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SPEARHEAD
FROM SPACE

BY
ROBERT
HOLMES

EPISODE 2


1: EXT. OXLEY WOOD

(As the DOCTOR comes into view, a single shot fires and the DOCTOR clutches his head...)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: Stop! Stop firing, you fool!

(...and falls to the ground.)

(CAPTAIN MUNRO pushes his way through the bushes and comes across the two nervous soldiers over the still body of the DOCTOR. He runs to examine him, turning him over to feel his heart.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: What happened?
CORPORAL FORBES: Gave us no warning, sir.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: How could he with his mouth taped?
CORPORAL FORBES: Is he dead, sir?


2: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. WARD

(The same question is asked later by the BRIGADIER and answered by DR. HENDERSON when the DOCTOR is back in the ward, connected to an EEG machine. CAPTAIN MUNRO is also there.)

DR. HENDERSON: No...
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Unconscious?

(HENDERSON is looking over the EEG printout.)

DR. HENDERSON: Yes, he’s more unconscious than anyone I’ve ever seen. Have a look at this EEG.

(The BRIGADIER comes round the bed to join HENDERSON.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: EEG?
DR. HENDERSON: This machine registers the electrical activity of the brain.

(He passes the print out to the BRIGADIER.)

DR. HENDERSON: Normally the line fluctuates considerably...even when the patient is unconscious.

(The BRIGADIER passes the printout to MUNRO.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: Not a lot going on, is there?
DR. HENDERSON: Nothing whatsoever. Completely passive.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Perhaps that bullet did more damage than you suspected?
DR. HENDERSON: No, it only caused a slight burn on the scalp. It couldn’t possibly account for this condition.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Then what is the cause? Could it be shock?
DR. HENDERSON: Could be, but I doubt it. No, he’s is such a deep coma that I’d say it was...

(DR. HENDERSON pauses as though embarrassed.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Is what?
DR. HENDERSON: Self-induced.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Is that possible?
DR. HENDERSON: For you or for me, no.

(HENDERSON takes the print out from MUNRO and sits at the table.)

DR. HENDERSON: But we’re dealing here with a completely alien physiology. All I can do is guess.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Well, is it safe to move him?
DR. HENDERSON: I honestly don’t know, but I’d advise against it.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Hmm. Oh, very well. You’ll keep me informed of any change in his condition?
DR. HENDERSON: Yes, of course.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Thank you.

(The BRIGADIER and MUNRO start to leave.)

DR. HENDERSON: Oh, by the way...
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Yes?

(HENDERSON holds up the TARDIS key.)

DR. HENDERSON: We found this in his hand when he was brought in. We had to prise his fingers open. He was really hanging on to it.


3: EXT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. TERRACE

(The BRIGADIER and MUNRO walk in the sunshine along a balustrade terrace outside the hospital.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: The police box is on its way back to headquarters, so you can double the guard here.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Very good, sir.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Where’s this meteorite your chaps found?
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Here we are, sir.

(They have reached a point where a UNIT soldier stands guard over an ammunition box. MUNRO picks it up and places it on top of the balustrade and opens it up. He takes out a shard of a plastic looking material.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: It’s all we could find, sir. It must have broken up when it hit the ground.

(He passes the piece to the BRIGADIER who weighs it in his hand.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: It’s light, very light.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Mmm. Is it some sort of plastic, sir?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Yes, possibly. I’ll take it back with me. Have it taken to my car, will you?
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Yes, sir. (To the soldier.) Hawkins.

(He looks at the soldier to carry out the order and they carry on their walk.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Keep a twenty-four hour guard. It’s possible these people might try again.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Right, sir.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: What puzzle me is why they should want to abduct the Doctor.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Could he be tied up with them in any way, sir?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Yes, it’s possible. Anyone get a good look at them?
CAPTAIN MUNRO: I have a picture of one of them, sir.

(MUNRO reaches into his uniform jacket pocket and pulls out a black and white photograph.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: He was here earlier posing as a reporter.

(MUNRO shows him the photograph. It was taken when the press ambushed the BRIGADIER in the hospital foyer and shows the intense-looking man stood behind the BRIGADIER’S shoulder.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: How did you get this?
CAPTAIN MUNRO: I made a check on all the pressmen, sir. One of the photographers took this shot when you arrived with Miss Shaw - and two of the nurses saw this man leading the raiding party.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: What about the others?
CAPTAIN MUNRO: I only got a glimpse of them, sir. There was something...something odd about their faces...


4: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. FACTORY FLOOR

(A steel frame of hideous, freshly moulded dolls heads move along the factory floor. Liquid plastic is squirted into moulds for more of the heads and factory workers pull out an assortment of limbs ready to assemble the finished toys. A suited man - RANSOME - is escorted across the factory floor by a silent young blond-haired secretary. He observes with interest as female factory workers sit as their tables and insert eyes into the heads and sew hair onto them. Eyelashes are added to each doll and so the process goes on. The man continues behind his escort as a radio blares out across the factory floor playing Fleetwood Macs “Oh Well, Part 1”. The man then walks past a conveyor belt of finished but undressed dolls.


5: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. MACHINE ROOM

(The secretary leads him through a room filled with pipes and boilers. The secretary remains quiet and cold and she has a strange shine to her face. RANSOM looks round.)

RANSOME: There are a lot of changes. And you’re new, aren’t new?

(The secretary doesn’t answer but turns and walks on. RANSOM pulls a rueful face and follows.)


6: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. OFFICE LANDING

(The secretary leads RANSOM up a flight of steps into a green painted corridor. At the top of the steps is a door with two red lettered signs, one of which reads “OUT OF BOUNDS” and the other which states “SECURITY SECTOR”. The silent secretary walks past it but RANSOM stops.)

RANSOME: That’s my workshop - or rather, it was. What the devil’s been going on here?

(The shiny-faced secretary again doesn’t answer but walks on towards the office area. RANSOM follows. As he goes, another figure walks quietly up the stairs and watches him go - the intense man from the hospital.)


7: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. MANAGING DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

(The MD of the factory - HIBBERT - sits at his desk. The shelves of the office contain a variety of finished box dolls as well as the usual assortment of box files and other office paraphernalia. HIBBERT is on the phone.)

HIBBERT: (Into phone.) Yes, send him in.

(He puts the phone down and an angry RANSOM walks in. HIBBERT is warm and friendly.)

HIBBERT: John, come in! We weren’t expecting you.
RANSOME: Weren’t you?

(He pulls a letter out of his jacket pocket and throws it on the desk.)

RANSOME: What’s all this about?
HIBBERT: The letter explains everything.
RANSOME: It explains nothing! Look...

(He pulls a doll from one of the shelves.)

RANSOME: When I invented this doll, you promised me full backing. You sent me to the States to interest the Americans in joint production. You said, that if it all worked out, then you’d make me a partner.

(He pulls a sheaf of papers out of his briefcase.)

RANSOME: Well, here it all is. Agreements ready to sign, advance orders, the lot. And what do I find on the mat when I get home? A letter giving me the push! Look, we worked on this project together. Well, you helped me finish the designs. Now you’ve put the chop on it just like that! For heaven’s sake, George, you owe me some sort of an explanation.

(An uncomfortable HIBBERT stands up and walks round the desk.)

HIBBERT: It’s a...i...i...it’s the new policy. We’ve, er, got a new policy.
RANSOME: What’s happened to this place? Most of the staff gone, security notices everywhere...
HIBBERT: We’re developing a new process. It’s all...very secret. We’ve, er, changed everything.

(He looks at the office door with an element of fear on his face...)

RANSOME: I’ll say you have! The whole layout of the factory floor is different. Yeah, and my workshop, what’s in there now?

(HIBBERT turns and looks at RANSOME, this time with real fear on his face.)

HIBBERT: Stay away from there, John.
RANSOME: But what about my equipment?
HIBBERT: We’ll...we’ll send it to you.
RANSOME: Just like that?
HIBBERT: I don’t think you should’ve come here, John. You must go away...at once. It’s not safe.
RANSOME: What’s the matter? You keeping saying “we”.

(HIBBERT puts a hand to the back of his neck.)

RANSOME: “We’ve got a new policy” Well, who is “we”?

(The man from the hospital enters the room, staring at the back of HIBBERT’S neck. The MD himself adopts a colder, more robotic tone to his voice.)

HIBBERT: There’s no point in going on with this, Mr. Ransome. Goodbye.

(Like an automaton, he goes back to his desk and sits down. The other man turns his gaze to RANSOME but he is not put off and turns back to HIBBERT.)

RANSOME: Look, if there’s anything wrong, perhaps I can help you?
HIBBERT: There’s nothing wrong. My letter explained everything. Goodbye.

(RANSOME picks up his papers, puts them in his briefcase and leaves, with him and the intense man giving each other one last look. After RANSOME has gone, he transfers his gaze back to HIBBERT who sits at his desk, staring into space.)


8: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. OFFICE LANDING

(RANSOME stalks down the landing. As he reaches the door to his old workshop, he looks round and then tries the handle. Further down the landing, the door to HIBBERT’S office opens and the intense man looks out. RANSOME sees that he is being watched and walks down the stairs.)


9: INT. UNIT HEADQUARTERS. LABORATORY

(A laboratory has been hastily cobbled together in a large spare room in UNIT HQ; nevertheless, it is full of equipment, including a series of chemical equipment which LIZ, dressed in a white lab coat, is assembling. The BRIGADIER is also there, but somewhat unwelcome.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Am I interrupting?
LIZ: Yes.

(The BRIGADIER gives her a look.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Getting on all right?
LIZ: (Disinterested.) Fine, just fine.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Sorry about the makeshift conditions here, but we had to set this lab up for you in rather a hurry.

(LIZ is not really listening as she goes about her work.)

LIZ: Fine, just fine.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Found out what it’s made of?
LIZ: No, but it isn’t a meteorite.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: You’ve established that much?
LIZ: Meteorites are the debris from comets.

(LIZ holds up the shard of material that MUNRO and his men found.)

LIZ: This has been manufactured.

(She places it in a chemical solution.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: And it comes from space?
LIZ: Er, there are some faint traces of heat fusion. Well, it’s possible.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Still sceptical?
LIZ: (Archly.) Of course. I deal with facts, not science fiction ideas.

(She walks round the lab table and stirs another solution as a slightly annoyed BRIGADIER follows.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Miss Shaw, I’m not a fool, I don’t chase shadows. What you don’t understand is that there might...there is a remote possibility that outside your cosy little world other things could exist.
LIZ: No need to get tetchy.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Well, sometimes you can be very aggravating.

(He moves off.)

LIZ: Me? What about you?

(She smiles as she mercilessly lampoons the BRIGADIER.)

LIZ: You really believe in a man who’s helped to save the world twice? With the power to transform his physical appearance?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (Defensively.) I’m not sure yet. It may not be the same man.
LIZ: An alien who travels through time and space in a police box?


10: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. MANAGING DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

(At the plastics factory, HIBBERT is starting to lose his nerve...)

HIBBERT: It’s all becoming difficult!

(He looks at the intense man - CHANNING.)

CHANNING: All you have to do is to continue running the factory as though nothing had changed. That is your sole concern, Hibbert. Do you understand.

(He stares closely at HIBBERT who again assumes a controlled manner.)

HIBBERT: I understand.
CHANNING: Good. Two energy units are still missing.
HIBBERT: Do you think the stranger at the hospital has found one of them?
CHANNING: It’s possible but it is dangerous to go near him again.
HIBBERT: Then what can you do?
CHANNING: The units may have embedded themselves in soft ground. That would account for the fact that their signals are no longer being received.
HIBBERT: How will you locate them then?
CHANNING: They will increase their pulsation signals.
HIBBERT: (Nervously.) You...talk about these energy units a...a...as though they were living things.
CHANNING: All energy is a form of life.


11: EXT. SEELEY’S COTTAGE

(SEELEY, the poacher, is at the back of his little thatched cottage. He pulls a large metal trunk out of a small brick out-house. He unfastens it and opens the lid. Immediately, the pulsing signal of the meteorite he found is heard. He pulls back a blanket and the pulsing red globe is revealed.)


12: EXT. OXLEY WOOD

(In the woods, a strange figure comes to life. Dressed in a blue boiler suit and scarf, its face is cold and plastic, the head is hairless and its movements are stiff and formal. It turns to face the signal from the globe and moves off.)


13: EXT. SEELEY’S COTTAGE

(SEELEY is looking at his treasured “thunderball” when he hears a woman’s voice coming from inside the cottage...)

MEG: (OOV: Inside cottage.) Sam, are you in yet?

(SEELEY jumps in alarm, knocking down the lid of the trunk in a panic. With no time to do anything else, he hastily puts the globe in the out-house and pulls the door shut as his wife - MEG - comes out of the cottage. She is a large middle-aged woman dressed in a coat and scarf.)

MEG: What are you doing out there?

(She walks up to her husband.)

MEG: Why didn’t you answer me?
SEELEY: Never heard you come in.
MEG: What you doing with that old box?
SEELEY: Nothing.
MEG: Sam Seeley, you’ve not been thieving again, have yer? ‘Cause if you have...
SEELEY: Oh, that’s nice, innit eh? Accusing your own husband!

(MEG gives a snort and opens the trunk. She sees that it is empty of all but the old blanket.)

SEELEY: Satisfied?

(MEG sniffs.)

SEELEY: Now go and get me some grub, woman. I’m hungry!
MEG: You watch your tongue! And don’t think I’m gonna have that dirty old box in my house.

(SEELEY watches her walk back to the cottage and shut the door. Immediately, he opens the out-house and then pulls back the blanket in the trunk, ready to put the globe back. Behind him, MEG comes back out of the cottage. SEELEY turns and barks...)

SEELEY: What are you staring at, woman?

(She goes back in and SEELEY quickly puts the globe back in the trunk, slamming the heavy lid shut.)


14: EXT. OXLEY WOOD

(The walking figure in the woods comes to a halt, looking round for the lost signal.)


15: INT. UNIT HEADQUARTERS. LABORATORY

(The TARDIS has been placed in the laboratory. The BRIGADIER stares at it as LIZ continues her own work whilst riling him.)

LIZ: Now, all you have to do is to borrow a key from the Police.

(The BRIGADIER holds up a yale key.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: I’ve got the key here. Henderson found it in the Doctor’s hand.

(A tannoy on a nearby bench buzzes. The BRIGADIER goes over and presses the button.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (Into tannoy.) Yes?
UNIT SOLDIER: (OOV: Over tannoy.) Major General Scobie to see you, sir.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (To himself.) Scobie? Well, what on Earth...? (Into tannoy.) All right, show him up.

(The BRIGADIER goes over to LIZ.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: He’s our liaison with the regular army. Got to keep in with him.

(The BRIGADIER walks over to the doorway.)

LIZ: You don’t expect me to salute him, I hope?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: You could bring yourself to be a little less astringent, Miss Shaw.
LIZ: I didn’t ask to come here, remember?

(A soldier escorts MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE, a slim gruff elderly moustached soldier, into the laboratory.)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: (To the soldier.) Ah, thank you, thank you.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Ah, sir.

(The soldier leaves.)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Oh, sorry to interrupt, Stewart.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Worry not, sir. Always a pleasure to see you.
MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Oh, this, er, meteorite operation - any further?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Not much, I’m afraid. We found the fragments of one though, sir. Miss Shaw is studying them.

(He gestures to LIZ and they walk over to her as the BRIGADIER introduces them.)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Ah.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Oh, Miss Shaw, General Scobie.

(LIZ shakes hands warmly.)

LIZ: How do you do.
MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Ah, how do you do. (To the BRIGADIER.) Lucky fellow, Stewart, having a pretty face, er, around the place.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: She’s not just a pretty face, sir.

(LIZ is not pleased at the comment...)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Oh, no, no. Newspapers seem to have gone wild over this business.

(He suddenly spots the TARDIS.)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Dear chap, (Laughs.) What are you doing with a police box?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Well, sir...
LIZ: (Interrupts.) Camouflage, General. It’s not really a police box. It’s a spaceship.

(SCOBIE’S smile vanishes...)


16: EXT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL

(In the car park of the hospital, CORPORAL FORBES is looking over a red 1920’s Vauxhall 30/98 classic car when CAPTAIN MUNRO drives up in a jeep.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: Where did that old crate come from?
CORPORAL FORBES: It belongs to some hospital bigwig, sir. Just arrived. Made me promise to keep an eye on it.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Never mind that. Hop in, Corporal.
CORPORAL FORBES: Yes, sir.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Hurry man! Section three have turned up one of these meteorites.

(FORBES runs to climb into the jeep.)


17: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. PASSAGE

(A white smocked figure peeps round the corner of the passage and seeing that the way is clear starts to make his way down it. It is the DOCTOR, still with a plaster on his forehead, who stops dead when he hears the voices of two men approaching.)

DR. HENDERSON: (OOV.) Good journey down, sir?

(The DOCTOR looks round. He is outside a door marked “DOCTORS ONLY”.)

DR. BEAVIS: (OOV.) Terrible! You know, there’s no room for a decent car on the roads these days.

(Deciding that the sign on the door applies to him, he shoots in the room.)


18: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S CHANGING ROOM

(He is in a changing room full of clothes on hangers and a locker. He looks inside but sees that it is too small to conceal him. He moves on to the next room.)


19: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S BATHROOM

(It is a bathroom. He looks round and sees an ornate Victorian shower with a pipe arrangement that almost surrounds the bather topped by a crown affair from which the water comes. The DOCTOR grins in delight.)


20: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. PASSAGE

(HENDERSON and his guest reach the door marked “DOCTORS ONLY”. The man with HENDERSON is the consultant, DR. BEAVIS. Over his suit, he wears a red-silk lined cloak and hat.)

DR. BEAVIS: What are all those toy soldiers playing at?
DR. HENDERSON: They found the patient, sir.

(He opens the door for BEAVIS and they walk through.)

DR. BEAVIS: Shot him, eh?
DR. HENDERSON: (Uncomfortably.) Yes.

(HENDERSON shuts the door.)


21: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S BATHROOM

(The two doctors enter the bathroom.)

DR. HENDERSON: Yes, it was rather unfortunate.

(BEAVIS hands him his hat and starts to take his cloak off. From the shower comes some extemporised and off-key singing. The man in the shower, wearing a blue shower cap, glances round and hastily turns back - it is the DOCTOR.)

DR. BEAVIS: I left my car down at the main entrance. They won’t go...crashing about with guns or anything like that, will they?

(As the DOCTOR continues to “sing” and shoot them careful glances, BEAVIS starts to wash his hands in the sink.)

DR. HENDERSON: No, sir, I’m sure it’ll be all right.

(BEAVIS dries his hands. HENDERSON looks briefly over at the DOCTOR but doesn’t recognise him.)

DR. HENDERSON: Perhaps you’d care to come to my office and have a look at the patient’s records before you examine him.
DR. BEAVIS: Mmm, good idea. I could do with a cup of tea, too.
DR. HENDERSON: Yes.

(The two doctors glance briefly at the third in the shower, who is still making a cacophony of noise, and leave the room. Immediately they have gone, the DOCTOR switches off the shower, wraps a towel round himself and heads for the door. He grabs a white frilly shirt off a hanger on the back of the door and throws off the shower cap. He leaves the room having checked the coast is clear.)


22: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S CHANGING ROOM

(He finds a second towel and rubs himself down and then pulls some black trousers off a wooden hanger.)


23: EXT. OXLEY WOOD

(Watched by FORBES, two UNIT soldiers dig into the wet soil of the woods. After a moment, they unearth a complete flashing and signalling sphere. One of the soldiers starts to push away the clinging soil.)


24: EXT. ANOTHER PART OF OXLEY WOOD

(The boiler-suited figure in the woods comes to life again and starts to clump through the ferns and bracken, following the signal.)


25: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S BATHROOM

(Back in the bathroom, the DOCTOR has changed into a collection of clothes from the changing room. He wears the trousers, frilly shirt and elaborate silk tie. He puts on DR. BEAVIS’S red-silk lined cloak and is about to leave the room when he spots a flat cap on the back of the door. He tries this on but doesn’t like the result in the mirror. He swaps it for BEAVIS’S rakish hat and, far happier with the result, heads out.)


26: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. DOCTOR’S CHANGING ROOM

(He goes through the changing room, momentarily divesting himself of the hat.)


27: INT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. PASSAGE

(...but stops dead in the doorway out of the changing room as he hears HENDERSON and his guest approaching.)

DR. HENDERSON: ...be an error in that report.

(The DOCTOR shoots back into the changing room and the two doctors walk past.)

DR. HENDERSON: These anomalies are completely inexplicable.

(They head up the passage to the DOCTOR’S ward.)

DR. BEAVIS: Well, let’s go and see this, er, this freak. I shan’t believe it until I see it with me own eyes.

(As they head round the corner, the DOCTOR comes out of hiding and watches to make sure they have gone.)

DR. HENDERSON: (OOV.) I assure you, sir, that everything I’ve told you...
DR. BEAVIS: (OOV: Interrupting.) All right, all right. Where is he? Where is he?
DR. HENDERSON: (OOV.) Through here.

(The DOCTOR checks in the other direction and, putting the hat back on low over his eyes, leaves. From further round the passage...)

DR. HENDERSON: (OOV.) Nurse!

(HENDERSON comes running back round, with BEAVIS close behind him.)

DR. BEAVIS: Is this some sort of prank?! Where is this patient?
DR. HENDERSON: That’s what I’d like to know, sir. Nurse!

(BEAVIS, shaking his head, follows HENDERSON.)


28: EXT. ASHBRIDGE COTTAGE HOSPITAL

(The DOCTOR walks out of the hospital but keeps his nerve as a nurse walks past and deliberately looks the other way. Once she has gone, the DOCTOR runs towards a set of parked cars. He tries the door of a red MG but, finding it locked, moves over to BEAVIS’ red Vauxhall. He climbs in and desperately tries to find the 1920’s starter switch. He thinks he finds it but it is the horn. Grimacing, he tries again. This time he manages to start to car, adjusts the gears for reverse and shoots forward! He tries again and this time is successful. Finding his way round the cars ancient controls, he drives out of the hospital grounds as fast as the ancient vehicle will take him.)


29: INT. UNIT HEADQUARTERS. LABORATORY

(News of the DOCTOR’S escape has reached the BRIGADIER who is back with LIZ in the UNIT lab. SCOBIE has left.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Oh well, at least he won’t get very far.
LIZ: You mean, before your men shoot him again?

(Having delivered this shot, she moves away from the BRIGADIER.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: I don’t find that funny!

(He walks over to the TARDIS.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Without this machine, the Doctor’s stuck. He can’t leave Earth.
LIZ: You were about to open it?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Yes.

(He takes the key out of his pocket as LIZ delivers another sarcastic comment...)

LIZ: I think you should. There might be a policeman locked inside.

(He tries the lock but the key won’t turn. He takes it out and looks at it.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: That’s odd.
LIZ: (Smiling.) Wrong key.


30: EXT. OXLEY WOOD

(FORBES and another soldier, carrying an ammunition box, approach CAPTAIN MUNRO at the jeep. From inside the box, the sphere’s signal can be heard.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: Ah…

(MUNRO opens the box and looks at the flashing sphere.)

CAPTAIN MUNRO: Weird looking thing.
CORPORAL FORBES: Yes, sir.
CAPTAIN MUNRO: Get it into the vehicle and back to the UNIT labs right away.)


31: EXT. ROAD THROUGH OXLEY WOOD

(FORBES drives at speed along a lonely road through the wood. Suddenly, the boiler-suited figure steps out and in the path of the incoming vehicle.)

CORPORAL FORBES: Watch out!

(He slams his hand down on the horn and swerves off the road but hits a tree. The vehicle spins over. As a dog barks nearby, the plastic-faced figure calmly walks over to the jeep and looks in the driver’s seat. Through the smashed and bloodied window, it sees FORBES lying inside. It then moves to the back of the jeep and takes the ammunition box away.)


32: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. FACTORY CENTRE

(CHANNING stands in a most mysterious room in the restricted area of the factory. Various pieces of almost alien machinery stands in the room, one of which resembles a large tank with a window at one end. Through this can be seen an eye in a mass of red alien flesh. A buzzer sounds and CHANNING crosses the room. Arranged across the back on a small ledge are a number of the boiler-suited figures, all perfectly still. CHANNING walks up to a communications unit, part of which seems to house what looks like a round radar-like scanner. He presses a button.)

CHANNING: (Into tannoy.) Yes?
HIBBERT: (Over tannoy.) Hibbert.

(CHANNING presses a button to open the door to the room and HIBBERT nervously enters, walking down a red metal gangway and down some steps.)

HIBBERT: General Scobie will be here soon.
CHANNING: I know. I’m almost finished.


33: INT. UNIT HQ. GARAGE

(The DOCTOR and his stolen vehicle drive into the UNIT garage. The commissionaire sees the strange car and its driver approaching and puts up a hand to stop him. He goes over to the DOCTOR but before he can open his mouth, the DOCTOR says his piece first and angrily...)

DOCTOR: All right, all right, I suppose you want to see my pass? Yes, well, I haven’t got one.

(The commissionaire is about to reply, but...)

DOCTOR: And I’m not going to tell you my name, either.

(Again the commissionaire tries.)

DOCTOR: Now you just tell Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that I want to see him. (Shouts.) Well, don’t just stand there arguing with me, man! Get on with it!

(The commissionaire gives up...)


34: INT. UNIT HEADQUARTERS. LABORATORY

(The BRIGADIER receives the message...)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (Into tannoy, puzzled.) The Doctor?
UNIT SOLDIER: (OOV: Over tannoy.) Yes, sir. He says you know him.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (Into tannoy.) Show him up at once.

(He switches off the tannoy and turns to LIZ who is still busy at the lab bench.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: How the devil did he find this place?
LIZ: Your mystery man with the police box?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Yes.

(The DOCTOR enters the lab and the BRIGADIER goes over to him.)

DOCTOR: Ah, there you are, my dear fellow. I expect you’re wondering how I found you here?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: (Suspiciously.) Yes...

(The DOCTOR pulls his sleeve back and reveals a watch-like device on his wrist. It gives off a signalling sound.)

DOCTOR: Fortunately I had this with me, you see. It homes on the TARDIS.

(He turns and smiles as he sees his ship.)

DOCTOR: Oh, there she is.

(He goes over and pats it on the side.)

DOCTOR: How nice of you to look after her for me. Do you happen to have got the key, by the way?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: I do, but it won’t work.
DOCTOR: Hah-hah! But it will for me?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Not so fast. I have a lot of questions to ask you.
DOCTOR: My dear Brigadier, it’s no earthly good asking me a lot of questions. I’ve lost my memory, you see?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: How do I know that you’re not am imposter?
DOCTOR: Ah, but you don’t, you don’t. Only I know that.

(The DOCTOR walks across the lab.)

DOCTOR: What do you think of my new face, by the way? Mmm?

(He sees a mirror inside a box-stand and pulls it up.)

DOCTOR: Well, I wasn’t too sure about it meself to begin with. But it sort of grows on you.

(He starts to pull faces in the mirror.)

DOCTOR: Very flexible, you know. Could be useful on the planet Delphon, where they communicate with their eyebrows.

(He furiously waggles his eyebrows in the mirror and then turns to the BRIGADIER.)

DOCTOR: Well, that’s strange - how on earth did I remember that?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: All right, all right, if I accept that you are the Doctor, there are still a lot of things...oh, by the way, this is Miss Shaw.

(He gestures to LIZ and the DOCTOR waggles his eyebrows at her and then smiles.)

DOCTOR: That’s Delphon for “how do you do”!

(LIZ laughs and the DOCTOR goes over and shakes hands.)

DOCTOR: Delighted, Miss Shaw, delighted.
LIZ: What are you a doctor of, by the way?
DOCTOR: Practically everything, my dear.

(LIZ smiles again as the DOCTOR starts to look over the lab bench.)

BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: From what we can gather, you arrived last night in the middle of a shower of meteorites.
DOCTOR: Did I really? How terribly exciting.
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Well, objects from space at any rate. You must realise that I can’t let you go until I’m sure there’s no connection...
DOCTOR: (Interrupts.) Look, I’ve no recollection of last night. That’s most unfair. How could I...

(He suddenly spots the shards of the sphere that LIZ is examining.)

DOCTOR: What on earth are these?
LIZ: Those are bits of what the Brigadier thought might be a meteorite.

(The DOCTOR picks one up and starts to examine it.)

DOCTOR: Plastic?
LIZ: It’s not thermo-plastic and neither is it thermo-setting...and there are no polymer chains.
DOCTOR: That’s interesting. I wonder what was inside.
LIZ: Inside?
DOCTOR: Yes, well you can tell from the shape this was a hollow sphere. I should think the space inside was about three thousand cubic centimetres, wouldn’t you?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Do I gather you’re going to help us, Doctor?
DOCTOR: If I do, will you give me the key to the TARDIS?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: Possibly.
DOCTOR: Then go away and let Miss Shaw and I get on with our work, there’s a good fellow.

(LIZ tries to hide a smile. The DOCTOR turns to her.)

DOCTOR: Look, do I really have to call you Miss Shaw?
LIZ: (Laughs.) No, Liz, just Liz.
DOCTOR: Liz - that’s much better.

(He turns back to the fragments.)

DOCTOR: How many of these things actually came down?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: About fifty, as near as we can estimate.
DOCTOR: And you found only fragments - no whole ones?
BRIGADIER LETHBRIDGE-STEWART: One, yes. But there was an accident. It disappeared.
DOCTOR: Then the answer to your question’s obvious, isn’t it? By the time your search party arrived, the rest of these things had been collected. Collected and taken somewhere. The question is, where?


35: EXT. AUTO PLASTICS. BACK WALL

(RANSOME has returned to the factory but, instead of entering by the front, he is climbing over the back wall. He navigates his way over some barbed wire and drops down on the other side.)


36: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. MANAGING DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

(MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE stands in HIBBERT’S office, next to a crude plastic dummy whose facial shape closely resembles his. SCOBIE looks disappointed.)

HIBBERT: I must explain this is only a rough approximation, General.

(CHANNING is with the two men.)

MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: Yes, it does seem to need a few, er, finishing touches.
CHANNING: That is why we asked you here, General. Our measuring techniques are very accurate but the equipment isn’t transportable.
MAJOR GENERAL SCOBIE: I see. Well, er, I hope it, er, turns out all right.
CHANNING: It will, I assure you, General. If you’ll come this way.

(CHANNING heads for the door.)


37: EXT. AUTO PLASTICS. YARD

(RANSOME runs through the deserted factory yard. He tries a set of double doors but they seem to be locked. He notices a piece of wood on the ground and uses this to lever the doors open. Checking that he has not been spotted, he enters.)


38: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. MACHINE ROOM

(He goes through the pipe-filled machine room that the secretary took him through before. He checks that he is not being watched, he sees and picks up a metal crowbar and heads up a metal staircase.)


39: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. OFFICE LANDING

(It brings him to the office landing. Again he checks that he has not been seen and then tries the door to his old workshop. Finding it is locked, he starts to work on it with the crowbar.)


40: INT. AUTO PLASTICS. FACTORY CENTRE

(The factory centre is deserted. The silent still boiler-suited figures stand against the back wall. RANSOME levers the door open and enters the strange room. He silently creeps round, looking over the alien machinery. He puts the crowbar down and walks over to the set of figures on their ledge, looking at them in puzzlement. He then turns and walks over to another piece of alien machinery. Behind him, one of the figures moves and quietly steps down off the ledge. It raises its right hand and, with a buzzing sound, starts to move towards the man. RANSOME alerted, slowly turns round. His mouth drops and he looks terrified when he sees the stalking mannequin before him...)


Next Episode


Doctor Who
JON PERTWEE

Liz Shaw
CAROLINE JOHN

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
NICHOLAS COURTNEY

Channing
HUGH BURDEN

Major General Scobie
HAMILTON DYCE

Captain Munro
JOHN BRESLIN

Dr. Henderson
ANTONY WEBB

Dr. Beavis
HENRY McCARTHY

Hibbert
JOHN WOODNUTT

Ransome
DEREK SMEE

Seeley
NEIL WILSON

Meg
BETTY BOWDEN

Corporal Forbes
GEORGE LEE

Title Music by
RON GRAINER &
THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP

Incidental Music
DUDLEY SIMPSON

Special Sound by
BRIAN HODGSON &
THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP

Special Effects designed by
JOHN HORTON

Costumes
CHRISTINE RAWLINS

Make-up
CYNTHIA GOODWIN

Film Cameraman
STAN SPEEL

Sound Recordist
DEREK MEDUS

Film Editors
WILLIAM SYMON
ADAM DAWSON

Script Editor
TERRANCE DICKS

Designer
PAUL ALLEN

Producer
DERRICK SHERWIN

Directed by
DEREK MARTINUS

 

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