Doctor Who: River Song meets Henry Gordon Jago in August 2019!
By James Aggas
In 2019, River Song will meet another iconic figure from Doctor Who: theater impresario Henry Gordon Jago from The Talons of Weng-Chiang!
If you’re a regular follower of Doctor Who Watch, then you will know just how much I love the audio series Jago & Litefoot. A wonderful balance between the macabre and fun adventure, the spin-off lasted for thirteen series, before sadly coming to an end this year after key actor Trevor Baxter passed away in 2017.
However, while we’ll no longer hear Professor George Litefoot, we haven’t heard the last of Henry Gordon Jago. Because next year, he’ll be meeting another professor entirely: the Doctor’s wife, River Song!
We already know that in January 2019, River will be meeting four incarnations of the Master in the fifth series of her own spin-off The Diary of River Song. But Big Finish have just announced that later that same year, in the following series, she’ll also be having adventures set during some of her husband’s most famous stories. One of which will be just before the iconic Fourth Doctor story, The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
The prequel story The Talents of Greel, written by Paul Morris, will feature River investigating what’s happening to some of London’s performers. Eventually, she’s lead to the Palace Theatre, where she meets theater impresario Henry Gordon Jago, as played by original actor Christopher Benjamin.
Next year, Henry Gordon Jago meets Professor River Song in The Diary of River Song: Series Six!
(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Jago before Litefoot
This sounds incredibly exciting. The Talons of Weng-Chiang, where Jago & Litefoot spun-off from and in fact where the two title characters met, has always been one of my favorites. It sounds like Big Finish are trying to make The Talents of Greel as authentic as possible, especially if producer David Richardson’s words are anything to go by.
"We’ve worked hard to authentically recreate the story – think of this as episode zero of The Talons of Weng-Chiang; our guest cast all watched the original before coming to the studio."
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It’ll be fantastic to hear some of the events that lead into such a well-loved story. Plus, I’m really glad that we get to hear more of Jago. Not only will it be exciting to hear his reaction to meeting someone like River Song. (Which I’m sure will include his usual exclamation of “Corks!”)
But having it take place just before Talons also allows a decent explanation of why Litefoot isn’t in the same story. Because while Jago & Litefoot had entirely separate lives before they met in Talons, the spin-off series proved how much that stopped being true afterwards. It’s still going to be strange to hear Jago without Litefoot, but the story should be a good one, at least.
The Diary of River Song: Series Six will be out in August 2019 on CD and download. Other story details will be revealed over the coming weeks, and we’ll be sure to cover them at Doctor Who Watch!
Next. Review: Ravenous 2 (Eighth Doctor audio). dark
Are you a fan of The Talons of Weng-Chiang? Have you listened to the spin-off series Jago & Litefoot? Are you curious about what other iconic Doctor Who stories River will be involved in? Let us know in the comments below.