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

DOCTOR WHO
THE FACE OF EVIL

Written by
Chris Boucher

Part One

[INT. Sevateem meeting hall]

(Various leather-clad folk are gathered around wicker-pole seating as their leader presides over them from a seat that looks as if it had more sophisticated origins. Most of the tribe are bare-chested men, some with headbands.)
CALIB: (speaking to ANDOR) You are the leader, Andor. It is for you to decide. But there can be but one punishment for such a heresy. Banishment.
ANDOR: What say you, Sole?
SOLE: (an older man) You know you should not ask.
ANDOR: Then it is agreed. (speaking to the young woman with long brown hair who is being judged here) You must be sent beyond.
TOMAS: No! She's young. She spoke rashly.
LEELA: Do not beg, Tomas. What I said was the truth.
(The shaman steps forward. NEEVA is a bearded, shaven-headed man with a metal symbol of office hanging around his neck.)
NEEVA: What she said profaned the holy purpose of the tribe of Sevateem.
LEELA: Holy purpose? To die in another useless attack?
NEEVA: The great god Xoanon demands that she be cast out. He told me this.
LEELA: Liar! There is no Xoanon!
NEEVA: Blasphemy!
ANDOR: Leela, will you take the test of the Horda?
(LEELA shakes her head.)
ANDOR: Will any take it for her?
SOLE: (after a pause) I will.
LEELA: No. You'll be killed too.
SOLE: Be silent, daughter. You have said enough.
ANDOR: Test him.
(Two men usher SOLE out of the main hall.)
LEELA: Andor, please, call them back. What I said, I was wrong. Forgive me, please. Neeva, greatest shaman, speaker of law, forgive me, please.
ANDOR: Be silent, girl. Your father was a warrior. Do not shame him.
(We hear screams. LEELA and TOMAS perform a gesture of touching their neck, left shoulder, and left hip with the right hand.)
ANDOR: Outcast of the tribe of Sevateem, be gone from us.
NEEVA: Spawn of the Evil One, return to your master.
ANDOR: You have until sunrise. If you are still within the boundary then, you must be thrown to the Horda.
(She leaves. The others, apart from TOMAS, huddle to speak in small groups.)

[EXT. Forest]

(Outside, it is late evening. On the sandy ground, a creature with roughly the shape of a forked-tailed Cybermat makes its way past dead-looking trees. It is here where the TARDIS materialises. Out steps the DOCTOR steps out.)
DOCTOR: (looking around) I think this is not Hyde Park. Could be a nexial discontinuity. Must remember to overhaul those tracers. Put a knot in my hanky. (noticing that it already has a knot in it) I wonder what that was for. Little look round, Doctor? Why not?
(We are looking over the bare shoulder of a man holding a crossbow. He is not the only one. LEELA is their quarry in the petrified-look forest. She knows this, She hides behind a tree and gets her crossbow ready. When she sees one of her stalkers, she lets her dart fly and he falls. As she reloads, another hunter takes aim, but he too falls. TOMAS silently cheers.)
LEELA: Tomas. What are you doing here?
TOMAS: I've come to take you back.
LEELA: You can't.
TOMAS: I saw Neeva send them. We can tell the council.
LEELA: It won't make any difference, not now.
TOMAS: You can't cross the boundary.
LEELA: They didn't leave me much choice.
TOMAS: There are phantoms in the beyond.
LEELA: Feast-fire stories.
TOMAS: Well, there's something there.
LEELA: Then I'll face it. I can take care of myself.
TOMAS: I'll go with you.
LEELA: No. Go back to the tribe. I'm going now. Goodbye, Tomas. Beware of the devious Calib. One day, he'll get so cunning even he won't know what he's planned.
(Once he has watched her go, we cut to the DOCTOR, who is whistling 'Colonel Bogey' as he checks out the forest. He hears something, pauses, and resumes. We then definitely hear a growl. So does LEELA, who starts running. Vines sway behind her. At a full run now, she trips and lands on her face at the DOCTOR's feet.)
DOCTOR: Hello. Hello, did I startle you? Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you.
LEELA: The Evil One.
DOCTOR: Well, nobody's perfect, but that's overstating it a little. No, I'm the Doctor. What's your name?
LEELA: Leela.
DOCTOR: Leela. A nice name, Leela. I never met anyone called Leela. Would you like a jelly baby?
LEELA: It's true, then. They say the Evil One eats babies.
DOCTOR: You mustn't believe all they say. No, these are sweets. They're rather good. Go on, have one.
(He holds out the bag invitingly.)
DOCTOR: Go on.
(She hesitantly reaches in and takes a black jelly baby. She sniffs it and tears off half of it to eat.)
DOCTOR: Leela.
(LEELA eats the half jelly baby.)
DOCTOR: Leela, either you've got four friends with very bad colds or we're in danger. Which is it?
LEELA: They're your creatures.
DOCTOR: They are? I wonder if they know that. What are they like?
LEELA: Well, they can't be seen.
DOCTOR: Ah.
LEELA: They are phantoms.
DOCTOR: Invisible. We've got a chance.
(He removes a large wind-up alarm clock, with numbers 0 to 4, from his pocket.)
LEELA: A magic talisman?
DOCTOR: No, it's a clockwork egg timer. (winding it) To our friends, whatever they are, the visible spectrum is irrelevant. They're blind. Crudely speaking, they home in on vibrations.
(He bends and sets the timer at the indentation of a large stone. He runs back to her as he hears a bellow in the distance. LEELA raises her crossbow.)
DOCTOR: Now, Leela-
LEELA: They've gone.
DOCTOR: Sssh, ssh, shh, shh. I want you to do exactly as I say. You and I are going to walk away from here very slowly and very quietly. And no matter what happens, you mustn't cry out or make any sudden move. And above all, you mustn't run until I tell you. Is that clear?
(She nods.)
DOCTOR: Good. Now come on.
(She doesn't move, and the DOCTOR holds his hand out to her.)
DOCTOR: Come on.
(He takes her hand, and they walk quietly through the trees.)
DOCTOR: (whispering) Freeze.
LEELA: What?
DOCTOR: Ssssh!
(The vegetation sways, and large footprints appear in the sandy soil.)
DOCTOR: Now tread carefully. (so saying, he trips and lands on his face; then, another footprint forms near him, and the alarm rings) Saved by the bell. Come on. Come on.
(They stand. We hear bellowing, small rocks near the timer are thrown about, and the timer gets squashed as if it were nothing.)

[INT. Village]

TOMAS: Calib! Calib, wait. I don't know if you're interested, but Neeva sent two men in secret to try and kill Leela.
CALIB: I'm interested, Tomas.
TOMAS: They failed.
CALIB: Neeva is making mistakes.
TOMAS: You must call a council meeting and tell them.
CALIB: Tell them what?
TOMAS: That he broke the law.
CALIB: Oh, don't be naïve, Tomas. Even if the council believed it, don't you think Neeva'd have an answer? He's the speaker of law.
TOMAS: There must be something we can do.
CALIB: There is. You know he's promised us victory in the raid.
TOMAS: What more would you expect?
CALIB: No, he's promised us! He says that Xoanon has told him we will win. You see what that means?
TOMAS: That he will look a fool if we don't.
CALIB: More than that. He's going to look like the charlatan he is. Then we can move against him and that puppet Andor.
TOMAS: Many men are going to die, Calib. We should stop the raid!
CALIB: Leela tried.
TOMAS: And she's probably dead.

[EXT. Forest]

(The DOCTOR and LEELA stop running, and she squats.)
LEELA: Stop. We're safe now. We can rest. The creatures won't cross the boundary.
DOCTOR: How can you be sure?
LEELA: Well, they never have. You should know that.
DOCTOR: I keep on telling you, I'm not the Evil One. Who was it saved your life?
LEELA: You did.
DOCTOR: Yes, thank you. Never cross the boundary? You know something? I'm sure those creatures don't stay on their side of the boundary out of a sense of fair play. There must be a fence of some kind.
LEELA: A fence?
DOCTOR: Yes, a fence.

[INT. Shrine]

(We are in a room with tribal ornaments and bits of technology along the wall. This room is adjacent to the meeting hall. NEEVA reclines on what looks to be an acceleration couch.)
XOANON [OC]: (sounding like a slightly higher-pitched Doctor) Neeva! Neeva!
(NEEVA hastens to kneel on some skins.)
NEEVA: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.
XOANON [OC]: The girl Leela has returned across the boundary. You have failed.
NEEVA: O great god Xoanon, I have faithfully done all that you commanded of me.
XOANON [OC]: You crawling thing, do you presume to argue?
NEEVA: (bowing) No, Master. Forgive me.
XOANON [OC]: She and the one who is with her must be destroyed. See that it is done.

[EXT. Forest]

(The DOCTOR lifts a fan-like turquoise-grey plant, beneath which is a piece of equipment with coils, partially buried.)
DOCTOR: Got it. Low-intensity sonic disrupter set in a hundred-and-eighty-degree spread. Simple but effective.
LEELA: Does that keep away the phantoms?
DOCTOR: Yes. It gives them a nasty headache if they go too close. They're probably set at intervals along the whole boundary. (he replaces the plant and stands) The technology's quite advanced, so you didn't put them there.
LEELA: Xoanon!
(She performs the blessing sign.)
DOCTOR: Xoanon? What's those?
LEELA: He's worshipped by the tribe.
DOCTOR: What, he's a god?
LEELA: Yes. I was cast out for speaking against him.
DOCTOR: Really?
LEELA: It's said he's held captive.
DOCTOR: By whom?
LEELA: By the Evil One and his followers, the Tesh. Maybe there is a holy purpose. I don't know what to believe anymore.
DOCTOR: Well, that sounds healthy anyway, Leela. Never be certain of anything. It's a sign of weakness. Now, where's this Xoanon held?
LEELA: Uh, within the Black Wall, wherein lies Paradise.
DOCTOR: Is that just religious gobbledygook, or is that an actual place?
LEELA: There is a wall.
DOCTOR: Is there? Will you show me?

[INT. Meeting hall]

ANDOR: Why has the game disappeared from the land? Where is the love of Xoanon for his people? Where is your magic?
NEEVA: Xoanon knows there are those amongst the people who do not wish to fight.
ANDOR: And so he starves us?
NEEVA: No, but how can he bless people who do not love him? There will be food for those who brave the wall in his name.
ANDOR: Men do not fight well on empty stomachs!
(TOMAS enters.)
NEEVA: The wall will be at its weakest soon. Soon you can call the warriors and I will speak the litany.
ANDOR: (as NEEVA starts to leave) Do not delay too long.
(After NEEVA exits by the back door. ANDOR thumps the arm of his leader's chair.)
ANDOR: Well, Tomas?
TOMAS: There's something I wish to say.
ANDOR: Yes?
TOMAS: You should know that I agreed with Leela about the attack. It's madness. Many of us shall die, and we will achieve nothing.
ANDOR: Nevertheless, we shall attack.

[EXT. Meeting hall]

(NEEVA is listening to the discussion from outside.)
ANDOR [OC]: It is the will of Xoanon.
TOMAS [OC]: We only have Neeva's word for that.

[INT. Meeting hall]

ANDOR: We must have faith.
TOMAS: In the word of an assassin? He sent men to try and kill Leela, but perhaps you already knew that.
ANDOR: Watch your tongue, boy! And don't let me hear you speak against the attack again. We shall strive to free Xoanon from the Tesh, and we will do it together, as one people.
TOMAS: Yes, Andor.
ANDOR: Come, Tomas
(They both exit through the front door, as NEEVA skulks about at the back.)

[EXT. Forest]

(It is growing dark. LEELA leads the DOCTOR through the trees.)
LEELA: Ssh.
DOCTOR: (whispering) What is it?
LEELA: (whispering) I thought I heard something.
DOCTOR: What?
LEELA: (whispering) Into cover, quick! (She hides behind a tree, but he remains in the open.)
DOCTOR: I don't- (whispering) Leela? Leela, where are you?
LEELA: (whispering from the underbrush) Over here.
DOCTOR: What? This is no time to be playing games.
LEELA: I don't understand.
DOCTOR: You don't understand. If they're preparing for a battle, they're hardly likely to send men on patrol on the off chance that you might come back. (two crossbow bolts embed themselves in the tree in front of his nose) On the other hand, I could be wrong about that.
[OC]: Stand still!
DOCTOR: Oh, absolutely. (sotto) Keep down, Leela, and get moving.
LEELA: (sotto) I can't leave you. They'll kill you.
DOCTOR: (sotto) Go away. (more loudly) That was either very good shooting or very bad. Either way, I wouldn't dream of moving.
(Three men with crossbows come into view.)
WARRIOR: Who are you?
DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor. Who are you, and why are you shooting at me?
WARRIOR: Where is Leela?
DOCTOR: Who?
WARRIOR: Spread out. She must be here somewhere.
DOCTOR: Look, would you mind if I turned round? I feel a bit silly talking to this tree.
(He turns around and starts to walk forward. The WARRIOR hurriedly blesses himself.)
WARRIOR: The Evil One.
DOCTOR: Oh dear, you too. Well then, tread softly, gentlemen, or I'll turn you into toads. (we see LEELA start to sneak off) That gesture you did. Yes, that's the one. It's presumably to ward off evil. It's interesting because it's also the sequence for checking the seals on a Starfall 7 spacesuit. And what makes that particularly interesting is that you don't know what a Starfall 7 spacesuit is, do you? (he holds an orange jelly baby under the nose of another of the warriors) Now drop your weapons, or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby.
WARRIOR: Kill him, then.
DOCTOR: What?
WARRIOR: Kill him, then.
DOCTOR: I don't take orders from anyone. (he eats the jelly baby) Take me to your leader.

[INT. Meeting hall]

(ANDOR enters the hall full of tribesmen and takes his seat. NEEVA mutters shamanic words as he reverently holds a piece of equipment with round, blue connectors at the top, gripped by a pipe on either side.)
ANDOR: Bring it forth.
(The WARRIORS escort the DOCTOR in. His hands are tied, and his scarf is wrapped round his face, covering his eyes. One of the men unwraps the scarf.)
DOCTOR: (smiling) Good evening. I think you're going to be very happy I came here tonight.
(LEELA is using a large knife to slice her way through the fabric back wall of Neeva's room. Job done, she carefully climbs through. Meanwhile, in the hall, NEEVA leaps down and begins shaking the piece of equipment, raising and lowering it in line with the Doctor's body as protection against evil.)
NEEVA: Heeeey! Hi-ya, hi-ya. Hey ya...
DOCTOR: I'd be careful of that if I were you. It's an ultrabeam accelerator.
NEEVA: (holding the item of technology aloft) See how it fears the sacred relics of Xoanon.
DOCTOR: If there happens to be a charge in there, you could transform this whole village into a smoky hole in the ground.
NEEVA: (now behind the DOCTOR to fend off the evil on all sides) Hear how it threatens us.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, look, if you'll just untie my hands, I think I have an idea of what's going on. I may be able to help.
NEEVA: Hear how it squirms for release. Hey, hi-ya yaaa. (raising the device again) Ah, ah, ah, it cannot deceive us.
DOCTOR: Oh no, I can see you're a person of very superior intellect. (to ANDOR) Are you the leader of this tribe, or is he?
ANDOR: Bring it closer.
(The DOCTOR is pushed forward fairly heavily.)
ANDOR: (slowly) Will you release our god Xoanon?
DOCTOR: Well, gladly, if I was holding him prisoner, but I'm not.
ANDOR: Then you must be destroyed, that we may release him.
DOCTOR: Eh?
(ANDOR stands and raises his knife to the DOCTOR's throat.)
NEEVA: (grabbing ANDOR's wrist) Wait, Andor! Call the warriors together, and I will speak the litany. Then it shall be destroyed before them, and they will know that victory is ours.
ANDOR: (lowering his arm) Very well.
NEEVA: I will prepare myself.
ANDOR: Guard, give the signal.
DOCTOR: Don't hurry on my account.
(LEELA hides as NEEVA enters his room. We hear a gong, then see someone hitting it. This is a large metal plate reading 'Survey Team 6'.)
ANDOR: I cannot believe it.
DOCTOR: Andor, listen to me.
ANDOR: No. No!
DOCTOR: Andor, please listen to me. I am not the Evil One. I am a traveller, that's all. Your tribe has obviously been visited by travellers before.
ANDOR: Before? But that is impossible.
DOCTOR: They're space travellers, Andor, men from another world. The whole place is littered with their equipment, their weapons and tools. Your legend of a captive god is obviously related to them in some way.
ANDOR: Guard it well.
DOCTOR: Andor, please think about what-
ANDOR: Its words are evil.
DOCTOR: Andor.
ANDOR: Do not listen to him!
DOCTOR: (as ANDOR leaves) Andor, killing me isn't going to help you. (to himself) It isn't going to do me much good either, is it?

[INT. Shrine]

(LEELA is still hiding, as NEEVA prays, wearing spacesuit remnants as a holy robe. The arms are over his shoulders, and the helmet hangs, top upward, at his back.)
NEEVA: Let the tribe of the Sevateem partake of your strength, Xoanon, that they may inherit their kingdom. Hear thy servant Neeva. Hear the shaman of the Sevateem. Hear my prayer.

[INT. Meeting hall]

(NEEVA enters. He turns his back to the DOCTOR and speaks to a guard.)
NEEVA: Lugo, when I reach the end of the litany, you know what to do.
(LEELA creeps toward the back door.)

[EXT. Meeting hall]

(The tribe are gathered. NEEVA is ready to begin, and they kneel. The DOCTOR is paying attention as NEEVA recites...)
NEEVA: Our fathers of the tribe of Sevateem were sent forth by God to seek Paradise.
ALL: And still we seek.
NEEVA: They searched and found it not. While they searched, the tribe of Tesh-
ALL: Cursed be the cowards of Tesh.
NEEVA: Remained at the Place of Land, betrayed our fathers.
ALL: Death to the betrayers of Tesh.

[INT. Meeting hall]

ALL [OC]: Death to the betrayers of Tesh.
NEEVA [OC]: Made a pact with the Evil One, and God turned his face from us.
(LEELA sneaks in. She stabs LUGO in the back, and he silently staggers, then falls to his knees.)
NEEVA [OC]: And the Evil One raised the Tower of Immolo and the Black Wall and gave them to the tribe of Tesh.
DOCTOR: How did you do that?
LEELA: Janis thorn. It paralyses, then kills. There's no cure.
(The DOCTOR looks at her.)
ALL [OC]: Cursed be the tribe of Tesh.
DOCTOR: What?
LEELA: It was necessary.
ALL [OC]: Cursed be the tribe of Tesh.
LEELA: Come on.

[EXT. Meeting hall]

NEEVA: The tribe of Tesh stand between the sons of the tribe of Sevateem and Xoanon, god of their fathers. We must kill the servants of the Evil One.
ALL: Kill the Tesh. Kill the Tesh!

[INT. Meeting hall]

ALL [OC]: Kill the Tesh!
DOCTOR: No, listen. Listen.
LEELA: We haven't got time to listen.
ALL [OC]: Kill the Tesh!
LEELA: They're coming to the bit about killing the Evil One, and that's you! Have you forgotten?
NEEVA [OC]: Now is the time when the Sevateem shall rise in their wrath.
DOCTOR: Do you know this litany?
LEELA: Of course. We're taught it as children.
DOCTOR: Good. Then let's go, and don't dawdle.
ALL [OC]: In the name of Xoanon.

[EXT. Meeting hall]

NEEVA: (hands raised) And kill their master, the Evil One!

[INT. Meeting hall]

(Two WARRIORS enter.)
ALL [OC]: Destroy it! Destroy it! Destroy it!
WARRIOR: It's escaped! The Evil One's escaped!
(LEELA precedes the DOCTOR through the hole she has made, into Neeva's room.)
NEEVA: Find it! Find it! Search everywhere!
(LUGO is given a shove and falls over.)

[INT. Shrine]

WARRIOR 2: Here! It's here!

[EXT. Village]

(The DOCTOR escapes. When a WARRIOR's head emerges through Leela's hole, she uses a Janis thorn on him, and he goes quiescent instantly. She spreads his arms out to complicate pulling him back inside.)
DOCTOR: (who has been watching from near the trees) That wasn't necessary. Who licensed you to slaughter people? No more Janis thorns, you understand? Ever.

[EXT. Meeting hall]

ANDOR: He must be recaptured. It is imperative.
TOMAS: Right, Andor.
ANDOR: Take four men, and search beyond the village.
(The gong is struck once.)
CALIB: Quickly. Quickly!

[EXT. Forest]

DOCTOR: This way.
LEELA: No, this way.
DOCTOR: What?
LEELA: This way.

[INT. Shrine]

(NEEVA is reclining again.)
CALIB: Neeva! Neeva!
NEEVA: Well?
CALIB: It got away, with Leela's help.
NEEVA: Devil-spawned witch!
CALIB: They will be found. Andor's organising search parties.
NEEVA: It's too late. Tell him the attack must not be delayed.

[EXT. Clearing]

DOCTOR: (looking into the distance, past the mist) Well, now, it seems I have been here before.
LEELA: That's the Evil One.
DOCTOR: Is it?
(From behind them, we see a rock face above, which sports a carving of the Doctor's face.)
DOCTOR: I must have made quite an impression.

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

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