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Doctor
WhoThe Krotons
Episode Two
By Robert Holmes
1, INT: LEARNING HALL
(The snake-like electronic probe bleeps a little as it receives its instructions from the auto-controller. Steadily it begins to lurch towards the Doctor. He tries to scurry backwards out of the way of the probe, but only succeeds in slipping over on a piece of broken teaching machine.)
DOCTOR: Oh deu...
ZOE: Ooh!
DOCTOR: oh oh oh!
ZOE: Oh!
DOCTOR: Oh no, aagh agh agh argh aargh! Oooh oh-oh!(His fate seems sealed as the deadly probe steadily closes in on the defenceless form of the Doctor, he puts his hands up to shield his face from the harsh glare of the camera eye, the results are instantaneous and electric. The probe swishes about from side to side, momentarily confused. It sweeps the surrounding area for the pattern it knows as hostile. Keeping his face covered with an elbow, the Doctor scrambles to his feet.)
ZOE: Oh Doctor don't move!
DOCTOR: Aah, it's alright Zoe. I-I think it's quite safe now.
JAMIE: Oh I wouldn't be so sure!
DOCTOR: Just watch this Jamie.(He walks towards the probe with his face covered by his hands, then moves his hands down as if he were playing peek-a-boo. The ailing probe lunges for him again, and again he covers his face with his hands.)
ZOE: Pattern recognition!
(Jamie suspiciously eyes the probe which is flapping about like a fish out of water again.)
DOCTOR: Yes, and the pattern is my face!
SELRIS: Doctor, do you mean that thing was sent out to attack you and only you?
DOCTOR: Yes, so it seems. It's rather flattering isn't it?
ZOE: Well then the Krotons know who you are,
JAMIE: Aye!
ZOE: Or at least what you look like.
DOCTOR: Yes... That means they must have a scanner in the wall of the machine. Now if we can find that we might be able to get in touch with them.(While he is talking the Doctor has forgotten to cover his face, and the probe renews it's attack.)
JAMIE: Uh..Doctor!
(The Doctor ducks out of the way covering his face just as one of the students rushes up to the probe from behind and lunges with an axe. With lightning speed it flips around and sprays a stream of gas at the figure who evaporates, the metal axe clattering harmlessly to the floor. Everyone watches in horror, but the Doctor is particularly appalled.)
DOCTOR: Oh no.
2, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(Deep within the machine the pixellated image of the Doctor vanishes from the screen as order is restored to the computer's objective circuits.)
3, INT: LEARNING HALL
(The probe retracts back into the wall and the results hatch snaps closed again.)
JAMIE: It's gone back.
DOCTOR: Yes. That poor fellow must have confused it's attack mechanism.
JAMIE: Eh?
DOCTOR: Well it was programmed to kill once - me! It must think that it's succeeded, stupid machine!
THARA: There's your wonderful Krotons for you Father! MURDERERS!(He throws his axes at the face of the machine and Selris holds him back.)
SELRIS: No! Thara, don't provoke them!
THARA: Is that all you care about, not provoking them?!
SELRIS: What can we do against their weapons?
THARA: We can fight..!
AUTO-CONTROLLER: THIIIS IS A WARNING. YOUR LEADER HAS BEEN DESTROYED. ALL GONDS LEAVE THE LEARNING HALL AT ONCE - AT ONCE.
THARA: No, stay and fight!
AUTO-CONTROLLER: LEAVE THE LEARNING HALL. ALL GONDS LEAVE THE LEARNING HALL.
SELRIS: Everyone leave the hall. Now!(Selris stands at the front of the room facing the machine as everyone files out of the hall.)
DOCTOR: Come on let's leave Jamie, uh Zoe...
4, INT: SELRIS'S HOUSE
(Vana is still unresponsively lying where she was set down in Selris's house. She stares blankly ahead as the Doctor examines her with a strange kind of illuminated optical medical-scanning instrument, feeling her head for signs of trauma. As the Doctor places the instrument to one side, Zoe wanders over and picks it up looking at it curiously. It resembles a long metal bar which is curved at one end culminating in a bulbous lamp-like scanner.)
ZOE: Where did this come from?
DOCTOR: I borrowed it from Beta.
ZOE: But I thought they didn't know anything about electricity?(The Doctor continues his examination of Vana's head.)
DOCTOR: They don't - er, that works on stored solar energy. Yes the Gonds are quite advanced in some ways. The-their medicine is pretty good, but they haven't got very much general chemistry. I wish they had an ECT machine though.
ZOE: Yes. There are tremendous gaps in their knowledge. Well they only seem to know what the machines teach them.
DOCTOR: Yes. And the machines are programmed by the Krotons, so the gaps in their knowledge may be significant.(Selris and Jamie wander over.)
DOCTOR: Ah, Selris...
SELRIS: How is she Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well I think she's better, it's difficult to tell. Um Selris, is it safe to enter the Learning-Hall yet?
SELRIS: Why?
DOCTOR: Er, Zoe and I want to have a look round, don't we Zoe?
ZOE: Oh, do we?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's right. Ah Jamie, hold out your hand will you?
JAMIE: Well what for?
DOCTOR: Ah, these pills I got from Beta.
JAMIE: Well there's nothing wrong with me!
DOCTOR: No-no. Ah, they're for Vana. I want you to stay and look after her.
JAMIE: Oh but why can't I go with you?
DOCTOR: Because I particularly want you to give her those pills the moment she wakes up.
JAMIE: Ah well...
ZOE: Well why are we going back to the Learning-Hall?
DOCTOR: Oh, to learn Zoe, why else?
SELRIS: I am coming with you Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh my dear fellow, there is no need for that.
SELRIS: I must know what is happening.
DOCTOR: Oh well..ah, certainly. Come along Zoe.(The Doctor, Selris leave, but as Zoe follows Jamie takes her by the arm for a moment.)
JAMIE: Zoe, watch him. You know what he's like.
ZOE: Oh don't worry Jamie. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything rash.(Jamie sits beside Vana and gazes curiously at the medical-scanner.)
5, INT: LEARNING HALL
(A squad of pike-carrying guards passes by on the way to the steps, followed by Selris, the Doctor and Zoe.)
DOCTOR: Er Selris um, what's that?
(He points to a trap door in the floor of the hall.)
SELRIS: Oh, ah, that leads to the under-hall.
DOCTOR: Oh, what's down there?
SELRIS: Nothing, it's never used.
DOCTOR: I wonder how far underneath..? Ah, let's have a look shall we?(He pulls up the trap door and begins to descend, his voice getting a little fainter.)
DOCTOR: Oh, ah... Oh yes, it's-it's a bit dark and musty down here, Enh. Zoe, stay up there will you? We shan't be long.
(Zoe gives herself a resigned smile, then wanders over to one of the teaching machines. Taking a brief moment to glance back, she sits down and places on a headset activating the machine. A complex series of symbols begin to circle each other on the screen. As Zoe operates the machine the rings of complex formulae break apart and arrange themselves in an orderly pattern.)
6, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(An alarm rings out alerting the Auto-Controller, which glides back along it's track. As it scans the instruments it notices something it has never experienced before - the needle on the test gauge of the most advanced teaching machine is registering at almost maximum.)
7, INT: LEARNING HALL
(The Doctor and Selris climb out from the trap door to the Under-Hall.)
SELRIS: I told you there was nothing down there.
DOCTOR: Ah, but there was Selris. Something rather curious.
SELRIS: Only the foundations of the machine. It stands on those metal pillars.(The Doctor notices Zoe sitting at the machine with the headset on grinning vacantly as though she were under the influence of some rewarding boost to the pleasure centres of her brain.)
DOCTOR: Zoe!
(He walks towards her and pulls the headset off.)
DOCTOR: Zoe!
(She gets up, smiling a little blearily and faces the Doctor.)
ZOE: Oh, you're soon back Doctor.
DOCTOR: What do you think you are doing?!
ZOE: I was just trying the machine.
DOCTOR: You should know better than to do a thing like that!
ZOE: Oh but Doctor, it was all so easy! The Krotons were very pleased with me.
DOCTOR: Very pleased?(Her head seems to clear a little.)
ZOE: Well I felt they were.
(He claps his hands in front of her face in a effort to snap her out of it.)
DOCTOR: Zoe! Now just you listen to me! Whatever else they are, these Krotons are certainly not friendly! Now we know that don't we?
ZOE: Yes of course!
DOCTOR: And they use these machines to plant impressions in the mind. That's how they've enslaved these people all these years.
SELRIS: Doctor!(The Doctor wanders over to Selris.)
DOCTOR: What?
SELRIS: Look at the dial!
DOCTOR: Oh what of it?(Selris is looking incredulously at the dial on the teaching machine.)
SELRIS: It's amazing! Even the best of our students registered less than half of that score!
DOCTOR: Yes well, Zoe is something of a genius. Of course it can be very irritating at times!(He glares at Zoe who giggles at him.)
8, INT: SELRIS'S HOUSE
(Vana suddenly begins to writhe and hyperventilate and she sits bolt upright.)
JAMIE: Now Vana, now you're alright now. You're safe!
(Jamie lies her back down again.)
VANA: The ball... The burning ball!
JAMIE: What?
VANA: It's over my head!
JAMIE: Now Vana there's nothing here now!
VANA: No no! I saw it, I saw it!(She begins to struggle and Thara appears and takes over from Jamie.)
JAMIE: Ah, Thara look...
THARA: Now Vana it's alright, there's nothing here. You're safe.(She calms down again.)
VANA: It was...flashing - all the lights...burning my mind! The lights...
THARA: Vana, you're alright now. You're home.
VANA: Thara, is...is that you?
THARA: Ssh.(He glances at Jamie.)
THARA: At least she recognises me! Vana listen, nothing can hurt you now, you're going to be alright.
VANA: Thara, I...I went into the machine...
JAMIE: Did you see the Krotons?(She begins to become agitated again.)
VANA: The ball... Flashing! Coming down on me!
(Thara struggles to keep Vana from thrashing about.)
THARA: Now you're quite safe here Vana, now!
JAMIE: You'd better take these, here.(Jamie moves a beaker to her lips.)
JAMIE: Drink up now - all down. That's it.
(She drinks and then relaxes back onto the bed, asleep.)
JAMIE: Flashing ball burning her mind?
THARA: What did she mean? Is it another of the Krotons weapons?
JAMIE: I don't know... Look, you stay here with her, I'll go and get the Doctor.(He pulls on his sheepskin jacket and leaves Thara and Vana alone.)
9, INT: LEARNING HALL
(The Doctor and Zoe are scraping at the door to the machine.)
ZOE: It's crystalline.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's hard but it-it's not brittle. I've never seen anything quite like it.
ZOE: What was it like down there?
DOCTOR: Mm? Oh, what Selris calls the foundations. Uh... Zoe, it was like a root structure.
ZOE: A root structure!? But indicates that...
DOCTOR: That this so-called "machine" is organic in structure.
ZOE: Well is that possible?
DOCTOR: Well why not? Some crystals do resemble simple virus forms. I wish I could get a bit of it for analysis...(He returns to scraping the door.)
ZOE: Well if you're right that means that the whole of this machine is a sort of a living thing!
DOCTOR: Well all life doesn't necessarily have feeling you know...
DIRECTOR: Bong!(A loud metallic striking note echoes from within the machine startling the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: Great jumping gobstoppers! What's that?
SELRIS: The Krotons command. It means there is a message for me.(He walks over to the open results hatch and withdraws a tablet.)
DOCTOR: Oh, what does it say? Mm?
SELRIS: Class three-one-nine-seven, selected female Zo-Gond.
DOCTOR: Zo-Gond? Zoe - they mean you!
SELRIS: They've chosen you as a companion.
DOCTOR: And we all know what happens to them don't we?
ZOE: Oh Doctor what shall I do?(The Doctor smiles at Selris.)
DOCTOR: Well she doesn't have to go does she?
(He frowns at Selris's lack of an answer.)
DOCTOR: Well does she or doesn't she?!
SELRIS: I'm afraid she must. Complete obedience is the Krotons first command, and if we fail to obey...
DOCTOR: They'll destroy you, I see...
ZOE: Oh dear.(The Doctor turns on Zoe.)
DOCTOR: Now d'you see what you've done?! Fooling around with this stupid machine!
ZOE: Oh, but I'm not a Gond!
DOCTOR: But that machine doesn't know that!(The Doctor hurries across the room.)
ZOE: Oh, where are you going?
DOCTOR: I'm going to take the test, I can't let you go in there alone! Er...what do I do?
ZOE: Oh sit down, and put this... This headset on.(She helps him on with the headset.)
ZOE: And press the button.
(The Doctor continues to struggle with the headset as if he hadn't heard. Zoe lifts one side of it and yells.)
ZOE: Press the button!
DOCTOR: Alright, no need to shout! Now go away and don't fuss me!(Zoe turns but before she can walk off...)
DOCTOR: No come back, what's this?
ZOE: ..Wha-i..
DOCTOR: ...It's alright, I know!(He straightens up.)
DOCTOR: Alright, fire away. I'm ready.
(He sits expectantly. A few moments later Zoe taps him on the shoulder and mouths "Press the button" at him. The Doctor fiddles with the machine, but it doesn't seem to go as well as the time Zoe used it.)
DOCTOR: Ah. Oh...oh.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, you've got it all wrong!
DOCTOR: Oh dear, I've been working in square roots. Er, can I have that again please?
ZOE: Well they don't give you a second shots!
DOCTOR: Oh.
ZOE: Well press the button again!(Selris watches from the background as he operates the machine again.)
SELRIS: This is the most advanced machine. Perhaps he can't answer the questions?
ZOE: Of course he can. The Doctor's almost as clever as I am!
SELRIS: I see.(The meter still reads zero.)
DOCTOR: Uh...oh now what have I done?
ZOE: Oh Doctor, you've divided instead of multiplying! You must concentrate!
DOCTOR: I am Zoe, I am!
10, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(The Auto-Controller swivels across to look at the dial again. This time the needle is clearly attempting to display much more than it was designed to measure. It flicks back and forth as if it were trying to break through the maximum limit.)
11, INT: LEARNING HALL
(At the teaching machine the Doctor finally manages to get the formulae to break apart and display in an orderly fashion on the screen.)
SELRIS: Good.
DOCTOR: Mm-mm. Yes er, I think that's rather better.(He gets up smiling.)
DOCTOR: I think I've scored more than you have Zoe!
(The Doctor begins to chuckle to himself looking a little vacant.)
ZOE: You answered more questions. Besides, this isn't supposed to be a competition!
DOCTOR: It's clever isn't it? The way they make you feel that they're pleased with you...
ZOE: Yes. Perhaps the Krotons aren't as bad as we think?(The Doctor chuckles a little more.)
DOCTOR: What..?
(In an instant he collects his thoughts, clutching delicately at his head.)
DOCTOR: What? Of-of course they are!
(He turn to Selris.)
DOCTOR: Ah, what happens now?
SELRIS: The Krotons will be waiting for Zoe.
DOCTOR: Well they can wait! We are going in there together.
SELRIS: Normally the names don't come through for some time.
ZOE: Well mine did.
SELRIS: Yes, but perhaps they were impressed with your performance, and that's why.(There is another metallic bonging sound and Selris moves to the open hatch again. The Doctor whispers conspiratorially.)
DOCTOR: Sounds a bit like a dinner gong, doesn't it Zoe?
SELRIS: Class three-one-nine-eight, selected male - Doctor-Gond.
DOCTOR: Doctor-Gond. Idiots!(The door into the machine raises hopefully, like a hungry mouth.)
ZOE: Well it means you anyway.
DOCTOR: Yes, er-er... Well, are you ready?
ZOE: I suppose we have to...
DOCTOR: Well we started this, we'd better go through with it. We've got to get to the bottom of this somehow Zoe.
ZOE: Oh this is all my fault!
DOCTOR: Oh cheer up, cheer up. I expect it'll be quite interesting really.
SELRIS: I am sorry Doctor. My people will always remember you.
DOCTOR: Eh? Oh...oh that's very nice of them. Stay close to me Zoe.(They walk though the open doorway. Jamie skids into the hall just in time to see the Doctor and Zoe disappear into the darkness.)
JAMIE: Doctor! No wait, come back!
(Selris holds up a hand to prevent him from entering the machine.)
JAMIE: What's happened?
(The door slides shut.)
JAMIE: Where've they gone?
SELRIS: Your people are gone. They are now companions of the Krotons.(With a hum the door slides closed.)
JAMIE: Wha-?
12, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(From the control panel the Auto-Controller swivels around on it's base to monitor the open door and it's new arrivals. The silvery doorway slides closed again behind them as they enter the Dynotrope, causing the Doctor to look back for a moment.)
ZOE: It is a spaceship!
(She gazes around the gloomy, honeycomb-patterned walls of the chamber. In the half-light it is hard to make out very much apart from the instruments of the Control Centre to her left. There is also another door identical to the one the just entered. The Doctor looks at the Auto-Controller curiously.)
DOCTOR: Yes, but there doesn't seem to be any crew.
(He calls out, as if to the spacecraft itself.)
DOCTOR: Hello...anybody there? Is anybody at home, hello!
(A light comes on illuminating two seats.)
ZOE: I think we've been asked to sit down.
DOCTOR: Yes I think we have Zoe.(The Doctor Pulls a metal chain from his pocket.)
DOCTOR: Uh, Zoe... Hold onto the end of this chain.
ZOE: What for?
DOCTOR: Look up there - it's a force generator. This chain might help to equalise the power load.
ZOE: Well what are they going to do?(At the far side of the room a piece of apparatus is illuminated. It is like a strange angular pillar that tapers to a point, atop which sits a large round jewel ensnared within a series of metallic spokes, behind which is a large tube containing a few scant drops if a silvery substance. The jewel begins to glow with a harsh white light which seems to affect the Doctor and Zoe. They strain to remain composed under the onslaught of energy which is keeping them pinned to the seats like biological specimens.)
ZOE: Doctor I can't move!
DOCTOR: No, it's a forcefield. Try and relax...relax.(A strange jellyfish-like shape begins to revolve and all around seems to become illuminated by an ethereal glow.)
ZOE: Oh!
(The light moves faster and faster until the surroundings melt away, swallowed up in the fierce pulsing as the thought-energy machine begins its feast.)
13, INT: LEARNING HALL
JAMIE: But why did you let them go?
SELRIS: It is a command of the Krotons.
JAMIE: Ah, the Krotons! They just rap out an order and everyone jumps don't they! Aye, well I'm not just standing here to see my...(He rushes towards the machine.)
SELRIS: Where are you going?
JAMIE: To find a way into this box of tricks!(Jamie desperately thumps on the door and winces.)
JAMIE: Ow!
14, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(In the centre of the thought-energy machine a tube slowly fills with some kind of silvery material; the jewel continuing to pulse greedily as if it were drawing the very life-force from the Doctor and Zoe. All they can do is desperately try to fight its effects with pained expressions from where they sit.)
DOCTOR: Argh-argh...
ZOE: Oh...oh...
DOCTOR: Argh!
ZOE: Oh!(Still between them, the metal chain in their grasp begins to smoke.)
DOCTOR: Oh argh argh!
(The links of the chain begin to bend open under their own inconsequential weight, melting like warm putty.)
ZOE: Oh oh-oh... oh!
DOCTOR: Argh!(The tube-like gauge on the machine fills to it's capacity and there is a puff of smoke from a bank of capacitors that haven't been used for thousands of years, and the pulsing ceases. Slowly one of the honeycomb-designed walls is absorbed back into the machine. As it fades away an antechamber is revealed containing two tanks of mysterious, bubbling liquid. Slowly the Doctor and Zoe regain consciousness, sounding more than a little muzzy-headed.)
ZOE: Oh...oh...
DOCTOR: Are you alright Zoe? Oh!
ZOE: Yes...I think so...
DOCTOR: Oh!
ZOE: What happened?
DOCTOR: Oh some tremendous power, oh!
ZOE: They seem to have a way of transferring mental power into pure energy.
DOCTOR: Yes. And they used it - or-or rather us to operate a thermal switch.(Having recovered sufficiently they get to their feet and regard the bubbling, steaming tanks.)
ZOE: Doctor look!
DOCTOR: Yes.
ZOE: I thought there was a wall here.
DOCTOR: Yes, there was. Zoe I think that I'm beginning to understand.
ZOE: What's that?(She peers a little closer at the bubbling tanks which have begun to swirl from within.)
DOCTOR: That's curious... Zoe, I think we've gone and done it.
ZOE: What?
DOCTOR: Well... Just a minute I've got an idea.(He withdraws a small plastic bottle from his pocket, and pulling up his sleeve he and gingerly fills it from the tank. Zoe notices something on the floor and picks up one end of a long ridged pipe examining the end.)
DOCTOR: Oh yes... This is a form of slurry. Crystals in suspension.
ZOE: But what's its purpose?
DOCTOR: Well, life is supposed to have begun on your planet in the sea, mm? Primeval soup someone once called it. Well there are lots of sorts of soups aren't there, I-I wonder what this sort is?(He dips his finger in his sample bottle and tastes it. Zoe shows the Doctor the pipe.)
ZOE: And what do you suppose these are?
DOCTOR: Mm.
ZOE: They look like astronauts' air lines.
DOCTOR: Yes I think you're right Zoe. Zoe look!(Their attention is drawn back to the tank again as something large begins to crystallise into shape within the tanks.)
DOCTOR: I think it's time we...got out of here. Come along! Uh..
(The Doctor and Zoe rush towards the nearest exit as an inhuman clamp-like claw breaks the surface of the tank.)
15, INT: DYNOTROPE CORRIDOR
(The Doctor pauses for a moment.)
ZOE: Well what are we going to do if we do get out? We haven't learned anything yet.
DOCTOR: Yes we have, once we can analyse this.(He taps the side of the bottle.)
DOCTOR: Now uh, come on...
16, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(In the Control-Centre of the Dynotrope a pulsing alien heartbeat can now be heard. The shape from the tank is now wandering about - its torso is large, crystalline and square as a box with two tentacles, one ending in a strange clamp and the other ending in a claw that resembles a pair of pinking shears. It checks that one of the lines is securely fixed to its torso with a claw, then moves over to the antechamber where another shape is forming in the fluid suspension of the second tank.)
17, INT: LEARNING HALL
(Jamie is attempting to jam his dirk into a gap in the door so he can pry it open.)
SELRIS: There is no way in!
JAMIE: Look, there's a door here if I can just get it open!
SELRIS: No-one can enter unless the Krotons wish it.
JAMIE: Well we'll see about that! All I need is some sort of crowbar...(He looks around the hall.)
18, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(The large, square bulk of the Krotons stand side by side. Their bodies made of a hard, silvery substance which is ridged and studded with tiny crystalline peaks. Powerful shoulders are the base for a many-faceted head devoid of any recognisable features resembling a freshly cut gemstone. They move about the chamber on a legless membrane skirting, their two flexible arm-like tentacles operating the control panel. Their rough, booming voices have a strangely mechanical edge to them.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE GONDS SHOULD BE HERE.
KROTON: THEY ARE IN THE EXIT-SHAFT.
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHY? THEY ARE CONDITIONED TO OBEY!
KROTON: THE CONDITIONIN' MAY HAVE FAILED.(The Kroton views the Doctor and Zoe on a video-screen.)
19, INT: POWER-CHAMBER
(The Doctor and Zoe cut through a strange area of the Dynotrope. All around pipes weave through the glowing-walled chamber, and in the centre is a strange sculpture, a tower of spheres and discs resembling a strange kind of radio antennae. Avoiding the antennae they rush through a wall of dangling pipes.)
20, INT: EXIT-SHAFT
(The Doctor moves to the doorway and examines it.)
ZOE: It should slide somewhere.
DOCTOR: Yes, there must be a trip-mechanism.
ZOE: Doctor look, there's a photo-electric cell here.
DOCTOR: Aah!
ZOE: It can't be working.(Zoe moves her hand in front of a large circular hole on the wall to the right of the door.)
DOCTOR: Well if it's not working...
ZOE: Then the Krotons must have cut the circuit.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ZOE: Then we're trapped, they know we're here!
DOCTOR: Just a moment I have an idea. Er, that piece of mica that I picked up, here we are...(He pulls the rock from his pocket and presses it into the hole.)
DOCTOR: Now if I can use it to bridge the gap...
ZOE: Well will mica work?
DOCTOR: Well the whole machine's made of crystal.(The door rises, but the Doctor holds Zoe back.)
DOCTOR: Wait! The poison jet!
21, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(The Krotons are still monitoring the Doctor and Zoe.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: THEY HAVE ACTIVATED THE CIRCUIT.
KROTON: THEN THE DISPERSION UNIT WILL KILL THEM.
22, INT: EXIT-SHAFT
ZOE: Doctor we've got to risk it!
DOCTOR: Yes, but-but jump down to the side, don't go down the ramp.
23, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(The image on the video link shows the Doctor and Zoe dart out of the door, jump from the side of the ramp and scurry off.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: THEY ARE NOT GONDS!
KROTON: WHY DID YOU INOPERATE THE DISPERSION UNIT?
KROTON-COMMANDER: WE NEED THEM ALIVE.
KROTON: THEY HAVE ESCAPED.
KROTON-COMMANDER: KEEP THE SCANNER ON THEM. WE WILL ORDER THE GONDS TO CAPTURE THEM AND BRING THEM BACK.(Operating another video link, the Kroton sees Jamie in the Learning Hall as he attempts to break into the machine.)
KROTON: THAT IS NOT A GOND!
KROTON-COMMANDER: IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY HAVE EVOLVED.
KROTON: THERE HAS NOT BEEN TIME. IT IS A SIMILAR BIPED ANIMAL, BUT NOT FROM THIS PLANET.
KROTON-COMMANDER: IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THESE HIGHER ANTHROPOIDS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE PLANET.(The picture of the Learning Hall changes to that of Selris.)
KROTON: THAT IS A GOND. THESE CREATURES ARE WORKING IN ALLIANCE WITH THE GONDS.
(The image switches back to Jamie again.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: LET US TAKE THIS ONE. IT'S MIND WILL HAVE THE CAPACITY WE NEED.
24, INT: LEARNING HALL
(The door to the machine slides open.)
JAMIE: At last!
SELRIS: No, don't enter!
JAMIE: Look, I have this.(He brandishes his crowbar and then enters.)
25, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(Jamie cautiously enters the Control Centre from the Entrance-Shaft. But before he has the chance to look around a claw grabs him by the wrist causing the to crowbar skitter from his grasp. He is thrust violently into one of the chairs.)
JAMIE: Aaargh!
KROTON-COMMANDER: HAVE YOU DAMAGED IT?
KROTON: NO, IT IS ALIVE. ANIMAL TISSUE IS WEAK.
KROTON-COMMANDER: IT IS RECOVERING. TEST IT'S MIND.
KROTON: THIS IS NOT A HIGH-BRAIN - IT IS A PRIMITIVE!
KROTON-COMMANDER: THEN THE POWER WILL KILL IT!(The Krotons watch impassively as Jamie convulses in the chair under the harsh halo of light from the thought-energy machine...)
The Doctor
Patrick TroughtonZoe
Wendy PadburyJamie
Frazer HinesSelris
James CopelandThara
Gilbert WynneVana
Madeleine MillsKrotons
Robert La'Bassiere
Miles NothoverKroton Voice
Roy Skelton
Patrick TullTitle music by
Ron Grainer and the
BBC Radiophonic
WorkshopScript Editor
Terrance DicksDesigner
Raymond LondonProducer
Peter BryantDirected by
David Maloney(C) BBCTV 1969
Transcribed by
Rynad