Doctor Who | Series 15 | Episode: 5| ‘The Story and the Engine’ | Duration: 47 minutes | Writer: Inua Ellams | Director: Makalla McPherson | Starring: Ncuti Gatwa, Varada Sethu, Ariyon Bakare, Sule Rimi, Michelle Asante, Stefan Adegbola, Jordan Adene, Michael Balogun
Still desperately trying to return Belinda to Earth, the Doctor has a brilliant idea: use the vindicator in Nigeria, taking advantage of the communications hub and the chance to drop in on his old friend Omo, the barber. But Omo and three other men are trapped in the store, at the whim of a mysterious barber who draws from their stories in the barber chair to power an engine that will carry him to wreak vengeance on the gods who abandoned him. The Doctor is increasingly used to playing with gods, and has to draw on his many lives to find a way out of a place he once considered a safe haven.
“‘I was busy in a different story that might be finished some day”
In a series intent on unpicking itself, it’s time for the fabric of story to unravel. However, things don’t run as literally as the title suggests.
‘The Story and the Engine’ is an atmospheric adventure, despite most of it taking place in a small barber shop with just eight characters. This isn’t the old Doctor Who staple of a base under siege story as much as a siege in a base. The (market) stall is set out by stunning drone shots of Lagos that pop from the screen and sell the superb studio work. The bazaars and streets are soaked in colour and character, whether bursting with greetings or covered by ‘missing’ posters and abandoned apart from ghostly (and strangely familiar) girls. The effects, including the spider crawling the nexus with the barbershop on its back, do wonders to convey epic myth simply. Behind it all, Murray hands in another sumptuously effective score.
Under the bold direction of Makalla McPherson, the production rises to meet a story penned by series debutant Inua Ellams, a Nigerian-born poet, playwright and performer. It’s a stunning episode for the Fifteenth Doctor. Ellams hands Gatwa a full range to play with, from moments of extreme vulnerability to supreme power and strength. Ncuti Gatwa revels in it all. His Doctor emerges from the episode deeper, rounded and more relatable. It’s no mean feat to add depth to such a storied character. But the Fifteenth now has a sanctuary, a family, and the experience to call out a pretender–a leap from the Doctor of Series 14, who was alone, panicking in the face of Maestro.
Gatwa puts in another impressive performance this year, possibly his greatest yet. There’s plenty for the versatile actor to get his hands on as something resembling an RTD master plan seems to take shape – and the Fifteenth Doctor doesn’t even shed a tear this episode.
The Fifteenth Doctor’s performance is all the stronger as this story about stories is heavily embedded in his many long lives. The brief, surprise, and beautifully handled cameo of Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor is a delight. But it sits uneasily with some of the Doctor’s earlier words (despite RTD revealing the story demanded her acknowledgement in Doctor Who: Unleashed), and opens up an interesting continuity shift where the Doctor has memories of this enigmatic incarnation. As the most story-like and much-debated incarnation, the Fugitive Doctor could well have more to say in this season’s story.
‘The Story and the Engine’ stays put for much of its time as it’s content to layer up storytelling. There are things to say about race, trauma (the map weave in the final act is a stunning highlight), cultural appropriation and the act of passing down stories (a great conceit that carries through the full 47 minutes).
The cast of captured customers adds to the atmosphere, shaping the fear, laughter and occasionally febrile atmosphere. In the role of the Barber, Ariyon Bakare holds court, unseen to begin with, then menacingly papering over some of the narrative logic with the many-legged touches of Anansi (the reference to the ‘world wide web’ deftly hints at an ancient legacy. It’s not a menace that can stick for the whole episode, but effectively shows a different side to Davies’ broadening pantheon myth – the corrupted, used, and abused mortal.
The Barber’s Icarus-like story is presumably based on Esu, the mischievous mortal messenger and mediator between gods and humans of Nigerian mythology. After seeing Conrad Clark fall under Mrs Flood’s sphere of influence last week, it’s a good time to explore those god and supernatural-aligned mortals: the Fausts and more who could prove vital to the season arc. That ricochet from the gods is effective, although the ‘Doctor overloads the engine’ resolution is a bit of a let-down.
Used many times over the years, the most relevant reference is the classic series story ‘The Brain of Morbius’, where the Doctor defeats his rival during an old Time Lord challenge that pits old, and hitherto unseen, incarnations against each other. That power play is something that many viewers will have suspected the moment the Doctor entered the shop. But next to the superbly realised heart in the brain, it’s not hard to miss that the many flashbacks to previous incarnations of the Doctor are the only characters not of colour in the main stretch of the episode – a phenomenal achievement for the series.
It’s easier then to overlook the ease of its resolution, especially in the extended scene of forgiveness and parity at the end. Ellams resists the urge to demonstrate the threat, or have the barbershop’s red light kill any of the individuals involved, and that carries through to an ending that looks after every character. All their stories hold, building on each other, with the promise they’ll create more. It’s one of those fantastic tales where everyone lives; where the flawed antagonist receives forgiveness, a passed-on name, and a whole new life. And where better to hear stories than a barbershop?
Belinda’s role is enhanced by the fascinating role of Abena, a companion/god that the Doctor once left behind. Bel’s assertion that she told the Doctor to leave her in the TARDIS is a zinger. Although her role looks slightly reduced in this story, some elements hint she’s right at the heart of it. Tellingly, the Doctor’s story about Belinda manifests as ‘real’, and it’s unclear if it’s his telling or her involvement that proves so powerful. Later, the cinema from ‘Lux’ and the rocket from ‘The Robot Revolution’ appear as part of the Barber’s story.
Perhaps the biggest hint is the mysterious girl who blinks in and out during Belinda’s search for the Doctor.
A cameo for Poppy of the year 21506, last seen in ‘Space Babies’, suggests the whole of Gatwa’s magic-based tenure will be reframed over the coming weeks.
The Story and the Engine: The Verdict
Another solid story that revels in the show’s flexibility and heightened existence in a world of gods. Despite a weaker resolution than it deserved, the mechanism of the story and the sharpness of the concept shine through.
‘The Story and the Engine’ is a superbly handled showcase of the show’s diversity. It’s a story that creates space to marvel, laugh and cry. As Gatwa stands tall in the show’s legacy, he delivers another impressive performance in a ground-breaking episode.
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