[ Index for this Doctor ]
[ Index for this story  ]

DOCTOR WHO
TERROR OF THE ZYGONS

Written by
Robert Banks Stewart

Part Three

(Overlap from the Doctor running through the moors)

[INT. Spaceship control room]

(The ZYGONS are all watching the monitor, on which the DOCTOR is a tiny figure on the ground from the Skarasen's perspective. HARRY creeps in, then dives for the controls. A ZYGON pulls him back but not before he has turned a pair of knobs.
We return to the DOCTOR, who rolls out of the way just as the Skarasen brings its claw down where he was lying a moment before. There is no second blow - the Skarasen seems disoriented, looking around and making a lowing sound. The trill of the signal has stopped. The DOCTOR raises his head, and he too looks about.)
ZYGON: (operating some controls) The target reciprocator is dead, Commander.
BROTON: Yes, and we have lost visual contact. (the veiny monitor shows greenish static) The reciprocator was attached to the Doctor, so he too must be dead. Excellent. Recall the Skarasen, and take that creature (looking in the general direction of HARRY) away.
(Two ZYGONS drag HARRY from the room.
Meanwhile, the Skarasen turns round after a moment, trudging off as it thrashes its tail slightly. The DOCTOR watches it go, then looks at his hand in puzzlement. He feels about in the heather and finds the signalling device. He walks away with it, thinking.)

[INT. Fox Inn]

(BENTON is tapping the ceiling in his search for bugs. We see that he is standing on the bar in order to do this.)
McRANALD: What are you all doing here?
BENTON: Brigadier's orders, Mister McRanald. We're looking for bugs.
McRANALD: Oh, bugs, is it? Well, you can tell your Brigadier from me that this is a clean house.
(In BENTON's hands are a ram's head he has pulled down from the wall.)
BENTON: Yes, well, it's not that sort of bug we were looking for. Microphones?
McRANALD: Ach, you're all mad. Who'd be hiding microphones here?
BENTON: Yes, well, you'd better ask the Brigadier that.
McRANALD: Here, now mind what you're doing with that bed warmer. It's said to belong to the Duke of Cumberland.
BENTON: Yeah, we believe you. Jackson, check the window area, will you?
McRANALD: Sergeant Major, you're all wasting your time.
BENTON: Yes, well, you never know, so if you don't mind, we'll, er, carry on looking.
McRANALD: Here in Tulloch we don't need any clever contraptions to tell us what people are up to. Everybody knows everybody else's business. It's a matter of principle.
BENTON: Yes, and you in advance with your second sight, eh?
(As McRANALD walks off, BENTON starts to look the wall-mounted stag's head over.)

[INT. Spaceship control room]

McRANALD [on blobby-edged monitor]: Don't touch that. It was a gift from the Duke of Forgill.
BENTON [on blobby-edged monitor]: All right, all right, Mister McRanald. Keep your hair on.
BROTON: Have that monitor link removed.
ZYGON: Immediately, Commander.

[EXT. The moors]

(In a UNIT Land Rover, SARAH and the BRIGADIER drive up to the Land Rover abandoned by the Doctor. They stop, look at each other, and resume their journey. Further along, the DOCTOR begins waving his arms and hat to get their attention.)
SARAH: Doctor! (waving) Hey! (after stopping the Land Rover and running to the DOCTOR) Hey, you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes. The cyborg overstepped its mark, luckily for me.
BRIGADIER: Cyborg? Then you identified the creature?
DOCTOR: Cyborg is a hybrid creature, Brigadier - half animal, half machine. Must be very interesting.
BRIGADIER: Who, the cyborgs?
DOCTOR: No, whoever's controlling them. Did you locate their base?
SARAH: The signal seemed to be coming from Loch Ness, Doctor, if that's possible.
DOCTOR: Yes, it is possible. Ready, Brigadier?
BRIGADIER: Ready for what?
DOCTOR: To visit the duke. We're going to Forgill Castle.

[INT. Forgill Castle]

(After an establishing shot of the castle, we see its Great Hall, a dimly lit space with suits of armour against the stone walls, a fireplace, and a prominent desk. One wall is lined with bookshelves.)
DOCTOR: Shop!
BRIGADIER: Your Grace? I really don't think we should just walk in unannounced.
DOCTOR: Well, there's nobody to announce us, is there?
SARAH: Most of the staff have left and gone to work for the oil company, and I can't say I blame them.
DOCTOR: (sitting at the desk and putting his feet up on it) My family has served this country for seven centuries, but that seems not to count these days. (losing the pseudo-accent and removing his hat) Ah, there you are. (He stands.)
FORGILL: Perhaps you'll explain this intrusion?
DOCTOR: Nobody opened the front door.
FORGILL: I see. You have some reason for calling?
DOCTOR: Yes.
FORGILL: (approaching) Well?
DOCTOR: Brigadier?
BRIGADIER: Yes?
DOCTOR: Well, tell him.
BRIGADIER: Oh, yes. Um, well sir, the fact is...
FORGILL: The fact is what?
BRIGADIER: We have reason to believe there's something rather unusual in the loch.
FORGILL: Loch Ness?
BRIGADIER: Yes, sir.
FORGILL: Don't tell me you've found the monster.
SARAH: As it happens, your Grace, that's just what we do mean.
FORGILL: I do believe you're serious.
DOCTOR: We are. Very.
(We return for a moment to McRANALD, who is 'la'ing in a folk style as he dusts. He is at the stag's head. The glass eye in front of him moves, and he gasps. He reaches out to touch the left eye of the mounted head.)
DUKE: Depth charges?
BRIGADIER: With your Grace's permission, as you own part of the shoreline.
DUKE: You can't explode depth charges in Loch Ness.
BRIGADIER: I'm afraid it's the only answer, sir. This creature must be destroyed.
DUKE: Doctor, are you a party to this militaristic nonsense?
DOCTOR: (who has just put his hat on a suit of armour) I'm not a party to any kind of nonsense, your Grace.
DUKE: There's no proof. There never has been any actual proof that the monster exists.
SARAH: Of course it exists. It chased the Doctor half across Tulloch Moor.
BRIGADIER: And we believe it's been destroying these oil rigs.
DUKE: Loch Ness is seven miles from the coast. Are you suggesting it walks overland without being seen?
DOCTOR: An underground river.
DUKE: No, Doctor. Loch Ness is fifty feet above sea level.
DOCTOR: I know, your Grace. I know. But there's a subterranean channel leading from Loch Ness to the Devil's Punchbowl, a small loch near the village. It's near the sea and would make a useful back door for the monster, wouldn't you say?
DUKE: I've never heard such nonsense. Are you seriously suggesting that the creature commutes between here and the North Sea whenever it feels like it?
DOCTOR: Whenever it's ordered to. We know it's controlled by a signal system.
DUKE: Controlled? By whom?
DOCTOR: Aliens.
DUKE: Whom?
BRIGADIER: I know it sounds improbable, sir, but we do have evidence.
DUKE: Improbable? It's utterly, totally absurd. Aliens?
BRIGADIER: I know exactly how you feel, sir. Before I joined UNIT, I was highly sceptical about these things.
DUKE: You're all utterly unhinged, must be. Aliens, with wireless sets?
DOCTOR: Well, it takes all sorts to make a galaxy, your Grace.

[INT. Fox Inn]

(McRANALD is working to unscrew the head from the wall. He stops and turns as the door opens.)
McRANALD: Oh, hello, Sister Lamont. It's a while since we've seen you. How are you?
LAMONT: Never better, Mister McRanald. What are you doing?
McRANALD: Well, the English soldier reckoned they were being bugged, and sure enough I think I've found it, though how on Earth anybody could have fixed this here...
(He has turned most of the way back to the head when he hears an odd noise. Before his eyes, Sister LAMONT, via a red-and-black effect, is replaced by the figure of a ZYGON. He gapes and gulps as the creature advances toward him. It places its hands around his neck, and he emits a strangled cry.
Outside, BENTON and two SOLDIERS hear the screaming. They run inside and find McRANALD on the floor, unmoving.)
BENTON: Get your rifles, men, and quickly!
(They leave via the back door. We see that the stag's eye socket is now empty.)

[EXT. Stand of trees]

BENTON: (leading some soldiers) Okay, hold it.
(He pauses to listen and look about. Through the trees, he sees an orange figure running. He begins firing, and the SOLDIERS follow suit.)
BENTON: Okay, come on. (he runs toward where the figure was) Okay, men, spread out quietly. Contact the Brigadier. Tell him we've got one of these aliens trapped.
SOLDIER: Sir.

[INT. Forgill Castle]

DUKE: Half these books are devoted to the subject of the monster. There have been reported sightings since the Middle Ages. Now you're saying that aliens have been living under the loch for centuries?
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm saying exactly that.
BRIGADIER: Then why have they suddenly become aggressive?
SARAH: Something to do with the oil, perhaps?
DOCTOR: Not 'perhaps', 'yes'. For hundreds of years, the monster's been able to cross Tulloch Moor unseen. Then the oil company built a base right in its path-
DUKE: Absolute fantasy.
DOCTOR: Causing it to make a detour round the village, which is why its masters released nerve gas and why you went to sleep, Brigadier.
(The telephone rings.)
DUKE: (lifting the receiver) Forgill.
BRIGADIER: Well, it still doesn't seem a good enough reason to start attacking oil rigs, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Well, perhaps not in itself, maybe, but their plans may have changed recently. Who knows?
DUKE: Lethbridge-Stewart.
BRIGADIER: Yes? Oh, thank you. (taking the telephone) Yes? Oh, they have? Splendid. Where? Right, we'll come over straight away. (hanging up) Benton's got one of those creatures cornered, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good. (closing a book) Task for you, Sarah.
SARAH: Yes?
DOCTOR: Do you mind if my assistant looks through your library?
DUKE: Not at all.
SARAH: Listen, you. Stop trying to keep me out of things.
DOCTOR: Not so, Sarah. You might find a valuable lead. I want you to check any reference to McRanald Bay and the Devil's Punchbowl.
DUKE: I'll see you out.
BRIGADIER: Thank you, sir. Good hunting, Miss Smith.
(The DOCTOR and the BRIGADIER leave. SARAH blows some dust from some books sitting on a shelf.)
SARAH: Oof! Why do I always get the dirty jobs?

[EXT. Stand of trees]

(A SOLDIER stands guard next to a Land Rover as Sister LAMONT approaches through the trees. She is injured, with blood running down her arm. She holds her other arm behind her back.)
SOLDIER: (approaching her) Sister, what are you doing here?
LAMONT: I was told somebody had been injured.
SOLDIER: Not injured, killed.
LAMONT: Killed? Who?
SOLDIER: Angus, the landlord. Hey, you've hurt yourself.
LAMONT: It's not important.
SOLDIER: Let me see.
(He bends over, taking a look at her arm. She raises her other arm, which holds a large rock. She clouts him on the head with it, then walks off.)

[INT. Fox Inn]

BRIGADIER: The nursing sister?
BENTON: Yes, sir. Seen driving off. The man that was clobbered didn't know these creatures could change.
BRIGADIER: And neither did this poor fellow, apparently.
(He refers to the landlord's body, face contorted in a grimace, lying on the floor.)
BRIGADIER: Pity he didn't tell us what he was up to.
DOCTOR: Obviously, he was bug-hunting.
BRIGADIER: Sorry, I'm not with you.
DOCTOR: Haven't you noticed? This is where it was hidden, do you see?
(He gestures to the empty eye socket.)
DOCTOR: Forgill brought this down, didn't he?
BENTON: The duke?
BRIGADIER: Doctor, you're not suggesting his Grace is involved in this?
DOCTOR: Why not? We know that these creatures can change. He may not be the real duke.
BRIGADIER: Great Scott! And we left Miss Smith alone at the castle.

[INT. Forgill Castle]

SARAH: Oh, what are those large books up there?
DUKE: Monastic records. There has been a monastery on this site from the eleventh century onwards.
SARAH: Really? Can I have a look?
DUKE: Certainly.
(The DUKE uses a bell pull.)
DUKE: I trust you can read mediaeval Latin?
SARAH: Oh, that's a point. Er, have you never sighted this monster yourself?
DUKE: That would be impossible. It doesn't exist.
SARAH: Yet there are all these books on the subject.
DUKE: There is no limit to human credulity, Miss Smith.
(CABER enters.)
CABER: Your Grace.
DUKE: Ah, Caber. Our young guest is delving into the mysteries of the past. Fetch her the steps, would you?
CABER: Very good, your Grace. (He walks out.)
SARAH: Caber. Unusual name.
DUKE: It's a nickname. He's a Highland Games champion. I doubt that you'd be able to pronounce his real name. It's very Gaelic.
SARAH: No, I don't suppose I could.
DUKE: Now, if you'd excuse me.
SARAH: Of course. Thank you for being so kind.
DUKE: Not at all.
(The DUKE leaves. CABER passes him, carrying a set of rather ornate library steps in and setting them down for SARAH.)
SARAH: Just there, please. Can't reach.
(He casts her a look before he leaves and closes the doors.
SARAH sticks her tongue out at the closed doors and climbs the steps. She still can't reach the upper shelf so climbs onto a lower one. She reaches for one of the volumes, and a hidden passage opens. SARAH steps down. Placing the large book she holds on the top of the steps, she enters the hidden room and picks up the torch next to the opening. She turns it on and is soon stepping cautiously forward into the gloom of a mossy passage.
Meanwhile, the DOCTOR and the BRIGADIER drive back to the castle.
The DUKE returns to the Great Hall, where he finds the hidden area exposed and Sarah missing. He frowns and leaves again.)

[INT. Spaceship]

(SARAH is now bathed in green light as she comes to a particularly slimy-looking area. A door slides upward, and she runs back, away from it, pressing herself against the wall. The door closes. She waits a moment and steps forward again. The door rises, and she enters. As it starts to close again, she runs back underneath it. She then steps in front of the door once more, steps through it resolutely, continuing on when it closes. She explores, entering through the sliding door to the body-print area. She sees Sister LAMONT, the DUKE, and his assistant.)

[INT. Forgill Castle]

(The CABER and the DUKE help the Sister-LAMONT-shaped Zygon into the Great Hall.)
CABER: She must have gone into the ship.
DUKE: She's more intelligent than I thought. We'll take Orla below and alert the crew. The girl must be found and destroyed.
(They both enter the passage, with the DUKE closing the bookshelf panel as they leave.)

[INT. Spaceship]

(SARAH walks onward. She sees a doorway with a blob-shaped window in it.)
SARAH: (peering through the window) Harry!

[INT. Room on spaceship]

HARRY: (sitting up and running to the door) Sarah! Well, come on, open the door. Look, Sarah, we've got to get out of here. Look, sorry. Put your hand on the panel. (He points and gestures.)
SARAH: (seen through the door) Is it you?
HARRY: What do you mean is it me?
SARAH: (seen through the door) Is it really you?
HARRY: Well, of course it is. What on Earth's the matter with you, old girl?

[INT. Spaceship]

(SARAH smiles and operates the door control.)
SARAH: Do you realise-
HARRY: I'm glad to see you becau-
SARAH: (sotto) Someone's coming.
(They step back into the room. Two doppelgangers walk down the corridor.)
CABER: Soon we shall revert to our normal form.
LAMONT: (limping along) Good. I loathe this abomination of a body.

[INT. Room on spaceship]

HARRY: (sotto) All clear. I think they've gone.
SARAH: (sotto) Well, let's find the Doc and Brig fast.

[INT. Spaceship]

SARAH: (sotto) Harry!
(She grabs his arm and pulls him in the opposite direction. He had been about to follow the Zygons.)
SARAH: (sotto) Come on.

[INT. Forgill Castle]

DOCTOR: Sarah?
BRIGADIER: The place is deserted.
DOCTOR: (picking up Sarah's jacket) Something's happened.
BRIGADIER: Wait a minute. (he bends to the floor) Blood.
(As the panel opens, the DOCTOR flattens himself as much as possible against the bookshelves. SARAH and HARRY run out.)
SARAH: Brigadier! We've found the aliens. They've got a spaceship under the loch.
HARRY: We're going to need reinforcements, sir.
SARAH: And that's not all. The duke we met is an imposter. He's one of them!
DOCTOR: Is he?
SARAH: Doctor!
HARRY: Hello.
DOCTOR: What about you two?
HARRY: What do you mean what about us two?
DOCTOR: It's nice to see you. Does this lead to the spaceship?
SARAH: Well, yes, but be careful!
(The DOCTOR enters the passage.)
BRIGADIER: Oh, come on, Doctor. There's no time to lose.
DOCTOR [OC]: AARGGH!
(The UNIT people run toward the bookshelves.)
BROTON: (stepping into the Great Hall) Make one move and the Doctor dies.
BRIGADIER: What the devil are they?
HARRY: They, sir, are Zygons.
SARAH: What have you done to the Doctor?
BROTON: Nothing as yet. We are leaving and taking him with us.
HARRY: You told me your spaceship was crippled, Broton. You said you could never return to your planet.
BROTON: Instead, we shall become the rulers of yours. Destroying the oil rigs was only the beginning, a trial of strength for the Skarasen. The big event is yet to come.
(He retreats into the passageway, and the door closes.)
SARAH: The switch, it's here somewhere.
(She looks for the place where she pressed against the shelves earlier.)
HARRY: What do we do now, sir?
BRIGADIER: Don't worry, Sullivan. We're not beaten yet.

[EXT. Beside the loch]

BENTON: Load!
(A lance corporal with a depth charge obeys.)
BENTON: Standing by, sir.
BRIGADIER: Thank you, Mister Benton.
SARAH: Well, what about the Doctor?
BRIGADIER: I know, Miss Smith. We'll explode the first couple high. That'll bring them to the surface. Get on with it, Mister Benton!
BENTON: Fire!
(All present cover their ears as the launcher lets loose a depth charge. We hear a boom over the loch and see a plume of flame, then water rises. Some water birds fly away.)

[INT. Spaceship control room]

(We hear a boom, and things shake.)
DOCTOR: Sounds like the Brigadier.
BROTON: We're attacked! Prepare for flight.

[EXT. Beside the loch]

BRIGADIER: And another.
BENTON: Load! Fire!

[INT. Spaceship control room]

BROTON: Report.
ZYGON: Main systems functional.
BROTON: Maximum range?
ZYGON: Seven hundred Earth miles.

[EXT. Beside the loch]

(There is another flash and boom.)
BRIGADIER: At least they'll know we mean business.

[INT. Spaceship control room]

BROTON: Activate dynacon thrust.
DOCTOR: Going somewhere, are we?
(The ship begins to shift from the bottom of the loch.)

[EXT. Beside the loch]

SARAH: Brigadier, listen.
(All present cover their ears again, this time because of the whine of the spaceship's engines, growing louder. The blackish ship rises from the surface of the loch, with water flowing off it, and slowly enters the sky.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

-=#=-
Anna's home  >  The Doctors' home  >  This Doctor  >  This story 
-=#=-