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DOCTOR WHO
THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS
Written by
As Robin Bland, Terrance Dicks (rewrite: Robert Holmes)
Part Two
(Overlap from Sarah seeing the curtain move)
[INT. Solon's lab]
(SARAH leaves the curtained area. The body remains where it is, moving about a little.)
SARAH: (standing next to the tubes and wires) He's mad. He must be.
SOLON [OC]: Before we start the operation, all instruments must be sterilised. Do you understand?
(SARAH looks for a place to hide.)
[INT. Corridor]
SOLON: We'll start the operation at once, as the risks of meningal infection are very high.
[INT. Solon's lab]
SOLON: I think just one medic is sufficient to- (seeing that the Doctor is gone) Condo.
(He looks behind the curtain.)
CONDO: Doctor gone.
SOLON: I can see that, you chicken-brained biological disaster, but how? And where? That drug. Did you put it all into the wine?
CONDO: Yes, Master. All little bottle in big.
SOLON: Then he must still be unconscious. He can't have moved. That squalid brood of harpies the Sisterhood. That accursed hag Maren found I was holding a Time Lord and rescued him. May her stinking bones rot! I'll see her die, Condo. I'll see that palsied harridan scream for death before Morbius and I are finished with her.
CONDO: What do?
SOLON: We must get the Doctor back. We must.
CONDO: Sisters see much, Master. See with mind.
SOLON: I could wait a lifetime and not find a head as suitable. Whatever the risk, we have to get him back. Come.
(They both leave. SARAH creeps out from hiding and cautiously walks out the door.)
[INT. Shrine]
(We see OHICA's flame-style face painting first, then the still-bound DOCTOR on the floor.)
DOCTOR: Have I been ill long, nurse?
MAREN: I am leader of the Sisters.
DOCTOR: Hmm? (he sits up and is offered a small drink) Sorry, Matron.
MAREN: Maren.
DOCTOR: (nearly taking a sip) No, thank you. I had a little drink about an hour ago.
(He pauses when he notices that bright-red stylised-flame-shaped spear ends are pointed at him.)
DOCTOR: Events have moved along while I was asleep.
MAREN: You feign ignorance, Time Lord?
DOCTOR: Please, just call me Doctor. I hate all this bowing and scraping.
MAREN: Do you wish to confess?
DOCTOR: Confess? To what?
MAREN: That you were sent here by the High Council of the Time Lords.
DOCTOR: Well, I have to confess-
MAREN: Good.
DOCTOR: -that I don't really know. The calibrators have been on the blink recently.
(He sees the TARDIS at the other side of the room.)
DOCTOR: How did you get her here, by the way?
OHICA: The power of the Sisterhood.
DOCTOR: Really? What, you mean you still practise teleportation? (smiling) How quaint. Now, if you got yourself a decent forklift truck-
MAREN: Doctor, you have but a little time left. Will you waste it prattling nonsense or confess your guilt?
DOCTOR: What do you mean I have but a little time left?
MAREN: Before you die.
DOCTOR: But I'm only seven hundred and forty-nine. Life doesn't begin until seven hundred-
MAREN: At the next sun. That is agreed.
DOCTOR: Not by me it isn't. I haven't even been consulted.
MAREN: Confess that you were sent here to steal the Elixir of Life and your death will be made easy.
DOCTOR: I haven't the vaguest notion of what you're talking about. The last thing I remember I was taking a glass of wine with Solon and Morbius.
MAREN: Morbius is dead.
DOCTOR: That's right. Morbius is dead.
(He opens his mouth, realising what he said a moment ago.)
DOCTOR: (whispering) How did I get that impression?
MAREN: The Time Lords destroyed Morbius for his crimes here on Karn.
DOCTOR: Solon had a clay model of his head, but it was more than that. A living mental contact. I felt the mind of Morbius.
OHICA: Morbius was executed for leading the rebellion. His body was placed in a dispersal chamber and atomised to the nine corners of the universe.
DOCTOR: I know that. But I tell you, Maren, just for a second before I passed out, his mind touched mine. I felt his burning hatred and anguish. Morbius is alive.
MAREN: I suppose you think raising these old fears can somehow help you, but I was present at his execution. Morbius is dead, Doctor, and you will join him very shortly.
[EXT. Rocks]
SOLON: Quietly. We're nearing the shrine.
(They hide behind the rocks. They see a member of the Sisterhood carrying a load of wood.)
CONDO: Condo kill?
SOLON: Put that away, you oaf. The last thing I want is trouble from the Sisters.
CONDO: Not kill Sisters, Master? How we get big head?
SOLON: We wait. They've got to come out sometime, so we wait. Then we follow, and when he's alone. But not until then, do you understand?
CONDO: Master.
(CONDO starts to stand.)
SOLON: What is it?
CONDO: Condo hear.
SOLON: I heard nothing.
(SARAH is on an outcrop of rock. She reaches down and picks up
the loose stone that Condo heard her dislodge.
Back below, more SISTERS proceed past SOLON and CONDO's hiding place.)
CONDO: Why Sisters take wood?
SOLON: I was wondering the same thing.
[INT. Shrine]
(The women are creating a pyre with a stake at the centre. The DOCTOR remains seated at spearpoint.)
OHICA: All is ready, High One.
MAREN: The sun appears. I give you the last chance, Doctor, to confess your guilt.
DOCTOR: I'm guilty of nothing.
MAREN: This powder can spare you from the anger of the flame. Without it, you will die in torment, so confess.
DOCTOR: You seem convinced I am guilty. Why is it so important I confess?
MAREN: With your spoken confession, the Time Lords can never deny they plotted against the Sisterhood.
DOCTOR: Plotted against you? You've got it wrong, Matron.
MAREN: Nevertheless-
DOCTOR: Nevertheless nothing. For years, the Time Lords have extended their friendship towards the Sisters. When Morbius and his rebels overran this planet, who was it saved you?
MAREN: The Time Lords acted then as they do now, from self-interest. They too feared Morbius. They too depended on the Elixir of Life for their survival.
OHICA: And now the elixir no longer forms, you Time Lords want for yourselves the little that remains.
DOCTOR: What do you mean the elixir no longer forms?
OHICA: The Sacred Flame dies.
DOCTOR: How can it? That flame is the product of gases forcing up along a geological fault from deep in the molten heart of the planet. It will burn for millions of years.
MAREN: It dies.
DOCTOR: Unless some subterranean movement... Have you noticed any tremors recently?
(A gong is struck. The sun shines in, and the SISTERS chant.)
OHICA: It is time for the sacrifice, High One.
MAREN: Take him. The flame must feed.
DOCTOR: No, wait, please. Please, listen. (being tied to the stake) Why don't you listen? This could explain why I've been sent here. You need scientific advice.
MAREN: You had the chance of mercy, Doctor.
(The chanting SISTERS dance around the stake, twirling with arms outstretched.)
DOCTOR: This could be a grave mistake, Maren. If those gases are sealed in, this entire mountain could explode. Remember Cotopaxi? Mount Vesuvius? What about Pompeii? Surely you remember Popocatepetl?
[EXT. Rocks]
(We can hear the chanting in the background.)
SOLON: It's the song of death.
CONDO: What?
SOLON: They're sacrificing to the flame. I must see what's happening. I must get nearer.
CONDO: No, Master. Evil place.
SOLON: The sacrifice to the flame. They never offer up one of their own. It's always an outsider. I must see what's happening.
(They move forward, and SARAH follows at a safe distance.)
[INT. Shrine]
(SOLON and CONDO move along a narrow passage between some rocks, and the chanting grows louder.
We see the SISTERS dancing as MAREN remains with arms crossed. The torches the SISTERS hold in their hands burst into life. Torches circle the DOCTOR.)
SOLON: (entering) Stop it! Stop it!
CONDO: Master.
(The SISTERS are interrupted.)
MAREN: What is the meaning of this?
SOLON: I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry.
MAREN: Death to those who enter the shrine.
SISTERS: (in a rapid chant) Death, death, death, death, death.
(CONDO steps up to defend SOLON and gets zapped with a blue flash from MAREN's ring. He falls.)
MAREN: Your presence is a blasphemy against the Sacred Flame.
SISTERS: Death, death, death, death, death.
SOLON: Maren, High One, believe me, I meant no harm.
MAREN: The harm is done. The sacrifice is defiled.
DOCTOR: Take no notice, Solon. I'm delighted to see you.
OHICA: Be silent!
DOCTOR: That music was terrible.
OHICA: Enough! The High One commands.
SOLON: Maren, I only came here to ask a favour from the Sisterhood. I never intended to offend agains-
MAREN: What is the favour, Solon?
SOLON: In all the years I have been here on Karn, I've never asked or sought anything of the Sisterhood before. I've helped you. I've treated many of the Sisterhood.
MAREN: All this is true. What do you want?
SOLON: The Doctor. Spare his life.
DOCTOR: Hear, hear. Seconded. Anyone against?
MAREN: The Doctor is condemned. He must die in the flame.
SOLON: But the Time Lords and, and the Sisterhood, they-
MAREN: That alliance no longer exists!
SOLON: Maren, I beg you, I beseech you. If you must sacrifice, then, then (grabbing CONDO) take my servant!
MAREN: Go, Solon. Leave now.
SOLON: Look, please, if you are going to sacrifice him, then just leave me his head. Only as far as the cervical vertebrae. You can keep the rest, but I must have his head. Please, don't burn his head. I need it. I need it for my exper-
MAREN: The Sisterhood know of your unnatural experiments, Solon. Your affairs hold no interest for us.
(As she is speaking, we see the DOCTOR's pocket in close-up. Into it reaches a hand, which withdraws a pair of cutters. The arm belongs to a red-draped SARAH, who begins to cut his bonds.)
MAREN: Your presence here on Karn is tolerated only as long as you keep your place. Be gone from here at once, or you too will die in the flame.
SOLON: I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry.
(SOLON slowly leaves, with CONDO following quickly.)
SISTERS: Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred...
MAREN: Make the offering.
DOCTOR: I'm ready, Maren.
MAREN: Flame of Life, fire of death, take this body into thy eternal heart.
(The Sisters each genuflect to MAREN as they head to light the pyre. SARAH is among them. Then, the SISTERS speed up their rhythm, and the pyre is lit. The DOCTOR moves his body slightly to avoid flames getting in his face. MAREN closes her eyes. She opens them again to find the SISTERS still circling but the Doctor missing. She looks toward the doorway and sees him there with SARAH. A bolt of blue from her ring misses them as the DOCTOR hustles SARAH out the door.)
MAREN: Stop them! Stop them!
[INT. Passage beside the shrine]
(SARAH and the DOCTOR hide among the rocks. Two SISTERS run past.)
DOCTOR: Come on. Let's follow them. They must know the way.
(SARAH whimpers.)
[INT. Solon's parlour]
(The pair enter, and SOLON sits at the table.)
SOLON: What a waste. What a stupid, senseless waste.
CONDO: You give Condo. Why?
SOLON: What?
CONDO: Condo good servant. You give Sisters, let kill Condo.
SOLON: Silence, you chattering ape. Haven't I enough to think about?
CONDO: Condo kill you! (He takes SOLON's neck in his hook.)
SOLON: Now don't be a fool!
CONDO: Condo not fool. Condo not fool now.
SOLON: Now stop it, do you hear? Now let me go.
CONDO: (pulling SOLON's head forward onto the table) You make Condo fool. Now you die.
SOLON: (as CONDO pulls out his knife) Condo, what are you doing? For mercy's sake. No, no, no, don't. I didn't mean it. I wouldn't have let them. You can't think I'd have let them do it? It was only a joke. It was just a silly joke.
CONDO: (slowly) Solon joke.
SOLON: That's all. Just a joke, a stupid joke.
CONDO: Condo not joke. You lose hands.
(SOLON twists away as CONDO lunges with the knife.)
SOLON: (backing away as CONDO advances on him) No, no, I'll do anything. You want your arm? You can have your arm back!
CONDO: Take hook? Give good arm?
SOLON: I wouldn't lie to you, would I? I mean I have the arm. You know I've got the arm. That's what you always wanted, isn't it?
CONDO: Give arm now. Condo not kill.
SOLON: You go to the laboratory and get it ready, and I'll fetch the arm.
(CONDO leaves. SOLON picks up a lamp and opens a door beyond the bust of Morbius.)
[EXT. Rocks]
DOCTOR: (after dragging SARAH along the rocks) I think we've given them the slip. The barbecue's off. What's the matter?
SARAH: I can't see.
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: I've gone blind!
DOCTOR: Let me look. Let me look.
SARAH: Ow. It was the flash.
DOCTOR: Ssssh. Keep still, keep still. I can't see anything. They look perfectly normal to me.
SARAH: Uh, is that hopeful?
DOCTOR: Yeah, of course it is. The flash probably numbed the optic nerve. It'll wear off in a few hours. Come on.
SARAH: Or not, as the case may be.
DOCTOR: Aw, Sarah.
SARAH: Sorry, sorry.
DOCTOR: (as she starts to stand) Gently, gently. (He helps her from the rocks.)
SARAH: Thanks. Hey, you know, I could always sell flowers, couldn't I? (holding the robe over her head) You know, lovely fresh violets, guv. If I ever get back to Piccadilly. (She breaks down.)
DOCTOR: Shhh. If you're going to sit there wallowing in self-pity, I'll bite your nose.
SARAH: You.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's go.
SARAH: Right. Where are we going?
DOCTOR: Solon's.
SARAH: What? Are you nuts?
DOCTOR: Come on. I've got the measure of Solon now.
SARAH: No, Doctor, he's a maniac. He's got a body there. No head, oh no. It's just made out of lumps of things.
DOCTOR: Has he, now?
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: Well, I have a feeling he's keeping something else there too, something far worse than a headless body.
SARAH: I just don't understand you.
DOCTOR: Come on.
[INT. Basement]
(The gloomy lower reaches of the castle are shown.)
SOLON [OC]: I promise you faithfully, you'll be free again, but I only need a little more time to complete my final experiments.
VOICE [OC]: (slightly electronic and high-pitched) I grow weary of your endless promises, Solon. Always you need more time.
SOLON: (seen through a door into another lab) But if you could only see how much has been accomplished and how little remains. I have worked night and day in your service, Morbius. When I brought you here, there was nothing! I had to build my own laboratory out of ruins. I had to invent and construct my own equipment to start experiments.
MORBIUS [OC]: Experiments? When we formed this plan to outwit the Time Lords, nothing was said of experiments! You told me it could be done.
SOLON: And it can, Morbius, it can. I've made so many discoveries. I have mastered new techniques no other man has even conceived. I can transplant limbs, organs. I can create life. And all against the most appalling difficulties.
MORBIUS [OC]: Yet I am still here! I can see nothing, feel nothing. You have locked me into hell for eternity. If this is all there is for me, I would sooner die now.
SOLON: There is so much at stake, I cannot afford to take a risk. Every step is an advance into new fields of surgery. Every step has got to be tested.
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon! You desire to be known as the creator of Morbius rather than his servant.
SOLON: No, Morbius, you must trust me. I face many problems. Even Condo has become unreliable and must be put down.
CONDO [OC]: Master! Master!
(SOLON heads to the heavy door of the basement laboratory.)
[INT. Solon's parlour]
CONDO: (shouting down the stairs from the parlour) Master!
(SOLON enters with his lamp and sees the DOCTOR and SARAH sitting at the table.)
SOLON: Doctor. Well, what happened? Did they release you?
DOCTOR: Oh, we got away.
SOLON: I did my best to save you at the risk of my own life. I tried to make Maren see reason.
DOCTOR: Yes, I noticed. I was very touched by your concern.
SOLON: Well, it's wonderful to see you. Some wine?
DOCTOR: No, thank you. We've had one taste of your hospitality. All I want from you, Solon, is a professional opinion. Sarah's been blinded. Examine her eyes.
(He takes SARAH's hand. SOLON takes a look, and she flinches.)
SOLON: We'll have to go to the laboratory.
DOCTOR: After you.
(They all leave the room, with CONDO bringing up the rear.)
[INT. Shrine]
OHICA: They may still be hiding among the rocks, Maren. Shall we continue searching?
MAREN: The Time Lord can never leave Karn. We have his TARDIS. Sooner or later, he will return for his machine, and we will be ready for him.
OHICA: Yes, High One.
MAREN: Next time, he will not be so fortunate, Ohica. He will wish he had died in the flame.
[INT. Solon's lab]
(SOLON is using an otoscope-like instrument to look at SARAH's right eye, which he has pulled wide open.)
DOCTOR: Well?
(SOLON moves on to the other eye.
Meanwhile, the DOCTOR walks away and takes a peek at the creature behind the curtain, which is making small motions. He returns to SOLON.)
DOCTOR: Well?
SARAH: Yes, what's the verdict?
SOLON: (shaking his head slightly) I think there's every chance, every chance of a complete recovery, but I have to check my findings, of course. Condo, would you take the, our young guest back to the parlour, please?
SARAH: (grabbing for him) No! Doctor, don't let-
DOCTOR: Now Sarah, don't worry. Whatever the truth is, you'll hear it. Go on.
CONDO: Girl not see. Condo help. (He starts steering her out the door.)
DOCTOR: Thank you. (when they have gone) Well?
SOLON: I'm very, very sorry.
DOCTOR: Can't you operate?
SOLON: The retina's almost completely destroyed. There's nothing I can do for her.
DOCTOR: Nothing?
SOLON: Well, there's a faint chance.
DOCTOR: A chance?
SOLON: No, it's impossible.
DOCTOR: What chance?
SOLON: The Elixir of Life. As you know, it regenerates tissues. But the Sisterhood control its only source. You're not going to get any from there.
DOCTOR: If that's what's needed, I'll get it.
SOLON: You can't go back to the shrine. They'd kill you on the spot.
DOCTOR: I must take that risk. Sarah can stay here.
SOLON: You don't know Maren. Maren is not going to let you have the elixir.
DOCTOR: We'll see.
SOLON: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SOLON: Good luck.
(The DOCTOR leaves the room and closes the door. SOLON smiles.)
SOLON: Condo! (He begins to write.)
[INT. Solon's parlour]
SOLON [OC]: Condo!
CONDO: (taking his hand from SARAH's shoulder) Master call. Condo go him.
(CONDO leaves, and SARAH promptly walks into a chair. Falling forward, she knocks a glass off the table.)
SARAH: Ow!
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon!
SARAH: Hello?
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon, is that you?
SARAH: (creeping forward slowly) Who's there?
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon!
(She stumbles her way up the few steps next to the door, heading toward the cellar.)
[INT. Solon's lab]
(SOLON seals his letter with wax. CONDO enters.)
SOLON: Condo, I want you to take this to the Sisterhood. You understand? (He holds it out.)
CONDO: Sisters?
SOLON: Now, don't worry. You're in no danger. Just put it into their hands. But you must hurry. You must get there before the Doctor. Do you understand that? Right.
(SOLON guides CONDO out and closes the door.)
[INT. Basement lab]
(SARAH, arms held out, reaches the bottom of the basement stairs.)
SARAH: Where are you?
MORBIUS [OC]: Here.
SARAH: Who is it? What's the matter?
MORBIUS [OC]: Who are you?
SARAH: I just want to help. What's wrong? I can't see.
MORBIUS: Where have you come from? Are you one of the Sisterhood?
(The camera pulls back and we see the speaker - a brain and spinal cord suspended in a large vat of green liquid with tubes running to it.)
SARAH: No.
MORBIUS: Did Maren send you to destroy me?
SARAH: No, of course not!
MORBIUS: Yes, she did! You she-devils want to destroy me!
SARAH: No! [indistinct protestations]
MORBIUS: Now, before I've had my revenge!
SARAH: No!
(The brain glows slightly in orange as MORBIUS's voice is heard, and bubbles rise through the tank.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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