With episodes tackling Rosa Parks and the 1947 partition of India, "this season of Doctor Who has reached back into history to tell some of the most racially charged stories of the 20th century," says Martin Belam. "It has been a throwback to the show’s original educational roots – but has raised questions about how Doctor Who has handled race both on and off-screen in the past." He adds: "There is much to be applauded in the approach taken this year, though, as a sign that the show is attempting to get to grips with how Doctor Who has dealt with race and racism in the past. Earlier this year streaming service Twitch showed most of Doctor Who’s original 1963 to 1989 episodes back-to-back, and it only served to illustrate for a modern audience how the original series had been almost exclusively cast as white people."
TOPICS: Doctor Who, BBC, Diversity