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DOCTOR WHO
THE INVISIBLE ENEMY
Written by
Bob Baker
Part Four
(Overlap from Marius collecting the icky thing on a slide)
[INT. Isolation ward]
(As the dimension-expanding operation goes viral in the cubicle, the DOCTOR, freed of his internal infestation, loses his scales and hirsutism, over the space of about 40 seconds.)
NUCLEUS: Help me out.
DOCTOR: (starting to rise) Professor Marius. (MARIUS turns) Oh no, not you too.
MARIUS: Yes, Doctor, contact has been made. Now I serve the purpose.
DOCTOR: What? That pathetic crustacean, your leader?
MARIUS: You are speaking of the Nucleus, the Nucleus of the Swarm!
NUCLEUS: Take me to him.
(The creature in question is now outside the cubicle, waving its claws commandingly. It has no obvious means of locomotion. The staff in its thrall help to direct it to the DOCTOR's bedside.)
DOCTOR: Finding the macro world difficult?
NUCLEUS: It suits me well.
DOCTOR: I thought I'd got rid of you.
NUCLEUS: You were mistaken. I made use of your escape route, through the eye.
DOCTOR: Yes, you'd have known about that, wouldn't you?
NUCLEUS: Another mistake, and a costly one, Time Lord, because now, thanks to your dimensional stabiliser, I am no longer forced to exist in the micro world to breed and multiply. My Swarm, when it is hatched on Titan, will no longer be invisible microbes prey to all but mighty and invulnerable creatures. Invincible. The age of man is over, Doctor. The age of the virus has begun.
DOCTOR: I've heard it all before. You megalomaniacs are all the same.
NUCLEUS: Bring him with us to Titan, to be consumed by the Swarm.
[INT. Room at Bi-Al Foundation]
(LEELA is applying silver-green make-up to the area around her eyes. She is wearing a nurse's uniform.)
LEELA: How do I look?
K9: Friend, Mistress.
LEELA: If I can just get close enough to that Nucleus, we'll see how friendly I am.
K9: Hostiles approaching, with the Doctor.
LEELA: (whispering) Come on.
(K9 trundles out into the corridor after her.
Meanwhile, the NUCLEUS is still being guided along, through the hallways. The DOCTOR is being wheeled along behind.)
NUCLEUS: Hurry, hurry. It is time for the spawning. I must get to the place prepared on Titan.
MARIUS: Nurse, take over here. I must assist the Nucleus.
NUCLEUS: Hurry!
MARIUS: (to LOWE) Come with me.
NUCLEUS: Breeding time approaches.
(The nurse is LEELA, who stops the gurney and begins undoing the DOCTOR's restraints with the aid of her knife. MARIUS sees her wheeling the DOCTOR past him and his cronies by the doors to the shuttle airlock.)
MARIUS: Nurse, not that way.
(The DOCTOR jumps up.)
MARIUS: Stop them!
(LEELA fires as the DOCTOR gives the gurney a shove in their direction. He runs back down a corridor, and LEELA does the same, after firing one last shot.)
LOWE: They're getting away!
NUCLEUS: No, they are simply trapped.
(As they talk, K9 heads past them the way the Doctor and Leela headed, toward the TARDIS.)
NUCLEUS: Marius, stay here to make sure the Doctor doesn't escape, and make contact with all other staff in the foundation. Bring the Doctor to us later. Hurry!
[INT. TARDIS console room]
(Inside the TARDIS, still in nurse's get-up, LEELA watches their doings with the DOCTOR. K9 is there too. The DOCTOR turns from the scanner.)
LEELA: Now what?
DOCTOR: Now nothing.
LEELA: Doctor, if we get to Titan first, we can still beat that thing.
DOCTOR: No, we can't. The dimensional stabiliser's still in the isolation ward. Without it, the TARDIS won't move an inch.
LEELA: You mean there's nothing we can do?
DOCTOR: I didn't say that. K9. (clearing his throat) Now listen to me, K9. Do you think you could pole-axe, do you think you could pole-axe Marius?
K9: Pole-axe?
DOCTOR: Yes, knock him out.
K9: Affirmative. My photon beam weaponry has four levels of intensity, Doctor - kill, paralyse-
DOCTOR: No, no, no, not kill. Not kill, just knock out.
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good dog.
(K9 heads for the doors, which the DOCTOR opens.)
[INT. Bi-Al Foundation]
(MARIUS keys in a code at the comms system.)
MARIUS: All senior staff, report to Reception. This is Professor Marius speaking. All senior staff, report to Reception. Ah, K9. K9, I no longer require you to obey-
(He has bent down, and K9 shoots a low-intensity spatter of energy at him. He falls. The DOCTOR steps up behind K9, exiting the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR: You're a good dog, K9. Good dog.
(The medical spaceship docked at the asteroid takes off.)
[INT. Isolation ward]
(MARIUS lies on the examination table. LEELA, in her Sevateem gear, stands next to him at the bed.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Leela, quickly. We haven't got a moment to spare. Not frightened of blood, are you? You, the mighty huntress.
LEELA: (as he pricks her finger) Just hurry up. Haven't we been through all this before?
DOCTOR: I had a virus then. I'm immune now. Something must have happened while you and I were inside my head. I want to find out what.
(He has put the sample in the scanner. An image pops up.)
DOCTOR: Ah, that's interesting. You see that? That little fishhook is the only thing that you and I have in common. It wasn't there before, so it must be the antibody, the immunity factor.
LEELA: How did what I have get into your bloodstream?
DOCTOR: Quite simple. Your clone was absorbed into my bloodstream and passed on the immunity to me. All we've got to do is isolate it, analyse it, duplicate it, and inject it into Marius here, and he, in turn, will be able to cure all the others.
LEELA: What about the Nucleus? What about Titan?
DOCTOR: Come on, one thing at a time. One thing at a time.
[INT. Shuttle]
NUCLEUS: (in one of the crew seats) Faster, faster.
LOWE: We can't. We'll burn out the motors.
NUCLEUS: Let them burn out. Once we reach Titan and the breeding tanks, our job is finished.
LOWE: What about the Doctor?
NUCLEUS: He will follow. Marius will make sure of that, whatever happens. Faster. Use all the fuel. Faster!
[INT. Isolation ward]
LEELA: Doctor, look! It's working.
(The scales fade from MARIUS's face.)
DOCTOR: Sometimes my brilliance astonishes even me. Come on, Marius. Wake up, wake up! Come on.
MARIUS: Where's Parsons? What happened?
DOCTOR: He's dead, I'm afraid. Do you remember anything?
MARIUS: (holding his head) I remember Lowe coming in, and then Parsons, and then a flash, and then nothing. Did the experiment work?
DOCTOR: Yes and no. Unfortunately, the Nucleus got away by means of the dimensional stabiliser. It's on its way to Titan to breed.
MARIUS: Was I taken over?
DOCTOR: Yes, it got to you.
MARIUS: But we found the immunity factor, so we're safe here for a while. What was it?
DOCTOR: It was something in Leela, something we all missed. This is it. You'll have to cultivate a great deal more.
MARIUS: (taking it from the DOCTOR) Yes.
DOCTOR: If those antibodies can confer immunity, they can be used to attack the Nucleus.
MARIUS: Attack the Nucleus? Oh, that's dangerous.
DOCTOR: Of course it's dangerous. If we allow the Nucleus to breed and swarm, it'll go through the entire solar system like a plague of giant locusts.
MARIUS: But will you get to Titan on time?
DOCTOR: Yes, by means of the dimensional stabiliser.
[INT. Titan Base control]
SAFRAN: Safran on Titan. Safran on Titan. The hive is prepared. The breeding tanks are ready. Temperature and humidity are set. I await your arrival from the generation of the Swarm.
[INT. Shuttle]
LOWE: Maximum speed. We have reached maximum speed.
NUCLEUS: Faster! We must go faster! Now the time for spawning is very close. (It breathes heavily.)
[INT. Isolation ward]
(MARIUS now has a couple of assistants helping him cultivate the antibodies.)
LEELA: (squatting on a table) How much longer?
DOCTOR: We can't rush these things. They're breeding as fast as they can. K9 will tell us when they've got the most powerful strain.
LEELA: Doctor, why don't we just blow up Titan? Nucleus, breeding tanks, everything.
DOCTOR: That's your answer to everything, isn't it? Knock it on the head.
LEELA: Effective, isn't it? Smash it once and for all. Well?
DOCTOR: With what? This is a hospital, not an arsenal.
LEELA: All right, what are you going to do?
K9: Confirm. Confirm strain C five three one has lethal capacity.
MARIUS: Doctor, we've done it! (they shake hands) Congratulations. There isn't a moment to be lost. Cultivate C five three one.
DOCTOR: Thank you, K9.
LEELA: And?
DOCTOR: Now, just get it into the tanks and wait for it to attack the Nucleus in the same way it attacked us, microscopically. It's neat, don't you think?
LEELA: Is that all? If we can get to Titan on time, if we can get past Lowe and the others, if it works when we get it in there, if-. I thought you didn't like killing?
DOCTOR: I don't.
LEELA: Then why are you doing all this?
DOCTOR: The virus has a perfect right to exist as a virus, not as a giant storm threatening the entire solar system. Everything has its place. Otherwise, the delicate balance of the whole cosmos is destroyed.
LEELA: I still say we should blow it up.
MARIUS: Doctor, the batch is complete.
(He hands a case to the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: Good. Now for the TARDIS. (He exits.)
[INT. Titan Base corridor]
(The NUCLEUS and its crew walk through the corridor.)
NUCLEUS: Remember, I must be protected in the hive. The future of the Swarm depends on you now.
(It is helped into a tank.)
[INT. Bi-Al Foundation]
MARIUS: Good luck, Doctor.
(LEELA enters the TARDIS. The DOCTOR and MARIUS shake hands.)
DOCTOR: Thank you, Professor. Oh, Professor?
MARIUS: Yes?
DOCTOR: I don't suppose we could borrow K9, could we?
MARIUS: Borrow K9?
DOCTOR: Ssshhh.
MARIUS: What for?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm not at liberty to say, but he could be very useful.
MARIUS: Of course. I understand. K9, obey the Doctor.
K9: Affirmative.
(K9 enters the TARDIS after the Doctor. He waves. A moment later, the ship dematerialises.)
[INT. Titan Base control]
(LOWE directs guards into position outside the tank area in which we can see the NUCLEUS moving about.
In the control room, SAFRAN is staring at a monitor, which is showing many half-formed oyster-like creatures in burbling pink-green goo. He walks out of the room with his weapon ready, as the TARDIS materialises beside the desk where he just was. The DOCTOR carries the case from the TARDIS and takes a moment to look at the scenes on the monitor.)
LEELA: Doctor, what is it?
DOCTOR: They're starting to hatch.
(We see a figure creep up to the other side of the door, probably SAFRAN, and listen there with gun at the ready.)
DOCTOR: Let's go!
(He opens the door halfway, then slams it shut again. standing with his back against it.)
LEELA: Now what's the matter?
DOCTOR: There's a man at the door.
(LEELA squats down, hand weapon ready. There is a knock on the door.)
DOCTOR: Come in.
(The DOCTOR steps away. The door opens, and LEELA begins firing, to little obvious effect. As the man steadily advances, K9's beam does work, and, hit in the leg, he groans and falls.)
LEELA: Thank you, K9. Well, Doctor, what's wrong? Why didn't my blaster work?
DOCTOR: They're developing a resistance to radiation. Their internal cell struct-
K9: Problem. I have a problem. Offensive capability seriously diminished. Reserves very low.
LEELA: K9's breaking up. My blaster's finished. What are we going to do?
DOCTOR: Shall we try using our intelligence?
LEELA: Well, if you think that's a good idea.
DOCTOR: Come on.
[INT. Titan Base corridor]
(The DOCTOR is outside the spawning area.)
DOCTOR: (sotto) K9, do you see that guard?
K9: (sotto) Affirmative.
DOCTOR: (sotto) I want you to decoy him.
(K9 starts down the corridor, past the man. We hear firing as he is led away by the mechanical dog. SAFRAN and LOWE are talking outside the hive when K9 re-joins the DOCTOR and LEELA.)
K9: (eyes flashing instead of steady red) Mission accomplished.
DOCTOR: Good dog. Your turn now, Leela. See you back at the TARDIS.
LEELA: Or not. Good luck, Doctor. You know we should have done what I said.
DOCTOR: What was that?
LEELA: Blow them up. Goodbye, Doctor.
(She heads away. LOWE and SAFRAN hear K9 coming down the corridor and take up position at either end of the corridor. LOWE fires at the approaching K9 repeatedly, to no effect. It is probably SAFRAN who, while the others take cover, comes up behind K9 and kicks the robot pooch into the rock wall.
The DOCTOR approaches the spawning chamber. Firing his weapon, LOWE closes in. The DOCTOR drops the case, and LOWE walks up to him, gun raised.)
LOWE: Your futile attempt has failed, as we knew it would. Now you will join the Nucleus.
DOCTOR: Well, I'd rather not, actually.
LOWE: You have no choice.
DOCTOR: (looking through the window into the mass of newborns in the spawning chamber) Oh look, look, they appear to be hatching. Are congratulations in order?
(He grins. With a gun at the DOCTOR's chin, LOWE opens the door.)
LOWE: You will join the Swarm to be consumed, to become part of our purpose!
(He takes the DOCTOR by the arm but is then shot in the back by K9. the DOCTOR pushes him into the chamber and closes the door.)
DOCTOR: Well done, K9, well done. Come on. Let's get out of here while there's still time.
K9: I cannot. All reserves finished.
DOCTOR: What? Come on.
(The lights behind K9's 'eyes' wink out. The DOCTOR attaches a lead to a point just below K9's neck and drags him away.)
DOCTOR: Come on, K9.
NUCLEUS: Come back, Doctor. We need you.
(LEELA climbs the steps next to an oxygen tank. When SAFRAN cautiously enters the room below, she jumps onto him. After a tussle, she overpowers him. She stabs him in the neck and rises just as the DOCTOR bursts in with K9.)
LEELA: Did you kill it?
DOCTOR: No, I lost the antibodies.
LEELA: What? Never mind, Doctor, I've found the answer.
DOCTOR: You have?
LEELA: Knife them in the neck.
DOCTOR: Can you do that to a thousand? A thousand thousand?
LEELA: What are we going to do?
(The DOCTOR collects SAFRAN's weapon.)
DOCTOR: That's a good idea. Take K9 back to the TARDIS. He's out of juice.
(It is now the DOCTOR's turn to climb alongside the oxygen tank. He turns the opening valve and heads back down, stopping at the door to the spawning chamber. He sets Safran's blaster down, starts making an attachment at the door handle, and pauses. He heads to the side of the chamber and starts turning a valve there.)
NUCLEUS [OC]: Who's there?
(After turning the valve, the DOCTOR disconnects a large tube. Steam starts billowing forth.)
NUCLEUS [OC]: Is that you, Time Lord?
DOCTOR: (back at the door) Well, as far as I know, there's no-one else except you and me here, so it must be me.
(The DOCTOR connects a wire through the door handle.
We see LEELA heading through the corridors with K9.
Back at the chamber door, the DOCTOR has attached the blaster to the wire.)
NUCLEUS [OC]: You're finished, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Not quite.
NUCLEUS [OC]: There's no escape for you now. You are destined to become part of the purpose.
DOCTOR: Well, that depends on how long it's going to take you to get out of there.
NUCLEUS [OC]: Fool. Do you think a metal barrier can contain the Swarm?
[INT. Titan Base control]
(The DOCTOR runs pell-mell through the corridors and reaches the control room. LEELA is huddled beside the desk with K9. He runs into the TARDIS, and it dematerialises.)
LEELA: (rising) Doctor!
(She gets inside, and the ship materialises again immediately.)
[INT. TARDIS console room]
LEELA: (as she pulls K9 inside) Why did you not wait?
(We see the TARDIS dematerialise once more. The NUCLEUS flails amidst the steam. It gets the door open, and we see the base from outside as an explosion occurs and flames engulf it. There is a second explosion.
The DOCTOR and LEELA are watching this on the TARDIS's scanner. He laughs.)
LEELA: It is gone?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LEELA: All of it?
DOCTOR: Yes. Methane atmosphere. Mix well with oxygen, and run. That was a good idea of mine, K9, to blow it up.
K9: Affirmative.
LEELA: (smile fading) What do you mean it was a good idea of yours? It was my idea.
DOCTOR: What was?
LEELA: To blow it up.
DOCTOR: Well, then, you should be feeling very happy.
LEELA: Yes. I am. Shall we return K9 to the professor?
[INT. Bi-Al Foundation]
(The TARDIS travels through space, and we are now back at the Bi-Al asteroid, beside the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR: (shaking MARIUS's hand) Goodbye.
MARIUS: Goodbye, Doctor, and thank you for everything you've done for us.
DOCTOR: It's been a pleasure, Professor. It's been a pleasure. Do you know that without K9 I think we'd have been part of the Swarm by now.
LEELA: We'd never have managed without him. Her. It. Sorry, K9.
K9: Apologies are not necessary, but thank you, Mistress.
MARIUS: I think K9 has taken to you. Oh, actually, I have to return to Earth shortly and you could do me a great favour if-
DOCTOR: What?
LEELA: Take K9 with us?
MARIUS: Yes.
DOCTOR: No.
LEELA: Yes! Oh, please, Doctor, please, please, let's take him.
(Without prompting, K9 heads for the TARDIS.)
MARIUS: K9 seems to have made up his own mind.
(He touches the DOCTOR's arm as the Time Lord follows LEELA into the TARDIS. MARIUS sniffs.)
MARIUS: I only hope he's TARDIS-trained.
(He wipes his nose as the space and time ship dematerialises.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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