Jago & Litefoot Series Four continues the audio adventures of the intrepid investigators of the macabre in Victorian London and is entertaining enough which is to be expected from Big Finish Productions. Christipher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter return to the microphones as Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot alongside a pretty good guest cast and strangely familiar voices in four episodes directed by Lisa Bowerman.
The guest cast is comprised of Victoria Alcock, Christopher Beeny, Elizabeth Counsell, Alan Cox, Mike Grady, and Terry Molloy. Bowerman also returns to her role as the barmaid Ellie Higson. I also can’t forget to mention that Louise Jameson and Colin Baker are the extra special guest stars.
Jago in Love by Nigel Fairs is the first episode, and the title sort of gives away what happens. Jago, Litefoot, and Leela have taken a holiday to Brighton where Jago falls for a music hall singer named Abigail. There is something tainting this romance as a strange pair of men have followed them. Also, there is another strange presence in the shape of Professor Claudius Dark, but the professor may be an old friend with a different face.
This one is a pretty good setup for the arc the other episodes are going to take. The strange pair of Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Kempston are kind of intriguing as shadowy, menacing figures.
Overall, the episode is not really great, but it gets the job done with setting up the other mysteries which confound Jago and Litefoot.
Beautiful Things by John Dorney has Jago and Litefoot encounter one Oscar Wilde, played by Alan Cox. Litefoot seems to have some grudge against Wilde, but he cannot indulge that since there are bodies turning up that need his expertise. Leela, played by Louise Jameson, is also there to assist, and the audience catches another glimpse of the peculiarly familiar Professor Dark.
This one was pretty good and an obvious riff on Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey. Dorney is certainly one of the more reliable contributors to Big Finish Productions and continues that track record with this one.
Matthew Sweet gives us another “trapped on a train” adventure with The Lonely Clock. Leela and Ellie get more involved in trying to save Jago and Litefoot before time runs out in more ways than one.
This one was a little hard to follow at times, but the performances as ever are compelling enough for me to forgive any plot holes. Also, Professor Dark is finally revealed at the end to have a much more familiar and welcome identity. Since it’s Colin Baker in the role, we can all surmise what that really is.
Finally, it is the great Justin Richards who ends this set with The Hourglass Killers. Leela, Jago, and Litefoot are joined by a certain wandering Time Lord and an old friend of, well…practically everybody here. The true enemy is revealed, and the stakes are even higher for well…practically everybody.
Anyway, this is a bit of a collection for the longtime Doctor Who fans and could be accused of being a bit self-indulgent, however it is written well enough to enjoy the ride.
Colin Baker pretty much is guaranteed to deliver an energetic and compelling performance, and his enthusiasm is just as strong as in this set as one would come to expect. I also marvel at the ingenuity of the writers who come up with how to present Jago’s preposterous affinity for alliteration in his dialogue. Anyway, this is one spinoff series that seems to have a deserved legion of fans among us Big Finish consumers.
Not every scene was as clear as I would have preferred, but it’s still a fun journey. One should also extend a bit more grace when it comes to audio performances. That medium is probably one of the trickier ones to pull off for those who write and produce them, and these four writers still did more than come through for this particular listener.
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