Doctor Who fan-favourite characters confirmed for new feature-length adventure released next month

The Whoniverse is seeing the return of a fan favourite in a new feature-length audio-drama – with Silurian detective Madame Vastra off on a new adventure this December.

The Paternoster Gang: The Misplaced World is the latest addition to The Worlds of Doctor Who, a collection of stories created by Big Finish.

Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) is sent on a mission by the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) to catch a time-travelling animal smuggler alongside her human wife Jenny (Catrin Stewart), and Sontaran butler Strax (Dan Starkey).

The trio, dubbed The Paternoster Gang, were first introduced in the main Doctor Who TV series, featuring in 2011 episode A Good Man Goes to War.

But things turn sour when the trio are split up when Jenny is kidnapped, and they’re sent back millions of years to the Silurian era – a time when the reptilian-human race ruled the world, but are fearing the end of their society as humans rise up.

Neve McIntosh as Madame Vastra in Doctor Who: Deep Breath (BBC)

As Vastra has a knowledge of what lies ahead in the future, she’s given the opportunity to change the past, not just for her race but for Earth as a whole.

Things get even more complicated when Jenny runs into Vastra’s former lover, which could get awkward.

Will Vastra break the ultimate cardinal rule of time travel by interfering with set moments in history?

The new story is written by lead cast members Neve McIntosh and Dan Starkey, with Matt Fitton editing the script.

“So we have a new style of Paternoster Gang story – a feature- length, high-concept audio movie. I was keen to swap over that fish-out-of-water element, where we’ve usually got Vastra living in the human world of the 1890s, to have Jenny and Strax meeting Vastra’s world, the Silurian times.

“Dan and Neve have mashed up Conan Doyle’s The Lost World with the big monster movies of the 1970s where you’d have Doug McClure or somebody like him battling stop-motion monsters.”

Paul McGann as the curly-haired Doctor wearing a beige cravat, floral waistcoat and blue velvet jacket. He stands with a pensive look on his face outside the doors of the TARDIS. — Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who BBC

“We have a really nice character journey for Vastra in this one too,” he added. “She’s back in her own time, as the Silurians are going into hibernation, and she’s the one person who knows this cataclysm isn’t quite as bad as her people think it’s going to be – but if she tells them, that could change the course of evolution and possibly stop the human race ever coming about.”

The two-hour long story is now available for pre-order for £13.99 (download to own) or £21.99 (download to own + collector’s edition CD), exclusively at BigFinish.com.

The collector’s edition double CD is strictly limited to 1,000 copies and will not be re-pressed.

The Worlds of Doctor Who – The Paternoster Gang: The Misplaced World is released in December via Big Finish.

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