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DOCTOR WHO
THE SUNMAKERS
Written by
Robert Holmes
Part Three
(Overlap from Leela's party starting down a corridor)
[INT. Corridor]
LEELA: K9.
K9: Mistress?
LEELA: Hide. We must keep still, make them think we will not fight.
BISHAM: You have a gun, Leela. Why don't you kill us?
LEELA: What?
BISHAM: I'd rather die here than let them take us.
(The vehicle comes to a stop about five metres in front of our party, and one of the armed GUARDS stands up alongside it.)
GUARD 2: Drop your arms.
(LEELA steps to the side of the corridor, opposite him, and slowly sets the heavy weapon on the floor. The GUARD steps forward slightly.)
LEELA: Get them, K9.
(K9's beam hits the first GUARD, who falls onto his back. The second GUARD reacts by leaving the vehicle and starting slowly toward the others. K9 moves forward and shoots him. He lands on his side with a clatter. K9 retracts his snout laser.)
K9: Satisfactory, Mistress?
LEELA: Get their guns.
K9: Satisfactory, Mistress?
LEELA: Yes, K9. What do you want, a biscuit? (K9 makes a dog-like sound) We will take this machine and crash through their barrier! Put K9 on the back.
(As they begin to act on the plan, the GUARDS manning the barricade are standing about.)
GUARD: The shooting's stopped. Our lads must have got them. Not our lucky day.
(LEELA and company have boarded the vehicle.)
LEELA: Ready? Forward.
(She depresses the pedal, causing the vehicle to lurch into reverse.)
LEELA: What's wrong with it? I said 'forward'!
(She lifts her foot, and it comes to a stop.)
BISHAM: Perhaps I had better take over, Leela.
LEELA: All right. I will have the gun.
(While saying this, she crosses to the other side of the vehicle, and she now positions herself behind the yellow weapon mounted at the front. BISHAM begins driving forward.
We see that the GUARDS around the corner are clearing away the components of their barricade. As they slowly do this, the vehicle approaches them.)
GUARD 3: Bring them against this wall. That's right.
(LEELA fires the heavy weapon at them, and the GUARDS cower against the wall.)
GUARD 3: Look out!
(LEELA continues firing, and BISHAM drives past the GUARDS.)
LEELA: We've done it!
(They fire hand weapons from the vehicle back at the GUARDS as they enter the distance. The GUARDS are now firing back.)
LEELA: Ow!
CORDO: Stop! Leela's been hit!
(She has fallen from the vehicle. The GUARDS and CORDO keep firing at each other.)
BISHAM: We can't help her.
(He continues to drive.)
[INT. Undercity]
MANDRELL: Now you're going to answer my questions, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good.
MANDRELL: Why did the Gatherer give you this money?
DOCTOR: Maybe he liked my face.
MANDRELL: You know what I think?
DOCTOR: Ah-ah, that's a catch question. With a brain your size, you don't think, right?
MANDRELL: Now listen, Doctor. We can either do this the easy way-
DOCTOR: Or we can do it the hard way. I've heard that one too.
MANDRELL: Get him.
(Someone punches the DOCTOR in the guts, against the wall.)
MANDRELL: The Gatherer gave you a thousand talmars to bring to us?
DOCTOR: (now semi-seated) Well, even Gatherers have their bad days.
MANDRELL: Now this is going to be your bad day, Doctor, if you don't start talking.
DOCTOR: About what?
MANDRELL: The deal. You and the Gatherer made a deal.
DOCTOR: I only made one deal, Mandrell, and that was with you, under duress, and you haven't kept your part of it.
MANDRELL: Now the irons. (GOUDRY is holding a red-hot poker) Another minute. Doctor, you've got one more minute.
DOCTOR: Yes, that sort of subtle approach is always more effective than crude violence.
VEET: Oh, he's very cool.
GOUDRY: Parts of him won't be so cool soon.
MANDRELL: This is your last chance.
DOCTOR: You're a fool, Mandrell. I don't know why yet, but I was released from the Correction Centre. The Gatherer gave me a cock-and-bull story about machine error, and he gave me a thousand talmars to make it sound convincing. That's all I know.
MANDRELL: You'll have to do better than that, Doctor.
(The poker now hovers at the DOCTOR's cheek.)
DOCTOR: You're not very good at it, Mandrell.
MANDRELL: Talk, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's the eyes. No conviction.
MANDRELL: I'm going to count to ten, Doctor. One-
DOCTOR: Oh, put it aside, Mandrell. You look a fool.
MANDRELL: Two.
DOCTOR: Three.
MANDRELL: Four.
DOCTOR: Five.
MANDRELL: Five.
DOCTOR: Ha!
(The DOCTOR goes for the poker but doesn't need to in the end.)
CORDO: Hold it, Mandrell!
(BISHAM and CORDO are at the area's entry pipe. BISHAM has his hand weapon aimed at MANDRELL.)
DOCTOR: Thank you, gentlemen.
(The DOCTOR sets the poker down beside the fire.)
DOCTOR: Nice to see you both. Where's Leela? (the men look at each other) Well, where is she?
[INT. Correction Centre, Induction Therapy]
(Someone in grey is checking the unconscious LEELA's pulse. We now see that she is on a bed slab at the Correction Centre, and the COLLECTOR is wheeling himself about, hands held at his chest.)
COMMANDER: She's not numbered, Excellency.
COLLECTOR: What? (he directs his motorised chair over to her) All our work units are numbered at birth.
COMMANDER: Some criminals have the number removed by surgery, but there's always a scar.
COLLECTOR: No number. A mystery to solve. (he starts heading away) Maximise her medicare. Bring her to me the moment she's on her feet.
COMMANDER: Yes, Excellency.
(The COLLECTOR heads out. His GUARDS follow.)
[INT. Undercity]
GOUDRY: He's asking us to help him!
CORDO: No. No, he's not.
DOCTOR: No. No, I'm not. I'm not, Goudry. I'm asking you to help yourselves. Nothing will change around here unless you change it.
CORDO: We have the two guns, and there's K9 upstairs.
VEET: Two guns? What will we do with two guns against all those guards?
DOCTOR: You can't do anything, but there are fifty million people in this city. Think how the guards will react to that number.
GOUDRY: It's crazy talk. Rebellion? No-one would support you.
DOCTOR: Given the chance to breathe clean air for a few hours, they might. Have you thought of that?
BISHAM: I've thought of that, Doctor. The PCM is the source of the Company's power, but without explosives there's no way of stopping it entering the vapour chambers.
DOCTOR: There's always a way. Come here. (taking BISHAM to the side) Listen, that drug is volatilised into the atmosphere. What's its critical temperature?
BISHAM: Two hundred and five centigrade.
DOCTOR: Two hundred and five centigrade. So if we lower the temperature in the chamber-
BISHAM: There are eight of them, all round the city.
DOCTOR: What?
MANDRELL: But all controlled from one point.
DOCTOR: How do you know that?
MANDRELL: I was a B-grade in Main Control. The Doctor's right. It could work.
GOUDRY: Are you out of your mind, Mandrell?
BISHAM: How?
DOCTOR: You mean take over Main Control?
MANDRELL: (standing) Yes. There are only two work units on duty up there. You're right, Doctor. It could be done.
GOUDRY: It sounded to me like you were saying we should help!
MANDRELL: That's what I was thinking, Goudry.
GOUDRY: But why? It's a crazy idea.
MANDRELL: But I think it could work. And what have we got to lose?
DOCTOR: Only your chains.
BISHAM: Well put, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, it was nothing. I have a gift for the apt phrase.
CORDO: (with light in his eyes) Anything's worth trying. If only we could win. Just think, if we could beat the Company!
DOCTOR: There's no 'if' about it, Cordo. We will.
BISHAM: What's your plan, Doctor?
DOCTOR: First of all, we've got to blind the scanner system. At the moment, it's sensitised on me, so I can't move from this spot.
MANDRELL: What scanner system?
DOCTOR: Well, every few metres along the subway, there are tubes in the walls.
GOUDRY: You mean the sun feeds.
DOCTOR: No, I mean the oculoid electronic monitors. They're connected to concealed cables. Cordo, I want two of them brought here.
CORDO: Right, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Cordo?
CORDO: Yes?
DOCTOR: Take care. I mean unplug them carefully.
(CORDO leaves.)
BISHAM: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes?
BISHAM: I don't think she was badly wounded.
[INT. Collector's office]
(LEELA, kicking and struggling, is dragged into the Collector's office. She has a bandage round her head and is straitjacketed.)
LEELA: Get this thing off me!
COMMANDER: The terrorist, Excellency.
LEELA: Let me go!
COLLECTOR: (hunched at his desk) Name.
COMMANDER: Answer his Excellency.
LEELA: I will split you.
COMMANDER: Your name!
LEELA: Leela.
COLLECTOR: Place of birth.
LEELA: I don't have to answer!
COLLECTOR: Place of birth.
LEELA: I don't know. I'm a member of the Sevateem.
COLLECTOR: (looking at her for the first time) The Sevateem?
LEELA: My tribe. Tell this gorilla to take his paws off me.
COLLECTOR: (into a system) Zero zero five on Sevateem.
COMPUTER: Zero zero five. Sevateem. Negative report. Semantic analysis suggests linguistic corruption. Inference is degenerate unsupported Tellurian colony.
COLLECTOR: How did you get to Pluto?
LEELA: By accident, as usual.
COMMANDER: Answer respectfully!
LEELA: The Doctor brought me in a machine called a TARDIS if that leaves you any the wiser.
COLLECTOR: What is the doc-tor?
LEELA: He is a Time Lord.
COLLECTOR: (beckoning) You were in the criminal attack on the Company Correction Centre. Why?
LEELA: Well, I heard the Doctor was in trouble, so I came to rescue him, but when I got here, he'd been set free, so we s-
COLLECTOR: This interview is terminated. Remove her.
COMMANDER: Erased, Excellency?
COLLECTOR: Not as of now. Place her under 'Pending'.
COMMANDER: Immediately, Excellency.
(The COMMANDER hoists her over his shoulder and carries her from the room.)
LEELA: Put me down!
COLLECTOR: I'll issue an invoice for her erasure by close of business today. (to system) Zero zero five. The Time Lords. Specifically one known as the Doctor.
COMPUTER: Zero zero five. Time Lords. Oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey. The planet was classified grade 3 in the last market survey, its potential for commercial development being correspondingly low.
[INT. Undercity]
CORDO: It's true. If we all act together, there's nothing the Company can do.
VEET: If we all act together.
(As they talk, the DOCTOR works on the monitor units.)
GOUDRY: Yes, let's fight the Company.
VEET: Fight, yes!
DOCTOR: What is this Company? Can anyone tell me that?
MANDRELL: Well, it's just the Company.
GOUDRY: It gave us the suns.
(The OTHERS begin talking over each other.)
OTHER: Of course.
OTHER: That's what we've been told.
DOCTOR: Ssssh, ssh shh shhh.
GOUDRY: It's always been the same.
DOCTOR: I mean who runs it? What's it for?
(There are several 'erm's.)
BISHAM: It makes a profit, that's what it's for. And the, er, Collector is a sort of high official. There's nobody else.
DOCTOR: A profit?
BISHAM: Yes.
DOCTOR: But who gets the profit, mm? Where does it go?
VEET: Not to us.
BISHAM: They're not questions we've ever thought about. I mean there's no answer.
DOCTOR: Wouldn't it be interesting to find the answer?
BISHAM: Well, yes, of course-
GOUDRY: Yes!
DOCTOR: Cordo, take these. They're ready.
CORDO: Right, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Now listen. Bisham and Mandrell, stay with me.
MANDRELL: All right, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Now, the rest of you, I want you to scatter through the city and tell the people what's happening. Remind them that they're human beings, and tell them that human beings always have to fight for their freedom. All right?
ALL: Right!
DOCTOR: You all know what to do?
ALL: Yes!
DOCTOR: Let's go.
[INT. Collector's office]
HADE: (stepping down into the circuit-board-themed room with a flourish) Your Hugeness sent for me?
COLLECTOR: You ordered a prisoner to be released from correction today. Why?
HADE: I can explain, your Amplification. He is the Ajack conspirator sent here to foment rebellion. It is my intention to follow him through the tracker system and identify his contacts.
COLLECTOR: There is no rebellion, Hade, and your so-called Ajack is an alien who landed on this planet by mistake. He is a Time Lord known as the Doctor.
HADE: But how ca-? Your Vastness is certain?
COLLECTOR: I simply checked Company records. This Doctor could be a problem.
HADE: In what way, your Voluminousness?
COLLECTOR: He has a long history of violence and of economic subversion. He will not be sympathetic to my Company's business methods. (He hunches over his work again.)
HADE: If there's anything I can do to help the Company? Long life the Company.
(HADE bows. The COLLECTOR presses a large red button, which causes a piercing sound to ring out.)
COLLECTOR: Issue hourly bulletins. Five thousand talmars reward for information leading his capture, dead or alive.
HADE: Magnificent!
COLLECTOR: The money to be paid from your private purse.
HADE: Argh!
COLLECTOR: You spoke?
HADE: Uh, merely a cry of gladness at being so honoured. (He bows.)
COLLECTOR: Also, bulletin information that the Doctor's companion is to be publicly executed for her crimes against the Company.
HADE: Praise the Company forever and ever. Er, where will the execution be held?
COLLECTOR: In the Exchange Hall. Admission by ticket only, five talmars. Proceeds to the Company Benevolent Fund.
HADE: Your Enormity will attend?
COLLECTOR: Naturally. The execution will take place during the first work shift. Announce a two-hour public holiday without pay.
HADE: The work units will cry with delight. Such generosity is unparalleled.
COLLECTOR: I compute a point oh four seven per cent drop in production, which is within acceptable limits. Also, station extra security units in all the subways around the Exchange.
HADE: Extra units, your Globosity?
COLLECTOR: The computer character analysis indicates that the Doctor will try to prevent the execution. With luck, we'll roll two of them into the steamer.
(He smiles, and HADE laughs.)
[INT. Subway]
(CORDO is making sure the last monitor unit is firmly attached to the wall again. He joins the others at the end of the hallway.)
CORDO: Ready, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good.
(The DOCTOR walks back and forth down the hallway, between the two camera units.)
DOCTOR: One more time, just for luck. (He sets off again.)
K9: Duplication quite unnecessary.
DOCTOR: (returning) Right, well, that should do it.
MANDRELL: What did you do, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, I fixed a static loop, what else? Mandrell, you lead the way. Cordo second, Bisham third. K9, fifth.
[INT. Correction Centre, Induction Therapy]
(LEELA hangs at about a 45-degree angle from the wall, with no obvious supports. A GUARD watches. A uniformed man enters and chuckles. He walks past a stone-faced GUARD and steps over to LEELA.)
COMMANDER: Comfortable?
LEELA: Do I look it?
COMMANDER: Shan't keep you pending long. His Excellency has invoiced your execution.
LEELA: Good. That means I won't have to look at your ugly face anymore.
COMMANDER: Be a bit of a treat for us too. We haven't had a public steaming for months.
LEELA: A public what?
COMMANDER: You don't know about the steamer? Hoo-hoo, hoo...
(He leaves, continuing to laugh.)
[INT. Subway]
K9: Visual scan clear, Master.
(The others follow.)
MANDRELL: (to the DOCTOR) One more level after this.
[INT. Gatherer's office]
MARN: (entering) We've picked them up, your Honour.
HADE: Excellent. What's the location?
MARN: Service subway twenty-seven, District 4. I've already alerted the guards.
HADE: What? Stop them. Stop them at once.
MARN: Your Honour?
HADE: I will arrest him myself.
MARN: Arrest him? I thought we were to keep him under observation.
HADE: (readying a hand weapon, nearly frantic) All the plans have changed, Marn. The Collector wants him taken dead or alive. You'd better come with me as a witness. (seeing the DOCTOR on the camera feed) Oh, the idiot. Look at him, look at him, walking up and down where everyone could see him.
MARN: A witness?
HADE: He could cost me five thousand talmars! Hurry, woman! (She follows him out.)
[INT. Main Control]
COMPUTER: Attention, all citizens. Attention, all citizens. Stand by for an important public bulletin. Have you seen this man? (the Doctor's face appears on the screen) He is an anti-Company agent wanted for acts of terrorism. Gatherer Hade will pay a reward of five thousand talmars for information leading to the capture of this gangster, dead or alive.
SYNGE: Hey, five thousand.
DOCTOR: Peanuts. It's an insult. The Droges of Gabrielides offered a whole star system for my head once.
SYNGE: What?
BISHAM: K-keep your hands w-w-where we can see them.
CORDO: Put your hands on your head.
MANDRELL: Stand still. This is a rising, citizens. Either you join us or ya die.
SYNGE: I remember you. Mandrell.
MANDRELL: That's right, Synge. What's your answer, B-grade? (silence is his answer) Right.
SYNGE: Wait.
SOMEONE: You stay where you are.
SYNGE: You can't do that!
(MANDRELL pulls a lever on the wall.)
CORDO: It's done.
SYNGE: But the vapour towers-
CORDO: We're shutting them down.
DOCTOR: Yes, nasty, horrid, smelly things. Carry on, Cordo.
CORDO: (to BISHAM, who is behind him) This is the nerve centre of the city, eh?
BISHAM: Yes, in one way it is. All the power is controlled from here.
CORDO: All right, citizens. Are you with the revolution or not?
(We receive a bit of a nod.)
SYNGE: We're with you, brothers. Eh, Hackett?
[INT. Subway]
(HADE and MARN sneak around from the corner behind the hallway where the Doctor was seen pacing.)
HADE: Now!
(They jump around the corner, HADE with weapon out. No-one else is in sight.)
HADE: He's not there.
MARN: I don't understand.
(She walks up to one of the monitors with a hand-held device, which beeps when she holds it up.)
MARN: The scanners are still registering.
HADE: I don't care what the scanners say. (doing a double-take) I do care what the scanners say. Check again, Marn. There must be some malfunction.
MARN: Your Honour, the scanner information shows that the Doctor is walking up and down exactly here.
HADE: (after working his gums for a bit) Fool!
[INT. Main Control]
(LEELA's picture is now displayed.)
COMPUTER: This is the gangster terrorist soon to be executed in the Exchange Hall.
BISHAM: It's Leela!
COMPUTER: Tickets for the spectacle are still available.
BISHAM: Fetch the Doctor, quickly.
COMPUTER: Price five talmars...
CORDO: Doctor!
COMPUTER: At the Company offices. As a special privilege, during the hours of the public holiday, the steaming will also be shown live on all bulletin screens.
MANDRELL: The temperature in the heat exchanger's down to seventy centigrade. Shall we keep it at that level, Doctor?
DOCTOR: What?
MANDRELL: At seventy.
DOCTOR: What do they mean, a steaming?
BISHAM: Well, they put her into a condensation chamber.
CORDO: It's directly underneath here.
BISHAM: The heat exchanger's regulated by water pumps. It turns into high-pressure steam, of course, and then goes into the condensation chamber.
SYNGE: It's a terrible death. You can hear the-
MANDRELL: Sssh, shhh.
DOCTOR: Come here, Bisham. Listen, I-. Mandrell! (crossing to him) Mandrell, what would happen if we cut the water supply to the pumps?
MANDRELL: The heat exchanger would blow up. Take half the city with it.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, just for a few minutes, just long enough to get her out.
SYNGE: You'd have to crawl through that vent in the wall to get to the condensation chamber.
MANDRELL: Doctor, take a look.
SYNGE: No, it couldn't be done. You can see what the atmospheric pressure in there is. It would flatten you.
DOCTOR: So we let the pressure out.
MANDRELL: You couldn't do it.
DOCTOR: Why not?
MANDRELL: It's a safety system.
BISHAM: The only way would be to open the valve from the inside.
MANDRELL: And inside, you're dead. It's impossible.
K9: Suggestion, Master.
DOCTOR: What? What is it?
K9: As my construction offers more resistance to pressure than the human frame-
DOCTOR: Yes, yes.
K9: It may be that I could function inside the vent?
DOCTOR: Yes, but could you open a valve, hmm?
K9: I could attempt to blast it, Master.
DOCTOR: Attempt to blast-. We'll try it. Get that vent open.
MANDRELL: Bisham!
DOCTOR: K9, I don't know how to say this, K9.
K9: Master, your concern is noted. Please do not embarrass me.
DOCTOR: Good dog.
CORDO: Look, it's starting.
(We can see LEELA grimacing and struggling in an attempt to free herself.)
[INT. Exchange Hall]
COLLECTOR: (wheeling in) Are we ready?
HADE: Almost, your Mightiness. We won't be long.
(A clear cage is lowered over LEELA.)
COLLECTOR: A poor turnout, Hade.
HADE: Mmm. Five talmars for only one execution. If we could have offered more victims, made a bigger show of it... Of course, when they can see it all for nothing on the bulletin screens...
COLLECTOR: Not the same thing at all. No sense of a shared experience. I fear the Doctor is going to disappoint us. Your scanners haven't detected him?
HADE: Uh, not exactly.
COLLECTOR: What does that mean? Either they have or they haven't.
HADE: Well, er, the truth of the matter is that, uh, there's a fault in the system. A false image. But I can assure your Sublimity it'll soon be rectified.
(The COLLECTOR fixes him with a harsh look, and HADE quails, then sits down.)
[INT. Main Control]
(One of the indicators abruptly falls to zero.)
CORDO: K9's done it. Look!
DOCTOR: Get the vent open.
(BISHAM does so.)
DOCTOR: Mandrell, reverse the pumps.
MANDRELL: Pumps in reverse.
(K9 emerges from the vent.)
MANDRELL: We'll give you two minutes, Doctor. We can't give you any longer.
DOCTOR: I know, I know. Well done, K9.
K9: It was nothing, Master.
MANDRELL: Take this, Doctor. It's a two-way communicator. If anything goes wrong, you can let us know.
DOCTOR: All right. Now, don't call me, you understand? I'll call you.
MANDRELL: (into the shaft, behind the Doctor) Right. And Doctor? Two minutes!
BISHAM: Good luck, Doctor.
CORDO: Good luck, Doctor!
K9: Good luck, Master.
SYNGE: Temperature in the exchange room is rising fast, Mandrell. I don't think we can hold it for two minutes.
MANDRELL: We must. I told him two minutes.
BISHAM: (watching the screen) The execution! She's going into the steamer.
[INT. Exchange Hall]
(The cage is now moving along a set of tracks, entering a round opening.)
COLLECTOR: This is the moment I get a real feeling of job satisfaction. Are the microphones wired in?
HADE: All around the condenser, Most Merciful. We're looking forward to excellent duodecaphonic sound.
COLLECTOR: Then we shall hear within a few seconds.
[INT. Main Control]
(The system is making sounds of protest.)
SYNGE: I can't hold it, Mandrell.
MANDRELL: Another twenty seconds.
SYNGE: It's going. Listen!
BISHAM: The Doctor must be in the condensation chamber by now.
MANDRELL: If we release that heat blast, he'll be vapourised.
SYNGE: If you don't, we'll all die!
CORDO: Look at the dial!
MANDRELL: Ten more seconds.
(Tense shots of the dial, his face, and LEELA follow.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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