I’m not always enamoured of the modern version of Doctor Who and I have such a large collection of Big Finish audios that it’ll be some time before I have the enthusiasm to buy into their offerings from the current era.  But what to do when the modern era mixes with the classic era?  That’s what we have here with Jago & Litefoot and Strax in The Haunting.

THE HAUNTING

Jago & Litefoot are two of my favourite characters from the classic era and, having recently listened to The Justice of Jalxar in which they rejoined the 4th Doctor for a new adventure, the characters immediately made me want to go and check out more of their adventures.

And so we come to The Haunting.

Strax is a character I’ve only seen in relatively small doses in modern Doctor Who where he comes across more as a caricature than a character.  A one-trick pony used as the ultimate “politically correct tick-box”.  He’s the dull stupid thick male servant to two independent empowered lesbians.  As such, I’ve not had much time for him.

There was my dilemma.  Two of my favourite characters draw me into the story, but the ultimate dullard male caricature had me wanting to just throw the CD in the bin.  In the end, my enthusiasm for Jago & Litefoot and my trust in Big Finish to deliver the goods had me loading up The Haunting on my iPad, and fire up the first episode.

Strax (Dan Starkey), the Sontaran, that everyone in Victorian England thinks is just an odd-looking man, is on the hunt for some alien technology that he can detect but that no one else understands.  His trail leads him to the Red Tavern where his enquiries lead him into a pub brawl.

The Red Tavern is the local, and somewhat frequent, haunt of Henry Gordon Jago (Christopher Benjamin) and Professor Litefoot (Trevor Baxter).  They arrive in the midst of the brawl and help Ellie (Lisa Bowerman, who also directs the Jago & Litefoot adventures), the barmaid, calm things down and escort the strange looking fellow out of the door.

Continuing his hunt, Strax encouters Mrs Multravers (Carolyn Seymour) who asks him a couple of questions – one of which he doesn’t provide the appropriate answer to, and she loses all interest in him.

Later, Professor Litefoot is called in to the mortuary by Inspector Quick (Conrad Asquith) to examine a grotesque dead body.  The top of the corpse’s head has been removed, and his brain is missing.  This isn’t the first time this has happened, but it’s the first body Litefoot has seen.  Shortly, a second body arrives in the same condition.

Strax’s hunt takes him to particularly cobbley area where he locates an apparently abandoned house.  He’s met again by Multravers, who doesn’t appreciate his presence.

Litefoot learns that the bodies were all discovered in the same area and he, with Jago, go and investigate the cobblestone streets.  It’s not long before they discover the unconscious body of Strax.  They take him back to Litefoot’s house so that Litefoot can tend to him.

When he wakes, Strax is suffering from some amnesia and concussion which has him confusing Litefoot with Madame Vastra and Jago with her wife/housemaid Jenny.  After trying, and failing, to correct his memory, the trio compare notes and they realise that their common ground is the abandoned house which is, apparently, considered haunted by the locals.  They determine to investigate further and stay overnight to watch for any such hauntings which may explain the bodies.

After stopping for refreshments at the Red Tavern, their plan involves going to the house when it’s dark.  Jago has to announce the shows at his theatre before night-time and, after acquainting Ellie with their plan, Litefoot, Strax, and Ellie take a quick reconnoitre of the house.  While Strax and Litefoot check around the outside of the house, Ellie is accosted by the woman with her questions. Ellie guesses the answer to the first question but, before she can answer the second, Litefoot and Strax return as the woman leaves surreptitiously.  Having found nothing, the trio head to the theatre to watch the show and await Jago.

An embarrassing participation in a magic act by Strax later, and the four of them are ready to do some moonlight investigation.  The encounter with Multravers has rattled Ellie and she opts out of the night-time vigil.

Jago & Litefoot take it in turns to sleep and stay on lookout with Strax, who doesn’t sleep.  They hear a noise, which Litefoot dismisses as the wind and the house.  Jago goes to investigate, believing it’s nothing.  Downstairs, he interrupts Multravers who has, in her hands, a brain.

She puts it down and raises a gun…

I’m relieved to say that The Haunting turns out to be a very entertaining adventure.  Strax works very well with Jago & Litefoot because the three of them each have such different personalities.  Jago is all bluster and cowardice but a solid fellow, Litefoot is curious in his investigative nature and wanting to solve all mysteries set before him, and Strax combines his determination to complete his mission with an unswerving desire to sweep all of his enemies out of his path.  It’s an entertaining and intriguing partnership.

The mixing of characters could have been handled in a very clumsy way, shoe-horning the two Victorian storylines together.  However, by confusing Litefoot and Jago with Vastra and Jenny, we have an immediate intermingling of characters.  With Ellie providing the solution to the mix-up, by claiming that Vastra and Jenny are disguised as a pathology professor and a music hall impresario, Strax calls them by their actual names while believing they are someone else.  From that point onwards, the characters mesh seamlessly.

Indeed, it feels almost like Strax has always been around working with Jago & Litefoot and, I’d wager, he works far better in this trio than he does when playing “comedy dull foot soldier” to Vastra and Jenny.

This is a two-part adventure, with each episode being around 50 minutes long.  It’s not often that I’m keen to listen to the second episode but, this time, I am. I suspect I’ll be wishing for more adventures with this trio when it’s finish.

Next time … The Haunting, episode 2 …