They call him The Pugilist.
It is the dawn of a new century and a vigilante is on the loose. The scourge of the criminal underclass. The saviour of the virtuous and the protector of the weak. The police are baffled, the public enamoured… but Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago are on the case. Or at least they will be when they’ve finished their beer.
What is the source of The Pugilist’s spectacular supernatural powers? Is he alone in his noble quest? And what is his connection to the spate of corpses discovered around London?
As they descend further into a nefarious netherworld, the infernal investigators may be out of their depth. They’re going to need help if they’re to get out of this alive. The help of an old friend and his new assistant. The help… of the Doctor and Romana.
THE JUSTICE OF JALXAR
After the success of the Companion Chronicle “The Mahogany Murderers,” Big Finish retained Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter to play popular characters Jago and Litefoot in a series of spinoff adventures. So, with the advent of the Fourth Doctor Adventures, and especially given their unapologetically nostalgic slant, it was only a matter of time before the fourth Doctor was reunited with his old friends from “The Talons of Weng-Chiang.” The result, John Dorney’s “The Justice of Jalxar,” is a success – it’s entertaining and fun, though it’s yet another example in this series of an inconsequential story.
The setup is simple: it’s Victorian London, and a masked vigilante known as the Pugilist is eliminating criminals from the streets using apparent supernatural powers. The Doctor and Romana partner up with Jago and Litefoot to investigate, discovering the alien technology behind the Pugilist’s abilities and trying to stop it before events grow out of control. The story revolves around the fairly common sci-fi theme of a person discovering advanced technology and rapidly losing control of it as they attempt to bend it to their own misguided uses. Nothing about the story surprises: the Pugilist is able to achieve his goal, but then his creation turns on him and inflicts unwanted tragedy. If anything is surprising it’s how little influence the principal characters actually have: the Doctor’s attempts to sabotage the Pugilist’s plans don’t really work until it’s too late and the other three don’t accomplish anything at all.
The performances are excellent across the board. Tom Baker certainly seems energized to be working with Benjamin and Baxter, and the “infernal investigators” sound wonderful together, especially to someone like me who hasn’t heard any of their spinoff work. I love how Dorney writes Romana, and Mary Tamm’s performance – she’s not taking any of the threats against her particularly seriously, and she also demonstrates why she’s right to disregard them. The problem, though, is with the structure of the story. It’s billed as a glorious reunion for the Doctor, Jago, and Litefoot, and while the characters certainly are reunited (often in hilarious fashion) the guest stars are marginalized by necessity. The Doctor and Romana are super-intelligent aliens from a highly advanced civilization who naturally outshine Jago and Litefoot at every opportunity. Benjamin and Baxter are thus reduced to spectators – Litefoot does little more than react incredulously to the nature of the threat while Jago mostly exclaims “Corks!” like a broken record. This is another example of the Fourth Doctor Adventures trading so heavily on nostalgia; someone coming relatively fresh to this story would have no idea why Jago and Litefoot are beloved or even significant characters.
But that shouldn’t detract from how enjoyable the story is. Dorney writes a tight, entertaining script that never drags and keeps a smile on the listener’s face throughout. The cast is clearly having a ball and their enthusiasm is infectious. While the story may be somewhat predictable, it is carried off with incredible flair that helps the clichés pass more easily. Ken Bentley’s direction complements the script expertly, while Howard Carter’s sound design neatly combines the Victorian era with future technology and an effective, unobtrusive score. Overall, “The Justice of Jalxar” is a success. It’s a shame that, after 10 releases, only one has even slightly pushed at the boundaries of the format, but that’s not the fault of “Jalxar” which is well worth hearing.
Recommended.
7/10