The Rocket Men

"We're going to steal the jewels from the sky."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: August 2011

Series: Companion Chronicles 6.02

Featuring: First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Vicki

Synopsis 

The TARDIS has landed on Platform Five, a floating city in the sky of the planet Jobis, and for a time the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki get the chance to enjoy this idyllic place.

Then the Rocket Men arrive, led by the sadistic Ashman.

When the only other option to certain death is suicide, Ian Chesterton takes the gamble of his life...

Verdict 

The Rocket Men was another very good Companion Chronicle audio! I seem to have been doing a lot of this range in recent days and that's largely due to the recent weekend Big Finish offers that involved downloads of some of the range's stories for just £2.99. How can I resist a price as tempting as that for a range that I love listening to? They're just so easy to listen to at around an hour long and although I've only ever given two stories a perfect rating, I've rarely granted a rating less than 8/10 for a Companion Chronicle. That says to me that the range is solid and consistent and I never seem not to enjoy a story, even if I give a low rating. I'm always impressed with the quality of a story that features just two actors performing and the way some of the actors revive the first three Doctors through their impressions is just magnificent. That was the case in this audio with William Russell who I thought was wonderful. His impression of William Hartnell's First Doctor was terrific and he really did nail the traits and characteristics of that fantastic first incarnation. I bloody love the First Doctor and it's a shame that a lot of his run is made up of missing episodes but these audios are making up for some of that material we aren't able to see. Russell didn't just do a great impression of Hartnell though, he also absolutely nailed his impressions of Barbara and Vicki which was something I did not expect. Five decades on from first appearing in the televised series and William Russell can still give an incredible performance. I tip my hat off to him. He really did make the audio an absolute breeze to listen to. The story placed this TARDIS quartet in unusual circumstances and the beauty of audio shone through because you realised that a story like this just wouldn't have been able to have happened back in the 1960s. It just isn't feasible but now we get the joy of listening to it. It works very well in audio and I must admit I think that's largely down to Russell's narration. The Rocket Men, whom the story was cleverly named after in a subtle homage to the show's past, were very interesting because they didn't really seem alien at all. They just seemed to be humans with a rocket strapped to their back. I know it was a bit more than that but it wasn't far off from being that simple. I thought they were quite violent which was good and I really loved that Ian challenged them about being sadists. They enjoyed the pain they inflicted in others and that was something Ian couldn't let slide. One thing I wasn't a fan of in this story was the way events didn't run concurrently. We jumped back and forth between different times of things unfolding and I didn't like that too much. I don't see what is gained by doing that and it just made me think I'd missed things whilst listening only for them to be revealed soon after. I found it intriguing how this story made Ian's feelings towards Barbara no secret and one thing about that which I was a tad surprised about was the Doctor being able to see it. The relationship between him and Ian at this point in their travels was good but for the Doctor to warn him not to put off telling her his feelings was very fascinating. I thought the cliffhanger was decent and I also thought that Ashman was a good leader of the Rocket Men. They were sadistuc pirates. You can't go far wrong with a race like that! The way the Doctor went off for most of the story by doing scientific research which led to the Rocket Men's demise was fantastic. In typical fashion of the First Doctor, he wasn't there for much of the story but ended up as the hero. I loved that about him and I was glad to see it continue in audio. Overall, a good audio! 

Rating: 8/10