Doctor Who review: The Paternoster Gang: Spring-Heeled Jack
By James Aggas
The popular Doctor Who trio The Paternoster Gang investigates mysterious abductions happening in London. Are these the work of the mythical Spring-Heeled Jack?
The third and final episode of Doctor Who audio spin-off box set The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 2 features the team investigating mysterious disappearances. People are being taken from the streets, and some are blaming Spring-Heeled Jack for the crimes. But Spring-Heeled Jack is just a legend. Isn’t he?
We know from the start that whatever’s behind the abductions, it isn’t Jack, or at least, the myth that everyone believes. However, we are left to wonder why these abductions are happening at all. What’s their purpose? And who – or what – is “Spring-Heeled Jack” really?
While the case itself was intriguing enough, what grabbed my attention more with Gemma Arrowsmith’s story was who else was looking into the abductions. Particularly since in this case, it’s definitely not a professional investigator. Gwendoline Platt’s a member of the gutter press, and someone that the gang feels very divided about. While Madame Vastra has a lot of admiration for her, her wife Jenny doesn’t share the same opinion.
(L to R) Catrin Stewart, Dan Starkey and Neve McIntosh star as the Paternoster Gang.
Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions
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Gutter press
Gwendoline’s an interesting character. She makes it clear that she believes she’s doing some good work by covering ongoing cases in the press. This may or may not be true. However, the reasons why she’s covering such cases are far from benevolent ones. She’s less interested in serving the interests of the public and more in getting a good headline. For example, she’s extremely keen to get a good interview from people close to those abducted, completely ignoring any sensitivity that’s required.
Sophie Cotton plays Gwendoline rather well. It would’ve been easy for a character like this to be completely loathsome, and yet Cotton plays Gwendoline with such earnestness that it’s hard not to see some things from her point of view. Her reasons for chasing stories aren’t the best ones, but it’s clear that she genuinely believes she’s doing some good, at least.
As for the story itself, the answers to the mystery are interesting ones. While at first, the abductions appear to be very clear crimes, we eventually find out the motivations for them. These motivations might not be ones we’d necessarily agree with, but they’re far from the motives of a clear villain, either. It’s a distinctly different yet understandable morality, helping to make this episode stand out even more.
Spring-Heeled Jack rounds off the second volume of Heritage 2 rather nicely. But it also features hints that there are greater concerns for the Gang to worry about…
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Do you enjoy stories where the “villains” have more complex motivations, perhaps ones we’d even agree with? Or do you prefer stories with clearly evil antagonists? Let us know in the comments below.