Babies review: Paapa Essiedu and Siobhán Cullen are heartbreaking in another relatability masterclass from Stefan Golaszewski

This article contains mention of pregnancy loss and miscarriage that some readers may find distressing.

It's rare that I can say a drama absolutely won't be for everybody, but perhaps should be – that is the case with Babies.

It won't be for everybody for two reasons. The first is that it is a new drama from Stefan Golaszewski, the master of unerring slice of life drama. I gave his last series, Marriage, a five-star review, believing, as I still do, that it was an exceptional piece of work. Once it was released into the wider world, many viewers disagreed, and took against it fervently.

Babies has a similar pace, tone and structure to that series, so I can already say with some degree of certainty that those who were unimpressed by Marriage will have similar feelings here.

The second reason is that it deals with the subject of repeated pregnancy loss and miscarriage, and does so in a way which is raw and unflinching.

This topic will simply be too harrowing, too close to the bone for some viewers – and that's completely understandable. However, if they do find themselves able to give the series a go and continue with it, my hope is that they will feel seen, whether they have been through the experiences depicted on screen or not.

Babies stars Siobhán Cullen and Paapa Essiedu as Lisa and Stephen, a couple in their 30s who are trying for a baby, but who endure multiple pregnancy losses and miscarriages.

Meanwhile, the series also focuses on Stephen's best friend Dave, played by Jack Bannon, in his new relationship with Charlotte Riley's Amanda. Dave is besotted with Amanda, but she is evidently from a different world that Stephen, Lisa and Dave and has a different approach to life – one which, we soon learn, is at least partly informed by her own experiences.

As Stephen and Dave struggle to talk to one another about their various circumstances, their friendship is tested right when they both need each other the most.

Unlike Marriage, which ran for four episodes, Babies takes place across six, a decision which is both earned on one level, yet on another appears to have been a mistake.

The subject matter the series is dealing with is certainly deserving of the longer run-time, but sadly it starts to fall apart somewhat in its final two instalments.

The sixth episode makes a key decision which simply doesn't work from a visual standpoint, and jars against the rest of the series, even if the dramatic intentions are clear and not necessarily completely misjudged.

Meanwhile, the fifth episode hones in on something which has been present throughout – the way that Stephen and Dave mask their feelings with banter and laughter.

This is effective in earlier episodes, but the conversations they have respectively reaches a pinnacle of mundanity here. One conversation between Stephen and his father where they find themselves laughing extensively, essentially about nothing, may be thematically resonant, but starts to border on inauthentic, something the rest of the series never is.

I wanted to get all of that out of the way up top, as it encapsulates the entire extent of my issues with Babies, which would otherwise have been a five star production. Now, we can get on to what it does right, which is a lot.

It will be no surprise to anyone who's a fan of Golaszewski to know that he has once again devised a series which is relatable from top to bottom.

This isn't because of the specific subject matter. I imagine that the heartbreak of the experiences the central couple go through are well observed and accurate to real life, but this is not what I'm referring to. Instead, I am referring to the most specific examples of human behaviour, which are littered throughout each and every conversation and bit of behaviour.

If you're watching one of Lisa and Stephen's everyday discussions, or one of their arguments, or one of their social gatherings, and don't recognise elements of what's going on on screen from your own lives, then I don't know what to say.

I don't believe Golaszewski has planted a camera somewhere around my house to specifically observe my own individual behaviour, so I have to presume that there is something universal about what he is putting his finger on.

Throughout the runtime, I kept thinking of each of the central character's behaviours and how I either know someone just like that, or I think I myself am probably just like that.

The central subject matter is handled sensitively, but also with the necessary emotional heft behind it which is deserves. There are a whole host of tearjerking moments, as well as some real insight into the inner turmoil those going through these experiences can feel.

Babies absolutely gives the topic its due, but it would be reductive to suggest that's all the series is about. There are also discussions around parenthood, adult friendships, aging and grappling with societal expectations, male repression, communication and so much more. But really, it's about relationships.

The authenticity of the relationships here means that whether you're watching a simple scene where Stephen and Dave are chatting at the pub or Lisa and Stephen are catching, or whether you're watching a heartbreaking sequence in which the central couple come to terms with what they're going through, all the scenes feel as rich and impactful as one another.

It's hardly revelatory of me to say that Essiedu is good at what he does. I remember seeing him in Hamlet at the RSC back in 2016, and thinking then what a remarkable talent he was.

Here, however, he is phenomenal, giving a performance which could certainly be in contention as a career best. Stephen is someone who has masked any emotional turmoil with humour and an external resilience all his life.

In every scene, he is 100 per cent matched by Cullen, who is no stranger to our screens herself, but who should definitely be getting wider recognition for her work here. Her emotional range is astounding, and she manages to make the character both empathetic and sympathetic even when Lisa is saying the darkest of things.

As Lisa and Stephen's relationship, and the balance within it, shifts and changes, nothing either of them do ever feels out of character – it all feels like a natural continuation.

Jack Bannon is an impressive, purposeful mix of insufferable yet sympathetic as Dave, while Charlotte Riley has the unenviable job of humanising Amanda, a character who will be hugely divisive, yet who we at least understand thanks to Riley's skilful work. She is not afraid to say what she thinks - a refreshing diversion from the other characters – but at times takes this to the extreme.

There are, of course, others outside of the quartet who enter into their orbits, but in many ways this is a hyper-focused piece, and one which needs to be given the weight and breadth of everything that's on its mind.

Most importantly, I think it's key to stress that although there are a lot of distressing, incredibly hard-hitting scenes in the six episodes of Babies, and it does go to some seriously dark, upsetting places, it is not a ubiquitously grim watch.

In many ways, it is also hopeful, filled with some genuinely funny moments, some uplifting revelations and thoughts on how to cope during difficult times, and some keen observations about human behaviour.

Coming out of it, all I could think about is how I, along with so many of us, need to open up more. It's impressive that that sort of positive message can come out of a series featuring so much pain - and also one which features some unfortunate missteps in its final third.

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Babies will air on Monday 30 March at 9pm on BBC One, and will be available in full on iPlayer from 6am that day.

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