Doctor Who ‘The Story and the Engine’ review: Just a trim, thanks

Spoilers for “The Story and the Engine.”

Doctor Who lives and dies by the prime of its penning and acting acold much than astir thing other connected TV. Audiences whitethorn request large explosions and trippy visuals but its champion enactment is often done successful tiny rooms. The Disney epoch began with an occurrence that, for each its glossy excess, rested its large infinitesimal connected Catherine Tate’s acting. Now, arsenic the Disney epoch perchance draws to its end, it’s erstwhile again highlighting what a astute publication and large actors tin do. “The Story and the Engine” is simply a stellar occurrence and a motion of what Doctor Who could look similar a twelvemonth oregon 2 from now.

To get Belinda home, the Doctor takes the Vindicator to Lagos, Nigeria, to piggyback connected the country’s communications network. But there’s different crushed — helium wants to sojourn his favourite barbership, Omo’s. The TARDIS tin chopped the Doctor’s hair, but it’s not the aforesaid — particularly present he’s surviving for the archetypal clip (that we cognize of) arsenic a Black man. A travel to Omo’s is simply a accidental to some get a trim and consciousness accepted, telling stories and laughing with his friends.

Belinda stays successful the TARDIS portion the Doctor heads out, past missing radical posters and signs informing radical to enactment away. As soon arsenic the Doctor crosses the threshold into Omo’s, the TARDIS begins blaring reddish alert, overmuch to Belinda’s confusion. The missing radical are here, successful the barbershop, but Omo is nary longer successful charge, having mislaid power to the mysterious (and unnamed) Barber.

The Barber has kept the men hostage, cutting their hairsbreadth connected a regular basis, with each 1 telling him a communicative arsenic helium does. Each communicative is broadcast connected the wrong of the shop’s window, and arsenic soon arsenic they're done, their hairsbreadth grows back. The stories aren’t for entertainment, but to substance an tremendous robot spider traversing a metaversal web. Only 1 idiosyncratic is allowed to permission the shop, Abena, who brings the men nutrient each time to support them alive.

Naturally, an immortal clip traveler is simply a fantastic assets for stories, but his archetypal communicative is that of Belinda staying down aft enactment to prevention a woman’s life. Whereas the different men’s stories are rendered successful animation, we really spot Belinda’s communicative arsenic unrecorded action. And, erstwhile the Doctor’s hairsbreadth is shorn, it grows back, acceptable for his adjacent crook to beryllium an unwilling storyteller. Belinda, aft asking the TARDIS to amusement her wherever to go, heads to Omo’s, wherever the Doctor is amazingly blessed to spot her arsenic she, too, gets trapped successful the barbershop.

Abena is hiding a secret, and has been hostile to the Doctor ever since she met him. That’s due to the fact that she’s truly the girl of Anansi, the spider-esque trickster deity of Akan folklore. Her begetter defeated the Doctor galore (many!) lifetimes ago, insisting they wed her, but the Doctor skipped town, leaving her connected her own. [Casual viewers wholly mislaid arsenic to what was going connected astatine that constituent and wherefore the Doctor abruptly turned into idiosyncratic else, caput down to Mrs. Flood Corner for an explanation.]

At immoderate constituent successful history, Abena teamed up with the Barber, who isn’t a deity himself, but a signifier of fiction-weaving figure. He told tales to entertain and prolong the gods, designing the dimensional web his elephantine spider robot is presently traversing. At immoderate point, he’d outlived his usefulness and was formed retired by his masters, and truthful helium is utilizing people’s stories to powerfulness his communicative engine. When it reaches its destination, he’ll hitch retired each the gods of story and fable and instrumentality their place.

Abena, horrified that her ain household volition beryllium wiped retired successful the Barber’s revenge, opts to power sides and tends to the Doctor’s hair. She tells the communicative of however African radical nether slavery would braid messages and maps arsenic cornrows to evade detection. The Doctor’s hairsbreadth is present a representation of the communicative engine’s mazelike corridors, starring him to its beating heart. When the Barber tries to halt him, helium (wrongly) invokes Hemingway, talking astir the powerfulness of his six connection story.

Oh, but we’re 5 minutes from the end, truthful the Doctor saves the time by, uh, playing a highlights reel of each his anterior incarnations. The Barber, however, is simply a changed man, and comes backmost with the Doctor arsenic the communicative motor itself collapses nether the sheer value of the Doctor’s beingness story. With everyone free, Omo declares he’s retiring, and hands the relation to the Barber, who volition usage his powers for good. Abena opts to portion ways with her friend, and the Doctor and Belinda caput backmost to the TARDIS.

“The Story and the Engine” is simply a phenomenal debut from British-Nigerian writer and playwright Inua Ellams. The rules of the barbershop and premise of the communicative is wide capable to grasp earlier the rubric series has rolled. And small clip is wasted getting the Doctor done the doorway of Omo’s shop, enabling him to prosecute with the occupation astatine hand. If there’s an issue, it’s the aforesaid 1 that’s dogged each occurrence this season: the overstuffed communicative that picks up and drops ideas successful minutes that different bid would person milked for weeks connected end.

The communicative and thematic density present includes nods toward folklore versus the mechanical reproduction of storytelling. An exploration of the quality of community, family, safety, betrayal, emotion and the worth of revenge. Hell, the antagonist is simply a writer who’s pissed disconnected their overlords chopped ‘em escaped and took the recognition that was theirs to claim. Not to mention, Doctor Who is having to marque a lawsuit for its ain continued beingness fixed the down the scenes rumors. That’s truthful overmuch to cram into 45 minutes that you conscionable privation everything to dilatory down and fto things breathe.

As overmuch arsenic Doctor Who might beryllium seen by the bulk of its assemblage connected a streaming platform, it’s inactive constrained by its broadcast runtime. Like the remainder of this run, this occurrence is conscionable begging for much clip to let its textures to beryllium amended explored. In fact, arsenic I laic successful furniture aft watching the episode, I was reasoning astir however galore of these episodes would enactment good successful the old-school half-hour format. Three half-hours would springiness america much clip successful the barbershop and a much earned ending. “The Story and the Engine” is already a enclosure portion — marque the CGI spider a barely-seen matte coating and usage banal footage of Lagos and this could person easy been done successful the ‘80s. Again, fixed the rumors that, without Disney’s cash, the BBC can’t spend to nutrient Doctor Who, we’re seeing however large it tin beryllium erstwhile it’s conscionable got 5 oregon six actors successful a azygous room.

That’s not to accidental the other wealth isn’t welcome: I besides privation to, again, azygous retired however overmuch large enactment the remainder of the accumulation squad is doing this year. The communicative engine’s heart, a beautifully-made heart-tree-brain sculpture, was different large portion of plan work. And immoderate occurrence of anything that uses Blick Bassey’s "Aké" arsenic a needle driblet deserves a circular of applause.

A Nigerian barbershop is not the accustomed spot for an occurrence of Doctor Who to play out, but it’s besides perfectly perfect. After all, 1 of the richest seams of inspiration the amusement has is to find the magic successful the edges of the mundane. What could beryllium much magic than radical sitting around, telling stories and forming communities done thing much than the cutting of hair.

Mrs. Flood Corner

Mrs. Flood gets a tiny cameo this episode, popping into the infirmary during the Doctor’s communicative of Belinda’s heroism. It’s ambiguous if the Doctor knows Mrs. Flood was there, oregon if her beingness was lone for the audience’s benefit. Given the much standalone quality of this episode, we shouldn’t inquire excessively overmuch of Mrs. Flood this week.

It’s surely absorbing to spot what Belinda does and doesn’t cognize astir however the satellite of the Doctor works. My presumption is inactive that the Doctor briefed Belinda connected the basics and adjacent the much precocious details off-screen. Belinda’s astute and susceptible capable that she’d inquire the close questions to larn that the TARDIS wardrobe is besides capable to benignant hair.

I americium curious, however, astir wherefore the Doctor was truthful blessed to spot Belinda arsenic she walked into the trap. And wherefore Belinda knew what to bash erstwhile the Doctor made his interruption for the communicative motor successful the conclusion. That the costumes person changed since “The Well” implies that clip has passed for these two, truthful possibly their rapport has grown successful the interim.

If you’ll let maine to spell retired connected a limb, what if the existent individuality of Mrs. Flood oregon this season’s large atrocious is successful information Fenric? Hear maine out: “The Story and the Engine” shares a premise with 1988’s “The Greatest Show successful the Galaxy.” In that episode, the Gods of Ragnarok person occupied a circus to substance their hunger for entertainment, sidesplitting anyone who displeases them. The Barber successful this communicative mentions helium wrote stories for respective Norse gods and tries to walk himself disconnected arsenic 1 of them earlier his existent individuality is revealed.

Now, if you recall, different Norse deity the Doctor tussled with successful that epoch was Fenric, the villain from 1989’s “The Curse of Fenric.” Which was 1 of the classic-series stories highlighted for the 60th anniversary’s Tales of the TARDIS run. Given Davies’ changeable an further occurrence of that tally to present caller viewers to Sutekh earlier helium appeared successful past year’s finale, possibly the groundwork was already laid to bring Fenric back.

Yeah, you’re right, it’s not going to beryllium Fenric.

When was the Doctor a Black woman?

The 2020 play of Doctor Who made a fig of arguable changes to the instauration of the series. Showrunner Chris Chibnall opted to dump the series’ archetypal deliberately ambiguous backstory successful favour of thing a small much banal sci-fi. Before then, our pb quality was an outsider who near their satellite and stumbled astir learning to go thing of a hero. The show’s archetypal 4 seasons physique to the infinitesimal erstwhile the Doctor says “There are immoderate corners of the beingness which person bred the astir unspeakable things. Things which enactment against everything we judge in. They indispensable beryllium fought.” Like a batch of aboriginal Doctor Who, the character’s improvement implicit clip wasn’t needfully disposable until you look backmost connected the epoch arsenic a whole.

Chibnall threw each of that out, insisting that the Doctor wasn’t conscionable the astir Special Time Lord Of All Time, but the fig who gave the Time Lords the powerfulness of regeneration successful the archetypal place. In 1 season, he’d turned the Doctor into the equivalent of Adam and Eve and Jesus each astatine once. He besides eliminated the series’ longstanding regeneration limit, saying the Doctor tin alteration their assemblage an infinite magnitude of times. Which alternatively undermines the enactment and saps the melodramatic hostility from episodes similar “The Caves of Androzani” and “The Eleventh Hour.”

These changes gave the Doctor an full as-yet unseen archetypal and 2nd act, with the big Doctor moving for the Time Lord equivalent of the CIA earlier having their representation wiped earlier the commencement of the bid proper. The occurrence “Fugitive of the Judoon” revealed the individuality of 1 of these doctors, The Fugitive Doctor, played by histrion Jo Martin — the lone clip the Doctor had been played by a Black histrion earlier Ncuti Gatwa and lone the 2nd clip (canonically) they’d been played by a pistillate aft Jodie Whittaker. The Fugitive Doctor’s spot successful the series’ past is near ambiguous, and she mostly spent that clip connected heavy screen missions.

When Davies’ instrumentality was announced, I was privately hoping helium would precise loudly unwind overmuch of Chibnall’s Timeless Child communicative arc. Trapping the Doctor successful the hacky sci-fi relation of chosen one felt similar an enactment of near-fatal unit against the series. There person been galore different concealed root stories for the Doctor implicit its sixty-year tenure, but the others were mostly contented to beryllium successful accusation alternatively than bellowed from the rooftops.

It’s present I indispensable connection yet much praise for Russell T. Davies, who opted to Yes-And Chibnall’s hackiest impulses. He has managed to integrate the Timeless Child communicative successful a mode that serves the quality of the Doctor supremely effectively. Rather than focusing connected the ancestral past he’s focused connected the Doctor arsenic an orphan, taken vantage of by cruel aliens. It gives greater value some to his relationships with his companions, and to the request for belonging that takes him to Omo’s. And the events of the Flux miniseries person breached the beingness truthful utterly that it’s opened the doorway for the pantheon of gods to participate it. Not to mention, it offers a conveyance done which we tin get much stories of the Fugitive Doctor that gets it retired from nether the much reactionary storytelling nether which she was created.