Penny Chapman Morjanus was a soldier who came to Earth to test experimental new weaponry to aid her people in their fight against the Hunter s . She was followed by Jack , a Hunter who wanted to stop her . To avoid him , she assumed the identity of " Penny Chapman " . Biography . Arriving on Earth , Morjanus attached a proto - morphic lifeform to the gasworks . She housed the lifeform in Blackthorne Gasworks , London . Finding that a Hunter called Jack had followed her , she used self - hypnosis to make herself believe she was Penny Chapman . As Penny . For three years she waited for the lifeform to fully incorporate itself into the gasworks , living her life as Penny in a London flat on Latham Lane and working at Blackthorne . One night , Penny was out in London when the Eighth Doctor bumped into her . He tried to assist her but found her to be in a trance , muttering about " the essence " . Penny cried out in apparent pain and the Doctor was accused on harassing her . At this moment , Jack appeared and moved to attack her , as he had many women on his search for Morjanus . The Doctor saved her and , once he was gone , Penny vouched for the Doctor , telling Inspector Porter that he had not attacked her . Worried for her , the Doctor escorted Penny home . He told her tales about his trip to Egypt and Penny told him that she had grown up in Essex but moved to London to " see the world " . Once home , the Doctor promised to check up on her the next day a fact that pleased Penny . Shortly after , she saw the Doctor fighting with Jack outside her house and used her landlady ' s gun to attack Jack , fending him off . The Doctor entered a nearby carriage , preparing to leave . Penny decided to join him and he welcomed her . They travelled to the Doctor ' s TARDIS and Penny entered it , amazed at its size within . The Doctor opened a map and found that Blackthorne was the source of anachronistic technology . The Doctor and Penny went to Blackthorne and she used her key to gain access . Within , Penny fell once more into a trance , opening a padlocked door with the touch of her hand . Within was the lifeform and Penny held her head , memories flooding back to her . She told the Doctor that the Pyrodine s had been released . He tried to help her but she had fully regained her memories . Awakening . Morjanus knocked the Doctor down and , threatening him with the gun , forced him onto the roof . There the Doctor told her he had fallen for her guise but she told him she had believed every word , as if she had been Penny . As she no longer had a purpose for him , she raised her gun and fired , only to find it unloaded . The Doctor showed her that he had removed the ammunition in the TARDIS , unwilling to enter Blackthorne with an armed hypnotised girl . Instead , she tried to have a Pyrodine kill him but Jack appeared and used his bare hands to fight it off . Morjanus bent a metal pole in her hands and threw it at the Doctor , knocking her near the edge . She then attacked him but he pushed her over . Managing to gain a foothold in the wall , she climbed back up and chased after the Doctor . Morjanus was unable to stop him destroying the lifeform and tried to kill him . However , Jack attacked her from behind withhis psychic power s , knocking her down . When she awoke , she was Penny once more . Jack had removed all the memories relating to her life as Morjanus . The Doctor advised her to return to Essex , telling her the London wasn ' t safe , even with Jack as its guardian demon . ( COMIC : " The Curious Tale of Spring - Heeled Jack " )