The Year of the Bat

"Letters that could only have come from the future."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: October 2015

Series: Jago & Litefoot 10.02

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis

When a strange package is delivered to Professor Litefoot, he has no idea of the far-reaching implications. Soon Litefoot and Jago find themselves enmeshed in a series of event that began thirty years ago – events their younger selves have already been caught up in...

Verdict

The Year of the Bat was another good episode to continue my way through the tenth series of Jago & Litefoot! I appreciated the unique nature of this episode and with the series (mostly) contained to the Victorian era, there really is only so much that can happen in one time and region. But this was altogether different and I liked that there was explanation of involvement from the Doctor. The pair of Jago and Litefoot are mostly familiar with the Fourth and Sixth Doctors, but it seems to be the incarnation in between that supplied the yesterday box to Litefoot here in some fine The Haunting of Thomas Brewster continuity. It worked really well. I thought the concept behind the box was really intriguing and whilst a little more on its origins and true purpose would have been beneficial, playing with time travel in a unique way as was done here was marvellous. The possibility of being able to write a letter to your past self of thirty years ago was fascinating and became actually enthralling. I do think it was perhaps a little overdone by the end when Ellie got involved to provide a safety net to what was happening, but that didn't make it any less fun. The whole format of the episode was a bit weird and I wasn't hugely a fan of the way in which we jumped from present day to thirty years of the past. Now, I appreciate that this is an audio format and it would be incredibly difficult for the actor to showcase a younger voice, but I was not a fan of the younger versions of Jago and Litefoot being played by new actors. They didn't sound authentic or event remotely close in my opinion which was a shame and really did take me out of the episode for some moments. I liked the dialogue and it was fun to catch up on both of their histories, but the choice of actors was left wanting. It just felt strange and sadly not that authentic. I did think it was fun that the pair inadvertently made themselves meet much earlier than they were aware of doing so and the prospect of that altering the events of The Talons of Weng-Chiang was delightful! Imagine if things went different there with the scale of threats on offer. That wouldn't go down well and I don't think the Doctor would be best pleased! Lilith Lovett as the figurehead of the sisterhood was a fun character although I do think things got a little silly with the nannies. I mean, Jago plays it so well and he is the right kind of ridiculous personality for that kind of threat, but it was a little difficult to take seriously at times. The scale of the story across thirty year was exciting and the manipulation of events through letters felt a little bit unbelievable but then you remember it's the Victorian era and that kind of communication was all they had! It's fascinating to look back on eras like this that are relatively close to us yet so far removed technologically. And the bats! I thought they would be given more importance given the name of the episode but it felt a bit for show. It was still entertaining though. It was also a nice touch for Litefoot to remember running into Quick's father as part of the police force. But would they really have such strong recollection of events thirty years ago? That's an awfully long time. Overall though, still a strong episode to keep the series rolling! 

Rating: 7/10