'Marriage' Writer's Next Project is 'Babies'

When Mum, starring Lesley Manville, arrived in the mid-2010s, it was hailed as a triumph, a slice of real-life series that managed to start as an excellent study in family and end with a magnificent romance in everyday life. Writer Stefan Golaszewski, who created the series, walked away with a BAFTA and a commission for a new series, Marriage, starring Sean Bean and Nicola Walker. However, that slice-of-life series was too honest in that the every day of marriage is dull and wordless, and didn't go over well. But now Golaszewski is back with a new star-studded series, Babies, with Siobhan Cullen and Paapa Essiedu, which looks more promising. 

Like Marriage, Mum, and Him & Her (Golaszewski's original hit for the BBC with Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani that never came to the U.S.), Babies is a family-focused drama with a small cast and an intimate look at the real way people behave in a relationship. Him & Her was about a couple who overcame their fear of commitment, Mum about a single mother and her kids, Marriage about, well, marriage. Babies feels like a natural evolution, where the series will dig into one of the most challenging parts of marriage, trying to have kids, which is not nearly as easy for some people as it is for others.

Director of BBC Drama Lindsay Salt said, "Babies has everything we love about Stefan Golaszewski's work - a tender, authentic, emotional and human look at couples navigating a time in their lives that is rarely covered on television. It's no surprise that this very special series has attracted such an outstanding cast, and it's been an honor to see them bring Stefan's scripts to life."

Here's the logline for the new series:

Babies is a warm and touching drama that explores the delicate tightrope of love and loss in a young couple's desire to become parents. Lisa and Stephen are dealing with the painful struggle of pregnancy loss while life continues around them. However, despite facing dark times of grief and loneliness, they find their way through it with a burning sense of hope, humor, and love, realizing the strength of their relationship, which will ultimately bring them closer than ever.

Paapa Essiedu (The Capture) and Siobhán Cullen (Bodkin) lead the cast as Stephen and Lisa. So far, the only other cast confirmed are Jack Bannon (Pennyworth) and Charlotte Riley (Press).

Stefan Golaszewski created, wrote and directed all episodes of Babies. He is also an executive producer alongside Ruth Kenley-Letts for Snowed-In Productions and Neil Blair, Richard Laxton & Danielle Scott-Haughton for the BBC. 

Babies is currently filming in London and will debut on the BBC in 2025. No American distributor has been set yet.