We knew from set pics that Doctor Who season 11 would take a trip back in time to the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and now, it’s been announced that this will form the backbone of episode three of the show’s eleventh season. Titled “Rosa,” the installment will feature the Doctor and her friends encountering the important historical figure.
“Rosa” will star Sherlock‘s Vinette Robinson as Rosa Parks along with Josh Bowman as an unknown character named Krasko. The episode’s penned by acclaimed novelist Malorie Blackman and showrunner Chris Chibnall and directed by Mark Tonderai (Black Lightning). It’s also one of several this season to be filmed in South Africa, along with today’s episode.
For more, here’s the official synopsis for “Rosa”:
“If she can live here her whole life, a couple of hours ain’t gonna kill me. They ain’t gonna kill me, right?”
Montgomery, Alabama. 1955. The Doctor and her friends find themselves in the Deep South of America. As they encounter a seamstress by the name of Rosa Parks, they begin to wonder: is someone attempting to change history?”
As always with Doctor Who, this won’t simply be a history lesson but will integrate a sci-fi element into the biographical story, too. By the sounds of it, there’s another time traveler in 1950s Alabama who it seems is trying to shift the development of the civil rights movement. Presumably, this is Bowman’s character, Krasko.
Before they can step into the pages of history, though, the TARDIS team will actually have to find the time machine. The end of the season premiere saw the Doctor, Ryan, Yaz and Graham stranded in space after a transmat gone wrong.
Episode 2, “The Ghost Monument,” will apparently take place in “a hostile alien environment,” and we’ll find out how that works out for them when Doctor Who airs on BBC America later today.
