Doctor Who: Rosa (2018) - Review

Last night's episode of Doctor Who has been acclaimed as the greatest the show's given us in (at least) a decade, and potentially one of the best ever. It's a huge risk for the BBC and the series itself, and it seems to have paid-off as the most acclaimed episode of Who in recent memory. So, when I came out of 'Rosa' thinking that it wasn't perfect, I don't mean to say that the episode was terrible. Or average. Or anything like that. It was a great episode, but I felt that it was a little underdeveloped in some areas. Perhaps tackling themes of time travel, racism, segregation and Rosa Parks in one episode overwhelmed the story. With so many directions one could take with it, what do you choose to do?

Upon re-watching the episode, I understood that writers Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall endeavoured to emphasise the companions' stories in this episode as opposed to Rosa Parks', or anyone else's. Ryan really suffers the harsh reality of segregated America in 1955, while Yaz tries to keep light about the issue, and Graham has to just stand back and let history happen, regardless of how ashamed and horrified he feels. Speaking as the white guy watching this show, I really related to Graham in this episode. He can't do anything to change the people around him, and he can't change time, but he has to take a step back and watch as people harass and attack his grandson, his friend and perfectly innocent people around him. Bradley Walsh's reaction to realising that the TARDIS gang have to remain on the bus to watch Rosa's arrest is heart-wrenching. I really appreciate Blackman and Chibnall utilising the ensemble of companions to explore each individual character's response to the issue at large. The scene with Yaz and Ryan hiding behind the bins really helped to illustrate the episode's themes, even if it was a little on-the-nose.

And perhaps that was one of my problems with the episode - the characters do end up basically explaining the plot and the themes to us, and there isn't a great deal of subtlety in that respect. When all is said and done though, the episode doesn't intend to be subtle, it wants to educate the younger audience about segregation in America, and why people stood against it. It's not "PC propaganda" as some have already labelled it, but an episode about human rights. Rosa's final glance to Ryan at the end wasn't one of defeat but one of strength, and courage. Racism is still an issue in 2018, and 'Rosa' endeavours to remind us of that, whilst also exploring how far we've come since then. Krasko isn't given much of a motivation beyond general racism, but he doesn't need one. There isn't a motivation for him, that's just his perspective. That all being said, I felt that Krasko's death was a little bit harsh by Doctor Who standards. On the one hand, he's a horrible person. On the other, I'm not so sure if it was just a bit too casual and relaxed. It's implied to Krasko would probably die from being sent back, but if that wasn't the case, could we not see him alive but trapped somewhere else? Or maybe he didn't deserve a proper death scene, perhaps that was the intention of the writers.

Another criticism I found with the episode (albeit less so on a second viewing) was that we never got to see Ryan watching Rosa and Martin Luther King's meeting. Perhaps we didn't need to see it, but I was interested in getting more of an insight into Rosa Parks as a person - something we didn't get enough of in the episode - and getting more on the civil rights movement generally, including Martin Luther King's input. Am I asking too much from the episode though?

The more I reflect on 'Rosa' the more I started to question my criticisms. Am I just being nit-picky here? Does it matter what the episode didn't quite succeed in, but instead what it did? Am I trying to be critical because of how overwhelmingly positive everyone else was? Or perhaps it's because I could never quite enjoy the episode. It's uncomfortable to watch, but also inspiring. There's humour, but there's also an edge to this episode. It doesn't shy away from the social issues of the time, but it gives us something to think about. I think a generation of kids need an episode like this from Doctor Who to teach them about history, and maybe they'll feel encouraged to research further into Rosa Parks, and the civil rights movement, and maybe that's all this episode needed to do.

So kudos to you Doctor Who, you made quite possibly the most bold and interesting episode we've seen for quite some time. I just hope that next week's is a little bit lighter! What's that? Giant spiders! I might need to actually hide behind the sofa...