Ok. Wow. Doctor Who has not made me cry in a long time (apart from the first episode) and this had me sobbing. It was such a hard watch but so important and it’s fantastic that Doctor Who isn’t always about the laughs and the sci-fi but also about our past and how we can learn from it and how we should not forget it.

In this episode the group meet Rosa Parks the woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus in America. What was interesting about this episode was they didn’t shy away from the racism. Two of the companions are non-white so seeing how they are treated in this era is fascinating and heartbreaking, especially when they compare it to how they are treated now.

The baddie of this episode is definitely not important. He is trying to stop Rosa so that the important event never happens but of course doesn’t succeed. He is definitely the b-story of this episode and the main point, for me anyway, is to get across the story of Rosa Parks and educating people.

The episode also didn’t shy away to what exactly happened to Rosa on that bus and it was incredibly heartbreaking and tense. It’s disgusting people can be judged by the colour of their skin and is definitely something people shouldn’t have to put up with anymore but still do.

The only thing we can do with history is learn from it and be better and bringing attention to this story to such a large audience is, in my mind, a fantastic thing and to do it in such an entertaining fashion too meant more people would be engaged with it rather than shutting off.

This episode was fantastic and I hope there are more like it. The Doctor isn’t just about other planets and aliens, it’s about our planet too and how we have our own battles to face and overcome and we shouldn’t shy away from those.

What did you think of Rosa?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding