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.[1]
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.
In August 2020, it was announced HBO had given a series order to The Baby.[10] Robins-Grace, Jane Featherstone, Carolyn Strauss, and Naomi de Pear were confirmed as executive producers with Lucy Gaymer producing.[1][10]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.[11] Stacey Gregg, Faraz Shariat and Elle Jones also serve as directors.[12]
Writing
Sophie Goodhart, Kara Smith, Anchuli Felicia King and Susan Stanton serve as writers on the series.[1][11]Bisha K. Ali serves as a consulting producer.[11][12]
Filming began on 31 May 2021 in the United Kingdom.[14] The series wrapped in November 2021.[15]
Music
Lucrecia Dalt serves as the series' composer. Pete Saville and Zoe Bryant are the music supervisors, and Ed Hamilton is the music editor.[16]
Release
The Baby premiered on HBO on 24 April 2022 and consist of eight episodes.[10][12][13]
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."[17]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18]
