Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Trevor Baxter, Christopher Benjamin, Lisa Bowerman, Robin Bowerman, Alex Lowe, John Banks, Conrad Asquith, Toby Longworth, Alex Mallinson.

There have been many notable characters in the world of Doctor Who. Aside from the Doctor himself and his ever changing roster of travelling companions, there have been very few that have touched the fan base as Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot did. First introduced in the Tom Baker era, Jago and Litefoot live again in the first series box set of which The Bloodless Soldier is a colourful re-introduction of two of the larger than life characters that call Victorian London their home.

For fans of the new series and who still haven’t made the long journey through the varied and rich history that preceded the programme when it was bought back in 2005, Jago and Litefoot are a theatre impresario and the eminent Professor of Pathology at St. Thomas’s Hospital and together, in a roundabout fashion they solve the crimes and mysteries that would have intrigued the Doctor had he stuck around in Victorian London with Leela after his encounter with Weng-Chiang.

The first series released in 2010 sees the erstwhile Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter reprise their roles and Jago and Litefoot in Justin Richards’ story The Bloodless Soldier and the familiar trepidation that goes hand in hand with any story set in the Victorian London. The thick fog, the screams, the sense of impending doom around every unlit street and the shouts of ladies touting for business whilst all the time keeping a wary eye out for police and murders alike, all the thoughts and images that get beneath the listeners skin and into their subconscious are there throughout the story.

Jago and Litefoot has a very different feel to the other stories created by Big Finish, whilst Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel and Blake’s Seven are very much firmly rooted in the Science Fiction camp, a badge of honour they wear with absolute pride, Jago and Litefoot is very much down to earth, even with the mystery angle thrown in. This is a series rooted in friendship, of two equals, sort of, and the way they deal with out of the ordinary problems without having to rely on an alien visitor sorting it out for them. In much the same way that Big Finish showed with their take on Sherlock Holmes, Jago and Litefoot are just two very ordinary men who were bought together in extraordinary circumstances.

As they did in the story, The Talon’s of Weng-Chiang, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter simply ooze talent and class as they effortlessly perform as the two men keeping London’s streets safe from who knows what. In The Bloodless Soldier, the dark nature of the story lends itself to the times perfectly. The thought of imperialism that runs through the story as an evil undercurrent is captured by the barbaric environment in which the creature at the heart of the story finds itself.

The Bloodless Soldier is a great re-introduction to two of the greats of the silver age of the Doctor Who stories. Well presented by Justin Richards, Jago and Litefoot live again.

The Bloodless Soldier is part of Jago & Litefoot Series One box set. Series One can be purchased from Worlds Apart, Lime Street in Liverpool.

Ian D. Hall