Theory:Timeline - Paternoster Gang

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This page lists the order of stories featuring the Paternoster Gang, consisting of Vastra, Jenny Flint, and/or Strax. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories.

Timeline[[edit source]]

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Origins[[edit source]]

(Flashback)
Vastra is a tracker and is assigned a life task by the weave during the time the Silurians still ruled the Earth. (AUDIO: Pater Noster)
Vastra goes into stasis.
During the first seven minutes of his life, Strax receives a full education on various subjects, such as the Doctor, through the Sontaran Subliminal Education Matrix.
(NOTE)
In the 1880s, Silurian warrior Vastra is awaken during the construction of an extension of the London Underground, and is convinced not to give into revenge by The Doctor, and instead integrates herself into humanity's culture. (PROSE: Madame Vastra) Against the Doctor's advice, she performs as The Sensational Scaled Siren for Henry Gordon Jago, (COMIC: The Lost Dimension) and also performs in Jago's "Monstre Gathering". (PROSE: Madame Vastra) Jenny Flint is hired as Vastra's maid after she saves her from the Tong of the Black Scorpion, (PROSE: Madame Vastra) with some kind of help from the Doctor. (TV: The Name of the Doctor) Jenny and Vastra eventually start a romance. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War)

1881-1886[[edit source]]

(REFERENCE)
After saving Queen Victoria from a Zygon plot, Vastra gains the title of "Madame" and takes up residence at Paternoster Row (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)
(SEGMENT)
While Vastra is in Egypt, Jenny helps the Doctor defeat a Kraal plot to replace Prince Bertie with an android duplicate in 1881. (PROSE: Madame Vastra)
(SEGMENT)
Vastra and Jenny battled some CyberNeomorphs in Japan's history. (PROSE: Madame Vastra)
Set in 1886. Vastra and Jenny discover an island of quarantined Silurians with the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler.

1888[[edit source]]

Set in 1888, after November due to Vastra killing Jack the Ripper. She and Jenny are then recruited by the Eleventh Doctor to partake in the Battle of Demons Run, alongside Rory Williams, Strax, Dorium Maldovar, and the crew of the Fancy. During the battle, the Headless Monks decapitate Dorium and kill Strax. Strax claims to be nearly 12-years-old.
Two days after A Good Man Goes to War, Vastra and Jenny revive Strax, and invite him to join them in Victorian London, an offer he accepts after some hesitation.
Strax, wearing his standard Sontaran armour, is traveling with the Doctor, going with him to visit Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Following on from Love Thy Neighbor, Strax goes on a "pub crawl" across the universe with the Doctor and Rory.
While the story is claimed to be set during Christmas 1884, Strax is living at 13 Paternoster Row, setting this after A Good Man Goes to War, which took place in 1888. Vastra and Jenny are celebrating their second anniversary as a couple.

1889[[edit source]]

Vastra has a sonic screwdriver, and Strax claims to nearly be 13-years-old, setting this about a year after The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later.
Set in 1889. Vastra, Jenny and Strax encounter the Fourth Doctor.
Despite being set during Christmas 1885, Strax is present, setting this after 1888. Vastra refers to the events of The Red-Eyed League as being the previous Christmas.

1890-1891[[edit source]]

Vastra tricks an alien prankster into cleaning the Thames and removing the smog from the skies of London. The gang, among other Londoners, paddle in the clean waters of the Thames, suggesting a setting in a warmer time of year. Jenny appears quite naïve in the ways of aliens and technology, suggesting a setting early in her adventures with Vastra and Strax.
Vastra uses her sonic hat-pin from Deep Breath. It is suggested that this is set early in their adventures together, as Jenny claims she couldn't beat a squirrel in an arm wrestle and Strax expresses surprise when told that Jenny had saved the day.
Jenny has to remind herself that Strax is unfamiliar with the day-to-day running of Earth businesses, and is also unaware of the word "tank", setting this early in her adventures.
Jenny is surprised when the Weirdling Wood turn out to be haunted, and is also surprised when she learns something new from Strax, setting this early in her adventures.

1892[[edit source]]

The Doctor meets Vastra and Strax as he begins his retirement, setting this before Regeneration Impossible.
(REFERENCE)
On 26 November 1892, Vastra calls the Eleventh Doctor to ask for his help, but he turns her down. (AUDIO: Regeneration Impossible)
Set during winter 1892. After he retires from adventuring, the Paternoster Gang try to rouse the Doctor's spirits, but he continues to mourn the loss of his companions.
Strax is still talking about his Moonite theory, setting this shortly after The Great Detective.
After a case involving identical twins, a poison undetectable to science and an ancient Egyptian curse, Jenny notices it is snowing in the absences of the clouds, setting this shortly before The Snowmen. According to Jenny, Strax is still "new" to dealing with people.
Set during Christmas 1892. While facing down Walter Simeon and the Great Intelligence, the Doctor assists the Paternoster Gang with the aid of Clara Oswin Oswald, but she dies in the process of defeating the Intelligence. However, at Clara's funeral, the Doctor tells Vastra and Jenny that she had died before, and then leaves in his TARDIS.

1893[[edit source]]

Set in 1893. While infiltrating Sweetville, Jenny finds the Doctor in the company of Clara Oswald, an exact double of the deceased Clara Oswin Oswald.
Set in 1893. The events of Strax's "weekend reconnaissance mission" in Yorkshire are relayed in his field report "D004/D".
Set in 1893. Given the space-time co-ordinates to the Doctor's tomb on Trenzalore, the Paternoster Gang are kidnapped by the Great Intelligence, facing the villain for the first time since The Snowmen. After the Intelligence enters the Doctor's time stream, Clara follows to defeat it, scattering herself throughout history, though the Doctor is able to save her.
Vastra and Jenny revisit the events of The Name of the Doctor.
Set in 1893. The events are relayed by Strax in his field report "D006/B".
The events are relayed by Strax in his field report "D0011/C"
Set in 1893. The events are relayed by Strax in his field report "D0013/C".
The Deptford power station has not been running long, setting this during or after 1889, based on real world information. Strax has been taught Cockney rhyming slang by Jenny. Jenny uses her sonic gauntlet from Deep Breath.
Jenny takes Strax for an "afternoon break", a concept he seems unfamiliar with.
3 September was "about three weeks ago". When Strax ages forty-two years, he states that he must be "nearly 60", meaning six or fewer years have passed since A Good Man Goes to War, when he said he was "nearly 12", giving the present date as 1894 at the latest. Strax is clumsily employing his Cockney slang, setting this not long after The Cars That Ate London. The gang visit the Royal Observatory, and Strax initially thinks it a zoo, until Vastra explains to him its function of observing the stars, setting this before The Curious Case of the Miniature Menaces.
(REFERENCE)
After The Adventure of the Naval Treaty is published in October 1893, Strax threatens Arthur Conan Doyle into ceasing his plagiarism of the gang's adventures. Soon afterwards, Doyle killed Sherlock Holmes in The Final Problem. (AUDIO: Whatever Remains)
Set as "the year was drawing to a close". The gang investigate Holmes' Travelling Carnival and Freak Show and make no mention of Jenny's family, suggesting a setting before Family Matters. Jenny is able to pick a lock.

1894[[edit source]]

Set in February 1894. By invitation, the gang visit the Greenwich observatory, and Strax is aware of its function.
Set during spring 1894.
Set Thursday 8 March, giving the possible in-range years as 1888, 1894, and 1900. Jenny uses her Sonic gauntlet, and Vastra uses her Sonic hat-pin from Deep Breath. Vastra says that Jenny is "getting the hang of [investigating]".
Set in the first week of June 1894.
Jenny is surprised when Strax's medical technology heals her ankle almost instantly. Vastra refers to Strax as "old friend", suggesting they have known each other for some time.
Victoria is currently the Queen. The Paternoster Gang meet Thomas Carnacki for the first time.
Set in early September 1894.
Set in the early Autumn of 1894.
Set on 15 November 1894.
Set on 12 December 1894. Vastra believes that the Sontarans have always been the same, setting this before Truth and Bone.
Strax claims to have been studying the way of the Cockney, setting this after The Cars That Ate London. Jenny has her sonic gauntlet. The gang subdue and adopt Marjorie the Sarcosuchus, bringing her home to Paternoster Row and making plans to put her into stasis.

1895[[edit source]]

The setting for Paternoster Investigations is loosely 1895.
The game is set in the status quo of The Paternoster's Guide to London.
Set shortly after Spring-Heeled Jack, with Strax initially preparing to put Marjorie into stasis, before being interrupted. A week later, Vastra reads about Oscar Wilde's new play at the Haymarket Theatre in a newspaper; Wilde plays that premiered at the Haymarket include A Woman of No Importance in April 1893 and An Ideal Husband on 3 January 1895. Jenny reunites with her parents for the first time since she ran away and the gang prepare to place Marjorie in stasis once more.
Set on 14 February 1895. The gang attend the opening of The Importance of Being Ernest at St James's Theatre, and have been friends with Oscar Wilde for several years.
Vastra mentions The Final Problem, setting this after December 1893. Strax recalls visiting Glasgow.
Strax spends some time with Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot. Percival Quick is an inspector, setting this after he first gained that rank in December 1894. [1]
Set on 22 December. Recruited to Scotland by Lucy Davis, Strax becomes involved with Lucy and Oliver Davis' fight against Missy.

1896[[edit source]]

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom resembles Robert Gascoyne-Cecil; in the real world he held this role from 1885-1892 and 1895-1902. Jenny recalls meeting "royalty from centuries past", setting this after The Tudor Engagement, which also suggests the latter term to be concurrent with this story.
Set during early 1896. Vastra offers PR-40 a place at Paternoster Row, at least until the Doctor's next visit, when he can be taken home.

1897[[edit source]]

Set during summer 1897.
Set during autumn 1897.
Jenny uses a sonic probe.
According to Jenny, "a while" has passed since A Photograph to Remember. They meet the Bloomsbury Bunch for the second time, though Vella is absent. Vastra decides to begin collecting relics from her past, and plans to ask Strax to ask his contacts, setting this shortly before Merry Christmas Mr Jago.
Set on Christmas Eve. Jago and Strax are familiar with each other, setting this after The Haunting. Authorial intent sets this the Christmas after Jago & Litefoot Forever. (BFX: Heritage 4)

1898[[edit source]]

Vastra is possessed by the Goddess Anura, leading into Rulers of Earth. As bait, Strax makes a parcel salvaged from Christmas wrapping, setting this shortly after Christmas.
Set a month after The Ghost Writers. Jenny and Strax are in hiding from Anura's agents when they are discovered by Vella.
While guiding a crashing spaceship away from London, Vastra is alerted to a dinosaur appearing in the Thames, leading directly into Deep Breath.
Information displayed by the adverts in the The Times can be used to place this story between January and September 1898. The Paternoster Gang meets the Twelfth Doctor for the first time, and helps him and Clara recover from his thirteenth regeneration.
Set on 13 August 1898. Strax is only familiar with the Eleventh Doctor, Twelfth Doctor and Thirteenth Doctor, and Jenny recalls the Doctor attending her wedding to Vastra, setting this after Till Death Us Do Part. The last Doctor Vastra met was the Twelfth Doctor, and the one before that was the Eleventh Doctor, setting this shortly after Deep Breath.
Strax uses his sonic lorgnette from Deep Breath.

1899[[edit source]]

Set during January. The Paternoster Gang solve a case with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara, setting this after Deep Breath.
Strax adopts a Time Shark, and the pair spend time with the Twelfth Doctor, setting this after Deep Breath.
Vastra meets Winston Churchill in 1899.

2022[[edit source]]

Vastra has been living alone in the sewers of London since Jenny passed away some years before.

Awaiting placement[[edit source]]

These entries are placed here until evidence presents itself that provides a clue as to where they happen in relation to other entries. Some of these are part of ongoing storylines that could present evidence towards the end of the plot.
Strax is non-fatally shrunk by the Spy Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator.
(SEGMENT)
Vastra tells Jenny the story of how the Silurians went into hibernation. (PROSE: The Big Sleep)

Dealing with a Doppelgänger[[edit source]]

Vastra, Jenny and Strax meet the Eighth Doctor for the first time. The Doctor himself is unsure whether he’s met Vastra and Jenny before. Vastra and Jenny have a proper wedding ceremony, although unbeknownst to Vastra, Strax and the Doctor, Jenny has been replaced by a doppelgänger. Miss Faversham has been wearing her wedding dress since 1855, which Jenny claims was "30-odd years ago", setting this no earlier than 1885. Miss Faversham herself states that 35 years have passed since she was jilted at the altar, apparently setting this in 1890. Jenny's parents attend her wedding, setting this after Family Matters.
(FRAMING NARRATIVE)
Vastra and Jenny return from their four hour long honeymoon, setting this directly after Till Death Us Do Part. The Paternoster Gang have never encountered the Rutan Host in the "years" they have been investigating together. Vastra revisits a case file from a previous investigation in 1889. (AUDIO: Anne of a Thousand Light Years) She then revisits another case linking back to her early years before going into hibernation (AUDIO: Pater Noster [+]Loading...["Pater Noster (audio story)"]) and finally a case of a one man crime wave. After which, Jenny escapes from confinement through the sewers and returns to Paternoster Row. (AUDIO: The Gentlemen Thieves [+]Loading...["The Gentlemen Thieves (audio story)"])
Set directly after The Gentlemen Thieves, with Vastra and Strax apprehending Jenny upon her arrival back at Paternoster Row, believing her to be a doppleganger. The doppelgänger poisons Vastra and attempts to kill Jenny and Strax, but manages to flee after being discovered. Vastra resolves that she will have a proper wedding to Jenny having married the doppelgänger in Till Death Us Do Part.
Jenny and Strax take Vastra to the coast to recover from her poisoning, setting this directly after Doppelgangers. The become embroiled in a landlady's plot involving controlling prehistoric jellyfish with a psionic crystal. The jellyfish heal Vastra from the effects of the poison.
Vastra, Jenny and Strax arrive back at Paternoster Row following the events of Jellyfish!. They discover the Second Doctor lodging in their home.

Footnotes[[edit source]]

  1. ↑ As detailed in The Wax Princess.
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