The Justice of Jalxar

"It searches your mind for evidence of guilt."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: March 2013

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 2.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I, Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

They call him The Pugilist. 

It is the dawn of a new century and a vigilante is on the loose. The scourge of the criminal underclass. the saviour of the virtuous and the protector of the weak. The police are baffled, the public enamoured... but Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago are on the case. Or at least they will be when they've finished their beer.

What is the source of The Pugilist's spectacular supernatural powers? Is he alone in his noble quest? And what is his connection to the spate of corpses discovered around London?

As they descend further into a nefarious netherworld, the infernal investigators may be out of their depth. They're going to need help if they're to get out of this alive. The help of an old friend and his new assistant. The help... of the Doctor and Romana.

Verdict 

The Justice of Jalxar was an excellent continuation of the second series of Fourth Doctor Adventures! I had planned to do this quite a few weeks ago but for some reason in my Scribd free trial a number of the Doctor Who titles I had downloaded mysteriously were unavailable until the start of this month which was frustrating. But better late than never! I have been excited about this one for a long time and even more so after delving my way into the Jago and Litefoot spin-off range because the prospect of these two tremendous characters being reunited with the Fourth Doctor was too good to pass up. I’m so glad it happened! The pair made a big impact in The Talons of Weng-Chiang and the reunion here was as fun as I hoped it would be. It was a different dynamic with the first Romana in the companion role instead of Leela, but that was really great and Jago’s reaction to seeing her exit the TARDIS was as wonderful as I would expect. He’s just a glorious character and clearly enjoys the company of women so he was quite flustered by the classy Romana. He was even admiring her name. The moment that Litefoot spotted the Doctor in the tavern was brilliant and he seemed genuinely shocked to be seeing him back in the incarnation they were familiar with. A decade had passed since their initial meeting, but for Jago and Litefoot it had been some years since their travels in the TARDIS with the Sixth Doctor. I was surprised they didn’t allude to that more, but it was just fantastic to get this reunion. When the Doctor was in Victorian London and he needed some local knowledge, it’s nice to know he felt he could rely on his old chums. The Doctor landing the TARDIS nearly a month after the vigilante they were chasing had arrived was humorous and that had allowed it to be causing chaos in London! I thought the concept behind the Pugilist was excellent and whilst the cliffhanger of it delivering justice was needlessly repeated, I loved the idea of it extracting mind control as a means of deciding guilt. There was no escaping the truth when it was literally ingrained in your thoughts and memory, so the automaton only needed to delve into the mind to find the answers. It dealt in the laws of the planet or locale that it was located and that meant even petty crime could prove deadly because it seemed the only means of justice it delivered was death! That fate befell Stone which was quite surprising but was a fine example of how deadly the Pugilist could be. Romana recognised it as part of the Jalxar and Jago’s line of thinking she said jigsaw was glorious. He was on top form for comedic value here. Harvey Marsh was a strong character and instantly hate-able which was exactly the intention. His attitude towards Mary and how he seemed to think he owned her just made him out to not be a great guy. Mary as a younger girl in Victorian London felt like she was in danger with her thieving profession, and Harvey was clearly taking advantage of her. The plot was very well suited to Victorian London and even felt like it would be right at home in the Jago and Litefoot spin-off if the Doctor and Romana didn’t appear. That was terrific because it felt of the era and time which is precisely what you want. The conclusion was fun with the Doctor simply overloading the Pugilist and it being made of wood meant it didn’t mix well with water and fell into rotting. Overall, a really strong and fun adventure!

Rating: 8/10