Doctor Who review: River Song meets the iconic Henry Gordon Jago in The Talents of Greel

The last episode of The Diary of River Song: Series Six sees River travel to Victorian London, in a special prequel to one of Doctor Who’s most popular stories.

Out of all the episodes in the sixth series of The Diary of River Song, I must admit, The Talents of Greel was the one that I was most excited about. Not just because it was a clear prequel to The Talons of Weng-Chiang, one of my favorite stories from Doctor Who. But also because River meets one of my favorite characters: theater impresario Henry Gordon Jago.

It’s always a delight to hear Christopher Benjamin as Jago. Not just for me, but for many other listeners, as the sheer success of spin-off series Jago & Litefoot proved. He and Trevor Baxter were always fantastic to listen to as the titular duo.

However, after Baxter sadly passed away in 2017, it didn’t seem likely that we’d hear Jago ever again. While we got one last special to round the series off with Jago & Litefoot Forever, it was clear that it wouldn’t be the same without Baxter.

However, that’s what makes The Talents of Greel work. Because its set before Talons, and as a result, gives us a significant glimpse of Jago’s life before he meets Litefoot, or even the Doctor. But he’s not entirely on his own, as River Song has also arrived in London to help. And Jago will need all the help he can get, as a great evil stalks the streets…

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Magnus Greel

As it turns out, Henry Gordon Jago is not the only major character from The Talons of Weng-Chiang to appear in this prequel. Major villains Li H’Sen Chang and Magnus Greel also feature. Neither played by their original actors, but both Nicholas Goh and Angus Wright give great performances, respectively.

In fact, in the latter example, this isn’t the first time Wright has played the role. In 2012, he played an even earlier version of Greel in The Butcher of Brisbane. This was a very different story to both Talents and Talons, and gave an interesting look at who Greel was before his disastrous time experiment. This version of Greel was considerably less monstrous than the one we met in Talons.

So the fact that Wright now gets to play something closer to how we originally saw him is rewarding to hear. Make no mistake, Greel is a real monster in this story, and Wright plays that side of him brilliantly.

A worthy tribute

Li H’Sen Chang is a little different. While Robert Holmes originally created the character as a kind of pastiche to Fu Manchu movies (and yes, the original actor was definitely Caucasian), writer Paul Morris has wisely decided to add to Holmes’s character. There are sides to Chang that we didn’t see before in Talons, and while the character we get in Talents still feels reasonably authentic to the character that Holmes created, it’s also a deeper portrayal that we’re given, too.

Paul Morris has written a very solid story here. Writing a prequel to a story as greatly loved as The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a huge task, but he’s handled it brilliantly. While it’s fun to hear River in Victorian London (especially when we get to hear her sing), in this particular instance, it’s honestly just great to revisit the world of such a fantastic story. A strong episode to end this box set of adventures on.

Are you a fan of The Talons of Weng-Chiang? Have you listened to the spin-off series Jago & Litefoot? Do you think it’s worth exploring the world of Talons more? Let us know in the comments below.