The final confrontation with Purity…

There’s a lot to tie up in Robert Valentine’s script for this conclusion to the Purity arc – although one element that seemed to have been announced in the PR for this release isn’t present (you’ll know it when you hear it). There’s plenty for all the key players to do, and the episode 1 cliffhanger throws a further returning threat into the mix that I had expected to be kept as a potential issue down the line. We have yet another society that’s created by Purity which has flaws at its heart, and there’s a chance for some unexpected heroism – as well as an effective coda that takes us back to the very early days of Big Finish’s chronicling of the Doctor’s adventures.

It’s been a fascinating series to listen to; as producer Jacqueline Rayner notes in the extras (and I’m glad she gets the last word!) there are things that might have been done differently, but she and her team have created a cohesive plotline that has kept the interest up. Moving forward, hopefully the template of the first set – and Adam Christopher’s audiobook – will be followed, focusing on the situations the TARDIS travellers encounter, rather than it being about one of their own, so to speak.

Verdict: Valentine and director Helen Goldwyn juggle the various plotlines well to give us the necessary amount of closure. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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