Skip to content

JAGO & LITEFOOT FOREVER

Written By:

JR Southall
forever

You never really die, once you’ve recorded something that retains you for posterity. People will go on watching Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot in their one television outing The Talons of Weng-Chiang or listening to their Big Finish audio adventures together until you and I are long beyond propping up daisies. Sadly, however, real life is much less eternal, and when Trevor Baxter passed into the beyond in July of 2017, he left behind him not just a singular legacy involving anything from Adam Adamant Lives! to George & Mildred and myriad points in between – including one of the most popular and enduring guest turns ever committed to Doctor Who – but sadly an unfinished run of stories in those aforementioned audio adventures, which had left the series on a cliffhanger rather too specific to simply let the run discontinue so inappropriately.

Fortunately producer David Richardson, writer Paul Morris and director Lisa Bowerman have combined – under the auspices of executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery – to find a way of remembering Baxter’s contribution and his character, and celebrate this small corner of his career, in a manner that works to wrap up the fictional story of Jago & Litefoot without being either too obvious or too sentimental.

Beginning at the cliffhanger ending to Series 13’s Too Much Reality, we soon find ourselves remembering back to the events that followed from some indeterminate point in the future, as Christopher Benjamin’s Jago discovers his investigating partner missing at the turn of the year and a few days ahead of a monumental occasion in their shared lives. Finding his memories are disappearing, and with the help of the likes of Inspector Quick, Ellie Higson and Dr Luke Betterman, Jago gradually works his way towards an inevitable reunion and both the only kind of happy ending this story was ever going to get, as well as the most fitting in-universe send-off it was possible to devise.

It’s slightly unfortunate that said farewell involved – of necessity – a couple of performances phoned in from other recording sessions, and the excerpts of Baxter taken from previous plays, while expertly managed, were never quite going to sound of a piece with the acting going on around them. These are but minor quibbles, however, and the tone and subject of Jago & Litefoot Forever could not be better judged. Morris has done an exceptional job of creating a story that rounds off the characters’ investigations in the most suitable fashion – and Christopher Benjamin will break your heart come the end of it.

The three-CD set also includes a physical release for Jonathan Barnes’ Jago & Litefoot Revival, a pair of Short Trips that was the last work the two actors performed together, and a whole disc’s worth of interviews, with the majority of those involved explaining how this final story came about and remembering Trevor Baxter with love and respect. For any fans of the actor and his Doctor Who character – whether you’ve partaken of the Jago & Litefoot audios before or not (the Series 13 reprise and assorted flashbacks to previous adventures won’t be too confusing for newcomers) – this is a truly indispensable purchase, and a graceful commemoration of one of the finest actors ever to appear in the programme.

JAGO & LITEFOOT FOREVER / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / DIRECTOR: LISA BOWERMAN / WRITTEN BY: PAUL MORRIS, JONATHAN BARNES / STARRING: CHRISTOPHER BENJAMIN, TREVOR BAXTER, LISA BOWERMAN, CONRAD ASQUITH, LOUISE JAMESON, COLIN BAKER, ROWENA COOPER, DAVID WARNER, JAMIE NEWALL, STEPHEN CRITCHLOW / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 30TH

JR Southall

You May Also Like...

chinese remake of anaconda drops trailer

ANACONDA Trailer Grants First Look At Remake Of 1997 Horror Flick

Three sequels and a spinoff-crossover film wasn’t enough for the 1997 creature feature Anaconda, which not only has a new movie in development, but is getting a Chinese remake! From
Read More
black widow star scarlett johansson in talks to lead new universal jurassic world film

Scarlett Johansson In Talks To Join JURASSIC WORLD Film

Another MCU star appears to be taking up the reins for Universal’s new Jurassic World movie: two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to lead the franchise that
Read More

Exclusive Reveal! Titan Comics to Deliver Prehistoric Hysterics in First 2 DUMB DINOS Collection

Titan Comics have exclusively revealed to STARBURST that they’re gearing up to publish the first-ever collection of the hilarious cult digital comic strip 2 Dumb Dinos, and we’re not the
Read More

New Dates For Lovecraftian Key of Dreams

Key of Dreams has announced new spaces for its titular immersive luxury horror event. The critically acclaimed company is known for its overnight experiences that dunk you into a strange
Read More

FAB Café to Host Free Film Screening of New Indie Comedy SECRETS OF A WALLABY BOY

We’re well known for our championing of truly independent filmmakers here at STARBURST, so it’s doubly exciting to be writing about one of our own! After joining the crew in
Read More
colin farrell returns as oswald cobblepot in the penguin series trailer

Colin Farrell Returns In THE PENGUIN Trailer

Colin Farrell returns as Gotham City’s answer to Tony Soprano in the first trailer for Max series The Penguin, which spins out of the world of the 2022 DC film
Read More