Doctor Who: 25 time periods Thirteen and Team TARDIS should visit

Frederik de Klerk with Nelson Mandela – World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 1992 (Photo: Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons)

Apartheid-era South Africa

Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. State-encouraged oppression for the benefit of the country’s minority white race was rampant, and it dictated everything from housing and employment opportunities to the way people were treated at social events. The effects of this system – both economically and politically – are still being felt today.

Apartheid-era South Africa is an extremely nuanced setting, both because of the systems effect on the country’s people and the international response to it. There were arms and trade embargoes by other countries, frequent condemnations from the United Nations, and even an expulsion from the Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee. Obviously, Doctor Who can’t tell the story of apartheid and its impact on this country in a single episode. But what it can do is educate its viewers about a piece of history that they don’t know much about, just as it did in season 11’s “Rosa” and “Demons of the Punjab.”

Historical people we might meet: Nelson Mandela seems the obvious choice, though it’s hard to pick just one area of his remarkable life to focus on. Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, revolutionary, and political leader who spent 27 years in prison after he was arrested for trying to overthrow the government and convicted as a terrorist. He was released by President F.W. de Klerk and worked with him to negotiate an end to apartheid, before being elected the first black President of South Africa. (And the first person to win the office in a truly democratic election.) Though Mandela was a controversial figure during his life, he worked tirelessly for social justice and reconciliation. In short: He seems like the kind of person the Doctor would like. (And “Rosa” has already shown us this season that Doctor Who can tell story of an icon like this with grace.)

Potential adventures: On the other hand, Mandela is such a titanic historical figure, that it might serve the show and its story better to focus on the stories of everyday people, as “Demons of the Punjab” did. What was life like for an average family as the global protests increased? What did the initial days following the end of apartheid look like? How much changed and how quickly? There are certainly small but no less worthy stories to be found here.