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Space Travel
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 Ruby learns The Doctor’s amazing secrets when he takes her to the far future.
There, they find a baby farm run by babies.
But can they be saved from the terrifying bogeyman?
| | | Source: BBC Website | |
| Season: |
Forty One (New Series 14)
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| Production
Code: |
14-1 |
| Story Number: |
305 (New Series: 149)
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| Episode Number: | 876 (New Series: 180) |
| Number of
Episodes: |
1 | | Percentage of Episodes Held: | 100% |
| Production
Dates: |
March 2023 |
| Broadcast Date: | 11 May 2024 |
| Colour Status: |
HD Colour |
|
Studio: |
Wolf Studios (Cardiff, Wales) |
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Location: |
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| Writer: | Russell T Davies |
| Director: | Julie Anne Robinson |
| Producer: | Vicki Delow |
| Executive Producers: | Jane Tranter, Joel Collins, Julie Anne Robinson, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Russell T Davies |
| Production Executive for BBC Studios: | John Hamer |
| Executive Producer for the BBC: | Rebecca Ferguson |
| Commissioning Editor for the BBC: | Lindsay Salt |
| Co-Producer: | Ellen Marsh |
| Script Supervisor: | Nicki Coles |
| Script Editors: | Scott Handcock and Rosheed Bello (Assistant) |
| Editors: | Tim Hodges BFE, Emily Lawrence (Assistant), Joseph Keirle (Assistant) and Matt Nathan (VFX) |
| Colourist: | Gareth Spensley |
| Production Executive: | Steffan Morris |
| Junior Production Executive: | Charlotte Cox |
| Production Manager: | Delmi Thomas |
| Post Production Producer: | Ceres Doyle |
| Post Production Supervisor: | Liv Duffin |
| Location Manager: | Baljinder Sidhu |
| Supervising Location Manager: | Iwan Roberts |
| Studio Manager: | Richard Balshaw |
| Unit Manager: | Kyle Yates |
| Production Designer: | Phil Sims |
| Director of Production: | Emily Russell |
| Director of Photography: | Tobias Datum |
| Casting Director: | Andy Pryor CDG/CSA |
| Online Editor: | Christine Kelly |
| Line Producer: | Mark Devlin |
| Costume Designer: | Pam Downe |
| Hair & Make-Up Designer: | Claire Williams |
| Cameramen: | James Chesterton ACO (Operator), Andrea Jovanovska (Trainee) and Chai Lee Tan (Trainee) |
| Construction: | 4Wood TV & Film |
| Visual Effects: | Goodbye Kansas |
| VFX Producer: | Will Cohen |
| VFX Supervisors: | Dave Houghton and Jim Parsons |
| Additional VFX: | BBC Wales Graphics |
| Special Effects: | Real SFX |
| Creature Design: | Painting Practice |
| Creature FX: | Millenium FX |
| Stunt Co-ordinator: | Derek Lea |
| Stunt Performers: | Jessica Barfoot and Paul Joseph |
| Puppeteers: | Elliot Gibbins and Josh Elwell |
| Creature Choreographer: | Paul Kasey |
| Incidental Music: | Murray Gold |
| Sound Recordist: | Alex Thompson |
| Re-recording Mixer: | Paul McFadden |
| Music Conducted By: | Alastair King |
| Music Performed By: | BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
| Music Supervisors: | Ollie White and Marnie Davidge (Assistant) |
| Title Sequence: | Painting Practice & Realtime Visualisation |
| Title Music: | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold |
| Number of
Doctors: |
1 |
| The Doctor: |
Ncuti Gatwa (The Fifteenth Doctor) |
| Additional Cast: |
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), Jesus Reyes Ortiz (Rico Trieste), Yasmine Bouabid (Lucia Colasanto), Angela Wynter (Cherry Sunday) |
This is the first non-Christmas story of Season Forty One (New Series 14). It was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Julie Anne Robinson.
This story, while not being the first starring Ncuti Gatwa or Millie Gibson, it is the first non-Christmas Special that they star in.
This story picks up after the events of "The Church on Ruby Road" and involves the first trip in the TARDIS (and in outer space) for the Fifteenth Doctor (as played by Ncuti Gatwa) with his new travelling companion Ruby Sunday (as played by Millie Gibson).
Arriving at an isolated space station The Doctor and Ruby discover a baby farm, run by the babies themselves - who they discover can talk. The Doctor and Ruby must protect their new wards from a creature prowling the lower decks which the babies call The Bogeyman.
The character of baby Eric was originally to be voiced by Lenny Rush, but after being impressed by his performance during the read-through the production team decided to withdraw him from the role in favour of casting him as UNIT Scientific Advisor, Morris Gibbons, who will appear later in this season. The character of Eric in this story was instead voiced by Mason McCumskey.
The Doctor confirms that he was adopted and that because of this his ‘real name is tricky’ (see "Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children").
During this story The Doctor gives Ruby a TARDIS key and updates her mobile phone so allowing her to contact her mother. The Ninth Doctor previously did this for Rose Tyler in the 2005 story "The End of the World".
The Doctor asks Ruby to tell her mother not to slap him. He has been slapped by previous companions' mothers on multiple occasions (see "Aliens of London/World War Three", "The Lazarus Experiment" and "The Star Beast").
This story’s teaser trailer hinted at a toothy, dragon-like monster, reminiscent of the creature from the movie Alien.
The Doctor reveals that Gallifrey used multiple addressing titles such as ‘The Bishop ’, ‘The Pendant’ and ‘Sagi-Shi’.
When giving examples of the sort of titles Time Lords use, The Doctor gives The Rani and The Conquistador as examples.
When The Doctor confirms that Gallifrey has gone, the soundtrack piece This is Gallifrey is briefly heard.
It is revealed that the TARDIS controls are still new to this incarnation of The Doctor as he forgets to turn on the Butterfly Compensation switch.
Ruby comments that she likes the TARDIS jukebox and mentions Star Trek. The Doctor remarks about visiting the characters from that continuity.
The Doctor is seen again snapping his fingers to control the TARDIS, this time to change lights (see "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead").
As is typically with season openers, that have been written by Russell T Davies (such as "New Earth" and "Partners in Crime"), this story is more comedic than dark.
The scene with Ruby first entering the TARDIS has been altered compared to the previous story, "The Church on Ruby Road".
The Doctor and Ruby travel 150 million years in the past to a place that is going to be a little town called Green River, Wyoming in North America.
Ruby Sunday revealed to The Doctor that she is worried about stepping on a butterfly and changing the course of history. Martha Jones once voiced a similar concern in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Shakespeare Code" as did Bill Potts in the 2017 Twelfth Doctor story "Thin Ice".
When exiting the TARDIS on a prehistoric Earth, at the beginning of this story, Ruby does accidentally step on a butterfly so changing her appearance (she becomes Rubathon Blue of the 57th Hemisphere Hatchlings). The Doctor though is able to revive the butterfly so returning the timeline and Ruby to normal.
The Baby Station Beta is stationed on the orbit of the planet Pacifico Del Rio.
The Doctor reveals that The fifth planet in the system, Mondo Caroon, is a DuBarryDuPlessy world
Locations on the space station include: Birth Zone 6, Portal 3-5-7 on the upper levels and Hull 3-B on the lower levels.
In 21506, English language no longer exist. Instead, humans all speak one language that The Doctor reveals is close to Cantonese.
Jocelyn communicates with the babies via a Nanomatrix Electroform or NAN-E.
At the end of this story The Doctor secretly uses the TARDIS scanner to check if Ruby is human or not. He previously secretly used the scanner to check if Amy Pond was pregnant or not in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon".
As part of this main season’s launch double-bill "Space Babies" was broadcast on BBC One alongside "The Devil's Chord" which aired immediately after. This is the first time that two stories (or even two episodes) were broadcast on the same day.
Both stories were given an early screening exclusive for critics on the 6th May 2024.
Along with "The Devil's Chord" this story was released on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ at midnight on the 10th May 2024 before it was broadcast on BBC One.
Overnight viewing figures estimate that this story was watched by 2.6 million people on its BBC One broadcast. Writing for Radio Times, Louise Griffin attributed the low ratings due to this story’s earlier launch on BBC iPlayer nearly 20 hours previously.
This story was met with positive reviews from critics who praised the silliness of the plot.
A novelisation of this story written by Alison Rumfitt is due to be released on the 8th August 2024 in paperback as part of the Target Collection. An audiobook edition, read by Clare Corbett, will be released the same day.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Julie Anne Robinson.
Along with "The Devil's Chord" this is the first time that two stories (or even two episodes) were broadcast on the same day.
Ruby Sunday’s first trip in the TARDIS (and in outer space).
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