I absolutely adore stories about stories, and stories about creation. Look Back, Akane-Banashi, Blue Period, Eizouken are all favourites of mine. Uh whoops, all of these are all anime/manga, but like, you get the gist right? Art about art gets me to my soul.

Now combine that with a story structure, setting and voice we have never had before. Inua Ellems' voice shown throughout this. This didn't feel like anything we've had before in Doctor Who (other than the resolution, slightly. Which we'll get to shortly). The dialogue flowed in a way that felt wholly unique. The concept was fresh. The conflict itself even! This is why I've been begging for new voices since the start of the era! And while it's great when we get episodes like Rogue, which are done by new writers but feel like standard Who fair with new penmanship, this is a whole other level. This was brand new!

It looked gorgeous too. I love mixed media and the mixed media storytelling on the windows was beautiful. The direction? Fantastic. And oooh it was a bottle episode <3 Love those!

Performances were incredible. Abby and The Barber both felt liked nuanced characters not just due to their dialogue, but primarily due to their performances. There were layers to each and honestly, both of them are some of the best guest stars we've ever had (other than Ayling-Ellis in The Well, who I still think is maybe the best side character performance ever). Fab stuff.

And 15! I feel like I'm learning more and more of who he actually is this series, and Ncuti Gatwa plays a quiet wrathful Doctor who is also open to give second chances to those who deserve it, and to those who aren't necessarily evil so well. While I've had issues in the past with how undefined this Doctor has felt to me, Gatwa himself has never once let me down with his performance, and this week he elevated it to a whole new standard. He's such a stellar actor, and I really hope we get him for a few more years, rumours and fears be damned!

Resolution wise, while yes "I am The Doctor and I am old and cool!" is a very NuWho standard resolution at this point, here it felt like it was better set up and earned after Ol' Doccy Who got access to the engine. "I'm born. I die. I'm born." Beautiful stuff. I genuinely thought this landed because it was old hat done in a way that felt new and unique.

Oh and yes, I did lose my mind at the Jo Martin cameo. I gamer leaned and physically gasped. Amazing having you here, Fugitive darling <3

Fantastic episode and on immediate gut feeling, my favourite of the series so far.

We're so back.