Given that it’s the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who this year, I’d been rewatching the show from 2005 onwards – and I became rather fond, once more, of The Paternoster Gang.

Having made multiple appearances during the Eleventh Doctor’s era on Doctor Who – as well as their final, and only appearance, in the first episode featuring Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor – The Paternoster Gang swiftly became fan favourites.

So, who exactly are The Paternoster Gang?

Living in Victorian England, The Paternoster Gang are Silurian Madame Vastra, her maid (also: wife) Jenny Flint and their butler, the Sontaran ex-soldier Strax.

Their appeal lies in the chemistry they have together, as well as their appealing dynamic as a sort-of family. Given the social situation of the time, both Vastra’s reptilian appearance and her real relationship with Jenny are kept hidden, whereas the short, potato-headed Strax makes little attempt to hide his appearance.

Vastra has the role of a pseudo-Sherlock Holmes style detective, with Jenny being the member of the household who often kicks the most arse in terms of getting stuck into fights when necessary (though neither Vastra nor Strax are slouches in this regard, when the situation calls for it). Strax is the often confused (and very direct) servant of the household – who provides the always incredibly amusing comic relief.

They’re a great set of characters, whose setting and interactions with other characters always prove entertaining.

It’s a mystery at this stage why they haven’t appeared since the 2014 Doctor Who TV episode Deep Breath, but thankfully Big Finish – who’ve been producing Doctor Who audiobooks and full cast dramas since the late 90s – have stepped in to give the fans what they want, albeit in audio form.

Of course, with the constraints of special effects budgets removed when it comes to audio (sound effects aside), it does mean that these stories can go to some more unusual places than you may expect from a Doctor Who spin off.

Heritage 1 is the first set of stories in a series of four overall releases, making up the first ‘season’ of dramas featuring The Paternoster Gang. Three stories are included on the discs – or download, depending on which you opt for – and they’re all really fun, wonderfully playing into the strengths of the main cast and their characters.

First up is The Cars That Ate London, in which electric cars arrive on the streets of Victorian London – and we soon find out that there’s more to these carriages than meets the eye.

Next, A Photograph to Remember sees the strangely Victorian practice of photographing the dead having a strange effect on the recently deceased – with them returning to life not quite as themselves. Not only that, but another group very similar to our protagonists – with another Silurian, human and Sontaran comprising the members of The Bloomsbury Bunch – are also introduced.

Lastly, The Ghosts of Greenwich sees a mysterious cloaked figure on the streets of the London district, amidst ghosts of still living people – and others aging rapidly, with the mystery pointing towards the Meridian Line and the Royal Observatory.

All three stories do an absolutely fantastic job of making use of our favourite characters. Strax, as is typical, gets a huge amount of mileage from his hilarious, fish out of water interactions with other characters, but Vastra and Jenny get plenty of opportunities to shine in their respective roles in each story.

In fact, actresses Neve McIntosh and Catrin Stewart (Vastra and Jenny respectively) and actor Dan Starkey (Strax) fit so comfortably into their roles once more that it feels like they’ve never been away at all.

Obviously, for casual fans, this is a reasonably deep cut in terms of its focus on what could be seen a trio of relatively minor characters; however, for fans of the show who want more of The Paternoster Gang, it’s a bit of a dream come true. It’s also worth noting that very few casual fans are likely to go seeking out audio dramas anyway, so perhaps that’s a moot point.

Plus, this first season obviously did well – because a second season of stories has just begun. So hopefully, there’s plenty more to come from our mismatched, found family for many years to come.

You can buy The Paternoster Gang: Heritage 1 directly from Big Finish here.

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