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DOCTOR WHO
THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA

Written by
Louis Marks

Part One

[INT. TARDIS corridor]

SARAH [OC]: Where are we now?
DOCTOR: The TARDIS, where else?
SARAH: I know we're in the TARDIS. I just don't know this bit.
DOCTOR: I'll give you a guided tour someday.
(SARAH pauses at a door leading into a fairly large drawing-room-style space with an oval framed painting on the wall opposite the door. A pair of Wellingtons sit inside the door.)
SARAH: What's in there?
DOCTOR: Boot cupboard. Not very interesting.
SARAH: Boot cupboard? It's enormous!
DOCTOR: (as they walk on through the corridor) Oh, I've seen bigger boot cupboards.
SARAH [OC]: Just how big is the TARDIS?
DOCTOR: Well, how big's big? Relative dimensions, you see. No constant.
SARAH: That's not an answer.
DOCTOR: (stopping) How big are you at the moment?
SARAH: Five four, just, and that's still not an answer.
DOCTOR: Listen, listen. There are no measurements in infinity. You humans have got such limited little minds. I don't know why I like you so much.
SARAH: (following him round the corner off-screen) Because you have such good taste.
DOCTOR [OC]: That's true. That's very true.

[INT. Wood-themed console room]

(They enter a dimly lit room similar to the ship's console room, with a small wooden console at the centre.)
SARAH: (entering) Aw, this looks good!
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: Hey.
DOCTOR: Ah, yes. Yes, it is good. Do you know, this is the second control room. (entering) You know, I can run the TARDIS just as easily from here as I could from the old one. Come to think of it, this was the old one.
(As he says the last, he lifts a pink ruffled shirt from a suit form near the console and shakes the dust from it.)
SARAH: That looks like a shaving mirror.
DOCTOR: Yes, it is.
(SARAH begins playing a descant recorder she has found, as the DOCTOR folds down the wooden panels on the console to reveal electronics. He flips a switch, and the room hums into life as lights come up. It's rather steampunk. As SARAH plays a final, long note on the recorder, slats in the wall opposite slide apart and a viewscreen is revealed. It shows a star field.)
DOCTOR: Aha.
SARAH: What? What's that?
(A close look at the viewscreen shows a blue-tinted spiral, which looks a bit like stars and snow going down a drain.)
DOCTOR: It's the Mandragora Helix. I thought we'd avoided it.
SARAH: Oh. What's the Mandragora Helix?
DOCTOR: It's a spiral of pure energy that radiates outwards in ways no-one understands, though at its centre there's a controlling intelligence.
SARAH: Intelligence?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: We're heading straight for it.
DOCTOR: Yes, it does seem more active than usual. Let's hope we can counter-magnetise enough to resist the pull.
SARAH: Is it living?
DOCTOR: It's living, all right, but that's all anyone- (The ship lurches.)
SARAH: (thrown off her feet) Ah! Oof! Something has hit us, Doctor!
DOCTOR: We'll just have to push on and hope we come out the other side.
SARAH: Oh, it's inside my head!
DOCTOR: Concentrate, Sarah.
SARAH: On what?
DOCTOR: Anything, anything. Say the alphabet backwards. Come on. Z, Y, X...
SARAH: W, U, V, T, S
(We see the spinning TARDIS being sucked into the whirlpool, distorting as it nears the centre. The console room shimmers as SARAH holds her head. Things stabilise, and we find rings of variegated crystals in blackness - either concentric or a spiral-shaped tube of rings. It is in this tube that the TARDIS appears.)
SARAH: F, E, D
DOCTOR: (pulling her hands from her head) C, B, A. It's all over, it's all over. Any ill effects?
SARAH: No. Don't think so. Are we there?
DOCTOR: Where?
SARAH: Where we're going.
DOCTOR: I don't know. The astrosextant rectifier has gone out of phase. I'll just go out and have a look. (as she mounts the steps out of the room to follow him) Not you, me. You stay there.
(He heads out the main doors.)

[EXT. Helix]

(The DOCTOR steps out onto the blackness in which the TARDIS sits. Behind the ship is part of one ring of crystals.)
DOCTOR: Hmm. Bigger than my boot cupboard.
ECHO: Bigger than my boot cupboard.
(SARAH, who has been peering out, now steps out and joins him.)
SARAH: I see what you mean about relative dimensions.
DOCTOR: (echoing slightly) Yes. I thought I told you to stay inside.
SARAH: What's that noise?
DOCTOR: What noise?
(From beyond the ring, something that looks like a red flame is headed toward them.)
DOCTOR: Come on, quick! Get down.
(He pulls her down behind the TARDIS, out of the way of the red ball of flame on its way past.)
DOCTOR: Come on. Let's get out of here.
SARAH: What was it?
DOCTOR: (echoing) Helix energy. It could have been very nasty.
SARAH: What do you mean 'could have been very nasty'? It was. My ears-
DOCTOR: Will you stop wittering?
(He shoves her into the TARDIS. Over the sound of its dematerialisation we hear deep inhuman laughter.)

[EXT. Woods]

(MEN on horseback set upon a group with a cart of hay. There is shouting as the ambushed people attempt to flee. Several are run though. The hay, which one man had tried to save, is set alight. A man in finery appears, on a white horse, and monitors proceedings, as a GUARD in armour looks on.)
FEDERICO: Leave a few alive, Captain, to tell the others how insurrection is dealt with.
(We hear a few shouts in the distance. More hay is set on fire as the MEN ride off.)

[EXT. San Martino]

(FEDERICO and his men ride through beneath an archway. In the background are Italian-style buildings of the sort seen in Portmeirion, Wales.)
SOLDIER: Make way for Count Federico.

[INT. Duke's bed chamber]

(A priest makes the sign of the cross over an old man in his bed and bows, taking his leave. Two clean-cut young men approach the bedside.)
MARCO: He was a good man, Giuliano. A just and noble ruler.
(The two men turn and approach a large-bearded man who wears a dark robe with a huge high collar.)
GIULIANO: Hieronymous, you foretold my father's death. How?
HIERONYMOUS: Everything is foretold by the stars. I am just a humble astrologer. I only interpret their meaning.
GIULIANO: The exact day, the very hour. It's not possible.
HIERONYMOUS: (as FEDERICO enters) When Mars comes into conjunction with Saturn in the seventh layer, in the House of the Ram, and the moon is full-grown, death comes to great ones. So it is decreed-
GIULIANO: I don't believe it.
HIERONYMOUS: Many do not believe it, but the decrees of fate will be obeyed. We have no choice. (With a small bow, he leaves.)
GIULIANO: (with some bitterness) I'm sorry you couldn't be present at my father's deathbed, Uncle.
FEDERICO: (not turning to face him) I came as quickly as I could. There were important matters of state to attend to.
GIULIANO: I see. I'm sorry, I thought you were out enjoying some sport.
FEDERICO: (turning now) There was some trouble among the peasants in the villages. They needed a lesson.
GIULIANO: Isn't that your sport, Uncle?
(FEDERICO exits, and the death knell begins.)
MARCO: You're upset now, my Lord, but don't anger your uncle, not at this time.
GIULIANO: If I don't speak the truth, Marco, who will?
MARCO: You're alone now, Giuliano. Your uncle is strong and ruthless.
GIULIANO: You're forgetting, Marco. I am Duke now, and I want to rule over a land where there is no tyranny, no lies, no blind ignorance and superstition like that old fool who preaches about the stars. We make our own lives, Marco, not the stars.
MARCO: Nevertheless, it is most remarkable. Your father was in good health. To die so suddenly... And he did predict it, exactly.

[INT. Hieronymous's rooms]

(FEDERICO paces about as HIERONYMOUS pours out a frothing, steaming potion from a cylinder.)
FEDERICO: Oh, he angers me. The last obstacle between myself and the dukedom.
HIERONYMOUS: Your nephew Giuliano?
FEDERICO: How soon?
HIERONYMOUS: You must be patient.
FEDERICO: I've been patient. Now it is almost within my grasp.
HIERONYMOUS: Nevertheless, so many deaths in so short a time, all so suddenly.
FEDERICO: You said yourself it was written in the stars. Don't say you're doubting your own predictions.
HIERONYMOUS: Giuliano has a sharp mind. He may suspect.
FEDERICO: All the more reason to act quickly. One day, two days at the most. The poison is still ready? Well, what's wrong?
HIERONYMOUS: These last few weeks, as the summer solstice approaches, I have been feeling-
FEDERICO: Feeling what?
HIERONYMOUS: As if my powers were growing, as if I had been chosen to be granted visions of the future.
FEDERICO: Hah! So many correct predictions have gone to your head.
HIERONYMOUS: The stars will not be mocked!
FEDERICO: And neither will I! Cast your horoscope, Hieronymous. The young Duke Giuliano will die in two days' time. I will do the rest.
(We fade out to the sound of the malevolent laughter.)

[EXT. Woods]

(The TARDIS appears in a wood amidst the sound of chirping birds.)
DOCTOR: (as they investigate their surroundings) Strange. Forced landing.
SARAH: You mean you weren't in control?
DOCTOR: Not that time. I didn't touch a thing. Promise.
SARAH: Ooh, it's very pleasant. Nice, warm, hmm.
DOCTOR: Maybe that's why I stopped using the old control room.
SARAH: Doctor, there's some fantastic oranges over here!
DOCTOR: Helix force fields must have distorted the co-ordinates.
(As he bends down to examine a broken container made of dark glass, SARAH picks an orange. As she eats it, figures with black cowls watch from behind the foliage.)
DOCTOR: (laughing) We've landed on Earth. Glass technology indicates Mediterranean area. Late fifteenth century. Not a very pleasant time. Sarah- (looking about) Sarah? Sarah?
(The three people in black robes are slowly carrying a limp SARAH away down the path. The DOCTOR notices this.)
DOCTOR: Stop.
(They stop, and one of them approaches him on the path. Reaching him, the figure slowly raises its arms. The DOCTOR grabs one of those arms and throws the man over his own arm. The black-robed body ends up flipped onto the ground.)
DOCTOR: (stepping forward) Now put the girl down. Gently.
(The figure holding her obeys, but the man from the ground has got up and clobbers the DOCTOR on the back of the head with a large rock. He falls forward onto the ground. We then see the door to the TARDIS open. The red energy exits, rising and sparking. On its way, it hits a raised bit of ground, causing it to smoke. The energy ball heads off past the trees. We then see the DOCTOR wake up and get to his feet. He is the only one present now.
The DOCTOR sees a PEASANT cutting reeds across the way.)
DOCTOR: Hell-
(He stops because the energy has appeared. It hits the water, causing it to churn and boil. The sound catches the PEASANT's attention. He picks up his scythe, which catches fire as the energy approaches. He is thrown backward, and the energy vanishes. The DOCTOR examines the man's dead body, which is smoking. The energy appears to have left aqua crystals on the corpse.)
DOCTOR: Mandragora energy. And I brought it here. It got into the TARDIS.

[INT. Giuliano's rooms]

(GIULIANO sighs and sits down.)
MARCO: (polishing his sword) What is it?
GIULIANO: Well, there's this man in Florence who claims that by arranging ground glasses in a certain order, it's possible to see the moon and the stars as large as your hand.
MARCO: (laughing) Is that a good thing?
GIULIANO: Well, of course it's a good thing. That way, we can learn more about them, understand their mystery.
MARCO: What is there to know about the stars except how they move in the heavens? And we've known that for hundreds of years.
GIULIANO: That's the whole point, Marco. Perhaps the stars don't move as we think they move. That's what this man in Florence is saying. Maybe the stars don't move at all. Maybe it's we who move.
(As MARCO laughs, FEDERICO and HIERONYMOUS enter.)
GIULIANO: It is customary to knock before entering a room, Uncle.
FEDERICO: I'm sorry, Giuliano, but there's bad news.
GIULIANO: Why? What's happened?
FEDERICO: Tell him.
HIERONYMOUS: Sire, forgive me, it is not of my doing, but this morning I was casting a horoscope-
GIULIANO: I've told you often enough, I don't believe in horoscopes.
HIERONYMOUS: I only wish I too could not believe, but it was there too plainly to be ignored.
GIULIANO: What was there? (pausing) My death?
HIERONYMOUS: Please, my Lord, do not take these things lightly. I beg you not to leave the palace. Take no risks of any kind.
GIULIANO: I've no intention of sacrificing my life to some old superstitious nonsense.
FEDERICO: Remember your father? He too scoffed.
GIULIANO: Oh, yes. I remember my father. His death remains a mystery, but of one thing I am certain. It was nothing to do with the stars.
(FEDERICO gestures toward the door, and HIERONYMOUS bows and exits. FEDERICO too heads toward the door.)
GIULIANO: How are the troubles with the peasants, Uncle?
FEDERICO: We think they are being stirred by spies sent by our enemies, but we shall catch them and make them pay for it.
(He leaves with a bow.)

[EXT. Woods]

(Some people in peasant's garb are huddled by the path, muttering amongst themselves. A whistling DOCTOR approaches them.)
DOCTOR: Excuse me. I'm a traveller around here. I'm a stranger in these parts, and I was wondering if you'd seen a girl. She'd be about, um-
(The people stand and flee, shouting, as horsemen round the corner behind the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: She's a friend of mine. She'd be about five foot four and a half.
ROSSINI: (their leader) Who are you?
DOCTOR: I'm a traveller.
ROSSINI: From where?
DOCTOR: Have you seen a young girl, about five foot five-
ROSSINI: Silence!
DOCTOR: Probably with orange juice on her chin.
(ROSSINI draws his sword and the DOCTOR shuts up.)
ROSSINI: (drawing his sword and pointing it at the DOCTOR) Your life is in peril. Produce your documents.
(The DOCTOR places his orange on the tip of the sword and starts going through his coat pockets. He produces a football noisemaker, retrieves his orange, and starts rotating the noisemaker. This spooks the horses, which rear up. The DOCTOR takes the opportunity to grab the reins of one, push the rider off, and mount the beast as it starts running off.)
ROSSINI: (as the DOCTOR rides off) After him! Don't let him go!
(The DOCTOR is soon surrounded and knocked to the ground. ROSSINO looks him over.)

[INT. Temple]

(We are in a large, dimly lit room held up by stone pillars. A stone altar has pride of place, at the top of a set of stone steps. Several men in black robes bring in a struggling SARAH.)
SARAH: Come on, this is ridiculous! Where are you taking me? Who are you? Say something?
(A grey-haired man, with hood down, at the camera's vantage point, stands.)
PRIEST: Release her.
(SARAH removes her blindfold, and the man next to her takes it.)
PRIEST: Where was she found?
MONK: On the slopes of the hill of sorrows.
PRIEST: At what hour?
MONK: At the noon hour.
PRIEST: Exactly as it was foretold. A maiden fair of face and sturdy of body.
SARAH: You can forget the flattery. What do you lot want?
PRIEST: It is written that some are conscious of the purpose for which they are chosen. Others are as innocent lambs.
SARAH: Sorry?
PRIEST: My child, the purity of your sacrifice renders it doubly welcome to the mighty Demnos, god of the twin realms of moontide and solstice.
SARAH: Sacrifice? Now just a minute!
PRIEST: Let her be prepared to receive the sacred blade.
(The hooded figures drag her off.)

[INT. Throne room]

(Courtiers clap politely as FEDERICO wins a game of chess.)
ROSSINI: (entering with his men) This is the man, sire.
FEDERICO: I hear you led my ruffians quite a dance.
DOCTOR: Oh, just a short gallop. It's good for the liver.
FEDERICO: What is your name?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Uh, Doctor.
FEDERICO: Where do you come from? You wear strange garments.
DOCTOR: (looking at his clothes) Around. Around.
FEDERICO: You're already tall enough, Doctor. You will answer my questions civilly and promptly, or your body will be lengthened on the rack.
DOCTOR: Please don't threaten me, Count. I've come here to help you.
(He steps forward but is held back.)
ROSSINI: Sire, let me punish this insolent dog.
FEDERICO: Wait. The fellow interests me. How can you help me?
DOCTOR: A wave of energy has been released, Count. It's part of the Mandragora Helix. It could do untold damage. And I must take it back to the stars. (there is silence, then he and the others laugh) Please, please, please. Please listen. Listen, please. I realise that must sound very strange to you. Let me put it this way. (gesturing) A ball of heavenly fire has come down to Earth. It could consume everything in its path. It could destroy the world.
ROSSINI: His mind is afflicted, sire. It's the fall from the horse.
FEDERICO: He professes sorcery. There is no gold for you in San Martino. My seer Hieronymous is the finest in the land.
DOCTOR: Ask your seer Hieronymous if he's ever seen an energy wave.
FEDERICO: Do you tell the future?
DOCTOR: Sometimes.
FEDERICO: Can you tell mine?
DOCTOR: No.
FEDERICO: Why not?
DOCTOR: Because you don't have a future unless you listen to me.
FEDERICO: Send Hieronymous here. (as ROSSINI leaves) If you are making sport with us, Doctor, we shall make sport with your body. Be warned.

[EXT. San Martino]

SOLDIER: (gesturing to people who are bringing in various products) Hurry, hurry. The curfew.
(The sparking energy appears, he draws his sword and squints as it approaches, and the sword ends up melted. He has a similar fate, falling to the ground in agony and ending up charred.)

[INT. Throne room]

HIERONYMOUS: Now, answer me this. What does it signify when Venus is in opposition to Saturn and a great shadow passes over the Moon?
DOCTOR: This is all a great waste of time.
FEDERICO: Answer him.
DOCTOR: Well, it depends, doesn't it?
HIERONYMOUS: On what?
DOCTOR: On whether the Moon is made of cheese, on whether the cock crows three times before dawn and twelve hens lay addled eggs.
HIERONYMOUS: Pfft. What school of philosophy is that?
DOCTOR: I can easily teach him. All it requires is a colourful imagination and a glib tongue.
FEDERICO: And you, Doctor, have a mocking tongue. Prepare the execution.
DOCTOR: (being taken out as HIERONYMOUS laughs slightly) But you haven't listened to a word I've said!
GIULIANO: Who is that man?
FEDERICO: A spy. (He leaves.)
GIULIANO: A most uncommon spy.

[INT. Temple]

(SARAH is chained to the base of the wall. Robed men free her and, as she cries out, force her into a loose white gown.)
SARAH: No! No! Aggh! No!
PRIEST: (entering) You are blessed, my child. Few have the honour of serving the mighty Demnos so totally. When the moon rises over the southern obelisk, your hour of glory will have come. (to another man) Cup.
(A steaming chalice is passed to the PRIEST. He approaches with it. SARAH cowers.)

[EXT. Square]

(A drum is being beaten as FEDERICO steps out onto a balcony. Men stand in formation, and the EXECUTIONER stands, ready for business, sword prepared for the job. A small group of men escort the DOCTOR to him. At a downward gesture from the EXECUTIONER, the DOCTOR is pushed onto his knees, and the men release his arms. After a glance from the headsman, FEDERICO signals and the EXECUTIONER raises his sword.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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