Big Finish, J&L Final Story
Ahhh, the irony. The tears at the end! I absolutely adore this story. By necessity, it has to be almost all Christopher Benjamin doing the dialog, though they somehow have interactions with the new deceased Trevor Baxter (explained by Lisa Bowerman in the extras). Jago works his way through the adventure/trap on his own, with flashbacks to previous stories, so we don’t miss Prof. Litefoot hardly at all. He has Elly, Quick, and Betterman along to help him, though he does show his mettle, making it through to the end on his own. And the scenes with Queen Victoria are just as astounding as now Henry Gordon Jago has to keep his knighthood a secret. Corks!
The full ending theme was just the cap on the gown and brought the tears to the forefront for me! I would love to have that as my ringtone, that’s for sure. Even wouldn’t mind paying Big Finish for that but I suspect they don’t sell ringtones, sadly. This story is just wonderfully done. And the behind the scenes bring back the tears as various people talk about Trevor Baxter being gone, so no more J&L stories. Sigh. I should not have listened to this at work!
(The Jago and Litefoot Revival Act, an adventure with the 10th Doctor released April 2017, is also included in this final story but I’ve reviewed that previously.)
Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), Trevor Baxter (Professor George Litefoot), Lisa Bowerman (Ellie Higson), Conrad Asquith (Inspector Quick), Louise Jameson (Leela), Colin Baker (The Doctor), Rowena Cooper (Queen Victoria), David Warner (Dr Luke Betterman), Jamie Newall (Aubrey), Stephen Critchlow (Sir Humphrey Eagleton / Charlie Lucas)
Writer: Paul Morris
Director: Lisa Bowerman
Release: May 2018