[ Index for this Doctor ]
[ Index for this story ]
1: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The two girls get in front of the DALEK with the DOCTOR behind to push it. They look nervously down the corridor.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) And Susan?
SUSAN: Yes?
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) You lead us. You know the way.
SUSAN: All right.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SUSAN: This way then…(They set off.)
2: INT. CITY. CELL
(Behind them in the cell...)
THE AMBUSH
Written by
TERRY NATION
(...the cloak starts to move. A three fingered glistening claw emerges from beneath the folds…)
3: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The party proceeds down one of the narrow, slanting corridors.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Hey! Let go a minute!
(His companions release their hold of the machine. The arm starts to move by itself.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) I think I’ve found out how to operate this thing!
(The machine starts to move, slightly uncertainly, on its base.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Yes, I can! Quick, Doctor, get in front.
DOCTOR: Yes.(He does so.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Ready? Off we go.
(The party sets off again, this time looking much more “realistic”. They come to an intersection.)
SUSAN: Wait.
(She puts out an arm to stop BARBARA.)
SUSAN: This looks like the place.
(She mutters an instruction, walks forward slightly and peeps round the corner and then returns to her companions.)
SUSAN: There’s a great iron door with a Dalek on guard. And beyond the door there’s a lift.
DOCTOR: It’s up to you now, Chesterton. Do as little talking as possible.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing - whispers.) All right.(The part comes out into before the door that SUSAN spoke of. The DALEK guard swivels round as they approach.)
FIRST DALEK: Stop!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) The Council wishes to question the prisoners.
FIRST DALEK: I have not been informed. Wait.(The DALEK swivels back round to face a control panel. The time travellers look uncertainly at each other. SUSAN jumps forward.)
SUSAN: No! I’m not going! No!
(SUSAN is suddenly held between the arms of the two DALEKS. She gives a wink back to her companions.)
FIRST DALEK: Hold her!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) I have got her. (To SUSAN.) Now hold still. (To the DALEK.) Help me to get them inside.(IAN “holds” SUSAN against the wall as the real DALEK turns and opens the door by waving its arm over a sensor. It then prods SUSAN into the room.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing - to the DOCTOR and BARBARA.) You too.
(The DOCTOR and BARBARA follow SUSAN into the lift anteroom.)
3: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The two DALEKS follow.)
FIRST DALEK: Shall I help you to the fourth level with them?
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) No. Close the doors. The girl can not run far inside.(The DALEK guard leaves the room. BARBARA starts to move but the DOCTOR restrains her with one hand. He stands by the door as it slides shut and then pulls a cable out of a socket next to the door, thus disabling it.)
DOCTOR: That’s fixed the door.
BARBARA: That was a very good idea, Susan.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) He didn’t hurt you?
SUSAN: No, not really.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Well, help me to get out of this thing. I’m suffocating!
BARBARA: Right, hang on.(The three try to work the catch at the back of the base of the dome.)
BARBARA: The clasp is stuck!
DOCTOR: Here, let me help...fix it.
4: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEK guard is back at the communication panel and is reporting to control.)
FIRST DALEK: I have just passed the prisoners through into lift shaft seven.
SECOND DALEK: (Over tannoy.) There are no orders to move the prisoners. Hold them.(The DALEK swivels round to the door and presses the sensor. Nothing happens. It turns back to the control panel.)
FIRST DALEK: The door is locked. Emergency alarm!
(A wailing alarm sounds out. Almost immediately, two further DALEKS glide into view.)
SECOND DALEK: (Over tannoy.) Attention! Immobilise lift shaft seven floor area.
5: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) They know! Come on, hurry up will you!?
DOCTOR: Wait a minute! There, it’s free!
SUSAN: Oh, Good!
DOCTOR: Lift it from the top.(The three pull at the dome.)
SUSAN: Hurry up!
BARBARA: I...can’t move it! It…it won’t budge!
DOCTOR: Chesterton, try and force it up from the inside!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing - impatiently.) I’m trying!(They continue their efforts.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) No, no. It’s no good. There’s something jammed inside here. Forcing it’s only making it worse.
(A subdued banging noise comes from the door. SUSAN runs over to investigate.)
BARBARA: Ian, come on, hurry.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) I…I can’t move it!(SUSAN has her hands on the door. She suddenly leaps back.)
SUSAN: Ow! Hey, the door’s red hot!
(A growing pinpoint of light appears on the metal door.)
DOCTOR: They’re cutting through the door!
BARBARA: (To the casing.) We’ll have to move you into the lift.
DOCTOR: Yes, but hurry, hurry!(The three start to push the casing, but it proves immovable.)
SUSAN: It’s stuck!
BARBARA: I don’t understand it - it moved easily enough before?
DOCTOR: They’ve magnetised the floor. You feel it?
BARBARA: Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Yes! (To the casing.) Chesterton, we’re not able to get you into the lift!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Yes, I realise that. Take the others away in the lift, Doctor.
BARBARA: We’re not going without you…
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Don’t waste time! Go on!
DOCTOR: Well, come on, he’s right!
BARBARA: No! I’m not leaving Ian!
DOCTOR: (To the casing.) When we get to the top, we’ll send the bift…lift back down for you. All right?
SUSAN: (Shouts.) No Grandfather, we can’t!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Go on! Go on!
SUSAN: No!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Go on!(The DOCTOR grabs SUSAN by the wrist and pulls her towards the door-less lift.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Susan!
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Barbara, for goodness sake, go!(From the lift, SUSAN points to the door.)
SUSAN: Oh look!
(The line of the arch-like cut on the door has extended further. The lift rises. The DALEK casing shakes as IAN frantically tries to escape.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) I must…must…get…out!
(He continues struggling. The cut on the door grows longer in length.)
6: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEKS continue their task.)
7: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift rises through the shaft to the top of the building.)
8: INT. CITY. LIFT
BARBARA: How long will it take them to cut through the door?
DOCTOR: Oh, maybe then minutes. If we’re lucky, longer.
SUSAN: But look, even if he does get out, he’s stuck down there! His only way out is the lift! We must go back for him…(She lunges for the lift control but the other two grab her…)
DOCTOR: Susan, it’s no good. We cannot do anything for him now, child.
9: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift continues to rise.)
10: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEKS in the corridor have almost completed their task.)
11: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The outline of a rough doorway is now cut through the metal.)
12: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift is almost at the end of its journey.)
13: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
(The lift reaches the top floor. The DOCTOR hits a button on the panel displaying binary floor numbers and the lift descends as the three step out.)
BARBARA: We should never have left him. It’s so slow, it’ll never reach him in time.
14: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift descends.)
15: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEK cutting flame continues its task.)
16: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The “arch” cut by the DALEKS has now almost been completed.)
17: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(Sparks fly out from the special cutting tool that replaces one of the DALEK’S arms.)
FIRST DALEK: It is nearly completed…
(The cutting flame has now completed all three sides of the “arch”.)
18: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The door falls inwards.)
19: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEKS glide into the anteroom.)
20: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The DALEKS fire on the casing. It explodes. One DALEK pushes the damaged top, which falls off the base.)
FIRST DALEK: It is empty.
(The three DALEKS hear a sound and look at the binary number lift indicator. The lift is ascending.)
FIRST DALEK: Lock the lift!
SECOND DALEK: The emergency switch. Bring it down!
21: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift rises again.)
22: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
BARBARA: Come on, Ian…come on!
IAN: (OOV: From below.) All right, I’m coming…(The lift, with IAN in it, rises into view.)
23: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(A DALEK presses the emergency switch.)
24: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
(IAN leaps out of the half-arrived lift as it starts back down the shaft and into the arms of his companions.)
25: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift descends back to the waiting DALEKS.)
26: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
IAN: They had about two inches of that door to cut through when I got out.
SUSAN: Are you all right?
IAN: Yes, thank you, Susan.
DOCTOR: Well, never mind that now, we must try and find a way out of this room.(They walk across the room to a large oval window.)
BARBARA: Daylight!
IAN: Yes, but where exactly are we?
DOCTOR: We’re right at the top of the building. I can just see the surface of the city. (Points.) See over there? There’s the edge of the petrified jungle.
IAN: Yes…I’m trying to recognise the streets we came along.
BARBARA: Everything looks so different from above. Do you see anything at all that looks fa….(She stops dead.)
IAN: What is it?
BARBARA: Ian…?(He moves to her side.)
IAN: What’s the matter?
BARBARA: There’s someone down there! Look - by that sort of gateway thing beyond the low building - I saw someone cross that space!
DOCTOR: A Dalek?
BARBARA: No…it was a man. A human being!
SUSAN: The Thals - they’ve come for the food supplies!
DOCTOR: They’re walking into an ambush!
27: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(A DALEK glides into the lift. It is given its orders…)
FIRST DALEK: Make no attempt to capture them. They are to be exterminated. You understand - Exterminated!
SECOND DALEK: I understand.(The lift rises and the DALEK begins its journey.)
28: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(The lift glides upwards once more.)
29: EXT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
(The Time travellers frantically beating on the window and shouting to alert the Thals but from outside, not a sound of their cries can be heard.)
30: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
(Inside, they realise that their efforts are hopeless and step away from the window.)
IAN: Oh, it’s no good. This room must be soundproof. We must find a way of getting down there.
DOCTOR: Yes, but how, dear boy?(BARBARA is on one side of the room.)
BARBARA: Isn’t this a door?
IAN: Yes! Doctor, open it.
DOCTOR: Oh yes…(The DOCTOR walks over to the sensor and waves his hand over it but nothing happens. He tries again but gets the same result.)
SUSAN: What’s the matter with it?
DOCTOR: Oh, they’ve magnetised it too! Come on, let’s try and force it open.(IAN, SUSAN and the DOCTOR pull at the door’s edge.)
IAN: I can get my fingers in…
DOCTOR: Hurry!
IAN: Yes…it’s beginning to move!(BARBARA hears a sound from the lift-shaft and goes over to investigate. She looks down into the darkness.)
BARBARA: Ian. The lift’s coming back!
SUSAN: Oh no!
IAN: Doctor, keep working at the door.(He rushes over to the lift and presses the buttons.)
31: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(His actions are useless as the lift continues to rise.)
32: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
IAN: It’s no good.
(The DOCTOR continues pulling at the door. IAN looks round the room for something to use and spots a large abstract statue. He starts to push it towards the lift)
IAN: (To SUSAN and BARBARA.) Come over here and give me a hand!
(The two girls join him. The sound of the lift gets louder.)
IAN: Quick now, all push together.
(They push the large metal object towards the open shaft as the sound of the ascending lift gets louder. The DOCTOR has managed his task.)
DOCTOR: It’s open. I’ve got it.
SUSAN: Good!
IAN: Be right with you.(The DOCTOR struggles to hold the door open.)
DOCTOR: Look, what are you doing?
IAN: Just cutting down the odds a bit. (To BARBARA and SUSAN.) Are you ready? Right, altogether - one…two …three…push!(They push the statue into the empty shaft.)
33: INT. CITY. LIFT SHAFT
(It falls towards the lift and crashes down on its top, sending it downwards.)
34: INT. CITY. LIFT ANTEROOM
(The two DALEKS glide quickly backwards as the lift debris reaches the anteroom.)
35: INT. CITY. OBSERVATION TOWER
(The group are jubilant at their success. Wasting little time, they rush over to the door that the DOCTOR’S holding partially open. IAN takes the strain from him and ushers the others through.)
IAN: All right, Doctor, through you go.
DOCTOR: Yes.
IAN: Go on.(His three companions run through the gap. IAN is last to go through.)
36: EXT. CITY STREET
(The Thals have reached the same building that the time travellers used to enter the city. ALYDON edges round a corner and sees that all is clear. He beckons his companions on cautiously. TEMMOSUS notices his nerves.)
TEMMOSUS: You’re much too suspicious.
ALYDON: Perhaps I am, Temmosus, but why should the Daleks help us?
TEMMOSUS: You’ve been saying that ever since their message arrived. Perhaps their offer was coldly worded, but friendship grows with time. These Daleks must have believed that they were the only survivors on this planet.
ALYDON: And are they relieved to find that they aren’t? Or are they shocked and horrified - perhaps insanely jealous?
TEMMOSUS: You’ve no reason to say that. I think you misjudge them.
ALYDON: (Reluctantly.) Well…yes, I’m being illogical, unfair if you like, but…(He shakes his head and walks off a few paces, troubled with his thoughts.)
ALYDON: I just have an instinct.
TEMMOSUS: Listen, we must find a new source of food. The Daleks have it, they’ve offered it to us. These are facts, Alydon, facts.(ALYDON goes back to TEMMOSUS.)
ALYDON: Yes, yes, I know, but…let me talk to them.
TEMMOSUS: It’s right that I should do so.
ALYDON: But supposing…
TEMMOSUS: (Slightly angry.) No Alydon! And you must throw off these suspicions. They’re based on fear and fear breeds hatred…and war. I shall speak to them peacefully. (Smiles.) They’ll see that I’m unarmed. There is no better argument against war than that.(He walks away.)
ALYDON: (To himself.) Yes…if they really want to listen.
37: INT. CITY. ENTRANCE HALL
(A pile of boxes with masses of food on top lies in the centre of the entrance hall. Several DALEKS are at the edge of the hall.)
DALEK: They are approaching.
(The DALEKS glide backwards into the rooms that lead off the hallway. One in each of the doorways leading off the hall.)
38: INT. CITY CORRIDOR
(The TARDIS crew run as fast as they can down the corridor. The DOCTOR is behind, gasping for breath.)
SUSAN: Oh, Grandfather, come on! Come on, hurry!
(She grabs his arm and pulls him along. They come to a door at the end of the corridor that leads to the outside.)
BARBARA: Where are we?
IAN: By the city wall, I think. (Points.) Yes, there’s a gateway about fifty yards away.
BARBARA: Are there any Daleks?
IAN: Wait there…(He walks out of the doorway…)
39: EXT. CITY STREET
(…into the open and looks around.)
IAN: No…no, I think we’re all right.
DOCTOR: Well, let’s head back to the ship.
SUSAN: No, no, I must warn the Thals…
DOCTOR: Susan…
SUSAN: We can’t let them walk into a trap.
DOCTOR: The Thals are no concern of ours. We cannot jeopardise our lives getting involved in an affair which is none of our business.
BARBARA: (Angrily.) Of course it’s our business! The Thals gave us the anti-radiation drug. Without that, we’d be dead.
IAN: Yes, but the Doctor’s got a point. There’s no sense in risking our whole party.
SUSAN: No!
IAN: You go back to the ship and...I’ll stay and warn the Thals.
SUSAN: No, we’re all in this together! We’re all going to stay here.
IAN: Susan, you do as I say! You go back to the ship with Barbara and your Grandfather. Go on!
SUSAN: (Upset.) But don’t you understand…
BARBARA: Susan, I know what Ian means. He stands a much better chance on his own if he doesn’t have us to worry about. Now come on.(SUSAN starts to protest but BARBARA drags her along with the DOCTOR.)
BARBARA: We’ll wait for you.
IAN: I’ll be there.(The DOCTOR gives him a pat on the shoulder and moves off with the women.)
DOCTOR: Good luck, Chesterton.
IAN: Thank you. Go on.(He turns back and re-enters the building.)
40: INT. CITY. ENTRANCE HALL
(The DALEKS await the Thals. An alarm sounds and they retreat even further behind the doors, out of sight. Slowly, the Thals, lead by TEMMOSUS, enter the hallway.)
41: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(IAN runs at full pace down the corridor and arrives just outside the entrance hall.)
42: INT. CITY. ENTRANCE HALL
(All the Thals enter the hallway and stand looking at the food. One of the hidden DALEKS raises its weapon.)
TEMMOSUS: Daleks? Can you hear me? Daleks, the Thal people wish to live in peace…
(IAN arrives, unseen by either the DALEKS or the Thals at the edge of the hall. He listens to TEMMOSUS’S words, all the time wary for what could happen.)
TEMMOSUS: If this is your wish too, then let us work together to rebuild our world…we need your help…and in return we’ll make the soil live again. Grow crops, build homes. The time for enmity is past. If this is the kind of future that you want, then send for us and we shall talk. If you cannot decided now… (Pauses.) …we have been waiting for centuries, we shall go on waiting.
(The DALEKS start to emerge from the doorways but TEMMOSUS has his back to them. He indicates the food and speaks to the Thals.)
TEMMOSUS: Take these things.
(IAN sees the DALEKS. He rushes forward.)
IAN: No, It’s a trap! Get out of here! Run!
DALEK: Fire!(TEMMOSUS is hit at point blank range. His body arches in agony, then collapses on top of the food pile. One DALEK turns and fires at IAN. He ducks behind a wall, which is hit by the blast and turns the wall to molten metal. The Thals turn and run, followed by the DALEKS, firing as they go.)
43: EXT. CITY STREET
(ALYDON has made it outside and hides behind a doorway as DALEKS glide past in pursuit.)
44: INT. CITY. ENTRANCE HALL
(Back in the entrance hall, one DALEK glances down at the body of TEMMOSUS as it glides past.)
45: EXT. CITY STREET
(IAN emerges through a door and runs into ALYDON.)
IAN: Who are you?
ALYDON: I am Alydon. You…you are the man who warned us?
IAN: Yes. I’m sorry I was late.
ALYDON: Yes, our...our leader, Temmosus, is dead.
IAN: I know, I saw it.
ALYDON: Why? Why kill him? They...they didn’t even know him.
IAN: We can’t stand here discussing it. Get yourself and your men away from here. Come on.(They run off.)
46: EXT. FOREST
(At the Thal encampment, a female Thal walks up to ELYON who is on look-out with KRISTAS. She looks up at him in question.)
ELYON: No, not yet.
(She turns away. Outside the TARDIS, the DOCTOR is sat with DYONI who is showing him the contents of a small metal case. He is looking through his glasses at a set of hexagonal discs laid on the ground.)
DOCTOR: Fascinating, absolutely fascinating! You know, these records must go back nearly a half a million years.
DYONI: The complete history of our planet Skaro is here. It seems now that no one will survive to read it.
DOCTOR: Oh nonsense, young lady! Your survival is…is all here!(He points at part of a star map on several of the discs.)
DOCTOR: What, er…is this a solar system?
DYONI: Yes. Skaro is the twelfth planet... (Points.) ...here.
DOCTOR: I see. And this... (Points.) …this, what is this planet?
DYONI: Each of these maps is a tiny section of another solar system, so a total picture can be built up.
DOCTOR: Total? Oh, you have records of other systems?
DYONI: Yes. Well, I…I say total. Of course, we were only able to map out as far as our electroscopes allowed.
DOCTOR: Yes, I see. I wonder if I could see the plans?
DYONI: Oh, yes.
DOCTOR: (To himself.) I might be able to fix our position.(DYONI sets more of the discs on the ground.)
DOCTOR: Ah, yes, yes! Absorbing…most absorbing! Yes!
(Several feet away, IAN has rejoined SUSAN and BARBARA. The young girl laughs at the DOCTOR’S interest.)
SUSAN: (To BARBARA.) Grandfather seems to be enjoying himself.
(ALYDON runs up to IAN.)
ALYDON: Some of the children have heard something moving in the forest.
IAN: They can’t be the Daleks. They told us they couldn’t come out of the city.
ALYDON: Nevertheless, I think we should all be on our guard.(The two look-out Thals cry out.)
ELYON: Here they are!
KRISTAS: Antodus has been wounded!(One dead Thal is carried in on a stretcher, ANTODUS is carried in by GANATUS.)
GANATUS: We had to go round the other side of the city.
ALYDON: Is he badly hurt?(Nearby a woman can be heard weeping over the body of the dead Thal.)
GANATUS: It’s his shoulder.
DYONI: I’ll get some ointment and something to cover the burns.
SUSAN: Oh, we’ve got some in the ship.
DYONI: There’s some over here.(The two girls run off.)
GANATUS: We tried to go back for Temmosus.
ALYDON: Temmosus?(There are mutters from the assembled Thals of “What happened” and “Who’ll lead us now? At the same time as ALYDON speaks.)
GANATUS: It was hopeless.
(ALYDON gestures to IAN and BARBARA.)
ALYDON: These are the people the Daleks were holding prisoner. And this is the man who shouted to warn us.
GANATUS: (To IAN and BARBARA.) Thank you. (To ALYDON.) Did the others get away, Alydon?(ALYDON shakes his head.)
ALYDON: Tacanda was killed.
(There are gasps of his name from others.)
ALYDON: The rest of us escaped.
(DYONI arrives with the ointment. BARBARA takes it and begins to put it on ANTODUS.)
BARBARA: The burns don’t seem to be too bad.
DYONI: I’ll get some water for him too. (To BARBARA.) Can you manage?
BARBARA AND SUSAN: Yes.(DYONI leaves.)
GANATUS: Have you decided what we’re going to do, Alydon? You must take the place of Temmosus now.
ALYDON: Yes, yes, I know.(He sits down.)
ALYDON: If only I knew why the Daleks hated us. If I knew that, I…I could alter our approach to them perhaps…
IAN: Your leader, Temmosus?
ALYDON: Yes?
IAN: Well, he appealed very sensibly to them. Any reasonable human beings would have responded to him. The Daleks didn’t. They obviously think and act and feel in an entirely different way. They just aren’t human.
GANATUS: Yes, but why destroy without any apparent thought or reason? That’s what I don’t understand.
IAN: Oh, there’s a reason. Explanation might be better. It’s stupid and ridiculous, but it’s the only one that fits.
ALYDON: What?
IAN: A dislike for the unlike.
ALYDON: (Puzzled.) But...I don’t follow you.
IAN: They’re afraid of you because you’re different from them. So, whatever you do, it doesn’t matter.
DYONI: What would you have us do…fight against them?
IAN: I didn’t say that. But you must teach them to respect you. Show them some strength.
DYONI: (Sharply.) But you really believe we ought to fight?
IAN: Yes, I think it may have to come to that.
DYONI: (Angrily.) You understand as little about us as the Daleks do!
IAN: (To ALYDON.) What would you do if the Daleks could leave their city? If they came up here and attacked you?
ALYDON: We would go away, back to our plateau where we came from.
BARBARA: You’d simply run away?(ALYDON cannot find the answer to that and he gets up and walks a few paces away.)
IAN: Alydon, you can’t go on running away. There are some things worth preserving.
GANATUS: We’re not afraid to die - Temmosus proved that!
IAN: I am not talking about dying! Look, you can’t hand yourselves over to the Daleks! Sooner or later, they’re going to try and destroy you if they can.
ALYDON: I can see you want to help us. But as Dyoni says, you…you don’t understand. There can never be any question of the Thals fighting the Daleks. Come, Ganatus.(The Thals walk off.)
BARBARA: I don’t understand them . They’re not cowards. They don’t seem to be afraid. Can pacifism become a human instinct?
IAN: Pacifism? Is that it? Pacifism only works when everybody feels the same.
BARBARA: Yes, but are they really pacifists? I mean, genuinely so? Or is it a belief that’s become a reality because they’ve never had to prove it?(IAN is about to reply when the DOCTOR walks up to them with several of the discs.)
DOCTOR: I say, I say, I think these will interest you.
(He hands one of the discs to BARBARA.)
DOCTOR: Look here. This is these people’s ancestors - the original Thal male.
(The image of the plate is of a Viking type warrior.)
DOCTOR: There was a neutron war here. Most died, and the survivors mutated. But in the case of the Thals, mutation came round in full circle then refined itself into what you see.
(IAN looks from the disc to ALYDON on the other side of the encampment.)
IAN: You mean, this became…?
(He nods at a passing Thal.)
DOCTOR: Yes, yes! It took hundreds of years, of course. In the second example - our recent hosts - the mutation has not completed its full circle. Why I...I...I...I...I don’t know. But do you remember that monstrosity we took out of its machine?
IAN: Yes.(The DOCTOR hands over another disc.)
DOCTOR: This is its forebear.
IAN: The original Dalek.
DOCTOR: Yes. They called them Dals then. Oh, it’s all there, every moment of its Skaroene history. Minutely but brilliantly recorded. Priceless, absolutely priceless.
BARBARA: Is this a sword the Thal’s holding?
DOCTOR: Yes, they were the warriors then.
BARBARA: (Amazed.) Were they?
DOCTOR: Undoubtedly.(SUSAN comes up to her three companions.)
SUSAN: Hey, Antodus is feeling much better.
DOCTOR: Oh, I’m very glad to hear that he’s improving. Well now, I’m sure you’ll all agree with me that it’s time we went back to the ship. Now come along…
SUSAN: Oh, Grandfather, couldn’t we stay a bit longer? The Thals are such nice people.
DOCTOR: And the Daleks are not, which is more important, my child.(A group of Thals walk past in a funeral type procession. They are carrying the corpse of one of the Thals. The four time travellers watch the sight.)
IAN: I wonder if there’s any point in reminding the Thals of what they used to be?
DOCTOR: Why?
BARBARA: Oh, they’re opposed to fighting. We were trying to convince them that it was a necessity for their own survival.
DOCTOR: But our fate doesn’t rest with the Thals, surely. Let’s leave well alone. We have ourselves to worry about. Now, come along, come along…(He walks off.)
IAN: Maybe the Doctor’s right.
BARBARA: Yes. Lets get in the ship and get as far away from here as possible.(They head towards the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR: (Impatiently.) Oh please, Come along. (To IAN.) Oh, er, by the way, let me have the fluid link, will you?
(IAN reaches into his pocket for it but is empty handed.)
DOCTOR: Oh, dear boy, now please, please, come along, I...you know I can’t start the ship without it.
(IAN goes pale.)
IAN: The fluid link…
SUSAN: You’ve lost it?
BARBARA: Ian, you can’t have!
IAN: (Quietly.) No. The Daleks took it from me when they searched me. It’s down there somewhere…in the city.(BARBARA and SUSAN look with horror at a furious DOCTOR.)
Next Episode
THE EXPEDITION
Dr. Who
WILLIAM HARTNELLIan Chesterton
WILLIAM RUSSELLBarbara Wright
JACQUELINE HILLSusan Foreman
CAROLE ANN FORDTemmosus
ALAN WHEATLEYAlydon
JOHN LEEGanatus
PHILIP BONDDyoni
VIRGINIA WETHERELLAntodus
MARCUS HAMMONDKristas
JONATHAN CRANEElyon
GERALD CURTISDalek voices
PETER HAWKINS
DAVID GRAHAMDaleks
ROBERT JEWELL
KEVIN MANSER
MICHAEL SUMMERTON
GERALD TAYLORTitle Music by
RON GRAINER
with the BBC
Radiophonic WorkshopIncidental Music by
TRISTRAM CARYStory Editor
DAVID WHITAKERDesigner
RAYMOND CUSICKAssociate Producer
MERVYN PINFIELDProducer
VERITY LAMBERTDirected by
CHRISTOPHER BARRY