unlikely to reinvest).
My fourth gripe is children dominating any drama. Unless they are really creepy in a horror movie setting, I don't find child actors remotely interesting to watch. The gimmick of a talking baby - and it feels like it is just a gimmick - wears out almost straight away. There's only one adult guest character, so if you can't stand the kids, and haven't been overly impressed with the new Doctor / companion so far, then there's little to hold your attention here.
Number five - it's actually quite dull, with a rushed ending after ages spent working out something which you don't really care about. Fine for a great four-parter, but kiss of death for this episode length. That ending is, basically, just the punchline to a very long and unfunny joke - it's an actual bogey man. Laugh, I nearly did...
Another inspiration is to be found in the pre-credits sequence where Ruby steps on the butterfly - Ray Bradbury's 1952 classic short story A Sound Of Thunder.
Our solo guest artist is Golda Rosheuvel, playing Jocelyn. She is best known for portraying Queen Charlotte in period drama Bridgerton and its spin-off concentrating on the character.
We briefly see Susan Twist once more in a video recording of the ship's now departed crew.
Of the children, Poppy is played by Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, and we'll be seeing more of her later. Oh, yes. She is voiced by Shola Olaitan-Ajiboye. Eric is Mason McCumskey, and he's voiced by Sami Amber.
Playing the Bogeyman is Robert Strange. He had previously been a Wrarth Warrior in The Star Beast, and will be back operating one of the robots in the next series opener.
Ruby's mum and grandmother feature briefly when the TARDIS returns her home at the end of the episode.
As for this year's story arc, it's Susan Twist's reappearance and the out of place snow - but (spoiler) the latter never really does get explained to be honest.
Overall, just writing about it makes me recall why it sits in my bottom three stories of all time. Sorry for any of you who actually liked it, or merely thought it a bit of harmless whimsey, but just not my idea of Doctor Who...
Things you might like to know:
- Lenny Rush was invited to voice Eric and attended the read-through for the episode, but RTD2 thought he deserved a much better role and so had him cast instead as UNIT's scientific adviser Morris in the finale.
- The babies were originally intended to walk around as well as talk, but this proved too impractical.
- If you want proper sci-fi, the Bradbury short story can be found in a few science fiction anthologies, but was first published in his collection The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), after appearing in Collier's Magazine.
- Ruby mentions Star Trek - already established as a fictional TV series in the Doctor Who universe (unless you count the spin-off comic series Assimilation Squared). However, here the Doctor says that it does actually exist in a separate continuum which he might visit some day. The second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already featured a cameo appearance by the TARDIS, and in the forthcoming season finale Chief Engineer Pelia, who is a long-lived alien, will tell her fellow crewmembers at a party that she might one day tell them about the time she travelled with a time-traveling doctor. Might be Doc Brown, but you never know...
- Lots of nods to previous episodes. As a companion introduction proper, the Doctor does the whole TARDIS key / TARDIS translation / universal mobile roaming upgrade bit, as seen early on with most new companions. He also mentions their mothers' habit of slapping him. The Bogeyman is very similar in concept to the creatures in Sleep No More. And covertly scanning the companion is something the Eleventh Doctor did with both Amy and Clara.
No comments:
Post a Comment