Rosa - too woke? First time watching opinion.

I stopped watching NuWho during Capaldi's first season due to not having the time and have recently started catching up from the very beginning.

Admittedly I've not been looking forward to Whittaker's era. I've been predicting I'd find it difficult to adjust to The Doctor now being a woman; mainly because The Doctor has always been a man. I've also heard that the era was very "woke" and don't particularly like social messaging being rammed down my throat when I just want to watch some silly sci-fi. (Don't bite me; I just want to switch off and be entertained, not analyse the world and contemplate it's rights and wrongs.)

Haven't really seen the "woke" much in the first two episodes personally but when I saw what this episode was about I thought this must be when it kicks in. Turns out that thought was proper nonsense. I really, really enjoyed this episode.

A time travel show is a perfect vehicle to show what this period of time was like for Black Americans. I personally thought the time was used well to illustrate the inhumane way black people were treated without being preachy. I don't feel the story leaned heavily on a "white people bad" agenda, which I kinda expected, but definitely highlighted the societal evils of the time and invoked trepidation of these not being challenged and beaten through history.

Also liked that the "big bad" of the episode was simply how small changes to historical events could lead to massively negative outcomes. As someone who was prepared not to like it, I was genuinely moved by the end of the episode.

Still finding it hard to adjust to Whittaker though if I'm honest. She's fun, likeable enough but some how it feels like a different show rather than a continuation of previous seasons.

That TARDIS is absolutely hideous however. Just god awful. One of the last scenes looked really awkward with all four of them squeezed together under those crystals monstrosities. It looks like a badly created TV set that people stand in front of rather than a believable space people move around in. Please tell me there's a TARDIS explosion in episode 4.