It’s the stories we share; folktales and mythology across cultures and across time which feature in the fifth Doctor Who Season Two episode The Story & The Engine.
Screenwriter Inua Ellams touched on the importance of giving credit for the origins of stories in a BBC interview.
“It’s a call to artists and creatives, to always give credit where it’s due.”
“The moral of the story is to give credit where it’s due. And I took that little idea and expanded it, and really drew it out. It is a huge story, but also a very simple that sits on a lot of social history. It’s one location, a lot of fun, a lot of mythology written into it, but a new myth too.”
“I guess what I’m trying to show is a little bit of the magic of Lagos, a little bit of the sparkles that exist when you choose to discover it. Doctor Who is full of incredible stories, and this is what happens in barber shops. Incredible stories are told. So, I was trying to unite them all.”
The TARDIS arrives in Lagos, Nigeria in 2019; an ideal spot to get a bearing on the Vindicator ‒ a vital step to returning Belinda (Varada Sethu) home.
The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) decides to drop in on his old friend Omo (Sule Rimi) who runs a barber shop in the city called Omo’s Palace but he’s blissfully unaware that he’s falling into a trap.
Omo seems to have a new master; the mysterious Barber (Ariyon Bakare) who now reigns supreme.
Men have gone missing and something vast and hungry is demanding to be fed.
The Doctor soon finds himself embroiled in a plot for revenge that spans centuries and discovers a universe he has never even guessed at before where stories have power.
Can he stop the spider and its deadly web of revenge?
Ariyon Bakare, who plays the mysterious Barber, echoes the storytelling theme of the episode.
“The Nigerian cultural element is authentic; the barbershop serves as a hub of conversation where these stories are shared. Inua brilliantly employs old Nigerian folktales, those bedtime stories we all heard as children, and creates a timeless piece that is Nigerian in essence but universal in appeal.”
“For me, it demonstrates that all stories are significant; stories are not diminished by culture, race, or geography. Good storytelling is simply that – no one story is less relevant than another. In the end, it reminds us that whether across galaxies or cultures, our shared stories are what truly make us human.”
Bakare describes The Story and the Engine as a “time-bending cultural ancestral collision” with “lots of hair.”
There must be a lot of time-bending because, over the course of the episode, the Doctor is seen with short hair, a cap, long hair and braided hair. If he begins with taking a reading with the vindicator, either something strange is going on with time or there is some kind of hair growth accelerator at work.
Director Makalla McPherson shared her take on the episode.
“The episode is fast-paced, filled with rich cultural references, and led by a brilliant ensemble cast – including the incredible Ariyon Bakare and Sule Rimi. Tonally, it dances between emotional intimacy and uncertainty, touching on themes of friendship, identity, and community. There’s also a dark, gritty undercurrent that gives the story real weight.”
Written by Inua Ellams and directed by Makalla McPherson, the 47-minute The Story & The Engine transmits on Saturday 10 May at 8am on BBC iPlayer and 7:10pm on BBC One in the UK. Those outside of the UK can stream The Story & The Engine on Disney+ where available simultaneously starting at 3am ET/12am PT. The remaining three episodes of Doctor Who Season Two will transmit on subsequent Saturdays.
Directly after the BBC One broadcast, Steffan Powell goes behind the scenes of The Story & The Engine in Doctor Who: Unleashed on BBC Three and on the official YouTube channel where available at 8:00pm.