First broadcast 10 May 2025.

While the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) continues to take readings for returning Belinda (Varada Sethu) back to 2025, he takes the opportunity for a quick haircut in Lagos, Nigeria. His favourite shop, however, is under new management; a mysterious barber (Ariyon Bakare) will cut your hair in return for a story.

There is a lot in in “The Story and the Engine” that the thoughtful fan of Doctor Who can ruminate upon, particularly in terms of situating the episode within the broader context of the series. The series is after all a product of 1960s Great Britain, and has spent the overwhelming majority of that time dominated by white people both in front of and behind the camera. Things have felt palpably different since Ncuti Gatwa, a Rwandan Scot, assumed the role of the Doctor, and again this season with the addition of Varada Sethu as companion Belinda Chandra. For the first time in 62 years, the regular cast of Doctor Who entirely comprises people of colour.

The latest episode, “The Story and the Engine” takes things another step further. Its writer, Inua Ellams, is a Nigerian-born playwright and poet. Its director, Makalla McPherson, is a woman of colour and a playwright in her own right. Aside from a few minor supporting roles during a flashback, the entire guest cast of the episode comprise people of colour. The episode is largely set in Lagos – I’m struggling to recall for certain, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time on television the Doctor has even been to Africa.

There’s a lovely early scene in which the Doctor actively discusses his blackness, not in terms of experiencing racism in Britain but in terms of feeling more comfortable in Africa. It is a beautiful pivot on issues of race that feels unexpectedly brighter and more optimistic than we usually see on television. The episode as a whole feels a little like an adjunct to Ellam’s play Barber Shop Chronicles, which jumped across six different barbershops to showcase its place as a focus for black men among Britain’s African diaspora.

It does all seem a little like over-compensation though: this feels like the “Africa episode”, with its creatives all bundled into their own dedicated 45-minute adventure. In isolation it works brilliantly. This is a wonderfully inventive and striking slice of television, and it feels authentic in its culture. It is sharply original compared to the hundreds of episodes before it. It will well performed, particularly Bakare as the menacing barber, and manages to show off a whole new take on Ncuti Gatwa’s incarnation of the Doctor. It feels like “The Story and the Engine” will settle down in my mind as my favourite Gatwa episode to date. It really is tremendous stuff, and it is hard to imagine it being written for another series other than Doctor Who. It is that context that niggles, however.

Russell T Davies produced Doctor Who from 2005 to 2009, and not once in those 60-odd episodes did he hire a non-white writer for the series. It took until 2018 for then-producer Chris Chibnall to hire Malorie Blackman to write the episode “Rosa”. The same year saw the first black director hired, Mark Tonderai, and in fact among his episodes was “Rosa”. That seems appropriate. It feels like a sensible move, if one is going to produce an episode about the American civil rights movement, to hire a black writer and director to bring that adventure to fruition. The same is true of “The Story and the Engine”, which in part succeeds based on its sense of authenticity and its respect for cultural respect.

And here, maybe paradoxically, is where the episode chafes. While I appreciate the step taken in expanding Doctor Who‘s talent base in this way, I really hope it leads to a future for the property where episodes like “Rosa” and “The Story and the Engine” do not stand out as much as they do. If one only hires black artists for the “black” episodes, or South Asians for the “India” episodes (such as Vinay Patel on 2018’s “Demons of the Punjab”), then rightfully or wrongfully it is going to look awkward and tokenistic.

It is fantastic to see a new writer on the series, as well as a new director. Together they have put together something genuine dreamlike and theatrical, like a brilliant little chamber piece. I really, really want them both to continue contributing to the series: together, separately, as many time as they want to. Their episode is palpable evidence of the benefits gained by embracing diversity. All that needs to be done now is to stop embracing it so self-consciously.

Seriously though, this episode is outstanding stuff. The cameo I am endeavouring to avoid spoiling? Pitch-perfect for multiple reasons. In this, of all episodes, they deserved acknowledging.