Requiem for the Rocket Men (audio story)

 was the third story in the fourth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by John Dorney and featured Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela, John Leeson as K9 Mark I and Geoffrey Beevers as The Master.

The story continued in Death Match.

Publisher's summary
The Asteroid — notorious hideaway of the piratical Rocket Men. Hewn out of rock, surrounded by force-fields and hidden in the depths of the Fairhead Cluster, their base is undetectable, unescapable and impregnable.

In need of allies, the Master has arranged to meet with Shandar, King of the Rocket Men. But the mercenaries have captured themselves a very special prisoner — his oldest enemy, the Doctor.

What cunning scheme is the Doctor planning? How does it connect with Shandar's new robotic pet? And just what has happened to Leela? The Master will have to work the answers out if he wants to leave the asteroid... alive...

Part one
to be added

Part two
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * K9 Mark I - John Leeson
 * The Master - Geoffrey Beevers
 * Shandar - Mark Frost
 * Myrren - Olivia Poulet
 * Marshall - Damian Lynch
 * Oskin - Pat Ruins

Crew

 * Cover Art - Anthony Lamb
 * Director - Nicholas Briggs
 * Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
 * Music & Sound Design - Jamie Robertson
 * Producer - David Richardson
 * Writer & Script Editor - John Dorney

Worldbuilding

 * The Master compares keeping the Doctor imprisoned to taking a Rutan onboard an escape pod.

Continuity

 * K9 says that Shandar is the fifth most wanted person in the galaxy, the first three being the Master, (TV: Terror of the Autons) the Rani (TV: The Mark of the Rani) and the Terrible Zodin. (TV: The Five Doctors)
 * Oskin mentions the loss of Ashman (AUDIO: The Rocket Men) and Van Cleef. (AUDIO: Return of the Rocket Men)
 * After Van Cleef's death, the Rocket Men placed a bounty on the Doctor's head. (AUDIO: Return of the Rocket Men)
 * The Master recognises Leela from their previous encounters in Dark Peak, Derbyshire in 1979, (AUDIO: Trail of the White Worm) on Oseidon (AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure) and aboard the Moray Rose. (AUDIO: The Evil One)
 * The Master refers to the Sevateem. (TV: The Face of Evil)
 * The Master mentions that he has previously used disguises to conceal his true identity. (TV: Terror of the Autons, et. al)
 * The Doctor disguises himself as a Rocket Man. His first incarnation's companion Steven Taylor previously did the same thing on Ulysses 519. (AUDIO: Return of the Rocket Men)
 * The Doctor once again refers to Leela as "Savage". (TV: The Face of Evil, The Invasion of Time; AUDIO: The Wrath of the Iceni)
 * The Master is arrested by Galactic Heritage. (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows; AUDIO: The Rocket Men, Return of the Rocket Men)
 * Leela again refers to the Master as "the Evil One". (AUDIO: The Evil One, Death Match)
 * The Doctor tells Leela not to use any more janis thorns. (TV: The Face of Evil)
 * The Rocket Men installed a propulsion unit in K9 while he was in their possession. (AUDIO: Death Match)
 * After he captured Leela, the Master brought her to the Quarry Station to serve as his champion in the Death Match. (AUDIO: Death Match)
 * After the destruction of the Asteroid, the Rocket Men became a much weaker force. To make ends meet, they stole whatever ship they could get their hands on, and used it to transport grain across the galaxy. The Seventh Doctor described them as "late period Rocket Men". (AUDIO: The Two Masters)
 * would later describe the Rocket Men as "a pathetic ragtag group of no-hopers with delusions of power on a cosmic scale". (AUDIO: The Two Masters)