Doctor Who: Return of the Rocket Men

A First Doctor story told from the perspective of Steven, this is, rather obviously, a sequel to The Rocket Men, which introduced the gang of murderous jet-pack wearing space pirates.

There are a number of deliberate parallels between the two stories other than the identity of the villains. Once again, it starts in media res, although here, the rest of the story is told in chronological order, culminating in a reprise of the events of the opening scene told from a different perspective. This is the core of the story, focussing on how Steven faces up both to his past and to his future - the phrase “when do you know?” from Ian's narration in the first story is also central to Steven's, but in a different context.

The story itself concerns a nascent space colony being attacked by the Rocket Men, and, with echoes of the earlier audio The Cold Equations, puts Steven's piloting skills and knowledge of the laws of motion and the effects of gravity to good use. The Doctor is once again largely in the background, working behind the scenes, while still being a crucial part of the resolution. Since the tale is a prequel to the TV story The Savages, foreshadowing Steven's departure from the TARDIS crew, Dodo is also present, but she's mainly a damsel-in-distress, not a key character.

The new leader of the Rocket Men, Van Cleef, is well realised, and clearly reminiscent of the Western villains that his name evokes. However, in order to give him more than the handful of lines his counterpart in the first story gets, he also narrates sections of the story himself. It's a departure from the normal Companion Chronicle format, and, unfortunately, in this instance, it's just jarring, making little sense in context.

While the Rocket Men probably don't have the staying power as villains that the producers apparently thought they did at the time, by focussing on Steven, and making good use of time travel, this is a rather better story than one might expect.