Babies

Stephen (Paapa Essiedu) and his wife Lisa (Siobhán Cullen) have been trying to have a baby in six-part BBC drama Babies. However, each of their attempts has been met with tragedy. Although they each process the loss in vastly different ways, the strain these events have had on their relationship is inescapable. Creator, writer, and director Stefan Golaszewski rubs away all the glossy production values that are commonly associated with BBC dramas to leave viewers with something that is devastatingly raw and relatable.

Essiedu and Cullen are phenomenal together. Their rapport is infectious, and their endearing interactions alongside the small jokes they share make it easy for audiences to believe they’re in love. When catastrophe strikes, these moments consequently hit that much harder, largely due to a heart-wrenching performance from Cullen that makes some scenes genuinely difficult to watch.

The show also focuses on the relationship between Dave (Jack Bannon), Stephen’s best friend, and his new girlfriend, Amanda (Charlotte Riley). Just as Amanda is offered a new job in Singapore, she begins to see Dave for the controlling and insecure man he is, that he keeps hidden behind a cheeky chappy persona. When each couple is out in public, social conventions dictate that they must keep their problems to themselves, and even to their significant others, to maintain a positive image so they can convince themselves that everything is okay. Unsurprisingly, these unspoken feelings bubble up beneath the fake smiles.

The bulk of this series’ drama occurs behind closed doors during the couple’s most intimate moments. It’s watching Stephen teasing Lisa for being unable to find soap, seeing them silently watching TV while wrapped up in blankets, or witnessing their reactions to Lisa’s pregnancy tests. A substantial amount of the storytelling is told through these empty spaces, with the joy, sadness, anguish, and anger reverberating throughout the silences to palpable effect. The issue with telling a story through the spaces between scenes, however, is that the pacing often drags until the next key moment arises.

Like the show’s sole track, Volcano (which is also written and performed by Golaszewski), Babies is stripped back to its core parts. Its exploration of modern relationships is evocative, keenly observed, and emotionally rich. While it can be a little slow, Babies is nevertheless spectacular.

Andrew Murray

Babies is released on BBC iPlayer on 30^th March 2026.

Watch the trailer for Babies here: