As Doctor Who season 15, episode 5 “The Story & the Engine” featured a surprise cameo from a past Doctor, showrunner Russell T Davies explains why the episode was the right point to bring the star back and address their incarnation’s story. The latest season of the long-running sci-fi series sees Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and new companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) attempting to return to present-day Earth. In Doctor Who season 15’s “The Story & The Engine”, a visit to an old friend in 2019 Lagos draws the Doctor into a plot to exact vengeance on the Gods themselves.
With Jo Martin returning to reprise her role as the Fugitive Doctor for a brief appearance in “The Story & the Engine”, Davies opens up to Doctor Who Unleashed (via RadioTimes) about why he decided now was a good time to address the mysterious incarnation. The showrunner states that with the episode touching upon the ethnicity of the Doctor’s current incarnation, featuring Martin was a high priority, while acknowledging her incarnation’s presence in the lore was a perfect fit for a story focused on stories. Check out Davie’s full explanation below:
We’ve got a story that’s set in Lagos that’s kind of honouring the ethnicity of our Doctor. So actually, it felt like Jo Martin was missing. It’s just time to acknowledge her, and just time to say she still exists.
It’s also time to say that mythology still exists, in a very mythological episode about the lives of these men, the lives of the barber over these hundreds of years.
You needed to look at the Doctor’s life and you needed to acknowledge that. So just a moment, and she’s so delighted to come to Cardiff and do it. So, it’s an honour.
What Davies’ Response Reveals About The Fugitive Doctor’s Place In The Whoniverse
The Handling Of Canon Has Left Many Potential Origins Open To Interpretation
Martin’s incarnation of the Doctor came about during former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall’s era as part of one of its most contentious storyline. As the Timeless Child revelations revealed that the Doctor had a life before William Hartnell’s First Doctor, Martin was established as the earliest on-screen incarnation to play a major role in the series’ narrative. As such, after Chibnall left the show, many wondered how the series would handle her incarnation going forward.
In the 60th-anniversary celebrations, a brief line by the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) revealed he had used his reality-warping powers to blur the line between what is true and false within the Doctor’s origins, and the series’ overall canon. However, a brief holographic cameo in season 14’s “Rogue” did establish the Fugitive Doctor as a past life of the Time Lord. With Davies doubling down on Martin’s Doctor’s role in “The Story & the Engine” through her cameo and her importance to one of the antagonist’s origins, the Fugitive Doctor has been firmly solidified in the reshaped Whoniverse.
Our Thoughts On Martin’s Doctor Who Return
Many Fans Are Eager For More Of The Fugitive Doctor Tales
Though her origins may be controversial, many viewers are hopeful for Martin’s Fugitive Doctor to receive an opportunity to return on-screen. With Davies affirming her importance to Doctor Who’s lore and teasing that her story still remains to be told, many may feel that Davies may be eager to explore the Fugitive Doctor’s life if the opportunity arises. For now though, most viewers will be pleased that, despite her small number of appearances, Martin’s Doctor continues to have a lasting legacy.
Source: Doctor Who Unleashed (via RadioTimes)
Doctor Who
5/10
- Release Date
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December 25, 2023
- Directors
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Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie
- Writers
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Russell T. Davies, Dave Gibbons, Kate Herron, Steven Moffat
- Franchise(s)
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Doctor Who / Whoniverse