When do you know?..... 2!

This is a sequel story to “The Rocket Men”, which is a story I absolutely adored. What’s interesting is that this story is written by a different writer, yet it still uses many elements from the original. But does it use them well?

The party lands on an earth colony that’s under constant attack from the malicious Rocket Men. As soon as the next attack hits, Steven realizes something important: He is in his own past.

This story basically presents itself as a retelling of the original, but where that story focused on Ian and the discovery of his love for Barbara, this story focuses on Steven and the discovery that it is time to leave the Tardis behind.

It’s a bold mission statement for a story to use. This is the story that will fill in the potential gaps. This will make it all clear. If nothing else, that determination is admirable.

So how does it go about this goal? And how does it compare to the previous story with the exact same premise? Well, that second one can be answered rather quickly, so let’s start there.

In my memory, Rocket Men 1 stood out for two reasons: Its huge amount of characterization and its spectacularly interwoven narrative. It jumped around its own timeline to fill in its own blanks when it needed to, which made for a kind of storytelling that I’ve never seen since. It was something completely unique.

So it is a bit of a shame that this story has dropped that kind of storytelling. While the past and future intermingle, it is much more straightforward and “safe” than last time. It is not as tight and woven together. Instead choosing a more linear route.

But hey, that doesn’t rule out a nice story! It would’ve been nice to see other writers attempt that style, but I can understand that it can be a huge challenge. It requires an incredible amount of perspective on your own work, your audience and your characters. I do not blame Fitton for playing it a bit safer, even if this is a direct sequel. I just want to point out what could’ve been.

But that’s enough comparing. What does this story actually do? It gives us a glimpse at Steven’s past. The days before the Doctor. Before Mechanoids, even. When he was just starting out as a pilot on a freight ship.

The freight ship gets attacked by Rocket Men, and Steven is in danger. Until a Rocket Man called Rodriguez shows up and saves his life, getting shot in the progress.

Cue future Steven, our Steven, arriving at the exact same time and exact same location. He discovers that he was actually his own savior, as he takes over the rocket suit from the dead Rodriguez. He knows what happens next, but has to face up to it. He has to make his own future come to pass, as well as those of all the people the Rocket Men have captured.

It's a decent setup, and while a bit overly complex at times, it does what it sets out to do and it does it well. Except for just one question, which I feel the story leaves too open:

Where in the story does Steven actually decide that it is time for him to leave the Tardis?

While the story is engaging, it never really addresses this point. Even though that was the exact question it asked at the beginning. It’s a great heroic little Steven tale, and there’s some quick words from the Doctor who says “I don’t want to limit your potential”, but that’s it. It forgets to answer the question it picked for itself.

What this story could’ve done more with, is the thought processes and feelings that go on within Steven. The guy has been through a lot. He found a family, he had a lover, he lost it all and hated the Doctor. He has left the Tardis, only to come back. This is a character with more depth than any of our previous companions. His only match in this category is the Doctor. Steven has been our main character for this season. So use those experiences.

And yes, some of these moment and experiences get namedropped. But it could do more. There are very clear reasons already available for Steven to leave the Doctor behind. Take your pick. Instead, it just kind of dances around the question, while pretending to answer it. Like me during a job interview.

When you really, really look at Steven, there is way more than what is presented here. There is way more to capitalize on. This is written to be the definitive Steven story. The one that answers all the questions before his final goodbye. But it just isn’t. It tickles some ideas, and is and admirable portrayal of him. But it does not meet its own goals. If you have the gall to present your story as the end point of a character, with this big goal for character progress, you set the bar high for yourself. If you then don’t reach that bar, it immediately becomes a big disappointment.

“Return of the Rocket Men” is not a bad story at all. In fact, it’s very good! But it also hypes itself up to be way more than it actually is. It is not the definitive tale it clearly wants to be, and that’s an absolute shame. It is well worth a listen, but temper your expectations. Hard. This story will try to hype you up, but it can’t deliver everything it should.