The third episode of Doctor Who season 11, “Rosa,” left a lot of questions unanswered about its main villain. This was a historical episode unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in Doctor Who, a character piece that also acted as a social commentary on the issue of racism and prejudice.
Where previous episodes dropped tantalizing hints about season 11’s arc, “Rosa” was a chance for showrunner Chris Chibnall and co-writer Malorie Blackman to explore the true potential of a time-travel series. “Rosa” was science-fiction as social commentary, and - appropriately enough - it’s releasing in October 2018, which is Black History Month in the UK. The episode raises the bar on what we should expect from the rest of Doctor Who season 11. Even the stand-alone episodes, removed from hints about a “Timeless Child” and with a villain who’s unable to physically hurt anyone, can have a tremendous emotional power.
So, in the aftermath of “Rosa,” just what questions were left unanswered? This time round, few of them are to do with the main arc. Rather, they’re mostly focused around the villain, and one particularly strange decision made by the Doctor.
- This Page: Of The Doctor, Her Friends, and Her Most Curious Decision Next Page: Focusing On Krasko
9. How Historically Accurate Is “Rosa”?
Doctor Who has often played fast and loose with history, revealing that aliens were responsible for the AD79 eruption of Vesuvius, that the Doctor started the Great Fire of London, and that a crashing spaceship caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. “Rosa,” however, is different; it’s a far more understated episode, one in which the Time Lord and her friends are attempting to ensure history runs on the right course. As such, it’s fitting that the script is surprisingly historically accurate. Even some of the dialogue is lifted straight from reports of what was said on that fateful bus journey in 1955. And yes, the opening scene in 1943 - in which the very same bus driver threw Rosa Parks off a bus - did really happen. Sometimes there’s a strange sense of poetry to history.
8. What Other Times and Places Did the TARDIS Visit?
The Doctor has never been able to control the TARDIS, and several of their companions have been rather unwilling - forced to stick around while the Time Lord tried to get them home. It’s amusing to see season 11 work with this classic trope, with Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor making a mess of getting back to Sheffield. “Rosa” picks up with the Doctor having tried for some time; apparently the TARDIS has made no less than 14 stops before this point. There’s a sense of weary resignation when the Doctor’s friends suggest she wants to explore 1955, as though they’ve had to talk her out of having an exploratory jaunt several times already.
It’s often been implied that the TARDIS takes the Doctor where it believes she is most needed, and “Rosa” suggests that as well. After all, the TARDIS ignored the Doctor’s piloting because it detected Artron energy back in 1955, and it decided the Doctor should check it out. That raises the curious question about just where the TARDIS had tried to take the Doctor before now; what 14 other adventures did the Doctor and her friends pass up? And just what went wrong in the universe because the Doctor was talked out of investigating?
7. When Will Ryan and Yaz Really Begin Their Romance?
The chemistry between Ryan and Yaz has been clear since season 11 began, but it’s upped a notch here in an understated moment that comes off so naturally. Long-term Doctor Who viewers will find Ryan’s back-handed compliment to be reminiscent of the banter between Ben and Polly, back in the Patrick Troughton era. There’s just the same kind of dynamic, although in the ’60s the BBC would never have considered two of the companions actually becoming an item while traveling in the TARDIS.
One of the most powerful scenes in “Rosa” is a shared moment between Ryan and Yaz as they each admit their own struggles against racism. “It’s not like Rosa Parks wipes out racism from the world for ever,” Ryan complains, and Yaz admits to the way she’s treated while out on patrol and as “a terrorist coming home from the Mosque.” This brief scene, a quiet character moment, is the episode’s contribution to season 11’s arc. It’s a deepening of the bond between Ryan and Yaz, and a crucial step in their journey to become more than friends.
6. Will There Ever Be A Time Without Racism?
There’s a sense in which this is the ultimate question asked by “Rosa.” The episode carefully explores the racism of the past: the true “monsters” in this episode are really the racists of the Deep South - the businessman, the cop, the waitress, and of course the bus driver. While Doctor Who deliberately avoids certain terms, the use of words like “Negro” and “mongrel” is as jarring as it should be. And yet, through Ryan and Yaz we’re reminded of the fact that the battle against racism is ongoing. “Rosa” is subtle - it references Barack Obama but not Donald Trump, and it avoids explicit talk about the political issues of the modern-day United States and UK - but it isn’t exactly hard to spot the social commentary.
But here’s the heart-wrenching thing: “Rosa” implies that we’ll always be battling against racism, that we’ll always have to choose a side in the fight for equality. The villain, after all, is essentially a white supremacist who’s traveled back from the 52nd century who hopes to prevent the Civil Rights Movement ever happening. In “Rosa,” the past, present and future are bound together by the simple fact of human nature; that sometimes it is easier to hate than to love, that prejudice will always be there, and that we must continue to guard against it.
5. Why Didn’t The Doctor Say Her Name?
There’s a curious moment in “Rosa” in which Krasko asks the Doctor who she is - and she refuses to answer. This is in marked contrast to recent incarnations of the Time Lord like Matt Smith; who can forget the moment in “The Eleventh Hour” when the Doctor claimed his identity, warning the Atraxi that Earth is protected? Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor seems a little more cautious, wary of revealing her identity or indulging in that kind of grand-standing. She doesn’t want her opponents to respect her because she’s inherited the mantle of the Doctor; she wants them to fear her because she’s just messed their plans up herself, and proved herself to be a threat.
That will work for season 11, which we already know isn’t going to feature any of the classic monsters. But looking forward to season 12 and beyond, sooner or later the Doctor will come face-to-face with enemies who know just what to expect from her.
Page 2 of 2: A Focus on Krasko
4. Just Who Is Krasko?
“Rosa” is a tremendously strong episode, and yet it does have its weaknesses. The villain, Krasko, is pretty one-note. He’s a white supremacist from the 52nd century, apparently responsible for an atrocity that killed some 2,000 people. In truth, Krasko is really just a plot device to force the time-travelers to embroil themselves in 1955 Montgomery. That means his character and motives aren’t exactly explored in detail - they’re simply not relevant to the plot.
What’s interesting, though, is that Krasko is possibly the first Doctor Who villain since the Meddling Monk in the William Hartnell era to truly see the potential of time-travel. There’s a sense in which he’s one of the smartest foes the Doctor has ever fought - a villain who realized he could change history by just making small adjustments to the timeline. It’s implied that he’s a rogue Time Agent, a man who had previously policed time travel but has now decided to abuse it. According to one of the Doctor Who novels (which may or may not be canon), Sometime Never, “The Agents’ purpose is to change without interfering, to leave an effect with no evidence of cause. To be untraceable, undetectable, invisible. To all intents and purposes, the Agents do not exist.” Krasko is following a similar modus operandii, attempting to change history while remaining as invisible as possible. Unfortunately for him, his vortex manipulator leaves traces of Artron energy, and thus his very presence in 1955 drew the Doctor’s attention.
3. Is Krasko Still A Threat?
Ryan is the one who defeats Krasko, using the villain’s own weapon to send him back in time - to an unspecified date in the past. The fact that Krasko is still technically alive, lost somewhere in the vastness of history, means that he could still be a threat.
That seems unlikely, though; Krasko’s temporal displacement gun was designed to send people several millennia into the past or future, so he’s probably been blasted back to a time before America was inhabited. What’s more, he also doesn’t have any of his weapons, and the Doctor had already destroyed his vortex manipulator. It’s more likely that he’s a “Villain of the Week.”
2. Just How Common Is Time-Travel Technology In The Future?
We’ve long known that humanity would develop time-travel technology in the future. The Time Agents were first mentioned in the Tom Baker era, after all, and Magnus Greel was a human warlord who sought sanctuary in 19th century England in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang.” But the fact a former convict of Stormcage Prison could get his hands on a vortex manipulator is telling. It suggests that time-travel technology may have leaked on to the black market by the 52nd century. His temporal displacement gun, too, is a fascinating weapon; anything hit by the beam is displaced in time, irrespective of the potential damage it causes to the timeline.
No wonder humanity formed the Time Agents to police time and try to keep history on track. Frankly, it’s possible “Rosa” actually saw the Doctor pick up the kind of mission that would typically be handled by the Time Agents.
1. How Did Krasko Know About TARDISes?
Tied to this is the fact that Krasko recognized the TARDIS for what it was. Not only has he acquired Time Agent technology, he’s also apparently aware of the Time Lords. That said, his comment about the TARDIS’s value strongly suggests he views the vessels as antiques that have been picked up by collectors, and had no idea he was dealing with lan actual Time Lord. It’s possible his knowledge about the TARDIS is one reason the Doctor avoided introducing herself; she may have been wary of just how much he knew about her.
