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“STOLEN GOODS – JENNY TAKES FLIGHT IN A FUN BUT FLIMSY STARTER”

Stolen Goods by Matt Fitton kicks off the Jenny: The Doctor’s Daughter audio range with a charmingly chaotic debut outing. Georgia Tennant reprises her role as Jenny, and it’s a delight to hear her finally take centre stage after such a brief TV introduction back in 2008. This is very much an origin-style tale for the character—less an epic odyssey and more a light-hearted space caper as Jenny learns, often the hard way, how the universe actually works.

Jenny crashes a stolen spaceship, finds herself in trouble with interstellar authorities over minor laws she didn’t even know existed, and quickly discovers that not knowing the rules doesn’t stop the consequences from landing hard. It's an amusing and grounded way to frame a Time Lord-adjacent character’s introduction to the wider universe—not with grandeur and destiny, but with a hefty repair bill and insurance fraud.

GEORGIA TENNANT – THE STAR AT THE CENTRE

The absolute highlight of Stolen Goods is Georgia Tennant. Her performance as Jenny is full of spark, balancing youthful exuberance with a hint of the Doctor’s fast-talking cleverness. Jenny here is not yet the seasoned adventurer—she’s still green, still learning—but she’s clearly her father’s daughter. There’s a playful cockiness to her, but also moments of calculated cunning that remind us this apple hasn’t fallen far from the TARDIS.

One particularly satisfying moment sees Jenny pretend to be more clueless than she really is, lulling the scam artists into a false sense of superiority before revealing she’s seen through the con. That mix of naivety and sly intelligence makes her immediately likeable.

THE CON JOB: FUNNY, THEN FAMILIAR

Much of the first half plays like a sci-fi sitcom: Jenny has to deal with a trio of hopelessly incompetent con artists, led by the returning Big Finish character Garundel (played with oily relish by Stuart Milligan). He’s a charmingly annoying rogue whose schtick—snarky patter, wheedling self-interest—can be entertaining in small doses, though he does threaten to overstay his welcome here. The dynamic between him and Jenny is fun, especially when she refuses to be belittled or called “blondie.”

The humour works well early on, but once the setup is over and the gang starts bouncing from escape attempt to con job to confrontation, the narrative energy starts to sag. A cyborg bounty hunter turns up to raise the stakes, but the final third is a lot of noise with not much purpose. The story loses its sense of momentum and drifts into being just a functional bridge to later episodes.

NOAH – A COMPANION IN CRYOSLEEP

During her escape, Jenny meets Noah, a frozen alien who becomes her reluctant shipmate. Voiced by Sean Biggerstaff (yes, Oliver Wood from Harry Potter), Noah is introduced with the clear intention of being a long-term companion—but he doesn’t get much to do here beyond defrosting. His character isn’t especially memorable in this outing, though there’s enough mystery around him to justify keeping an eye on his development in future episodes.

SETUP OVER STORY

As an opening chapter, Stolen Goods does exactly what it sets out to: it introduces Jenny as a vibrant, capable lead, establishes a ragtag supporting cast, and seeds future plot threads. But it never fully convinces as a standalone story. The central narrative is thin, especially in the second half, and there’s a definite sense that the story is marking time before bigger things happen later in the series. It’s a fun ride, but one that coasts more on charm than depth.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE: 5/10

Stolen Goods is a breezy, humorous introduction to the Jenny range, powered by Georgia Tennant’s brilliant performance and a welcome return from con artist Garundel. It’s more setup than story, and the plot fizzles out in its final act, but it still delivers enough fun, energy, and potential to justify following this Doctor’s daughter on the rest of her adventures.