Rate and Review S11E3: Rosa

[Rob McCow]

Are you on the bus with this one?

[Alex]

I enjoyed it to a certain extent and really admire them for doing such a thing, but I couldn't help notice some of the clunky dialogue and it sagged in the middle a bit, they definitely could have done with more of the villain and exploring his motivations to fill in the gaps. And no matter how much exciting music they put in a scene, someone reading a book or writing stuff down is never going to be that interesting. Still, the ending was really effective and I liked it overall, I just wish it had been tighter and with better dialogue. 6.5/10

[duncan]

A very powerful, moving and important episode. My favourite of the series so far. However, the over all tone of this new series makes me feel I am just watching a TV drama rather than my favourite show. Rosa felt just like a TV drama with the added bonus of a sonic screwdriver being waved about. I agree with others online when they say it would have been better if Graham had been the bus driver rather than the white passenger standing. Him being the one that tries to make Rosa stand up would have had a bigger impact. However, Bradley played his part really well as did they all at that point.

I see Pip on Twitter has made the link with The Meddling Monk. It seems to fit.

8/10 from me.

I am slowly warming to Jodie, but I don't like the long arc she makes with her arm when pointing the sonic screwdriver then looking at it like she is looking at a watch on her wrist. I am also not keen on the new Tardis interior.

[Dino]

The scenes with the "cosmic racist" were some of the tensest moments I could ever want from Doctor Who.
The glove scene was shockingly powerful.
But there were scenes that slowed it down a bit too much. The resolutions have got to improve though!
Jodie still not The Doctor for me yet, but her opening scene in the TARDIS got as close as she came.
Didn't like the end credits but laughed for ages at the President on the TARDIS screen.
I hope the writer has another Doctor Who script in them. It would be interesting to see what they'd come up with now they don't have the pressures of real life history.

Would not have worked as well as it did had it been any other Doctor! Still buzzing and not rewatching yet.
Loved the guest cast more than regular cast. The Sheriff character was my favourite.

[Leah Betts]

The fact that both the Doctor and Graham were so relaxed about Ryan wandering off on his own felt a bit off, especially after Parks underlined the fact that a black person could be murdered for no reason whatsoever. I guess the Doctor might have had some sixth sense that this would be his chance to meet MLK and so didn’t put up too much opposition but Graham just going along with it didn’t seem right, especially given that his main character arc is trying to bond with the guy he’s potential leaving alone to get lynched.


Aside from that I thought it was a really strong episode, even if it felt a bit too much like Timeless occasionally, and it’s good to see that the gang have hit the ground running after everything’s been established. They did a good job at emphasising that whilst Krasko has to be defeated it’s still Parks’ fight and they’re only there to protect history itself rather than help her in a way that, if this was a Tennant episode, might have sent the entirely wrong message.


Krasko wasn’t a particularly compelling villain but there was a genuine menace to him. I guess it’s not surprising that in the far future prisons are still ample breeding grounds for the far-right. The fact he couldn’t simply kill Parks gave an interesting dimension to the conflict. It was good that Ryan defeats him single-handedly after he’d been told to “know his place”, even given my previous comments about him being left to wander off alone. The vague line about Krasko being sent off “as far back as possible” made me wonder if there might be a cliffhanger of him showing up in Alabama circa 1861 with his kit waiting for him but I guess they wanted to leave it at that. I hope he enjoys showing up in “Alabama” circa 66 Million BC, shortly before Asteroid Day.

[Paul Clement]

Things have improved somewhat in the story department with the episode fairly intriguing and engaging. The dialogue is still woeful though.

7/10

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

[Andrew Curnow]

At the risk of jinxing the rest of the series by saying it, I really loved episode three. It trod that fine line between 'honouring' a real historical event, and treating it as 'fair game' to do anything with - so if the Doctor & co had actually prompted Rosa's defiance that would have been a bit 'off' with me; as it is, there role was only 'stage-managing' the situation rather than prompting her. Which led to the (I thought) stunning climax where the Doctor has to deliberately NOT interfere - Bradley Walsh I thought was brilliant there, a very real reaction in not wanting to be there.

The slap early on set the tone and the scenario very very well, and I thought the whole episode showed real style. I'll admit I don't have a good ear for spotting bad dialogue (if you see what I mean - it's probably why I like so much of Eric Saward's stuff) so nothing especially bothered me on that front.

It felt, yes, a bit Quantum Leap-y, a bit Timeless or Back to the Future-esque, but I didn't particularly mind that - I'm not really sure what the 'Chibnall style' is yet, nor exactly sure just what sort of Doctor Jodie is. But I'm (so far) enjoying finding out!!

[Andrew Curnow]

But, PS, I don't go a bundle on the new TARDIS interior. It feels like the first Matt Smith one to me, a set that probably looks fantastic in studio and when you're there; but which just doesn't work, doesn't translate to the TV screen - which, arguably, is bad design.

For that matter, I'm not sure about the 'layout' - the two instances of looking at what I presume is the scanner yesterday had the scanner as a 'cut away' so I'm not really sure where it is in relation to anything or anybody else.

But I was at least pleased to see the horrible-looking central column DOES go up and down!!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

I rather liked the episode.
Have to agree with the other Andrew C though in that the new time rota / central column looks dreadful to me. It's like someone wedged a large unwrapped Calippo into the hole in the centre of the console!
I'm pleased it moves but it looks a bit silly to me.

Of course I won't be completely pleased until they bring back proper roundels, and have a futuristic, non-organic, shiny, bright TARDIS console, with little TV screens in it and a sensibly sized central column....oh an a scanner on the wall again!

There's no hope for me really; I probably need to be committed! :-)

Did I mention that I liked the episode though!

[Stuart Wallis]

Time rotors @ Ogri 'R'Us!

Still not quite sure of what to make of the episode, and of the series as a whole so far, for that matter. All the eps have felt as though they would have been better with ten minutes edited out. This one felt as though it had brilliant moments, such as the bits with Rosa in them, mixed in with predictability - the villain hoist by his own petard.

6/10

[MacNimon]

I quite enjoyed this episode, but it felt more like someone trying to make a "worthy" and "meaningful" tv drama rather than Doctor Who. Unfortunately it's not the sort of drama I would choose to watch personally if it had simply been a one-off drama called 'Rosa', I'm shallow and prefer to be entertained rather than lectured! 6/10

[Jason Thompson]

I agree with others online when they say it would have been better if Graham had been the bus driver rather than the white passenger standing. Him being the one that tries to make Rosa stand up would have had a bigger impact.

For a time during the episode I thought that might happen, and agree it would have been more impactful, but thinking about it it would also have been nonsensical. William Blake had his part to play. He was well known in Montgomery, and Rosa had already met him, as shown in her first scene, and Graham by the time of the incident. They couldnt have switched Graham in and still had it hold up to historical scrutiny, which was the whole point.

I'm glad I came back here. I'm about to unfollow a whole bunch of social media Doctor Who sites as I am fed up with the crap being slung around about what Doctor Who 'should' and 'should not' be doing. In 55 years the show has dealt with racism, sexism, the horrors of war, the ethics of pacifism, religious tensions, and a whole bunch of other social and political things, but this year they decide to lessen the sci-fi froppery surrounding those plots and suddenly it's too much. Saddening to see.