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DOCTOR WHO
THE SEEDS OF DOOM

Written by
Robert Banks Stewart

Part Five

(Overlap from Dunbar encountering the Krynoid)

[EXT. Grounds]

(SCORBY arrives with GUARDS, all of whom start shooting at the hulking plant. The Krynoid turns from the DOCTOR and SARAH, to advance on the new arrivals.)
SARAH: Run!
DOCTOR: Come on - don't waste your bullets!
(He and SARAH run past SCORBY and company, who turn round and follow.)

[INT. Cottage]

(SARAH runs in, followed by the DOCTOR and SCORBY with GUARDS.)
DOCTOR: Block the door.
SCORBY: Yeah, come on.
DOCTOR: (as a smallish sofa is pushed against the door) Quietly!
SCORBY: (stepping to the side to join the DOCTOR) How do you do it, Doctor? You should be compost by now.
DOCTOR: We'll all be compost if we don't keep away from that Krynoid.
SCORBY: Krynoid? Is that what that thing is? (He parts the curtains, looking out as we hear the Krynoid outside.)
SARAH: Yes. It used to be called Keeler. Remember Keeler, your friend? Now do you see what we're up against?
SCORBY: That's Keeler?
DOCTOR: Yes.
(SCORBY's walkie-talkie makes a double beep, twice.)
SCORBY: (into walkie-talkie) Yeah.
CHASE [OC]: Scorby, what was that firing?
SCORBY: That Krynoid thing, Mister Chase. It's got us trapped in the cottage.

[INT. Botany lab]

CHASE: You idiots. Listen to me. Whatever happens, it must not be harmed. Is that clear?

[EXT. Cottage]

SCORBY: Mister Chase, you don't understand. It's eight foot high, and it's already killed Dunbar.

[INT. Botany lab]

CHASE: I don't care who it's killed. People are replaceable, Scorby. The Krynoid is unique. It must not be damaged in any way. That's an order.

[INT. Cottage]

SCORBY: Mister Chase, I am not getting through to you-
DOCTOR: Give it to me! (snatching the unit) Chase, try and understand one thing. The Krynoid is an uncontrollable carnivore that's getting bigger and more powerful by the minute. Now (beep) Chase? Chase! Arrogant fool.
SARAH: (at the window) Doctor, listen.
(The DOCTOR steps up to the window, alongside her, and peers out.)
SARAH: Where is it now?
DOCTOR: I don't know.
SARAH: What're we going to do?
SCORBY: Is it going to keep on growing? How big's it going to get?
DOCTOR: Oh, about the size of Saint Paul's Cathedral. After that, it'll multiply itself a thousandfold until it takes over your entire planet.
(We hear glass shatter. The party turn and see that a large tendril has broken through a rear window.)
SCORBY: Get back! Stay back!
(He runs upstairs past the swinging tentacle, shooting as he does so, while SARAH fetches an axe from the basket of logs. The plant part pushes her away before she can do much of anything with it. She cries out. The DOCTOR takes his turn, prodding at the tentacle with the sword until it retreats through the broken window.)
DOCTOR: You don't scare us, Keeler. You hear? You don't scare us! (to SCORBY) Do you think he believed us?
KRYNOID [OC]: (in a distorted voice with some vibrato) The human was Keeler. Now us. Now belongs.
SARAH: It speaks!
DOCTOR: It can think.
KRYNOID [OC]: You, Doctor. Come out now. Join us.
SCORBY: You seem to have been singled out for special attention, Doctor.
SARAH: It's afraid he'll find a way to destroy it.
DOCTOR: Yes. It does seem to sense my knowledge of alien species, particularly the Krynoid.
KRYNOID [OC]: Give the Doctor to us. Your lives will then be spared.
SCORBY: You'd better think of something pretty quickly, hadn't you, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, Scorby, take no notice of it. I've heard that one before.
SCORBY: It sounds a pretty fair deal to me. How about it, Doctor? You'd lay down your life for others, wouldn't you?
SARAH: Well, not to save your skin, not after what you did to us.
SCORBY: This is different.
SARAH: Why is it different?
SCORBY: He'd be sacrificing himself for you, for all of us.
SARAH: What, because you're involved, it's your life-
DOCTOR: Excuse me! Would you mind if I said something?
SARAH: And you'd better listen, because nobody else knows how to fight that creature.
KRYNOID [OC]: Hear this, humans. You have till daybreak to deliver the Doctor.
SCORBY: Why wait? Why not now?
DOCTOR: Scorby, if I die, you die.
SCORBY: I'll take a chance on that.
DOCTOR: There is no chance! By daybreak, the Krynoid'll be large enough to crush this entire cottage to rubble. If I could get outside, there'd be some hope for all of us.
SCORBY: Why don't I just throw you out?
DOCTOR: It would make no difference! We need a bo-. Scorby, could you make a bomb? Could you make a fire bomb of some kind?
SCORBY: What for?
DOCTOR: To distract the Krynoid while we all slip away.
SCORBY: Molotov cocktail?
DOCTOR: Yes. That's a good idea.
SCORBY: Okay. Leave it to me. You keep watch.
(SCORBY heads upstairs again, while the DOCTOR takes up vigil next to the window hole.)

[INT. Thackeray's office]

(After we see the top of the Krynoid against the dark night sky, we find ourselves at the World Ecology Bureau, where THACKERAY is waiting on the phone. On the other side of his desk, DUCAT smokes a cigarillo.)
THACKERAY: Come on, come on. Not exactly rushing themselves, are they?
DUCAT: Perhaps we should have gone back into the grounds?
THACKERAY: No, too dangerous. I wonder what has happened to Dunbar.
DUCAT: Mmm. Of course, there were these armed men running about.
THACKERAY: Must have been quite terrifying.
DUCAT: Not a bit. I enjoyed it. I like a little excitement. Besides, I have some wartime experience, you know. Oh yes. I was a sergeant in the ATS. Manned an ack-ack gun at Folkestone. (She laughs.)
THACKERAY: Indeed. (into the phone) Yes, yes. This is Sir Colin Thackeray. I am aware that the Brigadier is in Geneva. I must speak to a senior officer. This is a matter of national security. Yes, national security.
DUCAT: Invent a code word. They love that. What about Operation Nuthouse?
THACKERAY: What, Major Beresford? Well, right, get him down here fast! Thank you!
(He places the receiver in its cradle and sighs.)
DUCAT: Bravo.
THACKERAY: What a nitwit.
DUCAT: That's the stuff to give 'em. After all, our taxes pay for these wretched civil servants, then you can never get hold of them when you want them, can you?
THACKERAY: I am a civil servant, Miss Ducat.
DUCAT: (smiling) Then you know exactly what I mean, of course.
THACKERAY: Of course. Well, now, I think it's time you ran along and, uh, got some sleep.
DUCAT: Oh, I'm not sleepy.
THACKERAY: (pulling her chair out) Thank you very much for all you've done.
DUCAT: Not at all. I do hope you'll be able to get some help to the Doctor and that dear child, that little girl-
THACKERAY: Yes.
DUCAT: Before it's too late.
THACKERAY: We'll do our best. Yes, thank you. (He closes the door behind her.)
DUCAT: (reopening it) Consider me available for any future assignments, Sir Colin.
THACKERAY: Oh, yes, yes, I will, yes.
DUCAT: Au revoir.
THACKERAY: Thank you very much.

[INT. Botany lab]

CHASE: (camera in hand) Botanical history, Hargreaves. These will be the first pictures ever taken of an alien organism.
HARGREAVES: That thing, sir. You will be careful, won't you?
CHASE: Why? I have nothing to fear from the Krynoid.

[INT. Cottage]

(It is now light out. The dendronous fringes of the Krynoid tower over the surroundings. In the cottage, SCORBY is filling a milk bottle.)
DOCTOR: Is it ready?
SCORBY: Nearly.
DOCTOR: Listen, I think you should lob it through an upstairs window. (to SARAH) Now if, and when, the Krynoid follows me, I want you and Scorby to take your chance and get up to the main house.
SARAH: (subdued) Okay. Who are you going to contact?
DOCTOR: Sir Colin. I'm going to try and persuade him his world's about to fall apart. It may not be easy.
SARAH: It might be the hardest part yet. And what do we do when we get to the main house?
DOCTOR: Stay there. I need you as a link. You understand?
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: You're a good girl. Scorby, can I rely on you?
SCORBY: For the moment, Doctor. (he is finished with the wick and starts heading for the stairs) I'll check the position of the Krynoid.
DOCTOR: (to the GUARDS) Clear this door. Quietly!
(Meanwhile, we see CHASE stroll along a hedgerow with the camera. He looks up at the Krynoid, which clearly dwarfs the cottage.)
SCORBY: Stand by.
(He lights the Molotov cocktail, pushes open the bedroom window, and hurls the bottle at the Krynoid. It roars slightly, and the DOCTOR barrels through the front door.)

[EXT. Grounds]

CHASE: (as the Krynoid moves away, presumably toward the Doctor) The fools.

[INT. Cottage]

SARAH: Okay, it worked. It's gone after him.
SCORBY: (opening the door) Okay, let's go.
(SCORBY leaves, followed by SARAH, then the two GUARDS. We see the DOCTOR make a run for the driveway and climb into the Daimler. He drives off.)

[INT. Greenhouse / botany lab]

SCORBY: Chase! (running down toward the lab from the greenhouse area as SARAH appears in view) Any sign?
SARAH: No.
SCORBY: Hargreaves, come here. Where's Chase?
HARGREAVES: Mister Chase has gone out to take some photographs.
SCORBY: (as SARAH 'Hmpf's) Photographs? What's he playing at? Well, listen. I've posted lookouts, but they're not going to stay very long. Get over to the workshop; get some timber. We've got to board up all these ground-floor windows.
HARGREAVES: (laconically) Oh, if you say so.
SARAH: Well, I heard the car move off, so the Doctor must have got away.
SCORBY: (clearing things away from in front of the windows) He's no fool, your friend. He's escaped. We're still trapped.
SARAH: But he went to get help. You know he went to get help. You were there.
SCORBY: Sure.
SARAH: Listen. The Doctor's not just concerned about saving his own skin. He's risked his life before for others. Unlike you, he has principles.
SCORBY: Oh, yeah? Well, you listen to me. Now there's just the two of us, so you've got to rely on me. So don't push your luck, because if you do, I'll start again exactly where I left off. Understood?
SARAH: You're as mad as Chase, Scorby. Other people don't matter. All these guards, all these guns, it's just a big game to you, isn't it? Gives you a sense of power. You're not complete unless you've got a gun in your hand.
(SCORBY remains silent, then storms off.)

[EXT. Grounds]

(CHASE finds a nice spot for his photos as we hear the Krynoid in the background. He begins taking photos as it shuffles slowly forward. We see him raise the camera ever higher. CHASE eventually can't fit enough of it in frame and lowers the camera.)
CHASE: No. No, not me. I want to help. Keeler, you know me. I want to help you.
(His face is now fully in shadow from the Krynoid.)

[INT. Thackeray's office]

(The DOCTOR parks right on top of the words 'NO PARKING' and rushes into the building.)
BERESFORD: Sir Colin, you do understand that without clear evidence, I will not mount a raid on someone's private property.
THACKERAY: I agree. Without further evidence, we're stuck.
(The DOCTOR bursts through the door with a piece of paper in one hand. Behind him is a lesser official.)
MAN: You cannot go in. Sir Colin is in conference.
DOCTOR: (pushing the man back through the door as he speaks) Out, out, out.
MAN: Really!
(The DOCTOR slams the door.)
DOCTOR: What have you decided, Major Beresford?
BERESFORD: Doctor, I've been telling Sir Colin that without the proper authority I will not mount a raid on someone's private property.
DOCTOR: (right in BERESFORD's face) Waffle! Waffle, waffle, waffle! (to THACKERAY) Where's the Brigadier?
(The telephone rings.)
DOCTOR: (into the phone) He's busy. (He hangs up.)
THACKERAY: He's in Geneva.
BERESFORD: I'm deputising.
DOCTOR: And you can't act without authority.
BERESFORD: Look, I'm in a very difficult position. What exactly is going on down there?
DOCTOR: Revolution's going on down there.
THACKERAY: Revolution? Come now, Doctor. Are you choosing your words with care?
DOCTOR: Somehow the Krynoid can channel its power through other plants. All the vegetation on this planet is about to turn hostile.
THACKERAY: You mean like aggressive rhubarb?
DOCTOR: Yes, aggressive rhubarb.
BERESFORD: What about homicidal gooseberries?
THACKERAY: You are joking, of course, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No, I'm not joking. Read this report. I just snatched it from your secretary. Go on, read it. Aloud.
THACKERAY: Gardener aged fifty-five found strangled in rose arbour. Agricultural worker found strangled in kale field.
DOCTOR: (grabbing the paper and handing it to BERESFORD) You.
BERESFORD: Thirty-two-year-old woman strangled in a garden maze.
DOCTOR: This bit.
BERESFORD: And all within a mile of Chase's estate.
THACKERAY: Well, that's it, then.
DOCTOR: Shall we get started, gentlemen?

[INT. Botany lab]

(The telephone rings, and SARAH runs in from the greenhouse.)
SARAH: (into the phone) Oh, Doctor. You all right? So, what's happening?

[INT. Thackeray's office]

DOCTOR: Things are moving at last. Sir Colin's seen the light, and Major Beresford's getting a laser-gun team together. That should stop the Krynoid. I'm on my way back with a Sergeant Henderson.

[INT. Botany lab]

SARAH: Well, make it soon. The Krynoid's still lurking around outside the house somewhere. Scorby? Oh, don't worry, we're great friends. Well, uneasy allies, then.
(As she speaks, a vine makes its way up the roof tiles and tears the telephone cable free.)
SARAH: Doctor? Doctor? Hello? Doctor!
(Glass breaks, and SARAH looks at the window, where vines have smashed their way through.)

[EXT. Grounds]

(CHASE is prone on a bed of grass.)
CHASE: Yes. Yes. The plants must win. It will be a new world, silent and beautiful.

[INT. Botany lab]

(SCORBY brings some boards in.)
SCORBY: What's the matter with you? What are you doing down there?
SARAH: I was talking to the Doctor, the line went dead, and those vines smashed the panes.
SCORBY: Aw, come on.
SARAH: No, look, they are getting thicker.
SCORBY: (approaching them) Yeah, you're right. They're only plants.
SARAH: So how did the glass break?
SCORBY: How am I supposed to know? Maybe it was the ghost of Sir Bothwell Chase. He's supposed to haunt this place.
SARAH: But why can't you believe me?
SCORBY: Because it doesn't make sense, that's why.
(Vines break another window, and they both duck down.)
SARAH: It's the Krynoid. It's controlling them.
SCORBY: How can it?
SARAH: I don't know. The Doctor will, and he's on his way back. Yes, that surprises you, doesn't it, even more than the Krynoid, but it's true. Have a little faith, Scorby.
HARGREAVES: (entering) Scorby, all the guards have left. I think they've made a run for it.
SCORBY: Typical. Just like a bunch of women.
HARGREAVES: And I heard screams from the west garden, but I, I didn't go out.
SARAH: Let's take a look.
SCORBY: Look, we'd better stay put.
SARAH: He just said he heard a scream. Obviously, someone is in trouble.
SCORBY: Well, what can we do with that thing roaming about out there?
SARAH: What was that you just said about women? (She opens the door, and SCORBY heads after her.)

[EXT. Grounds]

(SARAH and SCORBY come upon a man on the ground whose body is festooned in plant matter.)
SCORBY: He's been strangled by the vine.
SARAH: Oh, come on, Doctor. Where are you?
CHASE: I've taken some fascinating photographs. Quite fascinating.
SCORBY: Look, we're in real trouble. These plants are taking over.
CHASE: And why not? It's their world. We're merely parasites. I must get these photographs developed. (He leaves.)
SCORBY: He's out of his head. He's really gone.
SARAH: He must have been gone for years, if you ask me.

[INT. Greenhouse]

(CHASE sits in yoga position on a metal bridge, surrounded by tropical flora. His 'music' is playing.)
CHASE: Listen to me, my beautiful friends. Listen to me. A new era dawns upon the Earth. You will be restored to your position of dominance.

[INT. Botany lab]

(HARGREAVES closes the greenhouse door, through which we can hear the cacophony, and SCORBY and SARAH enter.)
SCORBY: Hargreaves, where's Chase now?
HARGREAVES: He's in there. I believe he's talking to his plants.
SCORBY: I don't care about that. Get out of the way.

[INT. Greenhouse]

SCORBY: Chase!
CHASE: We shall have perfection. The world will be as it should have been from the beginning, a green paradise.
(SCORBY turns off the sound system at the wall unit and bends down in front of CHASE.)
SCORBY: Chase, listen to me.
CHASE: A harmony of root, stem, leaf, flower.
SCORBY: Chase!
SARAH: It's no good. He can't hear you.
SCORBY: What's the matter with him?
HARGREAVES: He's not himself.
SARAH: He's in some sort of a trance.
SCORBY: (returning to CHASE) Chase, you've got to listen to me. If we don't do something, we're going to be trapped here. Those precious plants of yours are starting to kill people.
CHASE: The time has come. Animals have ruled this planet for millions of years. Now it is our turn.
SCORBY: What do you mean your turn? You're one of us, Chase.
SARAH: He's not. At least not in his mind. You hate us, don't you?
CHASE: Of course. Animals are the enemy.
SARAH: You want to see us all die.
CHASE: It is only a matter of time.
SCORBY: Come on, Hargreaves. We've got to lock him away.
HARGREAVES: Scorby, he's ill! Leave him alone.
SARAH: Scorby, they're moving. The plants, they're moving!
(Leaves begin rolling over the corrugated metal near where they stand. We cut to a UNIT sergeant letting the Daimler through the main gates of the estate. We return to all in the greenhouse bar CHASE being attacked by plant life.)
CHASE: Don't resist us, Scorby. You must die. All plant-eaters must die.

[EXT. Greenhouse]

(As the DOCTOR and HENDERSON approach the building with bottles of liquid and a sprayer, they can hear cries from within.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Sergeant.
HENDERSON: How do we get in? It's barricaded up.
DOCTOR: Break in. (they reach a wooden door and set down the bottles) One, two, three.

[INT. Greenhouse]

DOCTOR: Sergeant!
(He begins to spray the plants that are smothering SARAH. They cease their flurry of activity.)
CHASE: Stop it! Stop it, murderers! Stop it.
(CHASE accosts HENDERSON and is easily thrown down.)
CHASE: You'll pay for this, animal fiends! (He leaves.)
DOCTOR: (pulling dead plant matter from SARAH and helping her stand) Come on.
(SCORBY escapes the plants holding him and heads for the door.)
HENDERSON: (looking down into the foliage) This one's dead, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's get out of here.
(HARGREAVES remains, with his hands visible from within the mass of plants.)

[INT. Botany lab]

DOCTOR: The doors.
HENDERSON: Right.
(They push the doors closed and shove filing cabinets in front of them.)
HENDERSON: (to SARAH as he sets the jugs of liquid on the table) How do you feel?
SARAH: I feel like I've been dragged through a hedge backward.
SCORBY: What is that stuff?
HENDERSON: Latest military defoliant. Still on the secret list. Pity we've used it all.
DOCTOR: Come on, we've got to get every plant out of this place and dump it outside.
HENDERSON: What for, Doctor?
DOCTOR: They're the eyes and ears of the Krynoid.
SCORBY: We'd better keep an eye open for that lunatic Chase.
DOCTOR: Good idea.

[EXT. Greenhouse]

(They start carrying pot plants outside. SARAH runs into the DOCTOR on her way back. We cut to inside, where CHASE locks the door behind them and leans back against it.)
SARAH: (turning when she finds the door locked) Look!
(She refers to the Krynoid, which is visible over the main building. SCORBY runs up to the door.)
SCORBY: Out of the way. It's locked!
(He and HENDERSON bang on the door.)
DOCTOR: Chase!
(We fade out on CHASE's face.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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