Return of the Rocket Men (audio story)

Return of the Rocket Men was the fifth story of the seventh series in The Companion Chronicles audio range. It was produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Matt Fitton and featured Steven Taylor.

Publisher's summary
Once before the Doctor battled the sadistic Rocket Men and once before he won. But when the dreaded pirates of the skies raid a remote frontier planet, he's not the only member of the TARDIS crew for whom they are old enemies.

Steven Taylor knows them well. Back in his days as a pilot, on his twenty first birthday, Steven's ship was brought down by the malevolent Van Cleef. He barely escaped with his life. And now he's going to have to go through that again.

But this time round, he knows what happens. And he knows there's no way out. Steven Taylor has to make a choice. A choice where either way... he loses.

The Scourge of the Skies (1)
''On his twenty-first birthday, Steven's cargo vessel is attacked by two modified short-range fliers and he sends out a mayday to a nearby Galactic Heritage Protectorate spaceship, but it suddenly disappears from the radar and he crashes onto a moon. He receives a transmission from an old man telling him to go back before the Rocket Men descend and begin stealing Steven's cargo; Van Cleef, the leader, orders Steven to remain inside his ship and, when Steven exits to help a girl, he shoots Steven in both of his legs before another Rocket Man saves him and returns him to his ship. Van Cleef shoots the Rocket Man, whom he calls Ramirez, and Steven loses consciousness, awakening some time later in a hospital on Valiant Minor.''

In the TARDIS, the Doctor uses his astral map to find out the date and, learning that it is Steven's birthday, Dodo finds Steven a diary from 1967 for a present. They land on Ulysses 519 and meet Bill Carson, the commander of the unfinished human colony, who explains that the colonists were raided every day of their journey by the Rocket Men and have been forced to live in a cave with a single damaged oxygenator. Dodo heads off with Carson's daughter, Carla, whilst the Doctor and Steven continue talking to him and argue about whether it is worth attempting to fight the Rocket Men, both of them having encountered them before and the Doctor believing it best that they simply wait for help.

The pilot Ford arrives with a second oxygenator and recognises Steven from their work together, making Steven realise that they are in his own past. The Rocket Men's ship approaches and the colonists hide the supplies that Ford has brought, which includes weapons, before eleven Rocket Men arrive. Steven and the colonists surprise them with their new weapons, but Van Cleef and nineteen others sneak into the cave and kidnap the women and children, including Dodo. Steven recognises Van Cleef and his gun, which Van Cleef uses to murder Ford before ordering Ramirez, who is only a boy, to kill Steven. They fight, but Ramirez refuses to kill anybody unarmed and has his helmet removed by Van Cleef, who shoots him dead.

The Rocket Men carry the prisoners to their ship. Steven blames himself for Dodo's kidnapping and, recognising Ramirez's damaged helmet as the one worn by the man who saved him on his twenty-first birthday, promises the Doctor that he will rescue her and leaves, putting Ramirez's helmet and jetpack on before taking Ford's ship. Despite knowing that he will die, he has no choice put to go to his death to ensure that he does not lose another of his friends after Katarina, Bret, Sara, Oliver and Semion.

The Trail of the Rocket Men (2)
Steven follows the trail of the Rocket Men to the moon that he recalls crashing into and receives contact from the Doctor, who tells him that some of the prisoners, including Carla, are competent pilots and might be able to help return everybody to the planet. However, the only spaceworthy ship on the moon is the one that Steven arrived in, as the ones in the Rocket Men's collection are write-offs. Wearing Ramirez's coveralls, helmet and jetpack, Steven waits until his younger self crashes and then joins the Rocket Men in stealing the cargo. He stops them from killing Dodo when she runs and puts her in a pod with the other prisoners to be taken away and sold as slaves, but ensures that they can escape discreetly.

The Rocket Men are distracted when they detect a Galactic Protectorate ship, giving Steven the opportunity to sabotage the Rocket Men's ship before helping his unconscious younger self. He puts the diary that Dodo gave him as a birthday present and a titanium tile from the pod's exterior under his coveralls and, when he is attacked by Van Cleef, they save him from being killed by Van Cleef's bullet. He then sabotages Van Cleef's jetpack and sends him flying upwards and into space, presumably killing him, before heading back to the colony with Dodo and the other prisoners.

The Doctor explains to Steven that he made the Rocket Men retreat by using the TARDIS and a radio dish to make them think that the fifth moon was a Galactic Heritage Protectorate ship. Carson asks Steven for permission to name the outpost "Taylor's Stand", but he believes that Ford is more deserving of the honour and instead suggests "Ford's Rest" as the name of the outpost and that his own name be used when Carla sets up a flight school. The Doctor suggests that it might soon be time for Steven to stand on his own two feet make his mark on history; although Steven's immediate reaction is to protest, he thinks to himself that it is nearly time for his adventures aboard the TARDIS to come to an end.

Cast

 * Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
 * Van Cleef - Tim Treloar

Characters

 * First Doctor
 * Steven Taylor
 * Dodo Chaplet
 * Van Cleef
 * Ramirez
 * Bill Carson
 * Carla Carson
 * Ford

Worldbuilding

 * Van Cleef mentions Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson.
 * After being injured by Van Cleef, Steven spends six months recovering in a field hospital on Valiant Minor.
 * Steven's birthday is 10 February. Dodo gives him a 1967 diary which she found in the TARDIS.
 * Ulysses 519 is protected by the Galactic Heritage Protectorate, the armed division of Galactic Heritage.
 * The Rocket Men once had an R & R on Valiant Major.
 * Van Cleef plans to sell his prisoners on Gavalax Prime.

Continuity

 * Steven mentions having visited the far future, (TV: The Ark) the Celestial Toyroom, (TV: The Celestial Toymaker) the Old West (TV: The Gunfighters) and, most recently, spending several months in Russia in 1812. (AUDIO: Mother Russia)
 * The Doctor uses his Astral map. (TV: The Web Planet and Galaxy 4)
 * Steven recalls posing as a singer named Steven Regret on his visit to Tombstone, Arizona in October 1881. (TV: The Gunfighters)
 * Steven notices unassembled flatpack colony building units on Ulysses 519, and recalls having himself deliver such units during his days as a cargo pilot. (AUDIO: The First Wave, The Anachronauts)
 * The Doctor previously encountered the Rocket Men on Platform Five above the planet Jobis in the company of Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister. (AUDIO: The Rocket Men)
 * Following Ashman's death the previous year, more than a dozen groups of his fellow Rocket Men are fighting for control of his territories. (AUDIO: The Rocket Men)
 * Steven recalls the recent deaths of Katarina, Bret Vyon, Sara Kingdom, (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan) Oliver Harper (AUDIO: The First Wave) and Semion. (AUDIO: Mother Russia)
 * During his convalescence in the field hospital, Steven saw many injured soldiers and airmen coming home from the war. (TV: The Chase)
 * After he had recovered from his injuries, Steven returned to Earth and visited the ruins of New York City, (PROSE: Salvation) which had been completed destroyed by the Daleks during their invasion of Earth in the 22nd century. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * Steven refers to Mechanus (TV: The Chase) and Grace Alone. (AUDIO: The First Wave)
 * Steven wonders if it might soon be time to move on with his life. (TV: The Savages)
 * After Van Cleef's death, the Rocket Men put a bounty on the Doctor's head. He was eventually captured during his fourth incarnation. (AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men)
 * Steven disguises himself as a Rocket Man. During his fourth incarnation, the Doctor later did the same thing on the Asteroid. (AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men)