Ex Casualty and Silent Witness actress Genesis Lynea guest stars in Sky Atlantic's new comedy horror, The Baby (already shown on HBO in the US), as magician Sam, who is planning on adopting a child with her partner — and assistant — Bobbi.
But there’s just one potential problem — Sam may not be as keen as Bobbi (Wrecked star Amber Grappy) on becoming a parent…
Casualty fans will remember Genesis from her time on Holby ED, playing crusading consultant Archie Hudson from 2019 until 2020. While working the wards Archie made it her mission to expose show favourite, Connie Beauchamp’s drug addiction and negligence, and was stabbed for her trouble. Archie subsequently left Holby for a research position in Sudan.
After leaving the long-running medical drama, Genesis joined the cast of Silent Witness in 2021, as affable academic Dr Simone Tyler.
Nikki (Emilia Fox) and Jack (David Caves) warmed to the forensic ecologist — in a way Connie (played by Amanda Mealing) never did with principled Archie — and persuaded her to leave the Natural History Museum and join their crime-fighting team.
In The Baby, Genesis’ new character, Sam, couldn’t be more different to Archie or Simone. When she’s introduced in episode three, viewers will quickly see Sam shirk her responsibilities to partner Bobbi, in the hopes of becoming a superstar entertainer!
The plot thickens when Sam does a disappearing act on the day the couple are meeting with adoption social worker Patricia (The Thick of It’s Polly Kemp). Instead Bobbi’s estranged sister Natasha turns up with her killer demon baby and a severed finger!
In the opening episode of Sky Atlantic’s new eight-part comedy horror, non-maternal Natasha (The Duchess' Michelle de Swarte) was landed with a baby — quite literally — when it fell out of the sky into her arms.
Horrified, she rapidly realised this is no ordinary child. A cute natural-born-killer, with an impressive body count under his yellow booties, The Baby had chosen her to be his new mum, and resistance was futile. In this episode, however, Natasha has hatched a plan to escape The Baby, but she needs her sister Bobbi’s help…
Unfortunately, Natasha’s previous attempts to offload the problem child have resulted in murder and mayhem and no doubt will bring her into conflict with Bobbi and Sam.
The Baby also stars Shvorne Marks (Breeders, Endeavour), Isy Suttie (Peep Show, Man Down), Sinéad Cusack (Marcella, North Sea Connection), Amira Ghazalla (Hatton Garden, Carnival Row), and Divian Ladwa (Detectorists, Wild Bill, Two Doors Down).
Speaking about playing main character Natasha, Michelle told us: “When I read the script I was like 'I have to get this role'. Natasha ticked so many boxes for me, because they were asking for a mixed-race woman, late 30s, with a West Indian dad and a white mum, from London, didn’t have any kids, and a certain way of speaking. I felt I could do the character justice.”
She went on to encourage viewers to stay tuned until the very end of the series, paying particular attention to the pivotal fifth episode:
“Episodes one to four ask a lot of questions, and they get answered in five. Episode five is an important origin story.
“You're rooting for Natasha but, then when you see some of the consequences of rooting for her, you're like, ‘I've changed my mind!’
“There are a lot of twists and turns!”
Genesis Lynea has also starred in 4 O’Clock Club, Shadow and Bone, and the third series of The Discovery of Witches, as New Orleans lawyer and vampire, Geraldine Newcopse.
The Baby is an eight-part series showing on Sky Atlantic in the UK from July 7 2022 and available to stream on NOW. For US audiences, the comedy-horror was aired weekly on HBO from April 24 2022.
