Mind Games is the first of four stories in the special Big Finish release The Worlds of Doctor Who.  Each of the adventures features a Big Finish range that incorporates either Doctor Who or one of several spin-off series, chosen from Jago & Litefoot, Counter-Measures, UNIT, and Doctor Who itself.

THE WORLDS OF DOCTOR WHO

The first adventure, Mind Games by Justin Richards, features those investigators of the infernal Henry Gordon Jago (Christopher Benjamin) and Professor George Litefoot (Trevor Baxter).

For those who are unaware of the characters, Jago & Litefoot were created by Robert Holmes for the televised adventure The Talons of Weng-Chiang.  Although not initially paired-up as a double-act, they worked well together in the latter part of that televised adventure that many hoped that a spin-off series might be forthcoming.  This didn’t happen on TV but, in 2009, Big Finish tested the waters with the idea in their “companion chronicle” style The Mahogany Murderers.

Although The Mahogany Murderers was, perhaps, not the story in which to see (hear) Jago & Litefoot at their best, it was promising enough and filled with sufficient potential that the first box-set of four adventures was produced in 2010 – Jago & Litefoot, series 1.  Skip forward to today and there have now been no less than 13 such series, with no sign that they’ll end any time soon.

This has allowed the characters to spill over back into Big Finish‘s Doctor Who range with stories such as Voyage to Venus in which they teamed-up with the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker), who features in the final story of The Worlds of Doctor Who.

There have been some changes and developments between The Talons of Weng-Chiang and Mind Games but not sufficient to detract from this adventure.

Mind Games opens with the Regency Theatre’s new resident act, the hypnotist Mr Rees showing off his skills to a packed house, and a less-than-enthused proprietor, Henry Gordon Jago.

The time and place is Victorian London, and there are mysterious murders afoot.  A recently hypnotised person casually kills a lady of the night.  Professor Litefoot examines an apparently unrelated body, that of a woman that committed suicide claiming that someone had killed her.

I’ve only begun listening to Mind Games so far and so haven’t yet seen where the story is going.  Based almost entirely on the summary, the infernal machinations of the mysterious Mr Rees (go on, you got that Mr Rees = “mysteries”, didn’t you?) will link through all four adventures across time and space.  It’s very early days just yet.

As with all of the Jago & Litefoot stories I’ve listened to so far, if you enjoyed the characters on TV then you’ll enjoy their company on audio.  It doesn’t really matter what the adventure is about because both Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are excellent at bringing back these two contrasting investigators.

More to follow…