[ Index for this Doctor ]
[ Index for this story ]
1. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(MILO strides towards the vid-com console beside the desk. MADELEINE's guard pulls a gun out and aims it at MILO. He and the others look on in shock.)
MADELEINE: Stop! Don't touch that call-button, Milo.
(CAVEN suddenly bursts in, flanked by two armed men. SORBA is the first to react. He snatches the blaster-rifle from MADELEINE's guard and swings it round to cover CAVEN, who promptly blasts SORBA down before he can fire. CAVEN smiles coldly.)
CAVEN: Anybody else want to die like a hero?
THE SPACE PIRATES
by ROBERT HOLMES
EPISODE FIVE
first broadcast - 5th April 1969
2. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(CAVEN walks over to MILO.)
CAVEN: You must have walked in here with your eyes wide open, Clancey. How very naive of you.
(As his men aim their guns at the DOCTOR and crew, CAVEN points his gun squarely at MILO's head. If he fires it will be impossible for him to miss.)
MADELEINE: Wait! I never agreed to anything like this.
CAVEN: If you don't like it, step outside for a moment.
MADELEINE: I don't want any more killing.
CAVEN: (Staring at MILO.) Too bad!
MADELEINE: I warn you Caven, don't over reach yourself.
CAVEN: I never do that.
MADELEINE: Well then just remember I'm still running this operation.
CAVEN: Are you? I do all the dirty work - the space piracy, the capital larceny...
MILO: And the first degree homicides!
CAVEN: Right, Clancey(He turns back to MADELEINE.)
CAVEN: While all you do is sit there looking pretty and count the money. But that doesn't mean to say you're not guilty.
MADELEINE: Maybe, but I never agreed to murder.
CAVEN: Well you'd better agree to it. Because if we don't get rid of these snoops, we'll both end up in a nirvan chamber.
MADELEINE: (Firmly.) I don't want them killed! There must be some other solution.
DOCTOR: (Indignantly.) Yes, there's just got to be!(There is a long pause while CAVEN considers.)
CAVEN: Dyce!
(MILO and ZOE can feel JAMIE tensing beside them, and realise that he is planning to jump the nearest guard. MILO grips JAMIE's arm.)
ZOE: (Hissing quietly.) Jamie!
JAMIE: Let go of me!
ZOE: With all those guards, you don't stand a chance!(JAMIE tries to relax, but doesn't find it easy. CAVEN takes his head guard aside and mutters briefly into his ear. The guards start to shove the DOCTOR, JAMIE, ZOE and MILO out of the room.)
GUARD: Come on, hurry up! Out of line! MOVE YOURSELVES!
DOCTOR: Alright! You don't need to shout!
MADELEINE: What are you going to do with them?
CAVEN: Don't worry, they're not going to be shot.
MADELEINE: I don't trust you, Caven.
CAVEN: I told Fraze to lock them away under the dock complex. Ask him if you don't believe me.
MADELEINE: (Staring at him.) What made you change your mind all of a sudden?
CAVEN: I had a better idea, that's all.
MADELEINE: (Mocking.) Oh yes?
CAVEN: That Space Corps ship is becoming a nuisance. I've thought of a way of getting rid of it.
3. SPACE
(At this precise moment the V-ship is in orbit around the planet Lobos.)
4. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(Major WARNE has gone off on a reconnaissance flight, and is reporting via the vid-com link to General HERMACK on the flight-deck.)
WARNE: (OOV.) I tracked the sections of the beacon right into Lobos, sir.
HERMACK: Were they being collected?
WARNE: (OOV.) No sir. They were in orbit round the planet. I made a landing at Clancey's base but it looked pretty derelict to me.
HERMACK: No sign of Clancey himself?
WARNE: (OOV.) No sir. I talked to some of the mining crew. They said he took off several weeks ago - they haven't heard from him since.
HERMACK: Are you sure they're speaking the truth?
WARNE: (OOV.) I'm sure they are, sir. I made a pretty close reconnaissance of the area, and there's no pad installation big enough to take a Beta Dart the size the pirates use, sir.
HERMACK: If there is one, it's certain to be camouflaged.
WARNE: (OOV.) Well I checked for radiation traces, sir. No, I'd say that planet has not been used by a ship with atomic-drive.
HERMACK: But the section of Beacon Alpha Four are in collection orbit around Lobos? How do you explain that?
WARNE: (OOV.) Well, it's possibly been done to side-track us, sir, to put us off the pirates' real base.
HERMACK: All right, Ian. We'll move in and find them. Bring that minnow in.
WARNE: (OOV.) I'm on my way home, sir.(As WARNE's face vanishes from the screen, HERMACK turns to PENN.)
HERMACK: Penn!
PENN: Sir?
HERMACK: I've called in X-X 2. Give Major Warne a beacon signal to home on.
PENN: Yes, sir.
HERMACK: Penn, Major Warne thinks those beacon sections were diverted to Lobos to mislead us. What was their course when our scanners first picked them up?
PENN: I've got the plots on the computer, sir.(PENN punches co-ordinates into a keyboard, and studies a read-out screen.)
PENN: (Pointing at the screen.) That's their original course.
HERMACK: Hm. Can you project a destination from that data?
PENN: I'm just doing that sir.(PENN punches more buttons and studies the answer.)
PENN: On that course, the beacon sections would eventually have been drawn into an elliptical orbit around the planet of Ta!
HERMACK: TA! I see. Thank you, Penn.
5. CORRIDOR
(CAVEN's guards march their prisoners along a steel corridor lined with heavy metal pipes and steel cables.)
ZOE: Where are you taking us?
GUARD: Shut up! Hey, don't speak!(The party halts outside a heavy steel door. A guard unlocks it and swings it open, while the head guard motions them inside with his blaster.)
DOCTOR: Has anyone... Has anyone got a light? It's very dark in there.
MILO: We're right under the freighter dock.
GUARD: Hurry up! Inside!(They are shoved through the door, which is slammed shut behind them.)
6. STUDY
(For a moment they stand in confusion in pitch darkness. The DOCTOR fishes an old-fashioned red-tipped match from his pocket and lights it on his thumbnail, holding the light high above his head. To their surprise, they find themselves not in the bare cell they'd been expecting, but in an elaborately furnished old-fashioned study. There is a desk, a sofa and armchairs, and the walls are lined with handsomely-bound books. A grandfather clock ticks loudly in the corner. There is a massive table covered with a fringed velvet cloth, that hangs down to the ground. Above the antique fireplace is a framed portrait of a distinguished looking, grey-haired man.)
MILO: Grand sakes alive! It's Dom himself!
DOCTOR: What?
MILO: (Pointing to the picture.) The picture! It's Dom Issigri!
ZOE: Madeleine's father?
MILO: Yeah. Ah... Well, wait a moment now. This...(MILO examines the room.)
MILO: Yeah. This is the old fellow's private study. Grand sakes! It's... It's years since I've been in here.
(The DOCTOR's match burns low and he blows it out.)
DOCTOR: You don't happen to remember where the light switch is, do you Milo?
MILO: You won't find a light switch Doctor. You might find some candles, or something.
JAMIE: Candles?!
MILO: Yeah.
JAMIE: In this day and age?!
MILO: Well, an oil lamp or something. (To JAMIE.) Hey boy, look in that cupboard, you might find something. Yeah. Yeah, he was an old-fashioned romantic old critter, was old Dom. He brought all this furniture, he brought all... all them books and everything from Earth, you know.(ZOE brings out a box of candles from another cupboard.)
ZOE: Are these candles?
DOCTOR: Ah, well done Zoe. Yes, a whole box of them.
ZOE: Well how do they work?
JAMIE: How do they work?!
DOCTOR: (To ZOE.) You take them and I'll... I'll show you.
JAMIE: Hey, we need a flint box!
DOCTOR: Alright.... alright Jamie, I've got some matches. Now... You just light the wick, you see Zoe, and the wax allows the wick to burn fairly slowly. There we are.(As soon as the candle is alight, they start to study their surroundings in more detail.)
DOCTOR: My word!
(MILO chuckles.)
DOCTOR: Good lord!
(MILO chuckles again.)
DOCTOR: This is very interesting.
MILO: Hey, Doctor. You know there's one thing... I can't quite understand... That's why Madeleine let Caven put us in here.
ZOE: Why?
MILO: Well, like I said, this used to be the old fellow's private study. And she had it all locked up, so I was told, when he disappeared. She swore that nobody would ever come in here again.
JAMIE: Nobody has. Look at the dust everywhere. Look!(JAMIE runs a finger through the dust to show MILO.)
DOCTOR: I think somebody's been in here quite recently.
JAMIE: Hey?
MILO: Well, er... why do you say that, Doctor?
DOCTOR: (Standing by the big clock.) This clock.
JAMIE: Well what about it?
DOCTOR: It's an eight-day movement, Jamie.(They all listen as the tick-tock noise of the clock fills the room.)
MILO: Well... well why would anyone come down here just to wind a clock?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's what I'm wondering.(He suddenly becomes aware that Zoe is tugging at his sleeve.)
ZOE: Oh Doctor!
DOCTOR: What is it?
ZOE: Doctor, look!(ZOE is looking downwards. The DOCTOR follows the direction of her gaze and sees a scrawny, bare foot sticking out from under the edge of the tablecloth. Picking up one of the candles, the DOCTOR creeps towards the table and lifts up the cloth. Cowering under the table is a ragged unkempt old man. Strangely enough, the DOCTOR recognises him at once. It is the man in the portrait - DOM Issigri, MADELEINE's supposedly dead father.)
DOM: (Frightened at the new arrivals.) Don't... Don't don't don't... Don't do anything... Please... leave me. No!
7. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(DERVISH appears on the communicator.)
DERVISH: (OOV.) Beta Buccaneer to Control. We are now in landing orbit. Give me clearance to pad.
CAVEN: (Into microphone.) Hello Dervish. Bring the ship down on Pad 3. Got that?
DERVISH: (OOV.) Pad 3. Right.(The screen goes blank.)
CAVEN: The nose-cone worked by the way. It put the Space Corps right off the scent.
(MADELEINE is sitting behind her desk. CAVEN is perched on the edge, very much at ease.)
MADELEINE: Hermack's men'll be back though. I mean it's only a matter of time before he realises there's nothing on Lobos and the pirates must be based here.
CAVEN: Do you think I haven't anticipated that?
MADELEINE: Oughtn't we to put our emergency plan into operation?
CAVEN: Flood the workings, lose all our equipment?(CAVEN shakes his head.)
MADELEINE: We've got no alternative! Hermack's men will find our argonite smelting plant, and we'll be ferried back to the home planet to face a capital charge.
CAVEN: I think we do have an alternative.(He gets off the desk and starts to walk around again.)
CAVEN: And if it works we'll be in a position to re-start our operation. After a discreet interval, of course.
MADELEINE: What exactly did you have in mind?
CAVEN: Hermack thinks that Clancey is behind the space piracy. We found his old ship, the LIZ, in an abandoned freighter dock. I'm going to have it fitted with an overriding remote control. Then we'll put Clancey and his friends aboard, and boost them into orbit just when Hermack's V-ship comes into scanner range.
HERMACK: (Panicked.) So that they pick Clancey up - but that's crazy! He'll tell him everything, he'll...
CAVEN: Don't worry - the Space Corp won't get a word out of Clancey, or those friends of his.(MADELEINE suddenly understands what he means and slams her fist down on the table.)
MADELEINE: NO! I will not be party to murder. When all this started it was going to be a salvage operation - space flotsam you said. But then piracy and now murder!?
CAVEN: You're taking a cut out of the profits.
MADELEINE: Yes, but because it's too late. I'm involved.
CAVEN: You wanted to get rid of Clancey. I'm proposing to do it permanently.
MADELEINE: By cold blooded, deliberate murder. No! I will not let you do it!
CAVEN: (Leaning over the table.) I don't think you've got much choice.
MADELEINE: Are you threatening me?
CAVEN: You may be the head of the Issigri Mining Company and very important back on Earth, but on this planet I have twice as many men as you and mine are all armed. I don't have to make threats. I'm telling you, not to interfere!(He turns round as DERVISH comes into the room.)
CAVEN: Ah Dervish, we're discussing a space accident.
(DERVISH looks baffled.)
DERVISH: Oh, where?
CAVEN: I haven't quite decided where it'll take place yet!
DERVISH: Oh sorry, I don't get it.
CAVEN: Don't worry. I want you to go down to the abandoned freighter dock, Dervish, you'll find an old C class ship there on the pad. Take some men with you and fit it out with a remote control guidance unit.
DERVISH: What now? But look Caven, I've only just got back...
CAVEN: (Sharp.) This is important, Dervish.
DERVISH: Alright, if you say so. What's it for?
CAVEN: Don't ask questions. Get on with it.
DERVISH: (Grudgingly.) Right.
CAVEN: Oh, and by the way...
DERVISH: Yes?
CAVEN: It's a very old ship, did I say that? Practically falling apart. I want their oxygen pump rigged so that it does full apart... say about five minutes after blast off.(DERVISH leaves and MADELEINE looks at CAVEN, an expression of panic on her face.)
8. DOM'S STUDY
(DOM Issigri crouches in a corner of the room, hands over his face, cowering away from the candle flame. So far, all the DOCTOR's attempts to reassure him have met with no success. The old man just cringes back, wedging himself into his corner.)
MILO: Dom.
(DOM backs further away from him, whimpering.)
MILO: Dom, look at me. Don't... don't you know me, Dom? It... it's... it's me Milo Clancey, Dom, your old partner...
DOM: No! No, leave me! Leave me be! No! Don't hurt me! Not again! Please!
ZOE: (Looking at the poor wreck of a man.) Are you sure it's Dom Issigri?
MILO: Of course it's Dom Issigri! I was closer to that man than a brother for fifteen years. That's Dom alright.
DOCTOR: Jamie!
MILO: What in the world have they done to him?
DOCTOR: Jamie. Jamie, let him go.
JAMIE: What?
DOCTOR: Well he's obviously so frightened we can't make him worse. Look out.(He approaches DOM.)
MILO: Dom... Dom... What in the world has happened to him?
DOCTOR: Well you can't expect him to behave normally. We don't know how long he's been down here.
MILO: But listen... Maddie wouldn't have done a thing like this to him.
JAMIE: Not her own father.
DOCTOR: Milo... Go... go... go and talk to him quietly.
MILO: Ah, well yeah... yeah... yeah all right, I'll do that. Err... Hey listen, what ah... what ah... what am I going to talk to him about?
DOCTOR: Talk to him about the things that he might remember.
MILO: Well, oh yeah. Yeah.(He approaches DOM again.)
MILO: Now, ah Dom. Now now, it's... it's only Milo, Dom. It's just Milo, your old partner, Dom. All right. Hah! Hey listen... hey listen Dom. I've still got the LIZ, you know Dom. Remember the old LIZ, we used to thrash from here to home planet in? Remember that time we had to race those three ships in order to... to register our stake on Lobos? You remember that race, Dom!
(The old man glances up at him. Somehow MILO's voice seems to calm him.)
MILO: What... what about when little Madeleine was born?
DOM: Maddie?
MILO: Yeah. Remember that? We made that record return trip - it took them... it took them fifteen years to beat the time we did then, Dom. I thought the old LIZ was going to split into two. Remember Dom?(Suddenly DOM Issigri speaks, or rather croaks, in a voice rusty with disuse.)
DOM: Maddie... Madeleine...
(He tugs a tattered photograph of a little girl from the pocket of his shirt.)
MILO: That's her Dom. That... that's her. That's your daughter Dom. What, she... she must have been about six year old when that was...
DOM: No no no - f.. five... o.. only five. Ah, poor Madeleine...
DOCTOR: (Whispering to MILO.) Go on!
DOM: Madeleine...
MILO: Ah, w.. well Dom. What about that ah... that other picture you had? That... that coloured picture you had of her. You know, Madeleine in a... in a red dress. Have you still got that picture, Dom?
9. CORRIDOR
(Meanwhile, confused and upset, MADELEINE has come down to the tunnels to see the prisoners. She is astonished to see one of CAVEN's guards on duty outside the "permanently locked" door to her father's old study.)
MADELEINE: Where are those prisoners?
(The GUARD nods towards the door.)
GUARD: Safe and sound.
MADELEINE: In there? (Explodes.) WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THERE?! THAT IS MY FATHER'S STUDY. I GAVE ORDERS FOR THAT DOOR TO BE KEPT LOCKED.(The GUARD shrugs indifferently.)
GUARD: Chief said to put them in there.
MADELEINE: Caven! Give me the key!
GUARD: Chief says nobody's to enter.
MADELEINE: Look, you know who I am. I'm ordering you to give me that key.
GUARD: (Firmly.) I can't do that! (Sarcastically.) Sorry!
MADELEINE: (Firmly.) You will be.(She turns and goes back the way she came. The GUARD calls to his colleague who is patrolling the junction.)
GUARD: Fraze! Here a minute. Go and tell the chief Miss Issigri's been down here trying to get in to see the prisoners. And tell him she's in a flaming temper about it!
(FRAZE dashes off.)
10. DOM'S STUDY
DOM: It is. Milo Clancey! It's Milo!
(MILO laughs.)
MILO: (Excited.) It is, Dom, it is. Old Milo, Dom. Hey... hey come on, come on old fellow, you... you sit down here where you'll be... where you'll be nice and comfortable. Now there you are, come on.
(DOM sits down.)
MILO: I'll tell you something, Dom. We're... we're all friends here.
(DOM clutches MILO's sleeve, staring up into his face.)
DOM: Friends? Then he's caught you too. He's caught us all of us.
DOCTOR: You mean Caven?
DOM: You'll never get out of here. Never. You'll all die down here, I tell you.
DOCTOR: I think we shall get out of here. How long have you been down here?(The old man stares wildly at him.)
DOM: How long? I don't know how long - years! They came for me, by night, with guns.
ZOE: Who did?
MILO: Not now, ah, was it Caven, Dom?
DOM: You know Caven?
MILO: Yeah.
DOM: He's evil. Ruthless. They brought me down here and kept me like a rat under ground.
MILO: That explains how he disappeared. Caven kidnapped him.
JAMIE: Well why do that?
MILO: Because he wanted to drive a wedge between Madeleine and me, he wanted to take over the company.
JAMIE: I know, but why keep him prisoner all this time?(JAMIE lowers his voice.)
JAMIE: I mean, surely it would be easier for them to have killed him and be done with it.
DOCTOR: Well, from what we've seen of Caven, I... I think he always has a good reason for doing things, Jamie.
ZOE: You mean Mr Issigri is still of some value to Caven in some way?
DOCTOR: Yes, I... I think so, Zoe.(He turns back to DOM.)
DOCTOR: Well, Dom, we shall just have to escape, won't we?
DOM: Escape? That door's the only way out of here.
DOCTOR: Are you quite sure?
MILO: What? Of course he's quite sure. Ah, old Dom he... he built this room.
JAMIE: Aye...
MILO: He hacked it out of living rock. That door's the only way out.(The DOCTOR doesn't seem in the least discouraged.)
DOCTOR: Yes, but it's also the only way in.
11. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(To MADELEINE's irritation, DERVISH is in the office instead of CAVEN. He is talking on her communicator.)
DERVISH: ...you'll find this ship out at the old freighter dock beyond the perimeter. Use one of the tractors to get the stuff out there and hurry. I need it quickly, and don't forget the thermic capacitators.
(The screen, with an unknown face on it, goes black.)
MADELEINE: Where's Caven?
DERVISH: Oh, ah... he's on level three, I think. One of the guards just came in asking for him.
MADELEINE: Guards... moronic brutes.
DERVISH: Well...
MADELEINE: Look Dervish, you're an intelligent man, a qualified astroengineer. How did you get mixed up with a criminal like Caven?
DERVISH: I made a mistake once. Just once. Caven found out about it.
MADELEINE: There must a way... there must be a way of fighting him. I didn't realise what I'd got involved with, until I saw him shoot that man today.
DERVISH: Oh you can't fight Caven.
MADELEINE: Not alone, but if you help me we might...
DERVISH: No! Look, I don't want to talk about it.(He sees the scornful look on her face and says angrily:)
DERVISH: I know Caven. I know what he's capable of. And believe me, he'd kill us both if he even suspected we were been talking like this.
(DERVISH turns to leave. MADELEINE throws herself on him.)
MADELEINE: YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME! We're the only two who can stop him!
DERVISH: I'm sorry.(He removes MADELEINE's hand from his coat.)
MADELEINE: (Panicking.) He's planning to kill those prisoners, Dervish! We can't let him murder four innocent people.
DERVISH: PLEASE LET ME GO! I've got work to do.(He dodges past her and heads for the door.)
MADELEINE: (Shouts.) You'll be as guilty as he is!
(...but DERVISH is gone. MADELEINE looks after him for a moment and comes to a sudden decision. She whirls round and heads for his vid-com console.)
MADELEINE: (Into communicator.) This is Issigri Control to V-ship 41. Issigri Control to General Hermack. Hello Space Corps. If you hear me, please come in on band 396. This is Issigri Control...
12. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(We see the Space Corp ship and close in on the flight deck, as MADELEINE's voice crackles faintly through the speaker on the flight deck.)
PENN: Sir!
WARNE: What is it, Penn?
PENN: Radio call from Issigri Control.
HERMACK: What do they want?
PENN: It's a woman's voice, sir. Very faint, I'll put it through the amplifier.(The voice becomes louder and clearer.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Issigri Control calling General Hermack. Please come in! Band 396!
(Even over the air-waves, HERMACK can hear the tone of desperation in her voice.)
MADELEINE: Issigri Control calling Space Corp.
(The signal starts to break up again.)
HERMACK: Did you get that band, Penn?
PENN: Coming up on the video, sir.(MADELEINE's anguished face appears on the vid-com screen.)
HERMACK: (Into microphone.) V-Master to Issigri Control, receiving you now.
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Listen General. You must get...(MADELEINE's voice cuts off and the screen goes blank.)
HERMACK: What the blue blazes! Open that connection again, Penn!
PENN: It's still open, sir. Somebody's pulled the plug at the other end!
13. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
CAVEN: Obviously I got here just in time.
(One of CAVEN's hands is still on the cut-out switch. The other holds MADELEINE's wrist in a painful grip. He moves her away from the vid-com console and releases her.)
CAVEN: And why did you try to see the prisoners?!
MADELEINE: (Rubbing her wrist.) Oh why do you think? To tell them what you're planning.
CAVEN: So, I can't rely on you any more.
MADELEINE: No, you better put me in with them.
CAVEN: (Slightly laughing.) Oh no. You've not yet outlived your usefulness!
MADELEINE: If you think... if you think for one moment that I'm going to help you in any wa...
CAVEN: You are going to do exactly as I tell you, Madeleine.
MADELEINE: You really are mad, aren't you.
CAVEN: (Very sharp.) Because if you don't, I'll have your father flogged. And I ought to tell you that he's not in the best of health.
MADELEINE: (Laughs.) Oh, but my father's dead!
CAVEN: He's alive.(CAVEN takes a photograph from his pocket and gives it to MADELEINE. It's a picture of DOM in his present condition.)
CAVEN: As you can perhaps see from this photograph taken only a few weeks ago.
(MADELEINE stares unbelievingly at the unkempt figure cringing away from the camera.)
CAVEN: I thought I might need a lever to help you to co-operate.
MADELEINE: (Softly.) Where is he?
CAVEN: In his study, where else? When you ordered that room to be kept locked, I thought it'd be the safest place to put him.
MADELEINE: (Stares at CAVEN.) YOU!(She tries to dash for the door but again CAVEN grabs her in a vice-like grip. She yells: )
MADELEINE: LET ME... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FATHER? Let me see him, let me...
(MADELEINE sobs hysterically.)
CAVEN: Before we get that far, let's talk about how you're going to help me, shall we? Because that's much more important.
14. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
PENN: It's no use, sir. There's not a peep out of Issigri Control.
HERMACK: What do you think, Ian?
WARNE: I'd have given a lot to have held that contact for another ten seconds, sir. I wonder what she was gonna to say.
HERMACK: She looked worried.
WARNE: Sir, if those sections of the beacons were originally on course for Ta...
HERMACK: So they were, according to our computer readings.
WARNE: Well, suppose Clancey diverted them to Lobos? To get us out of the way so that his gang could raid the Issigri Headquarters.
HERMACK: That would be a big operation. Even for a crew as well disciplined as the pirates appear to be.
WARNE: Well, not if he had a base on another planet, sir.
HERMACK: (Musing it over.) I suppose it's possible. (To PENN) Penn, set course for Ta.
PENN: Right, sir.
HERMACK: (To WARNE.) We can swing back there and make sure that everything's in order anyway.
15. DOM'S STUDY
(The DOCTOR is staring broodingly at the heavy metal door.)
DOCTOR: Dom, the grille over the door...
DOM: Leads out to the passage outside. And that steel is three inches thick. I tell you it's hopeless: I spent my first year down here working on that - here, you can see it's hardly marked.
DOCTOR: Yes, I wasn't thinking of brute strength. Well, well not much brute strength.
JAMIE: It's not an audio lock is it?
DOCTOR: No Jamie, it isn't.
JAMIE: (Looking relieved.) Well, that's a relief.(The DOCTOR looks hurt.)
DOCTOR: Jamie, sometimes... sometimes I think you don't appreciate all I do for you. Milo?
MILO: Yeah?
DOCTOR: Supposing we could get out of this room, do you think you could find your way back to your spaceship?
MILO: Well yeah, if you want to get me out of this room...
DOCTOR: Sh, shh!
MILO: What?(The DOCTOR points to the door.)
MILO: Ah, well that's what I was going to say, you see, apart from these guards there. If we get past those guards, well, they wouldn't track us down in those tunnels - I know those tunnels like the back of my hand.
DOCTOR: Splendid!(The DOCTOR rubs his hands.)
DOCTOR: Right, Zoe, hand out those candles. Two at a time will do.
JAMIE: (Puzzled.) What for?
DOCTOR: Just a minute, Jamie, I'll tell you.(The DOCTOR starts to search his pockets.)
DOCTOR: Now where did I put my bag of marbles...
16. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
MADELEINE: I'm sorry General, we had a technical failure.
(HERMACK's face is frowning at her from the vid-com screen.)
HERMACK: (OOV.) Ah, is that what happened. You went out in mid-message.
(MADELEINE is very conscious of CAVEN standing to one side, just out of HERMACK's sight.)
MADELEINE: Yes, I was just saying that you must get these pirates soon, General. One of my freighters has just landed, and the Captain said that his ship was attacked.
HERMACK: (OOV.) Really? Where was this?
MADELEINE: Just on entering the sector, he tells me. But he was able to out-run them.
HERMACK: (OOV.) Ha, you had us worried. We're heading back to your planet now.(MADELEINE's voice gets panicky.)
MADELEINE: Err, that's quite unnecessary, General. There's nothing wrong here.
HERMACK: (Dryly, OOV.) Oh, I'm glad to hear it. Well we've got some checking to do there anyway.
MADELEINE: I see. Well then I'll get a landing pad cleared for you.
HERMACK: (OOV.) Fine. And thank you for contacting us.(As the screen goes blank, MADELEINE turns to CAVEN.)
MADELEINE: Satisfied?!
CAVEN: Yes, but you shouldn't have tried to divert them. I'm counting on that ship returning.(He flicks a switch on the intercom.)
CAVEN: Dervish, how are things coming along?
(DERVISH's voice crackles back.)
DERVISH: (OOV.) I've completed the installation. I'm running a test on it now.
CAVEN: Good, let me know as soon as you're ready.
17. DOM'S STUDY
(Under the DOCTOR's direction, he and his fellow prisoners are rubbing candle- wax into the floor. They've worn down several candles between them, and by now the whole area around the door is covered with a thin layer of wax.)
DOCTOR: Right, there we are. I think that should be enough wax.
ZOE: Are you sure it'll work?
DOCTOR: Well, it usually does. Jamie, Jamie, pass me that marble will you?
JAMIE: (Picking up a marble.) This one?
DOCTOR: The green one.(JAMIE passes the green marble to the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: Thank you very much. It's ah... one of my favourites!
(The DOCTOR tucks the marble into his pocket.)
DOCTOR: Now, what have you got, Dom?
(DOM comes forward with a metal tray on which there is a pile of paper and cloth.)
DOM: An old shirt and an aeronautical journal.
DOCTOR: (Laughs.) Ha ha! That should make plenty of smoke. Right then, is everybody ready?(MILO has broken up an old Victorian dining-chair. JAMIE, ZOE, DOM and MILO clutch one leg each. The DOCTOR sets fire to the pile of paper and rags on the tray.)
DOCTOR: That's the stuff.
(They all join in, fanning and blowing on the pile of smouldering rags, until it is burning strongly and sending up a plume of black smoke.)
DOCTOR: You all know what you have to do?
MILO: Yeah.
JAMIE: Ready.(The DOCTOR holds the tray up towards the grille over the door.)
18. CORRIDOR
(It doesn't take long before the GUARD outside the door starts sniffing suspiciously. He looks up to see smoke streaming from the grille over the door.)
GUARD: (Into the intercom.) Quince! Here quick!
(Muffled shouts of "Help! Fire, fire, fire!" start coming from the other side of the door. The GUARD fumbles with the keys at his belt.)
19. DOM'S STUDY
(The DOCTOR and his companions wait tensely. Suddenly the door is opened. Two guards rush in, hit the grease and the marbles, and go down in a flailing pile of arms and legs. They struggle to get up, but are promptly flattened by a gang of what look like yelling demons with clubs. Clambering over the dazed and battered guards, the DOCTOR and his little party disappear down the corridor.)
20. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(A few minutes later, CAVEN is screaming at the unfortunate guard, whose bruised and battered face fills the vid-com screen in MADELEINE's office.)
CAVEN: (Screaming.) Useless fools - you'll be punished for this!
GUARD: (OOV.) It wasn't our fault, Chief.
CAVEN: Go on! Get moving! Get after those prisoners! With any luck you'll be shot! Incompetents! Idiots!(The screen goes blank and CAVEN slams his fist on the table. He turns to MADELEINE and snarls: )
CAVEN: Don't imagine they can get away. There's nowhere for them to go!
MADELEINE: (Laughing at him.) If you haven't caught them by the time the Space Corps get here... Ha, ha, ha! Then you really are in trouble, aren't you!(A voice comes from the intercom.)
VOICE: (OOV.) Hello Chief. Muller here. The prisoners have just been spotted on level three.
CAVEN: (Into the microphone.) Which way are they heading?
VOICE: (OOV.) Towards the old freighter dock.
CAVEN: Clancey's old space-ship, of course. (Into the microphone.) Listen Muller, don't try and stop them, you understand? Let them reach the freighter dock.
VOICE: (OOV.) OK Chief, I'll call the patrols in.(CAVEN smiles coldly at MADELEINE.)
CAVEN: I think your friends intend to save me a lot of trouble. Once they get that old crate up into space, I can cut in the remote control any time I like. Stop their oxygen and deliver a cargo of dead pirates to General Hermack.
(MADELEINE looks at him in anguish.)
MADELEINE: Caven, you can't do that! My father's with them!
CAVEN: (Heartlessly.) Yes, he'd have been better off staying where he was, wouldn't he?
21. LIZ 79
(MILO dashes into LIZ 79's cabin, and throws himself into the pilot's seat. He begins a frantic instrument check.)
MILO: Come on, Dom. Come on, Doctor. Come on Dom, in you go.
(The DOCTOR and then DOM throw themselves into the control room. Seconds later the DOCTOR appears, looking worriedly behind him.)
DOCTOR: What's happened to Jamie and Zoe? I... I think I ought to go back for them...
MILO: Don't you worry about them. They're probably just checking up we haven't been followed.(The DOCTOR notices MILO pressing buttons and turning switches.)
DOCTOR: What are you doing?
MILO: Just getting ready for take-off.
DOCTOR: But...
MILO: But don't worry, come on, I won't go without 'em.
22. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(DERVISH's face appears on MADELEINE's vid-com screen.)
DERVISH: (OOV.) Control reports that the V-Ship's on an approach path.
CAVEN: Already?
23. SPACE
(The V-Ship flies towards Ta in the distance.)
24. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
CAVEN: (Into communicator.) All right, listen! We can't afford to wait for Clancey to take that ship up. Activate the overriding unit now!
MADELEINE: NO!(She runs at CAVEN, but he throws her brutally aside.)
CAVEN: You understand, Dervish! Boost that crate into orbit! Immediately!
25. LIZ 79
DOCTOR: I can't understand what's happened to them. I'm going back.
MILO: Oh? Well, ah... Don't be long now, tell them to hurry!(As soon as the door closes behind the DOCTOR, the cabin begins vibrating with a low rumble of power.)
MILO: Well, hey...
DOM: Listen... Listen...(MILO wrestles with the controls, but they are locked and refuse to respond.)
MILO: (Shocked.) That's the rocket drive - hey hey! We're taking off! The Doctor will be burned to a frazzle in the blast!
26. FREIGHTER DOCK
(The DOCTOR is tearing down the access tunnel from the launch pad. A shattering roar comes from the launch-pad just behind him, and a blast of smoke, flames and chemical fumes rips through the tunnel. The DOCTOR is hurled to the ground.)
DOCTOR: Oh no! No! No! No! No!
(He lies motionless amid the drifting, poisonous smoke and the oncoming flames...)
The Doctor
PATRICK TROUGHTONJamie
FRAZER HINESZoe
WENDY PADBURYGeneral Nicolai Hermack
JACK MAYMajor Ian Warne
DONALD GEETechnician Penn
GEORGE LAYTONMaurice Caven
DUDLEY FOSTERDervish
BRIAN PECKMilo Clancey
GORDON GOSTELOWMadeleine Issigri
LISA DANIELY
Title Music by
RON GRAINER
and the BBC Radiophonic WorkshopIncidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSONDesigner
IAN WATSONProducer
DERRICK SHERWINDirector
MICHAEL HART
Transcribed by
LEE HORTON