Review by Jacob Licklider
The general thoughts going through the Big Finish side of the Doctor Who fandom when it was announced Ruth Madeley would be included as a new character in the 60th Anniversary Specials, is that Hebe Harrison would be written out of the audio series. This has happened before with audio companions’ arcs being altered due to what was going on on television, C’rizz being the foremost example. The expectation going into Purity Unbound was that Hebe would have to leave, but surprisingly that doesn’t happen in the final story, there are still more adventures to tel with this TARDIS Team and honestly the set is all the better for it. The four box set story arc has been something in my eyes with its ups and downs, the second installment being the rockiest and the wait between sets not often helping matters. Purity Unbound is the high point of the arc, mainly because the writers have found their way to a consistent theme and conclusion to this saga, using each story as a way to explore the aberrations to the timeline (and further aberrations) in different and interesting ways. Jacqueline Rayner and Robert Valentine are joined by Mark Wright in scripting this final installment, all three writers keying in on the character journeys in particular, especially when concluding this story. It should be noted that this is a story arc about a dictator heavily enforcing a eugenics program based on disability which is most explicit in this set so this review may be discussing themes that could be triggering for some. For context, I am coming to this review from the perspective of someone who is physically disabled.The set opens with Girl in a Bubble written by Jacqueline Rayner. Rayner as a disabled author brings her own feelings about how ability is generally seen by the public to the forefront of this story in interesting ways. The setting of Girl in a Bubble is Purity’s changed timeline, altered enough so that disability is entirely eradicated from public life, special “humane” facilities being established for their care, but Hebe Harrison has slipped through the cracks and is living in secret with Ron, played by Toby Hadoke. This particular aspect of the story adds an interesting dimension to Purity as a character, it being made explicit that Hebe has been allowed to slip through the cracks almost as a way for the character to justify her bigotry. Patricia believes that since she let someone survive normally she can’t possibly be a bad person. Indeed, on the surface this is also a society where people’s needs have been met: food and drink are free and healthy, available to everyone at no cost, though it is greatly tracked. Now Rayner is clearly attempting to not come across that having the food freely available to society as a bad thing, straddling the line well to make it clear that this is an unjust act because despite on the surface being available to all, it is only available to the able bodied. The Doctor and Mel attempt to contact the underground resistance as the larger plot of the episode and the way Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford play the scene of the pair getting dinner together is quite uncomfortable, intentionally so. Mel in particular is characterised to see the initial idea of serving people as a good thing but there is this disgust that just underlies the society. Hebe as a character is greatly altered by this particular timeline, having lived her entire life in fear and relying fully on Ron to keep her safe. The alterations haven’t taken away her love of marine biology or her potential, just allowed society to beat her down emotionally further than the explicit ableism of the 21st century proper. Madeley plays it beautifully, bringing her own experience to the role in perhaps the most explicit way since her introduction in Water Worlds. Rayner also explicitly sets this set up to be three intrinsically linked stories which assists in the issue of time constraints limiting the stories that can be told. It’s a perfect opener and the best this miniseries of Sixth Doctor Adventures has had to offer. 10/10
Mark Wright decided for the middle installment of the set to place the Doctor essentially in the backseat with Purity’s eyes being set on Mel in The Corruptions. Instead of continuing Rayner’s timeline, this is set in a timeline where Mel has never met the Doctor and is stuck in a parody of her home town of Pease Pottage. The sound design of this one, done by Big Finish stalwart Richard Fox, plays this idea to the fullest by making everything feel slightly off. The Doctor is stuck just outside of Pease Pottage while Mel, Hebe, and Elise (played by Cherylee Houston) living as close to normal lives as possible. Mel’s timeline is already in a general sense of flux for obvious reasons and this is one of those stories that really gives Bonnie Langford the chance to explore the character interacting in a paradoxical story which is what her character essentially needs. Purity has made it so the world around our characters is moulding to their existence as she begins to lose control. The extent of this loss of control will not be apparent until the final story, sadly being left as a suggestion in The Corruptions which is kind of a shame because showing her downfall here may have assisted in making the story work slightly better. Wright’s installment in places has the issue of feeling quite rushed, perhaps because there may have been another story in this slot that had to be replaced rather quickly, something that tends to happen in these longer arcs. The biggest issue here is that while it’s a great character piece, the overall plot of the box set feels as if the wheels are just spinning until the finale. There’s still plenty of good here and it is a story that works quite well, especially with Langford, Madeley, and Houston having some great chemistry. 8/10.
The Wrong Side of History is Robert Valentine’s conclusion to the set and it’s the point where Imogen Stubbs is allowed her best performance. The Chronomancers have returned to take back what is theirs and create their own timeline where Purity is the center of several robot Purifiers, a society that unlike Girl in a Bubble’s subtle authoritarian regime, is outright fascist. Now this story is slightly brought down by the fact that the Chronomancers have not actually figured since the second set, outside of Purity using their technology. Matthew Brehner returns as Havash Khavul, an even larger than life villain portrayal than Purity has been, though not one ever taken as being a secretly bigger threat than her. One thing about Stubbs’ portrayal as Purity/Patricia McBride in the previous two sets is as the character has been on the offensive, this has led to a lack of vulnerability to the character, something that she is given in The Wrong Side of History. Since Purity is essentially just another victim, her face eaten by the leopards, Stubbs is able to really play into the humanity of the character. Now Valentine and director Helen Goldwyn are clear as to not portray Patricia McBride as sympathetic, she was still willing to enact a eugenics regime and altered timelines so she could grasp her own power even if that power was actively taken from her with ease. She is not rehabilitated in any real way, though sadly the downfall of the regime outside of a great performance from everyone involved including Colin Baker whose Doctor throughout this set has been a constant kindness to his companions and the listener, is ever so slightly rushed. Perhaps one more episode in this story in particular would have made it the perfect finale that it so nearly reaches. Valentine is nearly there and gives such a solid conclusion to an arc that ended up being so different than what Big Finish had done before. 9/10.
Now, with the clarity of hindsight and a re-listen to the previous sets before setting out to write this review, I can gladly say that pairing the Sixth Doctor and Mel with Ruth Madeley’s Hebe Harrison has injected some much needed energy into Big Finish’s defining Doctor. While there are certainly other TARDIS Teams with Six that work so well, this new one guided through four box sets perfectly, the arc being stronger as a whole now that it is out and more adventures are hopefully on their way with this team. Purity Unbound is the perfect way to wrap up this story arc and one of those releases that shows Big Finish aren’t still afraid to go to mature places of their earlier catalogue. It’s a near perfect release. 9/10.
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Review: The Sixth Doctor Adventures – Purity Unleashed
Review: The Sixth Doctor Adventures – Purity Undreamed
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