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DOCTOR WHO
REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN

Written by
Gerry Davis (and Robert Holmes)


Part Four

(Overlap from the Doctor walking through the tunnel, hands on ceiling, just before the rock fall)

[EXT. Central shaft]

LESTER: (rising from the dust and approaching) Harry, don't touch it. Open that buckle and you'll be blown to kingdom come.
HARRY: You mean it's booby-trapped?
LESTER: These buckles can't be opened until the Cybermen beam the release signal.
DOCTOR: Harry, were you trying to undo this?
HARRY: Well, naturally.
DOCTOR: Did you make the rocks fall, Harry?
HARRY: Well, I suppose I must have done, yes.
DOCTOR: (laughing hugely, then shouting) Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!
(Then he passes out.)

[INT. Control room]

CYBERMAN: Progression rate has slowed to thirty metres a minute.
CYBERLEADER: Then the bombs will explode in eleven minutes from now.

[EXT. Central shaft]

DOCTOR: So where is Sarah?
HARRY: I'm not sure, Doctor. I mean, when I last saw her, she was trying to get back to the beacon.
DOCTOR: What?
HARRY: Yes. You see, we thought you were still up there, and she naturally wanted to warn you about the rocket. Sorry, I can see you're not with me.
DOCTOR: Harry, I'm not with you.
HARRY: No, you see, it seems that Kellman - uh, he's dead, by the way - Kellman was really working for the Vogan people, and he got the other half. The- what do you call them?
STEVENSON: Cybermen.
HARRY: Cybermen, that's right. Terribly bad on names. Got the Cybermen up on the beacon so that they'd be sitting ducks for the Vogans' rocket. Only the Vogans haven't finished the rocket yet, so things have gone a bit wrong.
DOCTOR: Yes.
LESTER: Doctor, we've got about nine minutes left.
HARRY: And if she's still there by herself-
DOCTOR: Listen, listen! Commander, if you were to keep on going towards the centre, you could draw the radar track away from the rest of us.
STEVENSON: Yes?
DOCTOR: Meantime, Lester and I could take the cross shaft and attack the Cybermen from the rear.
LESTER: What with?
DOCTOR: Gold. Plain, old-fashioned gold.
STEVENSON: Well then, Lester? Agreed. Right.
DOCTOR: Good luck, Commander.
STEVENSON: And to you.
DOCTOR: Come on.

[INT. Control room]

(A CYBERMAN sits at the main console, with the CYBERLEADER supervising. Another CYBERMAN enters the room, to report.)
CYBERMAN: Our surface party report the Vogan attackers have been driven off with heavy casualties.
CYBERLEADER: Order them to intensify the radar signal.
CYBERMAN: It is already at maximum, Leader.
CYBERLEADER: The signal is difficult to interpret. What depth have the bomb-carriers reached?
CYBERMAN: Sixteen hundred metres. They are eight minutes from the detonation zone.
CYBERLEADER: Eight minutes. In eight minutes, the accursed Planet of Gold will be utterly destroyed.
(We can see SARAH still listening from the other side of the door.)
CYBERLEADER: Annihilated, vapourised. It is good.

[EXT. Central shaft]

(LESTER, the DOCTOR, and HARRY are collecting bits of gold.)
DOCTOR: How much have we got?
LESTER: We've got about five minutes.
DOCTOR: I know we've got five minutes. I mean how much gold dust have we got?
(They check how much they have in their hands between them.)
DOCTOR: That might be enough. You know what to do?
HARRY: Yes. Creep as close as we can, and then chuck this stuff into their chest units.
DOCTOR: You've got it, Harry. Come on.

[INT. Guild room]

TYRAM: As the human said, recrimination is pointless now, but I promise you, Vorus, if by some miracle our planet should survive, you will face trial for treason.
VORUS: It's you who should be tried, Tyram, you and your creeping sycophantinous city.
TYRAM: As leader of the Guardians, you abused your trust. You opened the route to the surface. You made clandestine contact with aliens, and you beamed radio transmissions out into space. There are no greater crimes in our calendar.
VORUS: In your calendar, Tyram! Your cowering, furtive, underworld life. If we survive, I will face trial gladly. I will give the people my reasons. I wanted to free them from this tyranny of dark, living rock.
TYRAM: Living the way we had for generations, at least we were safe, Vorus. Safe from the genocidal threat of the Cybermen.
VORUS: I had a dream.
TYRAM: A folly, conceived out of arrogance through overweening ambitions!
VORUS: We could have traded with other worlds, exchanged our gold for armaments. We could have been strong enough to defend ourselves against Cybermen or any other attackers.
SHEPRAH: (hurrying in) Councillor, we are beaten. Our people withdraw, refusing to attack the Cybermen again.
VORUS: Order them back! Command them!
SHEPRAH: I'm sorry, Councillor. We need time to regroup.
VORUS: There is no time.
TYRAM: Come, I will speak to them.

[EXT. Mines]

(The DOCTOR, HARRY, and LESTER creep back up the rocks. They are now looking down over the CYBERMEN.)
DOCTOR: There they are.
(The CYBERMEN mount a rock staircase, heading upward in their direction.)
DOCTOR: Wait till I give the signal. (pause) Ready?
(The CYBERMEN stop, at the landing between sections of the staircase.)
DOCTOR: Now.
(The DOCTOR and HARRY jump down onto the CYBERMEN. The DOCTOR is pushed down, and some of the gold falls from his hand. HARRY is on the back of a CYBERMAN, beating against its chest unit. HARRY is thrown down. LESTER hangs back and watches.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Harry. Run for it.
(They do so. Then, LESTER jumps down right in front of the CYBERMEN, As he lies on the ground, he twists the buckle of his bomb harness. The resulting explosion engulfs the area in flames, and a boom resounds.)
DOCTOR: Come on.
(He and HARRY run down into the blast area. The CYBERMEN's bodies are sprawled on the steps. HARRY checks on LESTER, who is dead. Thrown to the side is the manual control, which the DOCTOR picks up.)
DOCTOR: It's still humming.

[INT. Control room]

CYBERLEADER: We have lost radar contact.
CYBERMAN: Our information flow from the surface has ceased. The countdown has stopped.
CYBERLEADER: Select video picture of Voga. Detonation by manual control.
SARAH: (running forward out of hiding) No! No, don't!
(One CYBERMAN throws her at another, who hurls her onto the floor at the far side of the room.)
CYBERMAN: Shall I destroy the human female?
CYBERLEADER: Detonation now!
(The CYBERLEADER presses the button on his manual control. On the monitor, Voga remains in place.)
CYBERLEADER: It has failed. Why?

[EXT. Mines]

(The DOCTOR looks at the manual control. The indicator is showing green. He sets the unit down and undoes his harness. He doesn't explode.)
DOCTOR: Well, I'm impressed.

[INT. Control room]

(A bound SARAH sits in the chair at the console.)
SARAH: Voga. It's still there!
CYBERLEADER: Yes. For the moment.
SARAH: (smiling) Then your plan failed. The Doctor's beaten you.
CYBERLEADER: Silence. We have not failed. Our computers are assessing an alternative plan.
SARAH: Your best plan is to get off this beacon before the Vogans...
CYBERLEADER: Continue. The Vogans?
SARAH: Kellman led you into a trap. They've got a rocket aimed right at this sta-
CYBERLEADER: You lie.
SARAH: Well, stick around and-
CYBERLEADER: You lie, because if they had such a rocket, they would have used it by now.
SARAH: All I know is when I left, Kellman said the rocket-
CYBERLEADER: Kellman? So they have a rocket, but they have not used it. Logical conclusion, the rocket has a malfunction; therefore, this information does not affect our plans. We shall proceed. Voga will be destroyed.

[INT. Guild room]

(The robed GUARDS let VORUS et al. in, with the DOCTOR leading and HARRY in the middle of the group. VORUS is at the console.)
TYRAM: We are grateful to you, human, for saving Voga.
DOCTOR: Oh, please, don't call me human. Just 'Doctor' will do very nicely, thank you. Is that your rocket?
VORUS: The Sky Striker, yes. You've delivered our enemies into my hands, Doctor. Magrik, you have news?
MAGRIK: Everything is now ready, Vorus. We can start the countdown.
VORUS: Excellent.
(Another control panel rotates down in front of VORUS.)
DOCTOR: Erm, before you do anything rash, like pressing another button, may I make an alternative suggestion?
VORUS: An alternative?
DOCTOR: Let me take the transmat back to the beacon and deal with the Cybermen myself.
TYRAM: Yourself? You mean alone?
DOCTOR: Give me just fifteen minutes. If at the end of that time I haven't come through on the radio, well, then you can fire off your rocket.
TYRAM: You've already done so much. Why should you risk your life again in this way?
DOCTOR: Well, I've a young friend on the beacon. Sarah Jane, the girl who was here. She risked her life to save mine. The least I can do is accept the same risk for her.
VORUS: Pah. (He turns away.)
DOCTOR: Just fifteen minutes. Is that so intolerable?
TYRAM: (nodding) Fifteen minutes then, Doctor, but no longer.
DOCTOR: Thank you, Tyram. There's just one other thing I need.
TYRAM: What's that?
DOCTOR: A bag of gold dust.
TYRAM: Oh, yes. (He bends down and hands one over.)
DOCTOR: Thank you. Harry.
HARRY: Doctor?
DOCTOR: While I'm gone, you'd better find the commander.
HARRY: I'll try.
(The DOCTOR heads off.)
VORUS: I have planned for this moment for years, and now as I close the trap, you expect me to wait.
(The DOCTOR enters the circle of transmat spheres.)

[INT. Control room]

(A monitor begins displaying co-ordinates. In front of it, on the console, sits a Cybermat.)
CYBERLEADER: Point of impact.
CYBERMAN: Twenty-seven degrees seven minutes north, a hundred and sixty degrees twenty minutes east. The crust is weakest at this point.
CYBERLEADER: Velocity at impact - ten thousand light units.
CYBERMAN: Calculations indicate, at maximum thrust, the beacon will attain that velocity seven minutes before impact.
CYBERLEADER: What explosive force is required to sunder the planet at that depth?
CYBERMAN: One thousand kilos per unit.
CYBERLEADER: Excellent. Then the plan will be executed.
CYBERMAN: Yes, Leader.
CYBERLEADER: Order the bombs to be transferred to the beacon.
(The CYBERMAN exits via the transmat area.)
CYBERLEADER: The alternative plan will work. When the beacon crashes into Voga, we shall be watching from a safe distance, but you will have a much closer view.
(The CYBERLEADER leaves via a side door. A moment later, the DOCTOR arrives by transmat. On the pad, he whistles. SARAH whistles once in reply. He acknowledges with another whistle, and she smiles. We see that he is hiding round the corner.)
SARAH: Doct-
DOCTOR: (finger to his lips) Shhhh.
SARAH: Sorry.
(After looking about briefly, he stands, then enters and begins to untie her.)
DOCTOR: You haven't seen anything of the TARDIS, have you?
SARAH: TARDIS? Listen, Doctor, the Cybermen are loading this beacon with bombs. They're going to smash it into Voga.
DOCTOR: Are they? And we've got about nine minutes before the Vogans aim their rocket at us. Get the control box. We'll see what we can do.
(She does, and he lifts the Cybermat down. They head for the door.)
SARAH: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes?
SARAH: It's good to see you.
DOCTOR: Is it?
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: Oh. Right. Come on, quickly then.

[INT. Docking area]

CYBERLEADER: Carry the bombs to the nose cone. Maximum-urgency imperative.
(CYBERMEN pass their leader with explosives.)

[INT. Guild room]

MAGRIK: Seven minutes, Vorus.
VORUS: What can the Doctor do in this time? We should never have agreed to wait.
TYRAM: Stand back from the firing button, Vorus! There is, as Magrik says, another seven minutes.
VORUS: Don't worry, Tyram. I can wait. But when I press that button, it will mean more than the end of the Cybermen. It will mean the start of a whole new life here on Voga. A new regime.
TYRAM: That will be for the people to decide.
VORUS: This was my idea, I planned it all. I shall be the people's liberator.
TYRAM: You came very close to being their destroyer.
VORUS: That will be forgotten in my triumph. The people will turn to me. They will beg me to lead them!
(HARRY and STEVENSON jog in.)
HARRY: Any news from the Doctor?
VORUS: No, and I don't expect there will be.
MAGRIK: Five minutes.

[INT. Crew quarters]

(The DOCTOR is operating on the guts of the Cybermat.)
SARAH: There's no point filling it with gold dust. It won't attack the Cybermen.
DOCTOR: Just you wait and see.
(The beacon goes off kilter slightly, and we hear a noise in the background.)
SARAH: Oof. What was that?
DOCTOR: They've started the engines.

[INT. Control room]

CYBERLEADER: (picking up the metal ties from the floor) She has been freed. One of her friends from Voga. Perhaps the Doctor.

[INT. Controls near transmat area]

CYBERMAN: All engines normal. Zero thrust.
CYBERLEADER: Increase ten levels. If it was the Doctor, he will make a further attempt to thwart my plan. Therefore, he will still be concealed aboard. Search the forward compartments. Locate and destroy all animal organisms.
(Two CYBERMEN leave to do so.)
CYBERMAN: Control response normal. Engine response effective. Thrust five thousand.
CYBERLEADER: Engage hyperdrive.

[INT. Crew quarters]

(The DOCTOR is working with the control box.)
SARAH: Listen.
DOCTOR: (picking up the Cybermat) Come on. Let's hide.
(He sets the Cybermat in the middle of the room, and he and SARAH then run out of sight. A CYBERMAN enters the room and pauses when coming across the Cybermat. From his behind-console hiding place, the DOCTOR operates the remote control, and the Cybermat latches onto the CYBERMAN's chest unit. The CYBERMAN reels, struggles for a moment while clutching at the smaller metal creature, and then falls with a muffled Cyber-cry.)
SARAH: (emerging from hiding) You did it.
DOCTOR: Looks like it.
(The beacon tilts, and the engine sounds change pitch again.)
SARAH: Hurry!
(The DOCTOR grabs the Cybermat, and they rush from the room. At the door, the DOCTOR turns back toward the CYBERMAN on the ground and addresses it.)
DOCTOR: 'Dusty death. Out, out with'-
SARAH: Doctor!
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: Come on!

[INT. Guild room]

VORUS: Control to firing bunker. Stand by for countdown.
TYRAM: We have another two minutes.
VORUS: The countdown-
MAGRIK: Vorus! Look. The target sensor - it's moving.
VORUS: The beacon's in motion!
MAGRIK: It's coming towards us! It's set on a collision course!
VORUS: Activate firing controls!
HARRY: Vorus, you promised the Doctor fifteen minutes.
(HARRY grabs VORUS, who beats him back with his staff.)
STEVENSON: (rushing forward to grab the Vogan's arm) Vorus!
VORUS: (as he is hustled away) You fools!
(MAGRIK reaches for the controls, and a robed GUARD shoots him. VORUS escapes from STEVENSON's clutches and runs to the controls himself.)
STEVENSON: (chasing after him) No, Vorus.
(STEVENSON grabs at VORUS from behind, and a fight ensues. VORUS throws STEVENSON back.)
TYRAM: No, Vorus, no!
(As VORUS presses controls, TYRAM shoots him. We hear engines start.)
VORUS: My Sky Striker, my glory.
(He falls back, and we see the Saturn-V-like Vogan rocket rise.)

[INT. Controls near transmat area]

CYBERLEADER: We must evacuate the beacon in three minutes.
CYBERMAN: Our calculations indicate the fireball will extend 1.5 million miles.
(In the background, the DOCTOR sets the Cybermat down. It attacks a CYBERMAN, who falls to the ground.
Meanwhile, the remaining two, plus the CYBERLEADER, try to grab the DOCTOR and SARAH.)

SARAH: (screaming from the floor as a CYBERMAN subdues her, hands on both of her shoulders) Doctor!
(The CYBERLEADER forces the DOCTOR to his knees.)
DOCTOR: All right, all right, all right. You've made your point. We surrender. We surrender.
CYBERLEADER: But you have interfered once too often, Doctor.
(The two travellers are pulled onto their feet.)
CYBERLEADER: Now, tie her up. (to the DOCTOR) Tie her up!

[INT. Guild room]

TYRAM: The Doctor's time's up. He's failed.
STEVENSON: I'm afraid so.
HARRY: I wouldn't be too sure, Commander.
STEVENSON: His only chance now is to get off the beacon by the transmat. The rocket is due to impact in (he checks his watch) six minutes.

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

CYBERLEADER: The beacon is approaching Voga at ten thousand light units. It is time for us to leave.
DOCTOR: (tied to SARAH) Bye-bye.
CYBERLEADER: You two are especially privileged. You are about to die in the biggest explosion ever witnessed in this solar system. It will be a magnificent spectacle. Unhappily, you will be unable to appreciate it.
(All of the CYBERMEN leave.)
DOCTOR: Nice sense of irony. I thought for a moment he was going to smile.
SARAH: How long have we got, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Judging by the speed at which the rocket is approaching, two or three minutes.
SARAH: The Vogan rocket?
DOCTOR: Yes. That's right.
(The Cybermen's ship de-couples from the beacon.)

[INT. Guild room]

STEVENSON: They're getting away!
TYRAM: Then the Sky Striker will simply destroy the empty beacon.
HARRY: If it is empty.

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

SARAH: (trying to undo the ropes) Oh, it's no good, Doctor. They won't budge.
DOCTOR: Hmm? I used to [un?]tangle Turk's Head eye-splice with the grommets I picked up from Houdini. It should work.
SARAH: Really. Well, you must have tied it wrong. No, wait a minute. You're right, they're loosening!
DOCTOR: Good girl. That rocket's getting too close for comfort.
(They extract themselves from the ropes.)
DOCTOR: Hello, Voga. Hello, Voga. This is Nerva Beacon.
STEVENSON [OC]: Doctor, is that you?
DOCTOR: Commander, tell Vorus the Cybermen have abandoned the beacon. He's to aim the rocket at the Cybership.

[INT. Guild room]

STEVENSON: But Doctor, Vorus is dead, and none of us here knows how to operate these controls.
DOCTOR [OC]: What? Just let me think.
STEVENSON: Let you what?
HARRY: Just let him think.

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

SARAH: Doctor, it's going to hit any second!
DOCTOR: Commander?
STEVENSON [OC]: Yes, Doctor.
DOCTOR: There are two levers on the left of the panel. Got them?

[INT. Guild room]

STEVENSON: Yes, I've got them.
DOCTOR [OC]: The top lever controls the angle of flight, and the lower one must be the direction and stabiliser control.

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

(The DOCTOR and SARAH duck as the rocket on the monitor heads just over the beacon.)
DOCTOR: Cogito ergo sum.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: I think; therefore, it missed.
SARAH: Yes, but we're still heading for the biggest bang in history!
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. Oh no! They've locked the gyro controls. The flight trimmers are jammed.
SARAH: What, what does that mean?
DOCTOR: It means we're heading for the biggest bang in history.

[INT. Guild room]

TYRAM: The rocket is closing on the Cybermen's ship.
HARRY: A touch more starboard rudder, Commander.
STEVENSON: Come on. Just a few more seconds.

[INT. Cybership]

CYBERMAN: There's a missile on our port bow.
CYBERLEADER: Engage full thrust! Deploy-
(The leader's last words are lost in the explosion that engulfs the ship.)

[INT. Guild room]

HARRY: That's the end of your Cybermen.
TYRAM: Never again will they be a threat to Voga. At least we can live without fear.
STEVENSON: Why doesn't the Doctor put the beacon back on course? I thought he was taking evasive action, but look, he's coming straight towards us.
HARRY: Better give him a whistle, Commander. He does have these absent-minded moments.

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

(The DOCTOR opens a panel on the wall next to the helpful words 'SECONDARY SYSTEM'. He places the handle within inside its socket and turns.)
HARRY [OC]: Hello, Doctor, can you hear me?
SARAH: Yes, Harry. What is it?
HARRY [OC]: Hello, Sarah. Look old girl, I don't know if you're aware of it, but you appear to be heading straight for us!
SARAH: Yes, we are aware of it, Harry. Very much so, and we're loaded with Cyberbombs.

[INT. Guild room]

HARRY: What? Well, you'd better do something, old girl, and quick.
SARAH [OC]: The Doctor's doing his best, but...

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

SARAH: ...The Cybermen have locked the gyro controls.

[INT. Guild room]

(All eyes are glued to the monitor, which is rapidly filling with space station.)
STEVENSON: It's still coming straight towards us.
TYRAM: It's going to hit. It's going to hit!

[INT. Control room near transmat area]

(The DOCTOR runs from the crank on the wall to the controls of the beacon. We see the beacon skim past the protuberances from the asteroid's craggy surface.)
DOCTOR: That should do it.
(The beacon tilts, and the surface of the asteroid rushes past on the monitor ever more rapidly.)
SARAH: We're going to crash!
DOCTOR: Hang on. If I pull her back at this speed, she'll break in half.
(The beacon tilts in the other direction and shakes. It finally leaves Voga behind, breaking free into open space.)
DOCTOR: (standing fully) Yes, I think she'll settle down nicely into orbit now.
(The TARDIS materialises.)
SARAH: Oh, good.
DOCTOR: I think I'll just set the drift compensators. We don't want it slipping through our fingers.
(He heads into the TARDIS. Hand on his head, HARRY appears on a transmat pad just as the DOCTOR emerges from the TARDIS, festooned in punched tape.)
HARRY: I see old faithful turned up after all.
SARAH: Hi.
DOCTOR: (to HARRY) Don't just stand there. Come on.
SARAH: Oh, all go, isn't it?
DOCTOR: I'm needed back on Earth.
SARAH: How do you know?
DOCTOR: I left the Brigadier a space-time telegraph system and told him not to use it unless he had a real emergency on his hands.
SARAH: And he's used it?
DOCTOR: He has. Come on, you two.
HARRY: I say, what about the commander? Aren't we going to stop and say 'cheerio'?
DOCTOR [OC]: Come on!
SARAH: Don't argue.
(SARAH hauls HARRY into the TARDIS, and scant seconds later it dematerialises.)


The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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