Love them or hate them,
audiences became fans of Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot when The Talons of Weng-Chiang aired. Talks at one point were in the works to give
Jago and Litefoot their own spin-off series.
Nothing came of that project until Big Finish Productions commissioned
Andy Lane to write a story featuring Jago and Litefoot meeting up and investigating
a series of murders where the killers turn out to be made out of wood. The plot thickens when it turns out their
convicted killers, who should already be dead.
It is then up to our heroes Jago and Litefoot to save the day with a
nice little sequel hook revealing that a mysterious Dr. Tulp is the one behind
this. He’s still out there and he must
be found and brought to justice. You
really wouldn’t think that Jago and Litefoot would last through time, but I
think that it speaks volumes towards Robert Holmes’s writing of double act and
Benjamin and Baxter’s marvelous performances that have let them survive. The
Mahogany Murderers doesn’t include the Doctor, and this is one of those
reasons people are hesitant to listen to the audio. You don’t really notice it from the opening
to closing piano the mood is set. You’re
in Victorian times and a flair for the dramatic is in order. The Doctor has no part to play in the story
and it seems to always have been written so the Doctor doesn’t appear. Andy Lane writes a marvelous story with some
great ideas and atmosphere. While he
teases Dr. Tulp, the real villain of the story is Jack Yoevil who is a murderer
turned into a mannequin. Yoevil is
voiced mostly by Christopher Benjamin who goes over the top quite a bit, but
still makes the character feel quite menacing.
Lisa Bowerman has two
roles to play in this story. She directs
the story with her usual flair, and the extras show just how attached she is
with The Talons of Weng-Chiang as her
brother featured in that story. She
obviously loves the characters of Jago and Litefoot and is enjoying working
with Benjamin and Baxter. The music and
sound design are placed at the right moments so you can really get the feeling
that this is Victorian London. It really
helps the mind’s eye picture up the foggy streets of London. Her more impressive feat is leaving an
impression on the audience as Ellie Higson, barmaid of the Red Tavern. Ellie works well as a one off character and
is really there just to make the world feel a bit real, but she’s pretty funny
and goes along with letting Jago drink to his heart’s content. Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are
really the main event as they’re the ones doing most of the acting. It is through Benjamin going over the top
while Baxter plays the straight man that allows all the comedy to flow through
the story. Lane has developed these
characters. They still are friends after
the fact and will solve the occasional case, but Litefoot still has duties in
the morgue which have to be attended to.
It’s the first body of a man coming back to life that makes him get Jago
involved. Jago however is down on his
luck with the Alhambra being closed for renovations so he just is trying to get
by. It’s through their character arc
that really makes everything feel quite alive.
To summarize, The Mahogany Murderers is a brilliant
story that to be honest could be standalone and doesn’t need to be followed up
on. It is good however that Jago & Litefoot was commissioned as
a full series of audio dramas as there is a lot to grow with these
characters. Andy Lane’s script,
Bowerman’s direction, and the acting from the performers is really what makes
the story stick out as a piece of perfection when it comes to opening a
series. 100/100
No comments:
Post a Comment