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DOCTOR WHO
THE CREATURE FROM THE PIT

Written by
David Fisher

Part Three

(Overlap from 'Don't')

[INT. Creature's home]

ORGANON: Doctor! (to the GUARDMASTER) Don't just stand there, help him! He's trapped!

[INT. Just outside the creature's home cave]

(The GUARDMASTER and GUARDS beat a hasty retreat from the cavern, as does ORGANON. The creature emits some form of energy. ORGANON shields his eyes as the arched entrance to the passage becomes blocked off by material in a triangles-composing-pentagon pattern similar to that of the geodesic structure and the item on the throne room's back wall.)
GUARDMASTER: I've never seen anything like it.
ORGANON: I have. Anyway, the Doctor's behind there, and we've got to get him out. It's as hard as rock.
GUARDMASTER: It'd take gunpowder to blast a hole in this. And even then-
(From inside, we hear him tapping at the door as the DOCTOR stands and strikes another match. He knocks a reply on the shell material.)
ORGANON: It's him. He's alive.
GUARDMASTER: How do you know it's him?
ORGANON: It's, er, part of my profession. Well, we've got to get through, so get on with it.
GUARDMASTER: You, go and inform the lady Adrasta.
GUARD: Sir.
GUARDMASTER: You, give us a hand to smash a hole in this.
ORGANON: Maybe if we tried at the edge here.
GUARDMASTER: Right. Come on, down here.
(We cut to the DOCTOR exploring the creature's cavern of choice.)

[EXT. Palace]

(The BANDITS arrive, coming out of the forest.)
AINU: There's only one guard at the side gate.
TORVIN: Good. What do we do about him?
AINU: Well, Edu's gone to have a chat with him.
TORVIN: What?
(We hear a fairly terminal sound from a throat off-screen.)
AINU: Lovely little talker is Edu. Come on.

[INT. Tunnel]

(The GUARD meets KARELA, who leads the larger group.)
KARELA: What is it?
GUARD: Message for my lady from the Guardmaster. The creature has been found and...
ROMANA: (to a GUARD) I'll take him. It's all right. (She takes K9 in her arms.)
GUARD: And is within a sort of shell to protect itself.
ROMANA: I've got to check his circuitry. Don't worry, I'll take the responsibility. K9, are you recharged?
K9: Very nearly, Mistress.
ROMANA: Be ready.
K9: I always am, Mistress.
ADRASTA: You saw this with your own eyes?
GUARD: Yes, my Lady. The guardmaster is awaiting your orders.
KARELA: Guard, the prisoner must not communicate with the tin animal. What were you up to?
ROMANA: I told the guard. Checking K9's circuitry.
ADRASTA: Good.
KARELA: My Lady.
ADRASTA: My dear, bad news I'm afraid about your friend the Doctor.
ROMANA: He's dead?
ADRASTA: Nobody can tell at the moment.
ROMANA: What do you mean?
ADRASTA: The guard says he's trapped in the Pit, with the creature.
ROMANA: Well, then we must get him out.
ADRASTA: How? My men can't break through the shell the creature has woven.
ROMANA: A shell?
ADRASTA: If we are to rescue the Doctor, we have to break through the shell. Could K9 do it? Has he enough power?
ROMANA: K9?
K9: Impossible to say until the molecular structure of the material is evaluated.
ADRASTA: I hope, for the Doctor's sake, you are strong enough. And strong enough to kill the creature too. Come on.
K9: Guard, lift me down. (A GUARD does so, and K9 trundles off.)
(We cut to the palace, where a GUARD topples over, with a knife in his back. EDU undoes the bolts on the door.)

[INT. Creature's home]

(The DOCTOR picks up a chunk of rock.)
DOCTOR: Pure cadmium. That didn't come from this mine.
(He puts it in his pocket and continues investigating the ground.)
DOCTOR: A nugget of iron. Iron ore I could understand, but pure iron? I wonder where it came from.
(He places that too in his pocket. In the glow of the creature, he doesn't need the match and extinguishes it. The DOCTOR approaches the creature, which is making low-key growling sounds.)
DOCTOR: Hello. Friend. (gestures to himself) Friend. It's all right, it's all right. Look, you can see I'm not armed, eh? I won't hurt you. How could I hurt you? I mean, how? You've got beautiful skin. Extraordinary skin. Green veins. Chlorophyll? I wonder. Well, if it's chlorophyll you need, you've come to the right place. Chlorophyll? I wonder. No, don't get frightened. It's all right, it's all right. Shh, sshh. (he touches the creature tentatively) There. There, that's not so bad now, is it? Good girl. (there is a slight growl) Good boy. You're a problem, you know. You're aware of me, yet you haven't got any eyes. Haven't got a mouth - at least, not one that I can see. Come to think of it, you haven't even got a head. So how do we communicate, hmm? Telepathy?
(He places his cheek against the creature and whispers loudly.)
DOCTOR: Hello? I am the Doctor. Friend. Friend.
(He takes a pseudopod in hand, blowing into it. He then speaks into it.)
DOCTOR: Hello. I am the Doctor. Friend. Friend. (he releases the pseudopod) Nothing. Not a thing. How are we going to talk to each other, eh? Why can't we talk to each other? How do you communicate with your own kind?
(The creature backs him into the wall. The DOCTOR ends up almost on his knees.)
DOCTOR: Steady, steady, friend. You don't know your own-. Easy. Friend. Friend.
(The creature uses an appendage to etch a pentagonal shape into the rock wall.)
DOCTOR: What's that? A picture? I've seen that somewhere before.
(We dissolve to the pentagon in the throne room, which is now animated by lights circling in its interior and is glowing faintly blue. A GUARD paces in front of it.)

[INT. Palace entrance hall]

EDU: (who has opened the palace door) All clear. Come on.
(TORVIN pushes AINU ahead. AINU heads for a pot on a table. After a tussle, one of the men puts this in a large sack.)
TORVIN: Shhh.

[INT. Throne room]

TORVIN: Guard?
GUARD: Who are you? Where have you come from? Stay there. Don't move.
(TORVIN backs into the entrance hall slowly.)
TORVIN: Look, I'm not armed.
GUARD: Are you alone? Intruder! Turn out the guard!

[INT. Entrance hall]

(The GUARD exits the throne room, and AINU makes short work of him. EDU raises his knife to finish the GUARD off.)
TORVIN: Come on, my lovely boys. Let's see what Lady Adrasta has for us.

[INT. Throne room]

TORVIN: (laughing in glee) Oh, even the door! The bolts, the hinges, all metal. Quick, my lovely boys, quick, before the guards get back. Bring everything. Oh-ho, copper! Ooo-hoo-hoo, ooh, bronze! Iron!
(Metal objects begin disappearing into the men's large sacks. The pentagon lights up again, and the BANDITS take notice of it.)
EDU: Hey, what's this?
TORVIN: I don't know. If it's metal, bring it.
EDU: Hey, it's warm!
TORVIN: I don't care if it's on fire. If it's metal, bring it.
(The light from it ceases.)
EDU: It's burning! I've never seen metal like that before.
TORVIN: Ridiculous. Let me try. Here, it's not hot at all.
EDU: Huh?
(The two of them lift it down from the wall.)
TORVIN: Oh, it's metal, all right. It's not tin or silver.
AINU [OC]: Guards coming!
TORVIN: What? How many?
AINU: Too many for us.
TORVIN: We'd better get out of here. (heading for the door behind the curtain) Quick, let's see where this leads to.
AINU: They're coming!
TORVIN: Quick, quick, all of you. Down here! Maybe it leads to Adrasta's treasure vaults.
(They head through the door with their bags of loot and the mystery pentagon.)

[INT. Creature's home]

DOCTOR: So that's what you want. Easy, easy, shh. You do want it, don't you? What's it for? Is it a weapon? What is it? Come on, at least say something. Communicate. Give me a sign. I wish I knew how far I could trust you. Still, you haven't harmed me yet. Much. All right, I'll get it for you, but I want you to prom-. That's a stupid thing to say. You can't even speak. How can you promise me anything? All right, be good, eh? Stay here. Ah.
(He picks up a smaller pentagonal item from the floor.)
DOCTOR: Bits of shell. Bits of eggshell. No, no, it's all right, it's all right, it's all right. All right, all right. Look, I'm not going to take them. I'm not going to take them. There you are. I can take a hint. I can take a hint, yeah. If we ever do find your mouth, wherever it is, you've got a lot of explaining to do, my friend. All right, all right, I said I can take a hint. I'm off, I'm off, I'm off. Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.
(The DOCTOR leaves. As his scarf trails along the ground, we see that it has a piece of shell on the very end.)

[INT. Just outside the creature's home cavern]

ROMANA: (approaching ORGANON, who is crouched by the shell-like blockage) Who are you?
ORGANON: Oh, don't bother about that now. My friend's trapped in there.
ROMANA: The Doctor?
ORGANON: Yes. Oh, I beg your pardon. Do you know him?
ROMANA: Yes, very well.
ORGANON: Ah. Nice fellow. Do you know the celestial circumstances of his birth?
ROMANA: The what?
ORGANON: When was he born?
(ADRASTA and KARELA enter.)
ROMANA: Oh, about seven hundred and fifty years ago, so he says.
ADRASTA: I thought you were dead. Why haven't you died?
ORGANON: Errrrrr, I'm sorry, my Lady. It was an oversight.
ADRASTA: Why didn't the creature kill you?
ORGANON: A favourable conjunction of the stars, my Lady.
ADRASTA: Well, we'll just have to see that they don't continue like that for much longer. Guardmaster?
GUARDMASTER: It's hopeless, my Lady.
ADRASTA: What is, you fool?
GUARDMASTER: We can't get through. We've tried. My Lady, it's hopeless.
ROMANA: The Doctor's behind there. We must at least try.
ADRASTA: Nothing is hopeless, Guardmaster, not if you value your commission.
GUARDMASTER: I stand corrected, my Lady. Guards, come on.
ADRASTA: Don't worry, my dear. My men will try to do their best.
(KARELA notices as ORGANON tries to retreat into the shadows. A GUARD stops him.)
ROMANA: (at the shell) It's made of identical material to that broken shell we saw when we landed.
ADRASTA: Try the metal animal on it. Perhaps he can break through.
ROMANA: K9, do your best.
K9: That is what I am programmed to do, Mistress.
ADRASTA: If you do get through, kill the creature. Do you understand, Romana? Kill it.
ROMANA: I understand.
K9: I am programmed not to kill, except in self-defence.
ADRASTA: Oh, I think that can be arranged.
ROMANA: You ready, K9?
K9: If the guards will stand well back.
(They do, and K9 fires a red beam at the shell. The shell glows red. K9 is still firing as we cut to the bandits' progress.)

[INT. The mines]

TORVIN: What a haul. What a haul! I'm rich! I'm rich!
AINU: We're rich.
TORVIN: We're rich. Of course. Didn't I tell you, my beautiful boys? Didn't I tell you? Didn't I tell you we'd find it all in Adrasta's palace?
AINU: Yeah, you told us. Now shh. Let's get on.
TORVIN: Now, look at that. Look at that. Do you know what that is? (it's a candlestick) Zinc. I haven't seen a piece of zinc as big as that for oh, twenty years or more. Zinc.
AINU: Oh, come on, Torvin. The guards must be after us by now.
TORVIN: Beautiful, beautiful.
(The pentagon begins glowing blue again, with its circulating light patterns.)
EDU: Hey, Torvin, look! (He holds the pentagon.)
TORVIN: Don't drop it. Whatever you do, don't drop it.
EDU: (setting it down on a rock) Look at it.
TORVIN: I've never seen metal like that before. It's beautiful.
EDU: Torvin, are you, are you all right?
(The two stare into the lights from the pentagon.)
EDU: I, I feel-
(TORVIN and EDU lift it, then carry it down a tunnel, holding it vertically.)

[INT. Outside the creature's home]

K9: The material is too strong. I am in danger of depleting my power packs.
ROMANA: It's all right, K9. (The red beam stops.)
ADRASTA: Why has the animal stopped?
ROMANA: Because if you want to kill the creature, K9 must have some power left.
ADRASTA: But so far it's had no effect on the shell whatsoever!
K9: Incorrect. I weaken the shell, but the material is self-renewing.
ADRASTA: What do you mean? What does he mean?
ROMANA: He means that whenever the material is weakened, the atoms recombine. The molecules reconstitute themselves to form an even stronger material.
K9: Correct, Mistress.
ADRASTA: So, all that ray has done, in fact, is to temper the original material.
ROMANA: That's about right, yes.
ADRASTA: My dear, your electric dog is infernally stupid. How in heaven's name are we supposed to break through the shell now? Men, redouble your efforts!
ROMANA: No, wait. We're not going to do it like that. We must think.
(The DOCTOR simply walks through the shell, which shatters around him.)
DOCTOR: Hello, everybody.
ROMANA: Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm fine.
ROMANA: I was so worried about you.
DOCTOR: Oh, you shouldn't be worried. Time Lords have ninety lives.
ROMANA: How many have you got through, then?
DOCTOR: About a hundred and thirty.
ADRASTA: How did you do it?
DOCTOR: What?
ADRASTA: I demand you tell me how you broke through the shell.
DOCTOR: Ah. I asked the creature very nicely. 'My pleasure' it said.
ADRASTA: Liar! The creature can't talk without. (pause) Guardmaster, take a look!
KARELA: I'll go with him.
ORGANON: Your luck's still holding out.
DOCTOR: It is, rather, isn't it?
ORGANON: You must have been born under a particularly favourable conjunction of celestial circumstances.
DOCTOR: I was.
ORGANON: What sign were you born under?
DOCTOR: Crossed computers.
ORGANON: Crossed what?
DOCTOR: Computers. It's the symbol of the maternity service on Gallifrey.
ORGANON: Oh.
GUARDMASTER: It's all clear, my Lady.
ADRASTA: No sign of the creature?
GUARDMASTER: None.
ADRASTA: Why did it let you get away? Why didn't it kill you?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Why don't you ask it? Incidentally, how did you know with such certainty that creature couldn't talk, eh? What do you know about it? And why do you want it killed so badly, hmm?
ADRASTA: You ask too many questions, Doctor. Karela, take the girl, the tin animal, and some men. You know what to do.
DOCTOR: No, no, please.
ADRASTA: Afraid for the creature, Doctor?
DOCTOR: No, I'm afraid for them. Have you any idea what that creature can do?
ADRASTA: I know one thing, Doctor. It can't get out of this pit by itself. Go on, Karela. Hold him, in case he tries to warn his creeping friend. Dog!
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: All right, K9.
(We see the BANDITS carrying the pentagonal item through the tunnels and then move on.)

[INT. Creature's home]

K9: Mistress, blasting has proved too much for my power packs. If I am to conserve my energy, I shall need a rest.
ROMANA: All right, K9. I'll carry you.

[INT. Outside the creature's home]

(The DOCTOR and ORGANON are conferring.)
DOCTOR: Call them back.
ADRASTA: Be silent.
DOCTOR: You could be sending them to their deaths, you know.

[INT. Creature's home]

(The party enter the main cave that the creature makes its home.)
KARELA: Ready, dog?
K9: I am ready.

[INT. Outside the creature's home cavern]

ORGANON: I take back what I said about this being your lucky day.
DOCTOR: Why?
ORGANON: I think, on second thoughts, it may be the monster's.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
ORGANON: I wonder what sign it was born under.
DOCTOR: What a pity you didn't bring your charts. You could have worked it out for yourself.
ORGANON: Oh!
DOCTOR: What is it?
ORGANON: Adrasta's evil eye is on me.
DOCTOR: Shhhh. Lady Adrasta, they've been gone a long time.
ADRASTA: How far away was the creature when you saw it?
DOCTOR: Oh, a few hundred yards along the passageway there's a big cave. It was in there.
ADRASTA: We should have heard something by now.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Look, why don't I go?
ADRASTA: No! (she holds a hand to his chest to stop him) Ah, no. Organon.
ORGANON: My Lady?
ADRASTA: You will go.
ORGANON: What, me?
ADRASTA: Yes, you. Go down to the passage, into the cave, and come back and tell us what you see.
ORGANON: Oh, why me?
DOCTOR: Maybe it isn't your lucky day.
ORGANON: I don't think that's at all funny.
ADRASTA: If you don't go, my friend, that guard standing behind you will cut your throat from ear to ear.
DOCTOR: Have you ever thought of taking up another line of work? I don't think astrology is your forte.
(ORGANON heads to his possible doom as KARELA and ROMANA, still carrying K9, return.)
ORGANON: Oh, my Lady.
ADRASTA: Well?
KARELA: Nothing, my Lady. The cave's empty.
ADRASTA: Empty?
KARELA: The creature's gone.
ADRASTA: How?
(ORGANON walks round to the back of the group, and the DOCTOR motions to ROMANA to follow suit.)
KARELA: We discovered a passage at the back of the cave.
ADRASTA: Guard, hold her. And make sure the dog's pointing against the rock. Where does the passage lead?
KARELA: I don't know. I sent the guards down after it.
DOCTOR: You realise what this means, Adrasta? It means a great green blob several hundred feet long is loose somewhere in these passageways. An angry green blob. A green blob you tried to kill.
ADRASTA: Karela, take the girl, the tin animal, and some guards. Go down into the Pit, find the creature, and kill it!
DOCTOR: No, no, no. Adrasta, you're insane. You have some idea of what that creature can do. Can you imagine? At the moment, it's reasonably friendly, but if K9 shoots it...
ADRASTA: What?
DOCTOR: It'll get very angry.
ADRASTA: Then, Doctor, you had better make sure that K9 manages to kill it.
DOCTOR: What, a creature that size? He's only a little dog, you know.
ADRASTA: Don't try to be clever, Doctor. K9 is quite capable of killing the Tythonian.
DOCTOR: The what?
ADRASTA: The creature.
DOCTOR: I thought you said 'Tythonian'.
ADRASTA: I meant the creature.
DOCTOR: You've bitten off more than you can chew, haven't you?
ADRASTA: Doctor, I mean to have that creature dead. Romana will make K9 kill it.
DOCTOR: No, no, she won't. She won't. She'll refuse, you know? Won't you, Romana?
ROMANA: Yes, I'll refuse.
ADRASTA: Then Karela will kill her. Point the dog against the rock!
DOCTOR: Did you hear that, Romana? Karela's going to kill you, and you with your hair all messed up.
ROMANA: Doctor, I can't do anything about my hair if I'm holding K9.
DOCTOR: Oh, so you are. I didn't notice. Here, let me help you.
(He gets out a mirror.)
DOCTOR: K9? Ready. Fire!
(K9's beam is reflected into the GUARDMASTER and the GUARD behind ROMANA. She starts heading after Adrasta.)
DOCTOR: No, Romana, no!
(The creature emerges from the passageway.)
ADRASTA: No! Get away from me! Ah!
(The DOCTOR grabs her by the arms from behind.)
DOCTOR: Frightening, isn't it?
ADRASTA: Don't let it get me. You mustn't let that thing get me! It'll kill me!
DOCTOR: What? An evil thing, killing. Why should it want to kill you? It didn't want to kill me. Did you, old fellow? Do you know something? I believe he wants to kill you.
ADRASTA: Keep it away from me. It's, it's going to eat me.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on. You know it really doesn't eat people, don't you? But you know what it does eat, and you haven't been letting it get any, have you? No, you just stuck it in a pit and threw people at it.
ORGANON: She did indeed.
DOCTOR: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it wanted to kill you. I wouldn't be surprised at all.
(ADRASTA pulls out her knife and places it at the DOCTOR's throat.)
ADRASTA: Now, Doctor, I mean to have that creature dead. Romana, train K9's ray on it. Now!
DOCTOR: Don't do it, Romana.
ADRASTA: Or the Doctor dies. Six seconds, Romana.
(ORGANON counts down silently on his hand. TORVIN and EDU enter, carrying the pentagon.)
ADRASTA: Get away from here! Get away! Or the Doctor dies.
(She isn't paying the fullest attention to him, and the DOCTOR grabs her wrists. He holds them. as TORVIN and EDU position the pentagon against the creature.)
ADRASTA: (clearly angry and terrified) No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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