Jago and Litefoot Series Ten

 

Jago and Litefoot Series Ten

I am hesitant to remark upon Jago and Litefoot series ten as a return to form, as it was abundantly clear that neither set eight or nine were remotely bad - set eight had a singular appalling moment, and set nine was average yet enjoyable fair. Yet all the same, Jago and Litefoot Series Ten caught me in a way I was not expecting, especially considering that it's general hook of Jago and Litefoot having a guy who wants to write their biography is ... incredibly dull. At first glance you would think that after "Jago and Litefoot face literal vampires," "Jago and Litefoot meet Leela and the Sixth Doctor," "Jago and Litefoot are on the run from Queen Victoria," and "Jago and Litefoot fight off the motherfucking Scorchies," that this would be a sign of seasonal rot. No, far from it. Jago and Litefoot Series Ten is top form - and I am especially excited to see where the series goes from here.

The Case of the Missing Gasogene by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris

From an almost subtly generic outset for Jago and Litefoot, the blandly titled Case of the Missing Gasogene  turns out to be something rather unique for the series - it's a little insane. The Case of the Missing Gasogene is a murder mystery where the chief suspect is a mad scientist that shrieks about such amazing inventions like "a house train" or "an automatic cigar launcher" (Both of which are incredibly hazardous to your health.) Missing Gasogene has this sense of odd deranged humor to it that really hasn't been seen in this series up to this point. It's a very average Jago and Litefoot adventure on paper - but this one single characters' perturbed zaniness infects the entire script with a very enjoyable atmosphere that gives this piece at least a very signature style. It's incredibly audacious, and can almost break the immersion of the story at times for a chuckle. Unlike the average Who story of this kind - where you would get similarly odd characters (Mrs. Baddeley from The Chimes of Midnight is a similar example) there is no sci-fi explanation for his madness, he's just off the chain. That's not to say he's the only appealing element - the Gasogene itself (an unknown element of Victoriana that the story has to take great pains to explain) is an excellent piece to center the plot upon, the chemistry of our heroes with their newest guest star, Caruthers, is excellent, and he is a fun addition to the series (for at least a set, I doubt he will stay for that long.) I have very little negative to say about this one, other than certain investigative scenes in it can be too similar to others, this isn't a reinvention of the Jago and Litefoot formula, it's kind of Simon Barnard and Paul Morris putting a ludicrous character or two and concept in it. It's...God, it's honestly fun as hell: 9/10

The Year of The Bat by Jonathan Morris

The Year of The Bat is improbably good, the best story since Encore of the Scorchies, and really one of the all time high points of the series so far. A single concept from this story would be enough to base a play on, but it's brimming with incredible ideas, it's bold, experimental, messes with story structure and chronology, and ultimately satisfying to the Jago and Litefoot narrative as a whole. I can't really say Ive heard much else like it. The Year of The Bat is a very clever prequel, that technically features Jago and Litefoot's first meeting - whilst fully acknowledging they first meet in Talons of Wheng Chiang. It's a really fun puzzle, and it's deftly handled throughout. The Letter Box is such a unique and fun idea, time travel, yet brimming with Victoriana. Ellie gets a fairly major role, to the benefit of the series (Set Nine's greatest sin was sidelining her, and it knows it.) The Year of the Bat is just absolutely earth-shatteringly good, and it's one of those rare stories that everything in it works so well, that If I wanted to single things out, I'd have to start jotting down the script word for word. Revolutionary: 10/10 

The Mourning After by James Goss

Well, this is just Future Pain from Torchwood, but kind of worse. So, yeah, it's definitely a downgrade from the previous story, but by no means is it not an excellent hour. It's just a predictable one - It's very easy to tell what Jago is going through, it's very easy to tell that Betterman isn't the villain, it's very easy to tell the way the plot fits together, it's very easy to tell all of this despite the scant attempts at misdirection, and yet, and YET.. The Mourning After is still wonderful because of the sheer amount of performance you get out of it. The Acting is incredible in this one, far more than the writing, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter really sink their teeth into this deeply emotional material. And while it's no Future Pain (essentially this, but you know it's Torchwood and that a happy ending is not guaranteed) it's still got the raw acting power to back it up. 

All this being said, the plot could be deduced by a Chimpanzee with a typewriter, and not like, via the Chimpanzee typewriter infinite theory that would eventually produce Hamlet, no, I mean if you give a Chimp a typewriter in real life, it would come up with the solution to this plot in five minutes flat, and then probably hop around and eat bananas or something. I do use the power of sarcasm here, but it's pretty unpolished for a James Goss script, which really surprised me, but then again, it's still better than half what you see on the telly: 7/10 

The Museum of Curiosities by Justin Richards

A bit of an anniversary special, this one is a bit hampered by the entire plot being predicated around a Scooby-Doo level of a mystery that I had actually already solved in the previous story - especially embarassing considering the past two stories featuring Dr. Luke Betterman entirely revolved around him being a red herring, that we're suddenly supposed to believe isn't one, even though it's really really obvious what's going on here. As a matter of fact, it takes up so much of the runtime and is so pleased with itself regarding the solution I felt that this ordinarily well-plotted story lost a lot of tension and a lot of point. The chief problem is there wasn't a lot of credibility that it could be anyone other than Summerton - it feels like the fakeout before the actual twist, but it's the twist! Keep in mind that this is the series that has pulled the wool over my eyes so many times before - frankly this level of baby's first mystery is embarrassing. That being said, once we've gotten to the actual titular Museum, there is a lot of fun flying about. There are cameos from all sorts of delightful former enemies - most notably the Wet Men and Scorchies, as well as Summerton revealing some really fun connections to the prior villains over the past ten boxsets, sealing quite a few plot holes in the measure. Not to mention the characters that Summerton refuses to acknowledge as important saving the day once more. (Funnily enough, it's even remarked upon how often Ellie and Quick save the day after having done little else for the rest of the episode.) It's a really really good sequence, and expertly sound designed, with the action being really well played whilst the Scorchies' song plays in the background. All of this is really great, but it's only in the last ten minutes of an audio that has (admittedly in the ever so entertaining Jago and Litefoot style) been not just dangling the answer in front of our face, but hitting us with it repeatedly.  The characters are however delightful and funny enough for the first fifty minutes to get away with it, but only just. The conversation at the start with Litefoot hesitating to call Jago gullible to spare his feelings is hysterical. Equally so is the "Yay!" Carruthers remarks upon hearing there's been a murder (seriously, was there anyone that didn't guess this) so I am willing to forgive Museum of Curiosities a good deal of it's many, many, many, flaws. It's Jago and Litefoot, and as much as an episode is kind of rubbish, I really can't fricking hate it. It's just too fun of a series to ever not begrudge a few flaws. 7/10