‘Doctor Who’: Is The Doctor Actually Banksy?

Latest episode jokes that the Doctor might be as adept with spray paint as she is with a sonic screwdriver

Doctor Who Series 11 Jodie Whittaker
BBC America

(Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not seen the “Doctor Who” episode “Rosa” that aired Oct. 21.)

This weekend’s episode of “Doctor Who” included some solemn social commentary, as the Doctor and her companions landed in 1960s Alabama on the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of a segregated bus. The Doctor, always hungering for justice, ruminates on the oppression of Jim Crow, while Ryan and Yasmin endure discrimination that, while horrible, isn’t entirely unlike what they faced in 2018 London.

Of course, this is still “Doctor Who,” and even amidst the prejudice and the attempts by a cosmic villain to interfere with civil rights history, the Doctor still has time for some silly jokes, including suggesting that she is the notorious street artist Banksy.

Early in the episode, the Doctor is spray painting on the side of a motel when her companion Graham calls her out.

“That is vandalism. We’ll have to pay for that. You ain’t Banksy,” says Graham, to which the Doctor simply replied, “Or am I?”

But when Graham insists, the Doctor decides to use her sonic screwdriver to instantly erase the spray paint from the walls. “Banksy doesn’t have one of those… or have I?”

Of course, the Whovians loved the scene.

“Doctor Who” airs Sundays on BBC One and BBC America.

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