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“THE STORY & THE ENGINE – A CUT ABOVE THE REST”

With The Story & the Engine, Doctor Who enters uncharted narrative territory. Penned by acclaimed poet and playwright Inua Ellams, this episode blends Afrofuturism, theatre, and folklore into a lyrical bottle episode that’s equal parts fable and sci-fi. Set almost entirely in Omo’s barbershop – a warm, bustling haven nestled within a vibrant Nigerian bazaar – it’s a story unlike anything the show has done before, and quite possibly unlike anything it will do again.

What instantly sets this episode apart is its striking cultural texture. From the predominantly Black cast to the atmospheric setting soaked in African storytelling traditions, the episode pulses with a sense of place and identity rarely seen in Doctor Who. Ellams’s background as a playwright is immediately evident in the episode’s theatrical staging, its rhythmical dialogue, and its focus on character-driven monologues. Despite the small-scale premise – a group of people stuck in a barber’s while stories are exchanged – the result feels mythic in scale.

A BARBER’S SHOP WITH SECRETS

The barbershop setting is simple yet conceptually rich. The idea that storytelling fuels the titular Engine – a literal one that must be powered for the group to be released – is an ingenious narrative concept, and it allows the episode to celebrate oral storytelling, folklore, and the sharing of personal truths. The visual decision to display the characters’ stories in the barbershop window adds a layer of enchantment and theatricality to the otherwise mundane location. The shop becomes a stage, and each haircut a performance.

Musically, Murray Gold keeps up the strong work, with the score subtly incorporating African rhythms and instrumentation. These elements, alongside the warm cinematography and the grounded, community-centred vibe of the bazaar, bring the setting vividly to life.

THE DOCTOR’S HAVEN… OR A TRAP?

We’re told that this is not the Doctor’s first visit to Omo’s barbershop – it’s a place he frequents when he needs to unwind, to feel welcome, to be seen. There’s a comfort here for him, particularly in his current body. His walk through the bazaar at the beginning, full of familiar faces and greetings, suggests a personal history – and a life the Doctor lives between the cracks of his usual adventures. It’s a beautiful notion: that this chaotic, wandering alien has a barbershop he calls home.

Yet this safe space becomes a trap. Omo, who greets the Doctor warmly, has in fact lured him there. He knows that the Doctor’s stories are potent enough to power the Engine singlehandedly, thus freeing the other captives. When this is revealed, it lands as a painful betrayal. The Doctor has been used – not out of malice, but desperation. And Ncuti Gatwa sells the hurt beautifully, bringing an emotional intensity that anchors the story.

THE BARBER AND THE MECHANICAL SPIDER

Presiding over the Engine is the titular Barber, played with velvety menace and cold charisma by Ariyon Bakare (returning to Doctor Who for the first time since playing Leandro in The Woman Who Lived). He’s not your usual moustache-twirling villain. He’s calm, calculated, and poetic, and his motivations are rooted in a deeply personal sense of injustice. He once helped establish the pantheon of storytelling gods – but now, he’s been forgotten, unacknowledged. His plan? To pilot a colossal mechanical spider to the centre of the Nexus – a web of myths, legends, and stories – and sever the gods from humanity in protest. If humans live by stories, then destroying the gods risks destroying humanity itself.

It’s a big, abstract idea – high-concept and metaphysical. Admittedly, it’s not always clearly explained, and the details of how the spider and the Engine connect are a little muddled. But Ellams isn’t aiming for hard sci-fi logic here; he’s crafting a poetic metaphor about legacy, recognition, and the interconnectedness of stories and people. The fact that this grand mythology all stems from a barber’s chair makes it feel all the more unique.

The reveal that the barbershop sits on top of a giant mechanical spider is one of the most visually ambitious moments of the season – though it’s a shame that the trailers gave it away in advance. In the episode itself, the twist also arrives a bit too early to land with maximum impact. But the spider’s design is striking, and its lumbering journey toward the Nexus adds tension even when the characters remain physically stationary.

ABBY, THE NEXUS, AND A FUGITIVE MEMORY

Abby, the Barber’s assistant, is a quiet presence at first – watching, listening, seemingly powerless. But her significance becomes clear in one of the episode’s most jaw-dropping revelations: she is a former acquaintance of the Fugitive Doctor. Jo Martin returns briefly in a glorious flashback, revealing that the Doctor once abandoned Abby on a mission. This moment is powerful not just for its fan-pleasing shock, but for the way it re-centres Abby’s entire arc. She has been waiting, wondering, perhaps resenting. And yet, when the time comes, she helps the Doctor save the day. It's a beautiful payoff that redeems both her and the Barber.

The Doctor and Belinda venture into the heart of the Nexus – via a maze representing the storytelling web itself – where they find the Engine, now visualised as an abstract, organic construct. It morphs from a brain to a tree, evocative of Yggdrasil, the Norse World Tree, complete with a glowing, beating heart at its core. The Doctor’s climactic act is wonderfully low-key: he doesn’t fight or destroy. He tells a story. A single, infinite story: “I’m born. I die. I’m born.” It’s a moment of pure Doctor Who – simple, profound, and poetic.

REDEMPTION, NOT RETRIBUTION

What’s especially refreshing is that the Barber survives. Rather than being vanquished or imprisoned, he is given a chance to make amends. Abby and the Doctor allow him to inherit the shop and continue telling stories. Few villains in Doctor Who get this kind of emotional closure, and it feels earned. The episode understands that storytelling is not just power – it’s healing.

BELINDA AND THE BABY THAT WENT NOWHERE

And then there’s Belinda. Once again, she’s pushed to the side-lines. She spends the first half of the episode inside the TARDIS, and the second mostly standing around the barbershop doing little of note. We do get a brief but affecting flashback to her days as a nurse – a rare return to her established profession – but this is the final time the show explores that aspect of her character. It’s a missed opportunity. Even more frustrating is the mystery baby she glimpses – one that looks exactly like Poppy from Space Babies. The moment is filmed as if it carries deep significance, but the rest of the season never addresses it. It ends up feeling like a forgotten thread, left dangling without resolution.

There’s also a subplot hinted at in the original script, where Belinda gets in trouble with local law enforcement in the bazaar. We see the beginnings of this scene, but the storyline never goes anywhere. It’s likely a victim of editing, but it further highlights how adrift her character has become.

THE SUPPORTING CAST: FILLER, NOT FEATURES

Beyond Omo, who is unfortunately sidelined once the main plot kicks in, the rest of the supporting cast – a group of Gumtree customers caught in the barbershop – have very little to do. They contribute a few lines here and there but are mostly passive observers. Given the episode’s emphasis on personal stories and emotional revelations, it’s a shame they weren’t given more development. There was potential for each character to share a tale, to enrich the tapestry of narratives. Instead, they remain background dressing.

📝VERDICT: 93/100

The Story & the Engine is a daring, lyrical, and culturally resonant piece of Doctor Who. Inua Ellams’s script rewires the show’s DNA, swapping exposition for poetry and explosions for metaphor. Though not every idea lands cleanly – and the sidelining of Belinda and the underdeveloped supporting cast are definite weak spots – the episode excels in atmosphere, originality, and emotional impact. Ariyon Bakare’s calm and quietly vengeful Barber is a standout villain, Abby’s backstory adds depth to the Doctor’s hidden past, and the themes of oral tradition, memory, and redemption give the hour weight beyond its minimalist setting. Not every experiment works – but when Doctor Who takes creative risks like this, the results can be truly unforgettable. A quiet classic in the making.