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DOCTOR WHO
PLANET OF EVIL

Written by
Louis Marks

Part Three

(Overlap from the Doctor moving through the jungle)

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

SARAH: (watching the monitor) Doctor! Do something!
SORENSON: There is nothing to be done.
VISHINSKY: He has disappeared into the vortex between this universe and the next.
SARAH: No, not the Doctor! He can't be dead!
SORENSON: He has ceased to exist. Controller, it is nearly night. We must prepare the launch.
SALAMAR: I agree. Vishinsky, see that Professor Sorenson's mineral samples are removed.
SORENSON: No. No, you can't leave those canisters behind.
SALAMAR: Those minerals are endangering the safety of my command. They must be jettisoned.
SORENSON: You arrogant young fool. The whole purpose of your command was to get me and that positron material back to our cosmos.
(SARAH leaves during the argument. No-one notices.)
SALAMAR: So that you can be hailed as the saviour of civilisation? No, Professor. My orders were simply to find your party and get back.
SORENSON: If you abandon that material, you destroy years of my life's work.
SALAMAR: You are a civilian aboard a military vessel. There will be no further argument.
(We cut to SARAH scrambling through the jungle foliage, steadying herself by grabbing various plants along the way. Meanwhile, the DOCTOR floats in red-lit nothingness. Swimming through the void, he tumbles and turns, distorted. Things finally stabilise for him, and he looks upon the energy creature in its own domain. It is vast, and he is a tiny creature floating before it.)

[INT. Quarantine area]

DE HAAN: 'Carry them in, carry them out.' That ought to be the Space Service motto.
MORELLI: Yes, well, they've changed their minds.
DE HAAN: Yeah, well they could have changed their minds first, couldn't they? I mean, just for a change.
MORELLI: Listen, de Haan. The controller simply wants us to take these canisters outside the takeoff force-field area, right?
DE HAAN: Right.
MORELLI: Right.
DE HAAN: It's only another fifty yards multiplied by ten.

[INT. Outside the quarantine area]

(SORENSON finds a hiding place beneath the stairs leading from the quarantine area just before MORELLI and DE HAAN emerge with canisters in hand.)
DE HAAN: Half my service I spend flying one way, the other half I spend flying back again. They should pay me for staying in one place.
(The men head down the stairs and leave.)
MORELLI: Come on.
(SORENSON heads the other direction, ascending the stairs into the quarantine area. He picks up one of the canisters remaining, casts the TARDIS a sidelong glance, and leaves the quarantine area.)

[EXT. Beside the abyss]

SARAH: (walking around the perimeter of the abyss) Doctor! Doctor! Doctor.
(She sees a hand touching the surface of rock at the edge of the pool. A second hand appears. SARAH helps to pull the DOCTOR up. He has his toffee tin in the hand she did not take.)
DOCTOR: Sarah, Vandervelt's equation of knowledge. Quite wrong.
(He falls unconscious.)
SARAH: Doctor, come on. Come on. The spaceship, it's leaving.
(She helps him to his feet, but he flops down beside the abyss again when she lets go. She goes to his side.)
SARAH: Doctor! Doctor! Doctor, wake up. Doctor!

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

DE HAAN: All the canisters are off the ship, Controller.
SALAMAR: Good. We'll go for immediate takeoff, Vishinsky.
VISHINSKY: Commence pressurisation and pre-ignition checks.
REIG [OC]: Pre-ignition checks commenced.
SALAMAR: Recall the oculoid.
VISHINSKY: Cancel that!
SALAMAR: What?
VISHINSKY: The oculoid picture. Look!
(On the monitor, we see SARAH trying to deal with the unconscious DOCTOR.)
VISHINSKY: Cut the force field.
SALAMAR: Are you taking command, Vishinsky?
VISHINSKY: He's alive, Salamar.
SALAMAR: There are higher priorities than recovering corpses.
VISHINSKY: I'm going out for them.
SALAMAR: We must leave this planet before night. Prepare the sick bay.

[INT. Sorenson's room]

(SORENSON is staring into the open canister, transfixed. The crystals within change colour, from green to purple, to green again, then purple, red, purple, red, and white. He puts his hand over his eyes.)
SORENSON: No.
(He sits and speaks into a dictation device.)
SORENSON: While still on the surface of Zeta Minor and within the stable environment of the space probe, positron elements showed a twenty, a twenty per cent increase in flux activity. This would seem to indicate a substantially greater, a greater, argh!
(He is in pain. He puts his face in his hands. The crystals are glowing red now. He stands and walks to a wall mirror with difficulty. When he opens his eyes, they too are glowing red. SORENSON opens a container of something and pours himself a small portion from it. As he drinks this, it steams on contact with the air. He lowers his drink and, in the mirror, he sees that after a moment his eyes have returned to normal.)

[INT. Sick bay]

(The DOCTOR is brought in on a stretcher, which DE HAAN attaches to a rail in a diagnostics frame. He hands the cortical monitor to VISHINSKY, who places it on the DOCTOR's head.)
VISHINSKY: Electro-function almost non-existent.
SARAH: But he's still alive.
VISHINSKY: Raise the stimulation intensity twelve degrees.
DE HAAN: But that's way over the safety margins.
VISHINSKY: Do it!
(He does, and the DOCTOR twitches.)
SARAH: He moved!
DE HAAN: Don't expect too much.
SARAH: What?
DE HAAN: They often move under stimulation. It's the nervous system.
VISHINSKY: (with his head to the DOCTOR's chest) He's breathing.
SARAH: He's coming round. Doctor? Doctor?
SALAMAR [OC]: Stand by for takeoff. Vishinsky to command area.
VISHINSKY: He'll be all right. Stay with him.
SARAH: Vishinsky, thanks for helping us.
(She is left with the DOCTOR.)

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

MORELLI: Pressurisation complete, Controller.
SALAMAR: Activate cyclo-stimulators.
(VISHINSKY arrives and is seated.)
MORELLI: Power jets locked in.
SALAMAR: Prepare for ignition. Take the countdown, Vishinsky.
VISHINSKY: If we don't make it this time, we never will.

[INT. Sick bay]

(The DOCTOR sits up.)
SARAH: Doctor.
DOCTOR: What's the noise?
SARAH: You're all right. We're taking off.
DOCTOR: What? But the canisters. I promised.
SARAH: It's all right. They've been dumped. Your promise as a Time Lord? Well, what happened?
DOCTOR: It's difficult to explain.
SARAH: Well, try. What did you do, enter another universe and have a chat with it?
DOCTOR: I communicated.
(The lights flicker, things shake, and we hear an alarm.)
SARAH: We seem to be having trouble again.
(He remembers his toffee tin.)
DOCTOR Oh! Come on.
(As they leave, SORENSON is lurking in the corridor.)

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

VISHINSKY: We're not going to make it.
SALAMAR: Activate secondary boosters.
REIG [OC]: Secondary boosters activated.
VISHINSKY: The synchronisers are hitting red.
MORELLI: Gravity drag increasing.
SALAMAR: I want ten seconds of maximum fuel burn.
VISHINSKY: That's crazy! You-
SALAMAR: You heard me. Ten seconds.
(The DOCTOR and SARAH enter.)
MORELLI: Gravity drag still increasing. Height only thirty miles.
VISHINSKY: That's more than gravity. There's antimatter still aboard!
SALAMAR: All the canisters were removed.
DOCTOR: Except for this.
SALAMAR: What's that?
DOCTOR: Antimatter. How else do you think I survived that pool?
SALAMAR: Is there enough there to hold us back?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SALAMAR: You idiot. Morelli, get that to the jettison hatch fast.
(MORELLI runs with the tin.)

[INT. Space probe corridor]

(MORELLI walks through the corridor stiffly.)
DE HAAN: Hey, Morelli, when are we going to get some lights down here? Do you think the command area's the only place anyone's working?
(We hear a crackling sound and a muted scream.)
DE HAAN: Morelli? Morelli!
(He runs down the corridor. SORENSON stands and runs from beside MORELLI's yellow, crumpled corpse.)
DE HAAN: (shining a torch on the face of the body) Morelli.

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

REIG: Height two hundred miles.
VISHINSKY: We're in free space, but we're losing speed again.
SALAMAR: Drag is still increasing. I don't understand it.
DOCTOR: Then I suggest you search the ship.
SALAMAR: Oh? Why?
DOCTOR: Because there must still be antimatter aboard. It's the only explanation.
SALAMAR: Impossible.
VISHINSKY: Salamar, we're burning fuel at thirty units over norm. At this rate, we'll never make the stellar systems.
SARAH: But that means we'll be marooned in space!
DOCTOR: If we're not vapourised first.
SALAMAR: Vapourised? What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Antimatter in collision with matter causes radiation annihilation. A release of energy more powerful than nuclear fission.
SALAMAR: There is no antimatter aboard this ship!
DOCTOR: And I tell you there is.
DE HAAN: Controller! Controller, Morelli's dead.
SALAMAR: Dead?
DE HAAN: He's been killed by some sort of an animal.
VISHINSKY: Animal?
DE HAAN: I saw it in Sector 3.
VISHINSKY: Restore all walkway lights. All right, de Haan, come on. Show us.

[INT. Sorenson's room]

(SORENSON has another steaming drink.)
SORENSON: (in front of the mirror) It's all gone so wrong.
(The intercom buzzes.)
SORENSON: Yes?
REIG [OC]: Report at once to Sector 3. Controller Salamar wants to see you.
SORENSON: What for?

[INT. Sick bay]

(The corpse has been brought in for analysis.)
DOCTOR: Well?
VISHINSKY: The pathology readout is identical to the others. Total dehydration. Even the bone marrow.
SARAH: But how could that thing get on board?
VISHINSKY: I don't know. The force field was operating all the time the hatch was open. It was phased to cut in automatically.
(The corpse is slid away into a morgue compartment.)
DOCTOR: I wonder.

[INT. Space probe corridor]

(DE HAAN is holding a scanner over the part of the floor where Morelli's body was found.)
SALAMAR: You're a scientist. You must have formed some theory.
SORENSON: All the deaths appear to have been caused by a technology unknown to us. That would seem to implicate the Doctor and the girl.
SALAMAR: Why?
SORENSON: Well, they're aliens.
SALAMAR: But they were in the command area when Morelli was killed.
SORENSON: That machine in the quarantine berth might contain the answer.

[INT. Sick bay]

VISHINSKY: (on the intercom) Crew records. What denomination was Morelli?
DOCTOR: Can I see the printout?
VISHINSKY: Of course.
REIG [OC]: Morelli was Morestran Orthodox.
VISHINSKY: Oh, one of those.
SARAH: What are you doing?
VISHINSKY: Disposal procedure. We may have to play the last rites, but we don't have to listen.
(He turns down the music. A hatch in the side of the ship opens, and a casket is ejected into space.)
VISHINSKY: Another good soldier gone to the greatest army of them all.
SARAH: Out into space to drift forever.
VISHINSKY: It's clean and tidy.
SARAH: It's horrible.
DOCTOR: Vishinsky, I'd like a medical check on everybody aboard the ship.
VISHINSKY: Why?
DOCTOR: Because someone is contaminated.
SALAMAR: Yes, Doctor, and we want to examine that space machine of yours.
DOCTOR: Why?
SALAMAR: (clenching a gun) We believe you to be responsible for all the deaths. Unless you co-operate, I shall kill you and the girl without compunction.
SARAH: Aw, great. That's the thanks you get for helping people.
DOCTOR: What is all this?
VISHINSKY: The Doctor risked his life on our account.
SALAMAR: That was a ruse to gain our confidence. His real intention is to destroy us.
DOCTOR: Why? For what reason?
SORENSON: There are other civilisations as desperate as we are for new energy sources. My discoveries on Zeta Minor would be of immense value to them.
DOCTOR: Professor Sorenson, has it ever occurred to you that you might be mistaken, that there is no practical method of exploiting antiquark energy?
SORENSON: Oh no, you're wrong. I've spent my life discovering alternative energy.
REIG [OC]: Controller Salamar. Calling the controller.
SALAMAR: What is it, Reig?
REIG [OC]: We're in trouble, sir. The ship's stopped moving.
SALAMAR: That's impossible.

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

REIG: Sir, the progress register has stopped. We're making no headway.

[INT. Sick bay]

SALAMAR: I'm coming up. Professor, watch the girl. You, come with us.
(This leaves SARAH with SORENSON.)
SARAH: There's no need to. I'm not going to jump out, am I?
SORENSON: What is your friend's field of science?
SARAH: Oh, everything. He's brilliant!
SORENSON: And he's wrong. He has to be wrong. Antiquarks come in three configurations, exactly as I predicted. All my theoretical calculations have proved this! We shall find a way of discovering the energy!
SARAH: All right. I'm not arguing.

[INT. Space probe's bridge]

VISHINSKY: We're stationary, suspended in space.
SALAMAR: It's crazy. The thrusters are still at full power.
DOCTOR: The answer's really very simple. You've come to the end of your piece of elastic.
SALAMAR: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: It won't stretch any further. In fact, very soon it will start to pull you back.
SALAMAR: Nothing can do that.
DOCTOR: Antimatter can. There's still some aboard, and this proves it.
VISHINSKY: You mean the ship will be dragged back to Zeta Minor?
DOCTOR: Yes, faster and faster, until, of course, we reach the surface. Then we'll stop, with a bang. The only way to prevent it is to find the antimatter.
SALAMAR: You're diverting attention from what's really causing the trouble. You! You and whatever's in that machine of yours. Something that's draining the power from this ship.
DOCTOR: Salamar, you're wrong again.
SALAMAR: We'll see. Vishinsky, take charge here.

[INT. Sick bay]

SORENSON: Antimatter is simply matter composed entirely of antiparticles. Therefore, the hypothetical energy available, available, is, is stupendous.
(He grabs at his forehead.)
SARAH: What's wrong? Are you all right?
SORENSON: Yes. Yes, I'm-
(We hear crackling. SARAH goes rigid as earlier, eyes open wide. SORENSON leaves the room with some effort, and now the crackling has stopped. SARAH returns to normal.)

[INT. Space probe corridor]

(SORENSON staggers past DE HAAN, who is still using the hand-held scanner. SORENSON heads upstairs but turns and descends the stairs.)
DE HAAN: Oh, Professor, I-
(He looks up, and his face shows pure horror. From within the sick bay, SARAH hears his strangled cry and runs out.)

[INT. Quarantine area]

(The DOCTOR enters, hands raised. SALAMAR follows him in, with a hand weapon trained on him.)
DOCTOR: Usually I only entertain friends in the TARDIS.
SALAMAR: Shut up. (after marching the DOCTOR to the TARDIS) Open it.
DOCTOR: Externally, as you can see, it resembles a London police box.
SALAMAR: Open it!
(We hear SARAH screaming. When SALAMAR turns at the sound, the DOCTOR grabs his gun arm and punches him across the face, knocking him out. The DOCTOR lowers him to the ground and runs out.)

[INT. Space probe corridor]

(SARAH sees a crackling shadow around the corner where DE HAAN's body now lies.)
DOCTOR [OC]: Sarah!
(The shadow skulks away, and SARAH finds the body.)
DOCTOR: Sarah, what happened?
SARAH: I caught a glimpse of that thing. It was horrible.
DOCTOR: Anti-man.
SARAH: Anti-man?
DOCTOR: A hybrid creature running amok.
SALAMAR: Don't move! De Haan. You've killed de Haan!
DOCTOR: Oh, now, listen. Sarah-
(SALAMAR shoots the DOCTOR, who falls.)
SARAH: Doctor!
(VISHINSKY enters and attempts to relieve SALAMAR of his weapon.)
SALAMAR: No! They killed de Haan.
VISHINSKY: Some thing killed de Haan.
SALAMAR: Let's get rid of them before they kill us all. Take them to the ejector chamber. Hurry!
(GUARDS drag the DOCTOR off by the arms, and SARAH is marched away too.
Back in his room, SORENSON has a drink as before, but he drops the flask from which he had been pouring, and red stains now cover the floor. SORENSON crawls onto his bed. His eyes are mostly still glowing red.)

[INT. Sick bay]

(As before, a hatch opens. The DOCTOR and SARAH have been placed in caskets as if dead.)
SALAMAR: Prepare to eject.
SARAH: You can't do this! It's murder!
VISHINSKY: She's right. You have no evidence. You cannot do it.
SALAMAR: How much evidence do you want? The whole crew dead? Eject! Eject.
VISHINSKY: No, Salamar.
(There is a struggle. SALAMAR brings VISHINSKY's arm down on a handle, pushing it along its full travel. The two caskets slide away.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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