The Baby (TV series)

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

Development

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, 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]

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]

Casting

In June 2021, Michelle de Swarte was cast as Natasha, while Amira Ghazalla was cast as Mrs. Eaves and Amber Grappy as Bobbi.^[12] In February 2022, Patrice Naiambana, Sinéad Cusack, Shvorne Marks, Isy Suttie, Tanya Reynolds, Seyan Sarvan, Karl Davies, and Divian Ladwa joined the series.^[13]

Filming

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]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 72% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 32 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]

Viewership ratings