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DOCTOR WHO
THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR

Written by
Bob Baker and Dave Martin

Part One

[EXT. Futuristic city]

(A woman in a green plastic outfit holds a man in her arms.)
HEROINE: Darling.
HERO: Oh, my love!
HEROINE: Don't go.
HERO: I must.
HEROINE: But you'll be killed!
HERO: Perhaps.
HEROINE: I can't bear it. I love you.
HERO: There is a greater love. Men out there, (gestures) young men, are dying for it. Dying so that Atrios might live.

[INT. TARDIS console room]

DOCTOR: Atrios? Do you know I've never actually been to Atrios?
ROMANA: Nor to Zeos?
DOCTOR: Where?
ROMANA: Atrios and Zeos, the twin planets on the edge of the helical galaxy. Didn't they teach you anything at the Academy?
DOCTOR: Yes, but we're not going to Zeos.
ROMANA: No, we're going to Atrios.
DOCTOR: Well, why don't you get on with it then?
ROMANA: Right.
DOCTOR: Atrios, K9, Atrios. I wonder what the inhabitants are like there.

[INT. Hospital ward]

(We find that the lovers' earnest exchange is part of a melodramatic patriotic broadcast on a video screen.)
HERO: You must be strong. We must all be strong and play our parts until victory is won, evil vanquished, and peace restored.
(The camera pulls back to an environment far different from this. We are in a crowded, dingy hospital ward in a bunker. Alerts are heard in the background.)
HERO: Then, and only then, my darling, can we love again. I must go. Kiss the children for me. Tell them their daddy will return before long.
(A projectile hits the facility, and plaster falls on some patients. The doctor, MERAK, runs over.)
MERAK: It's all right, it's all right.
(He and a couple other members of staff make to assist.)

[INT. Control centre]

(We see reels of magnetic tape whirl, alongside computer banks. Workers in grey sit taking reports.)
MAN [OC]: Area six obliterated.
MAN 2 [OC]: Section 7 - heavy damage.
WOMAN [OC]: District Ten - no contact.
MAN 3[OC]: Level Fourteen holding.
MAN 4: Area two - no contact.
WOMAN 2: Heavy casualties through all upper levels.
(Standing in front of a martial eagle symbol and some of the tape reels is an elfin woman in a long purple dress. She wears a yellow cape and has a circlet on her head. Guards in black uniforms stand in various locations. The camera pulls out and rotates to reveal a seated grey-haired man in a red uniform with gold trim and huge gold epaulets. He wears the martial symbol on his chest. Aide-de-camp SHAPP stands near the MARSHAL on his three-step-raised platform. From behind the Marshal's seat, we see a readout appear, character by character, on a large viewscreen -

L/SIX X/Y 739 OBL N/OP
BLDNG DMGE 95 OBL
EX PERSL .97 FATS
L/SEVEN X/Z 743 S/OBL N/OP 
BLDNG DMGE 79 OBL 
EX PERS .93 FATS 
TEN INCOMM INCOMM INCOMM 
    INCOMM INCOMM )

[INT. Hospital ward]

MARSHAL [on screen]: People of Atrios, once more the hated forces of Zeos clamour at our gates. Once more, they shall not pass. Be brave, my people. Be steadfast, be strong.
(This and the people hurting around him make MERAK wince.)

[INT. Hospital corridor]

MARSHAL [on screen]: This rain of death which the Zeons pour upon us - will it extinguish the flame of liberty, my people?
ASTRA: (heading through the corridor at speed and stopping at a screen) My people. (She hurries forward again, with a GUARD following.)
MARSHAL [on screen]: No, our sun will rise again, and Atrios from its ashes will rekindle a mighty resolve, an implacable wrath, crushing the hated Zeon beneath the heel of Atrios.

[INT. Hospital ward]

(ASTRA enters the ward, followed by the GUARD.)
MARSHAL [OC]: Even now, we know the Zeon will to fight is failing. They cannot go on. Our ships dominate their skies. All I ask, my people, is that you, who have suffered so much, clench the jaw, grimly endure a short while more, until we can deliver the final blow which will bring Zeos to its knees. Victory will be ours.
(His final words are followed by a swell of patriotic music.)
ASTRA: Surgeon Merak.
MERAK: Princess Astra.
ASTRA: Why must these brave men and women be left on the floor like rubbish?
MERAK: The wards are full, your Highness.
ASTRA: I see.
MERAK: Excuse me, your Highness. (checking her bracelet) But I think your rad-check is due for renewal. Yes, if you'd just come this way.
(He leads her to a small room separated from the patients, and guard, by a curtain.)

[INT. Ward's stores]

ASTRA: I was so worried. They told me your ward had been hit.
MERAK: Damaged but not destroyed.
ASTRA: And you?
MERAK: Luckier than many.
ASTRA: Oh, when will it all end?
MERAK: Have you been able to contact the Zeons?
ASTRA: The Marshal has me watched all the time.
MERAK: We must get through. It's the only way. Whether we're seen as traitors doesn't matter any longer.
ASTRA: I'll go on trying, but none of our messages seem to get through.
MERAK: Jammed from here?
ASTRA: No.
MERAK: Because if they were, it would mean the Marshal suspects us.
ASTRA: No, it's not that. He'd have arrested us. I sent the last message myself, but there was no contact signal, no echo, no bounce-back, nothing. As if Zeos just wasn't there.
(Another projectile hits a nearby target.)
MERAK: Zeos is there all right.
(The GUARD enters.)
GUARD: Behind schedule, your Highness.
ASTRA: Very well.
MERAK: You must take more care, Princess, and remember to keep your rad-check renewed.

[INT. Control centre]

MARSHAL: We're losing, Shapp.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: If we don't get this counterattack underway soon, we're finished.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: Still nothing from the fleet?
SHAPP: No, sir. They're still lost.
MARSHAL: We must discover whatever it is that's blocking our navigation systems.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Whatever it is, it's certainly effective.
MARSHAL: How can the Zeons develop something like that and not us? What's gone wrong, eh?

[INT. TARDIS console room]

(The TARDIS materialises in space.)
DOCTOR: There. We should be in parking orbit over Atrios. Let's see where we're going, shall we?
ROMANA: Why not?
(The scanner shows stars.)
DOCTOR: That's odd. That's very odd. Wouldn't you say that was very odd?
ROMANA: That's very odd.
DOCTOR: I wonder what went wrong.
ROMANA: Better check the co-ordinates.
DOCTOR: Zero zero six nine. That's exactly what you gave me. Are you sure?
ROMANA: Quite sure. Something's gone astray.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, just a minute. There may have been a time shift. Let's take another reading.
ROMANA: Zero zero eight, zero one, zero zero four zero.
DOCTOR: Zero zero eight zero one zero. What a lot of zeroes. There it is!
(We now see a reddish planet in the distance on the scanner.)
DOCTOR: Well. Well, it's something, anyway.
ROMANA: But it's millions of miles away.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: And where's Zeos? There's no sign of it.
DOCTOR: Do you know what I think? I think something's gone wrong. Something fairly serious.
ROMANA: The Black Guardian?
DOCTOR: Well, it could be a coincidence.
ROMANA: I wouldn't like to bet on it.
DOCTOR: No. Nor would I. There's only one thing to do.
ROMANA: Listen, why don't you take us in on manual?
DOCTOR: I think I'll take us in on manual, with circumspection.
ROMANA: Right.

[INT. Control centre]

SHAPP: Marshal? I think we're getting something here.
MARSHAL: Ours or theirs?
SHAPP: It's hard to tell at this range, sir, but it's not a signal profile I know, and it's hardly moving at all.
MARSHAL: A Zeon secret weapon?
SHAPP: It's possible, sir.
MARSHAL: The device that's been interfering with our navigation and targeting?
SHAPP: I can't tell yet, sir.
MARSHAL: Track it until it's within surface missile range, Shapp, and then we shall see.
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: Destroy that, and we can still win. I'll show Princess Astra and her pacifist friends.
(He feels behind his left ear and then walks away slightly to an imperfect-looking mirror, into which he muses.)
MARSHAL: She's beginning to panic, becoming a thorn in my flesh, an irritant. She could be useful to my enemies. Something tells me her value to me may be at an end.
(He touches behind his ear, with two fingers, again. We see that SHAPP has come up behind him.)
MARSHAL: (turning to him) Don't lose track of that Zeon device.
SHAPP: It may not be a Zeon-
MARSHAL: Just don't lose it. Inform me as soon as it comes within missile range.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Where will you be?
MARSHAL: I have to attend to (pause) a matter of state.

[INT. Hospital corridor]

(ASTRA and the GUARD leave an area labelled 'A-G'. When the GUARD's communication unit beeps, he places a hand on her arm.)
GUARD: Excuse me, your Highness.
(She stops while he responds, holding a microphone and earpiece.)
GUARD: Yes? Yes, sir, she is. Yes, sir. Very good, sir. Will do, sir.
ASTRA: Well?
GUARD: There's been a change of plan, your Highness. Your visit to the children's ward has been cancelled.
ASTRA: Why?
GUARD: A danger of subsidence, your Highness. The recent attack.
ASTRA: But what about the children?
GUARD: They're being evacuated. We're to go to K block so that you can welcome them into their new quarters.
ASTRA: I thought K block was closed down years ago because of radiation contamination.
GUARD: Apparently it's clear now, your Highness. This way, please.

[INT. Control centre]

(SHAPP speaks into his communication unit.)
SHAPP: Inform the Marshal our unidentified target will be within range in, uh, two minutes.

[INT. TARDIS console room]

ROMANA: Well, there's still no sign of Zeos, but I'm picking up a reading for Atrios's twin. (She whistles.)
DOCTOR: What's the matter?
ROMANA: Look. Radiation levels you wouldn't believe!
DOCTOR: Good heavens. You could fry eggs in the street. Hah!
ROMANA: But that means-
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: There must be a huge nuclear war going on down there.
DOCTOR: Not at all, no.
ROMANA: Well, what else could it be?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Probably someone giving a huge breakfast party. Think pos-. Why do you always assume the worst?
ROMANA: Because it usually happens.
DOCTOR: Empirical poppycock. Where's your joy in life? Where's your optimism?
ROMANA: It opted out.
K9: Optimism. Belief that everything will work out well. Irrational, bordering on insane.
DOCTOR: Oh, do shut up, K9. Listen, Romana. Whenever you go into a new situation, you must always believe the best until you find out exactly what the situation's all about. Then believe the worst.
ROMANA: Ah, but what happens if it turns out not to be the worst after all?
DOCTOR: Don't be ridiculous. It always is. Isn't it, K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Still, nuclear war. It's always difficult walking into these situations. You never know who's fighting who.
ROMANA: Or why.
DOCTOR: Oh, I think I can say why.
ROMANA: Why?
DOCTOR: Why? Why, it's got to be, hasn't it? It's got to be something to do with the sixth and most important segment of the Key to Time, hmm?

[INT. Outside K block]

(We are in another underground area, this one looking even worse, and disused.)
GUARD: This way, Princess. The children will be waiting for you.
(He opens the door, which creaks, and waits for her to enter first.)
GUARD: You must go in. Please, your Highness. I'm only obeying orders.
ASTRA: Yes, I understand.
(She strides forward into K block. The guard closes the doors behind her. He turns round and sees a figure with epaulets in the gloom. The GUARD dies with a green flashing light of concentric circles. The MARSHAL turns to leave with his weapon in his hand.
Meanwhile, ASTRA clutches her arms around herself when her radiation detector starts beeping and showing a blinking red light. She finds the doors locked.)

[INT. Control centre]

(The MARSHAL enters.)
MARSHAL: All well, Shapp?
SHAPP: Yes, sir. It's still there, not moving at all.
MARSHAL: It could be on surveillance.
SHAPP: Yes, sir. Monitoring and observing.
MARSHAL: Hmm. Is it within range?
SHAPP: Just.
MARSHAL: Then it won't be on surveillance much longer. Vapourise it.
SHAPP: Perhaps we should try to capture it, sir?
MARSHAL: That's probably exactly what they want us to do. Vapourise it now!
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
(SHAPP presses a red button on a control panel. We see a shot of a missile lifting off.)

[INT. TARDIS console room]

ROMANA: Doctor, look, something's approaching us from the planet surface.
DOCTOR: A welcoming party, do you think? K9? K9, what do you make of that?
K9: Missile identified. Nuclear warhead.
ROMANA: What? Let's get out of here.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wait. We'll dematerialise at the last moment. Let whoever's shooting at us think they've hit us. Always confuse the enemy.
ROMANA: If you say so.
DOCTOR: Right, link that tracer in. I want to land as close as possible to the sixth segment. The less time we spend on Atrios, the better.
ROMANA: Right. Ready.
DOCTOR: Standing by? K9, how long to impact?
K9: Three, two, one.
DOCTOR: What?
(There is an explosion in space.)

[INT. Control centre]

MARSHAL: (as the target disappears from the screen) Got it! We got it! Smashed it, vapourised it! Beautiful. You've earned yourself a medal, Shapp.
SHAPP: Thank you, sir, but I don't know.
MARSHAL: What do you mean you don't know?
SHAPP: Whether we got it.
MARSHAL: I saw it with my own eyes. Beautiful. Direct hit. It's what it's all about.
SHAPP: Yes, sir, but I could swear that the target disappeared before impact.
MARSHAL: Nah.

[INT. Corridor outside K block]

(The TARDIS materialises, and the DOCTOR and ROMANA, wearing her long white gown, step out. They see the state of the corridor.)
ROMANA: Oh no.
DOCTOR: No, no, don't say it, please.
ROMANA: Don't say what?
DOCTOR: Don't say 'another underground passage'.
ROMANA: Well, I wonder how deep we are this time?
DOCTOR: Yes. K9? K9, are you still sulking in there? Come on out. No water or swamps. It's quite safe.
(A missile approaches and makes contact. K9 emits a rapid, garbled noise.)
ROMANA: What did he say?
DOCTOR: I don't know. (to K9) What did you say?
K9: Master, radiation levels indicate nuclear warfare in progress on planet surface.
ROMANA: What? How deep are we?
K9: Four hundred metres below, Master.
DOCTOR: Four hundred metres? They are taking a pasting. If it's like this down here, imagine what it's like on the surface.
ROMANA: Surely nothing can live in this. The radiation levels alone...
K9: Radiation levels are variable. No sign of immediate life. The corpse on the left, however, is recent.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: (examining the body of Astra's ex-guard) You're right, K9 - he hasn't been dead long. Shot, poor chap.
ROMANA: At close range, from the front.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Must have been one of his friends. Just goes to show you can't trust anyone nowadays.
ROMANA: I don't think I'm going to like this place very much.
DOCTOR: No. Let's locate the sixth segment and get out of here.
ROMANA: I'm with you all the way. (producing the tracer and following its lead toward the entrance to K block) Through there.
DOCTOR: Locked and lead. What does that suggest to you?
ROMANA: High-radiation zone?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Any sentient life through there, K9?
K9: Regret lead shielding will prevent effective analysis.
DOCTOR: Yes, it's well guarded, or at least it was. Perhaps the door's booby-trapped.
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: Remember what we were saying about the Black Guardian?
DOCTOR: Yes. What? 'Will you come into my parlour?', said the spider to the fly?
ROMANA: Very apt.
DOCTOR: I think we should tread very carefully. K9?
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: Could you make a hole for me in that door, K9? A little, little hole, K9. We don't know what's beyond there, do we?
(We see ASTRA on the other side, hugging her knees and lowering her head into her arms as her radiation monitor continues beeping and flashing.)

[INT. Control centre]

(The MARSHAL stands before the mirror.)
SHAPP: Sir? Marshal? (He taps the MARSHAL's shoulder.)
MARSHAL: (rounding on him) Never do that.
SHAPP: I'm sorry, sir.
MARSHAL: I was (pause, fingering his collar) thinking. Well, Shapp, good news? The fleet?
SHAPP: No, sir, not yet.
MARSHAL: Well, what is it, man?
SHAPP: The alarm sensors in K block, sir.
MARSHAL What about K block?
SHAPP: Sensors indicate an attempted break-in. Now why would anyone want to attempt to break in to the high-radiation zone, risk certain death?
MARSHAL: Seal it off, Shapp. Seal all exits immediately. I'll deal with this myself, you understand?
SHAPP: Yes, sir.
MARSHAL: No-one else is to be involved. And bring that traitor Merak here, now.
(The MARSHAL hurries out.)
SHAPP: Merak?

[INT. Corridor outside K block]

(K9 is creating a small, smoking hole in the door with his beam.)
DOCTOR: That's enough, K9, that's enough. Back up.
(The pair crouch down. The DOCTOR peers through the hole and sees an eye.)
ASTRA [OC]: Help me, whoever you are.
DOCTOR: Romana, there's a-
ROMANA: There's a what?
DOCTOR: There's a man standing behind you. Get your hands up.
(The MARSHAL is holding his gun.)
MARSHAL: Who are you?
DOCTOR: We're travellers. We seem to be lost, actually. (referring to the guard on the ground) He's dead.
MARSHAL: You'll be shot for this.
ROMANA: It wasn't us. He was like that when we found him.
MARSHAL: You expect me to believe that?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: (simultaneously with her) No.
ROMANA: No.
DOCTOR: (simultaneously with her) Yes.
(The MARSHAL beckons for the others to walk ahead of him. He has not noticed K9. Behind the door, we see ASTRA stop looking through the hole. She lies down.
Meanwhile, in the corridor, a missile causes a beam to fall across K9's path toward the Doctor and company. K9 backs away.)

[INT. Control centre]

MARSHAL: What were you doing at that door?
DOCTOR: I've told you. We were trying to avoid the bombardment. I thought that door might lead to the way out.
MARSHAL: That door leads to certain death.
DOCTOR: What? He saved our lives.
MARSHAL: You're obviously Zeon spies.
DOCTOR: Spies? Do we look like spies?
ROMANA: No.
DOCTOR: I thought spies looked kind of inconspicuous.
(SHAPP enters.)
SHAPP: Surgeon Merak, sir.
MARSHAL: Good. These are the intruders who were caught trying to break into K block.
SHAPP: Who are they? What do they want?
MARSHAL: Precisely what I intend to find out, before I execute them. Bring in Merak.
(SHAPP snaps his fingers.)
MERAK: Marshal, I've got a hundred patients waiting.
MARSHAL: Then they'll have to wait. Do you know these people?
MERAK: No. Should I?
MARSHAL: I think you do. I think they are your accomplices.
MERAK: What?
MARSHAL: Zeon spies and saboteurs.
MERAK: What's that got to do with me?
MARSHAL: Princess Astra is missing. She was last seen with you. Since then, her escort has been found dead.
MERAK: We must find her. Are you searching for her?
MARSHAL: Everything possible is being done. Now Merak, I know you don't agree with my conduct of this war.
MERAK: I don't agree with war, nor does Astra.
MARSHAL: I think it's possible that you might have been foolish enough, misled no doubt by the noblest of motives, to co-operate with the enemy. Am I right?
MERAK: No, Marshal, you're wrong.
MARSHAL: It would be much better for you to admit everything. I arrested these two myself, standing over the body of the princess's escort.
DOCTOR: I told you - we're not even armed. Look, nothing, just a whistle. Care for a blow? Go on.
MARSHAL: (taking the dog whistle, thinking, then holding it up) Shapp.
(SHAPP approaches and blows into the ultrasonic whistle.)
MARSHAL: Bah, it's useless. Don't play the fool with me.
(He drops the whistle, which the DOCTOR retrieves.)
MARSHAL: What is the purpose of your visit?
DOCTOR: Tourism.
MARSHAL: In the middle of a nuclear war?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I run this small agency, you see. Trips to battlefields future and past, how civilisations died. It's very profitable. Isn't it very profitable, Romana?
ROMANA: Oh, absolutely. It's very educational.
MARSHAL: For the last time, what are you doing here?
DOCTOR: Looking for a key.
(We return to K block. A portion of the wall next to ASTRA slides away, revealing an alcove, the back panel of which lights up. In the corridor, K9 speeds along toward his master's call.)
MARSHAL: Everything you've told me is obviously a pack of lies. It's clear to me that you are Zeon spies. You've murdered one of my guards, abducted the princess Astra, no doubt with the collusion of Surgeon Merak here. Unless you divulge her whereabouts, you will be executed immediately as spies. Now is that clear?
DOCTOR: Beautifully put, I thought.
MARSHAL: Well?
(The DOCTOR sees K9 enter.)
DOCTOR: I'm sorry, I don't think we can help you.
MARSHAL: Is that your last word?
DOCTOR: No.
ROMANA: (simultaneously with him) Yes.
DOCTOR: No, I sincerely hope not, but I think we've been here long enough.
MARSHAL: Stay where you are!
DOCTOR: Listen, we tell you the truth and you don't believe us. You accuse us of crimes we haven't committed, and now you're going to have us shot. I think after a long journey that's a bit too much, Marshal. K9, lights!
(K9 shoots out the light.)
DOCTOR: Goodbye, Marshal. Come on.
MARSHAL: Stop them! Stop them!

[INT. Corridors]

DOCTOR: Come on, run.
ROMANA: Where to?
DOCTOR: Back to the TARDIS.
(We return to K block for a moment, where a black-bedecked figure in a black mask stands next to ASTRA. This figure drags her into the alcove. The wall closes, and within we see them vanish in a bright flash of light.)

[INT. Corridor outside K block]

(They run to the TARDIS's parking place.)
ROMANA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: The TARDIS! It's gone!

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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