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DOCTOR WHO
THE ROBOTS OF DEATH

Written by
Chris Boucher

Part Two

(Overlap from the Doctor shining his torch around)

[INT. Storage area]

(V9 and D64 enter the storage area, where LEELA has hidden behind some shelving. We see these robots carry Chub's body out between them. LEELA creeps out from her hiding place.
In the full ore hopper, the DOCTOR uses a metal tube, from nearby or extracted from one of his voluminous pockets, to breathe.
LEELA follows the robots through the corridors.)

[INT. Crew room]

(UVANOV picks up a chess, or similar, piece and contemplates it. He notices CASS stand and make to leave.)
UVANOV: Where do you think you are going?
CASS: To search. We've got to find those killers.
UVANOV: The robots can handle it.
CASS: So can I.
(He leaves, and BORG too rises.)
UVANOV: Where do you think you're going?
BORG: He's right, Commander.
UVANOV: You stay where you are.
(BORG leaves anyway.)
TOOS: Maybe it would be quicker if we all went to look.
UVANOV: We are not armed. There are two killers loose aboard the ship, maybe more.
DASK: (still seated, calmly) The robots can handle the situation more efficiently than we can.
TOOS: All right. I just thought you were in a hurry to get back to work.
UVANOV: I am not in any hurry to get myself killed, Toos.

[INT. Ore-processing deck, near storage area]

(SV7 approaches the TARDIS and stands at a control panel in the hallway. The robot flips a switch, and we see the material begin draining from the hopper in which the DOCTOR is trapped, first revealing his 'straw'. The DOCTOR lowers the tube and rises, greeting SV7 when the robot presses the hatch release and opens the door. The hatch rises, and the DOCTOR climbs out.)
DOCTOR: Thank you. Thank you very much.
SV7: What were you doing in the hopper?
DOCTOR: Oh, don't ask me such silly questions. How did you know I was in there?
SV7: When I got here, the gauge showed a high percentage of impurity in the ore. I therefore checked.
DOCTOR: Well, I'm not surprised. There's a dead man in there. Murdered. Strangled. Look.
SV7: (looking past the DOCTOR, then rising) That is Kerril.
DOCTOR: Oh.
SV7: (into its wrist unit) Nearest Voc, sub-priority red four, Section Five Two. V17.
(SV7 stands at the control panel. The DOCTOR has followed. V17 now stands behind him.)
SV7: Commander Uvanov has ordered that you be restrained for questioning. Please do not try to escape again.
DOCTOR: Is the robot command circuit routed only through you?
SV7: I am the co-ordinator. Restrain this person.
(V17 places its silver hands on the DOCTOR's arm.)
DOCTOR: Easy now. Don't get excited.
(V17 maintains its hold and walks the DOCTOR off.)

[INT. Cabin]

(LEELA runs in. There is no-one in the room.)
LEELA: Doctor! (she sees the curtains over the bunk move and cautiously approaches, knife raised) Doctor, you were right. There was a body. Two of the robots, they took it to a special place.
(She has crept round to the curtains, which she pulls back suddenly. CASS's body slowly pitches forward as she watches. LEELA turns her head and sees a black-themed robot, D84, at the centre of the room. As D84 approaches slowly, LEELA makes a move with her knife, which we see from the robot's vantage point. D84 grabs her arm and places a hand over LEELA's mouth.)
D84: (with slow, relatively deep speech) Please do not cry out. It is important that I am not found here.
LEELA: Obviously.
D84: If I had killed him, would I not have killed you too?
(D84 lowers its hand, and LEELA turns to look at it. After footage of the sandminer making its way through the rugged planetscape, we see LEELA seated.)
LEELA: You still haven't explained what you're doing here.
D84: You have not explained what you were doing here.
LEELA: Oh, I was looking for the Doc- (rising) I don't have to explain anything to you. You're just a mechanical man. You're not real.
(D84 raises Cass's hand, which has a corpse marker on it.)
D84: Do you know what this is?
LEELA: No.
D84: I must ask... I must ask that you tell no-one about me.
LEELA: Is there anyone left alive to tell?
(D84 grabs LEELA by the upper arms. UVANOV enters the room.)
UVANOV: Oh, so we've caught one. (he examines the body) But not soon enough, though.
(He has come round the room to LEELA and slaps her. She responds with a kick to the knee.)
LEELA: I didn't kill him. Ask this thing!
UVANOV: (sent onto the cushions by the kick) You'll have to do better than that. Who are you?
LEELA: Leela. Who are you?
UVANOV: Why did you kill him?
LEELA: You try that again and I'll cripple you.
UVANOV: Why did you kill him?
LEELA: I didn't! (to D84) Tell him!
UVANOV: That is a single-function labour robot, D-class. 'D' for 'dumb'. It can't speak.
LEELA: Has anyone told him that?
UVANOV: You have cost me and the Company a great deal of money, and you have killed three people. Can you think of any good reason why I should not have you executed on the spot?
LEELA: No, but you can. Otherwise, you'd have done it.
UVANOV: (raising his voice) Now don't get clever with me.
(POUL enters.)
POUL: Ah, we've caught the man too. Seems he killed Kerril. (noticing the corpse) Poor Cass. (looking at LEELA) You must be stronger than you look.
LEELA: You must be stupider than you look if you think I did that.
UVANOV: Where is this man?
POUL: They're taking him to the crew room now.
UVANOV: Well, come on, then.
POUL: Why do you use these? Robot deactivation discs. There was one on Kerril too.
UVANOV: You fool! What did you have to tell her that for?
POUL: I assumed she knew.
UVANOV: If we could have got her to tell us what those corpse markers were, we'd be halfway to a confession.
POUL: Halfway to two confessions. Dask knew what they were.
UVANOV: Which rather rules him out. He would hardly have admitted it if he was responsible.
POUL: Have you never heard of the double bluff?
UVANOV: You seem very keen to spread suspicion, Poul. Could it be that you have got something to hide?
POUL: We've all got something to hide. Don't you think so, Commander?
UVANOV: (to D84) Bring that!
LEELA: I didn't kill him. I didn't kill him!
(D84 follows UVANOV out of the room, pushing LEELA ahead.)
POUL: (squatting next to the body) No. Pity, but no.

[INT. Crew room]

DOCTOR: (eating a jelly baby from the bag he's pulled from his pocket) Would you like a jelly baby?
BORG: Shut up!
(He knocks the bag from the DOCTOR's hand.)
DOCTOR: A simple 'no, thank you' would have been sufficient.
(POUL enters, with LEELA and D84 following.)
POUL: (to D84) Return to your normal duty.
(D84 leaves. We see UVANOV come in.)
LEELA: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: I'm fine.
UVANOV: Though Cass is dead.
LEELA: That one's ready to kill. I had to restrain him.
DOCTOR: Ssh, shh, shh, shh. It's because they're frightened. That's why they're dangerous.
BORG: She murdered him, didn't she?
POUL: How do you know he was murdered?
BORG: It's obvious.
ZILDA: You marked Cass for death.
BORG: What are you talking about?
POUL: You did put a corpse marker on him.
BORG: Well, yes, but I didn't mean anything by it.
DASK: Was Cass the same as the others?
UVANOV: Yes, exactly the same. And, uh, who are you?
DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor. I assume you're in command here.
UVANOV: (mildly) Yes. What are you doing here?
DOCTOR: Just standing here talking to you.
UVANOV: I should be very careful if I were you.
DOCTOR: No doubt you would.
UVANOV: What are you doing on this mine?
DOCTOR: Well, we're travellers. We came here by accident.
UVANOV: Oh, I see. A hundred million square miles of uncharted desert and you just stumbled across us?
DOCTOR: Mmm. Well, it's a small world.
UVANOV: Yes. I suppose it's also a coincidence that as soon as you two arrive, three of our people are killed? Well?
DOCTOR: Oh, sorry, I thought it was a rhetorical ques-. Yes, it's just a coincidence.
BORG: Why are we wasting time on them? We know they're guilty.
ZILDA: We don't know anything of the sort.
POUL: We just hope they're guilty.
BORG: He was hiding Kerril's body in that hopper and got trapped when it was turned on. Now that's a fact.
DOCTOR: No, that's an inference. I wasn't hiding that body. I was finding it, and I'd say it was put there for precisely that reason. Someone wanted to kill me too.
ZILDA: The murderer?
POUL: No. The others were strangled. Why should he be any different?
DOCTOR: To put suspicion onto me.
POUL: Why bother? You're a stowaway. What could be more suspicious than a stowaway?
DOCTOR: A dead stowaway?
ZILDA: It's possible, you know. He could be telling the truth.
TOOS: As a lie, it's pretty feeble.
UVANOV: Ever hear of the double bluff?
DOCTOR: Well, yes, now you come to mention it. I do remember once-
UVANOV: Lock them up in the storage bank. Put a guard on them.
BORG: I agree with the commander.
ZILDA: Well it gets you out of an awkward situation, doesn't it?
BORG: Why don't you shut your mouth?
TOOS: Why don't you shut yours?
BORG: What? She's as good as accusing me of murdering my friends.
ZILDA: You never had any friends.
UVANOV: Have you quite finished? Look, either one of us murdered them or they did. Which do you think is the more likely?
DOCTOR: Er, ahem. There is one other possibility you seem to have overlooked.
BORG: We've heard quite enough out of you.
DOCTOR: (grinning) You know, you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain.
BORG: (smiling and suddenly grabbing the DOCTOR by the throat) Stinking murderer!
(LEELA steps in, and DASK restrains BORG.)
POUL: Stop her!
DASK: Come on, Borg. It doesn't matter.
UVANOV: V8, lock up these two strangers.
POUL: I still don't like it.
UVANOV: Nobody is asking you to like it. Just do it.
TOOS: All right, Commander.
(She leaves, with most of the others following her lead.)
UVANOV: There are fewer of us now, so we'll each get a larger share, if that's any consolation.
ZILDA: (seated at the game board) No, Commander, that isn't any consolation.
UVANOV: (over her shoulder) Tell me, Zilda, why do you hate me?
ZILDA: You flatter yourself.
UVANOV: Well, let me tell you something. By the time this trip is over, I'll have more money than you or your fancy family ever dreamed of.
ZILDA: May I go now, Commander?

[INT. Ore-processing deck, near storage area]

(We see two pairs of legs meet - a robot and someone else. We then see the robot's hand, in which a human hand places a corpse marker.)
MAN: (whispering) Zilda.
ROBOT: I will kill Zilda.

[INT. Security storage]

(The DOCTOR stands at a yellow wall, with two thick metal straps meeting around his neck and another set around his chest. LEELA is beside him a short distance away. A ROBOT completes the procedure and leaves them.)
DOCTOR: (as the ROBOT leaves) Thank you.
LEELA: Nice of them to leave our arms free.
DOCTOR: Yes, I just want to scratch.
LEELA: These metal straps, they won't budge.
DOCTOR: Of course not.
LEELA: The robots bent them as though they were leather.
DOCTOR: Yes, then locked the molecular structure, and the result's bands as solid as cast iron.
LEELA: Oh, hopeless.
DOCTOR: I wouldn't say that. (He points either index finger at his head.)
LEELA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Concentrating. Whatever's locked can always be unlocked. It's just a matter of thinking out the right combination.
LEELA: How long will that take?
DOCTOR: No more than two or three weeks.
LEELA: Three weeks?
DOCTOR: Well, there are several million combinations to think through.
LEELA: You don't seem to be taking this very seriously, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I'm taking it very, very seriously. I have an uncomfortable feeling that if the murderer doesn't kill us, the commander will. That is, assuming they're not one and the same person.

[INT. Control deck]

DASK: V21, check those figures.
TOOS: We're nearly fifty per cent under target.
DASK: The first third of the operation.
ZILDA: Well, you should tell the commander.
UVANOV: (entering) Tell the commander what?
TOOS: That unless we find a rich vein, we'll take the miner back half-empty, barely cover the operating costs.
UVANOV: Don't worry, Toos. I've never gone back to base with an empty tank yet.
TOOS: This trip could be different.
ZILDA: It's certainly been different so far. I'm taking my rest period.
UVANOV: Oh, are you?
ZILDA: If you don't mind, Commander.
UVANOV: I think I'm going to change the duty schedule. She's been on deck one hour and she needs a rest!
DASK: Rest time is an entitlement, Commander.
UVANOV: Yes, but this mine is already under-manned. I don't know how we're ever going to make our quota.
V16: Lucanol stream bearing two four.
UVANOV: Yes, I see it, Sixteen.
TOOS: Stream bearing left.
UVANOV: It's all right. Relax, Toos, relax.
V16: Ground centre veering seven two zero.
TOOS: We're losing it.
UVANOV: Right centre four degrees, V16, and for your information, Toos, I've never lost an ore stream yet. Right centre two degrees.

[INT. Security storage]

LEELA: Someone's coming.
POUL: (stepping into shot between them) I'd like to help you.
DOCTOR: You could undo these clamps.
POUL: You said there was a possibility that we had overlooked.
DOCTOR: Mmm.
POUL: What is it?
LEELA: Be careful of him, Doctor. He's not what he seems.
POUL: Why do you say that?
LEELA: Well, you move like a hunter, watch all the time.
DOCTOR: Are you a hunter, Poul?
POUL: Never mind about me. What matters to you is Commander Uvanov. I know him, and I know it's only a matter of time before he decides that it's a waste of food, water, and labour keeping you alive.
DOCTOR: That concerns you?
POUL: I don't think you did it. I know she couldn't have strangled Cass, not without knocking him out first, and there's no sign of that. So tell me what you know and I'll try to help you.
DOCTOR: Well, uh... (He coughs theatrically.)
(POUL raises the communication/control medallion on his sandwich-board garment and thereby deactivates the DOCTOR's straps.)
DOCTOR: (as POUL pulls them apart) Thank you. One of your robots could have done it.
POUL: (laughs) And that's your great theory, is it? Well, my friend, robots cannot kill. Their prime directive-
DOCTOR: I know, I know, I know. It's the first program that's laid into any robot's brain, from the simplest Dum to the most complex Super-Voc. (whispering) But suppose, suppose someone's found a way of bypassing it.
POUL: It's impossible. It's just impossible!
DOCTOR: Bumblebees.
POUL: What?
DOCTOR: Terran insects. Aerodynamically impossible for them to fly, but they do it. I'm rather fond of bumblebees. Come on. There's something I want to look at.
LEELA: Ahem.
(POUL releases her too.)
LEELA: (tight-lipped) Thank you.
(We then see ZILDA enter someone's cabin, where she proceeds to prowl about. This is not her room.)

[INT. Storage area]

POUL: The first murder happened here.
DOCTOR: Tell us about it. What was his name?
POUL: His name was Chub, a government meteorologist. I don't know much about him - he wasn't part of the team, just along to study the storms.
DOCTOR: Who found him?
POUL: I did. I heard him scream. I came looking. It was odd, that, because he was strangled like the others.
DOCTOR: So whoever killed him was strong. Too strong for him to resist.
LEELA: He could have been taken by surprise.
POUL: He had time to scream.
DOCTOR: (cocking his head) What do you think he was doing here?
POUL: Oh, we were on a run up to a storm. He came to get an instrument package to send up in one of his weather balloons.
DOCTOR: Where was he found?
POUL: He was lying there.
DOCTOR: Is that one of his packages?
POUL: I think so. Yes. Yes, it is.
DOCTOR: Good. Imagine you're Chub. There's a storm coming up. Pass me one of those packages.
(He attempts to do so. It doesn't move.)
POUL: It seems to be stuck. It must be jammed at the back.
DOCTOR: Come on, come on. In those circumstances, you're in a hurry. What would you do?
POUL: Well, I'd call... I'd call for a robot.

[INT. Uvanov's cabin]

(We see feet walking the halls, at that measured robotic pace. We see ZILDA remove documents from the wall safe beside the bunk. She starts to read one of them.)
ZILDA: No.
(We see V45 outside the room, deactivation disc in hand, while ZILDA sits down at the desk, opens a folder there, and furrows her brow. She begins to cry. As V45 keys in the entry code for the cabin, ZILDA picks up a microphone.)

[INT. Control deck]

ZILDA [OC]: You did it, Uvanov.
UVANOV: Zilda, is that you?
ZILDA [OC]: You thought you'd get away with it, didn't you?
UVANOV: What are you doing in my quarters?
ZILDA [OC]: You filthy murderer!
UVANOV: Toos, take over.
ZILDA [OC]: You filthy, disgusting man and animal.
TOOS: Uvanov's on his way down. What's wrong, Zilda?
ZILDA [OC]: Ah!
TOOS: Zilda?
DASK: The killings. They've affected her mind.
TOOS: No, she's found something out.

[INT. Crew room]

POUL: Wait here. I'm going to get the others. If you're right about this, you can't imagine what it'll mean.
DOCTOR: What do you mean I can't imagine what it'll mean? This isn't the only robot-dependent civilisation in the galaxy, you know.
POUL: (responding to his communicator beeping) Poul here.
TOOS [OC]: Go to Uvanov's quarters as fast as you can. Zilda came on the command speaker and accused him of being the killer. He's left Control like a scale-twenty blow.
POUL: I'm on my way. (to LEELA) No, you wait here.
DOCTOR: Sit down. Sit down. What did you call those robots?
LEELA: (sitting) Creepy mechanical men.
DOCTOR: Yes. You know, people never really lose that feeling of unease with robots. The more of them there are, the greater the unease and, of course, the greater the dependence. It's a vicious circle. People can neither live with them nor exist without them.
LEELA: So what happens if the strangler is a robot?
DOCTOR: Oh, I should think it's the end of this civilisation.

[INT. Uvanov's cabin]

(POUL sprints through the hallways and enters the room.)
POUL: Uvanov!
UVANOV: (standing above ZILDA, who is slumped over the desk) Just like the others.
POUL: Yes, just like the others. (into his chest medallion) SV7 to the commander's quarters.
UVANOV: (pensive) She really hated me, you know. You know, I did think maybe when this trip was over and I was really rich... I must be getting soft. Now look, there's more than those two aboard. Get the tin-brains to make another search and, this time, do it thoroughly.
POUL: No, Uvanov.
UVANOV: Get out of my way, Poul.
POUL: (pointing at the body) I'm confining you to quarters and relieving you of command.
UVANOV: You're what? She was dead when I got here.
POUL: What were you doing, then? Making doubly sure?
UVANOV: Don't be a fool. Get out of my way.
(He tries to push past, and POUL knocks him to the ground. UVANOV is rendered unconscious.)

[INT. Crew room]

LEELA: Doctor. Something's wrong.
DOCTOR: That's true.
LEELA: No. There's something different, something that could destroy us all.
DOCTOR: (head in his hands) You're letting your imagination run away with you.
LEELA: Can't you feel it?
DOCTOR: No, I can't. By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. No, I can't, and neither can you.
(The sandminer heads over a cliff.)
DOCTOR: (on the floor) Please don't say 'I told you so'.
LEELA: What happened?
DOCTOR: Come on.

[INT. Uvanov's cabin]

POUL: Toos, what's going on?
TOOS [OC]: Something's jammed the motives.
POUL: Well, what does Borg say?

[INT. Control deck]

TOOS: Trim auxiliary vents. Nothing. He isn't there. Dask has gone down.
V16: All motive units are now on overload.
TOOS: Reverse thrusters.

[INT. Uvanov's cabin]

POUL: Well, I'm going down too. Just try and hold her steady.
TOOS [OC]: Oh, thanks. I'd never have thought of that.
(SV7 enters the room.)
POUL: Restrain the commander.
SV7: The commander is hurt?
POUL: He'll be all right. Now just keep him here.

[INT. Control deck]

V16: All motive units are now on overload. All readings are ten per cent above safety.
TOOS: Port sixty, starboard three hundred.
DOCTOR: What happened?
TOOS: How did you get out?
DOCTOR: Never mind about that. What's happening?
TOOS: We're out of control. It's all I can do to keep her upright.
DOCTOR: You'll have to cut the power.
TOOS: If we do that, we'll sink.
DOCTOR: If you don't, she'll blow herself to pieces.
TOOS: And us!
DASK [OC]: Hello, Toos?
TOOS: Dask, what's happening down there?
DASK [OC]: I've found Borg. He's dead. [?] Strangled.
V16: All motive units are thirty per cent.
TOOS: But what's happening to the motive units?
DASK [OC]: The drive links appear to have been sabotaged. I'll need a delta repair pick.
TOOS: No, Dask. Come back to the control deck. I need you here.
DOCTOR: I know what you're thinking, but we had nothing to do with it.
TOOS: It's strange how you're always around whe-
DOCTOR: It's a gift! May I remind you we'll all go together when she blows if you don't cut the power!
TOOS: V14, stop all motive units.
V14: Motive units will not stop. Control failure indicated.
TOOS: Someone's sabotaged the controls!
DOCTOR: What's the limit before the motive units explode?
TOOS: I don't know! Ninety per cent?
DOCTOR: Severance kit. Severance kit, quickly.
LEELA: Doctor, what are you doing?
DOCTOR: Fighting sabotage with sabotage.
(He tears a panel from the bottom of a console.)
DASK: Get out of there! Come on!
DOCTOR: What?
(DASK grabs the DOCTOR and tries to prevent him from messing with the wires behind the panel.)
V16: All readings are eighty-five per cent above safety.
TOOS: She's going!

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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