Doctor Who to feature Rosa Parks in episode about civil rights movement

Following Sunday’s second episode of the new series of Doctor Who, the trailer for the third has arrived – and it features a trip into history.

The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and her trio of companions will travel back in time to 1955 Alabama, where they’ll meet civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

It seems that someone nefarious is out to change the course of history – and possibly to disrupt Parks's famous protest against the segregated state's public transport laws, when she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger.

In the episode, titled "Rosa" and co-written by Noughts and Crosses author Malorie Blackman – in her first episode for the show – the Doctor exhorts her gang to “make sure we keep history in order”. 

Former Children's Laureate Blackman is the show's first black screenwriter in its 55-year history. “I’ve always loved Doctor Who," she said. "Getting the chance to write for this series has definitely been a dream come true.”

Blackman has previously written a Doctor Who novel, 2013's The Ripple Effect, featuring Sylvester McCoy's version of the character.

The new trailer gives us a brief clip of Parks herself, played by Sherlock and Black Mirror star Vinette Robinson, and looking puzzled at the time-travellers’ appearance.

Jodie Whittaker has already proved a hit for fans of the BBC drama: ratings are at their highest for a decade, especially among girls and young women.

Writing in The Telegraph, Doctor Who fans including comedian Susan Calman and singer Toyah Willcox have praised Whittaker's casting as an "absolutely vital" step forward for the show.

‘Rosa’, episode three of Doctor Who, will air at 6.55pm on Sunday (October 21) on BBC One.