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DOCTOR WHO
ROBOT

Written by
Terrance Dicks

Part Two

(Overlap from Sarah sniffing her fingers)

[INT. Outside the Robotics Section]

(SARAH runs out of the room.)
WINTERS: Hello, Miss Smith.
SARAH: Look out, there's a great robot in there!
WINTERS: (entering the room) Yes, I know. Don't worry. My assistant's dealing with it.

[INT. Robotics Section]

SARAH: What?
WINTERS: I'm sorry if our little joke upset you.
SARAH: Joke?
WINTERS: You were determined to see the robot, and so we arranged it for you. That is what you wanted, isn't it?
SARAH: Oh, how very kind of you.
JELLICOE: When we heard that you were in the building, we guessed what you were up to, so I popped in here ahead of you and I activated it.
SARAH: Is it still in there?
WINTERS: Oh, yes. Would you like to see it again?
SARAH: Thank you. I'd like that very much.

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: Well, Doctor, what are we dealing with? Invasion from outer space, again?
DOCTOR: (lying down on the bench, with his hat over his face) Why should some alien life form invade Earth just to steal a new weapon? If they were that advanced, they'd have weapons of their own. Ha. Rather a splendid paradox, eh, Brigadier? (standing) The only ones who could do it wouldn't need to.
BRIGADIER: Enemy agents?
DOCTOR: Well, they might steal the plans, but why steal the circuits and the generators? An enemy government would have those resources itself.
BRIGADIER: So where does that leave us?
DOCTOR: I think your enemies are home-grown, Brigadier. People with access to technological information and a most unusual weapon. A weapon that walks and thinks. In a word, anthropomorphic.
BRIGADIER: Well, I suppose that narrows the field a bit. Do we know anything else about these people?
DOCTOR: Only that they're prepared to kill to protect themselves. Where's Sarah?

[INT. Robotics Section]

SARAH: What's the hold-up?
WINTERS: Mister Jellicoe is checking over the circuits.
SARAH: Well, why is he taking so long?
WINTERS: He must be sure that everything is safe.
SARAH: Safe?
(We hear the whirring roar. The ROBOT tromps in. JELLICOE follows it.)
WINTERS: Stop.
(The noise stops, as does the ROBOT.)
SARAH: It's very impressive, but what's it for?
WINTERS: Ask it. It's voice-controlled.
SARAH: What do you do?
ROBOT: Insufficient data. Please be more specific.
JELLICOE: It has a terribly literal mind.
SARAH: Erm, what is your purpose, your function?
ROBOT: I am experimental prototype robot K-1. My eventual purpose is to replace the human being in a variety of difficult and dangerous tasks. Tasks for which I am programmed are mining operations of all kinds, operations involving radioactive materials-
WINTERS: Terminate.
JELLICOE: It would go on for hours.
SARAH: Why all the mystery? Why didn't you just show him to me when I first came?
WINTERS: My dear Miss Smith, why should we? You were a privileged visitor here. You abused that privilege to pry into matters on the secret list.
SARAH: You're right, of course. I'm sorry.
JELLICOE: Not a bit of it. You were simply following the instincts of a good journalist. And now, if you've seen enough?
SARAH: Uh, it isn't dangerous, is it?
WINTERS: Of course not. Why should it be?
SARAH: Well, it just struck me that it could be a very powerful weapon if it got into the wrong hands. It could be misused.
WINTERS: Like this, you mean? This girl is an intruder and a spy. She must not leave here alive. Destroy her.
(JELLICOE shuts the doors. The ROBOT approaches SARAH as she backs away, but it stops.)
WINTERS: Destroy her.
ROBOT: I cannot obey. This order conflicts with my prime directive.
WINTERS: You must obey. You are programmed to obey.
ROBOT: I must obey. I cannot obey. I, I- (It turns toward and away from SARAH, waving its claws about indecisively.)
WINTERS: Terminate.
SARAH: Another of your little jokes?
WINTERS: A practical demonstration. You must admit it was a convincing one.
JELLICOE: Prime directive, you see. It's built into the robot's very being that it must serve humanity and never harm it.
SARAH: That was a cruel thing to do.
WINTERS: Cruel? It isn't human, you know. It has no feelings.
SARAH: Oh, it's got a brain, hasn't it? It walks and talks like us. How can you be sure it doesn't have feelings too? Are you all right?
ROBOT: My functioning is unimpaired.
SARAH: But you were distressed. I saw that.
ROBOT: Conflict with my prime directive causes imbalance in my neural circuits.
SARAH: I'm sorry. It wasn't my idea.
ROBOT: The imbalance has been corrected. It is not logical that you should feel sorrow.
WINTERS: Really, Miss Smith, this is absurd. I think you must be the sort of girl that gives motor cars pet names.
(SARAH is stroking the ROBOT's torso.)
WINTERS: Deactivate. You see? It's just a lump of metal.
SARAH: (patting the ROBOT) Thank you for an interesting demonstration. I think I ought to leave now.
WINTERS: One moment, Miss Smith. If I were to make a formal complaint about your behaviour here, you might find yourself in a very difficult position.
JELLICOE: Dangerous thing, curiosity. Can get you into a lot of trouble.
WINTERS: So I'll make a bargain with you. Keep quiet about what you've discovered here, and I'll keep quiet about how you discovered it.
SARAH: Goodbye, Miss Winters, Mister Jellicoe. Oh, please, don't bother to see me out.
(After she leaves. JELLICOE looks out the door until she is truly gone, then re-enters.)
JELLICOE: That was an appallingly dangerous thing to do. Telling it to destroy her. The inhibitor's only just been reset. You know there have been problems. Suppose it had obeyed you?
WINTERS: It made an interesting test.

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

(The DOCTOR is building a tower from odds and ends.)
BRIGADIER: Where do I start looking for this precious conspiracy?
DOCTOR: Oh, it's surely not that difficult, Brigadier? (takes an item from his hand) Oh, thank you. There can't be many groups of people with the money and resources to design and build something like-
SARAH: (entering with HARRY) An enormous robot over seven feet tall!
DOCTOR: Yes, something like that. However did you guess?
SARAH: Guess? I've just seen it. I've been talking to it. Brigadier, there's something very odd going on at Think Tank.

[INT. Robotics Section]

(JELLICOE stands on a step ladder. He is above the robot's head, which is now separate from the robot.)
JELLICOE: Screwdriver.
(He makes an adjustment. The left arm moves out to the side.)
WINTERS: Careful. (He hands the screwdriver back, and she passes him a can of lubricant.)
JELLICOE: (returning the lubricant) Swab.
(He uses the swab, returns it, and lifts the head back onto the mechanical behemoth. The red eyes light up.)
JELLICOE: (descending the ladder) There. I think that's it.
WINTERS: Think? You'd better be sure.
JELLICOE: It's a delicate job. I'm not really trained in this sort of work.
WINTERS: Well, we'd better test it.
JELLICOE: This time, emphasise the recall instructions. You know, it refused to return after that last business. I found it wandering near Kettlewell's place.
WINTERS: How touching. Perhaps Miss Smith was right.
JELLICOE: What about?
WINTERS: Perhaps it does have feelings. It misses Daddy. Activate. Prepare for visual scanning.
(She wheels out a projector stand.)
ROBOT: I am ready.
(She switches on the projector, which displays a newspaper clipping that shows a photo of an older man with a moustache.)
WINTERS: This man is an enemy of the human race. He must be destroyed.

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

(The DOCTOR's tower is now almost up to shoulder height.)
SARAH: Look, it's obvious that that Think Tank lot are involved. Why don't you just raid the place and arrest the lot of them?
BRIGADIER: (arms crossed) I very much doubt if I'd get the authority. And if I did, it'd cause so much fuss they'd have plenty of time to hide the evidence. I must have more to go on.
SARAH: More than just my word, you mean?
HARRY: You know, you need an inside man.
BRIGADIER: What?
HARRY: Well, you know, somebody planted on them to keep his eyes and ears open.
SARAH: Hey, you know, that's not a bad idea.
BRIGADIER: It'd have to be someone they'd accept, someone with the proper scientific qualifications.
DOCTOR: Scientific or medical.
HARRY: Oh, I say. Me?
SARAH: Why not? Your chance to be a real James Bond.
HARRY: But-
BRIGADIER: Might work. We could fix you up with a cover story.
HARRY: I could wear a disguise.
DOCTOR: I'd like to talk to Professor Kettlewell.
(His tower collapses.)

[INT. Kettlewell's house]

KETTLEWELL: I tell you as I told this young woman, I know nothing about the Think Tank and its activities. I severed all connections with them-
SARAH: But I saw the robot!
KETTLEWELL: What's that? Oh no, that's impossible. I gave orders for him to be dismantled.
BRIGADIER: Professor Kettlewell, this is an official inquiry and I must ask you-
KETTLEWELL: Would you kindly put those papers down, sir?
DOCTOR: Plans for a new solar battery.
KETTLEWELL: That folder is private and confidential.
DOCTOR: (talking over him) This will never do, you know.
KETTLEWELL: (continuing uninterrupted) There are many years of-
DOCTOR: If theta over x coincides with your disputed factor, you're losing half your output.
KETTLEWELL: Oh, rubbish. I checked all those calculations myself.
DOCTOR: Look, the error's in the third part of the calculation.
KETTLEWELL: Huh? (he starts working with a pocket calculator) Bless my soul.
DOCTOR: But you're doing vital work, Professor. Earth's human race should have started tapping solar power long ago.
KETTLEWELL: This new solar battery will provide an endless supply of pollution-free energy at a fraction of the present cost, and they haven't the wit to see it.
DOCTOR: Well, there you are.
KETTLEWELL: Yes, you know, I've explained it to them over and over and over again till I'm blue in the face.
DOCTOR: People never can see what's under their noses and above their heads.
BRIGADIER: Concerning this robot-
KETTLEWELL: You be quiet, young man. You know, ever since the days of Galileo-
DOCTOR: And Copernicus.
KETTLEWELL: And Copernicus, scientists have had to-
DOCTOR: Professor, I think you ought to tell us about the robot.
KETTLEWELL: Yes. It was the last project I worked upon before I decided to leave. I gave orders for him to be dismantled. It was like putting my own son to death. I thought it was for the best. His power, his capacity to learn had begun to frighten me.
SARAH: But it wasn't destroyed, was it?
KETTLEWELL: I don't know. That woman Winters might have countermanded my orders.
BRIGADIER: Could the robot have been made to carry out these break-ins?
KETTLEWELL: No, no, no. You say that people were hurt, even killed?
BRIGADIER: Yeah.
KETTLEWELL: Oh, it's out of the question. You said he refused to harm you, didn't you? Yes, well, I gave him my own brain pattern. He has my principles, my ideals.
DOCTOR: But the circuitry you built could be altered or tampered with.
KETTLEWELL: Doctor, not even I could effect such a change. As for Jellicoe and Miss Winters, well, they're incompetent nincompoops.
SARAH: Maybe, but I wouldn't put it past them to try.
KETTLEWELL: If they force him to go against his prime directive, they'll destroy his mind. He'll go mad.

[INT. Office]

(An alarm bell is ringing. The moustached MAN from the newspaper cutting enters and turns on the lights. He is in a dressing gown. After checking that his wall safe is still locked, he lifts the telephone receiver. A section of the wall glows red and melts. The ROBOT steps through the hole in the panelling.)
ROBOT: You are an enemy of humanity. I must destroy you.
(The ROBOT strangles him with a claw and then applies the disintegrator gun to the door of the safe. The ROBOT then removes an envelope from the safe.)

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: There was a triple security thermolock on that safe made from case-hardened dynastreem. It was completely disintegrated.
DOCTOR: Disintegrated?
SARAH: But there's nothing that could do that. Dynastreem's indestructible.
DOCTOR: I think the Brigadier has an idea, eh, Alistair?
BRIGADIER: Anyway, the neighbours heard a commotion, but by the time the police arrived, it was all over. The safe was empty.
DOCTOR: Who was this man?
BRIGADIER: Joseph Chambers, Cabinet minister. He had certain special responsibilities in the area of security. I've been carrying out a full security check on these Think Tank people.
DOCTOR: Anything interesting?
BRIGADIER: Oh, not really. They seem to be an exemplary lot. Just one oddity. Quite a few of them were members of something called the Scientific Reform Society.
DOCTOR: Oh, really? And who might they be?
BRIGADIER: Oh, a little tin-pot organisation founded years ago. It wants to reform the world on rational and scientific lines. You know the sort of thing. Harmless bunch of cranks, if you ask me. Recently...
DOCTOR: Yes? Go on, then.
BRIGADIER: Well, they've had a sudden rush of new members. Quite a few well-known scientists. Younger people too. Computer technicians and so on.
SARAH: Is Miss Winters a member?
BRIGADIER: Apparently. And Jellicoe too, and quite a few of the Think Tank lot.
SARAH: Doesn't sound their style, does it?
BRIGADIER: No.
SARAH: Oh, well. (She heads for the door.)
BRIGADIER: Where you off to?
SARAH: Home to bed. Busy day tomorrow. I'm still a working girl, you know.
BRIGADIER: Yes, quite right too. You leave all this business to us.
SARAH: One thing about reform societies. They're never adverse to a bit of free publicity. (She leaves.)
BRIGADIER: Well, Doctor, what do you think-
(He is lying on the bench again.)
BRIGADIER: Doctor, what are we going to do? Or shall we leave it all to Miss Smith?
DOCTOR: Let's pay a visit to Think Tank tomorrow, Brigadier. We can ask them to demonstrate Professor Kettlewell's robot. (he flips the light above him off) Good night.

[INT. Kettlewell's house]

(KETTLEWELL unlocks the door in response to knocking. He looks outside.)
KETTLEWELL: Hello?
(He hears a rapping elsewhere and re-locks the door.)
KETTLEWELL: Rats.
(There is more knocking. He unlocks the back door. His ROBOT enters.)
ROBOT: I, I, I-
KETTLEWELL: What's the matter?
ROBOT: I have been given orders that conflict with my prime directive.
KETTLEWELL: Oh, no.
ROBOT: They say there is no conflict, yet I know there is conflict. I do not understand. Help me.

[INT. Scientific Reform Society room]

SARAH: As I understand it then, Mister Short, you advocate rule by a sort of self-appointed elite.
SHORT: It's only logical. Superior types should rule. They're the best equipped for it.
SARAH: And the inferior types?
SHORT: They'd be guided, helped, kept away from harmful ideas and influences. For instance-
SARAH: Do go on.
SHORT: Your own attire, is it really suitable?
SARAH: Trousers? Oh, surely that's a matter for me to decide?
SHORT: As things are at the moment, it is. But in a more rationally ordered society-
SARAH: I would wear what you thought was good for me. I see. And think what you thought was good for me too?
SHORT: It'd be for your own good.
SARAH: (looking at a brochure) Oh, I see you're having a meeting here tonight. Do you think it'd be possible for me to come?
SHORT: Sorry, out of the question. Private meeting, members only. No press.
SARAH: But if I joined?
(A HEAVY steps forward.)
SHORT: I really don't think you qualify. We have very high standards.
SARAH: Oh. Well, thank you so much for your time, Mister Short, and for telling me your most interesting ideas.
SHORT: I do hope you'll include us in your article. We've been sadly misrepresented.
SARAH: Really? Well, we're covering a number of fringe organisations, and I'm sure we'll find a place for you. Somewhere between the flying saucer people and the flat-Earthers!

[EXT. Think Tank]

(WINTERS walks with the DOCTOR and BRIGADIER along the garden wall.)
DOCTOR: Can't thank you enough for the visit. Been most amusing.
WINTERS: I suppose it all seems very elementary to a scientist of your standing, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, it does rather, but never mind. You've got to start somewhere. But there is one thing I'm looking forward to. Professor Kettlewell's robot. It's in here, isn't it? (He opens the door.)

[INT. Robotics Section]

DOCTOR: Come on, then. Where's your tin man?
WINTERS: I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh dear. I do so hate being disappointed. I was determined to see that robot.
WINTERS: We had to dismantle it.
(The DOCTOR touches the floor.)
DOCTOR: What? And such a harmless creature too.
WINTERS: After the visit of your friend, Miss Smith, it became unstable. She introduced it to concepts it was not equipped to deal with.
DOCTOR: What - concern, compassion, and useless things like that?
WINTERS: We decided it would be safer to follow Professor Kettlewell's original instructions.
(The end of the Doctor's scarf drags along the floor.)
DOCTOR: Now that is a pity. You see, one of our problems, Miss Winters, is. (he picks up the end of his scarf and feels it) Oh, I say. You haven't still got the bits, have you? Maybe I could put it together again. I'm really rather good at that sort of thing.
WINTERS: We have our own furnaces in the basement. The robot has been utterly destroyed.
BRIGADIER: I could get authority to search.
WINTERS: You might find that difficult, Brigadier, but I won't stand on formalities. Search, by all means, if you wish.
DOCTOR: In that case, I'm sure we needn't bother. Come along, Brigadier. Miss Winters has a great deal to do.
(The DOCTOR opens the door. Behind it are JELLICOE and a MAN in a lab coat.)
JELLICOE: Miss Winters, there's a visitor. I'm sorry.
WINTERS: Would you forgive me?
DOCTOR: Please, don't let us detain you.
WINTERS: Philips will show you the shortcut back to your car.
DOCTOR: You know, I have a feeling we shall meet again.
(WINTERS and JELLICOE leave. PHILIPS, the man in the lab coat, points toward the camera.)
DOCTOR: (looks back and forth between the finger and the direction in which it points) Come along, Brigadier.

[EXT. Think Tank]

JELLICOE: Did they believe you?
WINTERS: Of course not, but it doesn't matter. By the time they can act, it will be too late.
JELLICOE: Someone from the Ministry of Health has just turned up. Apparently, under some obscure regulation they've just remembered, we have to have a complete check-up on the medical records of our staff here.
WINTERS: What an odd coincidence at a time like this.
JELLICOE: (approaching a man in a coat and bowler hat, who turns toward us and reveals his sideburned Harry-like countenance) Director, this is Doctor Sullivan from the Ministry.
(HARRY tips his hat.)

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: Did you believe them?
DOCTOR: No, of course not, and they know I didn't. And I know that they know that I didn't, and they know that I know that-
BRIGADIER: Yes, all right, Doctor, all right. So where is the robot?
DOCTOR: Either it's wandered off somewhere by itself or they've hidden it.
BRIGADIER: I see. Well, I must be off. Got to try and persuade the Minister to let me raid Think Tank. What are you going to do? Oh no, don't tell me. More thinking. (He leaves.)
(The telephone rings.)
DOCTOR: I beg your pardon, Brigadier. I was just thinking. (answering the telephone) Yes? Yes, of course I'll talk to him. I'll talk to anybody. Professor Kettlewell? Yes, this is the Doctor.

[INT. Kettlewell's house]

KETTLEWELL: Doctor, you've got to help me. The robot has come to my house. I've got him hidden, but he's very unstable. I may not be able to control him. We must keep him out of the hands of those Think Tank people. They've driven him almost insane! Yes, at my house. I'll be waiting at the gate.
(When he unlocks the door, WINTERS and JELLICOE walk in. We cut to a shot of the DOCTOR extremely quickly typing a note, which he sticks on the TARDIS door. We then see him speeding along in Bessie.)

[INT. Corridor outside UNIT laboratory]

SARAH: (laughs and points to BENTON's sleeve) Ooh, I like that. What is it?
BENTON: That's promotion, Miss, to WO1.
SARAH: WO what?
BENTON: Warrant officer. You see, technically speaking, the Brig should have a major and a captain under him. The UNIT budget won't run to it, so they settled on promoting me.
SARAH: Congratulations. About time too.
BENTON: Thank you.

[INT. UNIT laboratory]

SARAH: Doctor, I went to see those SRS people. Oh, no. (She sees that the room is empty and then reads the note on the TARDIS door - 'Sarah, Professor Kettlewell tells me that he has the robot hidden at his house. Gone to meet him. P.S. it is, of course, possible that this message is a trap. If it is, I can deal with it. P.P.S. I am leaving this note in case I can't.') Oh, the idiot! He thinks he can cope with anything.
BENTON: Right, we'd better get after him. I'll get some men.
SARAH: I'll see you there.
BENTON: Wait for us. We'll go together.

[INT. Kettlewell's house]

DOCTOR: Professor Kettlewell? Professor Kettlewell? Professor?
(It's fairly dark. The DOCTOR looks out the back door. He turns on the lights. In comes the ROBOT.)
ROBOT: You are the Doctor?
DOCTOR: How do you do? I've been so looking forward to meeting you.
ROBOT: Please confirm your identity. There must be no mistake. You are the Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, of course.
ROBOT: You are an enemy of the human race. I must destroy you. Please do not resist. I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain.
(The ROBOT raises its claw and swings. It misses and shatters a window.)
DOCTOR: How very kind of you.
(He runs from the robot but finds the front door now locked. He leaps over the table beside the ROBOT to get past it, heading for the back door, which is also locked. The ROBOT advances, not slowed by the ball bearings the Doctor has thrown onto the floor.)
DOCTOR: Prime directive. What is your prime directive?
ROBOT: I must serve humanity and never harm it.
DOCTOR: Then you mustn't harm me. I'm a friend of humanity.
(While he and the ROBOT are speaking, he ties his scarf between two pillars.)
ROBOT: No, you are an enemy. You must be destroyed.
(As the ROBOT trudges after him, the DOCTOR swings a chain at it. He then re-approaches the front door, which the ROBOT smashes when attempting to hit him. The DOCTOR places his hat over its red glowing 'eyes'. It stops moving. The DOCTOR rattles the knob of the back door. He steps back toward the motionless robot.)
DOCTOR: Extraordinary. Extraordinary.
(The hat falls, and the ROBOT swings a claw, hitting the DOCTOR. He is knocked to the ground and tries to crawl away as the ROBOT advances.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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