Doctor Who: The Story & The Engine Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs
3. UP - The Story Windows
Due to the confines of the barber shop, there's a concern that The Story & the Engine could be too constrained by its setting. However, the inclusion of the story window hints at a more fantastical world beyond the four walls of Omo's shop. The hand-drawn animation sequences recalls the story of Zellin and Rakaya from Can You Hear Me?
While that scene was a beautiful and unique way to deliver exposition, the animated sequences in The Story & the Engine feel more fluid and in-keeping with the episode's themes of mythology and cultural history. It's also striking when the animation that illustrates Abena's story leaps out of the story window on to our TV screen, because she is a god and demands our attention.
More interesting still is the fact that the episode's opening titles begin within this story window. This is another example of Doctor Who the TV show playing out within the fiction of an episode, as is the Doctor's story playing like a hospital drama.
What this means is anyone's guess at this point, but it might be telling that Mrs Flood appears within the Doctor's story about Belinda...