Voyage to Venus

"The time for peace has passed."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: October 2012

Series: Jago & Litefoot 4.05

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

Professor Litefoot and Harry Gordon Jago are accustomed to the murky fog of Victorian London and the palatable pints of half and half at the Red Tavern. They are not used to travelling through time and space with their old friend the Doctor.

And now they find themselves whisked off to the planet Venus in the distant future, at a time when warrior women rule from a floating city in the clouds. There's a mystery here, one that the Grand Empress Vulpina intends to keep secret. Even if it means destroying these visitors from the long-dead planet Earth...

Verdict 

Voyage to Venus was a great little audio! This is a pretty unique way to continue the adventures of Jago and Litefoot and whilst this wasn’t actually sold as being part of the spinoff series, it was a brilliant way to follow on from the end of their own fourth series! I get the feeling that moving forward with the Jago & Litefoot series that we may have something of a reset to come, especially on the back of travelling in the TARDIS with the Doctor! It is so much fun to have Jago and Litefoot joining the Sixth Doctor on his travels, and their first trip being to Venus was a really strong location! I absolutely adored the humour that came from Jago getting to travel in time and space. His reaction to finding out that they were on Venus was just wonderful as he wanted to stake a claim to the land on behalf of the British Empire! That was extraordinary stuff. Litefoot having to mention that he was lacking a British flag to plant was a delight. It was nice to see the patriotism of the man though with it on full display. I liked that the Doctor acknowledged his history on the planet with a previous visit alongside companions Jamie and Victoria in a nice reference to Year of the Drex Olympics. Jago thinking that this meant he had travelled with the monarch herself was more comedic brilliance from the man. He really is tremendous and I would be absolutely in favour of him getting more and more trips in time and space. The timeline for Venus here was intriguing with Earth being dead. This was of course the far future and the Doctor had visited then, which was something Jago couldn’t wrap his head around. The Doctor visiting in his personal past but the planet’s future was just too much to comprehend for the theatre manager. I loved him even more for it. The society on Venus was good to explore and I really enjoyed Vulpina as the Empress with her Chief Scientist Ursina alongside. They were a good pairing and I liked the development of the latter finding out the truth regarding the former. The reveal that it wasn’t actually the Shanghorns that caused death was good and that didn’t surprise the Doctor as he knew they were vegetarians. Having Litefoot’s medical abilities on display with his own autopsy was a nice touch and a strong way to showcase his capabilities. The twist that the Venusians were actually human descendants worked well and said a lot about the truth regarding the history of the planet. They were not what they knew themselves to be which is always fun! The Doctor was keen to point out that they had adapted since their evacuation from Earth. The emergence of the Sytherians was interesting as the original inhabitants of the planet and whilst I wasn’t a huge fan of the way they sounded which is important in an audio story, they were fine for what they were! Vulpina was far from pleased with the situation on her world now and Ursina having a role to play in bringing about her downfall was nicely done. I liked the simplicity of the plot and conclusion in overthrowing, and after all of the turmoil and danger, with anywhere in the universe to go where else would Jago want to go than the pub? I really liked that with it being well in line with his characterisation. The Doctor tried to get them back to the Red Tavern, but it seems we’ll have a brand-new adventure yet! The cliffhanger finish in the 1590s was really done well and I can’t wait to have Jago and Litefoot interacting in the past! Overall though, a great audio adventure! 

Rating: 8/10