Rosa 

Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. The Doctor and her friends find themselves in the Deep South of America. As they encounter a seamstress by the name of Rosa Parks, they begin to wonder whether someone is attempting to change history.

Director:

Mark Tonderai

Writers:

Malorie Blackman, Chris Chibnall

Stars:

Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jodie Whittaker	...	The Doctor
Bradley Walsh	...	Graham O'Brien
Tosin Cole	...	Ryan Sinclair
Mandip Gill	...	Yasmin Khan
Vinette Robinson	...	Rosa Parks
Josh Bowman	...	Krasko
Trevor White	...	James Blake
Richard Lothian	...	Mr. Steele
Jessica Preddy	...	Waitress (as Jessica Claire Preddy)
Gareth Marks	...	Police Officer Mason
David Rubin	...	Raymond Parks
Ray Sesay	...	Martin Luther King
Aki Omoshaybi	...	Fred Gray
David Dukas	...	Elias Griffin Jr
Morgan Deare	...	Arthur

Storyline

Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. The Doctor and her friends find themselves in the Deep South of America. As they encounter a seamstress by the name of Rosa Parks, they begin to wonder whether someone is attempting to change history.

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Plot Keywords:

time traveler | racism | segregation | doctor who | thirteenth doctor | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Release Date:

21 October 2018 (UK)

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Studios, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

49 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rosa Parks wasn't the first woman arrested for refusing to give up her seat. Nine months prior to the events of this episode, a black teenager named Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger. Because she was underage and believed to be pregnant by a much older married man (this was later found to be false), it was decided that she was not suitable to be the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Since Rosa Parks' case could take considerable time to make its way through lower-level courts, Colvin's case (along with other plaintiffs) was used as the basis for challenging the constitutional legitimacy of the segregated bus laws. The case (Browder v. Gayle) eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court where they affirmed that bus segregation is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Goofs

In the opening scene set in Montgomery, Alabama in 1943, we hear the song "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)". The song in that form was not created until the early 1960's.

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Quotes

[the Doctor is writing notes on a wall with a marker]
Graham: Oi! Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing? That is vandalism, we'll have to pay for that!
The Doctor: Don't worry, special pen.
Graham: No, pack it in, you ain't Banksy!
The Doctor: [replying in a mysterious tone of voice] Or am I?

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Connections

References The Wild One (1953)

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Soundtracks

Rise Up
(uncredited)
Written by Andra Day and Jennifer Decilveo
Performed by Andra Day
[closing theme].

User Reviews

Powerful drama, this hits hard.

The Doctor, armed with three companions travels back in time, to meet a famous historical figure, sound familiar? It's been a long time since the show returned to its original roots, but that it did.

Despite the powerful storyline, this story battles one monster in particular, racism, racism from the past and present. Dialogue appears in this episode that I've not heard on the show before, this was a very very grown up episode.

The writing was fantastic, great production values, it looked wonderfully authentic, those costumes were superb. Vinette Robinson was superb as Rosa, a quality performance.

Very different on so many levels, but hopefully it will encourage kids to Google Rosa Parks, and learn more about her.

A blast from the past 8/10