Doctor Who review: The present collides with the past in Jago & Litefoot: Swan Song

The third episode of Doctor Who spin-off box set Jago & Litefoot: Series 3 is both an unusual and emotional take on a ghost story.

Following on from the dark fairy tale of The Man at the End of the Garden, we get something rather different with Swan Song, the third episode of Jago & Litefoot: Series 3. This is established from the very beginning when, instead of being set in Victorian London – the normal setting for the Doctor Who spin-off – the episode kicks off with a distinctly present-day setting. It’s enough to almost throw the listener off until we eventually find out what’s really going on…

Swan Song is something of a ghost story, although one that’s handled in a rather unusual way. Particularly as it features both ghosts of the past and ghosts of the future – at least, depending on the characters’ perspectives. While we follow the perspectives of Jago, Litefoot, and Leela as they try to save the world, we also follow the perspectives of several scientists conducting time experiments.

That’s another thing that stands out about Swan Song. Normally, when a ghost story is told in Doctor Who, it’s initially left unexplained what’s going on. It’s not until late in the story that we find out that the “ghosts” are the cause of aliens or something going wrong with time. But in this story, we find out very quickly exactly what’s causing it. That doesn’t mean that there’s no mystery at all. Just that John Dorney’s story takes a different approach.

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A heartbreaking story

Oh yes, John Dorney. While he’s recognized as perhaps one of Big Finish’s most prolific writers, it’s interesting to note that this is relatively one of his earliest scripts for the company. Not that you’d notice, of course. At this point, he’d already written the extremely popular story Solitaire, and Swan Song stands out as another great script.

What really makes the story work is how character-focused it is. Alice stands out as a particularly tragic character, which considering that the play Swan Lake plays an important role in this story, seems rather fitting. Abigail Hollick does a great job playing this role, especially when we reach the episode’s extremely heartbreaking ending.

A story filled with emotion and great character exploration, Swan Song is another great episode of Jago & Litefoot. It’s also one that pushes the arc forward in several key ways, providing us with a huge cliffhanger that will leave you eager to listen to Series 3’s final episode…

Have you listened to Swan Song? Do you think it’s a strong episode of Jago & Litefoot? What Doctor Who stories have you enjoyed with a strong tragic element? Let us know in the comments below.