The Trial of George Litefoot

"You're as good as dead."

Writer: George Mann

Format: Audio

Released: September 2013

Series: Jago & Litefoot 6.04

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

Professor Litefoot stands accused of murder, and the court is determined to find him guilty. With fire about to rain down on London, Litefoot's only salvation lies in the most unexpected hands...

Verdict  

The Trial of George Litefoot was a great episode to conclude a stellar sixth series of Jago & Litefoot! I thought this finished off what has been another hugely enjoyable boxset and I really can’t wait for more adventures with the infernal investigators. This followed on immediately where Military Intelligence left off with Litefoot being arrested by Quick for the apparent murder of Jago, but thankfully it soon became clear that Quick was merely going by the book and had no doubts that he wasn’t responsible for the death in the warehouse. I thought it was good that the body found was actually that of Drucker, but it was never really feasible that Jago would actually have been the one who died. Even if I had listened to this on release and wasn’t aware of future series, I’m confident in saying I wouldn’t have thought he was actually dead. What I didn’t see happening though was him disguising himself as the Colonel! That was amusing purely in the fact of it being far from convincing. It did provide humour but it did get a little silly at times, but that’s where Jago does shine. I thought it perhaps went slightly too far when Jago came to be the one who was defending Litefoot in court though. However, the moment where Jago revealed that fact to Litefoot was probably the highlight of the episode. He really oversold it in the most glorious way and whilst it was so obvious who the big reveal was building towards, it was still just majestic. I thought the actual trial itself was entertaining although it was rather predictable that no matter what happened, Litefoot was going to be found guilty and then Jago would reveal himself as not dead at all. The stunned reaction he had when the opposition simply stated that it didn’t change things, merely the identity of the murder victim. Jago would then be charged as a potential accomplice to murder and certainly in contempt of court. His stunned reaction to that was priceless. I thought the plan of the Colonel was rather whacky in him wanting to take out Buckingham Palace in one fatal shot that would wipe out the Royal Family, and with him having it all planned out the ammunition and offerings to the military would ensure he would take his place as Emperor. He was keen on restoring the glory of the British Empire in a rather crazed way and that made him a good villain. Jago being the one to rejig the calculations that would ensure the mechanical device would just shoot up and then wipe out the building was a little far fetched, but it did seem right that he was the one to stop the Colonel. The importance of the Royal Family to Jago and Litefoot was also interesting to explore and they really are patriotic. The involvement of Agatha and Ellie was great too and I liked how we got a brief flashback of how the former dragged Jago to safety after the warehouse incident. Agatha was intending on using her royal influence to pardon Jago and Litefoot, but her death meant that wouldn’t be possible and it would set us up nicely for the next series to come. Litefoot was now a convicted murderer and Jago was his accomplice. And the Queen was out to get them as they were inadvertently blamed for Agatha’s death which had impacted her highness in a big way! Whilst the Colonel was dead, the situation for Jago and Litefoot was rather dire indeed. Quick was able to give them a head start, but now they’re on the run and under new aliases. That’s an exciting premise for the future! Overall, a fine conclusion to a fantastic series.  

Rating: 8/10