I was leery going in to this episode as I'd heard bad things about it, and I've just recently read Rosa Parks' memoir, as well as Our Auntie Rosa, a joint memoir by several of her nieces and nephews. Happily, Chibnall and Blackman did their homework. While some elements of the episode aren't quite accurate (e.g., Mrs. Parks being locked out of the bus in the 40s, rather than choosing to wait for another), they were clearly done to simplify events while remaining basically true to history. And, as in reality, she reacts to the threat of arrest with a calm "You may do that," which literally made me want to stand up and cheer.

The ending tries a bit too hard to wrap things up nicely, and the episode does have a bit of a "gosh golly can't we all get along" attitude, but I can forgive it that.

Hey, at least it's not the Touched by an Angel episode guest-starring the real Mrs. Parks, which does an amazing job of illustrating how racism works with a nuance and level of understanding well ahead of its time, then puts Monica in blackface for ten minutes.