Dead Men's Tales

"Time's debts must be repaid."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: June 2011 

Printed in: Jago & Litefoot 3.01

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot, Leela

Synopsis 

A friend from the past returns to warn Jago and Litefoot of a threat to the future. Time breaks are appearing in Victorian London, but first Leela must help solve the mystery of the Wet Men – terrifying creatures that are rising from the River Thames...

Verdict

Dead Men's Tales was a very good audio to kick off the third series of Jago & Litefoot! Following on from the cliffhanger at the end of the second series with Leela arriving, I thought this was a solid start to an arc that seems set to last the duration of the series. I think it’s lovely that with Leela doing her own thing on Gallifrey, she’s able to arrive here at the behest of Romana and that had not actually crossed my mind when she first popped up. I thought she was still going to be travelling with the Doctor, but here she is tracking temporal slippage with a time compass which was really fun. I liked the idea of her needing the help of Jago and Litefoot as specialists of this time period and Leela’s comments regarding the Victorian attire again were tremendous. She certainly hasn’t forgotten the lack of comfort and manoeuvring from her first visit to Victorian London! She wasn’t interested in wearing the same dress so Ellie would be drafted in for some borrowing. The humour that came from Leela enjoying her half pint of alcohol was wonderful and the way she dealt with Cut Throat Pete and mocked his knife with ease was the savage at her best. Her misunderstanding of Cockney rhyming slang was glorious and I actually shared her sentiments there. I’ve never understood it. The tracking of the time breaks was a good way to follow the plot and Jago not wanting to miss out on his free opera tickets so them all stopping off there T to take stock of the situation was very good. Having Leela go undercover as a barmaid at the Jolly Roger was delightful and the way she was following Ellie’s instructions of how to deal with punters was magnificent. I really liked the mystery of the Wet Men and they sounded brilliant as a concept. Leela picking up police attention around Litefoot’s neighbourhood was fun but the professor was quick to ease any of Quick’s concerns. Johnny Skipton was an intriguing character and his overhearing of Leela’s conversation telling her not to pretend to be something she wasn’t really peaked my interest. I wanted to know more about him. The Wet Men literally being soaking wet and blankly faced was a memorable description and they were looking for someone that was clear, and time was clearly breaking as we heard a phone call taken! I liked the atmosphere of the audio with it feeling like it was constantly raining, and Litefoot suspecting the Wet Men of literally being dead men walking was excellent. That was certainly eery! Only Mr Payne being able to help Johnny was interesting and seemed to allude to more to come as it was soon clear that Johnny didn’t have a home and essentially didn’t exist. He was misplaced in time but I wasn’t expecting him to be a missing crew member of a ship that sank in 1958! Jago reiterating that he should’ve meant 1858 was terrific but it soon explained the time breaks! The Wet Men were the crew that drowned and they just needed their missing crew member. That was the reason for their presence. Johnny returning to them to essentially accept his fate and drown made for a pretty emotional conclusion, but I must admit it did seem to come about and resolve itself pretty quickly. The crew were together again as they returned to their own time and ensuring the breaks healed, but I can’t help but get the feeling that not all is finished. Overall though, a strong start to the series!

Rating: 8/10