The Night of 1000 Stars

"It smothers them in their bad memories."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: April 2014

Series: Jago & Litefoot 7.02

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot, Leela

Synopsis 

Leela is back! 

With a murderous beast on the loose, Jago, Litefoot, Ellie and Leela are trapped in Baker Street.

There is a story to tell, and the four of them put on a show for each other. Their pasts will be unfolded, secrets will be told...

And the last act will be a killer.

Verdict 

The Night of 1000 Stars was an excellent story to continue my way through the seventh series of Jago and Litefoot! This is such a strong spinoff and I liked how the story arc of Jago and Litefoot being on the run wasn’t so prominent here and allowed for a more traditional episode from the range. It was alluded to and there was actually a really helpful summary of their recent events over the last couple of series to lead to them being in hiding, but this just felt pure. The quartet of Jago, Litefoot, Ellie and the returning Leela was an absolute delight and it’s rather brilliant that there weren’t any other characters. It worked fantastically well as a four-hander and just hearing them have those conversations was terrific. It growing into accusations and even a physical fight at one point was superb. I think it’s wonderful that Leela returned and referencing her life on Gallifrey was done in a very emotional way. What could she possibly have to be sad about when her husband was dead and she lived amongst people who regarded her as nothing more than a pet? That was a powerful moment as she appealed to Jago after he said she was the saddest. Her reaction to being referred to as a dog face when Jago announced her act was amusing and I thought that format was wonderful. Jago revelled in his theatre background and put on quite a performance as each of the characters talked through their story of remorse. This obviously provided some strong emotions and all of the stories linking back to the moments that they grew up was poignant. Talking of Leela’s first kill in her tribe was terrific and whilst her dad was proud of the woman she’d become, Leela was sad now about it being the last day of her childhood. Litefoot’s story of Elizabeth and how she died on his operating table was extremely powerful and that was really heightened by his recounting of having to tell her partner. From that point forward Litefoot would only work on the dead which was an important part of his background. I wasn’t expecting that! Jago’s story of how he was rejected was a little less strong which was needed but I did like Ellie reflecting on a bad encounter with a former partner. Leela seeing that as a mate was amusing and Ellie didn’t take too kindly to that description! The lantern showing each of them these encounters in the photo was good and just the concept of it being alive was a lot of fun. The atmosphere in the episode was sublime and really did feel like it was on a cold Victorian night. I was really impressed with that gritty feel. Jago using his theatre knowledge to see what he did in the act of Leela was brilliant and a fine use of his knowledge. He didn’t take too kindly to Ellie’s surprising flurry of magic tricks, but he knew when something was being cranked and that’s what happened with Remorse. She wasn’t Leela at all, it was all an act! I thought that was very good and if one of them was going to be the creature it had to be her given her position out of time and space. The combination of the singing between Jago, Litefoot and Ellie to shun her away was a jovial moment that was really nice to hear. Overall, a fantastic listen!

Rating: 9/10