The Haunting

"The only spirits I approve of come in bottles."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: October 2015

Series: Jago & Litefoot & Strax 1.01

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot, Strax

Synopsis

Strax, the Sontaran butler to Victorian investigator Vastra and her wife Jenny, suffers a disorienting attack and mistakes Jago & Litefoot for Jenny and Vastra and moves into Litefoot's home. Together, they are on the trail of a creature that is stealing brains, which may or may not be linked to a haunted house in London...

Verdict

The Haunting was a great story! I love this idea and incredibly I have actually owned this release on the Big Finish app since 2019 when it was the £2.99 monthly book club bargain, but it's taken me until now to get to it because I wanted to ensure I was relevantly caught up with the Jago & Litefoot series. I don't think it really would have hindered my listening if I had listened to this prior to embarking on the spinoff, but the likes of Ellie, Quick and the Red Tavern would not have been familiar stomping grounds. Hearing Strax partake in the tavern was a delight and I love the idea of a crossover between the Paternoster Gang and Jago & Litefoot. Having two separate spinoffs in Victorian London lends itself to making this possible and it just makes sense they would cross paths given what they are engaged in on pretty much a day to day basis! Vastra having a reputation as the Great Detective was lovely to incorporate here and the meeting between the three titular characters was just tremendous. I thought the dynamic was excellent and Litefoot knowing pretty much from the off that Strax was not human was absolutely the right way to go. Across ten series of infernal investigations now they should have an instinct for that kind of thing! I thought when Strax was shot by Mrs Multravers and his perception was altered things took a turn for the comedic best with the Sontaran mistaking Jago and Litefoot for Vastra and Jenny. I hadn't actually read the synopsis prior to listening to the story so that was a fun little surprise. The direction things went from there was marvellous even if they did potentially overdo it in the mistaken identity at times. The idea of role play to get Strax to refer to Jago and Litefoot as themselves was wonderful but Strax's retort of who he was playing was just glorious. They hadn't quite thought it all the way through! I thought the use of a haunted house was really good and makes sense with this being an October release, but we went even further when it came to incorporating brains into the plot! That was really gory and I liked it. Hearing Multravers test her potential candidates with the number sequence and kitchen flooding scenario was good, and Strax's answer to the latter was quite clearly not suitable. He wouldn't go as simple as just turning the taps off, he'd be looking straight for the intruder! I thought the role of the brains was kind of exciting and I appreciated the Halloween and dark feel, although once things took a turn to outer space I think it kind of lost its impact slightly. It was a lovely moment for Jago, Litefoot and Ellie to gaze upon their planet from above, but I think the beauty of this spinoff series is the Victorian London setting. It feels contained in the best way. If things had stayed in Cobblestone I think this might have had an even higher rating! But alas it was still strong but Multravers did feel like she got defeated a little easily considering her positioning throughout most of the audio. Nevertheless, still a really great adventure and a delightful little bonus to the spinoff series. More crossover please! 

Rating: 8/10