Madame Vastra, Doctor Who

Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) is a female Silurian warrior from prehistoric Earth who was awakened from hibernation in the 19th century when her lair was disturbed during the construction of the London Underground. Initially enraged, she slaughtered five commuters before being pacified by the Doctor. She eventually overcame her race’s hatred of humans and joined London society, later becoming a consulting detective to Scotland Yard. With her wife, the human maid Jenny Flint, Vastra was a recurring character with occasional appearances over the course of the series, assisting the Doctor against various threats while also performing their own investigations with their friend and servant, the alien Strax. After each of their adventures, Jenny, Vastra and Strax also return to life as normal on in the 19th century London house on Paternoster Row, and it was hinted that the adventures of Sherlock Holmes were believed to be based on their exploits, “The Snowmen” (2012)

In the “3 minute special” from 2013’s “Demon’s Run: Two Days Later”, it was revealed Jenny was turned away from her family because of her “preferences in companionship”. According to The Brilliant Book (2012), a behind-the-scenes illustrated guide to Series 6, Jenny was a match girl when she first encountered Madame Vastra. She was being molested by a Chinese gang called the Tongs, and saved from the attackers by Vastra, who took her on as an employee. By Christmas 1892, Jenny and Vastra were married and the pair were not discreet about the nature of their relationship, “Vastra Investigates” (2012). Jenny was committed to Vastra, showing jealousy when Vastra showed interest in others, and further alluded to when the Doctor kissed her after she rescued him and Jenny promptly slapped him while clearly looking uncomfortable at the gesture.

The Doctor was present at their initial meeting, during which Vastra recounts in “The Name of the Doctor” (2013) that he saved Jenny’s life. During that same episode, Jenny was killed on screen while in a dreamscape conference call with Vastra, Clara Oswald, and River Song, when her physical body was killed during an attack and she uttered, “So sorry…so sorry…I think I’ve been murdered!” before fading away. Once awake, the normally composed Silurian openly wept over Jenny’s lifeless body, and threatened to kill her friend and comrade Strax if he could not revive her. Later, after Jenny was revived by River Song, Vastra was quick to physically defend Jenny from further danger. Later, Jenny died in a new timeline without the Doctor, while Strax had forgotten his friendship with Vastra and became aggressive, forcing her to kill him, though Clara reversed these effects by entering the timeline and saving the Doctor wherever he went.

Since their first appearance, Vastra and Jenny became popular characters in fandom, with fans wishing for a spin-off series to be made based on their adventures. Steven Moffat addressed this, saying that he considered making a spin-off when he created the two characters, but wouldn’t have the time, though he said he would like to revisit them. Although no television spinoff has materialized, they have appeared in multiple episodes, minisodes, and received their own short story series in the Doctor Who Adventures magazine called The Paternoster Gang Investigates.

Appearances:

• 10 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart, lesbian, recurring, 8 episodes, wife)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

No male love interests

Relationship story arc with a man: No

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? No

Filter Relationship Arc:

• None

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.