Space Babies - Complete analysis

When the TARDIS dematerialises, the characters float slightly above the ground and the effect works really well! They land among dinosaurs, and the recurring joke about stepping on a butterfly and changing the course of history is mentioned again after several times in past episodes. What’s cool is that, for once, the companion actually steps on a butterfly. The only thing I don’t get is that the Doctor brings the butterfly back to life by blowing on it… so the Doctor has magic powers? The genuinely fun line is about the “butterfly compensation switch” that he forgot to activate before stepping out. Now, that’s rather Doctor Who in tone.

Once they’ve finally arrived aboard a ship in orbit, the Doctor says the chameleon circuit is broken, but nothing comes of this information. Not even a joke about him not knowing how to fix it, for example. That’s a bit of a shame.

Things finally get a bit curious: a monster appears and scares them, and the Doctor runs away, frightened. He’s really surprised by this—he’s not usually scared! (Well, that’s what he says, but let’s be honest, we have seen him afraid before.) As he ponders this, they arrive in a baby farm with babies in jars: it’s ultra creepy and really makes you wonder, “Who is this episode aimed at?” If it’s supposed to be for children, is showing fetuses in formaldehyde really a good idea? That’s some serious trauma territory. But, let’s just go with it.

The Doctor then launches into an explanation about his life: in the end, having no one left isn’t so sad, it allows him to have no boss, to do what he wants with his life, to go forward one day at a time. Here, there’s a really interesting underlying theme. Is this Doctor talking about grief? Is he not actually saying that, rather than being healed as he should be after the life of the Fourteenth Doctor, he’s actually in a sort of functional depression? Because living without aim day by day, saying that having lost everyone is actually pretty cool, doesn’t really sound like a healthy speech.

Anyway, the Doctor then explains that the TARDIS translates everything for its crew. But again, he shows magical powers because, by tapping a hologram with his arm, the language changes. Yes, with his arm, not his sonic screwdriver, which could at least justify it, but with his arm? So, this Doctor has some truly surprising powers!

He gives Ruby’s mobile a time and space package as he’s done in the past, although frankly it wasn’t terribly useful. She wonders about it, but she doesn’t seem scared or stressed. All these elements really lack dramatic tension, actually. They’re just put there because they have to be, to reassure everyone. Again, that’s a bit of a shame. And maybe that’s one of the most pressing problems in these new episodes so far.

They’re interrupted by a baby, Eric, who arrives in a pushchair and talks. They think that they’re “mummy” and “daddy”, since that’s a theme that’s clearly going to be recurring for this Doctor. So, it’s quite interesting that it’s set up right from the start of his first season.

Once again, the music highlights everything and is perhaps a bit too present, but that’s just a detail. Then we hear the voice of a computer called Nanny, who looks after the babies, notably by helping them blow their noses. Right, here I have an issue. Babies of that age, with the movement shown, really can’t blow their noses like that with tissues. Realistically, they’d need a nasal aspirator. It’s not a big deal, but as it’s significant for the episode later on, it seems this scene was changed so it wouldn’t be terrifying (anyone who’s used a nasal aspirator knows it’s unbearable to do and to watch, so automatic aspirators coming to suck the noses of these little ones would be scary on screen, but it would also serve the story).

The Doctor and Ruby discover the existence of the Boogeyman. But here’s where it gets weird—the Doctor takes a slightly twisted pleasure in scaring the babies with the Boogeyman. Um… excuse me? That’s really not the Doctor’s style! It’s like he’s lost it!

In a corridor, Ruby and the Doctor have a serious conversation and Ruby causes it to snow just by thinking about how she’d like to meet her biological mother. It’s impressive and full of promise! But who is Ruby???

Yet there’s no time to dwell on that, because Nanny turns out to be a real person who’s been hiding in a cupboard for years and asks the TARDIS team for help. She talks about the fear of dying and of seeing the babies die, which ties in a bit with the idea that this Doctor really is in an atmosphere that breathes death, grief and everything associated with it.

While they’re chatting, they notice on a screen that baby Eric has set off on a suicide mission to go kill the Boogeyman all by himself. Bad idea Eric! Bad idea! Ruby and the Doctor rush off to save him, and the episode fully embraces its cartoonish and zany side, with the other babies showing up wielding a flamethrower!!!

The Doctor analyses the slime that pours over Ruby and it’s funny because it’s actually snot… Because “boogey” means bogey. So it’s a real bogey monster because the computer took the concept literally. Yes. If no one had made the joke between boogeyman and snot before in a film or TV show, it’s because it wasn’t necessary… but thanks…

Nanny traps the monster in an airlock to send it into space. The Doctor is the only one of his planet left (even though he meets his fellow Time Lords every other season), and so he becomes fond of the living snot because he sees himself in it. Well, alright, maybe that works but it’s a bit of a stretch. He wants to save it, even if it means risking his own life. He steps into the airlock. That scene is actually well done.

In the end, Nanny is finally reunited with the babies and… the monster howls like a wolf because…? The Doctor and Ruby decide to ignore the fact that it’s still a monster with teeth as long as the babies it threatens, but oh well. And then, probably the moment I hated most: the Doctor has the idea of using the babies’ dirty nappies to create a big fart that propels the ship towards their planet. Cool.

The Doctor gives Ruby a TARDIS key after her first trip and that shows he really has changed, as he now gives his trust more readily and chooses to live life rather than closing himself off as usual. After an adventure involving snot, Ruby decides she wants to take the key and stay with the Doctor. Why not. The chemistry between the two is currently quite limited and seems a bit forced, but it’s starting to build  up slowly. The Doctor explains that he won’t be able to take her to see her mother. But Ruby says he will, because her mum is Carla, her adoptive mother: cute. The Doctor destroys Carla’s ceiling again because materialising in the street is overrated. Then, alone in his TARDIS, he displays an analysis of Ruby’s DNA on a wall to clearly show there’s a mystery about her. Mysterious. Never seen that before.

So we end up with an episode that offers a somewhat narrow but effective vision of what Doctor Who can be. The pee and poo aesthetic is really heavy-handed and doesn’t add much. The actors are slowly finding their feet and the ongoing plot develops gently and in an original way. But there’s still work to be done for this season to really get going. The real question this episode raises is about its intended audience. It’s hard to really know what the creators of the season want at this point.