Big Finish - Jago & Litefoot season four

More fun is to be had with the redoubtable investigators of the infernal, Jago and Litefoot, and here is the fourth box set with four more stories.

Here's what you get:

4.1 Jago in Love by Nigel Fairs
4.2 Beautiful Things by John Dorney
4.3 The Lonely Clock by Matthew Sweet
4.4 The Hourglass Killers by Justin Richards
And an extra bonus CD of behind-the-scenes material.

Leela is still on board and Colin Baker turns up as the mysterious Professor Cornelius Dark. Meanwhile the stories are linked by the malign manipulations of two bad guys called Mr Kempston and Mr Hardwick.

The vocal variety act provided by Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin continues to steal the show. And I always enjoy a Matthew Sweet story. As well as the extra fixtures on the bonus CD each story ends with some interviews with the writers and actors, and I could happily listen to Mr Sweet talk about anything, particularly this sort of Victoriana in which he specialises.

Away from the main actors the bad guys are performed with a certain amount of relish by Christopher Beeny and Mike Grady. The reveal that Cornelius Dark is really the Sixth Doctor is no surprise at all, and Leela's character seems a bit variable depending on which episode she is in.

Jago & Litefoot are really splendid and my favourite flavour of Big Finish at the moment. I'm not sure this is quite up to the high standards of the first three sets but still 4 out of 5 end of pier peep shows.

Big Finish - The Mahogany Murderers

I've got season four of Jago and Litefoot ready to go on my iPod but I realised that I have never listened to their first Big Finish story which appeared in the Companion Chronicles series. I've just taken out a new subscription to the main range (I caved in) so I used the free gift option to pick it up. 

The Mahogany Murderers by Andy Lane, directed by Lisa Bowerman.

Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot team up for the first time after the Talons of Weng Chiang and take turns recounting a series of meetings with some remarkable wooden mannequins which seem to be responsible for several deaths. There are a couple of problems with this adventure, firstly the titular heroes are not quite the firm friends that they become in their subsequent series which is a shame. Their relationship is slightly spiky and I prefer their bonhomie in the box sets.

The second problem is a familiar one for me which is that I just don't get on so well with the narrated stories as compared with the full cast stuff. And the companion chronicles have small casts and do the narration thing. So it's the full cast productions in their regular series that appeal the most.

Having said that Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are probably two of the best voices from all the Big Finish regulars. Plus this story does introduce the villainous Doctor Tulp who featured in season one. It's good but just not great, 3 out of 5 wooden hearts.

Big Finish - Jago & Litefoot series three

Fairly swiftly on from the second set to Jago & Litefoot series three. Featuring four stories written by Justin Richards, Matthew Sweet, John Dorney and Andy Lane. All directed by Lisa Bowerman, with music and sound design by Howard Carter, and artwork by Alex Mallinson.

Once again the four stories have a linked theme, this time of disturbances in time with echoes of future events impacting in the heroes' Victorian setting. In that respect it reminded me of Sapphire and Steel with time itself almost being an evil force to be controlled. So we have wet ghosts from a future shipwreck, a haunted children's book with a nasty little man who lives at the end of the garden, and a haunting in a theatre. And as ever there is a villainous figure lurking in the shadows whose sinister plan will be revealed in the fourth story. In fact there are two mystery names running through the series which will set up the cliif-hanger at the end.

Louise Jameson joins the cast reuniting Leela with Jago & Litefoot. All of the actors are splendid as ever,  it's well directed and I have run out of superlatives to describe the vocal brilliance of Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter in the title roles. They are such good fun that they even make the extensive CD extras entertaining.

Once again this spin off series is currently giving me much more fun than the current main range Doctor Who releases. A virtual and very voluptuous Victorian 5 out of 5 haunted books for Jago & Litefoot 3. Series four awaits me.

Big Finish - Jago & Litefoot series two

Clearing the last of my Big Finish backlog ready for a new year of adventures. Here are more frantic frolics from that pair of intrepid investigators Jago & Litefoot.

Just like series one there are four linked stories: Litefoot and Sanders by Justin Richards, The Necropolis Express by Mark Morris, The Theatre of Dreams by Jonathan Morris, and The Ruthven Inheritance by Andy lane. All directed by the delightful Lisa Bowerman. This time the linking story arc concerns a new villain, Gabriel Sanders, played by another actor with a fine voice David Collings.

I should really write at more length about this marvellous series. For now I will just say that I am currently having more fun with the Jago and Litefoot stories than I am with the main range Doctor Who series. I suspect the same will be true about the new Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes box set. I just have a thing for creepy Victoriana at the moment.

Once again Messrs Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are on delightful form and the supporting cast are splendid. Lisa Bowerman keeps the series on track with her notes about the characters and what must be a fairly clear brief for the writers. It's all simply splendid and equals the high 4.5 out of 5 theatrical impresarios that the first series achieved.

And that's it I've caught up with my reviews for everything I have listened to so far. Series three of Jago & Litefoot, the Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes, and the 2000AD Crime Chronicles wait patiently on my iPod. Corks!

Big Finish - Jago & Litefoot series one

At Big Finish day I picked up the first box set of Jago & Litefoot, partly because it was cheap and so I would have something for Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter and Lisa Bowerman to sign. I wasn't sure when I would get around to listening to it but after enjoying the recent Justice of Jalxar so much I pushed it to the top of my list.

There are four single disc stories with a connected developing story arc through the season that links back to the characters' first Big Finish appearance in a companion chronicles story called The Mahogany Murderers. First up is The Bloodless Soldier by Justin Richards, directed by Lisa Bowerman, which has our two reluctant heroes investigating what appears to be a case of Lycanthropy. It's fairly classically done but is all very enjoyable and allows Henry Gordon Jago to discover some undiscovered depths of character.

Next is The Bellova Devil by Alan Barnes, again directed by Lisa Bowerman with Jago & Litefoot on the trail of the walking dead, or a man who appears to have died twice. I confess I am still struggling with Alan Barnes' stories for Big Finish and this was probable the least enjoyable of the four tales but it does provide hints as to the true villain of the first season.

The Spirit Trap by Jonathan Morris is directed by John Ainsworth. What seems to be a straight forward investigation of a bogus spiritualist medium leads our heroes in to a much more sinister world where, in classic Whovian fashion, the paranormal is explained with some science fiction bad guys.

And finally the bad guy returns to haunt Jago and Litefoot in The Similarity Engine by Andy Lane, with Lisa Bowerman returning to directing duties. Possibly because it is the last and brings the developing plot threads together this was my favourite of the four. It also helps to have the multi-voiced talents of Toby Longworth on board.

To attempt the alliterative talents of Mr Henry Gordon Jago this set is fairly full of fantastic, phantasmagoria! The shorter stories really work well and Baxter and Benjamin are just a delight to listen to. I'm still committed to the main range of Doctor Who releases but Jago & Litefoot could possibly tempt me away. Some of the best stuff I have listened to recently. 4.5 out of 5 silver shillings for this set. And there's another four box sets in the series so far. Corks!

Big Finish - Voyage to Venus

A bit of a bonus from Big Finish in the shape of a special release featuring the Sixth Doctor, and Messrs Jago and Litefoot in Voyage to Venus. And it's available to download for only £1!

It's embarrassing confession time again. I still haven't seen The Talons of Weng-Chiang. I know! I am going directly to Amazon and placing it on my wish list as soon as I have finished this review. Anyway here are two characters from that story that have spun off into some successful adventures with Big Finish. Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago are a pair of remarkable Victorian gentlemen played with considerable relish by Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin respectively. Having previously encountered the Fourth Doctor here they are with number six and stepping into the Tardis for the first time. Before they can make the usual exclamations he has whisked them off to the far future when Earth is a dead planet and humans have settled on Venus. As ever there are strange events and a mystery, which our heroes can only solve with a fine bit of showmanship which links back to the Third Doctor and his adventures on Peladon.

Jago and Litefoot are very popular characters with Big Finish listeners and this is really their adventure. The Doctor is almost playing their companion, albeit one who can control their means of transport and offer them vital clues at critical moments. Baxter and Benjamin both have marvellous theatrical voices and use them to good effect both in the story and in the interview special features. I also enjoyed the touches of Victorian Imperialism and the use of Venus as their destination which reminded me of the science fiction of  H.G.Wells.

It's a short story which I listened to on download. I presume it is a single CD release which makes it the equivalent of a two part story. However it is the most entertaining Big Finish I have listened to since The Burning Prince. A very cheerful palate cleanser which gets 4 out of 5 Perigosto sticks. Now I really must start the Key 2 Time.