The Baby (TV series)

The Baby is a British horror comedy television limited series created by Lucy Gaymer and Siân Robins-Grace, which premiered on HBO on 24 April 2022 and Sky Atlantic on 7 July 2022. The series consists of eight episodes.

Premise

When 38-year-old Natasha is unexpectedly landed with a baby, her life of doing what she wants, when she wants, dramatically implodes. Stinky, controlling, manipulative and with violent powers, the baby twists Natasha's life into a horror show. Where does it come from? What does it want? And to what lengths will Natasha have to go in order to get her life back? She doesn't want a baby. The baby wants her.

Cast and characters

Main

Michelle de Swarte as Natasha Willams: A 38-year-old who has never made long-term plans and is unexpectedly landed with a baby.
Amira Ghazalla as Mrs. Eaves/Nour: The 73-year-old "Enigma" who has spent 50 years living in her car.
Amber Grappy as Bobbi Willams: Natasha's younger sister, who wants nothing more than to be a parent.
Albie Hills and Arthur Hills as ‘The Baby’ that turns Natasha's world upside down.

Recurring

Patrice Naiambana as Natasha's father, Lyle
Sinéad Cusack as Natasha's mother, Barbara
Shvorne Marks as Mags
Isy Suttie as Rita
Tanya Reynolds as Helen
Seyan Sarvan as Nour
Karl Davies as Jack
Divian Ladwa as Fooze
Angela Yeoh as Yolanda

Episodes

Production

Development

In August 2020, it was announced HBO had given a series order to The Baby. Robins-Grace, Jane Featherstone, Carolyn Strauss, and Naomi de Pear were confirmed as executive producers with Lucy Gaymer producing. The Baby is produced by HBO, Sky Atlantic, Sister Pictures, and Gaymer's Proverbial Pictures. Nicole Kassell joined in December 2020 as a lead director and executive producer. Stacey Gregg, Faraz Shariat and Elle Jones also serve as directors.

Writing

Sophie Goodhart, Kara Smith, Anchuli Felicia King and Susan Stanton serve as writers on the series. Bisha K. Ali serves as a consulting producer.

Casting

In June 2021, Michelle de Swarte was cast as Natasha, while Amira Ghazalla was cast as Mrs. Eaves and Amber Grappy as Bobbi. In February 2022, Patrice Naiambana, Sinéad Cusack, Shvorne Marks, Isy Suttie, Tanya Reynolds, Seyan Sarvan, Karl Davies, and Divian Ladwa joined the series.

Filming

Filming began on 31 May 2021 in the United Kingdom. The series wrapped in November 2021.

Music

Lucrecia Dalt serves as the series' composer. Pete Saville and Zoe Bryant are the music supervisors, and Ed Hamilton is the music editor.

Release

The Baby premiered on HBO on 24 April 2022 and consist of eight episodes.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 72% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Baby's tone can be as wobbly as a rocking crib, but its audacious nature of comedy and horror deserves to be nurtured." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".