Belinda and The Doctor Inside the TARDIS

In a barbershop, Omo Esosa sits in a chair having a haircut. He tells a story about how he met The Doctor and how his village was saved by the mysterious man in the blue box. As he spins his tale, images depicting his story appear on the wall behind him, captivating the other men around him, who are listening eagerly. When he concludes, their eyes are glued to a pair of lights, one red, the other green, flickering ominously on the wall. They hold their breath until, at last, the green light illuminates. ‘No need to worry’, Omo reassures them, ‘The Doctor always arrives’. But just as the tension begins to ease, the green light goes out and the red light illuminates. Alarms blare and the room starts to shake.

Meanwhile, inside the TARDIS, Belinda Chandra is insistent that The Doctor return her home. But instead, he suggests that they go to Lagos in Nigeria - a vibrant hub of communication in Africa and a place dear to his heart especially as is the home of his beloved barbershop. Confused, Belinda points out that the TARDIS can just as easily give him a haircut. The Doctor explains that it is more about connection and community; this is the first time he truly experiences life as a black man. With that, Belinda decides to stay behind in the TARDIS, encouraging him to revel in the culture of Lagos. He does this but not before he takes another Vindicator reading.

The Doctor strolls through a bustling market, exchanging greetings with everyone he meets, until he finds himself in a sombre alleyway plastered with posters of missing persons. At the end of the alleyway he approaches his friend Omo's barbershop, Omo's Palace. Upon entering, The Doctor finds a person having his hair cut, watched by another three young men, all engaged in storytelling. As the door closes behind The Doctor, trapping him inside, an alarm goes off in the TARDIS, alerting Belinda that something is amiss.

The Doctor in Lagos

The Doctor soon realises that everyone in the barbershop is on the missing persons’ posters lining the alley. He then witnesses the hair of the man in the chair beginning to regrow. The lights in the barbershop flash to red and everyone starts to frantically decide who has a story left to tell. A person sits down and starts to tell a story and as images illuminate the wall, The Doctor watches in awe, intrigued by this mysterious phenomenon.

The Doctor discovers that The Barber is not working alone when a woman named Abby enters the barbershop carrying some food. As the door closes behind her the alarm in the TARDIS sounds again. The Doctor recognises the woman but he can’t quite place her. The red light on the wall illuminates again, prompting The Doctor to take a seat and share a tale about Belinda Chandra, who dedicated an entire night to helping someone, even on her grandmother's birthday. Abby watches a screen in another room that lights up, indicating that they are accelerating as the story wraps up. The Barber, impressed by the power of the storytelling, tells Abby when she comes out that they need to recalibrate the engine. Omo asks if they can finally be set free now that The Doctor is here, noting that his hair has grown more than anyone else's during their confinement. However, Abby secures the door, and they both leave as the TARDIS sounds an alarm again, this time showing Belinda an image of the barbershop.

Belinda Chandra

Angry at Omo’s betrayal, The Doctor is frustrated and considers trapping him inside. The Doctor attempts to escape the barbershop by forcing the door open with his sonic screwdriver. He discovers that on the other side of the door is a vacuum and that shop is on the back of a giant spider traversing a massive web. With great difficulty, The Doctor manages to close the door, at which point the Barber appears from the back room. He explains that the barbershop exists simultaneously in Lagos and outer space, and only he and Abby can navigate between the two zones.

Fearing that The Doctor is in trouble, Belinda ventures out of the TARDIS, quickly finding herself lost in Lagos. She is eventually directed towards the barbershop by a young girl. Upon entering the barbershop, she also finds herself trapped, but is relieved to see The Doctor. He cleverly challenges the Barber to reveal his true identity. The Barber discloses that he is a storyteller and that he has taken the tales of gods, refined them, and written them down, ensuring they live on through humanity. Without him, the gods would not exist.

The web, known as the Nexus, serves as a bridge between cultures and ideas. Yet, the Barber’s overwhelming success led to his abandonment by the gods, and vengeance now fuels his ambitions. The engine winds down as so much power was drained from The Doctor opening the door. Abby criticises The Doctor, enabling him to realise that she is actually Abena, the daughter of Anansi, who he had forsaken while in his Fugitive incarnation, and now Abena has joined forces with the Barber, intent on revenge.

A Warm Welcome

The red light illuminates again and the Barber insists that The Doctor share a story. The Doctor refuses, demanding to know what vengeance is being planned. The Barber reveals his plan to reach the centre of the Nexus and cut off all the gods from the web, effectively erasing them from existence. The Doctor is horrified as this will damage humanity by harming their ability to tell stories and so pass down information and vital knowledge. He refuses to sit quietly; he won’t let the Barber proceed any further. Chaos erupts in the barbershop with everyone arguing.

Suddenly, Abena has a change of heart and announces her willingness to tell a story. As she braids The Doctor’s hair, Abena weaves in the narrative of plantation slaves who encoded maps to freedom in their braids - hidden guides for those brave enough to escape. As the energy stabilises, The Doctor and Belinda rush into the back room, finding themselves ensnared in a maze. They are however, guided by the map encoded in The Doctor's hair enabling them to navigate towards the core of the engine's power source. There the pair discover a treasure trove of artifacts from various cultures, along with the ship’s engine - a device fuelled by stories, a heart within a brain. The Barber then enters the room, having cut Abena off from the outside. The Doctor disrupts the energy flow, slowing down the spider but not entirely stopping it. The Barber scoffs, claiming The Doctor’s efforts are futile. Yet, The Doctor has ingeniously reconfigured the engine's heart, harnessing his own life story as its power source. The surge of energy becomes overwhelming and the engine begins to destroy itself.

The Doctor persuades the Barber to free the trapped individuals by opening the door, allowing those at the front of the shop, along with Belinda, to escape. The Doctor also convinces the Barber that there’s still more to his life, and together they make a narrow escape just as the engine explodes, destroying the spider. This causes the barbershop in Lagos to return to its rightful state.

Outside the barbershop the missing men all return to their loved ones, and Omo expresses his apologies and makes up with The Doctor. Omo then hands over his barbershop to the Barber, announcing his retirement. As the Barber steps back inside, Abena sets off to embrace her own journey. As The Doctor and Belinda head back to the TARDIS, The Doctor shares with her the story of how he first met Omo.