I’ll be honest, given how steeped in the Black Experience this episode is, I don’t know how much I should comment on it. I will say that I loved what it had to say about the importance of stories. I also loved that it continued to hint at the idea that the Doctor is realizing they are a story. This was such a personal episode for the Doctor, bringing back a lot of familiar faces in new ways. All in perfect service to the story.

A web of ideas, stories, linking people, cultures, entire planets and galaxies. A servant of the gods who is suffering because he has not received the recognition that he is due for his great work. A bride-to-be abandoned by a Fugitive. And a room full of people who just want to get home. These seemingly disparate ideas are at the heart of this story about storytelling. Doctor Who has tackled stories about stories before, but I don’t think the writers have ever been able to make it feel this personal for us and the Doctor.

As I said before, there is much here drawing from the Black Experience, particularly the Black African Experience, and I don’t feel qualified to comment much on those aspects except to say that I understand some things better than I did about my friends and myself. There is history and mystery woven into this plot, and I admit that I did not know a lot of it.

I won’t rehash the plot. You need to see this one for yourself. But it reminds us that stories drive us, power us, and have the ability to heal us. “I’m born. I die. I’m born.” A six-word story that can save a soul on a quest for vengeance. Doctor Who, particularly modern Who, has been about telling stories of hope. Sometimes, it’s a simple tale of one human helping another that can be the most powerful.

Sometimes, we need to draw strength from those who are Other than us: Superman. Hellboy. The Doctor. These stories of Others remind us of the best of humanity when we cannot see it in ourselves or our world. I don’t know how Russell T. Davies and his team of writers keep producing such great television, each episode better than the last, But all of them seem to understand the power of stories.

Sorry for the shortness of this review. It was a lot to process, and as I said before, there are elements of the story I don’t feel qualified to comment upon. I have other writings coming this weekend, and I will hopefully be in a position where I feel I can comment more upon next week’s episode.

In the meantime, make yours a good story, eh?