Doctor Who: Series 11 to revisit US civil rights movement

New Doctor Who boss Chris Chibnall is keen to make the show as educational as it is entertaining – just as it set out to be in the 1960s.

With that in mind he has embarked on a mission for the Doctor’s new friends Ryan and Yasmin to be transported back in time to witness historical events that are particularly relevant to their own ethnic backgrounds.

The teens, played by former Hollyoaks stars Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill, have already filmed with Doctor Jodie Whittaker in Cape Town, South Africa which doubled as 1950s America.

In the plot the Time Lord comes face to face with American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who in 1955 famously refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger, sparking the beginning of the end for segregation.

Thanks to the TARDIS, the time travellers will witness Alabama bus driver James F Blake telling Rosa to give up her seat, and her brave refusal.

And that’s not all.

The production is now heading off to India, where the gang will find out more about the country’s past and perhaps Yasmin’s own family heritage.

One source said: “The Doctor has all of space and time to explore so it’ll be fascinating to see the gang from 2018 having a good rummage around in big, important events which have changed the course of history.”

When it launched in 1963, Doctor Who was intended by creator Sydney Newman to be an educational series for children.

During the William Hartnell years, viewers learned about Marco Polo, the Aztecs, the crusades, the French Revolution and the Romans, but the practice ended in Patrick Troughton’s era.

Previous foreign filming locations on Doctor Who included Paris, Amsterdam and Lanzarote for the original series.

Since the reboot the various Doctors have visited New York, Rome, Dubai and Fuerteventura while Paul McGann’s TV movie was shot in and around Vancouver.

The next series of 10 episodes, which hits BBC1 in the autumn, will see three stories set in the future, three in the past, and the rest in the present day.

Bring. It. On.

Source: Daily Mirror