# The Baby (TV series)

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.

## 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.

### Recurring

* Patrice Naiambana as Natasha's father, Lyle
* Sinéad Cusack as Natasha's mother, Barbara
* Shvorne Marks as Mags
* Isy Suttie as Rita
* Tanya Reynolds as Helen
* Seyan Sarvan as Nour
* Karl Davies as Jack
* Divian Ladwa as Fooze
* Angela Yeoh as Yolanda

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "The Arrival" | Nicole Kassell | Siân Robins-Grace | 24 April 2022 (2022-04-24) | 0.116 |
| 2 | "The Seduction" | Stacey Gregg | Siân Robins-Grace | 1 May 2022 (2022-05-01) | 0.130 |
| 3 | "The Bulldozer" | Stacey Gregg | Sophie Goodhart | 8 May 2022 (2022-05-08) | 0.170 |
| 4 | "The Mother" | Faraz Shariat | Susan Soon He Stanton | 15 May 2022 (2022-05-15) | 0.132 |
| 5 | "The Baby" | Faraz Shariat | Kara Smith | 22 May 2022 (2022-05-22) | 0.115 |
| 6 | "The Rage" | Faraz Shariat | Anchuli Felicia King | 29 May 2022 (2022-05-29) | 0.091 |
| 7 | "The Curse" | Ella Jones | Siân Robins-Grace and Sophie Goodhart | 5 June 2022 (2022-06-05) | 0.087 |
| 8 | "The Possession" | Ella Jones | Siân Robins-Grace and Anchuli Felicia King | 12 June 2022 (2022-06-12) | 0.093 |

## Production
### Development

In August 2020, it was announced HBO had given a series order to The Baby. Robins-Grace, Jane Featherstone, Carolyn Strauss, and Naomi de Pear were confirmed as executive producers with Lucy Gaymer producing. 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. Stacey Gregg, Faraz Shariat and Elle Jones also serve as directors.

### Writing

Sophie Goodhart, Kara Smith, Anchuli Felicia King and Susan Stanton serve as writers on the series. Bisha K. Ali serves as a consulting producer.

### Casting

In June 2021, Michelle de Swarte was cast as Natasha, while Amira Ghazalla was cast as Mrs. Eaves and Amber Grappy as Bobbi. In February 2022, Patrice Naiambana, Sinéad Cusack, Shvorne Marks, Isy Suttie, Tanya Reynolds, Seyan Sarvan, Karl Davies, and Divian Ladwa joined the series.

### Filming

Filming began on 31 May 2021 in the United Kingdom. The series wrapped in November 2021.

### Music

Lucrecia Dalt serves as the series' composer. Pete Saville and Zoe Bryant are the music supervisors, and Ed Hamilton is the music editor.

## Release

The Baby premiered on HBO on 24 April 2022 and consist of eight episodes.

## 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." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

### Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Baby :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "The Arrival" | 24 April 2022 | 0.02 | 0.116 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 2 | "The Seduction" | 1 May 2022 | 0.02 | 0.130 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 3 | "The Bulldozer" | 8 May 2022 | 0.04 | 0.170 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 4 | "The Mother" | 15 May 2022 | 0.02 | 0.132 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 5 | "The Baby" | 22 May 2022 | 0.01 | 0.115 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 6 | "The Rage" | 29 May 2022 | 0.01 | 0.091 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 7 | "The Curse" | 5 June 2022 | 0.01 | 0.087 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 8 | "The Possession" | 12 June 2022 | 0.01 | 0.093 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |