Doctor Who: Space Babies Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs
1. UP - Ncuti Gatwa
Sure, he's had an episode and a half to get comfortable, but Ncuti Gatwa hits the ground running as the Doctor and proves why he was such inspired casting.
His easy chemistry with Millie Gibson makes the Doctor and Ruby an instantly likable TARDIS team. It's a joy to spend time with these two friends as they laugh and joke through time and space.
Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor sparkles onscreen, reeling off sci-fi nonsense with supreme confidence one minute, then roaring with laughter in the very next.
In fact, it's mostly down to Ncuti Gatwa that Space Babies works at all.
Let's face facts, Space Babies is ludicrous. It's a story about talking babies, farting space arses, and a giant snot monster. And yet, Ncuti Gatwa sells the hell out of it, never sending up the most outrageous excesses of RTD's script, but instead imbuing it with wit and wonder.
The Doctor risking his life to save a giant snot monster should be the stupidest, most absurd thing in the world, and yet in the hands of Gatwa, you find yourself caring about the emotional nuance of bogies.
It's going to be utterly thrilling to see where Ncuti Gatwa takes his Doctor over the next seven weeks.