The Wrong Side of History

Purity Unbound #3

Released: 30 August 2023

Listened: 9/25/23

Now it’s time for a jaunt to the future, specifically the future where Patricia got her time-suit from in the first place, except as it exists in the “Purity timeline.” Which is a decent start, until we learn that Patricia isn’t really in control, and hasn’t been for a while. The Chronomancers have been using her to get out of the trap the Doctor stuck them in back in “Chronomancer.” Honestly, these particular universe-conquerers are so dull that I barely mentioned them in my review of that story. That also absolves Patricia of responsibility for the nightmare she created. The goal for this set of stories was putting the Doctor up against not a typical villain, but a regular bigot, albeit one who lucks into an extraordinary amount of power. Except the rug-pull is that it was just somebody else using her bigotry to their own ends. Which renders her a somewhat sympathetic character again, at least enough for the Doctor. Unfortunately, the Chronomancers are so poorly developed that they’re more laughable than scary. Bottom line: Hebe’s great, and so is Ruth Madeley. I see what they were trying to do with this story, but it falls down at the ending.