Jago and Litefoot and Strax

Even though Jago and Litefoot and Strax wasn’t the first release featuring new series characters to be released by Big Finish, it was the first that I listened to. I thought that after just finishing the tenth series, I would strike while the iron is hot. The idea of Strax appearing with Jago and Litefoot is an obvious one because of the period that Strax along with Vastra and Jenny are in on the TV. It’s also an idea that has endless possibilities. These are two worlds being thrust together and it could only go well.  The thing about this story is that I think it should be treated very much like Voyage to the New World and Voyage to Venus from 2012. They are canon as far as I am concerned but they are like the Christmas specials on TV, they are canon but not really part of the timeline for the characters.

The plot for this story isn’t terribly complicated and that is what I like about Justin Richards’ writing because it means that characters and their situations are allowed to be the centre of attention. This means there are several good scenes between the trio and from time to time with Ellie and Quick. The way that Strax is integrated into the story is very clever as due to a bump on the head he thinks that Jago and Litefoot are Vastra and Jenny. It’s as close to them being in the story as we are likely to get at the moment but I got the feeling that these two worlds are taking place at the same time. One part I found amusing was the reaction of Jago and Litefoot when they realise that Jenny and Vastra were married which is something that wasn’t acceptable back then.

The performances from Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter were as they always are and that is enjoyable. Lisa Bowerman’s double duty as director and Ellie are a credit to the story and I thought that Ellie was very good in this story and I like how she pushed herself in going along with the new trio. I would have liked more of Quick because he didn’t seem to be in the story as much as he normally would be but that is probably the only thing I would change. Caroline Seymour also appears in this story and as I am a fan of the Survivors range, instantly recognised her voice and thought that it was good for Seymour to have something different to do other than Abby looking for her son.

It was commented on in the interviews at the end of the story where I think its Trevor Baxter who said that bringing in Strax bought a freshness to things. I don’t think he meant that after 10 series, the range has started to get a bit repetitive but I think that including someone like Strax means that for a short period you can have a bit of fun with the dynamic. I really enjoyed this story and felt that the mixing of new and old Who has worked well and I look forward to listening to UNIT: Extinction but hopefully this story will be popular enough that the rest of the Paternoster Gang wont be too far away. I hope that future stories with Strax will allow for more Jago and Litefoot type plots because the dynamic of Jago and Litefoot and Strax could cope with it.