Series 15, Episode 5 | 1 part | First broadcast: 10 May 2025 | Writer: Inua Ellams | Director: Makalla McPherson
Cast
- Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor
- Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra
- Ariyon Bakare as the Barber
- Sule Rimi as Omo
- Michelle Asante as Abena
- Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor
Summary
In Lagos, Nigeria, the Doctor visits a barbershop run by his old friend Omo, only to find it trapped on the back of a giant mythic spider, powered by an engine fed with the stories of trapped customers, and after discovering that the Barber, a storyteller tied to the West African trickster god Anansi, is working with Anansi’s daughter Abena, whom the Fugitive Doctor once abandoned, the Doctor persuades the Barber to release everyone by feeding the engine his own life story instead, destroying it and freeing the trapped men.
Interesting Facts
- The episode features an almost entirely Black and BIPOC guest cast outside of flashbacks, explicitly written as a companion piece to “Dot and Bubble” regarding the Doctor’s race.
- It was inspired by writer Inua Ellams’s own stage play Barber Shop Chronicles and by the French term for a ghostwriter.
- Jo Martin returns as the Fugitive Doctor, with archive footage of every past incarnation of the Doctor appearing during the story.
- It was filmed on a soundstage rather than on location in Lagos, though drone establishing shots were captured there.
- The episode scored 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and drew 2.70 million consolidated viewers.
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