Doctor Who 11.03

[selenak]

Not the completely sci fi free historical some people were hoping for, but it felt very much in the spirit of those First Doctor era educational history tales, while using a current day sensibility. If you think about it: back when DW premiered, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat was a rather recent event - what, seven, eight years earlier?



There were a number of obvious trapfalls this episode thankfully avoided - Rosa Parks isn't inspired by the Doctor, racism isn't just embodied by the villain. (Otoh, you could say racism is the antagonist of the episode - the Josh Bowman played bad guy is just there to get the plot in motion and provide a reason for our heroes to be there as well.) Nor is racism treated as a thing of the past (or limited to the US); Yas and Ryan talking about their own experiences in the present was a really important scene in this regard. Acknowledging that things got better (as compared to Rosa Parks' reality) but are by no means perfect felt like the right note to strike in this regard. (Incidentally, I also note the bit of exposition slipped in when Yas mentioned "on the way from the mosque" - i.e. she's a practicing Muslima.)


The Doctor and friends trying to keep history on course also contained another thing which I thought was new, or even innovative. I've complained in the past not just in DW but also various ST Shows reviews about how every time when in a story with time travel our heroes have to rectify something dealing with the Third Reich, it's the "Hitler won!" scenario where they get to feel great about themselves while enabling a Nazi loss. Here, the Doctor and her companions got to help in the sense that they battled off the interference to history by an outside force, their interactions with Rosa Parks through the episode were friendly, Ryan got to meet Martin Luther King and spend an hour with Civil Rights activists, Yas, too, had the chance to talk to Rosa about their hopes for the future. But when the big moment arrived the episode had been building towards, Graham and the Doctor had to be part of the white people for whose benefit Rosa was asked to give up her seat. They couldn't play heroic roles, or supporting roles. They had to be part of the oppression Rosa was facing. And that, to me, meant the episode was without the smug roleplay that often goes with this trope and really an ode to the heroism of Rosa and the others. Well done, show!


Bits and pieces: "She'd have started a riot." Grace remaining such a vivid presence in Ryan's and Graham's emotions works towards reconciling me with her death, I have to admit.


Graham's bus driver knowledge and the practical way it keeps getting used reminds me of Donna's temp knowledge and the way s4 used it.

The Doctor recognizing Stormcage tattoos was a neat nod towards River without mentioning her name.

I recognize a set up when I see one: they'll meet Krasko again, whereever Ryan has sent him.

Time Lords dissing the non-TARDIS ways of time travel: never gets old.

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

When they discovered that Blake had been given the day off, I thought for an instant that Graham would end up driving the bus, which would have gone even further in that direction but would probably have come across as too comical.

[selenak]

I can think of another reason why they didn't go there: it would have made that Moment feel staged, i.e. Rosa doesn't confront a real racist, but one secretly cheering her on. And if you want to tell a story about a key moment in the Civil Rights movement, any "it wasn't real" subtext is something you'd want to avoid.

[kore]

Rosa Parks isn't inspired by the Doctor

YAY

I was thinking they wouldn't go there, probably not this creative crew, but still dreading it might happen. Still have to catch up on these....

[kindkit]

I was kind of dreading this episode because I feared it would end up making the Doctor the hero of the story (and the civil rights movement!). So I was pleasantly surprised by how well it was handled.

[kay_brooke]

I am so, so glad they didn't have the Doctor or any of the companions inspire Rosa's actions, and that the episode acknowledged she was already involved with activists (which even the historical account, at least the one I was given in school, tends to gloss over or ignore entirely).

[contrary_cal]

There was one tiny moment in this episode that really caught my attention as well done (ETA: I'm not saying the episode as a whole wasn't well done - it was - but this bit just really stuck in my mind). It's in the scene when the TARDIS crew gets kicked out of the pub: the camera goes around the room looking at the locals' reactions, and then lingers on one: a neatly-dressed, respectable-looking woman sitting alone.

Every other local looks angry, or disgusted, or contemptuous. She's so rigid she barely breathes, let alone reacts. You don't need a word of dialogue spoken to know that she's passing, and she's terrified.

Elements like that were a good way of making the point that the situation and the story were more than just a setting for time-traveller shenanigans or a hero narrative about one woman, without the script getting lecturey.

[selenak]

*nods* Yes, that's what I thought about her as well. It contributed to the atmosphere of constant terror the episode painted, terror not due to any one evildoer but due to the system and everyone in it.