What's it about: After returning to Victorian London, Jago
and Litefoot are approached by the enigmatic Colonel and offered a role they
cannot refuse – investigators by Royal Appointment to Queen Victoria! Their
missions include a mystery on the Suffolk coast where strange things lurk in
the sea mist, an encounter with Freud and a threat to the realm itself… But who
can save Professor Litefoot when he is accused of murder, and no one can be
convinced of his innocence?
Theatrical Fellow: Jago is certain that the only reason the
Colonel will have called them in is because there is a mission of great
importance to undertake, a threat to the realm and a challenge that can only be
met by experienced investigations of devil may care like Jago & Litefoot.
Doesn't think that much of his abilities then. Because their latest assignment
is simply to talk, it would appear that this might take some time when it comes
to Henry and his florid style of language. It warms his heart to think that the
Monarch is interested in the affairs of a humble theatre impresario like
himself. He believes he has a great expertise in the subtle art of deflection.
Investigating without Litefoot doesn't feel quite right, Henry would never want
to go into this business on his own. Jago is the only man alive that could talk
a machine into committing suicide, such is the baffling nature of his speech
patterns. It is lovely to be able to spend some time with Jago and Ellie alone
though, the affection that Christopher Benjamin and Lisa Bowerman have for each
other shines through in their performances.
Posh Professor: Whilst Jago is terribly excited to head off
into another adventure, Litefoot is far more cautious and guarded about
accepting assignments from the Crown. He is a man of such high moral value that
it is always a delight when he stands up to the villains in this series, we
know what a fundamentally good man Litefoot is so it makes his judgements upon
those who plot such monstrous plans so genuine. The shocking twist at the
climax gives the impression that this whole affair has been concocted to frame
Litefoot for Jago's murder, an act so abominable that you can only sit back and
gasp at the feelings that the good Professor must be experiencing
Standout Performance: Despite being given a fairly unrobust
character to play now the cards are all on the table, Geoffrey Whitehead still
gives a respectable performance as the Colonel. His cameos in earlier stories
did promise more than was delivered but Whitehead's gorgeous, gravelly voice
manages to salvage a great deal of dignity for the character.
Great Ideas: Aside from the fact that he has an office in
Buckingham Palace, how do we know that the Colonel speaks with the authority of
the Crown? There has been no sighting of the Queen in their dealings with him.
Once Litefoot goes digging there are no mentions of the Colonel in any reports
and no mention of his appointment at the Palace. He was working on behalf of
the Queen until recently but he finds her lacking in ambition and scope. He
wishes to become Emperor and wants all of Europe to cower in his wake and is
constructing a mechanised to help in his cause. An army that requires no food
or rest, will not cower in the face of the enemy and cannot be slain by mere
men. Unstoppable, single minded, determined and slaved to his cause. His
machines will assist in the reclamation of the America...he plans to make the
British Empire and unconquerable force that will take the globe. Well, if you
are a despot hell bent on domination it helps to think big. What's lovely about
Military Intelligence is that it pulls together both the science of the time
(Babbage) and some of Jago & Litefoot's own continuity (Dr Tulp and his
Similarity Engine) to create a vivid technological picture of the period. It
roots Jago & Litefoot in the period in a very dramatic way. Steam punk
hasn't really been a focal point of this series but this is a chance for the
series to indulge in the sub genre and have a little fun with it. I think they
could have gone much further than they did but at least we can say the series
has played about with the idea and move on from it now.
Audio Landscape: Footsteps on cobbles, the rowdiness of the
Red Tavern, the Colonel's technological devices hissing and steaming, machines
exploding.
Isn't it Odd: I found the first half of this story quite
wanting in comparison to everything that has come before it. I was halfway
through the story and nothing of great significance seemed to have happened.
Jago & Litefoot were aware that there was something sinister about the
Colonel that didn't add up but as far as furthering that plot was concerned it
took an age before things started moving. The slack was taken up with endless
scenes of the two men waiting around for something to happen to them. Don't get
me wrong, spending any time in the company of this delicious duo is a ball but
it is far more effective when married to a strong plot that they can engage
with. It wasn't until Litefoot was kidnapped by the Colonel and Jago discovered
that Agatha was in the employ of the Queen that my interest really perked up. I
wasn't entirely sold on the idea of the Colonel suddenly turning into the
villain of the piece either, simply because his background is so sketchily
scribbled in. We don't find anything detailed about his time in the Queen's
employ, just that he disapproved of her approach to running the Empire. Without
any additional information about that might be he comes across as a tenapenny
bad guy who simply wants to conquer for the sake of it. Was the Colonel's plan
so badly thought through that a string of sentences loaded with alliteration
can take out his army of machines that he plans to use to take over the world?
Standout Scene: The climax is a memorable one, with Quick
appearing to report that Jago is dead and the Professor being arrested for his
murder. Can this all be true?
3 comments:
To my surprise, I really enjoyed this one - I was dreading the whole "steampunk" approach and all the new-world-order-technological-revolution hm-hm-hm-hm-ha military gobbledygook that would come with the genre and a character like the Colonel (who I'd been spoiled was the villain), and I know that George Mann has a bit of a marmite reputation as a writer. However, I found the final story very dramatically brought to life, almost like the soundtrack to an action movie. A special shout-out goes to the guy who played Drucker, he brought a real sense of nasty humor, charm, and threat to what could have been a very generic henchman role.
The Sentinels' weakness was of course the whole reason why The Colonel brought in J&L, in hopes that they would provide any useful knowledge from Doctor Tulp to aid in fixing the machine's programming.
Ive been cosidering checking the jago and litefoot series. where is a good place to start?
It might seem like a churlish answer but right at the start. Whilst each season can be seen as a cohesive story in its own right, they are more often than not linked by cliffhangers from the last series. Besides it is the most consistently excellent range that Big Finish put out and you would be doing yourself a favour by starting with The Mahogany Murderers from the Companion Chronicles (you can pick that up quite cheap) and then continue on with season one. Let me know how you get on.
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