The Moonrakers (audio story)

was the second story in the audio anthology Wicked Sisters, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Simon Guerrier and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Louise Jameson as Leela, Ciara Janson as Abby and Laura Doddington as Zara.
== Publisher's summary ==
Life is hard for the early pioneers building the first settlements on the Moon. The laws of Earth don't apply here, and there are tussles over limited resources vital to survival. Arriving on the Moon, the Doctor and Zara discover that an aggressive alien species lies in wait. Yet there's something very strange about these particular Sontarans: they refuse to fight.
== Plot ==
The Doctor and Zara appear in a shipping container on the Moon and unwittingly endanger themselves by opening the door and letting the air out. They are saved by Commander Stent, a Sontaran, who believes that they are modified humans and takes them to a moonbase his people have conquered. Stent's job here is to log any and all human flights he detects.
Leela throws Brody's butter knife at a panel and activates the extraction fans, tearing the Smoke apart and saving herself and Abby. As the world no longer works as a farm for the Smoke, they are killing the inhabitants. Leela and Abby use the TARDIS to follow the trail of Zara's teleportation, although the storm in the Time Vortex complicates the journey, and they are arrive on the Moon. They are arrested by Tom Wade and taken to Captain Riya Nehru, who informs them that the segment of their caterpillar-like vehicle containing the TARDIS has been jettisoned.
The Doctor and Zara moonwalk with Stent to the Sontaran headquarters and are surprised to find that they have been gardening since their ship was damaged and landed on the Moon, raking patterns into the ground as therapy. Stent presents them to the other Sontarans for a question-and-answer session, after which Zara offers to help them repair their ship. Stent refuses to leave without killing the humans, however.
The Sontarans get aboard the transport, kill Wade and take Leela, Abby and Nehru to join their human captives. Leela and Abby learn that the lunar citizens are outside of the jurisdiction of Earth, that they are all at war with one another and that the Doctor and Zara have been helping the Sontarans for years. They find them sat unresponsive behind glass until Stent revives them, apparently confirming that they are assisting them in their experiments. However, all of the Sontarans' armour malfunctions and the Doctor demands Stent's surrender.
The Doctor, Leela, Abby and Zara get back to the TARDIS. Abby and Zara reveal that the garden where they met was the Sontarans' garden, but that the Doctor's alteration to the timeline means that the humans will not turn the Moon into a wasteland, find the garden and preserve it. The two girls make the TARDIS land back in the Garden of Storms, which is completely different; the Doctor agrees with Leela that this has to end.
== Cast ==
* The Doctor - Peter Davison
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Abby - Ciara Janson
* Zara - Laura Doddington
* Captain Riya Nehru - Anjli Mohindra
* Stent - Dan Starkey
* Polk - Nicky Goldie
=== Uncredited ===
* The Smoke - Lisa Bowerman
* Sontarans - Dan Starkey (BFX: The Moonrakers)
== Crew ==
* Cover Art - Tom Newsom
* Director - Lisa Bowerman
* Executive Producers - Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs
* Music - Howard Carter
* Producer & Script Editor - Mark Wright
* Sound Design - Lee Adams
* Writer - Simon Guerrier
* Senior Producer - David Richardson
== Worldbuilding ==
* Humans usually die after 94 seconds without oxygen.
* The Sontarans carry respirators.
* Stent makes the Doctor and Zara tea. He adds milk last.
* Stent used to help test new clone templates.
* There are zen gardens on New Japan.
* Zara uses a judo throw on Stent.
* Polk was part of the faction who set up the Lake of Joy. They also have mining rights to the Lake of Winter.
== Notes ==
* The Moonrakers was recorded at The Moat Studios in December 2019.
* Simon Guerrier originally wanted to use the Ogrons as the villains. This was changed to the Sontarans due to a story with the Ogrons already coming up. Mark Wright believed that this change worked in the story's favour. (BFX: The Moonrakers)
* The original actor for Polk was replaced at the last minute with Nicky Goldie. (BFX: The Moonrakers)
== Continuity ==
* The Doctor comments it has been a long time since he moonwalked. (TV: The Moonbase)
* Leela recognises the Sontarans. (TV: The Invasion of Time)
* To win over the Sontarans, the Doctor tells them of his encounter with the Cyber-Leader with Tegan. (TV: Earthshock)
* The Doctor recalls Sontaran experiments on humans being lethal. (TV: The Sontaran Experiment)
== External links ==
Category:Wicked Sisters audio stories
Category:Sontaran audio stories
Category:Fifth Doctor audio stories