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Business Mayor
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine – season two episode five recap
Set in Lagos, The Story and the Engine attempted to weave elements of western African folklore with wider myths and legends, alongside the mythology of Doctor Who itself. Like a lot of recent episodes, it was eager to play with the idea that the viewer is aware they are watching a story. At the Q&A after the London premiere of The Robot Revolution, Ncuti Gatwa said that this was the episode he was most looking forward to people watching this year, and he seemed to have had an absolute hoot on set. He clearly relished showing his Doctor feeling alive and accepted within a Black African community on Earth, but as events unfolded, he also got to flex flashes of anger alongside all the joy. The wild oscillation between camaraderie and fear in the barber shop allowed Ariyon Bakare (the Barber) and Sule Rimi (Omo Esosa) to shine in their roles, with each of them getting to enjoy significant character beats against Gatwa. Omo's apparent betrayal of his Time Lord friend and the sudden outpouring of laughter after the Barber's big 'reveal' of his identity were highlights. Michelle Asante as Abena was scene-stealingly good, as a mostly silent but clearly powerful presence, who appeared to know exactly what was going on, and to be enjoying the Doctor's discomfort. Scene-stealing … Michelle Asante as Abena in The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/Dan Fearon Writer Inua Ellams has tackled the Black male haircut experience before, in his 2017 play Barber Shop Chronicles, and has described his Doctor Who episode as a call to artists to 'always give credit where it's due'. But in an episode so dominated by the stories of men, it was actually Belinda (Varada Sethu) who deserved the credit for pushing the resolution on. Her simple phrase – 'hurt people hurt people' – was the spur for Abena to abandon her bitter desire for revenge, and set up the Doctor's escape, using a method once employed by enslaved African people. Sum it up in one sentence? What if Doctor Who did Desmond's, but on the back of a giant spider? Life aboard the Tardis Varada Sethu in Doctor Who: The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon At first Belinda seemed content to let the Doctor roam free and enjoy feeling at home in Nigeria while she kept the Tardis ticking over. Those crashing red alarms soon drew her into action, though, with the Time Lord's big blue box proving to be rather more helpful to this companion than it was during those episodes such as The Rings of Akhaten and Hide where she had clearly taken a dislike to Clara. Fear factor Maybe fear isn't quite the right word, but at times the dialogue inside Omo's Palace crackled with menace. It was also another rare episode where everybody lived – as long as you don't count the giant spider. Mysteries and questions It was lovely to see Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor make a brief appearance, making it the first multi-doctor story to feature the two Black people to have held the role in person, even if it did raise some baffling questions about how the 15th Doctor appeared to remember an off-screen adventure involving Abena that had happened to Martin's 'forgotten' incarnation. Deeper into the vortex Returning face … Ariyon Bakare (left) as the Barber in The Story and the Engine. Photograph: BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon Doctor Who has seldom visited Africa on television, though the show filmed on the continent for Spyfall and Praxeus, partly set on Madagascar, during Jodie Whittaker's tenure. William Hartnell's Doctor spent one episode of 1965 story The Chase being pursued by Daleks, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster inside a haunted house that was later revealed to be at the Festival of Ghana in the year 1996. As well as a brief appearance during the market sequence by writer Ellams, the other notable cameo was the ghost girl who appeared to Belinda. That was Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, once again playing Poppy, who we last saw when she was captaining the crew on Baby Station Beta during 2024's season opener Space Babies. Bakare's Barber was also a returning face, with the actor having played Leandro, Maisie Williams's ill-fated lionlike sidekick in 2015's The Woman Who Lived. The show's opening sequence appearing as a fourth wall break within the barber shop echoed when Maestro began playing the theme tune on their piano at the start of The Devil's Chord last year. Doctor Who has previously used animated storytelling clips. The origins of Zellin and Rakaya were explained via animation during Can You Hear Me? in 2020. The six-word story the Doctor was alluding to – 'For sale, baby shoes, never worn' – is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, but it seems unlikely he was actually its author. The Doctor has watched the Marvel superhero movies, meaning they exist in the Whoniverse. We now have a canonical in-universe explanation of where Unit got the design for their Avengers-style tower in London. Ellams has written a prequel story, detailing how Omo first met the Doctor. Next time Rylan! Graham Norton! The Eurovision song contest … but in space! On the night of the Eurovision song contest! Provided the FA Cup final doesn't selfishly overrun and crash through the BBC One evening schedule like a wrecking ball! See you then!
Metro
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Doctor Who just made best move ever resurrecting its most controversial story
Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who episode five, The Story & The Engine. The BBC sci-fi series returned for another week of adventures as Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor and companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) continue their chaotic trek across the universe in an attempt to get back home to their time. This week, the Doctor arrived in Lagos, Nigeria in 2019, where he decides to pay a visit to his favourite barber shop that makes him feel accepted as the person he is – even when others haven't. But, his trip takes a turn for the worse when he discovers that the barber shop has been transformed into a ship with the figure of folklore – the cunning Anansi the Spider – caught up in the scheme. Inside the shop, those being held hostage are forced to divulge their stories to feed the engine. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. There's plenty of gorgeous storytelling animation which weaves in Nigerian heritage and mythology, building on the high-budget visuals we've seen all season, especially in episode two, Lux. And it's heartening to see Ncuti's dream location, taking the Tardis to Nigeria, come to fruition in such a heartfelt story of finding community and true acceptance. At one point, a mysterious woman who seems to possess the ability to come in and out of the barber shop as she pleases sparks a flicker of recognition in the Doctor. As he tries to figure out exactly where he knows her from, he soon puts two and two together and realises this enigmatic woman is actually Anansi's daughter, Abena (Michelle Asante), whom he was once tricked into almost winning in a bet. Instead, his former version had managed to wrangle himself out of the deal but failed to rescue the daughter upon his escape, leading to her building resentment for the Doctor over the years. The twist? It was actually the Fugitive Doctor who abandoned her and, in an even more unexpectedly delightful turn of events, Jo Martin herself makes a cameo to directly apologise (well, kind of). 'I was a fugitive back then, Anansi was wrong to offer that bet, and frankly, darling, I was busy in a different story that might be finished one day,' she tells Abena. After which it is revealed the barber's ultimate goal is to cut the gods out of the storyweb and destroy them, and free Abena from her father's shackles. This is the first time Jo Martin has appeared in Doctor Who since Jodie Whittaker's finale episode, The Power of the Doctor, in 2022. She is a crucial element of the Timless Child arc, a controversial plot introduced during Chris Chibnall's era of the show, which unveiled that the Doctor is from an unknown alien race who was found and experimented on to create the Time Lords on Gallifrey. This meant there were far more than just (at the time, 13) iterations of the Doctor, with the Fugitive Doctor understood to be a regeneration from that era. Up to this point, we know she is a version of the Doctor from before they left Gallifrey and was forcibly working with a secret Gallifreyan organisation known as The Division before going rogue as the group sought to control (and eventually end) the universe. Although returning showrunner Russell T Davies has acknowledged the Timeless Child arc and all that entails in his new era of the show, it has been unclear how much he would explore it – aside from the 14th Doctor discussing his trauma in Wild Blue Yonder. Despite the arc dividing the fanbase over whether it was a good idea to transform everything we thought we knew about the Doctor, introducing Jo Martin's character was by far one of the best moves to win people around. Now, with Jo returning to the screen, clearly with plenty of stories to tell if this cameo is anything to go by, RTD has opened the door for not only future episodes with Jo's Doctor in, but even the potential for a spin-off to fully flesh out this character. After all, there seems to be a hint of a promise in the Fugitive Doctor saying her tale might be finished one day. More Trending As such an important aspect of the recent Who era, Jo could bring new life to this tension-filled plot and maybe even win more sceptical fans over. Even her 30-second appearance in this episode gave a fascinating glimpse into her fiery personality. So, here's hoping RTD's decision to resurrect Jo's character again is a sign of great things to come, because I'm ready to dive headfirst and fully commit to the Fugitive Doctor's story. View More » Doctor Who continues airing every Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Dragons' Den star shuts down business after 'most painful year of my life' MORE: BBC viewers brand 90s one-hit wonder 'strange choice' for VE Day performance MORE: When is Eurovision 2025 final? Date, location and latest odds revealed
