Doctor Who: Space Babies: Preview

Finally after what has seemed like months, the brand new season of the brand new iteration of Doctor Who is here, with Ncuti Gatwa at the helm of the TARDIS controls.

And there's no sidestepping it - after the relatively fantastical edges of the Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road that introduced Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, the show is bigger, bolder and perhaps more bonkers than could be expected.

Working off a traditional format of a base under siege story from the pantheon of Doctor Who's past, writer Russell T Davies'  first script of this run is about as mad as they come while laying out some more of the ground work of what clearly is to be the series' arc and Ruby Sunday's mysterious birth.

In his first trek across space, the Doctor takes Ruby to a baby farm (via a minor detour into the past and dinosaurs for a quick gag that recalls the Mavity schtick from Wild Blue Yonder) that's being menaced by a bogeyman below. Soon the pair are caught in a battle for survival, while trying to save the babies on the space station.

Even just writing those words seem like madness for Doctor Who - but at its heart, Space Babies has a very traditional first episode for a new companion travelling with the Doctor appeal. 

It may be dismissed as puerile and slight by some, but Davies peppers his script in the opening moments with the basic facts about the Doctor, continuing on with Chris Chibnall's controversial Timeless Child story arc - but long term fans will be thrilled by the teasing of a certain Time Lord name, no doubt thrown in by Davies to titillate and cock a sly nod at canon. (There's also a cheeky reference to Star Trek too.)

But what is clear about Space Babies is how accessible it is for all.

While Davies borrows from his own past for one scene - specifically The End of The World - it's in his Doctor that it feels fresh and new. Sure there are visual parallels to it all, but it is Ncuti Gatwa's performance that ripples with so much charisma, it threatens to pour out of the screen.

It's not hyperbole to say that Gatwa does it all in this episode. From manic edges to solemnity, there's a level of joy in his performance that's addictive. Paired up with Gibson, who's no wide-eyed naif, the two of them positively sparkle with chemistry and while they feel fresh, there's definitely the kind of vibe that both Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston had in the last reboot of the show - it's infectious stuff.

Space Babies sets the agenda well (including Davies' insistence that everyone is welcome via a speech over being born beautiful and "nobody grows up wrong" delivered by the Doctor), and is a wildly widely accessible story for all to jump on - it may feel slight in parts but it's clear that everyone is having fun on this show. 

From the incredibly slick look the show now has through to the energy that leaps from the screen, what's most noticeable about this new run of Doctor Who is how big it feels - in a way that it has never really done before. However, thanks to its enigmatic leads, there's also a feeling that the drama is ripe and there to be exploited when the time comes.

Doctor Who: Space Babies premieres on Disney+ on May 10.