By the close of this week’s escapade, one of the gentlemen who had been stuck within the barbershop turns towards the Doctor to express gratitude to Abby. “He saved us,” he acknowledges, “but you…you were the one who kept us alive,” he adds, bowing in respect. This sentiment echoes a patient’s words to Belinda, who tirelessly worked through the night to address symptoms that no one else at the hospital deemed important enough to handle. In narratives of triumph, it’s often the central figures who are celebrated, while their supporters remain unsung heroes. This installment serves as a reminder to acknowledge contributions where they’re truly due. Not just because it’s fair—but also because when individuals feel unacknowledged and mistreated, they may resort to becoming antagonists. (Or, in Belinda’s own words, “Hurt people hurt people.”)
The TARDIS has landed in Lagos, Nigeria, a bustling hub of communications technology. This city’s tech market should help the vindicator successfully bring Belinda back home. Additionally, this stop allows the Doctor to visit Omo’s Palace, a place he’s eager to revisit. He first met Omo as a child while extinguishing a forest fire, and they’ve since formed a strong bond. The palace has provided the Doctor with a sense of belonging, given his Black identity often encounters racism. Aware of this, Belinda encourages him to enjoy his time there.
Instead, let’s rephrase it like this: Warm, vibrant streets filled with friendly folk who welcome the Doctor as one of their own contrast sharply with a lonely, abandoned alley adorned with warnings and missing posters. A man, referred to as the Barber, has claimed Omo’s establishment, and it turns out he’s installed a time-space compressor in the doorway. This revelation unveils that Omo’s Palace is situated in Lagos, yet it’s also part of an enormous arachnid structure powered by tales, moving towards divine realms this week!
In this scenario, it’s Abby, who the Doctor recognizes, who can step out from the barber shop besides the Barber himself. The Barber and Abby have taken Omo and some customers captive within the shop, compelling them to get haircuts while they spin captivating tales. These stories magically manifest on a window as they’re told. Strangely, the men’s hair regrows instantly after each cut, and Abby provides them with food. However, their collection of stories is dwindling, which is where the Doctor enters the picture.
Initially, the Doctor offers to share a tale, but upon finding the Barber’s cape settling on him with a suggestive spark of discomfort, he reconsiders. Unable to leave the barber chair, he instead narrates a story linked thematically to Belinda at the hospital. Unlike the usual drawings, this story appears in the window as video footage. It transpires that Omo, who foresaw the Doctor’s stories carrying significant power, was eager for the Doctor’s arrival, so the Barber would release everyone else. The Doctor perceives this as a grievous breach of trust. Notably, the Doctor has a history of selflessly endangering himself for strangers in similar predicaments; however, it seems that the sting is more pronounced when his actions are orchestrated by someone he holds so dear. Furthermore, one wonders when last the Doctor had a refuge he could truly call home.
Anansi, Saga, Bastet, Dionysus, Loki, and so on. This speech is as dramatic as the revelations of gods on the show thus far. However, the Doctor and Belinda can’t help but laugh – the Doctor has encountered “all those Story Lords” before, making him aware that the Barber is actually deceiving them.
After Abby gently pats his shoulder, the Man reveals he was the one who spun the tales of myth and legend that bound gods to humanity. “I’m the reason they still exist,” he asserts, explaining that he wove a silken Nexus using strands of “godly blood and power.” The Nexus functions independently now, but he receives little credit for his creation. Instead, the gods expelled him, leaving him with nothing but a thirst for revenge (and the machinery driving the spider’s movement).
Eventually, the Doctor identifies Abby as Abena. She’s the child of the deity Anansi, who intentionally lost a wager to compel the Doctor to wed her. Abby had wished for the Doctor’s aid, but instead experienced embarrassment. The scene shifts to disclose that at that moment, the Doctor was Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor, who had been engaged with a clandestine Gallifreyan group called the Division. Remarkably, she mentioned she was occupied in a distinct narrative that might conclude someday. Abandoned, Abby remained with the Barber, whom she suspects intends to vanquish the gods and emerge as a reliable, cautious “supreme storyteller.
However, when the Barber confesses that he deceived Abby and his true intention is to erase the gods’ existence (apparently leading to their demise along with all humanity), she chooses to aid the Doctor. Abby gives him a knowing wink and begins plaiting his hair while narrating a tale about people who managed to escape slavery by relying on women who secretly braided escape paths into their hair. The Barber seems dimwitted, failing to decipher Abby’s actions until Belinda and the Doctor take off to follow the map concealed in his hair. Realizing her deception, the Barber denies Abby access to certain areas, then proceeds towards the engine room.
Referencing the urban tale about Ernest Hemingway’s brief narrative, the Doctor expresses his compact biography (“I’m born. I die. I’m born.”) in a way that carries immense strength due to his repeated regenerations. This doesn’t require him to get a haircut at all. However, the machine – a heart beating within a mind – begins to malfunction. Fearing an imminent blast, the Barber opens the shop to allow everyone to return to their homeland, Nigeria. At the very brink, the Doctor manages to persuade the Barber to depart as well, ensuring he has enough time to pen a new conclusion for his life’s tale.
The resolution unfolds swiftly. To clarify, the Barber openly admits that his actions stemmed from seeking recognition for his work. The Doctor proposes that he share more tales by opening a barbershop. Overall, everyone seems eager to forgive. In quick succession, the Doctor extends an apology to Omo, who was previously scolded and now is asked not to address him again; instead, Omo extends a hand of reconciliation to the Barber, offering him both his shop and his father’s name. Abby declares that she will harbor no resentment towards the Barber. Appropriately, the episode concluding with stories finishes in a fairy-tale fashion – in the final scene, the Doctor begins to narrate Belinda a story about Omo, starting with “Once upon a time…
Cut for Time (Lord)
• Lately, it seems like Doctor Who has developed a fondness for wordplay. This week, for instance, we encountered some internet-themed puns: the Nexus was likened to the “world wide web,” a platform that a spider traverses, and the Doctor playfully referred to the Barber as a troll concealing his online identity. Interestingly, the matter of credit is quite significant in digital environments, where content frequently gets reposted or reworked without proper acknowledgement.
The child Belinda encounters on her journey to the barbershop resembles Poppy from “Space Babies.” Later, it’s proposed that this could be due to stories seeping out, implying it might not have been the genuine Poppy. However, I hope wherever she is, Poppy is thriving.
• It’s disappointing not to see more interactions between The Fugitive Doctor and Abby. The idea of a forced marriage, but with a Black and sapphic twist, is intriguing, and I imagine fanfiction writers are eager to explore this concept. As the Doctor recognized Abby and recalled leaving her, I’m eager to find out how much of the Fugitive Doctor’s past he recalls.
In a surprising turn of events, Belinda ended up spending the night at the hospital despite having just completed a 13-hour shift to celebrate her grandma’s birthday. With such an unexpected extension to her workday, it seems only fair they compensated her with double overtime pay. Mrs. Flood once again played a role in this weekly tale. One might wonder how long it will take the Doctor and Belinda to notice that she keeps showing up in various places?
As a die-hard fan, I can’t help but feel excited! The upcoming episode is set to air during the same week as the Eurovision semi-finals and final. That’s right, Ncuti Gatwa is representing the UK this year! This has me speculating that we might be venturing into the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest next. The ambiguity surrounding the longevity of humanity in “The Well” leaves us guessing, but it seems Eurovision is an exception to the rule, eternal and unyielding!
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2025-05-10 19:17