The Story & the Engine
| 317 – "The Story & the Engine" | |||
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| Doctor Who episode | |||
Promotional title-card | |||
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Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | Makalla McPherson | ||
| Written by | Inua Ellams | ||
| Produced by | Vicki Delow | ||
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| Music by | Murray Gold | ||
| Series | Series 15 | ||
| Running time | 47 minutes | ||
| First broadcast | 10 May 2025 | ||
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"The Story & the Engine" is the fifth episode of the fifteenth series of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Inua Ellams, directed by Makalla McPherson, and released on BBC iPlayer, BBC One, and Disney+ on 10 May 2025. In the episode, the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), visit Lagos, Nigeria. There, they get trapped in a barbershop by an enigmatic figure, known only as the Barber, who uses the power of stories to power an engine he constructed.
The episode shares a similar setting, cast, and themes to the Barber Shop Chronicles, a play written by Ellams, who was brought on at the recommendation of Gatwa. Featuring a largely BIPOC cast and exploring motifs of identity, it was primarily filmed at Wolf Studios Wales in Cardiff in early 2024. Some footage was recorded in Lagos, with the primary goal to make the soundstage set look authentic. The episode was viewed by 2.70 million viewers and received generally positive reviews from critics, particularly for its script.