The infernal investigators’ latest adventures see them encounter the last people they ever thought they would meet – Henry Gordon Jago & Professor George Litefoot…

David Richardson’s swansong as producer of the Jago & Litefoot line comes out pretty much simultaneously with the 40th anniversary of the characters’ first appearance in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and these four stories act as a fitting testament to Richardson’s time on the line – recreating the past while still embracing new possibilities.

The set begins with Paul Morris’ The Stuff of Nightmares which introduces us to a Time Agent, like the one that Magnus Greel believes the Doctor to be. She’s on the trail of Greel, and doesn’t matter who gets hurt in her quest for information… putting Abi Hayes’ Cara firmly on the wrong side of our heroic pair, particularly when things get out of hand, and they start to experience some very rum visions. Morris seems to be paying homage to Blackadder’s Christmas Carol in places (notably a trial scene at the end) with familiar faces in unfamiliar roles, and leaving our pair stranded in an alternate world.

That’s the crux of Jonathan Barnes’ Chapel of Night, which demonstrates the author’s gift for creating intriguing and flawed female characters. While trying to find out exactly what’s happened to them, our heroes can’t help but get caught up in a mystery, when they encounter Jago’s old friend Toby (played by Jeff Rawle).

Unsurprisingly, they also encounter some even more familiar figures in Matthew Sweet’s How the Other Half Lives, a clever crossover of this world’s Jago and Litefoot and our own, with Lucy Sheen’s Xiu Xiu a fun addition to the mix. It’s a fascinating remix of elements from The Talons of Weng-Chiang that plays so well because as listeners we know what it is that the characters are getting into.

That leads directly into Justin Richards’ finale Too Much Reality that properly introduces this reality’s own Infernal Investigators (as played by David Warner and Jamie Newall, reprising roles from previously in the series), ties up some loose ends – and throws things into further chaos.

Lisa Bowerman’s direction is sharp throughout, but she and sound designer Peter Doggart deserve special praise for the many scenes featuring two versions of Jago and Litefoot where it’s always clear which of the gentlemen is speaking. This is something that derives of course in part from Messrs. Baxter and Benjamin’s performances, but we’ve all heard (and seen) similar stories where things become too confused too quickly.

Verdict: Another enjoyable and clever set of adventures for our infernal investigators. 9/10

Paul Simpson