With the future of Doctor Who more uncertain than it has been in years, fans have shared the episode that rang alarm bells for them.
Since the 15th Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa’s shock regeneration into Rose Tyler star Billie Piper in May 2025, there have been plenty of questions and very few answers over what that twist means for the next era of the flagship BBC sci-fi series.
A year later, and all the BBC has announced is that showrunner Russell T Davies will return for a Christmas special. No word on who will enter the Tardis next or any hints as to the storyline.
In fact, some reports have even emerged that the festive episode could be delayed to Easter, with bosses struggling to find a new Time Lord to take the helm.
The past few years of Doctor Who – marked by a collaboration with Disney Plus that has now come to an end – have faced plenty of scrutiny across the two seasons.
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Amid the lows, there have also been some highs, of course, but Whovians are almost entirely united that one key decision set the show up for failure.
That decision being, making Space Babies the season opener of Ncuti’s debut run.
After the new Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) were first introduced in the 2023 Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, to generally good reviews, all eyes were on the first episode of the first season.
Space Babies landed in April 2024, in which the Doctor and Ruby end up on a spaceship filled with babies with the capabilities of an adult, such as sophisticated speech and logic. Aka a baby farm run by babies.
The catch? They are being terrorised by a bogeyman, which our plucky protagonists must race to take down.
As Reddit user Turloughs_skinnytie put it: ‘The Christmas episode had me concerned…Space Babies confirmed that the Disney thing was not working for me.’
‘Ya… space babies was… quite something,’ TheWalkingDude82 echoed.
‘It’s one of the absolute worst episodes,’ Delicious_Device_87 added.
‘It felt off right from the start, Space Babies was a symptom of a broader issue that this era lacked cohesiveness of storytelling,’ Jorel87 posed.
Did Space Babies mark the downfall of Doctor Who?
Senior TV Reporter and Doctor Who expert Asyia Iftikhar weighs in…
I’m afraid I agree with the majority when I say that Space Babies was far from my favourite episode of Doctor Who. It was slightly silly, slightly cringey and was not a compelling story to tell – especially with a Doctor and companion we still hardly knew.
The sci-fi show has had its fair share of clangers over the years – some that I have even grown fond of in hindsight. From eras gone by, there’s been the double bill: Love and Monsters and Fear Her.
Other questionable episodes include Gridlock, Victory of the Daleks, Curse of the Black Spot and Kill the Moon, among others. Everyone has an episode that didn’t quite work for them.
But, all of these were nestled into the seasons when we had already fallen in love with the Tardis team and a stray poor episode here and there wasn’t enough to deter us. In fact, it could even endear us.
After all, there’s no crime in Doctor Who being silly – it’s a family show!
But starting with Space Babies, when you’re trying to convince a new audience to give the show a chance and prove Ncuti and Millie’s star quality, was an abhorrent decision. Enough to put off lifelong watchers, let alone new viewers.
It’s a shame as the two seasons also had some absolute gems, including Boom, 73 Yards, Rogue, Lux, The Well, The Story and The Engine.
Indiana_Harris knew something was wrong ’15 minutes into Space Babies’ with SullyPatel agreeing: ‘The first episode it all just felt half-baked like something was missing’
‘Those bleeding space babies. God, I hated that episode so much,’ Tiny_Rice7248 echoed.
‘Space Babies. It was Space Babies. The Goblin Song was weird…and then Space Babies. Space Babies,’ Cobalt_animator agreed.
Other bones fans had to pick included the concept of bi-generation introduced when Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor sprouted out of the 14th Doctor (David Tennant) and the clunky moral lessons that had historically been executed so well.
Still, if the Fires of Pompeii taught us anything, it’s that we can’t change the past (or the episode order of Ncuti’s first season) no matter how much we wish we could.
So for now, we’ll have to sit tight as we wait to see what’s next for the beloved TV show.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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