A topic to chat about the Paternoster Gang.
What’s your opinion on them?
Who’s your favourite member?
Have you delved into their off-screen adventures?
Are there any characters you’d like to see them meet?
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To be honest, I remember running into them when I first watched “Deep Breath”, and trying to remember where I’d seen them before that. But I have mentioned before that 11’s era tends to be the one that stuck in my memory the least…
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I wished that they where introduced in a better way. I felt like I had missed something the first time they showed up. They are just there and a friend of the Doctor from the start.
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I’ve always loved them but I’ve always wished they had more character development. I really wish they’d meet a Torchwood One operative from their time who they may have tensions with, too.
Still yet to listen to all their audios though, and I listened to the first one and it was pretty good imo.
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I, in general, do nit care for Victoriana. I find it tiresome and dull. But I do love these three. I’ve listened to all their audios and they aren’t mindblowing but they are consistently fun. I do wish Strax would be allowed more character than he gets sometimes but I adore Jenny ad Vastra
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I like them. I’ve heard a few of the audios, fills that Victoriania gap left by J & L.
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I’ve been considering trying to complete every Paternoster story, but I’m hesitant to because of the quantity (and price) of the audios. Would you recommend them to new listeners?
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I think I would - as I say, they’re nothing astounding but they are pretty consistent by and large. So far, they’re released the sets in a 4x4 format - the first four boxsets are ‘Heritage 1-4’ and I think the second are called ‘Trespassers’ of which only 1-3 have been released so far. I can’t remember that well what happens in Heritage, but I did enjoy it, but if I were to recommend you to pick between them, I think I’d say Trespassers is the stronger set.
I can’t remember if Heritage has a narrative throughline, but Trespassers definitely does, so I’d start at the first set. But if you enjoy the characters, I would recommend the audios because they are a good time
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The Paternoster spin-off was actually my first Big Finish listen ever. I think it’s a great first contact audio for whoever only watched New Who but is interested in the expanded media. I agree they are not mindblowing, but it’s a lot of fun. And that Victorian vibe is just my kind of setting, so there is that too.
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I like all their appearances in TV-Who, and I’ve listened to their Eighth of March release; Inside Every Warrior.
I’m fairly particular about comedy, but the balance between funny and serious is well done. Also, Jenny is an absolute babe.
The chemistry between the actors is excellent. I think it’s what really makes it work.
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I’ve listened to their first season of audios and watched their TV story (plus had extra Vastra in ████████)
I like them, the chemistry as mentioned by @ItsR0b0tNinja is great, but a lot of the time they feel… meh
Their audios are fine but nothing really standout to me, and their initial appearance in A Good Man Goes to War doesn’t really help them much. I like it in hindsight, but I don’t think it works as an introduction, it feels like they’re reintroducing existing characters, not making someone new (not helped by all the other returning characters in that story).
They’re a bit better in The Snowmen, but I think The Crimson Horror is where they really come into their own. Not having The Doctor there for the start of the story lets us get a better feel on them and the types of mysteries they’re usually dealing with, and then they really work for me in Deep Breath. Vastra’s Veil especially.
…and then they kinda just vanished from the small screen. Which is a real shame. I’d’ve loved more of them, I remember there being the suggestion that Twelve’s ‘Home Base’ for series 8 should’ve been theirs, and while it wouldn’t work for the series arc, I do think it’d’ve been nice to see.
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I think one of my problems with the audios is that, despite them being investigators, all three are such action heavy characters.
I’d absolutely love a TV spinoff with them, seeing that action, being able to see the beautiful period clothing and setting, watching the banter between the three. But as an audio spinoff, a lot of that is just so limited which really is just a shame.
I think it also didn’t help that of their first five stories, three of them were somewhat tied to ghosts. Two thirds of the stories on that first set are ghost related. Sure ghost photos, a haunting, and visible specters are different, but they’re still ghost things, and it just made the start of the range feel a bit samey.
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I think on TV they were there just the right amount. I think by their last couple appearances, they started to feel a bit samey, the jokes felt done already. It is interesting that we pick up their story essentially in the middle. We know they owe the Doctor a debt, but don’t know why, when, or anything about it. Might have been cool to have found out what that backstory is (and maybe their expanded stuff touches on that, idk, I’ve only seen the TV stuff). I really like how they were used to facilitate the transition from 11 to 12, giving the audience a bit of something familiar with the extremely different Doctor in comparison to 10 and 11 before him. In the veil scene, Vastra was talking as much to the viewers as she is to Clara which I think is cool.
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I really like the audio series. Not particularly deep but a lot of fun. I think they work really well as a unit but not super interested in them popping up individually.
Would love a crossover with Missy.
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That reminds me of another thing actually
I love that there’s these little ‘pockets of time’ in the doctor who universe that are especially fleshed out, the mid-2000s (well, ~2005-present, but mid 2000s especially), the 70/80s? (that era of UNIT at least), ~1963, and just a lot of the victorian era.
The other two make a lot of sense from a production standpoint, it’s when the shows were airing at a point where the show was especially interested in the ‘modern day’ setting, RTD1/Torchwood/SJA, and a lot of Three’s era especially. The third of course being the creation of Doctor Who, so a lot of stories like to go back there, but then the victorian era has a surprising amount in there (probably for historical reasons)
Jago and Litefoot, The Paternoster Gang, a fair few stories with Missy, the Victorian Torchwood stuff, etc etc
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These points all feel lived-in, yk? Points where N-Space feels alive. I just wish the newer stuff would have that lived-in feel too. Even if that means writers making completely new things with very little connections to the Doctor himself. Kinda like Alan Wake and Control. Same universe (I think) but very much standalone.
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That’s exactly what I was trying to say, and a much better way of saying it lmao
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I love Strax and think he’s hilarious. The relationship between Vastra and Jenny has always made me uncomfortable - nothing to do with the sexuality before anyone jumps to conclusions! Vastra treats Jenny like she is subservient to her which is understandable when they are presenting a front but she treats her like it behind closed doors as well. I’m also not a huge fan of Catrin Stewart’s acting. I find her a bit stilted.
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I agree to an extent - I think they are a little bit toxic because Vastra clearly has all the power in the relationship, regardless of what one may try to argue about Jenny, and Vastra does not always treat her well, but that’s part of what makes it compelling to me. I like the idea that it could very quickly turn messy. What can I say - I’m never satisfied with a happy ending 
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Oh also just remembered, another issue I had with the Patternoster Gang when they were initially introduced:
Strax was the only Sontaran we got for the entirety of Moffat’s era (outside short gags and group shots), and it’s a real shame that the only sontaran we had was played completely for laughs.
Don’t get me wrong, i love to laugh at sontarans, but Strax is definitely a comic character, where in something like War of the Sontarans, we see sontarans being deadly killers as well as comically wanting chocolate.
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