Babies Review: A Superbly Acted Yet Brutal Miscarriage Drama
In television, we often witness couples meet, fall in love, and swiftly have a baby, glossing over the complex journey of conception. Babies, a new six-part BBC drama from Marriage writer Stefan Golaszkewski, serves as a much-needed corrective to this oversimplified narrative. Premiering this week, it delves into the agonising realities of fertility struggles with superb acting, but its unflinching portrayal makes for a brutal slog.
Plot and Characters: Grappling with Loss and Hope
Lisa (Siobhán Cullen) and Stephen (Paapa Essiedu) are a married couple in their mid-thirties, reeling from a recent miscarriage. As they watch friends and family embrace parenthood, they face difficult decisions about trying again. Stephen's witty charm masks deeper fears, while Lisa's vulnerability shines through. Their story intertwines with that of Stephen's friend Dave (Jack Bannon), who is falling for Amanda (Charlotte Riley), a woman with her own history of loss. Both couples navigate what they have and what they lack, highlighting the emotional toll of infertility.
Acting and Intentions: Destigmatising Pregnancy Loss
The cast delivers powerful performances, with Cullen's conflicted Lisa standing out and Essiedu providing a sensitive counterpart. The show aims to destigmatise pregnancy loss, as Essiedu noted, hoping to encourage conversations. However, its realistic depiction of miscarriages and clinical visits may be triggering for those with similar experiences, potentially making the hopeful ending feel frustrating rather than uplifting.
Critique: Realism Versus Profundity
Golaszkewski's writing captures everyday indignities, from insensitive doctors to mundane details like jellybeans and marmite breath, intended to enhance realism. Yet, these elements can feel calculated, adding distance rather than depth. Compared to shows like Trying, Babies sometimes feels bloodless, with characters that lack profound development despite the excellent acting.
Audience and Recommendations
For viewers unfamiliar with fertility issues, the show's brutal realism might be a hard sell, presenting likeable characters brutalised by biology. It risks feeling like an exercise in torment for the already initiated. While Golaszkewski's intentions are noble, Babies often aspires to importance over quality, making it a challenging watch, especially for those currently trying to conceive.
Overall, Babies is a worthy but demanding drama that sheds light on often-overlooked struggles, supported by stellar performances but hampered by its relentless realism.
