[ Index for this Doctor ]
[ Index for this story ]
DOCTOR
WHOThe Sensorites
The Unwilling Warrior
By Peter R. Newman
1, INT: CONTROL ROOM
CAROL: I can sense them all around us now.
MAITLAND: Shh.(There is silence. Maitland and Carol appear to be frozen in position. Ian wanders back to the screen. He looks at it and his eyes widen.)
IAN: Doctor! Doctor...
(Through the main porthole a bald, bulbous, salmon-coloured face peers in at them with two completely black eyes. It's ears are long and pointed and a small mouth is hidden beneath a wiry tangle of white whiskers. Oddly enough, although it is in the vacuum of space it appears to have no kind of a pressure suit, possibly some device built into it's jumpsuit is projecting a transparent energy-bubble which is enough to keep pressure in and radiation out. It is also likely that the same device serves to propel it from the planet and short distances through space.)
DOCTOR: Steady Chesterton, steady...the calmer you are, the stronger.
(The Doctor, Maitland and Carol Richmond all appear transfixed by the Sensorite at the porthole as if it has some kind of mesmeric influence.)
IAN: Doctor, look at these two.
DOCTOR: Mm?(The Doctor is torn from his reverie, and he gets up to examine the others.)
DOCTOR: Maitland? Maitland! Can you hear me?
(It appears to have no effect.)
DOCTOR: Fear my boy. It's loosened his mind and it gives the Sensorites the chance to control it.
IAN: Doctor, that thing's still out there.
DOCTOR: Oh ignore it! Maitland!(The Doctor gives Maitland a gentle shake, and blinking a few times, he appears to become a little more lucid.)
MAITLAND: Yes... I hear you.
DOCTOR: There's work to be done my boy! Work, understand?
MAITLAND: Work...
IAN: He's responding!
DOCTOR: There's a door to be opened, remember?
MAITLAND: A...door, er yes!
DOCTOR: Danger on the other side.
MAITLAND: John, ah yes... We must get the two girls out!
DOCTOR: Good, good, good!
2, INT: STARBOARD CORRIDOR
BARBARA: All we want you to do is to open the door.
JOHN: No! I'll protect you.
SUSAN: But our friends are out there.
JOHN: They're dead, all dead.
BARBARA: But we were just with them
SUSAN: Just a few minutes ago.(John doubles up in agony clutching at his head as if the jaws of an invisible vice were closing around his mind. He falls to a crouch on the floor. Susan stoops to his level with a tender expression on her face, and Barbara does the same.)
SUSAN: What is it?
JOHN: They're here. Inside here!(He motions to his head between sobs.)
BARBARA: John, open the door.
(John looks up towards a point in the room and stares at nothing desperately.)
JOHN: Frighten them? No, I can't do it! No...no!
SUSAN: Somebody's talking to him - inside his mind.
JOHN: No, don't force me. ...You can't! I won't do it! My head!(He buries his head in his hands again and begins to sob loudly.)
JOHN: Pain! Why is this, why is this, why is this?
SUSAN: Somebody's ordering him to do something I know they are. Something to harm us!
3, INT: CONTROL ROOM
(Maitland heaves the door, but it remains immobile.)
MAITLAND: I'll have to use the cutter.
IAN: Oh not again! How long will this take?
MAITLAND: It's the only way.(Ian leaves Maitland to his laborious task of sawing with the miniature thermic-lance through the lock of the enormous metal shutter that looks more like a section of mobile bulkhead than a door.)
IAN: Yes, I know... Just that I'm so worried about Barbara and Susan.
(The Doctor chuckles at Ian's impetuousness.)
DOCTOR: Now-now-now, try and contain your emotions; use self-control. Otherwise it confuses the brain and leaves it wide open to an attack by the Sensorites. Look at Maitland here - fear and inertia has left him vulnerable!
IAN: Yes that's true enough Doctor.(Carol wanders over to the Doctor and Ian.)
RICHMOND: The Sensorites are in the ship now.
IAN: What? How did they get here?
RICHMOND: Through the loading bay.
DOCTOR: But that can't be where Barbara and Susan are now...
RICHMOND: No, but we must get to them as soon as possible.
IAN: Oh nobody's arguing about that!
DOCTOR: But that man John's with them, and...
RICHMOND: The Sensorites have control over John's mind, they may force him to obey their orders.(Ian returns to Maitland and watches as he continues on the lock of the door.)
IAN: How's it coming?
MAITLAND: Slowly, but it's working.
IAN: If I only knew what was happening on on the other side of this door!(He bangs on the heavy metal door and shouts.)
IAN: Barbara! Susan!
4, INT: STARBOARD CORRIDOR
SUSAN: Listen.
(They hear a muffled banging.)
SUSAN: It's coming from the outside.
BARBARA: Yes, I can just hear it. It must be Ian trying to get through.(John looks up.)
SUSAN: Yes.
JOHN: Give me your hand.(Barbara does so.)
JOHN: They want me to frighten you, I mustn't give way.
SUSAN: Oh he's so tense Barbara, can't we help him.
BARBARA: John, we're not afraid.
JOHN: Not afraid?
BARBARA: Not while we have you to protect us.
SUSAN: It's quiet and peaceful here. There-there's no real danger.
JOHN: The Sensorites...
BARBARA: We're you're friends John.
JOHN: Friends...(He looks up at the empty wall again, his face contorting in inner agony.)
JOHN: No, they are my friends!
5, INT: CONTROL ROOM
(Ian paces around like a caged tiger, he briefly inspects Maitland's work on the door, but the work is still painfully slow.)
6, INT: REAR CABIN
(The Sensorites are seen completely for the first time. They are dressed in curious pale one-piece jumpsuits from their neck to their circular snow-shoe sized feet, and each carries a small wire frame-like beam weapon similar to the one that cut the lock from the TARDIS. The black rings around their wrists identify them as science-caste. They gingerly enter a cabin from the direction of the loading bay and look around)
7, INT: STARBOARD CORRIDOR
SUSAN: Barbara I've got an idea.
BARBARA: Yes?
SUSAN: He's quiet now, but we can't be sure that the Sensorites won't make him help them. Look, if they can use their brains, why can't we use ours?
BARBARA: To defend him?
SUSAN: Yes, and ourselves. Look, Grandfather and I landed on a planet once called Esto, the plants there used though transference. If you stood in between two of the plants they set up a sort of screeching noise; Grandfather said it was because they were aware of another mind.
BARBARA: ...Breaking in on their communications.
SUSAN: Yes exactly! I thought if we both tried together...
BARBARA: Well anything's better than just sitting here.(John stands up staring wildly into space.)
JOHN: Sensorites! They're nearer now.
SUSAN: You see, if we both think of the same thing at the same time.
BARBARA: Well what do you mean? "We defy you", something like that?
SUSAN: Yes, yes "We defy you".
BARBARA: Alright.
SUSAN: Now we must both picture the words very clearly in our minds. We must both concentrate very hard. Ready?
BARBARA: Yes. When I count to five. One...
8, INT: REAR CABIN
(One of the Sensorites picks up a small lamp and they examine it curiously.)
9, INT: STARBOARD CORRIDOR
BARBARA: Four...five!
(Barbara stand in silent concentration.)
10, INT: REAR CABIN
(The results upon the Sensorites is instant and electric, they both reel across the room clutching their heads as if they had been hit by the blast wave of a silent scream exploding in their minds.)
11, INT: STARBOARD CORRIDOR
(As they are standing in thought Susan seems to get hit by some kind of a mental parry-riposte and loses consciousness for a moment, Barbara catching her.)
12, INT: CONTROL ROOM
(Having finished on the lock Maitland attempts to raise the shutter, but it sticks after sliding up to reveal a mere half-foot gap.)
MAITLAND: Oh, it's jammed, we'll have to cut the whole section out!
IAN: We can't wait. I'll give you a hand.
MAITLAND: Wait a minute.(They both heave the heavy metal shutter upwards.)
IAN: That's it...It's going...
(Between them they manage to wrest the shutter up, and they rush inside.)
13, INT: CABIN
(The Doctor chats with Carol and Susan watches from the background.)
DOCTOR: Yes it might be possible for Susan's thoughts to reach out to the Sensorites.
RICHMOND: So we really can resist them?
DOCTOR: Yes, and there's that friend of yours, John. We must look after him. Aah, let me see now... Oh course er they have a hold on his mind you know...
RICHMOND: Oh, he's sleeping peacefully now.
DOCTOR: Ah, Yes. I wonder...did Susan relieve the pressure?
SUSAN: I-I heard hundreds of voices in my mind Grandfather.(He fixes her with a stern expression.)
DOCTOR: Oh yes, and that was a stupid thing to do Susan! Because you were strong-willed and without fear they didn't harm you.
(Susan avoids his gaze. Maitland enters.)
DOCTOR: Mm?
MAITLAND: He's resting now. Did you know his hair was almost white?(The Doctor reproves him a haughty stare.)
DOCTOR: Ah, there's nothing wrong with that.
MAITLAND: In a man of thirty, Doctor? And he looked so old! Why have the Sensorites done this? What do they want from us?(The Doctor shrugs.)
DOCTOR: I...
(Ian appears in the doorway.)
IAN: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Mm?
IAN: John muttered something before he passed out. "The dreams of avarice." Now on Earth we have a saying: "Rich beyond the dreams of avarice."
DOCTOR: Mm.
IAN: I think he's discovered something.
DOCTOR: Mm.
IAN: It would explain why he's had the worst of it from the Sensorites.
DOCTOR: Yes, er..what were John's duties?
MAITLAND: W-he's our mineralogist.
IAN: You see, makes sense. John mumbling something about riches - I think he must have discovered something that the Sensorites wanted to keep secret. So they silenced him, and kept all of you prisoners about their planet.
DOCTOR: I see. And now they're trying to do the same thing to us. We must get the lock of the TARDIS back. Have you tried talking to them?
MAITLAND: Talking to them?!
DOCTOR: Yes, we must try - we must!
14, INT: REAR CABIN
(The first Sensorite plucks a small disc the size of a thick coin that is on a string around his neck; this is a Thought Amplification Disk, a device which focuses and amplifies the natural Sensorite talent acting like a kind of alien mobile telephone. Placing the TAD to it's forehead, the first Sensorite stands and listens as a strange series of wavering ethereal notes are felt rather heard in a curious way. The creatures speak to each other with soft, gentle-sounding voices.)
FIRST-SENSORITE: The First-Elder is communicating, be alert while I listen. ...Yes, the First-Elder is interested in human voice which said "we defy you".
SECOND-SENSORITE: The human creatures that are newly arrived seem to possess more intelligence than the others.
FIRST-SENSORITE: The First-Elder said they have less fear of us. We are to stay here and watch and listen to them closely; if they try to attack us with force we are to summon our warriors to destroy them.
15, INT: CONTROL ROOM
(Maitland presents a device resembling a large cylindrical tub.)
MAITLAND: One spectroscope Doctor.
RICHMOND: I do remember that he was beginning to take a reading of the minerals in the vicinity.
BARBARA: And then what happened?
RICHMOND: Well that was the first time that the Sensorites attacked us.
DOCTOR: Would you like to look at that graph for a moment?(He hands Ian a strip of card with a series of coloured lines on it.)
IAN: Yes. Oh, there's nothing much here... Pretty ordinary collection of things: Oxygen, hydrogen, sodium...
(Susan glances at the strip of card.)
SUSAN: Oh what's that?
IAN: Oh, it's a spectrograph Susan. You see those lines, they represent the emission wavelengths that...
SUSAN: Oh yes, course.(Ian grins at Susan's attempt to be subtle.)
IAN: Mm... No there certainly isn't anything special indicated on this.
RICHMOND: You're very strange people.
SUSAN: Are we?
RICHMOND: Well you come from nowhere and you seem to be going nowhere.
BARBARA: Oh we're very dependent on the Doctor - he leads and we follow.
RICHMOND: Travel without a purpose?
BARBARA: Oh no, there's a purpose in it. He's trying to get us back to our own time on Earth.
RICHMOND: Oh I see.
SUSAN: Isn't it better to travel hopefully than arrive?
RICHMOND: Oh anything's better than circling around a planet forever and being kept alive. Alive... It's been more like a living-death.
DOCTOR: I just don't understand, there must be a clue here somewhere, there must be.
IAN: Well I dunno Doctor. Certainly isn't much here.
MAITLAND: Well I studied it whenever I could, but it didn't look like anything that would cause much excitement. The Sense-Sphere is just an ordinary planet with a slightly bigger land mass than usual; but er, that's all.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's very interesting. Er, may I?
MAITLAND: Certainly.(Maitland hands the strip to the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Excuse me.
(He sits in a corner and scrutinises the pattern with his pince-nez.)
SUSAN: We know that the Sensorites have discovered thought transference.
BARBARA: And when John discovered something, he became so excited that his mind opened up and he broadcast it to the Sensorites. And it was something they wanted kept a secret.
RICHMOND: Mm.
DOCTOR: What...what is this? What was it Chesterton said? "Rich beyond the dreams of avarice." Yes, of course, of course. I know what he found!(He gets up and hands the strip to Ian.)
DOCTOR: Molybdenum! It's all here in the graph, but it's all mixed up with the lines so it doesn't make obvious reading.
IAN: Molybdenum?
DOCTOR: Yes.
MAITLAND: It resists very high temperatures.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's used in an alloy in steel, in fact this machine would be useless without it.(He waves around the spacecraft.)
DOCTOR: Now let me see, iron melts at er...one-thousand five-hundred and thirty-nine degrees centigrade; and molybdenum melts at two-thousand six-hundred and twenty-two degrees centigrade. So you know, that er, will give you some idea. Yes I see now just what John found, no wonder he was so excited. That planet must be full of it - full of it! Yes, a veritable goldmine!
(Maitland and Carol clutch their heads in agony.)
MAITLAND: Sensorites!
RICHMOND: They're here, on this ship!
MAITLAND: Oh!
IAN: Come on Barbara, let's find them.(They open the door.)
16, INT: PORT CORRIDOR
(As they stride down the corridor, to one side John is sleeping peacefully in his bunk. They pass by and enter a cabin at the end of the corridor.)
17, INT: CABIN
(Inside Ian motions silently to another door leading from the cabin to a rear section. He waves his hand over a photo-electric cell and the door clicks open to reveal another corridor.)
18, INT: REAR CORRIDOR
(They cautiously walk down the corridor, and come to yet another door.)
BARBARA: Where do you suppose this leads?
IAN: I dunno. Let's find out shall we? You needn't come if you don't want to.
BARBARA: Nonsense!(They open the door, and go through.)
19, INT: REAR CABIN
(They Look around and at the open cupboards. Barbara gasps as the two Sensorites step out of the shadows; Ian quickly rushes to grab the nearest heavy metal object from the cupboard, a futuristic kind of wrench. He stands between the Sensorites and Barbara as they begin to advance.)
IAN: Open the door.
(Barbara opens the door and they back away, moving through the doorway again.)
20, INT: REAR CORRIDOR
(Closing the door after them Ian turns to Barbara.)
IAN: Go and find Maitland, ask him how to lock this door.
BARBARA: But Ian, you...
IAN: Go on, don't worry about me!(Barbara turns again.)
IAN: Go on!
(She leaves just as the door opens again and the Sensorites enter. Ian backs away, as he does so the first-Sensorite raises it's TAD to it's head causing Ian to raise the wrench up like a club. Startled, the alien drops the disc, but in moments he and his companion begin to advance again. Ian tries to open the door as they advance, but it seems stuck. He warns them off with the club again, but they seem considerably less startled the second time. With a click the door opens and Ian exits the corridor.)
21, INT: CABIN
(Ian begins to retreat again casting a glance back, towards the door to the port corridor.)
22, INT: CONTROL ROOM
BARBARA: Tell me how do we lock the doors? Please try and concentrate!
DOCTOR: The sick member of the crew, try him.
BARBARA: Oh, he'll be in no condition to help.
DOCTOR: Do as I say!(She moves away.)
23, INT: PORT CORRIDOR
(In the tiny alcove that serves as John's cabin Barbara shakes him awake.)
BARBARA: John, show me how to lock the doors. The Sensorites are on the ship, we must stop them.
(Supporting John, she walks over to the cabin at the end of the corridor just as Ian walks through followed by the Sensorites on the far side. As they try to walk through the door to follow Ian he raises the wrench in a threatening manner again.)
BARBARA: Ian, no!
IAN: Why not? How else am I supposed to keep these creatures off?
BARBARA: Well do you need to keep them off? Have they actually attacked you? Come on John, lock the door.(He moves his hand.)
JOHN: It can't open now.
BARBARA: It's strange, they didn't harm you?
IAN: No, I think that they were as frightened of me as I was of them.
BARBARA: Then they're not very aggressive are they?
IAN: No.
BARBARA: Come on, let's get back to the others.
IAN: The others...the other way! The Sensorites can get through that way!(He rushes to the door to the starboard corridor.)
24, INT: CONTROL ROOM
MAITLAND: It's beginning to clear now.
(Barbara leads John up to the shutter.)
BARBARA: Bolt the door John, bolt it.
(John waves his hand over the photo-Cell and there is a clunk from within the door.)
IAN: Now we'll see what the Sensorites can do.
25, INT: CABIN
(The second Sensorite raises it's hand device, and with a satisfying flash from the photo-cell in the wall, the door clicks unlocked. They push it open and walk into the corridor beyond.)
26, INT: PORT CORRIDOR
(As they reach the shutter, the second Sensorite raises the laser again, but it's companion shakes it's head.)
27, INT: CONTROL ROOM
DOCTOR: This is all very well, but I think that one of us should try to contact them.
BARBARA: Are you feeling better now?
MAITLAND: Much better.
RICHMOND: Oh I don't know what happened, but I'm certainly feeling better now.
28, INT: PORT CORRIDOR
(The Sensorites both raise their thought-amplification disks and the strange telepathic whistling notes are felt again.)
29, INT: CONTROL ROOM
IAN: I'm sure it's no coincidence that the Sensorites attacked as soon as you discovered the molybdenum.
(Susan looks up and stares at nothing as she feels the strange ethereal music.)
SUSAN: Yes, but they won't agree to that.
DOCTOR: ...Agree? To what? What are you talking about child?
SUSAN: I-I'm sure they'll talk to you about it...
BARBARA: Susan, what is it?
SUSAN: Alright, I'll ask them. ...I'll tell you later.(She turns to the Doctor.)
SUSAN: The Sensorites want to know if it's alright for them to talk to you.
IAN: Are you saying that you're in tou...
DOCTOR: Do you mean to say that you've made contact with them?
SUSAN: Yes.
DOCTOR: Well of course we shall see them, but they must agree not to harm us.
SUSAN: Right.
DOCTOR: If they try to harm us then I shall fight them.(Susan nods and the notes start again.)
31, INT: PORT CORRIDOR
(The Sensorites stand communicating their instructions to Susan from behind the shutter.)
32, INT: CONTROL ROOM
(Susan walks across the room, unlocks and lifts the shutter. The Sensorites enter the control room.)
FIRST-SENSORITE: Which one is the Doctor?
SECOND-SENSORITE: The one with the white hair.
DOCTOR: Speak up, I can't hear you.
FIRST-SENSORITE: We have been speaking to each other.
DOCTOR: What is it you want of us? Why won't you let these space-people go back to their Earth, mm?
FIRST-SENSORITE: None of you can ever again can ever leave the area of the Sense-Sphere.
DOCTOR: Why not?
SECOND-SENSORITE: You know the answer to that!
IAN: Because of molybdenum. We are not interested in it!
SECOND-SENSORITE: So you say, but once before we trusted Earthmen - to our cost!
DOCTOR: So Earthmen have visited the Sense-Sphere?
FIRST-SENSORITE: Yes. And they caused us a fearful affliction. We shall not allow it to happen again.
MAITLAND: What do you expect us to do, drift around forever?
FIRST-SENSORITE: No, you will all come back with us. A special area has been prepared for you on the sense-Sphere. There you will live and there you will be looked after.
DOCTOR: These people cannot possibly accede to your request, it's out of the question!
FIRST-SENSORITE: You will do exactly as we tell you because you have no choice; none of you!
DOCTOR: My party does have a choice, and I assure we have no intention of spending the rest of our lives with you!
IAN: Well you have our answer. What do you propose to do?
SECOND-SENSORITE: We intend taking you down to the Sense-Sphere, but we do not wish to harm you in any way.
IAN: Since we've met you we have no wish to harm you. But you must get off this ship.
FIRST-SENSORITE: What if we refuse?
IAN: We will attack you.
FIRST-SENSORITE: The other Earth people will not be able to help you.
BARBARA: Surely we've proved that we don't need help.
SECOND-SENSORITE: You have only proved that you can lock doors. We can unlock them!
DOCTOR: Now listen to me both of you. You've taken the lock of my ship and I want it returned immediately.
SECOND-SENSORITE: You are in no position to threaten us.
DOCTOR: I don't make threats, but I do keep promises - and I promise you I shall cause more trouble than you bargained for... If you don't return my property!(The Sensorites cower with hands over their ears at the loudness of his tone.)
FIRST-SENSORITE: We must decide what we shall do.
(They return to the port corridor again.)
BARBARA: What did they mean decide?
IAN: I dunno, sounds as though there's something else they can do to us.
DOCTOR: Oh they might have been referring to Susan.
SUSAN: The Sensorites only spoke to me.
DOCTOR: Next time - if there is an next time - they might try and control your mind child. Like they have to these two people.
MAITLAND: Doctor, is there no way you can get into your ship?
DOCTOR: No, not unless they return what they stole from my ship.
RICHMOND: But will they'll never give it back to you!
DOCTOR: Oh my dear, they're not invincible, no-no-no. Did any of you notice the peculiarity in their eyes?
MAITLAND: No I can't say I did.
DOCTOR: It's a fallacy of course that cats can see in the dark, they can't; but they can see better than we humans because the iris of their eyes dilates at night. Yes...huh! Haha!
IAN: What are you driving at Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, it's all perfectly simple Chesterton, you see the Sensorites eyes are the exact opposite to that of a cats. The Sensorites eyes were completely dilated, that is enormous in light.
IAN: Conclusion, is that they would contract in darkness.
DOCTOR: Exactly, and that is our best weapon! The Sensorites will be frightened in the dark.
SUSAN: But you can't be sure of that. You're only sure that they can't see in the dark.
DOCTOR: I very much doubt, my child, that they can see in the semi-darkness.
BARBARA: But Doctor, assuming you're right...
IAN: Which he is of course.
DOCTOR: Naturally.
BARBARA: Then how can you be sure that the Sensorites will be frightened of the dark?
DOCTOR: My dear Barbara, wouldn't you be afraid if you couldn't see your enemies, mm?(He fixes Ian with a curious, piercing gaze.)
DOCTOR: Thank you for your admiration my dear boy, thank you.
(He pats Ian's arm in a friendly manner.)
IAN: Well I never said a word!
DOCTOR: Ha-ha, telepathy! You know telepathy isn't only a prerequisite of the Sensorites. I know sometimes what you're thinking! Hm-hm! Hm-hm!(The whistling tone is felt once more in the control room and Susan looks up.)
SUSAN: I don't want to go.
DOCTOR: My dear what..?
BARBARA: They're talking to her again.
IAN: What are they saying?
SUSAN: Ssh! I-I can't hear them very well. ...Oh that's better, there-there's just one voice a long way away.
DOCTOR: What's the message child?
SUSAN: Oh... Oh alright. But none of the others must be harmed.(She glances at the Doctor, Ian and Barbara.)
SUSAN: Don't move any of you. Grandfather it was the only way, they knew I'd agree.
(She walks to the open doorway to the port corridor.)
DOCTOR: Agree? To what?
SUSAN: To go down with them to their planet. Otherwise we'll all be killed.(Susan walks through the doorway and joins the Sensorites. The shutter closes behind her.)
Next Episode: Hidden Danger
The Doctor
William HartnellSusan
Carole Ann FordIan Chesterton
William RussellBarbara Wright
Jaqueline HillCaptain Maitland
Lorne CossetteCarol Richmond
Ilona RodgersJohn
Stephen DartnellSensorites
Ken Tyllsen
Joe GreigTitle music by
Ron Grainer and the
BBC Radiophonic
WorkshopStory Editor
David WhittakerDesigner
Raymond CusickProducer
Verity LambertDirector
Mervyn Pinfield(C) BBCTV 1964
Transcribed by
Rynad