What I Did On My Holidays By Omo Esosa

"The oil spoiling everything."

Writer: Inua Ellams

Format: Short Story

Released: 08 May 2025

Printed on: Doctor Who Website

Featuring: Fifteenth Doctor

Synopsis

In Lagos, Nigeria a young boy writes an essay about the time he met a mysterious man called the Doctor.

Verdict

What I Did On My Holiday By Omo Esosa was a great little short story! This was an unexpected delight to see popping up on the official Doctor Who social media channels this week and I just couldn’t resist getting it done. I think it’s a wonderful idea to do a prequel to the upcoming episode that is due to be broadcast this weekend, and I think the conversation and speculation about The Story and the Engine is ramping up now which is very exciting. There’s a lot of discussion on Time Lord and/or god involvement and I can’t blame fandom for getting excited. The Barber sounds so anonymous and titular that I could so easily see him being a Time Lord, and what about those giant spiders? I doubt we’ll be getting any kind of Metebelis III throwback but you just never know? A Spider God would be really interesting, but what that be overdoing the theme? I’m here for it. Anyway, less of speculation on what’s to come tomorrow and to the story at hand. I think it’s clear from the next time trailer shown at the end of Lucky Day that the Doctor has a history with Omo (assuming he is the Barber?) so I think it’s wonderful to get this prequel story to depict how! I think this story’s very existence will help my enjoyment of the televised episode because now I have read the explanation of how the Doctor knows Omo. Given the vast array of stories there is to consume across the numerous media formats, I’m not usually a fan of unseen adventures for the Doctor. I want to see or hear or read everything. So this is right up my alley! I think the Nigerian setting of Lagos is going to be really refreshing and the world described here in 1965 was excellent. It’s unlike any typical Earth setting the Doctor usually visits and getting a little preview of something akin to what we can expect was really good. I thought the format of the story in the form of an essay from the 12-year-old Omo was really fun and that made me appreciate the illustrations that accompanied the text. They were quite brilliant in their simplicity and even the colours felt very 1960s which was impressive. I thought they complimented the adventure very well! I think it’s amusing for Omo to be literally putting into his essay a plea not to get an F because of how unbelievable his account sounds, but he was doing what was asked of him! The subject of a forest fire felt very real and the illustration of the flames in particular was a real highlight. I was engrossed in this little world of Omo’s within Etsako because it’s just not somewhere we go and I’m keen to learn more. I am incredibly keen to visit numerous African countries as I love exploring different cultures and Nigeria is certainly high on my list. The barbershop culture in particular is not really my scene, but I can certainly see how the Doctor will fit in. Omo’s description of the Doctor in this adventure was incredible in mentioning how he looked like a queen with the rings on his fingers but then had the aura of a soldier. I thought that was perhaps the best way the Fifteenth Doctor has ever been described! I loved it. I’d like to know a little more background at how the Doctor came to be in the right place at the right time amidst the forest fire, but that may be me looking a little too much into things. The TARDIS is notorious for getting him to where he needs to be! Now, I don’t know anything about the author of this story but if having two young children tells me anything it’s that I am convinced he is a fan of Bluey. To name Omo’s woman of his dreams as Blue and to also have a dog in the story called Bingo is not something I’m accepting as being by chance! It’s a funny little quirk. Blue was a good character and the Doctor using the TARDIS to heal her was quite something! Omo’s reaction to the Doctor giving him the responsibility to stop the fire was good too because where on Earth does a twelve-year-old start with that?! I think Blue’s name mixing with the TARDIS being a blue ‘cupboard’ was amusing. For a school essay, this was pretty dark in tone and that just made everything feel very real. It has to have something of an unfinished feeling given the nature of it as a prequel, but that’s all good and sets things up nicely for the episode to come! Whilst I still really liked what was done here, I think I’ll come to appreciate this prequel even more once the on screen episode is broadcast. It’s not often we get prequels ahead of time so I can’t wait to explore this world further! Overall, a terrific little read. 

Rating: 8/10