History Is Made On 'Doctor Who' In The Powerful 'Rosa'

This season of Doctor Who has made history with its most diverse teams in front of and behind the camera, but "Rosa" finally bears the fruit of those labors. Co-written by Malorie Blackman and showrunner Chris Chibnall, "Rosa" is a first for Doctor Who in many ways — it sheds the show's usual penchant for artifice and allegory (Doctor Who doesn't usually talk about segregation but it just loves bringing back lizard people), and it forces the Doctor to grapple with the distressing realities of having a multi-ethnic companion group. Even when black companions like Martha Jones and Bill Potts traveled on the TARDIS, Doctor Who mostly hand-waved away any issues with people of color traveling back in time. Martha had her stint as a bullied maid in Human Nature, and the Doctor gallantly punched a racist 19th century lord who insulted Bill, but "Rosa" is the first to confront racial issues head-on.

After 14 attempts to land back in Sheffield, the Doctor is intrigued by traces of artron energy showing up in 1955 Alabama and excitedly races off to investigate. The team eagerly joins behind her — strangely, not giving much thought to the fact that it's 1955 Alabama. But they're soon given a jarring reminder of that when Ryan is slapped in the face and threatened with a lynching after he tries to return a woman's handkerchief. It's a harrowing moment that brings with it all the weight of history. The emotions run raw in this brief scene — which sees Rosa Parks (Vinette Robinson) stepping in before things get out of hand — in a way that Doctor Who has rarely tapped into before. The episode doesn't pull any punches, showing the group getting thrown out of a restaurant, getting glared at on buses, and narrowly escaping suspicious law enforcement. The Doctor is shaken by these events, but Ryan and Yaz have to deal with the brunt of it, leading to the show's most poignant and nuanced conversations about race. "Never give them the excuse," Ryan and Yaz say, reciting the mantra imparted on them by their parents. While Ryan despondently says that Rosa Parks didn't end racism, Yaz argues, "But they don't win, those people. I can be a police officer now cos people like Rosa Parks fought those battles for me."

"Rosa" is another bloodless episode of Doctor Who (the episode explains this away with a neural restrictor implanted in Krasko that prevents him from killing — how very Spike), but that doesn't make it feel any less impactful. The episode builds to a powerful emotional climax that plays out just as breathlessly as an action set piece.

A lot of this is thanks to Vinette Robinson's turn as Rosa Parks, delivering a calm, measured and very deliberate performance that anchors the story. The episode never forgets that Rosa is the hero of the story, and hands her the agency in an episode where time travelers and villains scramble around her. Throughout it all, she remains unruffled and steadfast in her convictions, which is truly the perfect way for Doctor Who to depict Rosa. Still, it is a little agonizing when the Doctor and Graham realize that they have to play a part in Rosa's arrest (Graham protesting, "I don't want to be part of this" is just heartbreaking). But oh boy, does it lead to an all-time great moment in Doctor Who. It's a moment we've read about or seen plenty of times before, but the scene when Rosa calmly refuses the bus driver pays off spectacularly here. I'm on the fence on the use of Andra Day's "Rise Up" — which has been overused to high heaven in inspirational movie trailers and Hillary Clinton rallies — but this episode knows how powerful it is, and Doctor Who not going to pass up the opportunity to play this song.

The heavy-handed depiction of racism could be a turn off for some viewers, but "Rosa" is a poignant piece of television that, at its core, is what Doctor Who was created for. To educate children in both history and empathy, and to make us cry our guts out.