The Baby: HBO Orders Dark Motherhood Comedy

The latest HBO Max production The Baby is set to change the way you look at babies and their mothers, forever.

The dark comedy aims at deconstructing the “joy of motherhood,” by exploring the anxiety of whether or not to have children, questioning who gets to choose “motherhood” and who doesn’t.

The powerful series comes from screenwriter Siân Robins-Grace, of the Sex Education fame.

The series will land on HBO Max which has ordered eight episodes of The Baby. The show is also being produced by Sky One. A premiere date has not yet been announced.

Plot glimpse

When 38-year-old Natasha unexpectedly lands with a baby, her life of doing what she wants, when she wants, dramatically implodes.

Controlling, manipulative and with violent powers, the baby twists Natasha’s life into a horror show. She doesn’t want a baby. The baby wants her.

Per the official synopsis, the series “is a funny, raw examination of motherhood as an institution: a set of unspoken rules that affect women differently depending on how they’re viewed by society. If you’re not scared by that, you should be.”

The HBO and Sky co-production is co-created by Robins-Grace and Lucy Gaymer (Production Manager for “Gangs of London,” “Liar”) and produced by SISTER and Proverbial Pictures.

With THE BABY, we want to explore the powerful anxiety around the question of whether or not to have children

Siân Robins-Grace and Lucy Gaymer, Creators

The ambivalence of not knowing, the bafflement at everyone else’s certainty and the suspicion that the whole thing is one millennia-long scam.

When is it out?

The series is a co-production between HBO and Sky and will be filmed in the UK in 2021. The premiere date is yet to be set.

The eight-episode first season will be produced by SISTER and Proverbial Pictures. The list of executive producers includes names who have worked on powerful TV productions likes Chernobyl, Game of Thrones, The Power among others. 

The Baby is Robins-Grace’s screenwriting debut, following her work on critically acclaimed hit “Sex Education,” which she developed with Creator Laurie Nunn.

Siân and Lucy’s exploration of motherhood is as funny and resonant as it is twisted

Amy Gravitt, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming.

The Baby is by turns dark, comedic, and horrifying

Cameron Roach, Director of Drama, Sky Studios

The vision that Siân and Lucy are bringing to life is truly unique.