Doctor Who sets up new mystery in The Story and the Engine – but who is the child?

The Story and the Engine saw the Doctor retreat to Lagos, Nigeria and specifically Omo’s Palace, a barber shop where the Time Lord without a home can feel accepted.

Something sinister is afoot at Omo's however, with the powerful Barber (Ariyon Bakare) having seized control of the establishment, keeping its regular customers captive and using their stories to power the engine of his craft, which – courtesy of a time/space compressor – exists inside the shop.

The Doctor leaves Belinda in the TARDIS while he pays Omo a visit, but when the ship's warning systems alert her that something is amiss – with the Doctor also being held hostage by the Barber – she too makes her way through the city towards the barber shop.

Exploring the back streets, Belinda hears a giggle and spots a little girl, who waves at her. Briefly distracted, Belinda quickly returns her attention to where the girl was standing, only for the infant to have disappeared.

Later, having saved Omo and friends from the tyranny of the Barber, the Doctor and Bel head back towards the TARDIS, reminding her of her earlier encounter with the young girl.

"Did you see a child?" she asks the Doctor. "I saw a spooky kid back there."

"I didn’t see anything," the Doctor replies. "But the stories were leaking out, getting mixed up."

Belinda appears to accept the Doctor's explanation for the child's sudden appearance and disappearance, but he looks somewhat concerned, perhaps not entirely convinced by his own reasoning.

Eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted that the child is credited as "Poppy" – played by Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps.

Poppy was one of the babies abandoned on Baby Station Beta in last year's season premiere Space Babies... but how and why is she appearing in Lagos?

Given the fantastical nature of the Barber's story engine, is it possible that she was indeed simply a product of its unearthly powers? Or is there more to it?

One other explanation might be that Poppy is a harbinger, one of the entities whose presence signifies the imminent arrival of one of the Pantheon of Discord. These God-like entities have plagued the Doctor of late, from the Toymaker and Maestro to Sutekh and Lux, so might another be on the horizon?

It's possible that Poppy isn't the only harbinger on the scene, either. Could it be that Belinda too is acting as an unwitting herald for a member of the Pantheon, like last season's Susan Triad (Susan Twist) and Harriet Arbinger (Genesis Lynea)?

This theory would explain why Belinda and her descendant Mundy Flynn are doppelgangers – much like the different characters played last year by Susan Twist, and much like Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson), another character who keeps popping up every week in different scenarios... could she too be another harbinger for the Pantheon?

All this and we still don't know why the Doctor can't return Belinda to Earth in 2025, or how the robots who appeared in recent episode The Robot Revolution ended up with Belinda's star certificate in their possession, or what Mrs. Flood wants with Conrad Clark...

With just three episodes left this season, the answers, we're sure, will soon be coming thick and fast...

Doctor Who continues next Saturday (17th May), with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK and later the same day on BBC One. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK.

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