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

DOCTOR WHO
THE FACE OF EVIL

Written by
Chris Boucher

Part Two

(Overlap from 'It seems I have been here before')

[EXT. Clearing]

LEELA: What happened? You must be able to remember.
DOCTOR: Well, of course I can remember. I'm trying to. Perhaps I was on another part of the planet.
LEELA: There is no other part. Only beyond the wall.
DOCTOR: Beyond the wall. I wonder...
LEELA: What?
DOCTOR: Sssh, sssh, sssh. I'm wondering. Back to the village.
LEELA: We can't!
DOCTOR: Why not?
LEELA: We'll be torn to pieces!
DOCTOR: Well, not if they don't catch us, we won't. Anyway, they'll be preparing for their battle.
LEELA: That's what you said last time.
DOCTOR: Well, you can't expect perfection, you know, not even from me.
LEELA: (quietly) Oh, you...

[INT. Meeting hall]

ANDOR: The men refuse to attack while the Evil One is out there.
NEEVA: I have been thinking. We tell them it has been destroyed.
ANDOR: No! I will not lie to my people.
NEEVA: The wall will be open for a very short time. We dare not delay. We must attack now, or you betray our god.
ANDOR: Has Xoanon commanded this?
NEEVA: He has.
ANDOR: Guard, sound the call.
(He leaves to do so.)
ANDOR: You had better be right, Neeva, because, servant of Xoanon or not, if we fail, I will kill you.
NEEVA: Xoanon has promised us victory.
ANDOR: No. He has promised you. And you have promised us.

[EXT. Outside the shrine]

(We are where Leela cut through the wall.)
DOCTOR: (sotto) I must examine those relics.
LEELA: (sotto) The village was dangerous enough, but the shrine of Xoanon?

[INT. Shrine]

(The DOCTOR watches, unseen.)
NEEVA: Speak to me, Xoanon, that I may know your will. Speak, Xoanon, speak.
WARRIOR [OC]: Shaman Neeva! It's time to leave!
NEEVA: I'm coming.
WARRIOR: Andor asks that you do not delay.
NEEVA: I said I'm coming!
(He places the spacesuit remnants on the stand where they normally perch and dons a jacket made from tubing and various other bits. On his head he places a hat atop which is a painted spacesuit glove, its fingers reaching down to his forehead. He then speaks a few silent words.)

[EXT. Outside the shrine]

DOCTOR: I like the hat. Very fetching.
LEELA: That was the hand of Xoanon.
DOCTOR: That was an armoured space glove, or what was left of one.

[INT. Meeting room]

ANDOR: The attack must begin at once.
NEEVA: Xoanon has spoken. We shall not fail.
(They set out together.)

[INT. Shrine]

DOCTOR: It's all clear. (starting to examine the relics on the shelves) Amazing. You know, I had a feeling, I had a feeling that Neeva was actually expecting to hear an answer to his prayer.
LEELA: There wouldn't be much point in praying if he didn't.
DOCTOR: I could quote you a few theologians who'd give you an argument on that. He was listening. (he picks up a blue tube and presses a button on the side) Hello? Intergalactic operator? Hello? Over? Dead as a Dalek. (setting it down) There must be something.
LEELA: Why did you talk to that tube?
DOCTOR: I thought I recognised it.
(He walks over to the spacesuit tatters and taps the helmet a few times, then turns away.)
XOANON [OC]: Neeva.
(LEELA falls to her knees, hands on her ears, and bows fully.)
XOANON: Neeva!
DOCTOR: Poor old Neeva. Hotline to god. (to LEELA) Psst. Don't be afraid. It's only a machine for sending voices over long distances. That may be Xoanon speaking, but it's not God. Gods don't use transceivers.
LEELA: Are you certain?
DOCTOR: Aren't you?
LEELA: Yes.
DOCTOR: That's better.
XOANON [OC]: Neeva. Neeva.
DOCTOR: (clearing his throat and speaking to the helmet) I'm sorry, Neeva isn't here at the moment. Could I take a message? Over.
XOANON [OC]: At last, we are here. At last. At last. Us.
DOCTOR: Us?
XOANON [OC]: You. Me. Us. We. At last I shall be free of us.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
XOANON [OC]: Don't I know?
(The DOCTOR backs away.)
DOCTOR: Leela, I have a feeling. Something nasty. Something I did. It seems like it.
LEELA: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: Who did that voice remind you of?
LEELA: You. It was your voice. How could that be?
DOCTOR: More to the point, who could that be? I must take a look at the wall.

[EXT. Wall]

(ANDOR leads men and women of the Sevateem through the forest, while LEELA and the DOCTOR stand in front of a grey nothingness.)
DOCTOR: It's a time barrier.
LEELA: I don't understand.
DOCTOR: The principle's really quite simple. You just move everything forward a couple of seconds inside it. You get a barrier that's impervious to all energy. A true void. I've seen it done as a parlour trick but never on this scale.
LEELA: Isn't there any way to get through it? (She holds her hand out, toward the barrier.)
DOCTOR: Not unless whoever set it up deliberately bridged it.
LEELA: So that means Andor and the others-
DOCTOR: Are walking into a trap, yes.
LEELA: Isn't there any way we can warn them?
DOCTOR: It's too late. Anyway, they wouldn't listen.
LEELA: Calib might. Let's try.

[EXT. Forest edge]

ANDOR: Attack!
(The WARRIORS start firing crossbow bolts, then advance.)
ANDOR: Come on, attack!
TOMAS: Attack!
ALL: Attack! Attack! Attack...
(CALIB remains near the rear.)
NEEVA: (arms raised) Xoanon, protect your warriors and strengthen their arms, that they may free you.
TOMAS: Attack!
(NEEVA is bathed in white light from above. He cries out in pain and is forced to his knees. Other Sevateem grimace in pain and fall.)

[INT. Meeting hall]

LEELA: Someone's coming.
(LEELA hides, while the DOCTOR doesn't move.)
DOCTOR: (facing away from the new arrival) Hello, Calib. I was just thinking about you.
CALIB: So Neeva and Andor were lying.
DOCTOR: I wouldn't be surprised.
CALIB: Where's Leela?
LEELA: Behind you.
CALIB: Ah.
DOCTOR: How was the battle?
CALIB: Just as the old ones remembered the last time. The wall closed up.
LEELA: A massacre?
CALIB: More than half the men were killed, and we never even saw the Tesh.
LEELA: You seem unhurt.
CALIB: There's no virtue in dying, Leela.
LEELA: That rather depends on what you do to avoid it.
DOCTOR: Leela, put the knife away. I'm sure he's a reasonable man.
CALIB: Thank you. So what do you want of me?
LEELA: We need someone's help.
DOCTOR: Leela seems to think it might be yours.
LEELA: The tribe is in desperate danger, Calib. The Doctor can help. He's the only one who can. But we must convince the others he's not the Evil One.
DOCTOR: Having first of all, of course, convinced you.
CALIB: I don't think you're the Evil One and never have. I don't believe in ghosts.
DOCTOR: I'm impressed. Perhaps Leela's right about you.
CALIB: But if I'm to help, I need to know everything.
DOCTOR: There isn't much time. You see, Leela and I found an impenetrable barrier-
(CALIB stabs LEELA's hand with a Janis thorn and holds out his knife.)
CALIB: Janis thorn. Something you haven't thought of. Now stay where you are.
DOCTOR: I thought you were too easily convinced.
CALIB: I meant it. You're certainly not the Evil One, but the others think you are. And Neeva said you'd been destroyed. You're just the evidence I need to break him.
DOCTOR: She underestimated your ambition.
CALIB: It's for the good of the tribe.
DOCTOR: Of course. This too.
CALIB: She would have opposed me. I said 'stay where you are'!
DOCTOR: You need me alive, remember? (He bends down to tend the fallen LEELA as TOMAS rushes in.)
TOMAS: Calib, you held back! You cost us the attack!
(CALIB turns to TOMAS, and the DOCTOR kicks him off his feet. He collects Leela's crossbow.)
DOCTOR: Come in. Who are you?
TOMAS: Tomas. Leela! What have you done to her?
DOCTOR: He poisoned her with a Janis thorn. Up!
CALIB: You've broken my leg.
DOCTOR: I'll break your nose if you don't get up. Now pick her up, both of you.
CALIB: It takes skill to use one of those.
DOCTOR: What, at this range? No, all it needs is a flick of the wrist. Pick her up.
(TOMAS and CALIB lift her, one on either end.)
DOCTOR: And move.

[INT. Shrine]

(The two men set LEELA on the acceleration couch.)
DOCTOR: Gently.
CALIB: Now what are you going to do?
DOCTOR: Tomas, you don't want her to die, do you?
TOMAS: No, of course not.
DOCTOR: Then cover him. I need time to work.
(TOMAS takes the proffered crossbow, while the DOCTOR faces the relics along the wall.)
DOCTOR: This is a bio-analyser, rattlesnake. I can identify the poison and program the medikit to make an antitoxin.
TOMAS: Back against the wall.
CALIB: I'm going to give the alarm.
TOMAS: Back against the wall!
CALIB: Oh, don't be a fool, Tomas!
(The DOCTOR removes the thorn from the rigid girl's hand and prepares a sample for the analyser. He takes note of the results and starts working with another of the 'relics'.)
CALIB: What do you suppose he's doing, Tomas? You don't really think that's going to help Leela, poking around in Neeva's relics?
DOCTOR: Shut up, rattlesnake. I'm trying to save time. Leela hasn't got much left.
(The DOCTOR takes a printout from the analysis unit and inserts it in the medical-kit equipment.)
TOMAS: I think she's dead.
DOCTOR: Got it!
TOMAS: He's gone!
DOCTOR: Watch the door.
(He presses the mini-hypo produced by the medical kit into the palm of LEELA's hand. She soon blinks and looks at him.)
LEELA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Are you all right?
LEELA: The Janis thorn. There's no cure.
DOCTOR: Yes, there is. Just a matter of finding one.
LEELA: Do you know the answer to everything?
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, no, no. Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions that is hard.
TOMAS: They're coming.
DOCTOR: Can you move?
LEELA: I think so. My arm hurts a bit.
DOCTOR: Tomas, take her out of the back way.
LEELA: I'm staying with you.
DOCTOR: You're going with Tomas. I'll meet you both later. Go.

[INT. Meeting hall]

DOCTOR: Good evening, gentlemen. You know, I never thought you'd get here. Good heavens, look at that. (they fall for it, looking behind them, and the DOCTOR takes the leader's chair) Now then, down to business. I'm beginning to think you don't like me. Ah, Neeva. Is it really you? They told me you were dead. Or was it the other way round?

[EXT. Outside the shrine]

ANDOR: So Calib was right. Both of you in league with the Evil One.
TOMAS: You blind, blind fool, Andor.

[INT. Meeting hall]

(LEELA, the DOCTOR, and TOMAS all stand with hands tied behind them. ANDOR is back in his leader's chair.)
WARRIOR: You lied to us!
MAN: Come on, Neeva, tell them your mistake.
ANDOR: Silence! Be silent!
WARRIOR: You said it was destroyed!
NEEVA: Did it not bring the witch, its servant, back to life? I tell you it was destroyed but not totally, so it renewed itself.
DOCTOR: Ha! If you can believe that, you can believe anything. I'll tell you once again. I am not the Evil One.
ANDOR: But it was you, you who wiped out the attack.
DOCTOR: Oh, flapdoodle! I was nowhere near it.
LEELA: That's true. I was with him all the time.
NEEVA: Pah! Would you believe a witch?
DOCTOR: The attack failed because it was a trap from the start.
NEEVA: And who would have set such a trap?
LEELA: (in a loud whisper) Xoanon!
TOMAS: Oh, that was a great mistake.
NEEVA: They must all be totally destroyed. Throw them to the Horda!
DOCTOR: What do you mean 'throw them'? What is a Horda, anyway?
CALIB: No, wait! I do not believe he is the Evil One.
LEELA: (to the DOCTOR) Conscience?
DOCTOR: No, politics. He's trying to break Neeva's hold on the tribe.
CALIB: If he can be killed, then he is not the Evil One, because the Evil One is a god.
DOCTOR: Good point. Fifteen--love.
NEEVA: The litany says it can be destroyed.
DOCTOR: Fifteen--all.
CALIB: I say we should put it to the test and see if he speaks truly.
ANDOR: But the test is for mortals.
CALIB: If he can be killed, then he is a mortal!
DOCTOR: Game, set, and match to Calib, I think.

[INT. Beside the Horda pit]

(We get a close-up of a Horda now as a creature articulated like a Cybermat slides across the floor, with its tongue out. This plated creature has vestigial wings and a silver-grey colour.)
DOCTOR: So that's a Horda. Well, it doesn't look too formidable. What do I do, fight it or eat it?
(CALIB thrusts a stick out in front of the Horda, and its teeth clamp on instantly. The DOCTOR exhales.)
CALIB: They'll strike at anything that moves, except each other. Ten of these can strip the flesh from a man's arm almost before he can cry out.
DOCTOR: I take it there are more than ten in there.
ANDOR: The pit is full of them.
DOCTOR: Ah.
CALIB: You stand on that.
(There is a half wall made of metal bits with planks interlocking over it.)
DOCTOR: And then what?
(A crossbow is passed along, which CALIB hands to him.)
CALIB: You must break the rope.
LEELA: Doctor, the rope gets thinner the further it goes, but it gets faster too.
DOCTOR: What? The rope gets thinner the further it goes-
LEELA: Faster.
DOCTOR: But it gets faster too. The rope gets thinner the further it goes...
(A WARRIOR slaps LEELA.)
WARRIOR: Silence. He does it alone.
DOCTOR: Who is that man?
CALIB: Which man?
DOCTOR: That man.
(He takes the opportunity to grab CALIB's stick, which still has the Horda attached. He hits the WARRIOR with it, and the WARRIOR ends up with a bitten shoulder and runs off, screaming.)
DOCTOR: Sorry about that. Shall we get on with it?
(The DOCTOR climbs onto the hatch of the Horda pit.)
DOCTOR: Well?
CALIB: Let the test begin.
(A lever is pulled, whereupon a large rock slowly starts to drop. This pulls the planks apart, and between them we can see a writhing mass of Horda. The DOCTOR turns toward the rope with the crossbow. While LEELA attempts to loosen her bonds, he checks the sights and his aim. LEELA frees her hands and reaches the lever.)
MAN 2: Stop!
(She is in his sights. The DOCTOR finally makes his shot, breaking the rope. We see the rock splash harmlessly into water.)
DOCTOR: Very good, Doctor. Very good. Well, are you convinced now? Leela, that was very nice of you to try and help me, but really there was absolutely no need. Would you just release our friend, please?
LEELA: Where did you learn to shoot like that?
DOCTOR: Shoot like what? Oh, like that. In Switzerland. Charming man. William Tell he was called. Well?
CALIB: Untie him.
DOCTOR: Good.

[INT. Shrine]

(The DOCTOR enters. NEEVA is standing by the helmet. Speaking to him is a voice but not the same one as before.)
XOANON 2 [OC]: Neeva. Neeva, where is he? Doctor? Doctor, are you there?
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm here, Xoanon.
XOANON [OC]: Ah, good. Good. We have decided
XOANON 2 [OC]: To destroy you.
DOCTOR: I see, Xoanon. Why don't we get together and talk things over?
(He picks up rope, gaffer tape, and equipment from among the relics.)
XOANON: We are together. We have said all there is to say and know all there is to know.
DOCTOR: Now we don't want to do anything hasty, do we?
XOANON: Hasty? It's been
XOANON 2: An eternity. I'm turning off the boundary to let in my pets from beyond. Goodbye, Doctor.
NEEVA: What does it all mean?
DOCTOR: It means trouble. Large, deadly, and invisible.
(We hear the sonic disrupters slowly power down.)

[INT. Meeting hall]

(The DOCTOR is working with some 'relics'.)
DOCTOR: Screwdriver.
(CALIB hands him something else. The DOCTOR takes the screwdriver as TOMAS and LEELA enter the room.)
TOMAS: We've set the guards round the perimeter.
LEELA: Everyone knows what to expect.
DOCTOR: Good. Did you explain about their attraction to vibrations?
LEELA: Of course.
DOCTOR: You know, we're very lucky they carried these things. Let's hope we can profit from the misfortunes of those travellers.
LEELA: I don't understand.
DOCTOR: I mean the planetary survey teams. That's where your tribe got its name from. Sevateem, survey team. The question is 'were you here before them?'
CALIB: Are we their captors or their children?
DOCTOR: You catch on quickly. Certainly they never returned to base.
CALIB: Is the weapon ready?
DOCTOR: Why, are you taking charge here?
CALIB: Do you object?
LEELA: I object.
CALIB: Leela, I don't expect you to like me.
LEELA: Then you won't be disappointed.
DOCTOR: Tomas, take this.
(He hands over a compact gun-type affair with two white bulbs at the top.)
TOMAS: How does it work?
DOCTOR: You just point it and press it. It's destructive up to about twenty times bow range. Short bursts, Tomas. It's self-regenerating, but it takes time to recharge.
TOMAS: Thank you, Doctor.

[EXT. Outside the village]

(LEELA is sharpening her knife on a rock while the DOCTOR sets up a humming cylinder on the ground.)
DOCTOR: There. That should keep Xoanon's creatures on their side of the perimeter. Now, you and I have got to get inside that time barrier and soon.
LEELA: According to the old ones, the tribe has had seven attempts at that.
DOCTOR: I could build a time bridge myself, but that would mean dismantling the TARDIS, and even then it mightn't work.
LEELA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: You know you said nothing could get within that barrier?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: Not light or anything.
DOCTOR: No.
LEELA: But Xoanon is inside it.
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: How do we hear his voice?
DOCTOR: Well, it's quite simple. We- You're a genius. A genius.
LEELA: What did I say?

[INT. Shrine]

(On the couch sits NEEVA, out of it.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Neeva. Neeva! Come on, snap out of it, man.
NEEVA: (in a monotone, sounding hypnotised) Yes, Lord. What is your will?
DOCTOR: Neeva. (turning off the transceiver in the helmet) Neeva, when you hear the voice of Xoanon, is it when you're at the altar or when the vestment is hanging in its frame?
NEEVA: Yes, Master.
DOCTOR: Have you heard it anywhere else?
NEEVA: Yes, Master.
DOCTOR: Where?
NEEVA: Yes, Master.
(The DOCTOR turns away and cups his hands over his mouth.)
DOCTOR: (shouting through his hands) Neeva! Neeva! This is Xoanon. (LEELA enters) Where have you heard my voice?
NEEVA: Only here, Lord, in your shrine.
DOCTOR: You've been a good and faithful servant, Neeva. Go back to sleep now. (a light tap on the head sends NEEVA falling backward) (to LEELA) It is a tight-beam transmission. There's a bridge over the time barrier, and I know where it is.
LEELA: What happened to him?
DOCTOR: Too much too quickly.
(He switches the transceiver back on.)
DOCTOR: This time I have to admit defeat.
LEELA: (sotto) Doctor.
DOCTOR: (sotto) Sshhh. Xoanon.

[EXT. Forest]

(The invisible creatures attack a GUARD, and someone hits the gong.)
LEELA: The fools.
DOCTOR: They must have panicked.
LEELA: That'll attract the creatures.
DOCTOR: Yes. Come on. We haven't got much time.

[EXT. Beside the gong]

ANDOR: (taking the hammer) Idiot, you'll attract more of them!
WARRIOR: Something killed Korus. I saw it, over there.

[EXT. By the rock face]

DOCTOR: The nose could be a shade more aquiline, and the noble proportion of the brow hasn't been perfectly executed. Still, we mustn't complain. We live in an imperfect universe.
LEELA: Where's the bridge through the barrier? Up the nose?
DOCTOR: No, it isn't! Up the nose. It's over the teeth and down the throat.

[EXT. Forest]

ANDOR: Tomas. Tomas! I think I can hear something.
TOMAS: Andor! Come back!

[INT. Within the mouth of the carving]

(The DOCTOR and LEELA are climbing over the teeth.)
DOCTOR: Odd feeling.
LEELA: What is?
DOCTOR: Standing in my own throat is.
(A passage leads onward. We see a shadow move where there is a lit section of the wall.)
LEELA: What is it?

[EXT. Forest]

(ANDOR is attacked.)
TOMAS: Andor, look out!
(He fires the gun, whose bulbs flash with the action and which issues a 'wi-wi-wi-wooo' sound. In the radiating wedge of red waves from the weapon, an image of the Doctor's face, contorted in rage, is visible in the creature's location.)
TOMAS: Andor.
ANDOR: Xoanon, save me!
(He dies. TOMAS fires the weapon repeatedly at things unseen. 'Wi-wi-wi-woooo' rings out many times.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

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