Babies star reacts to shocking, dark episode 3 moment: "It’s a really honest, difficult thing to hear"

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

*Warning - contains plot details for Babies episodes 1-3*

All six episodes of Stefan Golaszewski's new drama Babies are now available to watch on iPlayer, and while it is ultimately a hopeful series, it does tell a hard-hitting, emotional story, and charts some dark territory along the way.

The series focuses on Paapa Essiedu's Stephen and Siobhán Cullen's Lisa, a married couple who experience multiple pregnancy losses and miscarriages while trying for a baby. Meanwhile, all around them their friends are having babies, including one friend Nicola, who gives birth to a baby called Alex.

At a particularly low point for Lisa and Stephen, as they lie together on top of their bed, Lisa admits that "there's a bit of me that wants Alex to die."

Stephen responds by asking, "The baby? You want Nicola's baby to die?", to which Lisa says, "A little bit."

Stephen simply says, "Jesus. That's so dark," before Lisa adds, "Yeah, it's really dark."

Radio Times caught up exclusively with Essiedu, Cullen and their co-star Jack Bannon, who plays Dave, and asked Cullen about her reaction to the shocking moment when she read it in the script, and what her thoughts were regarding it.

"I think what's so incredibly impressive about Stefan's writing is that he has written fully rounded, fully formed characters," Cullen responded.

"Even though a writer would normally want an audience to be totally rooting for their leads at all points, what's so gorgeous about what Stefan has done is that they're flawed and they're irrational, and at times they're really ugly, and at times they're hurtful and cruel."

Cullen continued: "And as a foil to that, you also see them at their absolute very best as well, when they are totally together and giving their partner exactly what they need. And I think that's what makes them so compelling and hopefully relatable and honest and human.

"She really goes there in that moment, and it's a really honest, difficult thing to hear, but I think people will relate to how dark some of our thoughts and feelings can be at times."

As well as charting Stephen and Lisa's journey, the series also focuses on Dave and his new relationship with Amanda, played by Charlotte Riley.

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Babies will air on Monday 30 March at 9pm on BBC One, and is available to watch in full on iPlayer now.

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