Time Travel, Rosa Parks, Inspiring, History
Another new episode of Doctor Who and a new adventure with the new Doctor and her new friends. This time we are going back into the past and meet the legendary Rosa Parks; the day before she refuses to give up her seat on the bus.
This is an emotional and inspiring episode, it is a good watch but there are some flaws in this episode; these flaws don’t affect how good this episode was it just questions why certain decisions were made. From the beginning, there is little sugar coating for younger viewers in this episode. Racial slurs are used throughout showing what it was really like back in 1955. James Blake, the busman who had Rosa Parks arrested in 1955 for not giving up her seat, his actions are violent and aggressive from the start. Rosa Parks is the main character and she is played by Vinette Robinson who manages to portray how strong Rosa Parks is throughout this episode. Robinson shows Rosa Parks fire that she has for change for equal rights.
The plot for this story isn't the most complex, the Doctor and her friends are running around in the background of this story making sure history runs its course and goes actually how it should. Krasko played by Joshua Bowman, is the bad guy in this episode but doesn't actually feel needed or feel fully thought out. We are told that Krasko can't kill or harm anyone and has been released from Stormcage (this is the prison where River Song was locked up). However, Krasko doesn’t make a feel impact in this episode, he is dispatched very easily by Ryan which means we will see him again however hopefully next time we see him he'll have more character. He does feel like an afterthought as if the writers weren't completely sure and felt this episode needed more sci-fi and just added him in. Instead of having Krasko interfering, the Doctor could have accidentally done something and then had to put things right. Krasko just doesn't seem right in this episode; whenever he talks there it isn't interesting or exciting to listen to, he hasn't got any real personality, when we see him again hopefully this character will be more thought out.
Graham hasn't been a massive hit with viewers but his line "I don't want to be part of this!", this line makes the end of this episode very emotional and inspiring as this is the moment Rosa Parks decides to make a stand and not give up her seat on the bus and then gets arrested which then started the boycott of the buses as part of the civil rights movement. This sequence is teamed with Andra Day's song 'Rise Up'. As a result, the ending of this episode with all these elements is very inspiring as it shows the strength Rosa Parks had to stand up for what she believed in and made a stand.
For some viewers, the behaviours portrayed in this episode might be familiar as there isn't racial equality and some people are still being treated different for the colour of their skin. This episode shows we have come so far yet we still have got far to go until true equality. However, the Doctor and her friends brought the lighter side to this episode by the Doctor hinting that she might be Banksy and there is a hint of a potential romance between Ryan and Yas. This was hinted before the series started that there could be a romance between these two characters, yet the actors haven't let anything slip. At the moment we just know these two were friends in school but now there might be possible romance.
As a result, this episode shows how Rosa Parks made a change and stood up for what she thought she was right. As the Doctor said "she changed the world. In fact, she changed the universe." This episode might be inspirational and emotional as it is the story of Rosa Parks, but it isn't without fault. The bad guy in this episode doesn’t feel fully thought out but we will see him again and hopefully he will better next time we see him. Along with this some viewers miss the sci-fi elements as this is a mainly historical episode yet really this isn't a huge problem as this episode is mainly telling the story of when Rosa Parks wouldn’t give up her seat on the bus.
