Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor might travel to a pivotal time in American history to team up with a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement. If recent casting rumors are true, then the 13th Doctor will meet none other than Rosa Parks at some point in the upcoming season.
On Sunday, a Twitter account called @Ruther2 noticed that on Spotlight.com, actor David Rubin is listed as playing someone named “Raymond Parkes.” Historically, a Raymond Parks (without the “e”) was the husband of Rosa Parks, the Black woman dubbed “the first lady of civil rights” by the United States Congress. In 1955 Montgomery, Alabama she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. Her defiance and the ensuing Montgomery bus boycott made waves for years to come in the Civil Rights Movement, and she remains an international icon even today.
Considering the fact that Raymond’s surname is misspelled and Rosa is nowhere to be found in any casting credits, we ought to be somewhat suspicious. However, Aki Omoshaybi was seemingly also cast in the episode as Fred Gray.
Fred Gray was an attorney allied with the Civil Rights Movement, even serving as the defense attorney in Rosa Parks’s case. But you don’t need an attorney to tell you that the evidence is starting to stack up. This rumor might just be legitimate.
After all, why would BBC publicly announce the casting of Rosa Parks, which would be much more of a giveaway tha other, lesser-known people from that time period?
Furthermore, while credits are clearly visible in the screenshots provided by @Ruther2, they’ve been seemingly removed from Spotlight.com at some point since these tweets were published. Is BBC coverings its tracks in the hopes of avoiding spoilers?
All in all, it seems increasingly likely that the 13th Doctor might travel to 1955 Montgomery, Alabama. The 12th Doctor punched a British racist in the face during Season 10, but the 13th Doctor might do even more for Civil Rights in the upcoming season.
Doctor Who Season 11 has no scheduled release date yet, but rumors suggest it will begin airing late 2018.
Here’s the trailer for the most recent Doctor Who Christmas Special, in which Jodie Whittaker made her debut as the 13th Doctor:
