The Paternoster Gang: Heritage Three

 

The Paternoster Gang Heritage Three

Never have I seen such an abrupt change in what a series is indeed about. Heritage Three suddenly feels like the opening to such a different series that I find it hard to quantify. After two sets of what were essentially six episodes of the week, and only one of them with even the inclination that a sequel may be coming down the line, suddenly Heritage Three is a set that majorly concerns itself with - what is probably at the last minute - setting up an arc and doing the character driven stuff that the series should have been doing all along. It's such an immediate sort of reaction that well, to the audience, can be immensely jarring. I've never been more shocked at any reveal in any Big Finish series than the offhand remarks at the start of Family Matters actually carrying on threads from Spring-Heeled Jack. It's so antithetical to what this series has been until now, episodes that while decent, felt ultimately irrelevant, to big bombastic character driven and frankly excellent drama that moves the series forward in a fascinating way. It begs the question of why this series spent two boxsets doing, with The Screaming Ceiling aside, completely irrelevant tales when this shows, that not only they had this in mind all along and were capable of doing so from the start. It's wonderful they're doing this at all, but the skeptic in me questions whether if it's too little too late - having a story like Family Matters or Whatever Remains positioned in frankly any spot in set 1 or 2 would have done wonders to persuade me that the series had any idea as to what it was doing in the future. It's so odd to have The Paternoster Gang... I repeat, The Paternoster Gang (!) doing actual plot, arcs, nice character stuff, and all of this in a boxset that has a distinct theme and through line with how it connects to our three regulars. Suddenly this series has a point. And well, to be frank, it's telling how much they screwed the pooch with the first two sets when for this one it's so shocking.

Family Matters by Lisa McMullin

As said, there's that bit in the start of Family Matters that starts where Spring Heeled Jack left off, and that moment sets the tone excellently for what is to come. Family Matters is a fucking character piece. With continuity references to what has come before. Forgive me as I pause for breath, because as I've already said, it's just, so damn shocking. Less shocking is Lisa McMullin bringing her A-Game to these characters. While McMullin doesn't always create astonishing classics, there is something to be said for her, because it's never for lack of trying. And this episode is just really lovely, because it's just focused on simple character conflict. There's very little to do with alien plots to take over the world - oh, at the very least, aliens do figure, but the point of it is all about Jenny and her relationship with both Vastra and her relationship with her family. The story very cleverly makes this character relationship, which is what the story was always going to be deep down about, at the center of the plot. By making Vastra face Jenny's Parents barbarity first-hand in the circus, and using Jenny's parents as analogous to Vastra's views on Humans, it makes the conflict more than subtext, and much more interesting than thinly veiled barbs at a Dinner table. This is a different kind of Meet the In-Laws story. Family Matters, to be plain and frank, is just immensely clever in that regard, and while it didn't always engross me fully, I do have nothing but ardent respect for it. It's always remarkable to make character drama physical in the setting itself, which this story does immensely well. And beyond all of this surprisingly deep character stuff, the story manages to set up a prophecy and make what could just be a "family episode" utterly integral. Miles ahead of most Paternoster Gang episodes, frankly speaking. While it doesn't click completely for me, I love everything that it's trying to do. 8/10

Whatever Remains by Robert Valentine

Ridiculously, Magnificently Good, Whatever Remains is yet another surprise - I thought that we would get at least another standalone after Family Matters did plot stuff, but haha no, this one is the most relevant to what's going on in the series yet and is next to perfect from whichever direction I'd care to look. Not only is this story one of the first in the series to genuinely feel Victorian in atmosphere and tone, against all odds it comes up with something new to do with Silurians. We all at least appreciate the Silurians, at least I think, but there's always been the criticism that there's only one Silurian story. Whatever Remains directly bashes that idea in with a hammer, because OF COURSE there are other ideas you can come up with that involve ancient reptilians who have lived on our planet for millennia. By delving into the Silurian Mythology, it not only sets up a wonderfully foreboding arc but makes the atmosphere palpable - the story of course, takes influence from Hound of the Baskervilles and the Holmes canon by actually having our detectives do detective work, as well as a cheeky nod to it in universe, but it also has an enthralling energy to it - exploring a Silurian Tomb is treated like something out of Indiana Jones. The whole piece feels new, and adventurous, and this is the kind of episode that I like from the trio. Whereas the Screaming Ceiling was good because of Carnacki, this is the first episode in the series where I can really see why this series worked. Why has the series not before or since used detective elements? It works wonders. The whole thing, the atmosphere, the energy to it, and the foreboding arc is flawless. The performances are brilliant, particularly our trio and also Annette Badland who takes on two completely different and equally wonderful characters in a dual role. Quite frankly, this is magnificent stuff, and It's hard to find much in terms of criticism - why wasn't the whole series like this? 10/10 

Truth and Bone by Roy Gill

Truth and Bone is monumental, a Russell T Davies style finale with a whole lot of flair to it, and ultimately, the main word that I would use to summarize it, is honestly? Intense. The whole episode, while not dealing with much in terms of interesting concepts, is frankly nothing but gripping. While the first episode was clearly Jenny's, and the second, clearly Vastra's, this one should technically be focusing almost exclusively on Strax (at least, that was the intention), but he rather shares the spotlight instead of that. More of an ensemble piece, It's very character focused and involves the return of Stonn and Tom Foster. And frankly, Stonn and Tom, were characters that I found initially underwhelming, and frankly ridiculous, that a relationship between a Sontaran and a human could even happen, but this episode honestly sold me on it - Stonn and Tom's actors have a real chemistry in this one, and while I wasn't sold with them as antagonists, they work wonderfully as allies. The episode initially focuses on Strax and Stonn being conscripted back into Sontaran Military service by an arriving troop of Sontarans, and how utterly overwhelmed the characters are by the Sontaran's sheer power. From there, it sets up a truly shocking and intense level of escalation to the plot, and I don't want to ruin the conclusion, but the ending of the episode leaves the threads open in Heritage Four for a threat of ludicrous impact - I can't imagine how the Gang could possibly deal with something that like this in the future, it's mindboggling, and that's exactly the kind of thing you want for a cliffhanger. The whole thing is just really an intense and gripping episode that moves the arc further in a great direction, but I don't think I can give it an immensely high score, it's just really good character work stuff and, well, more of that brilliant, brilliant foreboding feeling from the previous two episodes. This episode really works well in that element - some of the events really shocked me. The thing about Truth and Bone is it makes you feel shit went down in it, and that as the series goes on, more shit will go down. That's the best way to describe it, while it's far lesser than Whatever Remains, as most things are, it does leave me VERY excited for the future. Which still feels so odd - I'm still used to this series being the exact opposite of this. 8/10 

Heritage Three, if you can't tell, is a damn brilliant set. It's very good stuff, and really, I would recommend it to pretty much anyone. Except that you'd probably have to grab Heritage One. Because this set delves in pretty heavily on Heritage One - weirdly Heritage Two is still fairly irrelevant, and to be honest, Heritage One is by far the series' worst outing - the more I look back on episodes like The Ghosts of Greenwich the more I feel disappointed. And most people aren't able to just do the one episode of Heritage 1 that matters and then this one, most people will be like, "oh but I have to do the complete series," and so that makes this set nigh on impossible to recommend. Yes, it's very good, it's really, good, I don't have much in terms of criticism at this point in the game. But is it worth a buy in price of, well, the previous two sets are 25 dollars each? In addition to this one? I'm almost leaning towards no. Let's see where the series goes from here in Heritage Four, and I'll be back to you. I'm at the moment, cautiously optimistic - because as good as these episodes are, there are plenty of ways the series can still foul it up.