A friend from the past returns to warn Jago and Litefoot of a threat to the future. Time breaks are appearing in Victorian London, but first Leela must help solve the mystery of the Wet Men – terrifying creatures that are rising from the River Thames…
JAGO & LITEFOOT: DEAD MEN’S TALES
The third series of Jago & Litefoot begins with Justin Richards’ “Dead Men’s Tales,” a story that reintroduces Leela to Victorian London and the “infernal investigators.” Indeed, much of the story is spent examining Leela’s return to the time period – and while this is a “Gallifrey”-era Leela, she’s still surprisingly ignorant of custom and technology. The scenes where Ellie teaches Leela to work as a barmaid, and the ensuing hijinks, are entertaining enough, but they don’t really go anywhere. That’s the problem with the story as a whole: it’s incredibly slight, even for its running time. Leela has traveled to this period in order to find a rip in the fabric of time and repair it, all the while fighting off its unpredictable effects. The first effect, seen in this story, sees zombie sailors rising from the water and marching through London in search of something. And… that’s it! They don’t pose any particular threat, they don’t do much of anything apart from wander around… we don’t even have a sense of what they want until Litefoot throws up his hands and starts talking to them. There’s something there about a young man avoiding his responsibility to return to his rightful time and place, but it’s not discussed significantly until right at the end. “Dead Men’s Tales” is entertaining enough when it features the main characters interacting but there isn’t even a semblance of an interesting story here. The worst J&L story of the first nine.
5/10