Big Finish Audio Review: Jago & Litefoot In The Twentieth Century

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Jago & Litefoot Series Five contains four audio plays featuring the two Victorian gentlemen with a knack for finding the most unearthly adventures after their first encounter with the Time Lord known as the Doctor. Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are reunited within the studios of Big Finish Productions to continue their adventures as the theatrical Henry Gordon Jago and the crusading intellectual, Professor George Litefoot. Lisa Bowerman directs this set as well as continuing her portrayal of their trusted and now seemingly immortal friend, Ellie Higson.

Jago and Litefoot were last known to be traveling briefly with the Sixth Doctor when they were dropped off back in their familiar surroundings of the Red Tavern. After the Doctor bid his farewells and left, they realize that they were misplaced several decades into their future which is now well into the twentieth century. They encounter their old friend, Ellie Higson, who has not seemed to have an aged a minute since their last encounter. It is 1968, Jago is a television star, and Litefoot is running a modest antique bookstore. As usual with these two, trouble still is lurking in the shadows, and the pair of displaced Victorians find themselves once again preserving the future of London, if not the whole world.

Big Finish has once again assembled a formidable guest cast to either help or hinder the efforts of the duo. Ken Bones, Raquel Cassidy, Chook Sibtain, Duncan Wisbey, and Jamie Newall are included in this engaging collection of audio plays.

The stalwart and engaging Jonathan Morris starts off this set with The Age of Revolution in which the story the begins several months into Jago and Litefoot’s temporal exile in 1968. As it happens, they have made the most of their unusual circumstances, with the aid of their friend Ellie, who has avoided the more severe consequences of old age. She has become a successful restauranter and member of polite society while still maintaining her more endearing and selfless qualities. Jago has become a popular television host while Litefoot has been able to indulge his more cerebral pursuits running an old bookshop. A detective is investigating a strange disappearance and meets Jago and Litefoot. They recognize the detective as a descendant of an old ally from their Victorian days. A lot of this story sort of explains in flashbacks how Jago and Litefoot adjusted so agreeably to their new surroundings. In the meantime, a new enemy is the beginning of new and supernatural troubles gathering to challenge the resolve of Jago and Litefoot.

Morris has some interesting things going on and does a good job of catching the listener up as to how Jago and Litefoot are coping in their new situation. Baxter and Benjamin continue to exercise their chemistry with their usual aplomb. It isn’t the most memorable of plots, but it serves well enough to orientate the audience as to the unusual circumstances the protagonists find themselves.

Another prolific Big Finish contributor, Marc Platt, serves up The Case of the Garrulous Guru. in which Jago’s impressive appetite works against him as he belches his way through this investigation of apparently food that consumes the eater from within. Litefoot once again has to save his friend from his own indulgences.

This is apparently meant to be the more humorous of the episodes and mostly works. The belching and carrying-on do get a little distracting. Jago is a naturally bombastic and exaggerated character, but he gets to be a little too much here. It’s also another story where Jago falls under some malign influence and needs to have his fat pulled from the fire. Platt is still an interesting and properly venerated writer for Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, but this story tested my patience a bit.

The more interesting episode to follow is The Bloodchild Codex by Colin Brake. There is a secret book of spells that is said to bring immortality to those understand it. A malevolent figure from before the time of Jago and Litefoot is about to return, and more adversaries are becoming more obvious to the intrepid pair of Victorians.

This one is probably my favorite out of this set. The premise is not that original, but it still works well. Jago and Litefoot really come off well. They are both displaying their unique courage, even though Jago is still the same cowardly clown who somehow manages to come through in a pinch. Brake finds the right balance of menace and humor with this one, and how Jago and Litefoot sort of cope with these supposedly terrible occurrences remain as admirably amusing as ever.

Finally, Justin Richards brings the curtain with The Final Act, in which all sorts of old foes have come back from the dead or had only been inert. This turns out to be a pretty shameless sequel to the Doctor Who serial that introduced the audience to this pair, The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Richards is one of my favorite writers in this world, and he does elevate a story which could be dismissed as a sort of expected trope and still makes it pretty engaging. It’s not exactly hard to predict how things are going to wrap up for Jago and Litefoot, but Richards still make this worth the time.

This set a solid continuation that manages to avoid having any real failures on the whole. Some stories work better than others, but the characters have become so vivid and entertaining that much can be forgiven.

The fifth series of Jago & Litefoot is not without some flaws, but it remains engaging enough to keep me motivated to purchase the next one.

Film Review: Bart Sees It All

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Night Clerk is an almost painfully mediocre suspense film written and directed by Micchael Cristofer about a motel clerk with Asperger’s Syndrome who sets up cameras in rooms to spy on guests so he can learn how to imitate their mannerisms. He apparently believes this will help him be less socially awkward.

Tye Sheridan is in the lead as Bart Bromley with Ana de Armas, John Leguizamo, Helen Hunt, and Johnathan Schaech included in the pretty small cast.

Bart finds that he is the lead suspect when a pretty lady is found dead in the motel room with him in the vicinity. He is assigned by a sympathetic boss to another location where he meets another pretty lady who flirts with him and reveals that she is in an affair with a married man. The detective, played by Leguizamo, continues to hound the hapless Bart while the real killer is desperate to cover his tracks.

This is a bit of a knock-off of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, which isn’t a bad source for inspiration even if it has been overcooked over the years. The cast is solid enough with convincing performances; however, it just feels so slow. There are no real surprises. Bart does come off as a bit creepy at times, so I found it hard to maintain any real sympathy for him. An actress of Helen Hunt’s caliber feels wasted in the role as Bart’s protective mother. There are also times where it feels that the killer takes a somewhat more convoluted approach than necessary to keep his secret. I can go on and on, but I have a full plate today.

The bright spots in this film were there but seemed a little muted at times. Overall, I think audiences have seen this kind of setup too many times, and Cristofer really doesn’t offer up much in the way of an interesting or unique twist. I didn’t really care much about the protagonist in spite of him being inflicted with a very challenging condition. Sheridan does do a solid job in his portrayal, but that wasn’t enough for me to muster up any real appreciation for the film as a whole.

Book Review: A Mother Like No Other

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Pieces of Her is a thriller by Karin Slaughter that is pretty good but kind of felt longer than necessary.

Andrea and her mother, Laura, are having some lunch at a diner in a shopping mall when a mass shooter breaks up the repast with an intent to kill. When her daughter is threatened, Laura moves with unusual efficiency for a middle-aged speech therapist and dispatches the killer with surprising brutality. Laura’s seemingly heroic actions make the news, which brings some troubles from a buried past of which her daughter has no knowledge. A pretty harrowing attempt is made on Laura’s life, and Andy kind of returns the favor by saving her life. Andy is on a search to discover the history that her mother has kept secret. Andy finds that murder and fanaticism have followed her mother for some time. She also learns of a family she never knew she had and may wish she had not found out.

Slaughter makes liberal use of flashbacks to fill in the strange and tragic history of Laura Oliver when she had another name. Slaughter has been in the writing game for a while, and she is an interesting writer. I can see why she has her fans, but this novel sort of dragged for me.

The basic plot is pretty good, and Slaughter does toss in some pretty clever reveals. Slaughter does sometimes let the story get a little bogged down with exposition.

I found the revelation of Laura’s true identity to be somewhat creative. I will try to avoid spoilers, but some of the standard tropes did not appear. Laura is not a retired spy or something like that.

Slaughter did a decent job of keeping me guessing as to how certain people were significant.

It’s another novel that provided some solid entertainment without it being uniquely memorable. It is more than likely that this will not be my last foray into the works of Karin Slaughter

More literary mystery and mayhem is forthcoming with Walter Mosley’s White Butterfly.

Doctor Who Audio Review: A Time War Would Indeed Be Hard To Chart

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: Pursuit is a reasonably entertaining audio boxset which is the second volume in the series known as Time War Uncharted. Paul McGann is back before the microphone in the Big Finish studio. The set was directed by Ken Bentley and is comprised of four episodes. The Eighth Doctor has had his TARDIS stolen by his great-grandson, Alex Campbell, played by Sunny McGann. Emma Campbell-Jones returns as Cass, who is accompanying Alex on his escapade separated from the Doctor.

The mysterious Hieronyma Friend, whose face is often changing, is played by Lizzie Hopley and then Niky Wardley. Friend seems to be in the employ of someone or something else and seems to shift from being an ally to an adversary. Either way, the Doctor needs to remain wary.

Dan Starkey returns as various Sontarans encountered throughout the set. Sontarans are apparently now Time Lords as a consequence of the Doctor’s meanderings through different realities. A Time War does strange things to the universe, and even the Doctor will have a challenging time keeping up with the sudden shifts in reality.

As mentioned before, there are four episodes that should be given some brief impressions.

Spoil of War is written by Mark Wright and brings Alex and Cass to an estate where an unusual auction is about to take place. The Doctor and Friend are on their trail but have problems of their own. The Time Lords are now Sontarans. The Doctor is about to discover bow navigating the consequences of the Time War is going to throw many obstacles in his pursuit of his stolen TARDIS and his renegade great-grandson.

Once again, the performances make an otherwise average story a little more enjoyable. The strange relationship between Friend and the Doctor provides enough intrigue to keep one engaged, but I find the plot somewhat unmemorable.

The Tale of Alex by Katherine Armitage sort of sets up Alex as taking up the legendary mantle of the Doctor. Sam Stafford is on hand as a kind of bard and narrator and does a good job with it.

It’s kind of an obligatory offbeat sort of story but has the sense of being done before. Armitage still manages to have a story that feels overdone because we have heard this type of poetic narrations before. She does a good job with it, but it does not come off as original as intended.

James Moran dips a bit more into the spookier aspects of the series with See-Saw with another sometimes-overdone trope with creepy children reciting whispering nursery rhymes. Alex and Cass sole the mystery alongside the Doctor and Friend without being able to see of communicate with each other, which is actually quite intriguing. I sort of like creepy tropes in Doctor Who, and this episode is probably the one that gripped me the most. It’s actually a pretty clever idea in spite of some of the story elements having a history of being overused.

Finally, Tim Foley brings this collection home with The First Forest. John Ramm plays a strange hermit type character who finds an injured Alex, who is separated from Cass. The Doctor and Friend finally find Alex and are close to the purloined TARDIS. Of course, more mysteries are revealed even when the Doctor accomplishes an important goal.

This was a little mid of a muddled episode, but the performances and the climactic encounters make the time well spent.

On the whole, it was an enjoyable but unremarkable set. This series in which we get to experience the Eighth Doctor’s somewhat limited participation in the Time War is a fascinating venture. Of course, he will become more active when he regenerates into the shunned incarnation known to us fans as the War Doctor. Paul McGann is a still a joy to hear in these episodes.

I don’t know how one can chart a course through a Time War, but I am still enjoying the ride.

Film Review: Dancing With The Devil

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Apartment 7A is a mildly interesting horror film which I just read was supposed to be some prequel to the classic film, Rosemary’s Baby. The film is directed by Natalie Erika James, who co-wrote the film alongside Christian White and Skylar James. Julia Garner is in the lead as aspiring stage dancer, Terry Gionoffrio. Other cast members include Dianne Weist, Jim Sturgess, Kevin McNally, and Marli Siu.

Terry Gionoffrio is a dancer who was seriously injured in a fall onstage and is having some difficulty getting booked for other Broadway gigs. She meets an elderly couple who befriend her and offer a rent-free apartment in a lavish old complex. Of course, Terry starts having strange dreams and hallucinations. She does have a seemingly convenient fling with a Broadway producer which could lead to her desired fame on the stage. In the midst of these strange circumstances, Terry learns that she is pregnant, but there is something odd about the developing child. It turns out that Terry has been ensnared by some dedicated Satanists eager to bring forth a manifestation of the one they worship.

The film hits some of the right notes that engage my interest. It takes place in the 1960’s in New York. There is a rather spooky apartment, although we’re not really confined there with Terry. Terry does get to leave and figure out what kind of situation keeps her on the edge of hysteria. I have no real complaint about the cast. Garner is a pretty good actress. Wiest is kind of a legend and is easily able to pull off the part of a strange old woman who can be deadlier than she first appears.

The script is okay. There is nothing really that unique about setup or plot. Geriatric Satanists seems like an interesting idea, but I just ultimately found it to be kind of hammy. Some of the imagery of the devil was kind of clever, but nothing too jarring or unique.

I don’t think I have gotten around to seeing Rosemary’s Baby. Even though I may eventually be curious enough to see it, this film didn’t really kickstart my interest that much.

Apartment 7A is not a bad film on the whole and does have some merit in the horror genre, but there isn’t much that’s unique and will likely be considered another unnecessary prequel that has a tenuous connection to the film that inspired it.

Book Review: The Cold Business Of Murder

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Death on the Island is a decent murder mystery written by Eliza Reid, who turns out to be the former First Lady of Iceland. It’s a shameless homage to the great Agatha Christie, but she still reigns supreme as the Queen of Crime.

There is a remote island off the shores of Iceland in which an important meeting among the nation’s leaders and an ambassador are gathering. A high-price dinner is on the menu, with a little poison added as a surprise. An ambassador’s wife finds that she has an instinct for detection as she begins to probe the murder of her husband’s assistant. When another strange death occurs, Jane Shearer has to wonder how many others are in the crosshairs of a ruthless, clever killer.

Reid throws in many of the tropes of a classic murder mystery. You have the isolated setting, the group of eclectic characters, a sudden death while a storm rages outside. The lead character is not a professional sleuth but is apparently a little sharper than everyone else. The fact that this takes place in Iceland is kind of cool, but the Nordic mystery has been quite popular for some time now.

It’s not a bad novel. There are some interesting twists. It is notable that Reid’s husband was at one time president of Iceland for a fair amount of time so that gives the author some pretty impressive credentials. She throws in some of the local flavor quite effectively. I must confess I find her background to be more intriguing than the actual book.

It’s an enjoyable enough read, but there isn’t much here I would call all that original. Reid did do a good enough of a job where she may stay on my radar enough to entice me into her next novel.

I am sticking with the suspense genre and reading another author for the first time, although this one has been on scene for some time. Next up, I will crack open Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Miracles, Time Loops, And Fools

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Helter Skelter is the latest Doctor Who audio boxset to feature Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor released from the incredibly prolific Big Finish Productions. The director is Ken Bentley, and listeners get the added treat of having Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson reunited as companions, Tegan and Turlough.

Other cast members include Jack Barton, Paul Cottle, Helen Pearson, and Emily Woodward.

This set does have the Doctor and his friends facing some new adversaries, so that’s a good start. The first and third stories are interlinked, which is evident in that the script writers were Lauren Mooney and Stuart Pringle.

They kick this collection off with Field of Miracles in which the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough arrive in a small English village in 1951. Things seem to be going a little too well for the people there in a nation that should still be recovery from the Second World War. All sorts of wishes are granted, including the return of those who have died. Of course, there is a terrible price to be paid for these miracles, and the Doctor encounters a malevolent alien presence that is too pleased to collect.

The story is a pretty good idea, although something like this has been explored before in the genre. The leads are continuing to put forth compelling performances, as expected. The chemistry between the TARDIS crew still carries the story confidently in spite of any questionable choices. I wouldn’t judge it to be a standout episode, but pleasant and engaging enough for me to not to be terribly harsh in my opinion. Mooney and Pringle manage to prove themselves to be reliable enough for me to stay interested in their contributions to the series.

Helter Skelter is next on the list. This was written by James Moran. The Doctor’s efforts to take his friends on a holiday are thwarted by the bio-engineered planet and amusement park getting blown up with them on it. Then the day resets, and Tegan Jovanka is the only one who recognizes they are caught in a time loop.

Another story that is amusing because we have a bit of a role reversal with the Doctor being a bit more in the dark than usual. It’s Tegan who recognizes the problem and has to steer her friends toward the resolution of this time loop. It’s another fun and interesting notion that has frankly been a bit overdone. Fielding does get to have fun with Tegan’s seemingly natural state of exasperation. Ultimately, the Doctor does save the day, which I hope isn’t too much of a spoiler, but I was relieved that some traditions were spared in this episode.

It has some amusing moments and performances throughout the episode, but it still is not likely going to resonate all that deeply with the listeners.

Finally, the Doctor and his companions encounter the wish-granting aliens from the first episode in Land of Fools, once again written by Lauren Mooney and Stuart Pringle.

The TARDIS arrives in London, 1980, where Tegan realizes she can say good-bye to a friend who died then. Some new company seems to be running things around there, and London seems to be in some kind of restricted state. The team is split up, and the Doctor starts to realize that some recently encountered enemies have cropped up again.

This story is actually pretty good and serves as nice conclusion to this set. I didn’t find the Asteri to be all that compelling because they were described as crystalline, and it was hard to picture them in the imagination. There were some moments that were more emotionally significant.

As a whole, this release is fine to add to the collection, but not much of it stood out. As Peter Davison ages, it does get harder to imagine him as he appeared onscreen during his era. His performance is still fine, but that aged raspiness he has developed is a little distracting. I still look forward to his participation and hopes he has more scripts heading his way than he knows what to do with.

I am not sure we have had the joy of having Turlough and Tegan together on their own before. There was a series with them alongside Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, but that was not onscreen. It was pretty cool to revisit that era because they are a favorite TARDIS team of mine.

Helter Skelter didn’t quite hit the ranks of phenomenal storytelling, but it sure was not anywhere near the rubbish heap. There is still much to enjoy.

Book Review: Even In The City Of Light, There Are Shadows

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Paris: The Novel is a pretty dense piece of historical fiction written by Edward Rutherford.

The saga is presented through the eyes of several families and their descendants over a few centuries. Of course, Rutherford delves into the Reign of Terror, the French Revolution, and the Nazi Occupation. The story weaves back and forth between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries as several stories wind through way through time and place. Rutherford presents many facets of this city rich with culture, art, and violence.

This is a tricky read because it was hard to on the ability for retention since there are so many characters to follow, and Rutherford chose a more nonlinear approach in presenting this lengthy tale. There are a couple of maps and family tree to help out.

HIs prose is not especially verbose or difficult, but there is a kind of elegance to it that feels so rarely experienced in modern literature. Rutherford is known for these epic volumes about various well-known cities or locales that take place over long stretches of time.

This one is a somewhat intimidating read but still an enjoyable one. This is the second novel I have read by Rutherford, and I have no intention of it being my last.

I am back to a more familiar genre but takin on a new author. The next literary indulgence on tap is Death on the Island by Eliza Reid.

Film Review: Blood In The Snow

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Dead of Winter is a surprisingly decent action film released in 2025, starring Emma Thompson as a recently widowed who is distracted from her efforts to scatter her husband’s ashes on a remote lake by an apparent kidnapping. The film is directed by Brian Kirk. The script was written by Nicholas Jacobson-Larsenand Dalton Leeb.

Other cast members include Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca, and Laurel Marsden.

As mentioned before, Barb is a woman who recently lost her husband. She decides to set out to a favorite fishing spot of theirs where she intends to scatter his ashes. On the way, she gets detoured by a blizzard where she happens upon an isolated cabin. She finds a peculiar man who does give her some helpful directions. She notices some blood on the snow and is told it was from a recently slain deer. Sometime later, Barb witnesses a young woman whose hands are bound attempting to escape the previously helpful man. Barb figures out that the woman is held captive for some unknown reason by a couple. Her efforts to free the woman goes awry and a cat and mouse situation starts to ensue across the frozen landscape which could lead to Barb making a heart-wrenching sacrifice for a woman she does not know.

Emma Thompson is one of the most respected actresses out there, and this role is a nice addition to the resume. The usual elegance she exudes is submerged by the weary, saddened persona of Barb.

Judy Greer plays the desperate, frenzied woman known as Purple Lady, who is the actual mastermind of the abduction.

The performances were quite good, and the reason behind the abduction is rather chilling, if a little implausible.

I thought it was interesting that many of the characters were not given actual names. There are billed as either Purple Lady or Camo Jacket.

There are moments where Barb is remembering how she and her husband got together, and a heartbreak that kept them bound together.

Not everything in the plot hangs together all that neatly, but Thompson still carries the lead role well enough to make some oversights forgivable.

Judy Greer is also quite compelling as the lead villain. She can pull off psychotic mania quite convincingly without getting too outlandish.

Anyway, this film was not something that seems well-known. I found it quite by accident, but it’s worth a look. Dead of Winter is one of the few films in recent years that was effectively and darkly diverting.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Always Shatters The Illusions

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Beware the City Of Illusions is a pretty compelling Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions and is likely to be one my favorite First Doctor adventures. Nicholas Briggs has written an interesting script which he also directed. He also composed the score.

Stephen Noonan is back with his rendition of the First Doctor, in which he channels the distinctive vocal peculiarities of the late William Hartnell. He is joined by Lauren Cornelius as an older version of Dodo Chaplet, who was originally portrayed by the late Jackie Lane. Anneke Wills reprises her role of Polly Wright. Other cast members include Barnaby Edwards, Amy Rockson, Becky Wright, and Anna Crichlow. Briggs even manages to get a little bit part as well. The guy is everywhere on this one, which is by no means a complaint.

The Doctor has been whisked from his TARDIS and is apparently floating around the time vortex when he is deposited on Earth where he encounters a companion he has yet to meet from his point of view. Polly Wright is doing some work for the British government in her later years and is investigating a city that is designed to lower carbon emissions or something supposedly environmentally beneficial. Of course, it seems too good to be true, and the Doctor is caught up in the investigations. Also, Dodo Chaplet is also involved and has a secret alliance with Polly, who are acting on a cryptic warning the Doctor once gave a long time ago. There is a peculiar benefactor who seems to have an agenda that is not as friendly to the human race despite appearances. The Doctor may not know the reason for his strange warning himself, but he is soon to find out and has two friends to back him up, even if he has yet to recognize one of them.

This particular episode deals with elements that come up more in recent years as far as the plot goes, but Briggs knows Doctor Who enough to make this work. He does a good job of making this version of the Doctor somewhat sharper than he often appeared onscreen, but he still manages to keep him quite familiar. Noonan’s impression of Hartnell’s impression is getting better. He can’t quite sound exactly like Hartnell, but that’s getting more forgivable with each performance in these audios. It is also fair to expect that Noonan will add some of his distinctive style into the performance. The writing is also good enough to allow me to just enjoy the ride without being overly critical. Noonan is said to really study Hartnell’s performance each time he is commissioned to do one of these things, and that does show. Even if the First Doctor isn’t quite my favorite, I still have found plenty to enjoy in that era immensely, and I look forward to hearing the next installment in this range.

The story is a somewhat standard science fiction trope of an intended utopia going off the rails, but Briggs does a good job with it. The inclusion of both Polly and Dodo, albeit older, is also quite charming and done with a certain audacious creativity that I can respect.

Crichlow plays a character named Lillian Maggs, who was Polly’s assistant and friend, and had the right amount to spunk to spark with the Doctor. She was another sarcastic, likeable woman who seems to get a little overused in this series, but I couldn’t help but enjoy her banter with Polly, and eventually with the Doctor.

The Doctor displayed his usual crustiness and suspicion, but he also came across as shrewder than he was often written, and I found myself enjoying that. Noonan also does intentionally throw in some of the gaffes that Hartnell was known for in the original series, but it seems less distracting here.

It’s a long story, but Briggs manages to avoid most of the traps that tend to lead to a dragging middle. He writes it well enough for me to just enjoy being in this Doctor’s orbit without sweating any potential plot holes.

Anyway, this particular audio experience is likely one of the stronger ones to come out this year, which is usually how I feel about a Nick Briggs script.