A Tragical History

The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles #2.4

Released: 16 September 2021

Listened: 12/27/22

This one takes place in London, 1770, which is a bit unusual, as the Eleventh Doctor didn’t do many quasi-historicals. It also mostly takes place in a debtor’s prison, where something or someone is making some pretty grandiose promises to inmates. In continuing with the theme of this set, the “baddie” isn’t exactly a baddie, but misunderstood. And yes, humanity, specifically humans’ inhumanity to each other, is once again the bad guy, which is kind of much when several stories in a row end up that way, but it was a pretty common theme of this era. This is writer Tessa North’s only contribution to Doctor Who thus far, but she does a good job of capturing the feel and the vocabulary. She’s also created some very strong secondary characters in Sarah Ellison, the companion-substitute and pickpocket, and Lady Dora Smith, noblewoman and prison reform crusader. The characters are memorable, even if the story isn’t so much.