What the Hell Was This? | Doctor Who: Space Babies (Review and Analysis) 

That’s what increase budget means!

lol

My thoughts too. The episode is childish, but so is Doctor Who. It's a decent episode I think. I expected it to be this silly because disney now owns it, and the Christmas special was... unique

@@geekygalaxy4307 you know disney can only suggest things, right? they don't actually have any control over the show, they only bought the streaming rights

​@geekygalaxy4307 Disney just owns the distribution, the writing and direction of the show and everything is still the same doctor who companies

I thought of the queen Alien from Aliens getting sucked out of the airlock right away. Get the comparison to the hybrid as well though.

feels like a ending stolen from chris chibnill, hoomans bad, monster gudd. I really wouldn't of mined if it was evil & got ejected Among Us Style

It was a children's book. It doesn't have to have a clean ending It needed a happy ending.

@@michaelbocash9173 except doctor who isn't usually a children's book, and even for a children's book, "As brave little Sir Bill prepared to throw the bag of dragonsbane powder at the dragon that had been burning down the village to defeat it, he stopped and remembered that the evil dragon, son of Satan himself, is also a child and decided not to. And the dragon stopped trying to burn down the village and became a dog. The end." Isn't exactly up to snuff. Also, in most children's books, the "evil monster or villain" does get defeated, or some form of comeuppance(to make this episode more storybook accurate, the bogeyman should have swallowed one of the babies, and then have the doctor cut the baby out, like in little red riding hood). Regardless of our opinions on the fact that those are the stories we tell children, you cant deny that those or the kind of stories we do tell them.

@@thelonecustodes4344 lol I wouldn’t been fine if a baby died but I’m morbid & hate babies

Found it kind of wild it was essentially just Chinese/Japanese characters, thought it would be an altogether unrecognisable script like from the Satan 2 parter from Ten's era

Yeah, considering how English from just 1000 years ago is very unintelligible to modern English speakers. The 19,000 year difference with very familiar characters seems less reasonable.

@golden_gloo that's what I was thinking! Like, the year has 5 numbers not 4, so wild we can still read it...

@@golden_gloo I mean, the Latin alphabet was developed around 2,700 years ago and in that time only a few letters have changed from that to modern English writing. I thought it was pretty reasonable especially since none of the characters were actual Chinese characters (hanzi). Not to mention we know literally nothing about the writing system other than that the characters kinda look like hanzi and the language is influenced by or derived from Cantonese. It could be an alphabet, an abjad, a syllabary or any number of different writing systems which would be very different from hanzi which is a logographic system. Old English being unintelligible to Modern English is irrelevant because we're talking about a writing system. The writing system of Old English and the writing system of Modern English are almost the same with again the exception of a few letters being different. The long S, Eth, Thorn, Wynn, and Ash are all the letters in Old English we stopped using in Modern English, and W and J are the letters we added.

@@golden_gloo Hell the Long S was in use until the 19th century hence why you still see it in say the American declaration of independence (Sorry you had to gain the attention of a Linguistics autist lol)

You said it well: science fiction with fun and edge. With this episode, it feels just way too childish (no pun intended)

especially when we already did fantasy stories with Matt Smith and Moffat, yet in his usual egotistical way, RTD is pretending Doctor Who didn't exist between Season 4 and Season 11.

Completely different scenarios. This had to catch up new fans with all the lore much quicker while not getting boring for old fans. If the Doctor had spent 20 minutes telling us everything we already know then it would have been so much worse. Better to spend 30 seconds giving a recap and then move on

i get your point with that, i think the silly premises are okay as long as the doctor gets that moment, i think BOOM is gonne let ncuti act his ass off and i think the season will get better as it goes

I was wondering why i struggling to buy into their friendship a little and you've hit the nail on the head for me. It felt rushed 👍

Even with the reduced episode count, there was no need to dump so much character development and information into one episode. Couldn't Ruby have waited an episode or 2 to get a key (we know she didn't need it for the plot of The Devil's Chord). 2 hearts... Is that essential information? Gallifrey's gone? (That's very personal, not essential and barely gets a reaction). Also since space stations actually do have small engines (to make minor corrections to the orbit) then the whole fart thing could have been avoided by pumping the waste into the engines (overcoming a lack of fuel, rather than a lack of engines).

I’m gonna parry these takes with Moffat era (I actually said this lol) When series were split in two, with all its flaws, each part didn’t felt rushed. When Doctor give a key to a victorian Clara it also doesn’t. So you can actually have the same pace in less time. Unless you wanna put all possible exposition at once :/

It seems like next episode is going to be a lot more serious, so hopefully we get a proper Doctor moment then.

Finally a good suggestion!

One change I saw someone say was how about if they had headbands that were psychically linked to their thoughts and what they want to say

Those are all very good ideas. Would have actually made this episode interesting.

Except it was weirder in a different way. Like with Ruby saying stuff like "you never hide" as if they didn't just have their first proper adventure last episode where he very much ran and hid. And then it was just way too big of a threat for a second episode yet it set stuff up like it was the first episode. Frankly they should have just made Maestro the first episode with some added moments and changes to serve as the opener, and then made it a two parter. Episode 3 being space babies could have made it at least excusable.

​@@vullord666 Her comment makes sense with the 6 month time skip.

@@HishamA.N_Comicbroethe 6 month skip is just one missable line of dialogue however, its not actually something you can feel or notice while watching as from our perspective they only just met (i know christmas was ages ago but space babies picked up immediately)

@@gf1006 and then there was a 6 month time skip, also in the episode before the doctor states "i never run"

@@DrPickle205 I know there was a 6 month time skip, but that skip and that change in their relationship doesn’t feel earned, because it goes from “they’ve just met and are getting to know each other” to “they’ve been friends and going on adventures for ages” in one episode and that one episode came out simultaneously.

Agree. I do wonder if the early reception internally to this ep is why they doubled up. I would feel quite nervous even as a fan if Space Babies was the episode lingering in my mind for a week. For a lot of the new / returning audience I think it would have scuppered any momentum for the rest of the series.

Kinda like New Earth being overshadowed by The Christmas Invasion so it doesn't even get to have the prestige of being the first episode of a new Doctor

@@Synthpopper Sure, though I actually like New Earth.

spoken too soon i reckon

With allegories towards abortion and immigration I think I’m done with the show. It’s been touched by quotas by black rock. There’s plenty of old spinoff novels I can spend time with until this is cancelled

For real!

"Tell you what, don't... step on any butterflies..."

I’ve seen a theory online that the butterfly, the timeline change, and the snow, are all caused by Ruby, as she brings things that she thinks about into reality - which makes sense with the fact that butterflies wouldn’t exist at this point in time. Obviously it’s not confirmed, but for the moment, headcanon accepted.

People don’t kno that . They weren’t even there 🥱

This was so true of the episode 😂

At least they could make them cool “robo” voices via some tech instead of moving their mouths… like that.

Oh God, why did they do that?? 😡🤬😤Church on Ruby Road: do a shot everytime The Doctor says ‘Merry Christmas’. Is it f’ing offensive to say Babies as opposed to Space Babies? Wtf

It felt like they were going for an any %speedrun which also sucks because part of it felt like RTD didn't trust us as viewers or new viewers. We did not need to get everything explained in the first episode and told to us in the first few minutes. This is supposed to be a new "era" but right off the bat it felt like I was being told I needed a PhD in Doctor Who history just to get started and I am a long term fan. Can't imagine what it was like for completely new viewers.

the speeches feel forced. The first one is like "ok, here is what you need to know" and the second one "ok, here is another piece of information about me and the tardis". Like it's supposed to be emotional but it just feels like you dumped that on my lap, it's not earned at all!

@@vullord666i watched it w two friends who've never seen it and both aren't into nerdy stuff or even sci-fi and they understood it all perfectly after this and the special

I like Rose and Donna because they fulfilled their own destinies. Rose as Bad Wolf only happened because she made it happen, and it wasn’t a huge part of er character arc, it was more so a season mystery that ended up being caused by her. Same for Donna. She ended up becoming the Doctor Donna, but it wasn’t some big mystery the Doctor had to unravel about Donna as a person, it was just Dalek Caan messing up the timeline to fuck with Davros.

Ruby feels more like a character now than a plot point.

Omg me too 😂 it was all a dream!!

Capaldi really woke up and chose to take a franchise with him

@@robopistachio2369 Honestly? Twice Upon a Time would have been the perfect end for Doctor Who. The Doctor finally accepts his time is up, and lets himself be taken on that battlefield, surrounded by everyone he's ever loved.

@@epiccarrot88 11, 12, and 13 seasons were awful, and honestly, based on these few episodes, don't think this one is gonna be much better (though I hope I am wrong). So it's like that episode with Capaldi was really the last one

@@anakarine5577 Thoughts on Boom?

How one more year with chibbs and the show would of been cancelled

it's like we made a wish on a monkey's paw and get our wish but with a horrible twist. we all just wanted doctor who to be fun again... so now we get talking babies, snot monsters, and farting spacestations.

​@@oxenford539 so you're saying... there's always a twist at the end?

i just hope the show gets cancelled. then it can be revived later on down the road as something worthwhile instead of it just digging itself deeper into mediocrity until it gets to the point where nobody will even want it to get brought back

I watched this with my dad, the episode ended and he said ... Well that was sh1t.

@@HT-lr1rs Watched it with my dad. His words "Well, that didn't do it for me."

It wasn’t that bad

@@Sparx632 We all can disagree as to whether or not it was a decent or awful episode, but I think most can agree that Space Babies is not a particularly good introduction to Doctor Who.

Yep, it was dog shit. So was episode 2

then they skibidi'd all the way to space ohio

Shoot me

Please stop, both of you

@@HarboWholmes nah not Gen alpha taking over!!!!! 😭

Im going to lose it

I realized while watching, very early on.

FOR REAL

No, Chibnall was just crap, Alfie

@@NicoleM_radiantbabythis is why moffat was really the best and was overhated

Nah. Chibnall’s episodes were boring, this is not.

@@Sparx632 I was bored, though? Starting scrolling on my phone.

It's really bad just on the logistics side. I don't know why Disney was allowed to F this up so much. According to Disney episode 1 is special 4, but specials 1, 2, 3, AND 4 are all still separate entries (I was literally recommended special four after watching the new episodes... despite that also being listed as episode 1). One huge problem with Maestro is just how heavy that episode is with references. You basically HAVE to have watched special 3 giggle (and even then it feels like there were hidden episodes I missed), except again Disney can't just put those specials together with the show itself.

It's weird seeing the difference between failure due to incompetence with good intentions with chibs and a very clearly preplanned decision to dumb it down here

Bold of you to assume that was a Disney choice, especially considering that as far as we know they only have distribution rights, and nothing else.

It's been like this since chinballs era

I agree with pacing being a problem, however I'd say it's been a problem for a while now since around S6.

She wasn't. She wasn't even from Gallifrey. Apparently.

Problem with that is it's the companion who is kinda a surrogate for the viewer in the DW world - they have to be relatable so a young adult human is the optimal choice as the vast majority of viewers have been a young adult human at some point (or still are, or will be soon) I agree they should definitely play with alien/alternative companions a bit more but I don't think you can anchor the main companion role around one, they would have to be a secondary companion or a temporary thing for a few episodes tops...

​@@stevencrisp753agree. I think that's something that series 10 did really well with Bill and Nardole personally.

@@stevencrisp753I think people can still relate to companions who are alien or from the past and future, they just have to look and act vaguely human. I never had trouble relating to lots of the classic companions who weren’t from modern day Earth.

Theres politics in this episode and tbh i thought they were quite obvious in a good way so to say there isnt like Harbo says shows his blind spot

it was abortion commentary... ruby: "you mean they force the babies to be born but they don't help look after them?" jocelyn: "yeah it's a weird planet" ruby: "not as weird as you think". we also got small boat/illegal immigration commentary with the lines about having to physically turn up on another nation's land to apply for refugee status... which in itself is already untrue. very politically charged episode under the hood.

There was something even darker about the subplot of keeping them as babies. Which I didn't really understand, I don't think they explained it but if they did it wasn't explained very well. Like it's something a human adult physically has to "activate" for them was how I understoof it. Meaning they both are forced to be born and live, but because they were abandoned couldn't go. Reminds me so strongly of how those that lean towards anti-abortion also tend to be anti-welfare for those babies once they're born or growing up.

The abortion commentary was interesting but it was literally just one scene and then kind of forgotten about after.

And lets not forget the refugee line about needing to turn up on someone else's shores.

That's why he's the goat.

And at the worst possible episode.

😂😂😂😂😂

Nah this is still miles better than Chibnall. At the very least 15 and Ruby have personalities, character arcs, and an actual dynamic. The same just can't be said about 13 and "the fam."

@@jacksonsweat712 I didn't say worse, I said chibbier

20 years later and RTD putting fart jokes over sci-fi!

The Slitheen were literally entirely fart jokes..immature jokes are not new to DW (Also I'm assuming since it's so far in the future, once in range they could radio the planet and then safely land)

@SketchyDoodles but how would they safely land? How would they slow down? They'd need another 'release' in the opposite direction.

@@SketchyDoodles yeah that's exactly the problem! Like, surely RTD must have once read a review in the last 20 years which criticized the fact that he had a truly terrifying Concept, in the form of aliens taking human form by skinning them and then making it into a joke about fat people farting! Or did he just look at one of those reviews and said: "What is it was a giant ass in space that farted!"

@@daver9819maybe the planet will have some kind of tractor beam it can use to slow the station and land it, it is the far future after all.

You didn't like the 2nd one? It was a vast improvement.

@@HishamA.N_Comicbroe didn't watch it yet! I'll definitely give it a chance

I'm pretty sure that it's a really intentional stylistic choice to make the acting and script incredibly ADHD, hyperactive and really non-naturalistic. Why he's done it though I can't fathom

​@@natoriousyes3773Definitely do. It's actually good compared to this.

I'll just skip to the next episode.

Tbh considering how the dumb premise was, I was surprised they pulled off smtg coherent. I definitely liked the beginning tho.

yeah i was like ummm what? that's spanish, mate.

Since Nessa.

Great point, but did Nessa feel very alien..? ​@@marionbaggins

@@StevenErnest Not feel, but not from Earth, Yes.

Beginning of time? They went to the future 😝😂

@@Idk-ys7rt Watch the first 5 minutes of the episode.

@@saskruffriders8234 Yeah, I wasn't thinking. Ik what part you mean, I just thought you meant the whole episode. My bad, sorry. Agree with your points tbh. The Devil's Chord was much better imho.

Omgg what you said just reminded me of some little episodes (like 5 minutes) in the Matt Smith era. Children wrote them and they made it, I think it was as a gag for Red Nose Day, not quite sure, but space babies it's like children wrote a concept and they ran with it.

That was Love and Monsters.

Worse than that. Don’t think I’ll ever watch this one again.

I don't know, I did a google for the name and it's a bit crazy.

Holy shit.

It can't be the same one though? The Nathan Gibson in the news was murdered in 2020...

@@Kranitoko true

​@@Kranitokoyeah sure he is the same one?

Their interactions are cringe. Witty back and forth marvel dialogue to the point nobody even knows or believes what they’re saying

@@joeswift1064 Completely disagree. But sure

Alright man, what ever you say

@@joeswift1064i can agree with you on that. There is just something that didn´t feel natural to me, in the way they talked to each other.

Exactly how I felt, if this had been a 13 & fam led story I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it half as much, but Ncuti & Millie’s chemistry absolutely redeemed it for me

What did u think about ep 2?

What didn’t you like about it?

It felt very messy. That's the best way I can describe it.

​There was so many plot holes. I mean, the villain literally told the doctor who to defeat her. That's such bad writing

The Villian was trying to intimidate the doctor. Some Villains will tell Characters to defeat them as intimidation, It can pressure them and make them think that the villian wants them to do it as a plan or trick

Even _if_ Hell Bent was bad, Moffat didn't do it on purpose. Do you even know what the point of that episode was? The entire episode was designed to show the audience that the Doctor _isn't_ a perfect man and demonstrate to him the reason why he sticks to his rules. It also serves as character growth for the Doctor by forcing him to confront his fear of loss and overcome it, as well as punishing him for trying to take the universe into his own hands.

@@Jackson-ub1uv Well Moffat said in an interview he knew exactly what he was doing and was testing how much the fans can or cannot take continuity wise. He admitted he was trolling the fanbase with it.

​@@gordonw.8831 There wasn't really anything contradictory in the episode. The only possible contender is the idea that the Doctor left Gallifrey out of fear, but even then it's easy to reconcile; it's clear that he didn't leave for a _single_ reason, but a combination of that fear _and_ his curiosity and boredom.

One could argue that someone would hardly spend time, resources and thousands upon thousands just to "troll the fanbase"

This seems Chibnall bad. Great actors, good budgets, completely misunderstanding the premise and puerile writing.

I found it worse than chibnall but that’s just my opinion 😬

Eh?

@@mujiescomedy279 idk feels like a very RTD trope to blame mothers for the episode's problems when they go against the Doctor's wishes, I know not every episode like that was written by RTD but look at any mother in series 1-4 and it happens

@@calligrapherfun1616 which mother went against the doctor’s wishes in space babies? Nan-e opened the airlock before the doctor told her not to

Neither are the resolutions of his finales.

@@tardistrailers Series 1, 2 and 4 are good finales Every Davies series opener is better than this one by far

@@CriticalCommentatorDrama I partly agree on the Series 1 and 2 finales and completely on "Space Babies" being RTDs weakest series opener.

Sad when I think Chibnall has more good openings then rtd

can't argue that

Agreed

Definitely need a 30m run from the door to the console.

Bro what... The new console room is great especially with the colorful lighting & the set actually looks so much bigger on the inside than before. This is subjective but truly a weird critique.

Although, Solomon's knowledge of Nefertiti, does make this a questionable time scale

Rose and tens clone.

I think he gives it early because he's happier and more trusting yknow

@@jotarodio4750 Maybe but why not after Boom (a tense episode)?

@Idk-ys7rt he seemed giddy he just had an excited adventure and he enjoyed his time with her he wants her to stay. Boom is more like "yeah I made the right decision" kinda vibe yknow I hope