Encore of the Scorchies

"Even puppets can evolve."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: October 2014

Series: Jago & Litefoot 8.01

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis

There's a new act at the New Regency Theatre, and Jago and Litefoot are about to face their grand finale.

Verdict

Encore of the Scorchies was a great start to the eighth series of Jago and Litefoot! I can’t quite believe I’ve made my way to the eighth series already but it’s been a tremendous ride that shows no signs of letting up. After a fun cliffhanger at the end of The Wax Princess with Jago hiring the puppet Scorchies as his latest act, we had a bit of a time jump to start this episode which was good in moving things along. Jago was once again revelling in the riches of a successful act at the New Regency Theatre and he’d gone so far as almost forgetting his closest friends. Litefoot and Ellie visiting the old chum was quite a sad moment as after all they’d been through he seemed to just be ignoring them. It was almost like he’d nearly forgotten them! Of course, this was down to the influence of the Scorchies who I thought were great enemies for the episode. It does appear that this particular series may be a little lighter on an arc which is fine by me as we’ve had considerable continuity and flow across the first seven series of this range. It could be good to take a step back from that. I must admit I was a little trepidatious prior to listening about the musical elements of the adventure. I feared it was going to be a full on musical but that was thankfully not the case. The songs were a little cheesy in parts and let’s not mention names when it comes to some of the bad singing, but Ellie really did steal the show here at the end and I think her musical number alone raised my rating by a mark. Her banter regarding being forgotten was so amusing because as she stated she really is integral to the success of this series. I firmly believe she’s such a key part. Her lines about being immortal because she’s essentially a vampire were fun and her suggestion about getting her own spin-off series was amazing. The inside jab there was fantastic and it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if Big Finish did come out with an Ellie Higson series! It wouldn’t be the first for an original character. Just look at Graceless or Vienna. Nancy Pettigew was a good character that was also under the Scorchies’ influence, but for me the highlights were Mister and Missus. They weren’t seemingly the Overlords, but the evolution of puppets was intriguing to explore! They were aliens and Litefoot’s lack of reaction to that was presented in a really fun way. He was nonplussed. I think Ellie saving the day was a really nice touch and just added to the impact of her song. Jago realising he’d been wrong and under Scorchie influence was good and it was lovely for him to unite once again with Litefoot and Ellie at the end. Jago had lost his act but he’d returned to normal. I do wonder now if Litefoot will have more influence in a future episode as he definitely didn’t feel like he was in the background here. Thankfully, I think one episode with the Scorchies is more than enough as whilst I enjoy them despite my hatred of musicals, I think anything more than this will be an overstay. Overall, a really fun opener! 

Rating: 8/10