Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Big Questions We Are Asking After 'Rosa'
2. Is This The First Time The Theme Tune Wasn't Used At The End?
Annoyingly interrupted in the live UK broadcast by the continuity announcer, Rosa ended with Andra Day’s Rise Up which continued over the closing credits. The American artist counts Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Holliday among her inspirations and the song, based on the civil rights activist Mary Angelou’s famous Still I Rise poem, is a fitting conclusion to the episode. The unusual ending brings viewers away from the Doctor and back to the true focus of this episode, Rosa Parks and her struggle for justice.
This was a notable first for Doctor Who, because whilst it has sometimes changed the version of the theme tune and in one case even ended with silence (following Adric’s death in the final episode of Earthshock), the show has never gone so far as to replace the iconic theme with something completely different.
The emotional impact of the choice of music was reminiscent of another historical episode, Vincent and the Doctor, which brought many to tears when the Doctor and Amy took Vincent to 2010 to see his paintings on display in the Musee D’Orsay, accompanied by Athlete’s Chances.
It remains to be seen whether or not we will see other episodes end with a different song, but it is an effective approach that has been used by a number of series in recent years, such as Stranger Things which closed episode three of series one with Peter Gabriel’s cover of Heroes.