| The Story & the Engine | Talk |
The Story & the Engine was the fifth episode of Series 15 (also marketed, globally, as Season 2) of Doctor Who. It premiered on 10 May 2025.
With their appearance continuing directly after they both landed in 2007 and being absent during the main events of the previous story, this episode continues the story arc of the Doctor attempting to get Belinda back to 24 May 2025, with their latest attempt getting them closer than previously throughout the series as they land in the year 2019. The story is also the first in Series 15 not to focus on the mysterious appearances of Mrs Flood in random locations in different eras and places not on Earth, though Mrs Flood does make a quick appearance during the Doctor's story retelling a day in Belinda's life.
In addition to the Doctor's previous incarnations appearing through archive footage, the story also features a surprise cameo appearance from Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor, making her first appearance in the series following her last appearance in The Power of the Doctor. Along with the Fugitive Doctor's cameo, child actor Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps appears in a cameo reprising her role as Poppy, who was last seen in the Series 14 opening episode Space Babies.
Synopsis[]
In Lagos, the mysterious Barber reigns supreme. Can the Doctor stop his epic revenge?
Plot[]
To be added...
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Ncuti Gatwa
- Belinda Chandra - Varada Sethu
- Omo Esosa - Sule Rimi
- The Barber - Ariyon Bakare
- Rashid Abubakar - Stefan Adegbola
- Tunde Adebayo - Jordan Adene
- Obioma Okoli - Michael Balogun
- Abena - Michelle Asante
- Paramedic - Simon Bailey
- Consultant - Adrian Pang
- Patient - Tessa Bell-Briggs
- Mrs Flood - Anita Dobson
- Market Seller - Inua Ellams
- Security Guard - Funmi James
- Poppy - Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps
- The Doctor - Jo Martin
Uncredited[]
As the memories of the Doctor (archive footage):
- William Hartnell - First Doctor
- Patrick Troughton - Second Doctor
- Jon Pertwee - Third Doctor
- Tom Baker - Fourth Doctor
- Peter Davison - Fifth Doctor
- Colin Baker - Sixth Doctor
- Paul McGann - Eighth Doctor
- Christopher Eccleston - Ninth Doctor
- David Tennant - Tenth Doctor, Fourteenth Doctor
- Matt Smith - Eleventh Doctor
- Peter Capaldi - Twelfth Doctor
- Jodie Whittaker - Thirteenth Doctor
Crew[]
To be added...
Worldbuilding[]
- Mrs Flood passes Belinda in the hospital, as she is getting her pills.
- The Doctor has watched all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films up until at least Avengers: Endgame, and his friend Sága didn't like the character of Thor as his "muscles were too small".
- The TARDIS cuts the Doctor's hair for him.
- The Fifteenth Doctor, while being seen as the Fugitive Doctor by Abby, mentions she "was busy in a different story that might be finished one day" to explain why she abandoned her.
- The Doctor invokes the Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and Ice Warriors to get the Story Engine to work.
Notes[]
- Inua Ellams, the writer for The Story & the Engine, made a cameo appearance as a market trader who tries to get Belinda to buy food she had knocked over.
- Footage of the Seventh Doctor confronting Davros with the Intrusion Counter-Measures Group during the Shoreditch Incident from TV: Remembrance of the Daleks [+]Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who season 25 (BBC1, 1988). was to be included in the achieve footage montage, but was either cut or obscured from view.
- Jo Martin was uncredited in Radio Times to keep the Fugitive Doctor's cameo appearance a surprise.
- The story that Rashid tells about Yo-Yo Ma in Botswana was adapted from one of Inua Ellams' poems, which was adapted from a story that Bobby McFerrin told about the trip.
- The plot came about as a result of Ncuti Gatwa wanting to do a story about the Doctor visiting Africa.
- The episode formed Block Four of Series 15 alongside The Interstellar Song Contest.
Comparison between BBC and Disney+ versions[]
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Myths and Rumours[]
This episode was supposed to be about the God of Stories and a member of the pantheon. This was proven false.
Filming Locations[]
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Ratings[]
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Production errors[]
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Continuity[]
- Omo and the Doctor both mention their first meeting at a fire. (PROSE: What I Did On My Holidays By Omo Esosa [+]Inua Ellams, Doctor Who online short stories (Doctor Who website, 2025).)
- The Barber shows the Palazzo Cinema as being part of the Nexus. (TV: Lux [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 15 (BBC One and Disney+, 2025).)
- When the Doctor overcharges the engine with his endless story, he shows the Second Doctor comforting Victoria Waterfield in the Cyber-tombs of Telos, (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen [+]Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, Doctor Who season 5 (BBC1, 1967).) the Third Doctor joining UNIT, (TV: Spearhead from Space [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 7 (BBC1, 1970).) the Ninth Doctor curing the Empty Child plague, (TV: The Doctor Dances [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) the Tenth Doctor revealing his identity on the Titanic, (TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007 (BBC One, 2007).) the Twelfth Doctor confronting Bonnie in the Black Archive, (TV: The Zygon Inversion [+]Peter Harness and Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).) the Thirteenth Doctor smiling at Yaz Khan (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who Centenary Special 2022 (BBC One, 2022).) and reaffirming that "when people need help [she] never refuse[s]", (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, BBCA, Space and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2018).) the Fifth Doctor seeing his past incarnations off in the Tomb of Rassilon, (TV: The Five Doctors [+]Terrance Dicks, Doctor Who 20th Anniversary Special (Public Broadcasting Service, 1983).) the Eleventh Doctor laughing at Amy Pond's "ultimate ginge" comment, (TV: Vincent and the Doctor [+]Richard Curtis, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).) the Fourth Doctor brooding in his TARDIS, (TV: Pyramids of Mars [+]Stephen Harris, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1975).) the Eighth Doctor coming to Cass Fermazzi's rescue, (TV: The Night of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Specials minisode (BBC One, 2013).) the First Doctor biding farewell to the Thals on Skaro, (TV: "The Rescue" [+]Part of The Daleks, Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 1 (BBC tv, 1963-1964).) the Sixth Doctor denouncing the Time Lords at his trial, (TV: The Ultimate Foe [+]Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker, Doctor Who season 23 (BBC1, 1986).) the Fourteenth Doctor expressing his happiness to Donna Noble, (TV: The Giggle [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials (BBC One and Disney+, 2023).) the Fifteenth Doctor welcoming Ruby Sunday to the TARDIS (TV: The Church on Ruby Road [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2023 (BBC One and Disney+, 2023).) and taking in the sights of Kastarion 3, (TV: Boom [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 14 (BBC One and Disney+, 2024).) the First Doctor saying goodbye to Susan Foreman, (TV: "Flashpoint" [+]Part of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 2 (BBC1, 1964).) and the Twelfth Doctor punching the wall of azbantium in his Confession Dial. (TV: Heaven Sent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).)
Home video releases[]
DVD and Blu-ray[]
to be added
Footnotes[]
