The Skeleton Quay

"I thought I felt an icy chill."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: September 2013

Series: Jago & Litefoot 6.01

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot are back in the familiar fog-shrouded streets of Victorian London, but a new calling awaits them... The Colonel, an emissary of Queen Victoria herself, reveals that their services are required by Her Majesty – and their first assignment is to investigate a series of ghostly apparitions at Shingle Cove...

Verdict  

The Skeleton Quay was an excellent episode to kick off the sixth series of Jago and Litefoot! This spinoff range really does continue to impress me and whilst we’ve had five series of what is basically a loose ongoing arc, it appears we’re moving in a slightly different direction here with the memory loss impacting our titular characters following their return to their own time at the end of The Final Act in the previous series finale. That’s an intriguing direction and I’m really looking forward to hearing that play out, and it was hinted at very nicely early on with Jago having a dream on the train to Shingle Cove. He was dreaming of the Voyage to Venus and Voyage to the New World events which was fun because they do sound rather ridiculous for Victorian men to experience! The relationship between Jago and Litefoot was brilliant here and it was a rare outing in the series without Ellie featuring. She was a noticeable absentee and it leaves the moment she reunites with Jago and Litefoot to come which will be fun given what happened last series with them meeting her in the future. I thought the Colonel was a little suspicious and with Queen Victoria being absent again at the end of the episode, I’m not convinced he does represent the Crown. That should be fun to hear throughout the series. Camilla Tevelyan was a superb villain and whilst it was clear she would have a prominent role from being on the train, I didn’t immediately suspect her as the villain! But she was brilliant and it was fun for Jago to be somewhat smitten. Her position as owning the docks and the family history of covering up her father’s actions was really good to dig into. He’d actually purchased all of the shingle which resulted in the village collapsing beneath the cliff and she wasn’t exactly showing any remorse for the families impacted. That’s exactly what you want from a villain though and her ability to disappear and have an excuse made her more than suspicious as far as Litefoot was concerned. Isaac Pawley was an intriguing character and the revelation at the end that he was actually a machine and had recorded the devastation of Shingle Cove falling into the sea was excellent! He was one and the same with the fog which was fun and I loved the imagery of the skeletons coming at the end to ensure that Tevelyan would serve justice. The line of daughters suffering the sins of her father was excellent. I thought it was fascinating that Pawley saw the world on a different light spectrum too which meant that the skeletons was how he saw others, hence them being mistaken as the ghosts of the past when it came to the recording of what had happened at Shingle Cove. It was a strong setting but it will be nice for Jago and Litefoot to return to their old stomping ground. I’m longing for them to be back home at the Red Tavern! Jago even remarked on how his pie was good quality but not up to the standards of his faithful institution. This was not what I was expecting from Jago and Litefoot’s return to their own time, but I thoroughly enjoyed it in a unique setting and having them on a mission. The way things ended with even Litefoot now forgetting their ventures with the Doctor to Venus and beyond was brilliant and sets us up very nicely for the series ahead! Overall, a superb series opener.  

Rating: 9/10