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?

The Fourth Doctor Adventures take a detour of sorts, with the struggles against the Laan and the Conglomerate finished for a time, and reunite The Doctor with one of the more memorable guest characters of the Tom Baker years: Jago and Litefoot!  Since their introduction in the classic serial “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”, Jago and Litefoot have enjoyed a long spinoff series of audiodramas for Big Finish.

As nostalgic reunions go, this is about as obvious as it gets.  The Doctor’s companion Leela (Romana’s immediate predecessor, in fact) has been featured in the “Jago and Litefoot” productions, but this is the first time since Tom Baker’s return to the role for Big Finish that they have been in the same story with The Doctor.  For all that, this is as much Romana’s story as it is a reunion spectacle, and when The Doctor does take a central role in the resolution of the story, there is a nice bit of resonance between his guilt and what we have seen in later incarnations (particularly the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors).

Mary Tamm’s version of Romana was involved in the season-long “Key to Time” saga, so there was never much chance for her to spend time on Earth in the classic Doctor Who manner.  While this is not too far from the time period of “The Auntie Matter”, the humor works far better.  Jago and Litefoot have a firmly established banter at this point, and the writing is confident with its tone and approach.  Jago is smitten with Romana, and expresses as much with his trademark penchant for alliteration.

The story itself is very much a traditional Who staple: alien technology has arrived on Earth and it is up to The Doctor and his companions to figure it out and prevent unnecessary (further) loss of life.  What I particularly appreciate is the avoidance of the obvious: this is not in any way a direct follow-up to “Talons”.  Simply having the characters reunite was more than enough; trying to cram adherence to specific bits of continuity would have been a nightmare.

I was a little worried that this story would turn out to be a little precious, but on the whole, it was simply another solid Fourth Doctor adventure.  It’s a real shame that Mary Tamm passed soon after the completion of this “season”, because I feel as though this pairing never quite got the opportunity to explore the full range of stories that could be told with this incarnation of Romana.  With three stories still left in the season, though, productions like this keep me invested and appreciative of what we do have.

Released: April 2013
Price: $8.99 (download version)
Acquisition method: Big Finish website