Maurice

"I've been dying so long I hardly feel the pain."

Writer: Matthew Sweet

Format: Audio

Released: April 2016

Series: Jago & Litefoot 11.02

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis

As he tightens his grip on Inspector Quick, the Master becomes interested in the young composer Maurice Ravel. For his part, Ravel befriends Professor Litefoot. But is anyone truly who they seem or able to control their own destiny and actions?

When Litefoot goes missing, it's up to Jago to investigate. But the Professor fins himself in a nightmare landscape where reality and fiction seem to have merged. Will he ever manage to escape? And if the real Maurice Ravel is trapped with Litefoot, who exactly is walking the streets of London?

Verdict

Maurice was another very strong episode to continue my way through the eleventh series of Jago & Litefoot! I mentioned in my blog yesterday for Jago & Son that I wasn't expecting much of the Master in this story, but how wrong I was! He made a huge impact at the start and finish of the episode which was magnificent. I think the idea of the decaying incarnation making a home of Victorian London is very intriguing and there are certainly easier ways to get the Doctor's attention! I thought his importance without featuring was unexpected but it certainly makes sense. A large number of the mad plots for the Master involve the Doctor, but I wasn't expecting the clockwork entity to also be focused on the Time Lord. The whole nature of the episode was fascinating and whilst I think doppelgänger or impersonation type plots can be a little confusing on audio, it worked well here with the clockwork take on the voice. It provided something different that could easily be distinguished which isn't always the case in this format. Voices are so important so when the same one is two different versions of a similar character it is difficult to make it work. No such issues here thankfully. I thought the character of Maurice himself was good and certainly interesting. He had a charming personality and quality that made him almost instantly amenable. The fact that he had encountered the Doctor was intriguing and I liked how the Master was obviously intrigued by the watch bearing the Prydonian seal! That was very exciting and I thought we might be delving somewhere into Time Lord lore, but that didn't materialise unfortunately. Litefoot being trapped in that was almost like a Victorian version of the Land of Fiction was really interesting, especially given the fact it was a piece of work he knew well. Hell, he was even quoting from it! Maurice being in there with him was good and the problem of Litefoot going missing was a good way to spring Jago and company into action. I was actually surprised by how useful Sergeant Quick was despite being under the Master's control, and that was something he addressed here. He was basically aware that he was being controlled and that has the potential to become pretty powerful. I enjoyed the threat the Clockwork version of Maurice provided and I don't know what it is, but there's something just so incredibly eery about the sound of ticking clockwork. It works so well as a villain, although hearing the entity in its true form took that factor away a little. I liked that it had been tracking the Master and picked up on his artron energy being left across London, but the rogue Time Lord was so far ahead of the game. The way he seemed to be initially accommodating of the entity was interesting and I almost thought they were going to form an alliance when their shared focus on the Doctor was revealed, but the Master is not one to share. The fact he poisoned the Clockwork figure that was then impersonating Litefoot was glorious. He also got intel on Jago and Litefoot which was marvellous to set up the next episode as he looks to meet up with the Doctor's old acquaintances. That's very exciting and what the ultimate selling point of the series has been really! Overall, another really strong audio to continue the series. Things are getting tasty!

Rating: 8/10