Paternoster Gang

Background Vastra Vastra is a female Silurian warrior from Mesozoic Earth who was awakened from hibernation in the Victorian era when her lair was disturbed during the construction of the London Underground. before being pacified by the Doctor. She eventually overcomes her race's general prejudice of humans and joins London society. She becomes a private detective, consulting for Scotland Yard, and likely inspires the Sherlock Holmes stories. She shows herself to have acquired extremely formidable skills as a hand-to-hand combatant and swordswoman. She is shown in all of her appearances to be entirely comfortable with post-19th century technologies, time travel, and the TARDIS; she is repeatedly seen using technology devices and, in the episode "Deep Breath", wearing and using the Sonic Gauntlet designed for that episode. Strax Commander Strax is a member of an alien warrior race, the Sontarans. Strax was forced to serve as a nurse, healing the injured as punishment Running jokes include Strax's inability to tell the difference between genders and his obsession with using violent tactics. ==Appearances==

Television • "A Good Man Goes to War" (2011) • "The Snowmen" (2012) • "The Crimson Horror" (2013) • "The Name of the Doctor" (2013) • "Deep Breath" (2014) Storylines In their first appearance in "A Good Man Goes to War", the three, along with others who owe him favours, are chosen by the Eleventh Doctor to help him save Amy Pond from Madame Kovarian and the Order of the Headless Monks at Demons Run. Big Finish announced the series, in November 2018, comprising four volumes and produced in association with BBC Studios. List of audios Heritage 1 (2019) Heritage 2 (2019) Heritage 3 (2020) Heritage 4 (2020) Trespassers 1: Rogues Gallery (2023) Trespassers 2: The Casebook of Paternoster Row (2024) Trespassers 3: No Place Like Home (2024) Trespassers 4: Last Stand ==Casting and development==

McIntosh previously appeared in the series portraying two other Silurian female characters, sisters Alaya and Restac, in the two-part story "The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" (2010). Starkey previously played Commander Skorr, one of the Sontarans, in the two-part story re-introducing the species, "The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" (2008). He also portrayed another Sontaran character in "The End of Time" (2009–10) and in between appearances as Strax in "The Name of the Doctor" (2013) and "Deep Breath" (2014), he played two more Sontarans in "The Time of the Doctor" (2013). In November 2013, the long-running children's show Blue Peter announced a competition for fans aged 6–15 to design 'sonic devices' for the characters, with the three winning designs appearing in Series 8. The following month the winning entries were revealed as a Sonic Hatpin, Sonic Gauntlet, and Sonic Lorgnette for Vastra, Jenny, and Strax respectively. The devices were featured in "Deep Breath". but he rejected the idea due to his other commitments. ==Reception==

Critical reception The three characters have met with positive reviews from critics who praised their chemistry, as well as the humour concerning Strax and his Sontaran warrior habits, often at odds with the context. Nick Setchfield of SFX called Strax "just the right side of crowdpleasing." Discussing their first appearance in "A Good Man Goes to War", Dan Martin from The Guardian called the three "the finest thing about it, lighting up the screen with every appearance." He called their return in "The Snowmen" wonderful, calling Strax "scene-stealingly adorable". He also stated "with marriage equality so much on the agenda, the divine Vastra and Jenny can only be a good thing to have on screens at tea time." ==Notes==