Heritage: Dining with Death

"I did not take the easier path, now you must take yours."

Writer: Dan Starkey

Format: Audio

Released: October 2019

Series: Paternoster Gang 2.01

Featuring: Vastra, Jenny, Strax

Synopsis

When negotiations between two warring alien races are sabotaged, Madame Vastra offers Paternoster Row as neutral ground upon which to continue their diplomacy – and to celebrate the treaty with a feast.

While Strax frets about hosting two species with very different dietary needs, Jenny investigates the dissenters who want to halt the peace process.

But a deadly plot is brewing, and the diners may not survive the cheese course...

Verdict

Dining with Death was a decent story to kick off the second series of Heritage from the Paternoster Gang! I'm delighted that there is another trio of adventures with the brilliant threesome of Vastra, Jenny and Strax and starting off with some peace making was a decent direction to go in. I think it's terrific that Dan Starkey got to write this one and he really did allow Strax to shine without having him overbearing in a lead role. The role of the Sontarans in general here was fun and the revelation that they were actually one of the enemies as part of the peacekeeping. The dinner setting for that was fun and fitted in really well with the Victorian setting of the series and was a good use of exploring the past. That's a big benefit of the series and I'm keen to take that further in the future. Vastra always seems in control of the Paternoster Gang and that was no different here. She was the one chosen to act as a medium for the peace discussions and I loved how she reacted to being thought of as human. She didn't take offence but wanted to point out that she was actually a survivor of a species that ruled the planet over 65 million years ago so she was more than able to speak for the planet! Vastra was terrific in affirming that Earth was protected and if anyone could speak for it then she was certainly well placed after all she has done. Her conversations with Strax were great and I loved the Sontaran's reaction to being told he should play along with being thought of as a human. Well, that was an incredible insult to Strax and his honour as a Sontaran! The moment where Vastra also told him to reveal who he actually was and stuck to his human guise and mentioned the glories of association football was a delight. I thought it was good to have Jenny go off on her own and investigate the gasworks, and it was a stark reminder of Victorian society when she had to pretend to be a man. She wasn't the most convincing in that role, but she embraced it which was brilliant to hear. I thought the story perhaps went a little too long considering the entire basis was a peace discussion, but the dialogue was still pretty strong and never bored. The Flambo family were an amusing bunch and it was just nice for the Paternoster Gang to be interacting with some aliens rather than typical Victorians. That was a good change of pace and something I admire from the story direction. The ending could have benefitted from a slight injection of excitement or pace, but it was clear that peace was never going to be achieved as initially intended. Strax was humorous here as he was throughout, and he never seemed like somebody that was going to embrace peace. His highlighting of Rutan technology was a great moment too. Overall though, this had a very solid story at its heart and I think it just went a bit longer than required, but it was still a good start to the second series!

Rating: 7/10