Spoilers The Story & the Engine grade and discussion thread

[Nerys Myk]

https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/read-an-exclusive-prequel-to-the-story-the-engine-from-writer-inua-ellams

Here you can read how Omo met the doctor.

God, this episode was disappointing. I was happy that The Doctor finally assessed how it's like to be a black man and then it becomes this thrash. I'm sorry but I kept laughing every time hair was was cut because it was so obviously fake, only The Barber really cut his hair. I have to see behind the scenes how they managed to do that.

ETA apparently the kid Belinda saw was Poppy from space babies. Also, what was the Doctor thinking when he saw Malekith and Nebula?

The BTS shows the actor who played the Barber getting a crash course in haircutting by a real barber. I think the hair was mostly fake, but the cutting was real.

 

[jaime]

The whole thing is really quite the parable re-telling of The Doctor’s history with Gallifrey in some ways, at least as it stood pre TC. Right down to Omo and gang being ready to offer him up to the Omega stand in of The Barber, almost like an echo of Arc of Infinity.

 

[Starkers]

Meant to add, amusing thing I saw on Bluesky last night was someone calling this episode Desmond's in Space!

For non Brits, or Brits not old enough to recall, Desmond's was one of the first predominantly black sitcoms in the UK and was set in a barber's shop. For genre fans it's also interesting because a certain Dominic Keating featured in about half the episodes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond's

 

[matthunter]

The whole thing is really quite the parable re-telling of The Doctor’s history with Gallifrey in some ways, at least as it stood pre TC. Right down to Omo and gang being ready to offer him up to the Omega stand in of The Barber, almost like an echo of Arc of Infinity.

Only if the Doctor ever saw Gallifrey as a place they could fit in and be understood.

Which was never the case.

 

[jaime]

Meant to add, amusing thing I saw on Bluesky last night was someone calling this episode Desmond's in Space!

For non Brits, or Brits not old enough to recall, Desmond's was one of the first predominantly black sitcoms in the UK and was set in a barber's shop. For genre fans it's also interesting because a certain Dominic Keating featured in about half the episodes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond's

Ironically I was glad it wasn’t Desmond’s in space.

 

[jaime]

Only if the Doctor ever saw Gallifrey as a place they could fit in and be understood.

Which was never the case.

He did fine when he was hanging about on mountains looking at daisies, and doing pranks on his best bud at the academy.
It’s only later when he went all CND Ban The Hand, and went on his gap millennium…

 

[diankra]

At the risk of bringing problematic people into another thread, there was more than a hint of Gaiman here (I appreciate he doesn't have dominion over all stories about gods and tricksters)

I'm hoping he's cleared (though the reputation damage will last) as he's a friend and directed me in a cameo once.

 

[jaime]

I wonder if they will come back to this one as it’s so obviously a Tardis analogue as well. (If not an outright Tardis)

Or if this all just going to end up as Big Finish fodder. (The Adventures of The Barber, featuring not-his-grandaughger)

 

[Steve Roby]

I'm hoping he's cleared

Who, Gaiman? Seems unlikely.

 

[diankra]

You might be right. But back in 2001 we had a common love of Douglas Adams and Round the Horne (except he wasn't keen on season four).

 

[jaime]

You might be right. But back in 2001 we had a common love of Douglas Adams and Round the Horne (except he wasn't keen on season four).

Neverwhere? Don’t think he’d done anything else in 01 screenwise.

The thing is, he’s admitted that some of the… relationships, existed. He just disputes their characterisation. And the problem is, there’s a big… ick level, even on that basis.

He was a sort of friend of a friend, and sort-of-an-acquaintance, but the stuff that’s come out is neither entirely unbelievable, nor acceptable even through his quasi-explanation, nor likely to go away.

There’s a sense that a lot of people have been hoodwinked by the public face versus the private. That’s gonna be tough.

But all the more reason we need to start shuffling what we might used to have called Gaimanesque — like this episode — into a differently labelled place, especially as he wasn’t the only one writing that kind of stuff luckily.

 

[diankra]

Neverwhere? Don’t think he’d done anything else in 01 screenwise.

The thing is, he’s admitted that some of the… relationships, existed. He just disputes their characterisation. And the problem is, there’s a big… ick level, even on that basis.

He was a sort of friend of a friend, and sort-of-an-acquaintance, but the stuff that’s come out is neither entirely unbelievable, nor acceptable even through his quasi-explanation, nor likely to go away.

There’s a sense that a lot of people have been hoodwinked by the public face versus the private. That’s gonna be tough.

But all the more reason we need to start shuffling what we might used to have called Gaimanesque — like this episode — into a differently labelled place, especially as he wasn’t the only one writing that kind of stuff luckily.

Think it was August 2001. Douglas had died recently, dunno what he had out Uk release dates and US can differ.
As for the accusations, well I was never a woman in my 20s, so I wouldn't know.

 

[Saul]

I felt this episode was a mess and I found it hard to try and work out in my head how everything fit together and what was going on. Great to see Jo Martin but way too short a cameo.