Purity Unleashed: Broadway Belongs to Me!

"We don't want to miss the Broadway debut of miss Melanie Bush!"

Writer: Matthew Sweet

Format: Audio

Released: May 2023

Series: Sixth Doctor Adventures 3.01

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Mel

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Mel begin their search for Hebe in 1930s New York, where history is taking a dark turn all of its own. On Broadway, they discover a genuine aberration of the timestreams: Behold America! – a hot shoe show set in a future Fascist United States. Starring Melanie Bush. Opening tonight...

Verdict  

Broadway Belongs to Me! was a pretty average start to the Purity Unleashed third series of Sixth Doctor Adventures. After the huge cliffhanger at the end of Chronomancer as part of Purity Undreamed, I felt like for a series opener where the intention was to try and find her this didn’t deliver. In isolation, it’s not a bad episode by any means as my still relatively strong rating reflects but it just didn’t live up to the billing for me. I fail to see how spending five weeks rehearsing on Broadway was the way to find Hebe! It was quite fun to think that Mel would be the lead in a Broadway musical and I was so happy that my fears of this episode being wholly a musical were not realised. I’m not a fan of musicals at all so this one more being about a musical was better than I anticipated. I didn’t mind that at all and it was actually quite fun to hear some of the songs. Tackling the issue of American fascists was really good and unexpected, with some of the political issues raised not feeling too indifferent to British politics today which is a shame. All the talk of identity and nationalism. It all felt very Brexit. I’ll try not to get too political on current day but it was fun to explore the strong issue of fascism in America just prior to the Second World War. A fascist rally is not the kind of thing you hear that Madison Square Garden hosted to build its reputation! That was startling to learn and an appreciated addition to my education. I think one thing that was missing from the story was any real sense of urgency. That was severely lacking and I think that needed to be present considering one of the Doctor’s companions had vanished from time. It was good that they were tracking her, or at least attempting to, but once the Broadway involvement happened it felt like they didn’t mind if they took an age. The humour that came from Mel having to lead the show after the timey wimey nature showing her past self that she’d already be its star was decent, and the ridiculousness in which she and the Doctor helped orchestrate the broken leg of the previously intended star Lydia Putti. The revelation that the entire cast and even the audience were an ensemble alliance out for revenge against the Doctor sounds so much better on paper than the actual delivery. It was very underwhelming and whilst the moment where the Doctor thinks Julian is either the Master or the Rani was quite funny, it soon petered out into just feeling a bit drab. I’d describe the whole alliance as meh to be honest which was a big shame. I couldn’t buy that the Doctor didn’t remember any of them from a past encounter! That seemed too coincidental for all of them to then form an alliance. The use of the same cat badge being in the same time but two different versions of it to create the means to defeat the alliance was good, but I found the whole point of the musical being to get the Doctor photographed in a way that would make him look like a fascist or at least a fascist sympathiser as far too convoluted. Surely there was a better and easier way? Like surely! I do wonder if the Doctor checking in his infamous coat and having multiple versions of that will play anything into the Interlude that accompanies this release, but I guess I’ll find out later this week! Overall, the episode was decent and had some good elements but it just lacked the urgency it really needed in the search for a companion lost in time. 

Rating: 6/10