Jenny Flint
Jenny Flint
Species:
Job:
Affiliated with:
Place of origin:
Mother:
Father:
Sister:
Brother:
Spouse:
Pet:
First appearance:
Appearances:
Main TV actor:
Memorable moment
Alternate counterparts of
Jenny Flint
Jenny Flint
Sherlock Holmes
byArthur Conan Doyle
byArthur Conan Doyle
Characters
Elements
Stories
Publishers
Adaptations
Inspirations
Some categorisation may be based upon conjecture.
Real world information should not enter into this.
Real world information should not enter into this.
Jennifer Flint-Vastra (néeScarrity), more commonly known asJenny Flint, was thehumanmaid andwife ofMadame Vastra. Operating fromLondon in the late19th century, the two performed a variety of investigations alongside their butlerStrax, forming the so-calledPaternoster Gang. They were also friends and allies ofthe Doctor, who had saved Jenny's life during her and Vastra's first meeting.
Biography[[edit] |[edit source]]
Early life[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jennifer "Jenny" Scarrity (AUDIO:Family Matters;PROSE:A Perfect Christmas) was born toAlbert andMiriam Scarrity and had two siblings:Dorothy andBarty. (AUDIO:Family Matters) She had family inMillwall (AUDIO:The Cars That Ate London!) and knew little of her lineage, assuming that her ancestors weremudlarks. (AUDIO:Rulers of Earth)
Jenny was a young girl when she first heard stories aboutSpring-heeled Jack (AUDIO:Spring-Heeled Jack) and once spent ahalfpenny to see amermaid at thefayre and was disappointed to find that it was a dried-upmonkey tied together with aseal's tail. (AUDIO:A Photograph to Remember)
Ostracised by her family due to her "preferences in companionship" (WC:The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later) and having a strong disapproval for her parents'freakshow, Jenny ran away from home and changed her surname to "Flint", so chosen because she believed that she had to be "hard like flint" to survive on her own. (AUDIO:Family Matters)
Jenny spent much of her childhood in amatch factory (PROSE:Assassin on the Railroads) after running away from her family. (AUDIO:Family Matters) She would sell matcheson the street. (PROSE:Madame Vastra)
Relationship with Vastra[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jenny metVastra and was employed as hermaid, (TV:The Name of the Doctor) helping Jenny out when nobody else would. (AUDIO:A Photograph to Remember) According to one account, Vastra encountered Jenny who was being molested by aChinese gang — known asTongs. Knowing that the gang intended to drag her off as some sort of "mating ritual", she killed the gang and brought Jenny to her apartment inCheapside, and Vastra looked after Jenny, for her protection. (PROSE:Madame Vastra) According to another account,the Doctor saved Jenny's life when she and Vastra first met. (TV:The Name of the Doctor) The two fell in love, Vastra having previously not been fond of human society. (WC:Vastra Investigates: A Christmas Prequel)
Living inLondon, Jenny and Vastra solvedcrimes and protected theBritish Empire, doing a lot of running and wearing "spectacular dresses" whilst doing so. (WC:The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later) In1881, Jenny helped the Doctor defeat theKraals, who had been plotting to replacePrince Bertie with anandroid duplicate. At the time, Vastra was inEgypt. Jenny and Vastra also battled a pair ofCyberNeomorphs inJapan. (PROSE:Madame Vastra)
According to one account, Jenny and Vastra married onChristmas1882. However, this account hadStrax present for their two-year anniversary, placing the year of their wedding no earlier than1886. (PROSE:The Red-Eyed League) The Doctor was one of the guests in attendance. (AUDIO:The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50[+]Loading...["The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 (audio story)"])
In 1886, Jenny and Vastra became aware of the corpse of aSilurianscholar and sailed on theMary Anning in search of others, meeting theNinth Doctor andRose Tyler whenthe TARDIS materialised on the ship. The ship was attacked by aMyrka and the surviving crew washed up on an island where Jenny looked after the unconscious Vastra. The Doctor later returned them to13 Paternoster Row and asked them to look after Rose for a time. (COMIC:The Lost Dimension)
Joined by Strax[[edit] |[edit source]]
In1888, after Vastra told Jenny that she had eatenJack the Ripper, the couple joined theEleventh Doctor in theBattle of Demons Run and survived the attack of theHeadless Monks. Afterwards, Jenny comfortedAmy Pond on the kidnapping ofher daughter and told her that it was not the Doctor's fault. The Doctor toldRiver Song to take her and everybody else back to their own times. (TV:A Good Man Goes to War)
Jenny and Vastra were still onDemons Run two days later, waiting forStrax to fully recover from his wound. They invited him to join them in London 1888 and, whilst he initially refused, he accepted their offer at the last minute. The three of them left as Demons Run was evacuated (WC:The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later) and, following their return to their own time, Vastra and Jenny were added to thePapal Mainframe's "most wanted" list. (PROSE:Madame Vastra)
On Jenny and Vastra's two-year wedding anniversary, the couple and Strax met and defeatedKisimos, who had tried to lure Vastra away from her wife and friend. (PROSE:The Red-Eyed League)
Jenny helped investigate the strange soil onSilas Ruckford's boots and found thatLady Cornelia Basildon-Stone had had the roof of theCrystal Palace temporarily removed. She sneaked into the palace with Strax, having been assisted byTommy Corrigan, and there killedAjeeth to save herSontaran friend. Following the destruction of thegenetic splicer, Lady Basildon-Stone, as well as theeggs of her human-wasphybrids, died. (COMIC:The Crystal Throne)
Around the time of Jenny and Vastra's third wedding anniversary, the Paternoster Gang went up against theSacristans. (PROSE:A Perfect Christmas)
The Paternoster Gang solved a number of cases together, including that ofan alien prankster, (PROSE:The Confounding Case of the Planetary Prankster)Lord Falstaff, (PROSE:The Pernicious Plots of the Big Game Hunter)Professor Samuel Lumber and hisDream Doorway, (PROSE:The Dangerous Dilemma of the Dream Doorway) theWright Factory, (PROSE:The Fear Factory)psychics whom Jenny named the "Danger Thinkers" (PROSE:The Insidious Ideas of the Danger Thinkers) and the Blight of theWeirdling Wood. (PROSE:The Curious Conundrum of the Weirdling Wood)
Assisting the Eleventh Doctor[[edit] |[edit source]]
Whilst disapproving of the Eleventh Doctor's isolation in1892, the Paternoster Gang assisted him in it and kept in contact with him, requesting his help on26 November but being turned down. (AUDIO:Regeneration Impossible) Nonetheless, Jenny tried to pique his interest by telling aboutErasmus Pink's drunken plan to split theEarth and a man onPraed Street who apparently had an invisible wife, attempts which were unsuccessful. (TV:The Great Detective)
Jenny, Vastra and Strax savedHarry, payingMr Ransit in order to keep him in their custody, and thwartedan alien who possessed the corpse ofAble Hecklington and planned to blot out theSun. Jenny offered Harry the chance to work as a kitchen boy under her friendMary inLincoln. (PROSE:Devil in the Smoke)
The Paternoster Gang stopped a man behind a crime which involved identical twins, undetectablepoison and an ancientEgyptian curse. AfterInspector Gregson took the man away, Jenny remained hopeful of the Doctor getting in contact with them, believing that he could only sulk in the TARDIS for so long. She also noticed that it was snowing despite the absence ofclouds (WC:Vastra Investigates) and they soon became aware that the snow had a low-leveltelepathic field. Jenny and Vastra began investigatingWalter Simeon and hisGreat Intelligence Institute.
Jenny sawClara Oswin Oswald calling for the Doctor and took her to Paternoster Row to be given Vastra's one word test. She trapped theIce Governess behind aforce field and helped guardLatimer and his children, later being the first to see Clara's body when she fell from the clouds. She attended Clara'sfuneral and was confused when the Doctor ran off, saying that he was going to find her. (TV:The Snowmen)
In1893, Jenny infiltratedSweetville to find the Doctor, Vastra having seen him ina dead man'soptogram. She was able to free him from captivity and help him cure himself of thered leech poison, later meeting and being confused byClara Oswald, about whom the Doctor would give Jenny no answers. The three of them were saved fromWinifred Gillyflower by Vastra and Strax, after which Jenny and Vastra prevented the poison from being placed inside of Mrs Gillyflower'srocket, thwarting her andMr Sweet. (TV:The Crimson Horror)
Later that year, the Paternoster Gang entered adream-induced conference call with Clara andRiver Song to discussClarence DeMarco's coordinates to the Doctor's tomb, during which Jenny was murdered by theWhisper Men. Her body was taken toTrenzalore and she was revived by Strax, only to vanish when theGreat Intelligence entered the Doctor'stime stream to kill him. However, Clara's actions restored her to the timeline. (TV:The Name of the Doctor)
Further investigations[[edit] |[edit source]]
Info fromThe Howling on the Hills,The Case of the Curious Fugitive,The Case of the Dissolving Man,Inside Every Warrior,The Curious Case of the Misery Diary,The Inscrutable Illusionist,The Giant's Heart,Heritage 4 needs to be added
In 1893, Jenny, Vastra and Strax caughtVolta stealing fromMonte Carlo Casino and followed him through atime portal to1544. The trio were able to capture him and return home. (PROSE:The Tudor Engagement)
InFebruary1894, the Paternoster Gang were invited to theRoyal Observatory byWilliam Christie to investigate mysterious scratches on thetelescope. Using amagnifying glass, Jenny saw that the room was full ofgremlins whom she negotiated with under Vastra's guidance, arranging to have them moved to the bottom of theRiver Thames to eat rubbish at their leisure. (PROSE:The Curious Case of the Miniature Menaces)
That spring, the Paternoster Gang went to theIsle of Skye to look into the disappearance of fifteenfishing boats and reports ofBlue Men. The trio found that human thieves had been disguising themselves as the Blue Men to scare their victims and Jenny turned them in to the authorities. (PROSE:The Singular Case of the Blue Men of the Minch)
InJune 1894, Jenny was visited by her old friendFaye Garrideb, who was looking for the Paternoster Gang's help in savingStanley Garrideb'sPalace of Wonder. The trio attempted to do so, but the palace was ultimately destroyed by thePrince of Calamiño as he departed in hisspacecraft. (PROSE:The Phantom of the Music Hall)
InSeptember 1894, thePrime Minister asked the Paternoster Gang to protectProfessor Thaddeus Maine'stime machine. After Jenny, Vastra and Strax thwarted several attempts to steal the machine and kill Professor Maine, he departed in it in order to keep it from misuse. (PROSE:The Singular Case of the Time Machine)
On15 November 1894, Strax'sfighting drone took on Jenny's form and fought with her. Before it could kill Jenny, its batteries ran out. (PROSE:The Spectre of Paternoster Row)
Vastra, Jenny and Strax investigated the sightings of automated driverless electric cars. As part of this she was to have her knowledge drained from her. HerSonic gauntlet interfered with the cars works. (AUDIO:The Cars That Ate London!)
Vastra told Jenny and Strax to have an afternoon off. During this she and Strax viewed an exhibition of spirit photographs, she hoped that it would show what came after this life. She was sent toFoster & Stonn's to investigate more about the photographs how they linked to Vastra's investigation on resurrected corpses. (AUDIO:A Photograph to Remember)
As part of an investigation into Ghosts, she helped to gather information fromStrax's friendSmallpiece. She later investigated the Royal Observatory withCharlotte Mayfly and learnt thatNeville Plumstead was behind it. She was prematurely aged after brashly going after Neville. (AUDIO:The Ghosts of Greenwich)
She help investigate why an alien peace conference had been attacked. She used her contacts around the tradespeople of London to find a rebel faction of one of the side, who wanted to return to more simpler ways. She was caught in the collapsed water tower after witnessing a Haldron execution squad. (AUDIO:Dining with Death)
Thomas Carnacki annoyed her to the point that she thought to kill him with Strax didn't. She trailedDorothy around the castle and discovered she was waking up the building. (AUDIO:The Screaming Ceiling)
She didn't like the police illustrated news and made this known when she encountered one of it's journalistsGwendoline Platt. She then had to make sure that Platt didn't badger their witnessElizabeth. Her dislike of Platt wasn't help when Elizabeth was abducted in front of them. She let herself be used as bait and kidnapped herself. She learnt thatTomanu was behind the kidnappings, but they were peaceful as the victims where about to die. (AUDIO:Spring-Heeled Jack)
Woken one night by Strax's snoring, Vastra and Jenny found a set of lions intruding their cellar. Soon afterwards her motherMiriam Scarrity came to visit. She went to visit her parent's freakshow and found that Vastra had became one of her exhibits. (AUDIO:Family Matters)
She was asked byVastra to steal aSilurian artefact from theLullwind Cove Museum. Vastra and Jenny explored a Silurian temple. Jenny became distraught after Vastra left her to explore the inner sanctum of the temple. Strax and Jenny encountered one of the temple's guardian dinosaurs before falling down a hole. After being rescued, she discovered that the guardian was a fake created byRodger Merripit so that he could mine the land for oil. (AUDIO:Whatever Remains)
She didn't like the fact that they were asked to donate at party. She discovered thatTom Foster andStonn were faking Egyptian mummies. She and Tom encounteredSkark asking them where Strax and Stonn where. She was used as a bargaining tool to make Vastra cooperate by keeping her hostage. She learnt that Skark wanted Vastra for some Silurian technology. (AUDIO:Truth and Bone)
Jenny and Vastra got annoyed at the new set of alarms Strax, and had to compensate for them electrocuting a local set of carollers. She later caughtSmallpiece trying to break into the house. She got stuck with him in the scullery. (AUDIO:Merry Christmas, Mr Jago)
She told Vastra of a set of sightings of fairytale and mythical creatures around London. She noticed something oily about theMermaid and discovered it to be ink. (AUDIO:The Ghost Writers)
Strax and Jenny were captured and imprisoned byVella who told them Vastra was no more, but she freed them to help in her plans. She made her way back to London to see what had happened to it. She pretended to be Victoria to trapFranz Albrecht Stuart using her contacts in the royal household. She was able to bring Vastra back to consciousness. She told Vastra to trap theTenebrae in the ancient book by writing a story in it. (AUDIO:Rulers of Earth)
On12 December 1894, Jenny accompanied Vastra and Strax toLondon Zoo, where they encountered a fog laced with temporal radiation that devolved living things into their ancestors. When Vastra was affected by the fog, Jenny prevented her from acting on savage instincts by reminding her of their love. (PROSE:The Evolution Episode)
Oscar Wilde invited the Paternoster Gang to the opening performance ofThe Importance of Being Earnest atSt James's Theatre on14 February1895. Being human, Jenny was affected byRose Leclerq's powers until Strax knocked Leclerq out with herhandbag prop. (PROSE:The Importance of Being Strax)
In December 1895, Jenny and Vastra freedMr Cosmo fromthe Djinn's dimension in whichMissy had trapped him. (AUDIO:Brimstone and Terror)
Lord Cecil hired the Paternoster Gang to protect him fromassassination during a meeting inGeneva. Jenny and Vastra chasedthe porter after Lord Cecil was given poisonedwine and fought him, discovering that he was aTroxil Gamemaster. Jenny defeated him using acryo-mine, after which Vastra activated histeleport bracelet to send him away. (PROSE:Assassin on the Railroads)
Jenny, Vastra and Strax investigated the disappearances of four children from anorphanage in the autumn of1897. They discovered theEsturians' spacecraft in the Thames and trapped them. (PROSE:The Terror of the Thames)
Jenny, Vastra and Strax thwarted the attemptedCromek invasion of London, which involved a spacecraft which was disguised as a house. (PROSE:The Pneuman League)
Meeting the new Doctor[[edit] |[edit source]]
Inside a spacecraft crash-landing into London in1898, Jenny and Vastra guided it towards water whilst Strax sent a message toSontar regarding the Doctor's ability toregenerate. The trioparachuted off the ship as it headed towards water and Vastra mentioned that adinosaur had been spotted in the Thames. (TV:Prequel to Deep Breath)
Looking into the appearance of aTyrannosaurus rex, Jenny, Vastra and Strax were reunited with Clara and met theTwelfth Doctor, whom they cared for and sent thePaternoster Irregulars when he ran away. Jenny and Vastra discovered that the dinosaur had been reduced to ash byspontaneous combustion and foughtClockwork Droids inMancini's Family Restaurant after Clara sent a distress call. Before they could be killed by the droids, theHalf-Face Man was destroyed and the droids became inert. (TV:Deep Breath)
Later investigations[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jenny had her place taken by aa Graske, sending her tolimbo.Vastra eventually realised that she had been replaced when "Jenny" offered to maketea without being asked. (PROSE:The Pest of Paternoster Row)
One December, Jenny helped to investigate reports of apoltergeist that was breaking plates in an old house. The haunting turned out to be a false alarm when the house was discovered to be built atop an oldBakerloo Line that caused the house to shake every time a train came through.
The following January, Jenny attended theCarnival of Curiosities in search ofMarlowe Hapworth's killer, where she once again met the Twelfth Doctor and Clara and helped defeatOrestes Milton and hisCarnival of Curiosities. (PROSE:Silhouette) At some point, Jenny taught Clara how to pick locks. (PROSE:The Crawling Terror)
When Jenny's cat,Mittens, was stuck up a tree, Strax went back in time with hisTime Shark to prevent the tree ever growing. The tree disappeared and Mittens fell into Jenny's arms. She later asked Strax to get her apineapple from thegreengrocer. (COMIC:The Adventures of Strax & the Time Shark)
Jenny was absent from theTwelfth Doctor and Vastra's adventure defeating aTriad of murderous Silurians who'd awakened from underHyde Park, as she was out interviewing suspects for an unrelated case. Vastra was concerned for her safety when she learned the Triad were preparing to unleash theSilurian plague in London, but she and the Doctor ensured that this did not come to pass. (GAME:Lost in Time)
Death[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jenny eventually died of old age, with Vastra outliving her throughout the20th and21st centuries. (AUDIO:Requiem)
Legacy[[edit] |[edit source]]
As one of the people she had met during her travels withthe Doctor, Jenny was included in a series of notes written by Clara when she was planning to confess toDanny Pink viaphone call about her adventures with the Doctor. (TV:Dark Water)
Shortly before regenerating, theTwelfth Doctor dreamt of Jenny along with some of his other companions. (TV:The Doctor Falls)
During a meeting of theRequiem Group in2022, Vastra alluded to Jenny, by saying that "[a person] will not escape [their] grief.She - it will be a part of you, always". (AUDIO:Requiem)
Personality[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jenny had a romantic relationship with Vastra, despite the fact that she was a different species. She seemed proud to be married to the Silurian, noting that Dr Simeon had never been married. (WC:Vastra Investigates,TV:The Snowmen) This commitment to her marriage was further shown when the Doctor kissed her after she rescued him fromAda Gillyflower's cell. Although he only intended to show his gleeful gratitude, Jenny promptly slapped him in annoyance. (TV:The Crimson Horror) Jenny showed jealousy when Vastra showed interest in others. She was also quite sarcastic at times. For example, she replied, "Thank you," to Vastra's comment that mammals all looked alike. (TV:A Good Man Goes to War) Her sarcastic nature was also shown when she said, "At your service," to Simeon. (TV:The Snowmen) When Vastra explained to Clara about the public image she and Jenny had to maintain, Jenny wondered aloud why she still acted as a maid in the house. (TV:Deep Breath)
Even though she lived with a "lizard woman" and a "potato dwarf", Jenny was something of a realist as she still believed Clara to be dead during the events of the Crimson Horror and was deeply confused when the Doctor stated otherwise, despite the fact that the Doctor had told her before that there was another version of her somewhere in the universe. However, she seemed satisfied when she saw the truth for herself and didn't believe the new Clara to be an imposter. She was subsequently impressed by Clara'sdeduction of whereWinifred Gillyflower was keeping her rocket and the two eventually became friends. (TV:The Crimson Horror,Deep Breath)
Jenny proved very courageous and kind, risking life and limb for those in need. She, along with Vastra and Strax, joined the Doctor's rescue mission and also comfortedAmy about the loss of her child. (TV:A Good Man Goes to War) She comforted Clara to help her cope with the Doctor's new persona and helped her during her time in the Victorian era. (TV:Deep Breath) She risked her own life to stop Vastra from becoming a savage primitive and reminded her of their bond. (PROSE:The Evolution Episode)
Appearance[[edit] |[edit source]]
WhilstStrax said that Jenny was "weak and stringy",Vastra believed that she was one of the "fittest and most beautiful" (TV:The Crimson Horror) and told her that she lit up the room. (TV:Deep Breath) Jenny warned Strax not to mention any physical resemblance between herself andher mother. (AUDIO:Family Matters)
Abilities[[edit] |[edit source]]
Jenny was quite capable in combat — she survived theBattle of Demons Run without any injury. She displayed excellent skills with asword during the battle, and was capable of using ablaster againstHeadless Monks. (TV:A Good Man Goes to War) She also used unarmedmartial arts when confronted inSweetville, and was, as the Doctor put it, "everyone's favourite lock-picking Victorian chambermaid". (TV:The Crimson Horror)
She was also of "considerably" above averageintelligence. (AUDIO:The Cars That Ate London!)
Behind the scenes[[edit] |[edit source]]
Spin-off?[[edit] |[edit source]]
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.[1] Since their debut, Vastra, Jenny and Strax have returned for four additional episodes and three minisodes. Although no television spinoff materialised, they did receive their own short story series in theDoctor Who Adventures magazine calledThe Paternoster Gang Investigates and laterThe Paternoster Gang fromBig Finish Productions.
Other matters[[edit] |[edit source]]
- The bookThe Secret Lives of Monsters includes an excerpt from a book calledA Study in Green in which Vastra, Jenny and Strax encounterSherlock Holmes andJohn Watson. Jenny bought all 200 copies of the book to keep it off the shelves.
- Jenny was supposed to appear as a hallucination when theEleventh Doctor regenerated, along with other of the Doctor's companions. In the end, only Amy appeared.[2]
