Doctor Who: The Story & The Engine Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs

The surprise revelation that Abena was engaged to Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor – and not Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth – is a nice touch. The cameo honours Martin's position as the first person of colour to play an incarnation of the Doctor by placing her within African folklore. Sadly, however, it follows the unfortunate pattern of all of Martin's appearances post-Fugitive of the Judoon.

Just like the Matrix vision, the splinter on planet Time and the hologram in The Power of the Doctor, this isn't Jo Martin playing the Fugitive Doctor for real, she's playing an echo. It's really Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor who's apologising (but not really apologising) to Abena, rather than the incarnation who actually jilted her.

The "other story" of the Fugitive Doctor "might be finished one day", but these cameos by hallucinations, specters and holograms don't do anything to build the mystery. All of which begs the question of why bring the actress in at all? Is it simply to demonstrate how long it's been since the Doctor left Abena, or is there something much bigger at play for the upcoming finale?