# Doctor Who questions (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764 "2015-11-05T22:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/1 "2015-11-05T22:34:40Z")
Since I got Netflix, I’ve been watching some Doctor Who shows. My daughter has seen more of them than I have, but I’ve seen a few with David Tennant (a couple with Rose, and beginning to end with the girl whose superpower is that she’s a temp), as well as Matt Smith’s run and I just started on the Peter Capaldi set. Perhaps I missed something, but I’m a bit confused on the hows and whys of a set of characters who keep recurring. I’ll spoiler this for the benefit of anyone who needs it: I’ll also add some scrolling space so unboxed spoilers don’t show up in the preview pane. [spoiler]How did Madame Vastra and Jenny become a couple? Whence Jenny’s ninja skillz? And how did Strax come to be in domestic service? Also, in the _Snowmen_ episode, I got the impression that Strax was working for Doctor Who.\* But he rather seamlessly transitioned to being a member of Madame Vastra’s household. Was he merely on loan to Dr. Who? \*I don’t hold with this nonsense of referring to him as a nameless “The Doctor.” In my universe, his name is Doctor Who. If you please, we’ll dispense with that argument in this thread.[/spoiler] TIA 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/2 "2015-11-05T22:38:51Z")
None of those has been explained in-show, except that Vastra and Jenny fell in love at first sight. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/3 "2015-11-05T23:44:59Z")
What Maggie said, really. Strax, being a Sontaran, is a warrier clone. He had to do some sort of punishment duty as a nurse (I don’t remember the details), and that has rather influenced him I think. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/4 "2015-11-06T00:50:44Z")
I’m not going to spoiler anything under the presumption that if you’ve entered the thread you want to know the answers. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > How did Madame Vastra and Jenny become a couple? Whence Jenny’s ninja skillz? Neither have been explained yet. When we first meet the two Vastra and Jenny are already married and Jenny is already a ninja. > [@](#): > > And how did Strax come to be in domestic service? Also, in the _Snowmen_ episode, I got the impression that Strax was working for Doctor Who.\* But he rather seamlessly transitioned to being a member of Madame Vastra’s household. Was he merely on loan to Dr. Who? Strax was serving as a nurse - arguably the most horrible sort of job for a Sontarran for cultural reasons - to atone for something his “clone batch” did. Said punishment imposed by the Doctor. The episode “A Good Man Goes to War” covers some of that, and also Strax’s “death”. He gets better, but I don’t think he’s been quite right since. That’s the point Vastra and Jenny take him in - it’s half employment and half sheltered environment for an impaired person. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/5 "2015-11-06T04:24:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > an impaired person. On account of his being a psychotic, murderous potato. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/6 "2015-11-06T05:34:24Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > What Maggie said, really. Strax, being a Sontaran, is a warrier clone. He had to do some sort of punishment duty as a nurse (I don’t remember the details), and that has rather influenced him I think. Yeah, IIRC, they all just sort of appeared in one episode like the Scooby Doo gang, as if they’ve always been part of the show and we should know who they are. I believe it’s also a running joke that Strax offer’s salutations in the traditional Sontaran form of “hoping to crush their skull on the battlefield someday” (or some variation). Also, is Jenny a “ninja” or is she just a lesbian saurophile who happens to own a katana? Also, his name is “The Doctor”, not “Doctor Who”. Sure, we know what you mean, but it’s not technically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/7 "2015-11-06T12:01:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > On account of his being a psychotic, murderous potato. I’m not sure we should use the standards of humanity to judge Sontarrans. By Sontarran standards he’s quite messed up, but in a different way that if he was human. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/8 "2015-11-06T13:23:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Also, his name is “The Doctor”, not “Doctor Who”. Sure, we know what you mean, but it’s not technically correct. Except that’s what his character was originally called. You can see the credits at the end of [this video](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1246v0_season-1-episode-1-an-unearthly-child_shortfilms) of the first episode. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/9 "2015-11-06T13:46:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Also, his name is “The Doctor”, not “Doctor Who”. Sure, we know what you mean, but it’s not technically correct. His _name_ is pretty explicitly not “The Doctor”–that’s a sort of alias he uses. Granted, we don’t know what his name actually is, but we can be pretty sure that “The Doctor” is not it. I am hoping that the ultimate shock ending of the show, when it finally concludes, will be to reveal that “Who” actually _is_ his surname. Take that, fanboys! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/10 "2015-11-06T14:00:00Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The episode “A Good Man Goes to War” covers some of that, and also Strax’s “death”. He gets better, but I don’t think he’s been quite right since. That’s the point Vastra and Jenny take him in - it’s half employment and half sheltered environment for an impaired person. Wasn’t there a deleted scene or a direct-to-web short that shows Strax waking up after his ‘death’, and his joining forces with Jenny and Vastra? ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/11 "2015-11-06T14:12:00Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > On account of his being a psychotic, murderous potato. Keyboard, meet coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-questions-spoilers/736764/12 "2015-11-06T22:28:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Yeah, IIRC, they all just sort of appeared in one episode like the Scooby Doo gang, as if they’ve always been part of the show and we should know who they are. > > I believe it’s also a running joke that Strax offer’s salutations in the traditional Sontaran form of “hoping to crush their skull on the battlefield someday” (or some variation). > > Also, is Jenny a “ninja” or is she just a lesbian saurophile who happens to own a katana? > > Also, his name is “The Doctor”, not “Doctor Who”. Sure, we know what you mean, but it’s not technically correct. Weren’t they intended to be in a Dr Who spinoff? Plenty of time for explanations later, if it happened.