I Watched Doctor Who "Space Babies"

I'm diving deep into the latest Doctor Who episode, "Space Babies," and boy, do I have a lot to unpack. This marks our first full season since 2021, and with all the Disney money poured into promotion, expectations were sky-high. But did "Space Babies" live up to the hype?
Patreon ▶ / crispypro
Twitter ▶ / crispeeepro
Instagram ▶ / crispy_pro
TikTok ▶ / crispeeepro
Before we delve into the nitty-gritty, I want to remind you that this is just my opinion. I'm eager to hear your thoughts, so drop them in the comments below for a lively discussion!
First off, let's talk about the good stuff. But before we do, I'm Crispy, and brace yourselves for some epic Doctor Who content heading your way over the next few weeks. Also, quick heads up-today's review is all about "Space Babies." Wondering about "The Devil's Cord"? Well, I'll be reviewing each episode live on Sundays, so hit that subscribe button and join the fun!
And hey, if you're into podcasts, don't miss out on our discussions over at Whos There. Trust me, it's a blast!
Now, onto the episode. Here's how I felt going in:
The revamped titles had me hopeful.
The initial scenes, showcasing Ruby and the planet, exuded that classic Doctor energy.
The slower moments and narrative cuts kept me intrigued, especially the evolving memories.
Ncuti and Millie continue to shine as a delightful duo.
The ending scene with Ruby and the Doctor was pure Doctor magic.
Plus, the nod to "Church on Ruby Road" as the season opener felt more fitting.
But now, onto the not-so-great aspects:
Those CGI-mouthed babies were seriously distracting. A little beanie or alien makeover could've worked wonders.
Talking down to the babies felt cringeworthy, even for a family program.
The Bogeyman's booger-based existence, while amusing, cheapened the threat.
Russell's track record with season openers leaves much to be desired, and "Space Babies" sadly continues the trend.
While the episode had its moments, it didn't quite hit the mark for me, especially for newcomers to the series.
MY PATRONS:
ULTIMATE CRISP TIER
- Mike Halsey
- Video Nations
- Grace R.
- Nick Mellish
- TheBeastBoss
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
#DoctorWho #CrispyForShowrunner

[@Faction.Paradox]

The title is a subtle reference to the episode having babies that are in space, most people miss it.

[@thefoxcritic1]

the title is a subtle reference to space babies

[@Flashy675]

The title is a subtle reference to doctor who.

[@CrispyPro]

OH MY GOSH WHAT

[@willpalmer615]

That's just a fan theory.

[@neilgodwin6531]

?😮

[@willpalmer615]

I feel like this is what happens when people are afraid to say no to Russell T Davies. He isn't a comedy writer. This is his idea of a funny episode.

[@CyberSlammer2024]

Rtd is a brilliant drama writer but he just cannot write science fiction

[@SuperGreg247]

⁠@@CyberSlammer2024 hard disagree: Midnight, Utopia, Waters of Mars, Bad Wolf, Journeys End are all fantastic scifi not to mention any of the Time War lore. Doctor Who isn’t just sci-fi though and RTD gets that, it’s campy space serials and not hard scifi

[@Rick-Rarick]

Will I watch every episode? Yup! Will I rewatch Space Babies? Nope. I would rather rewatch Blink, Water of Mars, or others.

[@carealoo744]

Your bar might be a bit high

[@josephchambers2000]

I’d rather watch Love and Monsters, the Twin Dilemma or Orphan 55.

[@carls7860]

​@@josephchambers2000 BENNY!!! 😂

[@arch1017]

I'd rather watch In the Forest of the Night than ever suffer through Space Babies again.

[@CrispyPro]

I think space babies is definitely worth a rewatch. Moments of gold but overall a but disappointing

[@terminatrix92]

I think this new RTD era is choosing style over substance. RTD seems very anti-seriousness this time around. 2005 era Doctor Who might feel dated now but it had an authenticity I appreciated. Rose herself was a bit of a loser who needed adventure to make up for a listless life. Ruby Sunday is likeable but doesnt feel like a real person to me! Does she have a job? Why does she need to find her birth parents if her family is so great?? Jackie was a flawed mother, Mickey was a flawed boyfriend. My point is most companions are running away or toward something. Martha wasn't ready to be a Doctor, Amy wasn't ready to get married. If Ruby had a bad life I could see why she wants to find where she came from but the story so far is missing that beat. Ruby so far as a character is pretty boring, wanting something external like parents isnt as interesting as having flaws to overcome. It literally lacks drama

[@alieunjie8459]

Rose was a loser? She was 19 when she met the Doctor. A 19 year old is obviously not going to have much going for themselves 💀😂🤣

[@terminatrix92]

​@@alieunjie8459 im not saying that to be harsh on Rose, just to demonstrate she starts listless and finds purpose. Ruby so far as a character is pretty boring, wanting something external like parents isnt as interesting as having flaws to overcome. Rose selfishly wants to use time travel to get her father back. If Ruby goes that way it could be interesting but right now there's no tension in her dynamic with the Doctor.

[@neilgodwin6531]

My grandparents fostered and adopted various children, as well as raising my mum and her siblings, their biological offspring. Those children were not defined by their need to find their birth parents. Curious, probably, but not obsessively so. Listen to adopted children like James Ó Brien and Nicky Campbell. When they refer to "mum and dad" they mean the adoptive parents who raised them.

[@terminatrix92]

@@neilgodwin6531 what's your point? That I shouldn't be defining the character that way or RTD shouldn't? Cos if she had more nuance 'mainly melancholy' I'd agree. But Ruby seems incredibly happy and yet determined to find her birth parents, which doesnt compute for me. Like you said, curiosity makes sense

[@SuperWotman]

Wtf was this first episode this was pure uncanny valley and did not work a bit. I had hopes and I am extremely disappointed I hope it will get better.

[@CrispyPro]

I'm almost positive it will get better from here

[@neilgodwin6531]

​@@CrispyProI thought the same. Then I saw the second.....

[@amongstreality3487]

One of the worst episodes of all time. Unfortunately not something I expected after Church on Ruby Road

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

Indeed it was beyong dreadful. Dire rubbish.

[@AurumEtAes]

The goblins episode was appalling. This seemed in keeping

[@FTZPLTC]

This feels like the kind of episode where, years from now, we'll find out that someone at Disney really wanted to do a Doctor Who/Baby Geniuses crossover and would've pulled the plug on the whole deal if he didn't get it. It feels like it was written under duress by people who were shackled to this terrible idea and had to do the best they could with it. But until then, I'm going to assume that Rusty Davies' brain broke. re the fart sound, they didn't add it, but they DID give the space station a butt. And that's weird.

[@mainstreetsaint36]

This is the same guy who gave us farting aliens. 😑

[@MrTambourineMan.]

@@mainstreetsaint36true but there was also a lot of other stuff happening in those episodes that mattered. The Doctor accidentally bringing Rose back 12 months late instead of 12 hours and all the implications of that. Jackie thinking Mickey kidnapped Rose. The farting aliens invaded Rose’s timeline on Earth for the first time. It was built like a huge moment. We started to see Mickey’s character arc of becoming a hero. The brief Jack, Mickey, Rose and Doctor crew was fun. The dilemma of whether to send the Slitheen woman back to her home to be executed or let her go free again for The Doctor coming off The Time War. Everything to do with these babies and the booger monster in this episode felt so lifeless and unimportant. Even beyond the juvenile toilet jokes.

[@HSzL4rB]

I really rate Crispy because he's not a yes man who claims to love everything doctor who puts out like other KZbinrs. Actually critiques the show and has honest opinions. Big up 👏

[@xsm5525]

I had him down as a shill but he's not shilling as hard as shill master Mr tardis, so yes, fair play to Crispy

[@HSzL4rB]

@@xsm5525 most other DW KZbinrs are shills, people shit on Disparu and Nerdrotic but they mostly speak facts tbf

[@rebekkahill4664]

I've come to realise the doctor and ruby are insufferable together. They so positive and extroverted my brain can't handle it they are the people I'd run away from at a party 😅

[@Kesteen]

Would you rather they just didn't talk at all?

[@resiseven7407]

dr who fan discovers socially competent people for the first time

[@spic9h592]

Meanwhile I'm hear feeling the sort of doctor/companion energy I haven't seen since Baker/Sladen (Tennant/Tate were close but a different type of best friend energy).

[@leathersausage]

@@resiseven7407 Unlike you, beeing super toxic for no reason. Go keep standing in that corner.

[@resiseven7407]

@@leathersausage bees arent toxic they actualy make honey hope this helps!

[@Vaborn77]

Davies has decided to get turn this run of WHO into a platform for activism. Half the episodes are call back to his original run, and the rest is content created to appeal to lgbt viewers. The old long standing fans are tapped out or starting too.

[@foxyfox5]

Yup.

[@simchar4263]

It is so obvious you have never been a fan of this show and are jumping on the radical right wing "anti woke" hate train because you lack a personality. Its just like X Men 97, people calling it woke when that show has always been progressive.

[@TheHarper11]

I was not impressed. The best acting in my opinion was the Nannie. Like the Haunting of Villa Diodati the butler was the best. I laughed just at the expressions on his face. Anyway, space babies is not one I'll remember. I started to watch a second time and couldn't do it. Ruby Sunday's character seems awfully 2 dimensional. Her lines are not convincing. Scream in terror then gives a happy-go-lucky giggle, laugh in the next moment. I'm having a difficult time with this.

[@callumtc1710]

I couldn't agree more. The episodes feel shoddy and without any passion from the actors.

[@BeanzStudioz]

1:52 I NEED THE FULL VERSION OF THAT SONG

[@CrispyPro]

SPACE BABIIIIIESSSS

[@EwanDavidson-xs5fg]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXuneJaudstseposi=pe24ei8jKOmtc_j-

[@SunnyShuklathedoctor]

Also, when 15 did the whole "there are no monsters, they're just creatures we havent met yet" and my first thought was immediately flatline's ending

[@RH1812]

Space babies? Space babies. Space, babies!

[@Legendary3Dgamer]

Um ok 😂

[@kbg12ila]

Space babes. Lol

[@Legendary3Dgamer]

@@kbg12ila I’m pretty sure the Doctor says space babies so many times for no reason 😂

[@anotheronebitesthedust-fs6wr]

Another point is you guessed it SPACE BABIES

[@Paul-xv3xc]

Embarrassing

[@edmundprice5276]

The change in genre in combination with the primary school humour is too much, farting their way to safety is just not the way to go.

[@KatherineStevenson-uh6dd]

Well this is such a disappointment 😕 expected a lot better. Hoping it will improve as it goes on

[@sarahglover3286]

Just so you know Crispy iPlayer did the same, Church on Ruby Road was under specials and moved to season 1 when the others dropped!

[@gordonw.8831]

I don't know if it was a deliberate allegory for the solution being literally a pile of shit. But yeah, it's sadly kinda accurate.

[@Jadido7]

it’s clear Russel T Davies doesn’t care anymore, he just came back for the money …. Looks like he wrote those stories in a couple of hours

[@Tuznecote]

This is a terrible jumping on point. I was left cold so many times.

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

and after 60 years this is the episode which is the end of my watching of DW. It was so so woefully bad.

[@JohnSmith-be1vl]

@@triplejazzmusicisall1883 Just ignore it if you can. Don't let it ruin classic Who for you.

[@donatist59]

Cold is the perfect word for it. I feel no emotional connection to these characters.

[@Dragonfly-0010]

It was a bit derivative of The End of the World. The space station in the future, Ruby's phone being able to call her mother in the present, the viewing room to see the planet below. It was definitely a 'this one is for the kids' episode. The Devil's Chord was a big improvement.

[@zowsk4527]

The main problem for me was that switch to all of a sudden 'No don't kill the bogeyman'. It just felt so rushed and out of nowhere, even as a fan that knows the Doctor acts like this (when it suits them). It would have been better to put them in a more obvious moral dilemma and the doctor reasoning and finding a way to save the creature and everyone else, but it just felt so abrupt. Or even better, Ruby has to make the choice and starts to see the world through the Doctor's eyes. Definitely not the strongest opener but if I treat church on ruby road as the opener, this feels very episode 2. Just meh.

[@johnholmesinchesahead342]

The BBC is remaking Zulu Dawn - with Ncuti Gatwa playing Lord Chelmsford and at least half the British soldiers being far more representative of contemporary British society. Of course, for balance, Chief Cetshwayo will be played by Laurence Fox.

[@neilgodwin6531]

Slightly offensive, given that Ncuti's family were asylum seekers and brought him here from Rwanda to escape the genocide. A genocide brought about by similar post colonial tribal rivalries to those in the Zulu nation.

[@gavinhughes7136]

Not too sarcastic

[@donatist59]

​@neilgodwin6531 Post-colonial tribal rivalries are by definition indigenous culture that colonialism failed to stamp out. Aren't we supposed to celebrate that sort of thing?

[@avrahamishshalom1799]

I really didn't enjoy Space Babies, some good moments (especially the snow). I thought Devils Chord was a dramatic improvement in quality until the final 4 minutes. Kinda worried about the final three quarters of the series tbh, especially cos I think the final twist will be the doctor acknowledging that he is a fictional character

[@Kesteen]

Don't worry, the Grand Moff is writing the next one.

[@neilgodwin6531]

I quite literally cringed as soon as I saw the stage. Ncuti and Millie can't sing and dance, and this isn't "Gallifrey's Got Talent". Ncuti didn't sing in Sex Education, but everyone watching loved Eric

[@StarvedForTime]

RTD at his best is phenomenal. At his worst it's painfully cringy. This was definitely of the second type. Such a bad choice to kick off the season.

[@sinlatenightsins9657]

Space Babies feels like a SJA episode with a bigger budget to me. It's fine, it's watchable, even enjoyable mostly, but it feels like I'm not the intended target audience, which is disappointing but not the end of the world. The Devils Chord was much more to my liking, apart from the end song. It was so superfluous. It added nothing to the story. Up until that point the way music was used in the episode was great. Space Babies: 5/10. The Devil's Chord: 6.5/10

[@revitalisestudios1930]

I somewhat enjoyed this episode but I reckon Boom will be the best of the series. I think Steven’s writing is better then RTDS and I’ll die on that hill

[@josephchambers2000]

Thank goodness I’m not the only one who was disappointed. Is it me or is Disney making them dumb it down? I am going to watch the rest of the series but my parents have basically said, watch it when we are out.

[@simchar4263]

Disney has no role in the making of the show, this was a classic Christopher Eccleston style episode, if you didn't like this episode then you are not a Doctor Who fan.

[@ObviouslyKieran]

@@simchar4263 Who tf are you to tell someone who's a fan and who isn't? Get in the bin.

[@AuroraButterflyx]

@@ObviouslyKierantwo right. While they are right that Disney doesn’t have full creative control. You are still a dw fan if you don’t like certain episodes

[@leecarroll4622]

​@@simchar4263 I'll stick with The Seeds of Doom I think lol

[@josephchambers2000]

@@simchar4263 so I can love the majority of Doctor Who up till this point, but by not liking one episode I am not a fan? Now, who’s being objectively wrong.

[@LeviPennington-vv2kq]

I couldn’t stand the Christmas special. I thought the goblins were just bad. Their singing voices were modern in a gross way imo. And the goblin song in general was awfully cringe and bad and not iconic. This however, I thought was really fun. Something about the babies not knowing what they were doing (bad cgi, but it’s Doctor Who I don’t care) was just fun to me and really made me understand a level to the “fun” appeal of Doctor Who that I don’t think I’ve ever really understood before. To each his own, though

[@LesleyTurner-ue7ol]

Actually, the best bit of Space Babies was The Doctor saving the Bogeyman: the only one of its kind. And for The Doctor, it was one of those 'Without hope, without witness, without reward' moments. But, regardless, the scene and its emotional payoff felt undercooked. Space Babies (*sighs*).

[@CrispyPro]

PUSH THE BUTTON

[@Mark-nh2hs]

The other best part was the Doctor taking sadistic delight in making the babies cry - not once but twice 😂

[@Kesteen]

The Doctor did do a little bit of trolling.

[@HarvesterYT]

To me it felt superficial, and another example of the show lazily tacking on its moral viewpoints rather than organically baking them into the story. This episode absolutely could've been about the conflict between the maternal desire to protect children from harm and the ethical dilemma that can present. Can you go too far as a result of that fear? Is the fear justified? It could've tied in with the Doctor's own fear of the creature, and him overcoming it to protect the creature, perhaps in turn revealing the creature is in fact afraid too, and trying to protect itself. There, a naturally woven theme.

[@elgroucho]

I, too, was disappointed with 'Space Babies'. Its as if RTD remade 'The Beast Below' - but underwhelming. 'The Devil's Chord' was FAR better. Next week's 'Boom' looks really good, tho'.

[@ashleysherlock5705]

Funny. I was that exact opposite. Love Space Babies so much. The Devil's Chord was respectable in it's ambitions, but as a musician it fell flat due to its many music based problems.

[@Mark-nh2hs]

The Devils chord was terrible you can see Disney all over it. It played like a bad Disney cartoon - that's not Dr Who

[@ashleysherlock5705]

@@Mark-nh2hs Nah, I had my problems with the devils chord, but you're imaging the Disney influence. It's Russel through and through. Disney can't influence the entire script to that extent.

[@neilgodwin6531]

The Devil's Chord. Let's reference Cilla (amazingly with her "new" nose - she had a nose job years, but in 1963 had a more prominent proboscis). Let's bring in the Beatles. Lucky John Bishop wasn't available. Oh, it's 5 minutes too short. What to do? Remember "Tongue Tied" in Red Dwarf? Fans loved that. Let's do that. Cue toe curling Gallifrey's Got Talent sequence

[@flo4223]

I've not watched the Devil's Chord yet, just Space Babies, and so far i'm not too keen on Ruby. I feel like she's been written as 'companion', rather than 'an actual human being who will step into the role of companion'. And tbf I think that's more on the script rather than Millie. Hopefully she'll become more fleshed out as the series goes on

[@Domihork]

Yes! Hard agree!

[@AethonRose]

I like the fact they are kind of speed running the beginning, even though it can be a bit jarring, especially the time jump between 'Space Babies' and 'The Devil's Cord'. I think just getting the typical doctor who explanation stuff out of the way will leave for a lot more exploration of the characters and Russel's ideas for the show, instead of having half to a whole season slowly re-explaining things to the audience.

[@torijeri]

omg yeah devils chord takes place 6 months after space babies 😭 I wonder what happened in that time.

[@joelmole3157]

It’s kind of like watching The End of the World first instead of Rose. That was a similar goofy episode that followed a more grounded one. I definitely would consider The Church on Ruby Road to be the true episode 1 of the season and the best jumping on point of this era .

[@kbg12ila]

True but I would say Space Babies is the better episode. Church on Ruby Road felt like half an episode, like it's missing a third act. This at least felt like a full episode with a proper beginning middle and end.

[@ianwoodall4523]

Thats a big fat no from me. Its for the kids now. Thats fine.

[@triplejazzmusicisall1883]

Agree. It was juvenile and pathetic. All those who say DW is primarily a children's show may now be correct but it never was always that. i.e. Heaven Sent, Revelation of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin and on the list goes. For me this is very Disney. Fans will same this is still at heart DW but it does not feel that way to me anymore. I'm out.

[@JohnSmith-be1vl]

@@triplejazzmusicisall1883 Yeah, DW was actually always made as a family show (for 12 year olds and up, primarily) and was actually made by the drama department rather than the kids' TV department. Only when it came back in 2005, did some of the makers of the show (RTD specifically) claim it was for eight year olds. Now it appears to be made for immature toddlers.

[@donatist59]

Kids aren't woke.

[@MrLorddissident]

I, too, thought the CGI mouths were a tad disconcerting. When the Nanny said that she had been taken care of them for six years, I thought, "Gee, if they had actually used six year old children, that wouldn't have been necessary." Of course, such logic would have messed with several of the jokes they were writing. I supposed that it is just more reasonable to think that babies in the future will stop aging before they are one, but their vocal cords and mental capacities will not.

[@Domihork]

I still don't get why they didn't age. It's just the Doctor saying "nobody grows up wrong" but there's no explanation. Did I miss something?

[@matthewplace7329]

It was purile and stupid.. and very juvenile

[@techniqueswithtodd]

It was

[@DJWhovian]

I think because The Church On Ruby Road acts more like an opener to a series and does all the new character introductions. So that's why this can be seen as a stranger opener.

[@whitnale018]

Honestly I'd call it the first full season since series 12 in January 2020. Flux was a mini-series event and everything else was specials.

[@EwanDavidson-xs5fg]

Its a very dark episode if you think about it, The Doctor killed the Space Babies when he fired teh Space Station at an inhabited planet, as he said it doesnt have navigation rockets. It will either be an Extiction Level Catastrophe for the planet or they blow the ship away Armageddon/Deep Impact Style.

[@kbg12ila]

I assume they can probably communicate once getting close in orbit and the planet would slow them down.

[@inquerion8867]

@@kbg12ila How? This Space Station has no engines. It's like a asteroid that can cause extinction event. They will be forced to destroy it before it hits the planet. Especially that they mentioned that its's a "weird planet" and they don't care about these kids.

[@mattevans4377]

Or maybe they just didn't think about how orbital mechanics actually work......

[@Mark-nh2hs]

​@@kbg12ilaor the planets defence systems blew it out of the sky 😂

[@jsm5557]

Oh come on, the Doctor is a genius. He launched the space station at just the right speed and just the right direction so that it will be caught by the mavity of the planet in such a way that it will orbit the planet. Not forever, but long enough to be rescued.

[@niriop]

Yeah, nothing says “The Doctor” like a skintight muscle T-shirt and gold chain…

[@Alex-yl8dz]

Me, who avoided as much promotional material as possible: "Space babies? Well they drew parallels between the Doctor and Ruby being foundlings, are they gonna reveal so soon that Ruby is from off-world like the Doctor was with their planet? ... Oh, it's about literal babies in space shitting their way to a refugee camp..."

[@cranzag]

4:35 You almost made me spit out my gogurt

[@Zuuu40]

Good to have you back on KZbin

[@CrispyPro]

The next few weeks are going to be fantastic just you wait! I've got some fun videos coming up

[@Zuuu40]

@@CrispyPro great news

[@Zuuu40]

Just a quick question will u still add subtitles to your video like your other videos

[@calebleland8390]

I loved it. I watched this and The Devil's Chord last night, and really enjoyed both.

[@can_pacis]

It is quite a “meh” episode for me. I enjoyed very small portions of it, especially the tone threw me off. Maybe an episode about the morality of abortion legality could use some more serious tone. I mean if you are giving the message, give some critique about the subject.

[@CyberSlammer2024]

It's like Russell T Davies wrote this episode in about 2 days and didn't bother going back and double checking anything.

[@leeci33]

Somehow.. I only remember your “weekly promise” when I know you’ll most likely be posting weekly. #crispyforshowrunner ❤️

[@jukesy1992]

Hay, I can't find your live stream of Devil's Cord on this channel. The last livestream in the live tab is a Mcgan stream from a year ago. Is there something I'm missing?

[@CrispyPro]

I will be doing the livestream tonight ✨

[@arch1017]

I thought it was terrible. Down there with the very worst of NuWho. I paused it four times to see how near the end I was, and that's not something I do often. Came very close to switching off and sticking Inside Number 9 on instead. Really glad they released Devil's Chord too, as that was much better.

[@tawnymorgen4196]

This felt like a Chibnall episode (not a compliment) like I kept expecting the Pting to show up. It's like they're actively trying to keep new viewers away.

[@RadicalDonkey]

Pretty agree with everything you said and i also favoured the more serious moments especially the flashback. I have the same scenario with my fiancé and she seemed to find it a bit too out there and fast. I felt in the middle about it, i didn't hate it but it was a bit too crazy. I felt like the epsiode didn't earn its craziness for me to really buy in and pace too quick. I think once the two of them are more established together, it would have been better as the fifth episode or something.

[@LennyT007]

i kept singing 🎶 Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! SPACE BABIES!!! 🎶 to the tune of Space Truckin' by Deep Purple. 😅😂🤣

[@kbg12ila]

I actually loved the first episode. It reminded me a lot of Partners in Crime.

[@AuroraButterflyx]

Yeah same here. It was a very solid episode with a great set up for the rest of season and along with the snow memories. But I don’t think it it’s my favourite episode

[@CrispyPro]

Verrrrry Partners in Crime vibe

[@LeviPennington-vv2kq]

11:19 I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at all. The general consensus definitely seems to be that the Church on Ruby Road is the first episode of “New” Doctor Who

[@sylfan1]

So I finally got around to seeing this one last night - I liked it! The talking babies gave me a bit of 'Look Who's Talking' vibes, and had a few good jokes in there. I agree, not the best one, but it's not the 'sky is falling, doctor who is dead' hype from angry nerds that is currently littering my youtube page.

[@janetgraham-russell4476]

Got to remember that we're coming down from the 60th anniversary eps.

[@TomLednorMusic]

Will you be uploading your livestreams to YT to watch after they’ve aired? Also why aren’t you pursuing a music career

[@NamesEvad]

The big metaphor here is that we the audiance are the space babies, needing a show like Doctor who to bring our educational horror stories to life, manifesting them for entertainment and education. I wonder if art reflecting out will be a continious theme in this series, I think it pairs well with the fourth wall breaking, if the doctor is aware he is in a show/being watched.

[@PeterMCRA]

1:51 NAH WHAT WAS TOO PERFECT!!!

[@HuntingViolets]

Yay, "Smith & Jones" credit (I know I want a different word)!

[@laurenkaitlyn6341]

It's beyond me as to why anyone thought this episode was a good idea at all... It has to be one of the worst episodes ever. Im so disappointed in Rusty D

[@veeganboy]

If this was meant to be an "introduction" of sorts to a new series of Doctor Who, it fails. Despite answering the basic questions about who The Doctor and companion were, it lacked anything to latch onto character wise. With so much riding on this season, they should have come out stronger than this.

[@MaksymCzech]

Just watched it on Disney+. The horror... The sheer existential horror of it...

[@The_Disturber]

I liked it, was it the best, no. But as just a fun episode of Doctor Who it was good. I did like the comparison of real life abortion laws ("they care that they are born, but don't care what happens with them afterwards") That was well done and not too hammered down. Yeah the scare of the bogeyman is a bit lost afterwards, but honestly I wasn't really frightened by it anyway, and I did like how in the end you more felt sympathy for the creature being the only one of its kind. I think the worst thing for this episode was that it was the season opener, this adventure would have been better somewhere in the middle of the season I think.

[@golden_gloo]

I feel like the babies were quite intelligent but still had the maturity and innocence of a baby like how Eric goes down to the lower decks to see if he can sort the Boogeyman out.

[@mathieuleader8601]

Russ's Kill the Moon 2.5 *

[@arnoclaesen8105]

The exposition dumb was exhausting, it ruined the mysterious air behind the doctor that they set up in the first episode very well. The doctor never talks about the time war this fast without reason. It would work better at the end of the episode. i hated the babies, its such pandering bs. it feels like an airbuddies movie. It would work if they did something fun with the babies like for example make them mentally grown up and have them be bothered by the dr and ruby doting on them. Ruby could say "omg, they are so cute" and the baby would be like "oi, mate, I'm 35, get ur bloody mits off me." That would have been funny in a not pandering way and if they are functionally adults you can cut the nanny and have them do whatever she does in the episode. I hate how everyone is almost telepathically on board with the doctor wanting to save the boogiemonster. I get why he wants to save it bcs he can relate to being alone in the universe but how does Ruby know that? To her they are just venting a gross monsterguy. If they had some initial disagreement and after the end of the episode when they are back on the tardis, Ruby can ask why the dr cared about it and then the dr could explain what happened to the time lords and that he like that creature is alone. This would have given a lot more catharsis. I had the same issue with the chibnall era, there has to be some conflict between the companions and the doctor, that's what makes the show interesting to watch. I hope my rambling is somewhat coherant. I haven't watched the next episode yet but if it's more of this weak writing I'm out which sucks because I really want to like it. Ncuti Gatwa was amazing in sex education and I think he has so much potential as the doctor, it would be horrible if they wasted his time as the doctor to these weak episodes

[@RadioFirestage558]

I basically agreed with everything you said in this. A good, fair, well balanced review. No notes.

[@kevin10001]

For me it was interesting as a concept taking the name boogeyman and making it literally a creature made out of snot but that goes towards the more comedic aspect of the episode just like using the baby’s poop as thrust to get them moving towards the planet I do like that it feels like they are done with the doctor having a reputation cause to me that got old fast cause I one thing I like about the classic era is how he can show up in a situation and and him being the doctor doesn’t mean anything to the people he is helping and they underestimate him cause of not know who he is just by the name doctor but in my opinion they did rely a but much on the toilet humor in some parts of the episode

[@djb6313]

This new series is more like Dr What than Dr Who. TO me the good news is that it can only get better from here because I can’t imagine it being worse that Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord.

[@alinaisyou]

Maybe I'm baby-pilled (as that a thing? baby-pilled?) but I really love Space Babies. It's funny, it's heartfelt, it establishes the playful banter between the Doctor and Ruby really well, and babies get hugs. I cried when the babies got hugs. I don't love what feels to me like an Impossible Girl redux, but I'm hoping they pull back on that in the middle part of the season. For now I'm content watching Ncuti and Millie playing off each other. And also watching them hug babies. Baby-pilled. Space Baby-Pilled.

[@joeeeee256]

Loved the start and end, slumped in the middle a bit and I thought the start and end parts could've been longer instead. Visually it's stunning. Would've liked The Doctor's exposition to be maybe a little slower rather than dumped on the audience at the start and would've liked to introduce Ruby's family again a bit more than just landing in the kitchen. I know Ruby's family were established in TCORR but for lots of people this is their Episode 1. The fact we jump ahead 6 months in the next episode means I can't help but worry that - when we come back to them later in the season - the Doctor won't seem to phase them at all. And yes I also went in with lower expectations just because the title "Space Babies" doesn't interest me much. My favourite RTD opener is Partners in Crime, all his others I have also found a little boring in the middle (as good as "Rose" is). I'm aware I've just been rambling here...

[@megcatherine8254]

I feel like the nanny's swearing getting filtered and the doctor laughing at scaring the babies were the only things that made this episode watchable for me. After seeing singing goblins, I was definitely hoping to see something a little more believable and more serious, sans the toilet humour at the very least. But I guess that's just classic RTD doing a funny. At the end with the doctor seeing himself in the boogey man (who'd been on screen for all of 2 minutes) and choosing to save him, I think I actually rolled my eyes. I feel like there is definitely a more impactful way to teach children that everyone is unique and worthy of compassion, involving a misunderstood villain using actual character building and backstory. We've had the doctor listen to creatures that don't speak with dialogue before and it's been relatively impactful (eg. The minotaur in the God Complex in his final moments) so in not sure why this wasn't used again. I also wanted to point out how this episode was such a contrast to how the doctor treated the Racnoss in the Runaway bride in RTDs earlier work, or even the slitheen family. Wondering whether it would be different if the boogey man actually got the chance to eat a baby. Anyhow, I hope the other episodes are paced and fleshed out a bit better. (The Devils Chord definitely should've been a 2 parter). Missing Steven Moffat pretty bad rn.

[@nycbutterfly52]

I have very mixed feelings about the episode also. I'll probably research it today.

[@tomfink7505]

6 out of 10 is being VERY generous.

[@AttakusZakus]

Silly, fun, but I can see the darkness coming. The Fog Is Coming.

[@rubitbetter]

Total garbage

[@matthewcohen6339]

Thie episode felt like RTD has completely run out of ideas and is daring Disney to fire him.

[@BeanzStudioz]

one word fun

[@markmangan2409]

The Justin bieber space babies song is hilarious 😂😂😂

[@Domihork]

The episode felt so forcefully goofy, I honestly expected Micky Mouse to jump out from somewhere. It really felt like a show for 3-year-olds. Plus the exposition dump was so rushed, it really felt like ticking the boxes as quickly as possible. So far I'm liking it more than Chibnal's era, but I'm not really convinced yet.

[@ScottsThoughts]

I am severely underwhelmed with the Ncuti era so far

[@rhysdehaan]

The first episode was not great... I'm loving Ncuti's doctor though, and the rest of the season looks better.

[@teamsonicchannel4400]

i feel like the episode shouldl have been called the boogeyman

[@ftumschk]

* Bogeyman, but that's a good point.

[@Robotraff1ghter]

What would u rate the changes they made to the intro?

[@adamrad2220]

The episode wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good either. The devil's chord wasn't much better. I'm getting the same feeling that I had after the first episode or two of Amazon's rings of power. It's got all the right names, places, settings, etc. But... It lacks authenticity. Much like how rings of power didn't feel like it was authentically Tolkien in any way, this season of Doctor Who so far feels like it's fanfiction trying to be the real thing. This was the season to try and redeem Doctor who, but unless something major happens, I feel like I'm in danger of literally not caring about Doctor Who anymore. Which would be crazy 10 or even 20 or 25 years ago.

[@Limes_not_Lemons]

The episodes of the season so far aren't necessarily bad, they're definitely enjoyable, but damn they're still disappointing. My main gripes are the pacing and how the conclusions are super messy and contrived. The (again) messy representation, I'm the exact person some of this representation is aimed at and it feels sloppy. And lastly Ncuti, not saying he's a bad Doctor so far, he's really good, but there are a couple of scenes that feel like he specifically is hamming it up too much, like in The Devil's Chord he reaches his hand out as if he's performing a corny take on a Shakespeare play on stage or something. He's not bad though, don't get me wrong there. Apart from those two scenes I really enjoy his Doctor. And the last complaint of mine is the musical numbers. They're not good and only one of the two are relevant. The Goblin song kinda makes sense as the Goblins are just established to enjoy songs, but the end of The Devil's Chord is not set up well, it's not a good song and it goes on for far too long, if it was just a quick cutaway song sure, but nearly 3 minutes of super cringey staging and whatnot just rubs me the wrong way. If they include any more unnecessary, poorly justified, cringey musical numbers I think I'll start getting sick of the show, and I've recently gotten into musicals, love them, damn Doctor Who isn't a musical but if you're gonna make it a musical at least make it good and hire someone who works in musical theatre to make those musical numbers instead of relying on Murray alone. What I like though is the production. It doesn't feel so premium that it loses its charm, it sill feels like Doctor Who from a production standpoint, yet it still looks the best Doctor Who ever has. They've struck a fine balance of making it look fantastic while keeping it feeling like Doctor Who has for the past 19 years. Also (specifically for The Devil's Chord and Church on Ruby Road) I love the concepts, I mean, Goblins that thrive on coincidence causing mischief and killing babies? SOUNDS COOL TO ME. A child of the Toymaker who gains power from and is the very essence of music? SOUNDS COOL TO ME. The concepts are good, and the idea for Boom, being stuck on a war torn planet, accidentally stepping on a land mine and having to figure out how to escape? Super simple but has potential to be insanely effective. Looking forward to it but being a little apprehensive cause so far 2/8 episodes are just ok, that's a quarter of the season that's not too great, this is supposed to be the brand new jumping on point to gravitate to the entire world's audience and it's failing miserably imo. Really want it to be better, not just cause I want good Doctor Who but cause I want this show to succeed again, but I don't see it happening if these episodes so far are where the show is heading. I'll still enjoy it but I don't see it surviving very long if that's the case, and that's a shame, cause my complaints still don't bother me to a great extent, I'll still watch the show(unless the musical numbers return any worse than they are, then I'll give up for a season or so) and I'd love to see the whole world enjoying Doctor Who, taking its messages to heart and learning a thing or two while having fun. Literally all they need to do is learn how to include their progressive ideas in a constructive manner instead of just slapping it in there cause it's performative and not even the targets of that progressive messaging enjoy it, cause I'm trans and thought Rose's story in The Star Beast was pretty awfully conveyed EXCEPT for Donna and Sylvia's conversation, that was spot on. Hey RTD, just write good conversations please that one was GOLDEN

[@VisiblyLogan]

I love it Doctor who has a Child Labor episode! P.S the new sort of children’s story elements he’s bringing in are kind of cool but I don’t know if he’s doing it the right way, like the Goblins could have been really freaky but he put a musical number in, the episode about a baby eating monster could have been freaky, he made the solution to the episode literal baby shit. It’s honestly kind of hard to realize that this is the same guy who wrote episodes like The Parting of the Ways and Midnight. P.P.S I really did like the Devils cord and the musical number fits in I guess because the episode is about music and takes place in Abbey Road. P.P.P.S the bits where the Doctor and Ruby are away from the babies and Nan-e or whatever are pretty good, like the snow scene was definitely unsettling. So maybe we’ll have a series one situation where the first couple episodes are goofy funny haha and the Dalek rolls around and every episode after that is dark and scary. Here’s to hoping that Boom will be that change in tone.

[@gaztheman7879]

Why all the references to the end of the world from the dialogue lot of rose references remember no coincidences.

[@davidayers362]

In space no one can hear you fart.

[@NoahAG]

I really liked it and the episode s so good in my opnion

[@matty543210098]

Just a theory but I think Disney was aware at how disappointing this episode was. I think they delibertly made the christmas special episode one and than added a second episode to compensate.

[@jamesbaxter1667]

This episode was good but would not have been my first choice for a premiere episode

[@harrisonsharp6]

I wish they brung back some old villains , doctor who needs to have some episodes that are darker than others

[@tewedros]

10:38 I KNEW I RECOGNISED HER FROM SOMEWHERE

[@Mejoree113]

I really enjoyed Space Babies. It was far from the best episode, but it brought a fun silliness that the Chibnall era, and (to a much lesser extent), Capldi's run, seriously lacked. I do agree that it is much more of a Episode 2 than an Episode 1... and with how all the 3 Tennant specials seem to be tying in too... It could definitely be a bit weird for new viewers watching this episode first.

[@mathieuleader8601]

I thought the boogeyman was going to be a krynoid

[@Mark-nh2hs]

I thought it was the Vindaloo Monster from Red Dwarf 😂

[@jameskynaston4172]

Its should have been

[@Latriise]

I feel the same. Though it did a good job (even better than The Church on Ruby Road) at making me feel like this is the Doctor. But I feel like I now understand the people who hated "Love & Monsters" (which I actually really like). Because this was just not hitting the right note for me, plot-wise.

[@stefanrickenberg6597]

Yk what...that was a solid idea about the babies being different species instead of just being human ones. Would have definitely solved a bit problem about the mouths, and probably made it a bit less cringy.

[@Charlesingworth]

People are such glazers online like they can't critique anything about these episodes, but thankfully you could. It just gets annoying when everyone just says the same thing like "oh it's so good I love ncuti gatwa"