Doctor Who - Big Finish September Mega-Review

Jago and Litefoot €“ Series 6 Box Set

rating: 4.5

After returning to Victorian London, Jago and Litefoot are approached by the enigmatic Colonel and offered a role they cannot refuse €“ investigators by Royal Appointment to Queen Victoria! Their missions include a mystery on the Suffolk coast where strange things lurk in the sea mist, an encounter with Freud and a threat to the realm itself... But who can save Professor Litefoot when he is accused of murder, and no one can be convinced of his innocence?

If you haven't listened to the Jago and Litefoot line, you're really missing out on something special. The series focuses on Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot, seen on TV in the classic Fourth Doctor story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". Big Finish brought them back in a Companion Chronicle story a few years ago, and that was so well-received that we've now had six seasons of adventures, including some with the Fourth Doctor's companion, Leela, and a handful with the Sixth Doctor. When we'd last seen our heroes, they'd just returned to Victorian London after spending a few months stuck in the late 1960s. To my frustration, they quickly forget their time in the future, rendering the entirety of season 5 pointless, at least for now. Anyhow, they don't even have a chance to get settled before they're stuck working for Queen Victoria...or are they? Of the four stories included the last one, "The Trial of George Litefoot," is my personal favorite. Partly because it ties up the season, partly because of the way it ends, but mostly because of the wonderful performances by Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter. The two men seem to really have a blast working together, and they get to show off their chemistry to great effect in that final chapter. As for the rest, "The Skeleton Quay" and "Military Intelligence" are both quite good, if fairly pedestrian. The slight disappointment to the package is "Return of the Repressed". While it does flesh out Jago's background quite a bit, I feel that Sigmund Freud could have been put to better use than he was here. That aside, if you've already heard the first five series, you'll want to continue with this one. If you haven't, I don't know that I can really recommend this one as a starting point. Seasons 1, 2 or 3 are all better starts. Still, a good story all-around. On one last side note, is it just me, or does the actor playing the Colonel sound A LOT like David Warner? It isn't him, but man, does he ever sound similar! Next month: the Tenth Doctor and Donna, a lost Second Doctor story, Jo Grant in a Companion Chronicle and the Sixth Doctor and Peri dealing with the Space Race!