Jago & Litefoot: Series 7

The seventh season sees the titular Victorian investigators encounter familiar faces from both historical and fictional criminal cases of the day.

* The Monstrous Menagerie – The duo are approached by Arthur Conan Doyle, who asks them to help investigate a mystery by pretending to be his fictional creations, Holmes and Watson. The resulting mystery has a lot to do with Doyle and his writings, with a particular focus being on his reasons for abandoning Holmes in favour of more serious fiction – The Final Problem having been published only a year or so before this story is set. It's one of those stories that downplay the real-world creativity of historical authors by having their works be based on actual experiences, although, in fairness, there is at least a good reason for it in this instance. It's quite fun, with plenty of science fiction elements in addition to the Holmesian references, although quite what's going on with the villain isn't entirely clear. 4 stars.

* Night of 1000 Stars – The story starts in media res, with Litefoot and Ellie fleeing from a monster that feeds on sadness and regret, eventually killing its victims. In an effort to stop a drunken Jago going out and putting himself in harm's way, they stage an impromptu performance at their hideout, which rapidly descends into them reflecting on their own biggest regrets. This makes it quite a nice character piece, for Ellie as much as for the titular duo, and Leela is also present, on the trail of the creature. While there are some good touches, credulity is strained at a couple of points, and the story is not really long enough for its 60-minute runtime, leading to some repetition of themes and details. On the other hand, if you prefer more introspective stories, this one should be for you. 3.5 stars.

* Murder at Moorsey Manor – Continuing with the theme of the first episode, Jago and Litefoot infiltrate a Sherlock Holmes fan meeting at an isolated country house, only to be confronted with a real murder mystery. The Holmes themes are really only relevant in passing this time, just a means of getting the characters together. In fact, if anything, the events are more reminiscent of a certain Agatha Christie story, although the details are far more bonkers and more steampunk than anything Christie ever wrote. There's no point trying to work out who the murderer is (it's not that kind of mystery), it's more about the motive and how our heroes are going to escape, but it is great, completely mad, fun. 4.5 stars.

* The Wax Princess – Jago and Litefoot team up with Frederick Abbeline to track down Jack the Ripper (who is still around, for entirely implausible reasons). The connections with the real Ripper are sufficiently tenuous that the story would have worked just as well – and arguably better – with a fictional killer, but clearly somebody thought that a detective series set in Victorian London had to include him at some point. While the science fiction elements are in the background for most of the story, they are present, and the story doesn't have the darkness one would expect for something featuring a notorious real-world serial killer. If you put that aside, though, it's a decent adventure with a suitably dramatic denouement. 4 stars.

As usual, the set ends on a cliffhanger, although, in this case, it's one that will only make sense if you've listened to a certain other Big Finish release.