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Doctor
WhoThe Dominators
Episode One
By Norman Ashby
1, MODEL SHOT: SPACE
(A fleet of glowing dots fly across space in an arrowhead formation. The dots can be seen more clearly closer up - they are a space armada comprised of stubby little saucer-shaped craft with blinking lights. One of them breaks the formation and heads off towards a nearby world, the others ignoring the deviant.)
2, MODEL SHOT: ISLAND
(The topmost craggy peaks of an island can just be made out, wreathed in poisonous smoke. A glowing saucer moves above the sandy surface of the island and descends. No longer glowing, the saucer makes a final descent. Little landing stanchions pop out and the saucer blows dust away from its underside.)
3, EXT: SAUCER
(The underside of the saucer stretches around a pillar-like tubular base like a high ceiling. At the front of the tube, the flat metal face of an outer-door airlock slides open like a pair of lift doors; they reveal a silicon-black inner airlock inlaid with a network of filigree gold patterns like the spidery network of connections on a circuit board. Within the airlock, an inner door rises into the ceiling with a hum revealing a dark space within. A man with short raven-black hair steps boldly out onto the new world as if he owned it, his eyes emotionlessly glaring around at the barren island. The space-conqueror is dressed in a strange kind of space armour, a kind of modern chainmail comprised of fluttering flakes of dark plastic-like material. A large, ridged torso-plate with high rounded shoulders forms an arc at head-height giving him the appearance of a upright, humanoid tortoise devoid of all neck. Another, dressed identically, joins the first and for a moment they stand in silence like two cosmic hunchbacks as they take in their surroundings.)
RAGO: Is the local radiation completely absorbed?
TOBA: Yes, its energy's been transferred to our fuel reserves, but we need much more.
RAGO: Of course, that is why we are here.
TOBA: With respect Navigator Rago, I still consider we should have continued on to Epsilon-Four.
RAGO: I decided otherwise Probationer Toba.
TOBA: But this planet has never been fully surveyed.
RAGO: It is suitable for our purpose. The planetary crust is thin here, and there is a intelligent form of life suitable for a work force.
TOBA: But the natives may not be suitable for slave labour. Suppose they're hostile?
RAGO: If necessary we shall destroy them.(Toba smiles.)
TOBA: Yes, destroy them!
RAGO: But only if necessary! Commence work on the preliminary survey.
TOBA: Command accepted. Shall I order the Quarks to mark out the drilling sites?
RAGO: Yes.(Toba turns back towards the open doorway.)
TOBA: Quarks!
(There is a bleeping from within the saucer.)
7, MODEL SHOT: ISLAND
(The island can be seen from afar, in a sea of swirling mist. To one side an odd hovercraft resembling a lemon-squeezer traverses the sea of mist.)
8, INT: HOVERCRAFT
(Inside the craft sophisticated control banks and monitors line the walls. Three men in strange dresses that appear to be made from curtains, and a young dull-looking girl in a swimming costume with a wispy translucent skirt gaze hopefully at the monitor screens, all looking reasonably bored. While two of the men seem to be well toned and in their late twenties with square jaws, the third is in his mid thirties, is rather round and balding with a curious gleam of mischief in his eyes that seems to be lacking from the others.)
WAHED: I'm not so sure that this so-called "adventure" was such a good idea after all. I mean, this is a terribly primitive way to travel isn't it?
ETNIN: Well, we are supposed to be looking for excitement aren't we?
TOLATA: That's why I came.
WAHED: I really don't see what's so exciting about sitting for hours on end in this old tub! If we'd used a travel capsule we could have been here in a few minutes.
CULLY: Not without a permit you wouldn't.
WAHED: I suppose that does add a little zest.
CULLY: Well, here we are everyone, the island of death! Uninhabited for one hundred and seventy years, nothing can live on this poisonous plot of soil!
WAHED: You're being melodramatic again Cully - as usual. You know perfectly well that there's a permanent survey unit there to monitor the radiation.
ETNIN: And there's a weekly visit there by parties of students to show them the horror of atomic radiation.
CULLY: Alright, alright, I know; but all this is organised and supervised by the state. You've travelled miles by sea in a ship navigated by man, none of your auto-piloting. And don't forget we're here without permits, all of this is illegal.
ETNIN: Yes, I'd almost forgotten that.
CULLY: An adventure with Cully is something never to be forgotten.(Tolata looks at Cully with demure amusement.)
WAHED: It doesn't look any different to me from the way I've seen it in vision-books on my own screen at home.
CULLY: Ah, but this time it's real.
WAHED: Is it?
CULLY: Well yes of course it is. You're actually here.
WAHED: Are we?
CULLY: You don't believe me.
WAHED: Well you could just be throwing up old pictures on your scanner, couldn't you? After all, there's nothing to show that it is real.
CULLY: Well you can't go out and see.
WAHED: Why not?
TOLATA: Yes, why not?
CULLY: Look, I'm all for a bit of danger, but going out on that island without protective suits would be madness!
WAHED: So we just have to take your word for it Cully?
CULLY: Yes you do.
TOLATA: Didn't you mention something about a warning signal?
CULLY: Yes, when we're in the radiation zone, why?
TOLATA: Well aren't we a bit close?(They all stare at the image of the rocky coastline on the screen that suddenly looms towards them out of the soupy mist.)
ETNIN: Do something Cully!
WAHED: We're going to crash!
4, MODEL SHOT: ISLAND
(The hovercraft zooms towards the poisoned island and smashes into a sandy shore.)
5, INT: HOVERCRAFT
TOLATA: Quickly Cully!
(She screams as they are thrown about the craft by the impact.)
6, MODEL SHOT: ISLAND
(The lemon-squeezer hovercraft has banked itself on the shores of the island.)
7, INT: HOVERCRAFT
(Cully desperately swishes his hands over the controls, but only succeeds in creating a hideous grinding sound from the motive units.)
CULLY: We're stuck.
WAHED: Mm?
TOLATA: Oh no!
WAHED: Do you mean permanently?
CULLY: Yes, we've run aground. The drive is well and truly waist-in solid.
WAHED: Well how are we supposed to get back to the mainland?
CULLY: Look don't ask me!
ETNIN: This really is an adventure isn't it?
WAHED: Are you sure this isn't one of your practical jokes Cully?
CULLY: Now look, running aground on an atomic island isn't my idea of fun!
WAHED: Yes, but is that where we really are?(He moves to the control panel and picks up a pen-like object. He runs it over a nearby panel.)
WAHED: Well the radiation meter's registering zero.
(Cully looks at the screen of the radiation meter which is registering nothing.)
CULLY: Yes, odd. Well they...they-they've probably broken down.
WAHED: Let's try again shall we?(He repeats the process at the panel.)
WAHED: Clear the computer. Now!
(The screen still registers nothing.)
CULLY: Zero? But it can't be!
WAHED: So much for your navigation Cully!(He looks at Cully with scorn.)
WAHED: Island of death!
(He swipes another control and a section of the floor descends into a ramp, a door sliding open in the far wall. Wahed and Etnin disembark and Cully stands at the doorway.)
CULLY: Alright, go out there. Get yourselves cooked to a frazzle by the radiation, but don't come complaining to me if you get yourselves killed because I don't refund money to...Refund? What am I saying, they haven't even paid me yet, hey wait!
(He skips through the doorway and Tolata follows him.)
CULLY: Oh Tolata, don't be a little fool, this island is a killer!
TOLATA: So you say, but your radiation counter didn't seem to be making too much of a fuss about it.
CULLY: Yes I-I know...but, well; it must have gone bust.
WAHED: And all the others in this tub of yours as well?
TOLATA: Why don't you admit it Cully, you're a rogue! This isn't the test island is it?
CULLY: But I tell you it is!
ETNIN: Wahed! Over the hill, people.
WAHED: People? Well that settles it rather doesn't it Cully. No-one ever visits the island of death!
CULLY: There's the survey unit, or they could be students. Were they wearing protective suits?
ETNIN: No, but they had a new type of robot.
WAHED: A work party most probably. Come on Etnin, let's go and seek their assistance in getting us off this dreary island which Cully has so carelessly marooned us on.
CULLY: No wait, Wahed stop!
8, EXT: SAUCER
(From the Quark's point of view the world exists through the hexagon-shaped border of a camera-eye. Toba looks down at it.)
TOBA: Quarks! You will set up the drilling site in accordance with the instructions of Domin...
(He notices three people in the distance running down a sandy dune towards him. Far behind them Cully watches in horror.)
CULLY: Wait, stop!
(Toba turns back to the Quarks.)
TOBA: Quarks, destroy them!
(From the Quark's point of view again as its power builds. From his far off point Cully can do nothing to stop the others.)
CULLY: Oh get down quickly! They're going to... Get down!
(He throws himself to the sand From the Quark's view again as, giggling with energy, it discharges a blast from its kinetic-force projection weapon straight into the middle of the defenceless Newtons-cradle of Dulcians. At the front of the trio Tolata bears the full brunt of the killing wave, her face steaming and melting away as if it were made of wax. They are all knocked flat as swiftly as a group of skittles on a railway track. Toba looks delighted with his handiwork.)
TOBA: Quarks, reload force units.
(From its point of view the Quark obediently sparkles and chitters it at him in its electronic language.)
RAGO: Trouble?
TOBA: I have dealt with it. Three alien beings of the planet.
RAGO: Dead?
TOBA: Of course.
RAGO: That was unnecessary!
9, EXT: EASTERN ROCKFACE
(Cully walks by oblivious to something which is happening behind him. The soft whisper of a drawn out sigh falls through the air resolving itself into a regular juddering, which in turn becomes a tortured-trumpeting as a square shape firmly ices itself into existence like a large blue birthday cake. The doors of the cake open inwards as a small chuckling man in a black frock-coat exits, followed by a youth in a kilt and a girl is a pale futuristic outfit.)
DOCTOR: Oh yes, o-hoh yes! Ah...oh!
(He yawns.)
DOCTOR: Ah.
JAMIE: Are you still feeling tired Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes, just a little bit weary Jamie. It's a very exhausting business projecting all those mental images you know.
ZOE: You need a good rest Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, we all do. A nice holiday! Mm.
JAMIE: Oh, where did you say this place was again?
ZOE: Well the scanner screen in the TARDIS showed it as an island of some sort surrounded by a sea of mist.
JAMIE: Aye.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's an island on Dulkis, a perfectly splendid planet!(He claps delightedly to himself for his good navigating, but Jamie knows better and whispers cynically to Zoe.)
JAMIE: Aye, I've heard that one before.
ZOE: And there won't be any Cybermen or Daleks will there?(The Doctor chuckles some more.)
DOCTOR: No-no-no of course not. There's nothing unpleasant on Dulkis.
(He ducks into the TARDIS and returns with a long fishing net which he hands to Zoe.)
ZOE: Well is the whole island as dreary as this?
DOCTOR: Oh no, goodness me no, they're a very advanced race the Dulcians. And-and they're very gentle too - and friendly. You're going to like them.(He vanishes inside again.)
JAMIE: Oh I see, you've been here before.
(The Doctor returns with a deflated beach ball which he hands to Jamie.)
DOCTOR: Oh yes Jamie, blow that up for me would you?
JAMIE: Eh?
DOCTOR: Yes...some time ago mind you, it was splendid! It was so peaceful I just didn't want to leave.(He ducks back for a moment and returns with a metal folding chair which he opens and sits in.)
DOCTOR: Yes, that's what we all need, a nice peaceful holiday.
(Zoe glances at Jamie as he struggles to inflate the balloon. He merely shrugs at her in reply.)
10, EXT: CLIFFTOP
(Toba looks down at Cully's hovercraft which is marooned on the sandy bank far below. A short distance below, out of Toba's line of sight, Cully walks down the bank and stops dead as he sees the burly Dominator above.)
TOBA: Quarks! Destroy the alien vessel.
(From the Quarks point of view it zooms in on the craft. The creature begins to eagerly whoop faster and faster as it builds power, then with a burst of metallic giggling projects its invisible malice at the defenceless hovercraft, crushing it like a empty drink can in a single deadly stroke. The fuel tanks erupt in a massive fireball and when the smoke clears there is nothing but a flaming sheet of pancake-thin metal. Cully is thrown to the ground by the explosion where he stays. High above, the Quark chatters and chitters to itself in afterglow as it recovers from its task.)
11, EXT: RUINED HOUSE
(In a clearing is a large futuristic house, or what remains of one. The rear section of the building seems intact, but the front has collapsed into a melee of girders and hexagonal-shaped bricks. A sliver internal door leads into the standing portion of the structure.)
JAMIE: I thought you said it was a peaceful planet?
ZOE: Well which direction did it come from? It sounded as though it was almost on top of us.
JAMIE: Hey, now would you look at that!
ZOE: Did you say these people were peaceful Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well yes Zoe they... But-but Dulki..Duclians are-are gentle...and-and friendly!
JAMIE: Aye, sounded like it! Did the explosion cause this?
DOCTOR: Oh no-no-no, this was caused by an explosion some time ago, Jamie.
ZOE: Looks like atomic blast damage to me.
DOCTOR: Yes, I-I think you're right Zoe...but I don't understand it! Let's look inside shall we?(He helps Zoe over a pile of rubble and girders.)
DOCTOR: Mind... Over here.
(The metal door creaks ominously as they enter the gloomy building.)
12, INT: MUSEUM
JAMIE: Hey, what sort of place is this?
ZOE: Looks like a kind of museum.
DOCTOR: Yes, you're right Zoe... A war museum!(All around the hexagonal-brick walled room are Tables and cases filled with an assortment of nasty looking gadgets, the function of most lost in extremely unpleasant supposition. There are also a few more conventional looking guns lining the walls.)
JAMIE: Peaceful you said?
DOCTOR: Oh yes, but these are very old fashioned weapons, Jamie. They..this was banned ages ago.(Jamie picks a slim atomic-laser from a stand on a nearby table.)
JAMIE: Hey how you work this sort of thing..?
DOCTOR: No, Jamie no! p-put that down!(As Jamie idly toys with the weapon the Doctor snatches it from him before he accidentally shoots someone.)
JAMIE: What's the matter? W-what?
DOCTOR: Well it's a sort of laser gun. You know what that'll do, it'll burn a hole through anything. Metal, concrete, wood, anything! It-it may look old, but you never know it-it just might go off. Now please, just leave things as they were! Where was it? Oh...(The Doctor replaces the gun on the stand. Zoe notices a hatch in the floor.)
ZOE: I wonder what's down here?
(Jamie continues to study the weapon on the table.)
JAMIE: Oh is that the trigger there?
DOCTOR: Oh well that seems to be something...(As Zoe looks up she notices something else.)
ZOE: Look!
JAMIE: Oh, what's the matter?
DOCTOR: What did you see?
JAMIE: What?(The Doctor and Jamie rush over to Zoe and see a table a few paces away where something decidedly unpleasant awaits them. Two figures are sat at the table which appear to be the remaining husks of what used to be men; their ravaged features scarred and covered hideous burns, the few clumps hair that remain seared to their glassily staring faces.)
JAMIE: What's happened to them?
DOCTOR: Stay here Zoe. Come on Jamie.(As Zoe waits, the Doctor And Jamie cautiously approach the table. Having seen enough the Doctor begins to relax and chuckles to himself.)
JAMIE: Oh what are you laughing at? ...Oh, they're just dummies!
(Jamie slaps one on the back. The putrid figure lolls forwards slithering onto the charred remains its face like a floppy pus-filled sack of skin.)
JAMIE: What did they put them in here for?
DOCTOR: They're dummies!
ZOE: Dummies?(A thought suddenly strikes the Doctor and his grin vanishes.)
ZOE: Did you check...
DOCTOR: Uh?
ZOE: Did you check the radiation levels before we left the TARDIS?
DOCTOR: That's just what I was thinking Zoe, I... I think I did, I... Yes I'm sure I did!
JAMIE: Hey, what are you two on about?
ZOE: Well I was just thinking. This place reminds me of the old atom-test islands on Earth.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes I think you're right Zoe.
JAMIE: Test islands?
ZOE: For atomic weapons Jamie.
DOCTOR: But-but-but, why on Dulkis? They've outlawed war! No there must be some other explanation...
JAMIE: Aye, well I vote we go back to the TARDIS and find somewhere else.
ZOE: Doctor!(Before them stand three figures in bizarre radiation suits covered in small plastic discs that give them the appearance of just having struggled in from a blizzard of jam tarts. They stare blankly at the intruders from behind dark visors.)
13, MODEL SHOT: SURVEY UNIT
(From a high up position on the side of the island sits a strange metallic complex of smooth sloping walls like a curious steel ziggurat.)
14, INT: SURVEY UNIT
(Inside the survey unit modern consoles similar to the ones in the hovercraft monitor all process data about the environment and new arrivals. The striking difference from the hovercraft is that it is more spacious and there are tables and comfortable chairs and benches all around, with the odd leafy plant here and there to give the place a homely feel. One of the radiation-suited figures lifts the protective helmet off to reveal a cascade of golden hair and the face of a pretty young girl called Kando. The others follow suit to reveal a man Kando's age called Teel and the older, bearded figure of Educator Balan with the monotonous voice of a born lecturer. Once out of their suits they are revealed to be dressed in the native curtains or swimming-costume style.)
BALAN: Oh I hope we're not too late. If they were out there for any length of time... How badly are they affected?
(Kando tries to read the meter, but keeps getting a unhelpful bleep from the machine.)
KANDO: I don't know, Educator Balan.
BALAN: Oh come now Kando, I've taught you how to read a radiation meter. But this is registering negative - are you sure you've switched it on?
KANDO: Yes!
BALAN: How is yours Teel?
TEEL: Exactly the same sir, the sign says zero.
BALAN: It's very strange.
TEEL: Could it be that the meters aren't working sir?
BALAN: No, the warning lights would have gone on if the circuits had failed.
KANDO: Well we can't leave them in there indefinitely!(There is a muffled thumping and a faint sound of irate protestation.)
BALAN: No, that is true. Teel, as they're not radioactive we may as well let them out.
(Balan sits to write a report and Teel presses a button on the wall. A doorway into the decontamination chamber slides open and the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe burst spluttering into the room amid clouds of decontaminant steam.)
DOCTOR: Oh-oh...oh my beautiful coat is all wet!
ZOE: Oh thank goodness for that!
JAMIE: Ridiculous!
DOCTOR: All this is totally unnecessary you know, there's not a trace of contamination on us!
BALAN: Yes, so I've noticed, it's odd isn't it?
DOCTOR: What's odd about it?
BALAN: Well the whole island is radioactive - it has been for a hundred and seventy-two years, you must know that.
ZOE: Well it isn't now.
KANDO: Of course it is.
DOCTOR: Have you checked?
TEEL: Well not yet, we've only just arrived. We'll be taking the annual readings during the next few days.
DOCTOR: Well if I were you I'd take them now. Oh!
BALAN: I, er... I wasn't aware that anyone else had permission to work on the island. So, tell me what has been happening.
DOCTOR: But...but I was hoping you were going to tell us that!
ZOE: This is an atom test island isn't it?
BALAN: Of course, everybody knows that.
JAMIE: Ah, well we don't.
DOCTOR: But atomic weapons on Dulkis? I thought war had been abolished here!
BALAN: It has, you seem to know surprisingly little about your own planet!
JAMIE: Ah well that's it you see, we've just come in the TAR-TAR...(Jamie falls silent.)
DOCTOR: Well, as Jamie was about to say; we come from a different world, a different time...
BALAN: Not from this world? Really, that's very interesting, I must note that in my daily report.
ZOE: Well you don't sound very surprised.
BALAN: Well it does explain how you came to expose yourself to the dangers on this island. No Dulcian would do such a foolish thing.
JAMIE: Oh? What are you doing here then?
KANDO: We're part of Educator Balan's expedition from the university.
DOCTOR: But-but when I was here some time ago you were a peaceful race.
BALAN: Ah, so you've been here before?
DOCTOR: Well, yes...
BALAN: Ah, I must put that in my...I'm so sorry, you were saying?
DOCTOR: Well, well what's happened to you? I thought aggressive weapons had been abolished?
BALAN: Oh, indeed they have, under the second council, under Director Olin. He banned the manufacture of all weapons.
DOCTOR: Then what are you doing letting off atomic devices all over the place?
BALAN: Oh... Oh, there was only one device. Perhaps my pupil Kando should tell you? Let's see how much you remember my dear...
KANDO: Um...
BALAN: The seventh council...
KANDO: The seventh council under Director Malos initiated research which led to the development of atomic energy. The dest...
BALAN: Destructive capabilities.
KANDO: The destructive capabilities of this were immediately apparent, and...
BALAN: This island.
KANDO: ...And this island was used to test an explosive des-device, the results of which can be seen today. Thereafter all further research into this type of energy was prohibited, and this island was kept as both a museum and warning to future generations.
JAMIE: Oh well, she certainly does her homework.
DOCTOR: I see. Then this, this is an atomic test site?
BALAN: Oh yes, you see students are... That was really very good Kando. ...Students are brought here to test the radiation level and observe the effect on the vegetation. And of course, to see for themselves the horrors of atomic destruction.
DOCTOR: So there should be radioactivity here?
JAMIE: But there isn't?
DOCTOR: No. I wonder why?
15, EXT: SAUCER
(Rago and Toba are still ironing out the rules of interplanetary etiquette.)
RAGO: And you destroyed this travel-ship?
TOBA: You gave me no order to the contrary!
RAGO: You are a Probationer Navigator, your first duty is to investigate, second assess! You allowed your instinct for destruction interfere with your primary task!
TOBA: Not accepted!(Rago steps from the shade of the saucer into the harsh glare of the sun.)
RAGO: How can you asses that which does not exist?!
(The glare fades a little as a fluffy cloud passes by.)
RAGO: Have you completed your atomic analysis?
TOBA: Analysis complete. Atomic energy released on this island seventeen point-two decades ago.
RAGO: A long time...strange that this should be the only trace of radiation on this planet. Continue!
TOBA: Drilling sites have now been located and marked.
RAGO: Then we will examine them.
16, EXT: EASTERN ROCKFACE
(Cully runs his hand over the TARDIS curiously, then turns and examines a strange star-shaped emblem burnt into the ground. He ducks into hiding as the Dominators stride into view.)
TOBA: This is the eastern drilling site.
RAGO: What is that?
TOBA: Oh just a crude box-like structure. Shall I summon the Quarks to destroy it?
RAGO: Why, will it interfere with the work?
TOBA: No, but...
RAGO: Then it would be wasteful to destroy it!
17, EXT: RUINED HOUSE
(A radiation-suited figure stoops to examine an identical star to the one by the TARDIS, but this one has been burnt into the ground just outside the ruined house. The figure looks up to see Cully striding past a ruined wall.)
TEEL: Cully what are you doing here?
CULLY: Who is it, who's that over there?
TEEL: My name is Teel, you remember, I'm with the survey team.
CULLY: Survey? Right, take me to your survey unit.
TEEL: But...
CULLY: Come on don't argue!
TEEL: Oh very well. It's over this way.(They move away just as the Dominators round the corner of the ruined wall.)
RAGO: Here. Evidently a test site - it would explain the radiation.
(They enter the building.)
18, INT: MUSEUM
TOBA: Primitive architecture.
RAGO: Every culture develops Probationer Toba. Never base an assumption on the past, examine the present.(Toba examines the dummies, seeming not to realise that they aren't real people who were used as test subjects.)
TOBA: Yes Navigator Rago. Hmph, you were right it was a test site.
(Rago stands before the atomic-laser weapon Jamie picked up earlier.)
RAGO: Come here. Explain.
TOBA: Part of this collection of crude weapons.
RAGO: Continue...
TOBA: Well, this one operates on the early laser-principle.(He picks it up and aims at a map of the island on the wall.)
TOBA: Fire mechanism here.
(There is a neat little hum from the weapon and a hole the size of a melon is excavated from the map in a flump of smoke and flame.)
TOBA: Self-charging power-cell, limited range.
RAGO: All you notice?
TOBA: The other weapons are just as simple; there's nothing here that could threaten us. These things are so old that they could...
RAGO: Precisely! Old! At last you casually mention a fact of major significance. Has it not occurred to you Probationer Toba that other weapons must have been developed since these?
TOBA: Agreed Navigator Rago.
RAGO: I reproved you at the time of your precipitate act of self-gratification in destroying those three creatures. It will now be necessary to find other specimens. They will have to be investigated...
19, INT: SURVEY UNIT
(The Doctor sits on a comfortable sofa under a recess in the wall containing a large exotic flower.)
DOCTOR: But why do you think we might be responsible?
(He takes a beaker of drink from the tray offered to him by Kando.)
DOCTOR: Thank you.
BALAN: Well it is conceivable that your craft the um..?
DOCTOR: TARDIS.(Balan takes a drink.)
BALAN: The TARDIS could have attracted the radioactivity in the same way that a m-magnet attracts metal.
(The Doctor chuckles.)
DOCTOR: Oh, it would have registered!
(Kando takes the ray over to Zoe who takes a drink.)
ZOE: Do spacecraft often land in Dulkis?
KANDO: As far as you know you are the first.(Jamie takes a drink.)
JAMIE: Oh I must say then, you don't seem the least bit surprised.
KANDO: We are taught to accept facts, being foolish to contemplate fantasy in the face of reality. You are here - this is fact. That you come from another planet I accept because I have no other means of proving it.(The door to the decontamination area slides open and two figures shamble in.)
TEEL: Not a sign of radiation, but look what I found.
BALAN: Cully what aren you..?
CULLY: Never mind that now, we've got to get back to the capital!
BALAN: Oh we haven't even begun our survey yet!
CULLY: If you don't you'll be wiped out!
TEEL: He claims to have seen robots and spacecraft!(Balan turns to the Doctor.)
BALAN: You didn't tell me you brought robots!
DOCTOR: I haven't!
CULLY: Look, I've brought three people here in my ship, they've been killed by those creatures!(He begins to chuckle at Cully.)
ZOE: Well what's so funny?
BALAN: Now I see it, yes - three people.(He turns to the Doctor.)
BALAN: So, you come from another world do you Doctor?
DOCTOR: Eh, I don't...I...
BALAN: Really Cully, you and your friends might at least have agreed on the same story!
CULLY: What, but these aren't my three you oaf! Oh what's the use?
JAMIE: Eh? Look what's he talking about?
DOCTOR: I don't know, look I've never seen this gentleman before in my life.
BALAN: Cully, you had no right to bring these people here without permission, even if you are the son of the Director of the council.
CULLY: Well go on then, why don't you call him up? At least he's not as stupid as you are!
DOCTOR: You say you've seen a spacecraft?
CULLY: Well I've told you haven't I? A-and robots...well least I think they were robots.
DOCTOR: What exactly did this spacecraft look like?
CULLY: Well it's large and circular and a sort of silvery colour.
JAMIE: Ah, that means it can't be the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: Are you sure it wasn't square - like a large wooden box?
CULLY: No, no, that isn't the spacecraft. No, the box is where the aliens have made a sort of of mark - a five-pointed star. They were examining just now, talking about destroying it!
DOCTOR/JAMIE/ZOE: What?!
DOCTOR: Jamie we'd better go and see!
JAMIE: Come on!
BALAN: You're wasting your time.
DOCTOR: I-I prefer to make up my own mind thank you! Uh, Jamie...are you coming Zoe?
ZOE: No, I think I'll stay here.
DOCTOR: Right, we shan't be a minute.
JAMIE: Come on then.
DOCTOR: Are you sure there's no radioactivity?
TEEL: Certain.
DOCTOR: Good.(The Doctor and Jamie rush away.)
ZOE: Why do you think they're wasting their time Balan?
CULLY: Because they all think I'm a liar!
BALAN: Oh!
20, EXT: SAUCER
RAGO: Commence work on preparing the sites of the outer boreholes.
TOBA: At once Navigator Rago.
RAGO: Send this message to fleet leader. Materials located, detailed report follows.
TOBA: Command accepted!(He strides through the airlock.)
21, INT: SURVEY UNIT
(Teel is sat at a console trying to resolve a screen of their video-link which has become fogged with static.)
BALAN: No. No, I'm sorry Cully, I'm taking no action until I've spoken to your father.
CULLY: But all this is just wasting time, and anyway you know full well what the old man's going to say: "Do nothing"!
BALAN: Yes, and better that than setting the whole of Dulkis in a panic! Besides Cully, I think you should show more respect, if not to me at least to your father.
CULLY: My father? The great Senex, leader of the Dulcians?(He laughs.)
CULLY: He's as bad as the rest of you! Vegetables, the lot of you. You don't live, you exist.
BALAN: Haven't you got through yet Teel?
TEEL: There seems to be some sort of interference.
CULLY: Ah, there you are! Robots are causing that, what did I tell you?(Balan angrily waves Cully away and he wanders over to Zoe.)
ZOE: You don't seem to be having much success with them do you?
CULLY: Idiots, blind idiots they are! Still, at least your Doctor friend showed some interest.(Balan glares at Cully and sshs loudly.)
ZOE: Yes, he has an enquiring mind.
CULLY: In that case he'll end up as unpopular as I am!
22, EXT: EASTERN ROCKFACE
JAMIE: Ah, at least they haven't harmed the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: That's a relief. Jamie, come and have a look at this, it's interesting, look.
JAMIE: What?
DOCTOR: See?(He points at the five-pointed star burnt into the ground.)
JAMIE: Oh, what's so interesting about that?
DOCTOR: Well I think it must be some sort of survey-mark.
JAMIE: Ah, very likely...
DOCTOR: Jamie, look!(He points to the ground again, but this time at a set of parallel oblongs in the sand.)
DOCTOR: Some sort of tracks.
JAMIE: So they are.
DOCTOR: Let's follow them shall we?(Rounding the corner they see the saucer in the far distance.)
JAMIE: Hey look at that!
DOCTOR: Now that really is interesting!
23, EXT: SAUCER
(They walk past a landing stanchion.)
JAMIE: Oh look, I-I-I-I think we'd better be getting back. Z-Zoe'll be wondering what's happened to us.
DOCTOR: Oh this is interesting, yes... Obviously an interstellar spaceship of considerably advanced design.(The Doctor walks towards the airlock, but Jamie holds him back.)
JAMIE: Oh no, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?
DOCTOR: That, I think Jamie, depends upon what you think I am thinking!
JAMIE: Oh!(The Doctor fusses busily with the airlock.)
JAMIE: Hey Doctor!
DOCTOR: Stop it.
DOCTOR: ...Doctor!(Jamie tugs at the Doctor's coat to get his attention.)
DOCTOR: Jamie, don't do it!
JAMIE: Doctor look!(Reluctantly he turns and sees that he is being scanned by two creatures. A round mace-like head studded with shards of crystal sits atop a small boxy torso; within the front face of which are two concealed folding arms, one above the other that can hinge out in two opposing 90° angle sweeps. Below, the robots move on two tiny flexible legs ending in rectangular feet. The two Quarks stand atop a nearby sandbank.)
DOCTOR: Oh my word!
(The lead Quark addresses the Doctor and Jamie in a high-pitched mechanical voice.)
QUARK: DO NOT MOVE! DO NOT MOVE!
(They are joined by the sadistic form of Toba.)
QUARK: NEXT TASK? SHALL WE DESTROY? SHALL WE DESTROY?
(The right-hand Quark extends an arm with an inbuilt weapon and aims it at the Doctor and Jamie.)
The Doctor
Patrick TroughtonRago
Ronald AllenToba
Kenneth IvesCully
Arthur CoxWahed
Philip VossEtnin
Malcolm TerrisTolata
Nicolette PendrellJamie
Frazer HinesZoe
Wendy PadburyKando
Felicity GibsonTeel
Giles BlockBalan
Johnson BaylyQuarks
John Hicks
Gary SmithQuark Voices
Shiela GrantTitle music by
Ron Grainer and the
BBC Radiophonic
WorkshopScript Editor
Derrick SherwynDesigner
Barry NewberryProducer
Peter BryantDirector
Morris Barry(C) BBCTV 1968
Transcribed by
Rynad