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.
And 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…
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE ROCKET MEN
William Russell appeared in his first Companion Chronicle in the third series; it took until the second release of the sixth series, John Dorney’s “The Rocket Men,” for him to appear in his second. It makes you wonder what took them so long – “The Rocket Men” is one of the best Companion Chronicles of the entire range.
Dorney is one of a very few Big Finish writers who never forgets that he’s writing a script for audio. We’ve had great stories from writers who didn’t take full advantage of the medium, of course, but Dorney always seems to remember one key facet of the experience: the audience cannot actually see what is going on. “The Rocket Men” is structured in a non-linear fashion; the narrative jumps from point to point in the story at seemingly random times. But because you hear Ian, Barbara, Vicki, and the other hostages being interrogated by Ashman (Gus Brown) without knowing how they got there, you also hear those scenes without knowing where the characters are or what they’re wearing. Without that information, the cliffhanger is so much more effective than it would have been in a linear narrative. Dorney also remembers that these audio plays are part of a larger series, one where we already know the endings. We know that all four regulars are going to survive, so Dorney just tells us that and builds the suspense around not knowing how it happens.
Despite all the wonderful narrative work, “The Rocket Men” really isn’t even about the plot, or the villains, or even the Doctor himself. Right from the very first lines, “The Rocket Men” is explicitly about the relationship between Ian and Barbara and the growing romantic feelings between the two companions. There’s no framing device for the narrative, as Dorney opts instead to have a question hang over the story: what is the moment when you truly know you love someone? I’ve criticized Dorney’s other Companion Chronicles for a lack of subtlety; that is certainly not the case here, as the romance that shoots through the entire story is never spelled out. There’s no mawkish scene where the two characters declare their love for one another; in fact, the Doctor encourages this to happen off screen in a wonderful moment at the conclusion. We would never have seen the Doctor take Ian aside and tell him not to miss his chance with Barbara on television, and yet Dorney and Russell make it sound like the most natural moment in the world.
Indeed, “The Rocket Men” is absolutely of its era despite some of its boundary-pushing moments. This is 1960s sci-fi through and through, with a bright, advanced future and square-jawed heroes taking on dangerous villains while everyone wears rocket packs. To realize this story on screen would take a multimillion-dollar budget, but I’m quite confident that the Doctor Who production team would have attempted it somehow.
William Russell deserves some sort of award for this story. Dorney’s script is beautiful and his narration often lyrical, and Russell brings it to life with consummate skill. Ian’s obvious affection for Barbara is always there, of course, but Russell reads his lines with a depth of emotion that hints at deeper feelings. The horrifying moment when Ian leaps from the airlock is delivered with heartbreaking desperation – at the time, it appears suicidal, but Russell makes it completely understandable. Director Lisa Bowerman also deserves a lot of credit, as non-linear narratives are notoriously difficult to direct, and this one is both powerful and easy to follow. Lastly, the sound design from Howard Carter is convincingly of the era, with a few excellent moments in the score.
Overall, “The Rocket Men” is another triumph for the Companion Chronicles. This is what the range was born to be: a superb actor giving previously unknown depth to a beloved character in a tense, exciting story that gives modern flourish to a classic era.
Doctor Who at its finest.
10/10