Global InformationPaternoster Gang information
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| Paternoster Gang Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
 From left to right: Vastra, Strax and Jenny Flint, in the 2012 Christmas episode "The Snowmen".[1] | |
| First appearance | "A Good Man Goes to War" (2011) |
| Last appearance | "Deep Breath" (2014) |
| Portrayed by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species |
|
| Affiliation | Eleventh Doctor Twelfth Doctor |
| Home | Earth (Vastra and Jenny) Sontar (Strax) |
| Home era | Prehistoric (Vastra)[note 1] 19th century (Jenny) 41st century (Strax)[note 2] |
Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax (informally known as the Paternoster Gang, together with the Doctor),[5][6] are a trio of recurring fictional characters in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, created by Steven Moffat and portrayed, respectively, by Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, and Dan Starkey.
The three characters first appear in the sixth series episode "A Good Man Goes to War." Madame Vastra (a Silurian) and Jenny Flint (a human) are a married couple.[5][7][8] In later stories we see them living in London during the Victorian era. Strax, a Sontaran, is seen in his first appearance to be acting as a nurse, caring for wounded soldiers on another planet as penance for a failure. They are all recruited by the Eleventh Doctor to help him rescue Amy Pond. Despite the success of the effort, Strax apparently dies in the battle. He is, however, shown to be awakened by Vastra and Flint a couple of days later, in the webisode "The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later";[9][10] he then became their butler in the 19th century.
Since their first appearance, the trio have appeared various times to help the Doctor, even having a central role in the first half of "The Crimson Horror" (2013). Their last episode was 2014's "Deep Breath", the first episode starring the Twelfth Doctor.
They also have their own spin-off novella, Devil in the Smoke (2012),[11][12] and spin-off novel, Silhouette (2014),[13] and the trio have appeared in several online "minisodes",[6][14] with Strax additionally appearing in a series of "Field Report" videos posted to the Doctor Who website.[15] In 2014, they appeared without the Doctor in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip in the storyline The Crystal Throne (DWM #475–476).[16] Since 2015, an ongoing series of short stories and a comic strip titled Strax and the Time Shark, featuring the three characters, has been a regular feature in Doctor Who Adventures magazine. The three characters became popular with audiences, with the presence of an inter-species same-sex couple also leading to some attention.[17]
- ^ Moffat, Steven (writer); Metzstein, Saul (director) (25 December 2012). "The Snowmen". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One.
- ^ Gatiss, Mark (writer); Metzstein, Saul (director) (4 May 2013). "The Crimson Horror". Doctor Who. Series 7. Episode 11. BBC. BBC One.
- ^ Moffat, Steven (writer); Wheatley, Ben (director) (23 August 2014). "Deep Breath". Doctor Who. Series 8. Episode 1. BBC. BBC One.
- ^ Moffat, Steven (writer); Hoar, Peter (director) (4 June 2011). "A Good Man Goes to War". Doctor Who. Series 6. Episode 7. BBC. BBC One.
- ^ a b "Madame Vastra". Doctor Who website. BBC One. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ a b "Doctor Who Mini Episode". BBC One - Doctor Who, Series 7 Part 1. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "Jenny Flint". Doctor Who website. BBC One. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ Moffat, Steven (writer); Metzstein, Saul (director) (25 December 2012). "The Snowmen". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One.
Dr Simeon: You realise Dr Doyle is almost certainly basing his fantastical tales on your own exploits, with a few choice alterations, of course. I doubt the readers of The Strand Magazine would accept that the Great Detective is, in reality, a woman. And her suspiciously intimate companion. Vastra: I resent the implication of impropriety. We are married.
- ^ "The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later". Doctor Who TV. 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Moffat, Steven (writer) (2013). "The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later". Doctor Who. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ Richards, Justin (18 December 2012). Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke. BBC Books. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ Goss, James; Richards, Justin (24 October 2013). Doctor Who: Summer Falls and Other Stories. BBC Books. ISBN 978-1849907231.
- ^ Richards, Justin (11 September 2014). Silhouette. New Series Adventures. BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84990-772-9.
- ^ "Vastra Investigates – A Christmas Prequel". BBC One - Doctor Who, The Snowmen. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ "Strax Field Report: The Name of the Doctor". BBC. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
- ^ Gray, Scott (w), Collins, Mike, David A Roach (a). "The Crystal Throne" Doctor Who Magazine, no. 475–476 (August – September 2014). Tunbridge Wells: Panini UK Ltd.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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