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Doctor
WhoThe Krotons
Episode Three
By Robert Holmes
1, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(The Krotons watch impassively as Jamie convulses caught in the harsh halo of light from the thought-energy machine. The power swirls faster and faster, as if it were attempting to consume him.)
KROTON: ITS MIND IS PRIMITIVE!
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE POWER WILL KILL IT!(The Commander turns it off the machine and Jamie slumps.)
KROTON: IT IS STILL OF VALUE, IT CAN GIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTHER CREATURES.
2, EXT: WASTELANDS
ZOE: This isn't the way to the city.
DOCTOR: No, it's the way to the TARDIS.
ZOE: The TARDIS? But we can't leave Jamie behind.
DOCTOR: Well don't worry about him, he's perfectly safe isn't he? Come on!(They walk up towards the cliffside path.)
3, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(Jamie rubs his head as slowly he recovers.)
JAMIE: Oh my head.
(The Krotons tower over him.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
(He glances up at the two crystalline beings.)
JAMIE: Oh it's you. I thought I'd dreamt you up.
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHERE ARE YOU FROM?!(The Commander points a claw at the screen.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU ARE OF THE SAME RACE AS THESE BIPEDS?
(As Jamie looks, the Kroton wobbles over to the panel, apparently uninterested in the interrogation.)
JAMIE: Zoe and the Doctor... Where are they?
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU ARE SPACE TRAVELLERS?
JAMIE: Got out. Good old Doctor!
KROTON-COMMANDER: ANSWER!(The Kroton grabs Jamie's arm in a pincer.)
JAMIE: Y-you're breaking my arm!
KROTON: DO NOT DAMAGE THE CREATURE!(The Kroton operates a few controls on the panel and a revolving truth-machine appears above Jamie.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU AND THESE OTHER BEINGS ARE SPACE TRAVELLERS?
KROTON: COMMANDER!(A picture of the TARDIS swims into view on the monitor.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHAT IS THAT?
JAMIE: It's the TARDIS.
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHAT IS ITS FUNCTION?
JAMIE: It travels through time and space.
KROTON: RANGE ZERO-SEVEN DISPERSION UNIT ON TARGET.(On the screen, the Doctor and Zoe enter the TARDIS.)
KROTON: THEY ARE LEAVING, SHALL I FIRE?
(Jamie looks worriedly up at the screen again.)
JAMIE: They're not leaving...they wouldn't!
4, INT: BETA'S HOUSE
(Beta stands adding careful measures of liquid to a cauldron of some evil smelling mixture while it bubbles happily away over a nearby stove. He looks up as Eelek and Axus and a few others enter the room.)
BETA: You wish to see me?
EELEK: You got my message?
BETA: That the council needs my advice. On a matter of science I presume?
EELEK: On a matter of war.
BETA: War?
EELEK: War against the Krotons.
BETA: War against the Krotons?! Are you both out of your minds?(Beta walks over to a shelving unit and tinkers, Axus grabs him brandishing his axe.)
AXUS: Now you listen to me!
EELEK: Axus! Not yet! Beta you're a scientist, surely you want to be free of the Krotons?
BETA: Free, yes; dead, no!
AXUS: We can defeat them!
BETA: Can we? Our ancestors tried.
EELEK: They were savages; primitive men with clubs and stones.
AXUS: We are much more advanced now!
BETA: Are we? All our knowledge is given us by the Krotons.
EELEK: Then we can use it against them!
BETA: You're talking nonsense Eelek! We only know what the Krotons tell us. We don't think, we obey.
AXUS: He could help us if he wasn't afraid of the Krotons.
BETA: Don't you think I want to be free of them? Don't you think I want to discover truth for myself? Instead of being fed information like a dog with scraps.
EELEK: Then you will help us?
BETA: To fight the Krotons? Listen, I've just been talking to the stranger, the Doctor. He made me realise how pitifully little the Krotons tell us.
EELEK: I would forget the Doctor if I were you, and his friends.
BETA: What do you mean?
EELEK: They submitted themselves to the teaching machines in the Learning Hall.
BETA: What happened?
AXUS: The Doctor and the girl scored the highest result ever. The Krotons summoned them, they went into the machine and the boy followed them.
EELEK: So now they'll be dead like Abu-Gond, or mindless like Vana. So, you will help us?
BETA: Give me time Eelek. There are certain things the Krotons forbid us to study; fluids which eat away metal and flesh; in time I can develop some way of attacking them.
EELEK: In time! It's always "in time!" isn't it?! "Just give us a little more time, just be a little more patient!" Always time, a little more time!
BETA: We've been slaves for a thousand years, do you think you can free us in one day?
EELEK: Yes!
BETA: Why don't you wait and see what Selris has to say?
EELEK: You will no longer obey Selris, you will obey me!(Beta gives an exasperated look.)
5, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON: SHALL I FIRE COMMANDER?
KROTON-COMMANDER: WE CANNOT KILL THEM, WE NEED THEIR MINDS. YOU WILL LEAVE THE DYNOTROPE AND FETCH THEM BACK.(Jamie watches as the subordinate Kroton glides over to a rack in the wall and picks up a large metal canister with a funnel built onto the front. The creature then exits the room, moving towards the back of the machine. The Commander turns back to Jamie.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHAT IS THE OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF YOUR CRAFT?
JAMIE: Ah... you-you-you mean how does it work? Well, only the Doctor knows that.
KROTON-COMMANDER: WHAT IS ITS TRANSFERENCE INTERVAL?
JAMIE: Ah, transference interval? Well... Er, er... What's that?
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU HAVE NO VALUE!
KROTON: VISION CONTROL REQUIRED NOW.
KROTON-COMMANDER: ON CONTROL AND PROCEED.(On the screen the Kroton wobbles down the ramp.)
6, EXT: WASTELANDS
(From the Kroton's eye view as it moves across the rugged terrain.)
7, INT: SELRIS'S HOUSE
(Thara is Mopping Vana's brow while she sleeps as Selris appears.)
SELRIS: How is Vana?
THARA: Better, much better - but very tired. She'll be alright by morning though.
SELRIS: That is good news.
THARA: Are the strangers still in the Learning Hall?
SELRIS: They're gone.
THARA: Do you mean they've left, they've gone back?
SELRIS: They went into the machine.
THARA: What?!
SELRIS: The Krotons sent for Zoe, and the Doctor insisted on going as well.
THARA: You let them go, why didn't you stop them?
SELRIS: What could I do? It is the will of the Krotons!
THARA: But why didn't they run? Why did they go in when they know what must happen?
SELRIS: Because they knew what would happen if they failed to obey.
THARA: But not to them father, they could have escaped in their machine!
SELRIS: There is a council meeting.
THARA: Council meeting! Is that all you can ever think about, talking? What about some action Father? You think that the Krotons are still our great benefactors, don't you?!
SELRIS: No Thara. I think of them as enemies; we're powerless to do anything against them!
THARA: Well Eelek is going to do something about it!(Vana begins to mumble to herself and Thara helps her to sit up for a moment, embracing her.)
VANA: Thara?
THARA: It's alright Vana, you're quite safe.
VANA: I feel so faint.(Thara gently lies her back down.)
THARA: Try to sleep now, we're looking after you.
VANA: Oh!(She is asleep again as soon as her head touches the pillow.)
8, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE-EIGHT-ONE VECTOR FIVE.
(Jamie gets to his feet, and the Kroton turns seeing him.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: DO NOT MOVE!
JAMIE: Uh, I was just er, just stretching my leg.(He sits down again.)
JAMIE: Look, what are you gonna do with me?
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU HAVE NO VALUE.
JAMIE: Oh what do you mean?
KROTON-COMMANDER: YOU WILL BE DISPERSED!
9, INT: SELRIS'S HOUSE
SELRIS: Thara, what did you mean about Eelek?
THARA: I meant you don't know what's happening. He is no longer your deputy, he's taken over as council leader.
SELRIS: He has no authority..!
THARA: A vote was taken!
SELRIS: A vote?
THARA: Listen, everybody in the city knows how the Krotons have tricked us - Eelek announced it!
SELRIS: The fool! They will want revenge.
THARA: Well exactly, and that's what Eelek has promised them.
SELRIS: Can't you understand, Eelek doesn't care what happens to our people.
THARA: Eelek is a patriot.
SELRIS: It is not patriotism to lead people into a war they cannot win!
THARA: We can't let the Krotons rule us forever without putting up some sort of fight!
SELRIS: We will be strong one day, we will fight them.
THARA: After another thousand years?
SELRIS: Eelek must be stopped.
THARA: How? He won't listen to you. Our people want this war because of what happened to Vana and the others.
SELRIS: And how does Eelek intend to fight the Krotons, march on their machine?
THARA: Do you have a better idea?
SELRIS: There is a way we could fight them, and that is by not letting them suspect that they are being attacked!
10, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE-SEVEN-NINE VECTOR-FIVE.
JAMIE: What about the Doctor, what are you going to do with him?
KROTON-COMMANDER: THEY ARE NEEDED FOR THE DYNOTROPE.
JAMIE: Dynotrope? Th-that's this machine then?
KROTON-COMMANDER: ONE-SIX-EIGHT VECTOR-FOUR.
JAMIE: Well why do you need them, and w-why have you been killing the Gonds?
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE DYNOTROPE NEEDS HIGH-BRAINS FOR TRANSFER POWER. THE GONDS HAVE NO HIGH-BRAINS.
JAMIE: Aye, and that makes it alright to kill them, does it?
KROTON-COMMANDER: THAT IS PROCEDURE. RADIUS ONE-SIX-THREE VECTOR-FOUR.(Jamie looks over at the rack which still contains a canister.)
11, INT: COUNCIL CHAMBER
BETA: Selris should be here; he's still the council leader, or am I mistaken.
AXUS: You are mistaken.
EELEK: Selris is old. In time of war we need a strong leader.
AXUS: Eelek has taken command.
BETA: So at last you've achieved your ambition, eh?
EELEK: Yes, and I have the support of the whole council.
BETA: It must be quite a change for you to feel popular.
EELEK: And there is a limit to how much I will take from you.
BETA: I'm wondering just how popular you will be when hundreds of our people have been killed. Do you want a repetition of the massacre we suffered when the Krotons first came here?
EELEK: Today we have slings and fireballs. Weapons that will destroy the strongest building to rubble!
BETA: Have you ever looked at the wasteland?! Nothing grows there even to this day - it smells of death! Compared with their kind of weapons I tell you we still only have clubs and stones!
12, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
JAMIE: Ah I mean, h-how would you like to die without knowing the reason, eh?
KROTON-COMMANDER: KROTONS CANNOT DIE.
JAMIE: Y-you mean you can't be killed, you-you live forever?
KROTON-COMMANDER: WE FUNCTION PERMANENTLY, UNLESS WE EXHAUST.
JAMIE: Exhaust?
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE-FIVE-TWO VECTOR-THREE.
JAMIE: How do you mean by exhaust?
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE EXHAUST PROCEDURE IS MERELY REVERSION TO BASIC MOLECULES, BUT THE MATTER CAN BE RE-ANIMATED.
JAMIE: Well what about me though? I mean; I can't be reanimated, why kill me?
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE-FOUR-NINE, VECTOR-THREE.
JAMIE: I mean, what good will it do you?
KROTON-COMMANDER: ALL WASTE MATTER MUST BE DISPERSED, THAT IS PROCEDURE.(Jamie tries to pick up the canister.)
13, EXT: WASTELANDS
(From the Kroton's point of view as it surveys the wastelands behind it's enormous canister-weapon. All it sees are yellow rocky wastes peaking sharply into cliffs before him. Further away, the TARDIS sits comfortably in the area where it arrived. The door opens and the Doctor and Zoe exit.)
DOCTOR: So, these creatures have a life system based on tellurium, eh? It's fascinating isn't it Zoe? Then that tank must have been a polarised centrifuge.
ZOE: Which we activated.
DOCTOR: Oh don't blame yourself Zoe. Oh, that machine must have lain around for thousands of years for someone as clever as us to turn up.
ZOE: Just like a giant mousetrap - and those poor Gond students have been the mice.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's horrible. Still, you must admit, that it's a-a very good way of existing through time.
ZOE: Uh, what are you doing?
DOCTOR: Oh, there's some-some deposits of sulphur around here somewhere.(He goes to the cliffside and begins to scrape at the crystalline, vegetation covers surface.)
ZOE: Yes, Jamie remarked about the smell as soon as we stepped out of the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: Hydrogen telluride.
ZOE: What? Oh of course! The worst smell in the world.(The Doctor chuckles.)
DOCTOR: The worst smell in any world.
ZOE: Why didn't I think of that?
DOCTOR: Zoe, I'd say it's a safe bet that that machine is composed of tellurium.
ZOE: Doctor, what do you want sulphur for?
DOCTOR: Oh-oh it-it'll come in useful - it's very useful stuff sulphur, you know, very useful stuff indeed.
ZOE: I've got the funny feeling we're being watched...
14, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS THREE-ZERO VECTOR ONE. TWO ZERO, OBJECTIVE IN RANGE.
(Zoe's face is seen on the monitor at the control centre. Behind the Commander Jamie whispers hopefully at the screen, knowing there is no way he can possibly warn them.)
JAMIE: Get back in the TARDIS will you! Go on!
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE-ZERO
JAMIE: Go on!
15, INT: WASTELANDS
(The Doctor is entirely absorbed in the local geology. To his side is an old carpet bag brimming with yellow rocks.)
DOCTOR: Look at this, it's almost pure sulphur.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, can we go now?
DOCTOR: Oh yes, in a minute. What do you know about tellurium Zoe?
ZOE: Well it's one of the exceptional elements in the periodic table.
DOCTOR: Mm.
ZOE: It's atomic weight is a hundred and twenty eight.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ZOE: And it's atomic number is fifty...(she looks towards the path.)
DOCTOR: Mm-hm, well go on...
ZOE: It doesn't really matter anymore.
DOCTOR: Mm?(The Doctor gets up and they both look at the silver shape before them.)
DOCTOR: Oh my giddy aunt.
KROTON: YOU WILL RETURN TO THE DYNOTROPE.
DOCTOR: Oh-oh, yes. Ah yes of course, ah...yes, if you put it that way. Er, I wonder perhaps if I were to...(He hurriedly picks up the bag, spilling a few rocks.)
KROTON: RETURN!
DOCTOR: Oh yes-yes!
16, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(Jamie rushes to the weapons rack at the back of the room and struggles out the second huge canister-like dispersion unit, and aims it at the Commander.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: STOP!
JAMIE: Hah, now we'll see if you die or not!
KROTON-COMMANDER: STOP! STOP!(Jamie after a little fumbling Jamie manages to fire the weapon, but it seems to have no effect on the crystalline life form. It is lassoed by swathes of vapour as it approaches.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: STOP! STOP! STOP!
(Suddenly the weapon cuts out as if an automatic anti-tamper fail-safe switch has clicked in. Jamie thumps it a few times to try and fix it, but to no avail. One swipe of the Commander's claw sends the huge canister flying from Jamie's grasp and to the floor with a clunk. It grasps Jamie in a painful grip.)
JAMIE: Oh no, argh!
17, INT: WASTELANDS
(The Large boxy bulk of the Kroton looks a little less menacing. It wobbles around on it's base, flapping like a beached fish.)
KROTON: DIRECTION POINT! DIRECTION POINT! I HAVE LOST CONTACT!
DOCTOR: Quick, Zoe, up there - run!(They scramble away before the creature can regain its faculties.)
KROTON: STOP! DIRECTION POINT REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY!
18, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS ONE ZERO, VECTOR THREE.
KROTON OOV: DO I PROCEED?
KROTON-COMMANDER: NO, WAIT. THE AUTO-SCANNER HAS LOST CONTACT. YOU WILL DESTROY THE TARDIS MACHINE.
KROTON OOV: DIRECTION POINT?
KROTON-COMMANDER: RADIUS FOUR-ONE, VECTOR TWO.(The TARDIS swims into view on the control centres scanner.)
19, INT: CLIFFSIDE
ZOE: Can't it see?
DOCTOR: No apparently not in the light. It was dark in the machine wasn't it?
ZOE: Look it's moving again now.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ZOE: It's going towards the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: Yes it's being directed by the machine's scanners.(They watch as below, the Kroton aims it's weapon at the tall blue box and fires. The shape is completely consumed, and when the smoke clears nothing of the TARDIS is left.)
ZOE: Oh Doctor, the TARDIS!
DOCTOR: Yes.
ZOE: Well now what do we do?
DOCTOR: Well there's-there's nothing we can do until that wretched Kroton moves away.
20, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON OOV: FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS?
KROTON-COMMANDER: RETURN TO THE DYNOTROPE.
KROTON OOV: DIRECTION POINT?
KROTON-COMMANDER: REVERSE THE READINGS.
21, INT: CLIFFSIDE
(The Kroton glides away back to the Dynotrope. Had the beast been able to look upwards it might have seen something strange happen on the cliffside high above it. An icy ethereal wind begins to swirl accompanied by a loud juddering sound. Gradually the skeletal form of a tall blue box begins to form in an absurd position on the cliffside. The battered box gains form, texture and finally substance with a resounding thunk.)
ZOE: Look, it alright again!
DOCTOR: Yes, what a, what a stupid place to land. You can tell that the Captain is not at the helm can't you?
ZOE: You knew it would vanish like that, didn't you?
DOCTOR: Well it only does that, you see, if I, if I remember to set the HADS.
ZOE: The what?
DOCTOR: The HADS. The Hostile-Action Displacement System. If the TARDIS is attacked it automatically dematerialises. Now, I think it's safe, I think it's safe for us to move now.
ZOE: Oh, to move where?
DOCTOR: Well I... We've got to ssee...tell the Gonds that we're alright haven't we? And Jamie'll be worried, come along now. Carefully.(They make their way down the cliffside path towards the settlement.)
22, INT: COUNCIL CHAMBER
(Eelek, Beta and Axus are debating their plans as a number of pike carrying guards stand around watching.)
EELEK: First we destroy the Learning Hall, then we make a frontal attack.
BETA: Suicide!
AXUS: What does the Controller of Science know of war?
BETA: You came here asking for my advice, I have given it. Wait until we can develop effective weapons.
EELEK: And how long will that take? I say attack now?
SELRIS: No Eelek!
BETA: You'll be pleased to know he's taken your place as leader of the council!
SELRIS: To lead an attack on the Krotons?
EELEK: That is my plan.
SELRIS: I forbid it!
EELEK: You can't forbid anything!(He raises his voice to the guards.)
EELEK: Ordered slings and fireballs to be prepared!
(Selris looks at the assembled Gonds for support, but they all file out. Eelek looks triumphant.
EELEK: They've heard enough of your plans.
(He follows the guards out.)
BETA: Slings and fireballs will never reach the Krotons while they're still in that machine!
SELRIS: Exactly Beta, and I have a plan to draw them out. Now under the Hall of Learning there are three pillars which support the machine...
23, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE HIGH-BRAINS MUST BE RECAPTURED BEFORE EXHAUST TIME.
KROTON: CAPTIVE ALIENS ARE DISPERSED.
KROTON-COMMANDER: CHECK EXHAUST TIME.(Jamie gets up from where he has been lying on the floor, but the Krotons seem to absorbed in their tasks to notice him.)
KROTON: COMMENCE CHECK.
KROTON-COMMANDER: ILEAL POWERSTAT IS?
KROTON: STATIC.
KROTON-COMMANDER: GRAVITATION FEED?
KROTON: NORMAL.(Jamie slowly creeps towards the door.)
KROTON-COMMANDER: AUXILIARY OUTPUT.
KROTON: RISING.
KROTON-COMMANDER: DYNOTROPE BALANCE.
KROTON: BALANCE FOUR.
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE DYNOTROPE WILL EXHAUST IN THREE HOURS.(Jamie watches from the door a few more seconds before rushing away towards the exit.)
24, INT: SELRIS'S HOUSE
(Thara and Vana are finishing packing a selection of bags.)
THARA: Are you sure you're strong enough?
VANA: Of course. I'm alright now.
THARA: I can carry you.
VANA: That won't be necessary, I'll walk Thara.
THARA: It's a long way to the hills...(Thara looks up and sees a familiar face walk in the door.)
VANA: Doctor you're back!
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm sorry I've been so long.
THARA: But...we thought you were dead!
DOCTOR: Dead?
VANA: Selris said that you'd gone into the machine.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, well we did, but er... Well-well er, what goes in must come out, mustn't it? You're better aren't you?
VANA: Much.
DOCTOR: Sit down, you mustn't...(He notices the bags.)
DOCTOR: Oh, I'm glad to see you're going on holiday.
THARA: Holiday? We aren't goi...
DOCTOR: Well it looks as though...
THARA: Well the city's being evacuated.
DOCTOR: Evacuated? What do you mean?
THARA: My father's going to lead an attack on the Krotons. He hopes they'll strike back and come out into the open.
DOCTOR: Didn't he learn last night?
THARA: Oh he's going to attack the machine from underneath.
VANA: Demolish the machine's supports.
DOCTOR: Oh I don't think that's a very good idea! Zoe, there's no time to be lost!(He turns back to Thara.)
DOCTOR: Will you take me to Beta please?
THARA: Yeah.(They all leave.)
25, INT: UNDER-HALL
(In an enormous, dank chamber a group of Gonds with torches work on demolishing the machine above. They toil with mallets to attach a number of chains to the base of a towering, fluted column.)
SELRIS: Ready with the stop-draw? Now!
(The chains pull tightly around one of the Dynotrope support struts.)
26, INT: BETA'S LABORATORY
BETA: Thara, if you've come to try and persuade me to leave you're wasting your time.
THARA: I haven't, the Doctor asked to see your laboratory.
DOCTOR: Can you hold my bag please.(Thara takes the bag and the Doctor addresses Beta.)
DOCTOR: Er, there's a small job I want you to do.
(Beta looks curiously at a small rock the Doctor has just given him.)
BETA: Oh, what's that?
DOCTOR: It's sulphur. I've written out some instructions here, I don't know whether you can follow them, can you?
BETA: Yes, I think so. But the Krotons forbid us to study chemistry.
DOCTOR: Yes... Beta, did it ever occur to you to wonder why?(Zoe looks around missing a voice.)
ZOE: Doctor, where's Jamie?
(She glances at Vana.)
ZOE: He's supposed to be looking after you. Well where's he got to?
THARA: Well he followed you out to the Learning Hall.
DOCTOR: Well I haven't seen him since this morning!
ZOE: Oh you don't suppose he tried to get into the machine do you?
DOCTOR: Come on, we must go!
ZOE: Yes, let's!(He rushes out after Zoe, pausing only briefly.)
DOCTOR: Give me a sample of that as soon as you can will you?
(He vanishes through the door.)
THARA: Vana, I'm staying here to help.
BETA: Oh no you're not, you're going to the hills the pair of you.
VANA: Oh don't be ridiculous Beta we're not leaving you here. Besides, I feel quite faint - I don't think I could walk a step.(Beta glares at Thara who grins back at him.)
26, INT: CONTROL-CENTRE
(Alarms echo through the Dynotrope Control-Centre as the Krotons heads spin madly around.)
KROTON: THE GRAVITATION FEED IS DROPPING.
KROTON-COMMANDER: THE DYNOTROPE IS MOVING OUT OF BALANCE. STATIC BEAM, SWITCH TO FULL VOLUME.
KROTON: FULL VOLUME ON.
KROTON-COMMANDER: SYSTEM CHECK COMMENCE.
26, INT: UNDER-HALL
(A Gond is cranking the handle of a crude ratchet device around and around.)
SELRIS: Shine the light up there?
(As the Gond does so, a large crack is clearly visible in the ceiling.)
BETA: If that comes down we shall all be killed!
(Selris gazes up with a zealous glint in his eye.)
SELRIS: But the machine will come down first! Look at the vibration!
(The ground begins to shake and a number of Gonds flee for their lives.)
DOCTOR: Stop it! Stop it!
SELRIS: Doctor!
DOCTOR: What do you think you're doing, you idiots?! Just unhook the thing, you're meddling with things you don't understand!
ZOE: Oh Doctor, look out!(The split in the ceiling widens and a chunk of concrete dislodges and falls to the ground.)
DOCTOR: Oh Zoe! Run, run!
(A stream of rubble falls from the hole in the ceiling burying the Doctor completely.)
The Doctor
Patrick TroughtonJamie
Frazer HinesKrotons
Robert La'Bassiere
Miles NorthoverZoe
Wendy PadburyBeta
James CairncrossEelek
Philip MadocSelris
James CopelandThara
Gilbert WynneVana
Madeleine MillsAxus
Richard IresonKroton Voices
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