It’s New Year’s Eve but there’s no sign of Professor George Litefoot – and Henry Gordon Jago is getting worried about his old friend.

The loss of Trevor Baxter last year was not unexpected, but robbed the Doctor Who world not only of a fine actor but also one of the true gentlemen of the acting profession. Season 14 of Jago & Litefoot was all set to go, picking up on the cliffhanger out of the previous set of adventures… but it was not to be.

Until the realisation that there was a way to honour Trevor Baxter both as a performer and as his character, George Litefoot. Producer David Richardson, director Lisa Bowerman and writer Paul Morris, along with Christopher Benjamin, Conrad Asquith, David Warner and others (whose presence is a nice surprise best not spoiled) have produced this very fitting tribute, that moves the story of the infernal investigators along and celebrates everything that’s been so good about them ever since their first appearance 41 years ago in The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

There was some debate after it was revealed that ‘outtakes’ of Baxter’s performance would feature in the story. Would this be like ‘Peter Cushing’ in Rogue One – something that was, and yet was not, the person we remembered? Rest assured, that’s not the case: we get some glorious flashbacks to past cases but also plenty of new material that works – all tribute to sound designer Howard Carter for the excellent blending. It’s by no means a “didn’t we do well?” story: you may well think that it’s going in a very different direction at one point…

What I didn’t expect was how well this story works as an introduction to Jago & Litefoot for those who don’t know their adventures. Sure, it’s a capstone in some ways, but it’s also a delightful whetting of the appetite. How do the various people from other parts of Doctor Who’s long history fit in? How did they get out of the assorted scrapes that we hear about? I won’t be at all surprised if there’s an interest in the back catalogue as a result of this release.

Verdict: Jago & Litefoot Forever? But of course. Not to be missed. 10/10

Paul Simpson