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DOCTOR WHO
THE CREATURE FROM THE PIT
Written by
David Fisher
Part Two
(Overlap from 'Now, Doctor, are you prepared to be co-operative?')
[EXT. Above the Pit]
ROMANA: Doctor! Doctor!
(She looks down the shaft, where the DOCTOR is hanging on against stonework some distance below the top of the Pit. He raises a finger to his lips and quickly grabs the wall again.
ADRASTA: Fool. (to a GUARD with a sword) Hold her.
ROMANA: We must save him.
ADRASTA: Impossible.
ROMANA: Someone could climb down to him.
ADRASTA: Into the Pit? To that creature?
[INT. Partway down the shaft of the Pit]
(The DOCTOR is trying to work out an approach to his problem.)
ROMANA [OC]: Let me go down to him.
ADRASTA [OC]: You're too valuable.
ROMANA [OC]: Me? Why?
[EXT. Above the Pit shaft]
ADRASTA: You were his assistant. You must know what he knew.
ROMANA: About what?
ADRASTA: The huge broken shell in the Place of Death. He knew something about it that none of my engineers had ever discovered.
ROMANA: What? I don't know anything about it.
ADRASTA: Don't interrupt, dear. It's the only thing that's keeping you alive.
ROMANA: Well, you can't just leave the Doctor to die down there.
ADRASTA: If I were you, my dear, I would pray that he was dead already. Then he would at least be spared the stress of being eaten alive.
[INT. Partway down the shaft of the Pit]
(The DOCTOR finishes hammering a metal spike into the stone of the shaft wall.)
ADRASTA [OC]: Come away from the Pit, my dear. Believe me, there is no way he is going to climb out.
DOCTOR: (putting the hammer back in his pocket) 'Everest In Easy Stages'. (he fumbles in his pocket with one hand and produces that book) It's in Tibetan!
(He places the book in the hand of the arm with which he's holding himself in place and pulls a second book from his pocket. He opens it with his face - 'Teach Yourself Tibetan'.)
DOCTOR: Pi-e pa-ha. 'Do not be afraid.' (We hear growling noises below.)
[EXT. Above the Pit]
ROMANA: (to her GUARD, who still has his big sword out) Please, I beg you - save him.
ADRASTA: It's too late, my dear.
ROMANA: K9.
(K9 is covered in a cobweb-like cocoon.)
ROMANA: K9. Oh, K9, what have they done to you?
K9: (muffled) Mistress. Mistress.
ROMANA: K9.
K9: Cannot move.
(ADRASTA approaches and taps against K9 with her knife.)
ADRASTA: It's metal! Bring it. And her. I have a use for her.
[INT. Partway down the Pit shaft]
(The DOCTOR has both books propped open on the side of the shaft. His scarf is tied to the spike he hammered in place earlier. Down the scarf a way, he is hammering others into the stone. ADRASTA looks down into the Pit and muses.)
ADRASTA: Pity you were such a fool, Doctor. I could have used you too.
(She kicks soil into the Pit and walks off. It hits him in the face, He spits at it and reels back, causing the top belay to pop out and the book to fall. The DOCTOR too falls.)
[INT. The Pit]
(He lands. It's not a long fall.)
DOCTOR: (trying to take the pulse of a skeleton next to him) Dead, poor chap. Doran? Doran? Doran? Doran?
(He moves past various full skeletons and lights a match next to a dark-robed figure. This is DORAN, eyes unseeing.)
DOCTOR: Doran.
(The DOCTOR raises the match near his face as he hears something growl not far away.)
[INT. Throne room]
ROMANA: What is that thing in the Pit?
ADRASTA: We call it the Creature.
ROMANA: Ah, that's original, but what kind of creature is it?
ADRASTA: Hard to say, really.
ROMANA: Why is that?
ADRASTA: Our researchers divide into two categories - the ones who have got close enough to find out something about it...
ROMANA: Yes?
ADRASTA: And the ones who are still alive.
ROMANA: But you must know something about it.
ADRASTA: It kills people. What more is there to know?
ROMANA: Where does it come from? Is it a native of this planet?
ADRASTA: (looking at herself in a metal-framed mirror presented to her by a LADY IN WAITING) I'm sorry about your friend, my dear, believe me, but you saw for yourself - he hurled himself into the Pit. He wasn't pushed. No-one forced him.
ROMANA: Why should he do that?
ADRASTA: Perhaps in order to save you.
ROMANA: Me? But how?
ADRASTA: Now he's gone, I have to keep you alive. You're the only one who knows about the shell.
ROMANA: Why are you so interested in that shell?
ADRASTA: There are some questions, my dear, it is better not to ask. You do know about the shell?
ROMANA: I was with the Doctor when he found it.
ADRASTA: Yes, Madam Karela told me, but you still haven't answered my question.
ROMANA: There are some questions it's-
(ADRASTA slaps ROMANA.)
ADRASTA: Now, my dear, I'll ask you just once more. You do know about the shell?
ROMANA: Yes.
ADRASTA: Good. I'm sure we'll get along famously.
(K9, still in cobwebs, is carried in on a stretcher frame, which is placed on a small round table by guards.)
ADRASTA: Ah, your curious tin animal.
ROMANA: What are you going to do with him?
ADRASTA: On our planet, my dear, metal of whatever sort is valuable. Far too valuable for mere toys. Guards, break up the tin dog. Smash it to pieces.
ROMANA: But you can't break up K9!
ADRASTA: Don't worry, my dear. We'll keep every piece of precious metal.
[INT. The Pit]
(The DOCTOR has a match lit and is checking out the tunnels. He enters a room with a slightly green tint and touches one of the rocks. It's wet.)
DOCTOR: Ack.
(He ducks down and keeps moving slowly forward, until he sees a pulsating green something of large size. He backs away, and we see it head toward his tunnel, holding out an appendage as it moves and pulses greenly.
Meanwhile, the DOCTOR's match has gone out. He lights another and turns. There is a bearded man there, who startles the DOCTOR. The man places a finger to his lips.)
[INT. Throne room]
(A GUARD is using a hammer and chisel on K9's back structure.)
ROMANA: Please, stop him before he damages the circuitry.
ADRASTA: You'll co-operate to the full?
ROMANA: Yes.
ADRASTA: I want to know what the Doctor found out about the shell.
ROMANA: All right.
ADRASTA: And I want to know about your travelling machine.
ROMANA: The TARDIS.
ADRASTA: If that's what it's called.
ROMANA: All right, but if that maniac doesn't stop bashing K9, you won't learn anything.
ADRASTA: Is that a threat?
ROMANA: No, I'm simply telling you that everything you want to know is locked up in K9's memory banks. Damage them and you won't learn a thing.
ADRASTA: Stop it, you fool! So, the little metal animal knows everything. Well, well. That makes both the Doctor and you redundant, doesn't it?
ROMANA: Not really. You see, I'm the only one who can operate K9. Without me, he can't tell you what you want to know.
[INT. The Pit]
(The DOCTOR has another lit match, which he carefully hands to the old man.)
ORGANON: This way, quickly, before the monster comes back. Come on, come on.
[INT. Organon's home]
(ORGANON leads the way into the cave he calls home. Light is provided by at least one candle in the top of a skull.)
ORGANON: Ah, finally. Here we are. Make yourself at home. Well, comfortable, if you can.
DOCTOR: Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for saving me from that creature.
ORGANON: Oh, don't mention it, sir. As my dear mother always used to say - born under the sign of Patus, middle cusp, she was - if you can help anybody, like preventing them from being eaten by a monster, then do so. They might be grateful. So I did.
DOCTOR: Indeed you did, and I am grateful, and your mother was obviously a very fine woman. I'm the Doctor. Who are you?
ORGANON: (as they shake hands) Organon, sir.
DOCTOR: Organon?
ORGANON: Astrologer extraordinary. Seer to princes and emperors. The future foretold, the past explained, the present apologised for.
DOCTOR: What are you doing down here?
ORGANON: A small matter of a slight error in a prophecy.
DOCTOR: Ah. Well, I guess it could happen to anybody.
ORGANON: Why, are you in the business yourself, sir?
DOCTOR: What?
ORGANON: Seeing into the future?
DOCTOR: Oh, well.
ORGANON: Crystal ball man, are you, or do you favour goat entrails?
DOCTOR: No, I tend to use a police-box affair.
ORGANON: A police-box affair?
DOCTOR: Yes. What about your prophecy? Did it by any chance concern the lady (whispering) Adrasta?
ORGANON: Oh, you've met her.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: A difficult woman. Very literal mind. I told her that she would have visitors from beyond the stars.
DOCTOR: Ooh, a bit rash, wasn't it?
ORGANON: Well, it seemed a safe enough bet at the time. It's a great attention-getter, you know. I do it very well.
(He demonstrates - he stands and waves his arms grandly, eyes shut as he experiences a vision only he can see.)
ORGANON: 'I see a creature coming to you from beyond the stars.' I've done it in all the courts on the planet. It usually goes down very well.
DOCTOR: Yes, I can see it might. But the lady Adrasta?
ORGANON: Oh, she grew very nasty. 'What sort of creature?' she wanted to know. Well, I stalled a bit. You know, a little professional...
DOCTOR: Vagueness.
ORGANON: Discretion.
DOCTOR: Ah.
ORGANON: And she threw me down here, with that thing. Where are you from?
DOCTOR: Me? Oh, from beyond the stars, you know.
ORGANON: Oh, so I was right!
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: And then Adrasta grew nasty with you and threw you down here as well?
DOCTOR: Me? No, no, no, no, no. I jumped.
ORGANON: Jumped?
DOCTOR: Yes. Do you think she's frightened of someone coming from beyond the stars?
ORGANON: I should say so. Was she frightened of you?
DOCTOR: No, no. I don't think it was me she was expecting. How long have you been down here?
ORGANON: Oh, I've lost count. Many moon flows. I've survived on scraps of food that the serfs throw down. I think they're intended for the thing.
[INT. Bandit base]
(The BANDITS help TORVIN stand.)
TORVIN: Leave me alone. Why didn't you kill that girl when you had the chance?
AINU: We didn't get the chance. That tin animal saw to that.
TORVIN: What, you let him walk out of here too? Oh-ho-ho, you realise what this means?
EDU: What?
TORVIN: Well, we'll have to get packed and move now. (He looks at the items on the table.)
EDU: Why?
TORVIN: Why? Use your brains. Because she can direct Adrasta's troopers here, that's why. Do you think that Adrasta will give up the chance of getting her hands on our loot? Oh, there must be nearly two body-weights of perfect metal there. Bit rusty, bit bent here and there, but metal. No, I'll bet you that at this very moment Lady Adrasta is planning an expedition to wipe us out once and for all, and to lay her hands on my little nest egg.
AINU: Our little nest egg.
TORVIN: Well, of course, of course.
EDU: What we going to do?
TORVIN: Well, Adrasta's guards can't be in two places at once, can they?
EDU: What do you mean?
TORVIN: I mean, if they're ransacking our camp, they can't be looking after her palace at the same time, now can they?
EDU: You mean...?
TORVIN: I mean that Adrasta's palace isn't going to be very heavily guarded, so...
EDU: So?
TORVIN: Who owns all the mineral wealth?
EDU: Adrasta.
TORVIN: Exactly. And if it isn't going to be properly guarded because her guards are going to be here looking for us, then...
EDU: We ransack the palace?
TORVIN: Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do. Get your weapons, my lovely boys. We're going visiting.
[INT. Organon's home]
DOCTOR: Well, at least the creature hasn't attacked you yet.
ORGANON: Yes, I've managed to avoid it so far. I've been lucky.
DOCTOR: Yes, and lucky to have lamps too.
ORGANON: Yes, they were lying around. It used to be mines, you know, but they've been worked out. Metal is very scarce up there. Very precious.
DOCTOR: Inconvenient commodity to be short of.
ORGANON: Seems to suit the lady Adrasta well enough, though.
DOCTOR: Really? Why do you say that?
ORGANON: She owns the only mine there is.
DOCTOR: The only mine?
ORGANON: Yes. This one. Well, that's the point, don't you see? Although it's been worked dry, all the metal on the planet came out of it, and it all belongs to her.
DOCTOR: Ah. A monopoly of metal.
ORGANON: Yes, it's the source of her power.
DOCTOR: So a continued shortage suits her.
ORGANON: She depends on it.
DOCTOR: What? Do you know something? I think that's terribly interesting.
ORGANON: Ah, ha-ha! My horoscope said I'd be useful to somebody today. I thought perhaps it was going to be to that.
(He refers to what can be heard moving and growling.)
DOCTOR: How big is it?
ORGANON: Huge.
DOCTOR: Huge? How huge? Hundred feet?
ORGANON: Perhaps two.
DOCTOR: Huge. And that noise it makes...
ORGANON: Yes, I sometimes thing that it's singing.
DOCTOR: Singing, crying, growling.
ORGANON: Yes, who's to tell except another creature, and there's only one like that, thank heaven.
DOCTOR: Are you sure of that?
ORGANON: Of course I'm sure. There's only that one on this planet.
DOCTOR: Why? You've been everywhere, have you?
ORGANON: Oh, yes. I've travelled. I'm one of the few who has. Most of the country is impenetrable forest or jungle.
DOCTOR: Very pretty, though. Very pretty.
ORGANON: It may be pretty to you, but it's the very devil to live in. No metal means no tools.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: No tools
DOCTOR+ORGANON: No cultivation.
ORGANON: Exactly. We're smothered by forest.
(The creature is now at the entrance to this cave, which is illuminated in green light. An appendage waves back and forth, tasting the surroundings.)
[INT. Throne room]
(ROMANA pulls the cobweb covering from K9.)
ROMANA: K9? Can you hear me?
K9: (slowly) Mistress.
ROMANA: Have you got enough power left to stun the guards?
K9: Affirmative, Mistress, if I was mobile, but I cannot move at present.
ROMANA: I know.
ADRASTA: Well? We are waiting.
ROMANA: Yes, my Lady. One moment.
ADRASTA: Remember, I want to see how that animal works.
ROMANA: You will, my Lady. Just a few minor adjustments.
KARELA: (sotto) I don't like this, my Lady. I don't trust the girl or that tin animal.
ADRASTA: Neither do I, Karela.
KARELA: (sotto) Kill her, my Lady. Kill her now.
ADRASTA: Later. I have a use for her and for that machine. Romana, we are ready for the demonstration.
ROMANA: Yes, my Lady. You ready, K9?
K9: Affirmative.
(ROMANA lifts K9, holding him so that his head points toward ADRASTA, KARELA, and, the LADY IN WAITING.)
ROMANA: I'd like you to examine this machine. Let me show you how it works. Please, don't be afraid.
(ADRASTA and KARELA move. ROMANA tracks their movement, with K9 now pointing at the door and the GUARD.)
ROMANA: Now, K9.
(K9 shoots at the lintel, which sparks, and then at the GUARD, who goes down.)
ADRASTA: Stop her! Seize her!
(Another GUARD runs in. K9 stuns him. But two other GUARDS reach ROMANA and K9. One grabs the dog from ROMANA's arms.)
ADRASTA: I want her alive. Tin dog, do that again and my guards cut your mistress's throat.
(A GUARD places K9 with his 'nose' toward the wall in a corner.)
ADRASTA: Thank you, my dear. An invaluable demonstration.
[INT. Organon's home]
(The DOCTOR and ORGANON are against the wall. The cave is mostly filled by the creature, which waves its appendage around. ORGANON lifts his candle-holder and closes his eyes as he holds the flame under the appendage. The green glow fades as the creature backs away, leaving the cave to escape the heat. ORGANON's eyes are still closed as the DOCTOR touches his arm, startling him.)
ORGANON: Oh! Oh, well, he didn't like that, did he?
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: I bet he won't come back here again in a hurry.
DOCTOR: It's gone.
ORGANON: Doctor, what sign were you born under? Aquatrio?
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Capris.
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Uh, Ariel?
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Oh, if only I had my charts here, I could have told you your horoscope. I'm sure this was your lucky day.
DOCTOR: Did you examine that thing's skin?
ORGANON: No, thank you. I was trying to avoid it examining mine.
DOCTOR: It looked almost like a cerebral membrane.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: The membrane that protects the brain.
ORGANON: It's a huge brain?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: What about the rest of it? The arms, the legs, the body?
DOCTOR: (taking the candle-holder) Let's find out, shall we?
ORGANON: You mean, go after it?
DOCTOR: Yes. Why not?
(The DOCTOR sets off. ORGANON seems less enthusiastic, but he stands and follows.)
ORGANON: I can think of a dozen good reasons. You're mad! He's mad. It's all been too much for him. You wouldn't find me doing a crazy thing like that. Here! Wait for me!
[INT. Tunnel]
DOCTOR: I thought you weren't going to come.
ORGANON: Ssh. Where is it?
DOCTOR: Sssh. Somewhere up ahead.
(Not much further along, ORGANON grabs the DOCTOR by the arm.)
DOCTOR: What is it?
ORGANON: What am I doing here?
DOCTOR: I don't know. I'll tell you something I'd rather know.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: What's that creature doing here? Pure brain a hundred foot across stuck at the bottom of a pit, oozing about and sitting on people. Not much of a life, is it?
ORGANON: Who can read such mysteries? Perhaps it was written in the stars?
DOCTOR: Hmm. Perhaps it was born among them.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: Shh. Come on.
[INT. Throne room]
(ROMANA is tied to Karela's chair - KARELA is standing - and is watched over by a GUARD.)
ADRASTA: What do you call this machine in which you travel?
K9: The TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.
ADRASTA: And you travel through space and time in it?
K9: Affirmative.
ADRASTA: Don't you see what this means, Karela? We can go anywhere, into any time, and bring back anything we need.
KARELA: Metallic ores. The pure metal itself.
ADRASTA: The monopoly will remain mine. Yes, I think this TARDIS will be very useful.
KARELA: Do you know how to operate it?
ADRASTA: She does.
KARELA: Are you sure?
ADRASTA: We'll soon find out.
KARELA: It's a pity the Doctor is no longer with us.
ADRASTA: Yes. He could have been most helpful.
KARELA: I suppose he is dead?
ADRASTA: He must be. No-one survives the Pit.
KARELA: He struck me as quite resourceful for a man.
ADRASTA: True. You think he might still be alive?
KARELA: We can find out. I can get into the Pit from here, and with some guards I can see-
ADRASTA: Not just guards. We'll take that tin thing as well.
K9: Correction. I am not made of tin.
ADRASTA: It's been listening to us.
KARELA: It's eerie. What do we need it for?
ADRASTA: To kill something.
KARELA: Who do you want to kill, my Lady? You don't need a machine to do it. Just mention the name and I'll see to it myself.
ADRASTA: It's too big even for you to kill, Karela. It's huge, very huge, and it's time I was rid of it. The TARDIS has made it superfluous.
(We cut to the pulsating creature for a moment, with green gelatinous ooze over it.
We return to the throne room, where the curtain is pulled back. Behind the curtain is a door. A GUARD unties ROMANA.)
KARELA: Remove the bars. Get the torches. We'll need them in the Pit.
ROMANA: That leads down to the Pit?
ADRASTA: There are two more doors, each barred and bolted so that nothing can get up.
KARELA: Bring the tin animal.
K9: Correction, madam. As I have already told you, I am not made of tin.
KARELA: If I say you're made of tin, you horrible little animal, you're made of tin.
K9: I cannot accept the input of incorrect data.
ROMANA: It's all right, K9.
ADRASTA: Guardmaster, you go first, with her.
GUARDMASTER: Right, my Lady. (He obeys.)
ADRASTA: You next.
(A GUARD carries K9 through the doorway.)
ADRASTA: Then you, Karela. Followed by me.
(Two GUARDS bring up the rear.)
[INT. Tunnel]
ORGANON: Not too fast.
[INT. Stairs into the mines]
KARELA: Which way now, my Lady?
ADRASTA: That way. We're getting close. Better send some guards on ahead.
KARELA: Guardmaster, take two guards and scout on ahead.
GUARDMASTER: (gesturing) You and you, come with me.
[INT. Tunnel]
ORGANON: Ahem. What do we do when we find the monster? Have you thought of that?
DOCTOR: Shh. I don't know.
ORGANON: You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?
DOCTOR: I haven't made up my mind yet.
ORGANON: Well, haven't you got a plan?
DOCTOR: A plan? Oh yes, I've got a plan.
ORGANON: Well then?
DOCTOR: I just don't know how to apply it, that's all.
[INT. Creature's home]
(The creature is pulsating up ahead.)
ORGANON: Fine time to tell me.
(The GUARDMASTER and his group arrive on the scene. He fires a crossbow bold at the creature, which doesn't seem particularly happy about this but isn't mortally wounded either.)
ORGANON: Don't.
(Not taking his eyes from the creature, the DOCTOR hands the candle to ORGANON and starts toward the greenness.)
ORGANON: Doctor, come back.
DOCTOR: Hello there.
(A pseudopod heads for the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: Steady, steady. You're standing on my scarf. (he bends down, and the creature is upon him) Whoa! (We see only his curls.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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