Rogues Gallery: Symmetry of Death

"Fight your conditioning, not me."

Writer: Dan Starkey

Format: Audio

Released: October 2023

Series: Paternoster Gang 5.02

Featuring: Vastra, Jenny, Strax

Synopsis

Cases are mounting for the Paternoster Gang. Three mysteries call for immediate attention: a murder, a locked room conundrum, and some acts of random vandalism. But is there a connection?

As Jenny goes undercover and Strax stakes out the suspects, Vastra finds an echo of the distant past which could be the key to the solution.

Verdict

Symmetry of Death was another strong episode to continue my way through the Rogues Gallery series of adventures for the Paternoster Gang! This is what I’d describe as a typical story for the trio and it was a really fun one at that. I thought they worked so well together and having them conjure up a list of goings on in Victorian London that required investigation and prioritising based on the threat to human life was fantastic. Of course, the threat of murder would take precedence over a missing person and damage to some London statues, but the first two becoming connected was done very well. Strax being trusted to go and investigate the missing person case alone was quite brave of Vastra if you ask me, but I thought his investigations were rather admirable! The missing person was actually something we heard in action and he was gone from a locked room on the top floor after the porter had shown him in! That was a strong mystery to kick things off. The timing was also intriguing as it fitted in with the murder and given the proximity to Paternoster Row both events had, it was hardly likely to be a coincidence. Vastra and Jenny investigating together was great and I really am a fan of theirs, although I think Jenny could have been featured a bit more in this episode. She’s been relatively quiet in the series so far which is a bit of a shame. Hopefully she stars in the finale! I thought the pace of the episode was strong as the Gang always felt like they were investigating or solving something as more clues pieced themselves together. Strax’s relationship with Crabbe was really strong and the humour that came from him constantly getting the Sontaran’s name wrong was good and didn’t overstay its welcome despite having the potential to do so. Vastra having a psychic connection with an ancient species not too dissimilar to hers was intriguing and the emotion that came from her interactions with Imogen were really strong. The impossibility of Vastra recognising the race that had been conditioned was brilliant and I liked the genuine emotional torment experienced. After so long asleep, it was such a waste for them to be dying. I think this series is taking a similar direction to Heritage as I am yet to find any kind of overlapping arc and I like that. The one in the previous batch of four boxsets was rather loose and I think that works as it doesn’t need to be the focus every episode. We can build in subtler ways. I like having independent stories and it does just work well to have the Paternoster Gang investigating mysterious happenings. I’m interested to see if there will be any aftermath from this story for Vastra after encountering a species close to hers and it’s one she seemed to admire. Vastra’s interaction with Imogen was very good and I liked how she went about in her veil without drawing attention to her Silurian species. Jenny pretending to be a boy was equally fun and the Victorian discussion on male involvement in female inheritance was terrific. Overall, another fun and entertaining episode!

Rating: 8/10