When is a crossover not a crossover? When it features characters that originated in the same series. Confused? You will be….
Crossovers are the holy grail of geekdom – Batman meeting Superman, the Avengers Assemble, Simpsons meets Family Guy, Coronation Street with Albion Market (well maybe not the last one… then again).
As a child I could never understand why Doctor Who didn’t turn up in Star Trek, it seemed the obvious thing to happen. Forty years of cynicism and knowledge of boring things like rights and actor availability have scuppered that dream, but the news of a crossover still makes me happy.
There is happy and then there is HAPPY. Imagine happy (lower case) as having a great day out with your family or friends. Now HAPPY – is your birthday, Christmas, Wedding Day and winning the lottery all rolled into one. Well HAPPY is what I was when I found out about Jago & Litefoot & Strax. I actually screamed and punched the air and exclaimed “Oh yes!” and “BA-DA-BING!” (in the style of Sir David Tennant).
So what exactly has got me so excited about this release? Well, I will give you a clue. First it contains Jago, secondly it contains Litefoot and thirdly it contains Strax. What is so marvellous about that, I hear you ask? Well dear reader, please read on…
So, Jago and Litefoot – London’s premiere pursuers of paranormal panjandrums, and everyone’s favourite comedy Sontaran, Strax – together at last. I have been hoping for this for years, both Messers J & L and the Paternoster gang inhabit Victorian London – both sets of protagonists are canon in the Whoniverse, it was inevitable that they would meet eventually, and in this special release, meet they do.
Starting off in the Red Tavern, and as always ending in the Red Tavern – this is story is firmly rooted in the style of Jago and Litefoot with Strax as a guest star and sees Strax on the trail of an energy source and after causing a bar room brawl in the Red Tavern, he meets up with the infernal investigators and -to use one of Mrs W’s favourite phrases – “hilarity ensues”.
This is a very funny story – humour has always been a part of Jago and Litefoot’s world, but the addition of Strax is an inspired piece of writing – he fits in just so well and is very very funny. From misunderstanding basic questions, to mistaking Jago for Jenny and Litefoot for Vastra, to thinking someone has stolen the kitchen, to a disastrous visit to the theatre, the laughs come thick and fast – and it really is testament to the writing and interplay between Trevor Baxter, Christopher Benjamin, Dan Starkey and Lisa Bowerman. As or the plot – well it involves a haunted house, and a woman who steals brains (a delightfully arch Carolyn Seymour of Survivors fame) – a typical day at the office for our heroes and it is no coincidence that the haunted house – Number 27 Bruton Street, is also the source of the energy that Strax is searching for.
As a Jago and Litefoot story it is wonderful, the addition of Strax makes it a classic a dream combination that I hope to hear from again the addition of Madam Vastra and Jenny to any future releases may just make me want to invent a whole new word for how happy I am.
Overall a delight from beginning to end – I have not laughed so much in a very long time.
10 /10.
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