'Space Babies' (Story Code 14.01) by Russell T Davies

“This place is completely mad. But it sorta makes sense. Because you’ve got babies. You’ve got a nanny. And you’ve got the Bogeyman. You’ve literally got a monster living down below. It’s a children’s story, come to life.” - Ruby

After joining the Doctor in the TARDIS, Ruby learns some of his secrets: his origins and life, his people, and the genocide that wiped them all out. For her first journey in the ship, the Doctor takes Ruby back in time a hundred and fifty million years, to see dinosaurs in what will become Wyoming, North America. Ruby inadvertently steps on a butterfly, and instantly changes into a humanoid insect princess! The Doctor quickly nurses the butterfly back to life, restoring the timeline and Ruby to normal. For their next trip, Ruby calls out the date of 21,506; the TARDIS arrives inside a space station in orbit around the colony world of Pacifico del Rio. The station is very smelly, and running on overload due to a mysterious pressure build-up; but before the Doctor and Ruby can investigate further, they are frightened by a horrifying monster, which chases them down the corridors. Escaping in a cramped lift, the Doctor and Ruby find themselves in a baby-farm, with infant humans growing in cylinders of liquid for the colony below. Ruby is overawed by the sight outside an observation window, so the Doctor sonics her phone so she can call her foster mum back home. The two friends soon meet the crew: a team of six babies in motorised buggies, who initially mistake them for their parents. The captain, Poppy, explains that she and her team took over the station after the original crew inexplicably left the station six years ago; these ‘space babies’ have never grown up, and are looked after by the voice of their robot, ‘NAN-E’, who keeps them safe from the fearful ‘Bogeyman’ that roams below. NAN-E sends the Doctor and Ruby to storage room Portal 357. En-route, the Doctor is reminded of Ruby being left at the Church on Ruby Road; but this time the figure of Ruby’s real mother turns towards him - and then snow begins falling in the space station corridor… At the portal, the time travellers meet the real NAN-E: a human named Joceyln, who explains how the original crew were sent home due to a planetary recession; because the farm had to be kept running, Jocelyn elected to stay and look after the babies, but food is now running low, and she fears for their lives. When Jocelyn cannot account for the Bogeyman, Ruby ponders on how a children’s story has come to life. On a monitor they see one of the babies, Eric, bravely venturing below decks to face the monster; rushing to his aid, the Doctor and Ruby are too late, finding just an abandoned buggy. Calling out to the monster while they search the station, the duo find Eric cowering in a bulkhead. The Bogeyman reappears and gives chase, but is driven off by the arrival of Captain Poppy and her crew, armed with a home-made flame-thrower. Exploring the lower corridors, the Doctor finds a strange substance lining the walls, some of which drips on Ruby’s head; the Doctor realises what the gunk is: bogeys retrieved from the babies’ hankies, which the confused station system has used to create a Bogeyman to keep them ‘entertained’. When the monster returns, the Doctor and Ruby run for their lives, guided through the station with the help of Jocelyn and her monitoring system. Trapping the Bogeyman in an airlock, Jocelyn opens the main door to flush it into space; but the Doctor cannot watch the only creature of its kind die, and he manages to get inside the airlock and reach the button that closes the outer door, saving the Bogeyman’s life. Leaving the monster safely in the sealed airlock, the Doctor and Ruby ensure Jocelyn properly meets the space babies. Noting that the pressure build-up is methane from the babies’ old nappies, the Doctor vents the gas into space, propelling the station towards a nearby planet where the crew can be given shelter as refugees. Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor offers Ruby a key to his ship and the chance to continue her travels; Ruby happily agrees, on the proviso they never visit that fateful night on Ruby Road, for fear of causing a paradox. The Doctor takes Ruby home, materialising the TARDIS in front of a very surprised Carla and Cherry. While Ruby is reunited with her family, the Doctor leaves a scan running that he took of his new friend; after he leaves to join Ruby, snow begins falling inside the TARDIS…


Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor), Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), Robert Strange (Bogeyman), Michelle Greenidge (Carla Sunday), Mason McCumskey (Eric), Sami Amber (Voice of Eric), Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps (Poppy), Shola Olaitan-Ajiboye (Voice of Poppy), Cadence Williams (Voice of Sandra), Param Patel (Voice of Marcel), Lonnee Archibong (Voice of Adjani), Golda Rosheuvel (Jocelyn Sancerre), Jesús Reyes Ortiz (Rico Trieste), Yasmine Bouabid (Lucia Colasanto), Angela Wynter (Cherry Sunday)

Directed by Julie Anne Robinson

Produced by Vicky Delow
Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Phil Collinson and Julie Anne Robinson
A Bad Wolf / BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
11th May 2024 @ 6.20 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby

*This episode is forty-six minutes long

*There is no pre-tile sequence, and the 'Doctor Who' logo has been updated with a new glow effect

*In a break with tradition, this episode premiered in the UK on the BBC's iPlayer in Ultra-High Definition (UHD) at midnight on 11th May 2024, along with 'The Devil's Chord'. Both episodes were simultaneously streamed on Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland. (Meaning that, for instance, 'Space Babies' premiered in the US on 10th May at 7.00 pm Eastern time. Talk about timey-wimey...)