BABIES - mon&tue9pm bbc 1 - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New six part drama on BBC One with episodes one and two on Monday and Tuesday and following weeks3&4 and 5&6

Starring Siobhán Cullen and Paapa Essiedu, Babies is a gripping, tender and urgent love story that explores the resilience of a couple navigating the heartbreak of pregnancy loss.

Starring Siobhán Cullen (Bodkin) and Paapa Essiedu (Black Mirror), Babies is a gripping, tender and urgent love story that explores the resilience of a couple navigating the heartbreak of pregnancy loss.

The series follows Lisa (Cullen) and Stephen (Essiedu), a couple in their 30s whose hope is tested as they endure multiple miscarriages.

While confronting unimaginable grief, their bond shines through with humour, warmth and unwavering love.

The series also stars Charlotte Riley and Jack Bannon as Amanda and Dave, a new couple navigating their own challenges and testing their compatibility.

Their complex relationship, set against Lisa and Stephen’s ongoing pregnancy journey, begins to expose cracks in Stephen and Dave’s long-standing friendship.

Golaszewski says: “Paapa, Siobhán, Jack and Charlotte are all incredible actors.

Their warmth, detail and deep humanity are essential to telling this crucial story that’s never told.”
Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, says: “Babies has everything we love about Golaszewski’s work – a tender, authentic, emotional and human look at couples navigating a time in their lives that is rarely covered on television.

It’s no surprise that this very special series has attracted such an outstanding cast, and it’s been an honour to see them bring Stefan’s scripts to life.”

He also wrote him and her (watching that now) mum (loved it) and marriage (sure I’ve seen but downloaded it)

I did love the flash forwards. It’s all very in at the moment to do flash forwards and back wards in dramas.
Once I realized what was going on , I thought it was a nice way to end it. I hope Amanda and Olive are happy too.

I loved the ending. I still remember that feeling, suddenly alone with a baby and facing a lifetime of responsibility. Happy smiles morphing into anxious realisation. "Fuck!" indeed.

At the start of the last episode I thought for a moment I’d changed channels and it was the Chase banking app ad!
I fund the whole thing tedious and everyone in it was horrible. The best bit was the last 30 seconds “oh fuck”! 😂

Best thing I’ve watched for a very long time. I cried at him going to uni as I’d been through it and the love for your child never ends. I would have liked to know what they called him. In my head he was Jacob.

I do feel that Stefan G ‘s writing style is like marmite. You either have to go with it , or give up. I find all his dramas fascinating, but some of the characters are really hard to like. People you would avoid in real life and all have their funny ways

Tho Thu didn’t get asked if wanted to know the sex in the scan

that thing there is a willy

I loved the last episode and flash forward, it made me sob, reminding me of my DC whobare now young adults. I loved how they'd aged and Stephen's little pot belly and how we go from young parents to boring old ones.

Couldn't agree more. His writing style is definitely not for everyone. He often writes very unlikeable characters and explains their back story very slowly. Awkward stilted conversations with lots of silence. I really like it and I think it's brave, original writing

I think they should have ended the series at episode 5 - another positive test, lots of hope but terror and uncertainty too.

Poor Amanda. Such a difficult character but I really liked and admired her in the end. Charlotte Riley was brilliant, as were the whole cast

I’ve just binged this one, it was very moving and “enjoyed” it but I agree about awful Dave and Amanda not adding anything to the story really. Found the theme tune terrible though.

The awful theme tune was sung by the writer ! I admit that I had to mute it.

I know it was. Somebody should’ve gently had a word to say maybe let a professional singer do it.

I quite liked the lyrics to the theme tune, but yes he's a truly dreadful singer!

Bit late to the party here but just watched the first three eps.
Loving the main couple. I only had 1 early m:c after a year ttc and I was a hot mess so can really relate.
The Dave/Amanda dynamic is so odd. He is an awful character with no redeeming features. No idea why she even dated him!
I hope it’s a decent ending for Lisa and Stephen though.

rebound dating

Amanda could have found a better dad than Dave. He already had a child he didn’t care too much about ( at first anyway ) I’m not sure what motivated her to go for Dave , but maybe because he was available?

I think because she wanted a baby but not a man, because she still loved her dead husband.

Bump

This

tho did they marry or just fiance

Did his mum not call him Daniel in one of the early fast forward scenes?
I enjoyed the whole series, though I could see why some wouldn't.

I agree that the Dave character was so hard to watch.

I thought it was all very natural as well, what they said to each other sounded very true to life.

I need to try watching his other dramas now.

It’s excruciating, isn’t it. I’d make a terrible man - I’d just cut through all that banter crap.

Thoughts:

It’s a frustrating watch. None of them can communicate and then they wonder why they feel isolated, unsupported and weird.

At age 60, with two adult daughters, I am able to watch Stephen and Lisa and feel entirely detached and logical about the process of trying for a baby and sadly having losses.And yet I can remember the intense drive to get pregnant (and sustain that pregnancy). The total desperation that I felt. How I had to excuse myself, the morning of a christening (following a loss - an ectopic pregnancy) because it was just too painful for me. When you’re in it it’s completely all-consuming. Nothing else matters at all.

Dave is such a wanker.. But then we meet his dad and realise why Dave is as awful as he is. What a dreadful man.

It didn’t ring true for me.
They were so ill matched.

I just finished watching this. Don't know why I felt I should though - by episode 2 I was fairly confident I wasn't going to like it and I was right. Apart from Lisa (and Stephen too with a few odd moments) none of the characters seemed plausible at all to me - and I don't mean I didn't like them, but I struggled to believe such people exist.
The only reason I can think of to subject me to so much inane male banter is because the whole point of the show is to highlight how bad men are at talking about their feelings. Whilst I'm sure that's true to a degree (and possibly especially about miscarriages, although I lack personal experience which maybe doesn't help with appreciating this show), I can't help thinking it was quite a dated view of the world which put men in a 'poor father, enforcing old,
unhealthy masculine behaviour ideals on their kids' role.

Oh and music is truly awful. To the point where I was skipping the last few seconds of each episode to avoid the pain.

I've only just finally finished this.

I love Papa Essiedu in everything he's done which is why I stuck with this. Usually he shines through everything, but I'm not sure he was right for this.

The last episode was so well done, it really hit home how quickly the time goes between having a baby and then, in the blink of an eye, an adult child.

I didn't understand why Stephen didn't tell Dave just to fuck off. Such a horrible person. It made me sad to think how many kids must have to spend every other weekend with completely feckless parents. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do, he's your dad" was the saddest line in the whole thing for me.