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DOCTOR WHO
ROBOT
Written by
Terrance Dicks
Part Four
(Overlap from robot leaving the bunker)
[INT. Bunker]
WINTERS: Well, everything seems to be very satisfactory. And how are you getting on, Professor?
KETTLEWELL: I've just finished making the preliminary linkups. You don't really intend to use the destructor codes, do you?
WINTERS: I want everything in readiness.
KETTLEWELL: But if they don't agree, if they call our bluff, we'll surrender, won't we?
WINTERS: No. We shall fire the missiles.
KETTLEWELL: But you can't. It would mean a nuclear war.
WINTERS: You want a better world, don't you? We shan't gain it without some sacrifices. Now, start the countdown, Professor.
(He flips a switch before him and turns to look at a colour screen behind him, where a giant blue-on-green '300' counts down to 295.)
[INT. Bunker storeroom]
(HARRY and SARAH, hands tied behind their backs, are trying to escape their bonds. SARAH is taking the lead, trying to untie HARRY's hands with her own.)
HARRY: How are we doing, Miss Smith?
SARAH: Okay.
HARRY: Yeah, I think it's coming.
[INT. Bunker]
WINTERS: What about food and water? How long can we hold out if the worst happens?
JELLICOE: I'm not really sure.
WINTERS: Then you should be. Take me to the food storage. We must make a proper check. (the two stand and leave) Keep your eye on our friends outside, Professor.
(The countdown is at 267.)
[INT. Bunker storeroom]
JELLICOE: (entering from the corridor) Wait. What are we going to do with them?
WINTERS: They're obviously no use to us as hostages. We can't afford useless mouths to feed. They'll have to be disposed of. (JELLICOE readies his gun) Later.
(They both leave, closing the doors.)
HARRY: That was a near one.
SARAH: (returning to their task of untying themselves) We're nearly there, I think.
HARRY: Yeah.
SARAH: Okay.
(HARRY now has his hands free.)
[EXT. Bunker]
BRIGADIER: (watching the ROBOT on patrol with the disintegrator gun) What's the range and power of that weapon, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Power? Almost unlimited. Range? Well, it could drill a hole in the surface of the moon.
BRIGADIER: And knock out anything we send against it.
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, it's no use staying here. Brigadier, prepare your men for an attack. Try and draw the robot away from the door. I'll slip round behind it and finish cutting the lock.
BRIGADIER: You don't stand much chance, you know.
DOCTOR: I know, but we have to try.
BRIGADIER: Right. We'll cover you as long as we can. All right, Benton?
(He and BENTON jog forward behind the DOCTOR.)
[INT. Bunker]
(KETTLEWELL is growing more and more uncomfortable. He looks at the counter as it reaches 089. Three numbers later, he springs to his feet.)
KETTLEWELL: Can't. I won't.
(He picks up the chair from where Jellicoe was sitting and heads for the bank of computers with blinking lights.)
JELLICOE: Don't attempt to stop it!
KETTLEWELL: I can't do it! I won't do it!
JELLICOE: (pointing his gun at KETTLEWELL) Let it run!
(KETTLEWELL backs away. HARRY, at a run, tackles JELLICOE, taking the gun and rendering him unconscious.)
KETTLEWELL: Thank heavens you've come.
SARAH: (running in) Can you cancel what you've been doing?
KETTLEWELL: There's no time. I'll punch in the hold signal.
(The countdown reaches 058. He looks at it, and it's stopped.)
HARRY: Right, so now open the main doors. We're going outside.
KETTLEWELL: Yes. (He does so, and they start leaving.)
SARAH: There.
HARRY: All right.
[EXT. Bunker]
DOCTOR: (approaching the robot) Wait. The doors.
(SARAH leaves through the main door, hands raised.)
DOCTOR: Sarah.
SARAH: Doctor!
(The ROBOT turns to face her, and the DOCTOR runs to the entrance.)
SARAH: Look, please, don't shoot. We're no danger to you.
ROBOT: You must go. The soldiers must go.
SARAH: You've got to let him in there.
ROBOT: They are enemies of the human race.
SARAH: No, they're the enemies in there. They want to start an atomic war, kill millions of people.
(The ROBOT tries to compute this and moves from side to side.)
ROBOT: You must go, or I will kill. I must kill you. I must destroy you.
KETTLEWELL: No, no, he was only telling-
(The ROBOT fires as he approaches it. KETTLEWELL disappears in its orange glow, arms raised. The ROBOT is now more confused than ever.)
ROBOT: Ahhh! I have killed the one who created me.
(The ROBOT staggers to its knees and then falls to the ground. SARAH steps back.)
DOCTOR: Now's our chance.
(The DOCTOR, SARAH, HARRY, and the BRIGADIER enter the bunker. BENTON removes the disintegrator gun from atop the ROBOT and follows.)
[INT. Bunker]
(WINTERS finds the unconscious JELLICOE, then looks at a monitor, where she sees her enemies running down a corridor. She picks up the blue folder from next to her slumped colleague, sits at the console where Kettlewell had been working, flips through it, and resumes the countdown.
She looks at the countdown. We see a brief shot of the BRIGADIER and the others approaching.)
BRIGADIER: Get away from that keyboard.
WINTERS: (entering the room) You won't shoot, Brigadier.
(SARAH picks up Jellicoe's gun.)
SARAH: Maybe he won't, but I will. Move away!
WINTERS: Why not? It's finished. The firing instructions have gone out.
BRIGADIER: I can still get the major powers to use their fail-safe procedures.
WINTERS: Too late, Brigadier.
BRIGADIER: Cancel the destructor codes!
WINTERS: When that reaches zero, the missiles will be fired, and no-one can send the cancel codes in time.
DOCTOR: (running to the console and sitting down) She may be right, Brigadier. (He starts going through the folder himself.)
BRIGADIER: Benton, get them both out of here.
BENTON: Miss Winters. (He grabs JELLICOE by the arm.)
BENTON: Move!
(The countdown is on 018 as the three exit the room.)
DOCTOR: (as we hear computery sounds) The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots. (typing rapidly) They do exactly what you tell them at amazing speed, even if you order them to kill you. So if you do happen to change your mind, it's very difficult to stop them obeying the original order, but
(The camera zooms in at the change to three seconds, then two.)
DOCTOR: Not impossible.
(The readout has frozen at '002'.)
HARRY: Congratulations, Doctor.
SARAH: You've done it!
BENTON: Well done, Doctor.
(SARAH remembers something, and she dashes out in a worried hurry.)
BRIGADIER: Right, that's over. Now for a little mopping up.
BENTON: Right, sir.
(The DOCTOR sits, arms folded, with a smile.
Meanwhile, SARAH walks through the corridors and gasps. She has just about run over the ROBOT, which strides toward her.)
[EXT. Bunker]
BRIGADIER: Vanished? How can they have vanished?
BENTON: We were all pretty busy inside, sir, mopping up the rest of that Think Tank lot. We noticed the robot was gone when we came out, and everyone assumed that someone else had got it.
DOCTOR: And Sarah?
BENTON: Well, we thought... we thought she'd gone home.
DOCTOR: Gone home? You mean not one of you connected the disappearance of Sarah with the vanishing of the robot?
BRIGADIER: You're sure there is a connection?
DOCTOR: I think so. Don't you?
HARRY: Why Sarah?
DOCTOR: The robot killed Kettlewell, remember, the man who created it. It must be in a state of tremendous emotional shock. What more natural than it should turn to the one person who ever showed it kindness?
BRIGADIER: Hmm. Keep looking, Benton.
BENTON: Right, sir.
[INT. Bunker storeroom]
SARAH: Honestly, they're bound to find us.
ROBOT: Anyone who finds us will be destroyed.
SARAH: Why? What's the point of more killing? I keep telling you - it's all over. What can you do alone?
ROBOT: I can bring about the destruction of humanity. But do not fear, Sarah. You alone will be saved.
(The ROBOT turns toward the wall. We hear beeping, and the lights at its back blink.)
ROBOT: The bunker is cleared. Come.
(She nervously heads for the door, with the ROBOT following.)
[EXT. Bunker]
BRIGADIER: Well?
BENTON: Still nothing, sir. We're spreading the search radius wider and wider, but the bigger the area to cover, the harder it gets.
DOCTOR: There is just one teeny-weeny little thing.
BRIGADIER: What's that?
DOCTOR: Something else you haven't thought of. What are we going to do with it when we find it?
BRIGADIER: Yes. You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets.
BENTON: Excuse me, sir?
BRIGADIER: Hmm?
BENTON: Well, when Professor Kettlewell was here talking to Miss Smith, he said the robot was made of some kind of living metal. He even said it could grow.
DOCTOR: Did he now?
BENTON: Yes, and he went on about some kind of metal virus. Something that attacked the living metal.
DOCTOR: The same way that disease attacks animal tissue.
BENTON: Well, something like that. Anyway, I just wondered. If we could- (The DOCTOR puts his hand on BENTON's chest.)
DOCTOR: Yes?
BENTON: Oh, I'm sorry. It was probably a daft idea anyway.
DOCTOR: (clasping Benton's arm) Wonderful, Mister Benton! Wonderful! Brigadier, I must get to Kettlewell's place at once. You find the robot.
BRIGADIER: You'd better go with him.
HARRY: Right, sir.
BRIGADIER: Keep in R/T contact!
(Bessie starts on the journey.)
[INT. Bunker corridor]
(The ROBOT and SARAH come upon a SOLDIER.)
SARAH: No! Don't hurt him. Let him go. (beeps) He's not important enough. (to the SOLDIER) Don't shoot. Just leave now. Don't worry about me, just go.
(He circles past the robot and leaves the area. The ROBOT turns round and continues walking after SARAH.)
[EXT. Bunker]
BENTON: Look, sir!
(The SOLDIER runs out.)
[INT. Bunker]
(In the main room, the ROBOT activates the control for the entrance. It looks at the countdown and activates some controls at Kettlewell's console. The countdown starts again, from 300.)
SARAH: No! No! (she runs over but is flung to the floor) Why? Why?
ROBOT: I destroyed Kettlewell. I must see that his plan does not fail.
SARAH: But he changed his mind. He wouldn't want you to continue.
ROBOT: Mankind is not worthy to survive. Once it is destroyed, I shall build more machines like myself. Machines do not lie. (It turns to the countdown, now at 258.)
[INT. Kettlewell's house]
(The DOCTOR looks through papers in a folder. Flasks bubble away in the foreground.)
DOCTOR: Why didn't that silly man write up his experiments properly?
(He mixes the liquid in two test tubes.)
BRIGADIER [OC]: Doctor, this is the Brigadier. Can you hear me?
HARRY: (into R/T unit) This is Lieutenant Sullivan, sir. The Doctor's rather busy at the moment.
DOCTOR: Tell him to stop pestering me. I've found a metal virus, and I'm trying to prepare an active solution, but he must give me time. (He mixes more liquids.)
[EXT. Bunker]
BRIGADIER: Sullivan, tell the Doctor we've found the robot.
HARRY [OC]: Well done, sir. Where is it?
BRIGADIER: It's shut itself inside the bunker, with Miss Smith.
[INT. Kettlewell's house]
DOCTOR: What? Yes. Yes, of course. (slaps his cheek) Suppressed Oedipus complex leading to excessive guilt and over-compensation.
BRIGADIER [OC]: Doctor, Oedipus is not-
DOCTOR: Brigadier, the robot will try to carry out Kettlewell's plan. Is the computer terminal in the bunker still active?
BRIGADIER [OC]: Far as I know. I don't suppose anyone thought to-
DOCTOR: Can you switch off the electricity supply?
BRIGADIER [OC]: Yes. No, no, it's on a special sealed circuit.
DOCTOR: Then warn all the major powers. The emergency is not over. They must operate full fail-safe procedures at once.
[INT. Bunker]
(We watch the countdown step from 019 through to 017. SARAH watches in terror. The monitor flashes up a big, blinking 'FAIL SAFE' from block characters, with 'COUNTDOWN ABORTED' at the centre.)
SARAH: You see? They've operated the fail-safe mechanism. Give up now. Please!
ROBOT: Humanity must be destroyed. It is evil, corrupt.
SARAH: But you can't take on the whole world. Don't you understand? They'll destroy you!
ROBOT: Do not fear. I cannot be destroyed. (operates the control to unlock the main doors) Come.
[INT. Kettlewell's house]
DOCTOR: Come along, man, come along.
(HARRY is looking around and finds a short metal bar.)
HARRY: This any good?
(The DOCTOR checks with a magnet next to him. He then takes a pipetteful of the frothing orange mixture he has concocted in an Erlenmeyer flask and drips some of it onto the bar.)
DOCTOR: We've done it, Harry. We've done it!
[EXT. Bunker]
BENTON: Sir.
(The ROBOT leaves the bunker, with SARAH behind it.)
BRIGADIER: No-one's to open fire. She may find a chance to get clear.
ROBOT: Stay here.
(She nods. The ROBOT turns to the soldiers.)
BENTON: It's going to attack, sir. Shall we pull back?
BRIGADIER: Of course. The very thing.
(He picks up the disintegrator gun from the back of the Land Rover.)
BRIGADIER: I think, just for once, we're not going to need the Doctor.
(He fires the disintegrator gun at the ROBOT. It grunts, staggers, and is suffused by the trademark glow. However, it then begins to grow.)
BENTON: (non-vocalised) What?
(SARAH, ankle-high to the ROBOT, which has finally stopped growing and glowing, heads past it gingerly, then runs for it. She trips in front of the metal behemoth, which places a claw loosely around her waist and raises her to its chest height.)
BRIGADIER: Follow me, and hold your fire until ordered.
[INT. Think Tank]
(The ROBOT places SARAH on the roof of the building, where she grabs hold of a chimney.)
ROBOT: You will be safe. See how I deal with our enemies.
BRIGADIER: She's out of the line of fire. Launch your grenades.
BENTON: Smith, Hampton, get down here quickly with the launcher. (they do so) Fire!
(It has no discernible effect. Bessie races toward the scene.
We then return to the SOLDIERS amid the smoke, and the unaffected ROBOT, which picks up two UNIT men, shakes them, and drops them to the ground.)
BRIGADIER: Right, pull back!
(They do so but not before one ends up trampled. The ROBOT follows the Land Rovers and the men running alongside. Huts get trampled under metal feet. SOLDIERS shooting give up as the ROBOT turns in their direction, but others then have a go. All with no effect. Finally Bessie arrives and stops.)
HARRY: (standing and looking at the giant robot from within Bessie) Curiouser and curiouser.
DOCTOR: Said Alice.
HARRY: Exactly.
(Bessie continues the approach, as the ROBOT heads for where it left Sarah. The overhead electricity lines aren't above its head, and the ROBOT bats them and their poles aside.)
DOCTOR: (stopping Bessie) I see our little problem seems to have grown. Where's Sarah?
BENTON: She's safe enough, Doc.
BRIGADIER: I gave it a blast with the disintegrator gun.
BENTON: It left her up on the roof.
DOCTOR: Really, Brigadier, you should be more careful with your little toys. You've given it just the infusion of energy it needed.
BRIGADIER: Well, I've sent for the artillery, and the RAF are on their way.
DOCTOR: I hope that won't be necessary.
BRIGADIER: What on Earth is that?
(He refers to a bucket of bubbly orange concoction from the earlier lab work.)
DOCTOR: Another piece of brilliance from the late Professor Kettlewell, and one that will solve our problem, I hope. Drive on, Harry.
HARRY: Right, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Wish me luck, Brigadier.
(The car starts again, toward the robot, trailing bubbles behind it.)
BRIGADIER: Now just a moment, Doctor!
SARAH [OC]: Hey! Hey, get me down!
BRIGADIER: Don't just stand there, Benton. Go and help Miss Smith.
BENTON: Right, sir.
(The ROBOT watches Bessie go past. On the drive-by, the DOCTOR throws the bucket of orange concoction at the robot, hitting its ankles. Soon the robot's feet are orange, then its legs.
Bessie re-joins the UNIT company. The DOCTOR stands with one arm raised and his mostly empty bucket in the other.)
BRIGADIER: What was that stuff?
DOCTOR: Some of Kettlewell's metal virus in an active solution.
BRIGADIER: Will it work now the thing's that size?
DOCTOR: Oh, even faster, I hope. Look.
(A bright orange ROBOT stands in the distance, shrinking and making distressed gurgly cries.)
DOCTOR: It's thrown the growth mechanism into reverse.
HARRY: Oh, well done, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Thank you, Harry.
(The BRIGADIER hands the DOCTOR his hat, which the latter places on his head. The ROBOT, still shrinking, staggers a few times and then falls onto its back on the ground. The BRIGADIER starts jogging toward it, with the DOCTOR and then HARRY and the others following. They look down at the orange, slightly less than life-sized form.)
BRIGADIER: I'll have it taken away. Broken up, just in case.
DOCTOR: No. No, Brigadier, that won't be necessary. Look.
(Bits of the metal body are already missing, and it soon disintegrates fully.)
[INT. UNIT Laboratory]
(SARAH is staring into space.)
DOCTOR: (entering) Sarah? Sarah?
(He removes a paper bag from his pocket and holds it before her.)
DOCTOR: Would you like a jelly baby? (she gives him a look, and he heads toward the TARDIS) I had to do it, you know.
SARAH: Yes, yes, I know. It was insane and it did terrible things, but, but at first, it was so human.
DOCTOR: It was a wonderful creature, capable of great good, and great evil. Yes, I think you could say it was human. You know, what you need is a change. How about a little trip in a TARDIS? I'm just off.
SARAH: Wait, you can't just go.
DOCTOR: Why not? It's a free cosmos.
SARAH: The Brigadier-
DOCTOR: The Brigadier wants me to address the Cabinet, have lunch at Downing Street, dinner at the Palace, and write seventeen reports in triplicate. Well, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't.
(For emphasis, he hits the brick that's on the workbench. His facial expression shows that this hurt.)
DOCTOR: Why should I?
SARAH: Doctor, you're being childish.
DOCTOR: Well of course I am. There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes. (holding out the bag of jelly babies again) Are you coming?
(She takes a jelly baby. Both laugh. Then, just as the DOCTOR unlocks the TARDIS, HARRY comes in.)
HARRY: Hello. Well, what are you two up to now, eh?
DOCTOR: We're just going on a little trip. Would you like a jelly baby?
HARRY: (he takes two and eats one) Little trip? What, in that old police box?
DOCTOR: Yes, as a matter of fact, in that old police box.
(The DOCTOR snatches the second jelly baby.)
HARRY: Oh, come on now, Doctor. We're both reasonable men. Now, we both know that police boxes don't go careering around all over the place.
DOCTOR: Do we?
HARRY: Of course we do. The whole idea's absurd. (SARAH laughs.)
DOCTOR: Is it? You wouldn't like to step inside a moment? Just to demonstrate that it is all an illusion.
HARRY: Well, if you think it'll do any good.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes, it'll make me feel a lot better.
SARAH: Doctor.
DOCTOR: In you go.
HARRY: Right-o.
(He steps into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. SARAH steps closer to hear his reaction.)
HARRY [OC]: Oh, I say!
(The other two enter the TARDIS, which soon dematerialises.)
BRIGADIER: (stepping into the room) Doctor, about that dinner at the Palace. Her Majesty- (he notices that the TARDIS is gone) Yes. Well, I'll tell them you'll be a little late.
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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