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DOCTOR WHO
DESTINY OF THE DALEKS

Written by
Terry Nation


Part Three

(Overlap from Agella being crushed)

[INT. Level 4]

DAVROS: So, the long darkness has ended and the eternity of waiting is over. The resurrection has come, as I always knew it would. Now, where are my Daleks?
(He emerges from behind the curtain of plastic, and the DOCTOR pushes against his base, halting his progress.)
DAVROS: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Davros. You don't look a day older, and I'd hoped you were dead.
DAVROS: Dead? I do not die. Mark this moment, Doctor. In the history of the universe, this moment is unique. Davros lives!
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I can see your long rest hasn't done anything to cure your megalomania. Have a jelly baby.
(DAVROS knocks the bag away. There is another noise in the distance, and the DOCTOR begins pushing DAVROS through the level, the way they came.)
DAVROS: Where are you taking me?

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DALEK 2: (amidst beeping) Entry to level 3 has been cleared.
DALEK 1: All units to proceed immediately.

[INT. Level 3]

DALEK: (leading other Daleks) Seek and locate. Seek and locate. Do not deviate.

[INT. Level 4]

DALEK 1: Charts indicate objective located in this precise position. Objective has been removed from this location.
DALEK 2: Surface disturbance. Humanoid footprints. (we see through its eyestalk, in a pinkish view with concentric circles) Follow. Follow. Follow.
DALEK 1: All units, full alert. Emergency! Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!
(We get a close-up of another non-dead hand moving, that of AGELLA under the rubble.)
DALEK 1: Emergency!

[INT. Corridors]

DAVROS: You will release me. You will return me to the Daleks.
DOCTOR: Shut up or I'll switch you off. (he pulls DAVROS back again while a Dalek is passing by) Quick, back this way.
(There is more pushing and running through corridors.)
DOCTOR: Tyssan, back down the corridor and check it. (to ROMANA) You give me a hand with this.
DOCTOR: (clearing rubble with ROMANA) It's shifting. Stand back.
(There is a crash as rubble from the corridor falls into the path.)
DOCTOR: Well, you didn't do that very well, did you?
ROMANA: I didn't do it very well?
DOCTOR: No, you didn't. Tyssan!
TYSSAN: The corridor's full of Daleks.
DOCTOR: What? Then we're effectively boxed in. We're too exposed here. Come on, get him. Let's get under cover.

[INT. Room at the edge of the building]

(TYSSAN pushes DAVROS behind the DOCTOR. A window at the top of the wall looks out over the ruins.)
DOCTOR: Get that door up. Make some sort of barrier.
(The others place a sheet of metal over the entrance, and the DOCTOR hands them a section of beam for bracing it.)
DOCTOR: Good, good.
ROMANA: That wouldn't keep out a determined mouse.
DOCTOR: Well, it's got to serve! Now listen to me carefully, you two. I want you both to get out through-. Come over here. Good. Now, get back to the Movellan spaceship. Tell them to mobilise a force and bring it here. It's vital we get Davros out of here before the Daleks find us. Off you go.
ROMANA: We'll be as quick as we can.
DOCTOR: Don't take too many chances. Come on, quick.
(ROMANA and TYSSAN climb through the window. DAVROS has his hand poised over the controls in his casing when the DOCTOR turns round after seeing the others off. He looks through a gap at the side of the piece of sheet metal and turns back to DAVROS again.)
DOCTOR: Well. Well, now we've a little time to ourselves, I'll fill you in on some of the events that have taken place during the centuries you've been, er, dozing.
DAVROS: Well?
DOCTOR: Well, Arcturus won the Galactic Olympic Games. Betelgeuse came a close second. The economy on Algo's in a terrible state due to irreversible inflation-
DAVROS: Doctor!
DOCTOR: What? Yes?
DAVROS: Do you believe your puny efforts can change the course of destiny?
DOCTOR: Well, let's just say I might tamper with it.
DAVROS: Destiny, Doctor.
DOCTOR: What?
DAVROS: Invincible necessity.
DOCTOR: Oh, that, that, yes.
DAVROS: Power. My power. My invincibility. My supreme plan to control...
DAVROS+DOCTOR: The universe.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, I've heard all that before. Now do be a good chap, eh? Stay quiet. (he pulls out some orange explosives and sets to work) I've got to concentrate.
DAVROS: Errors of the past will be rectified. I will add new design elements to the Daleks' circuitry. They will be armed with new weaponry, weaponry so devastating that all matter will succumb to its power. I will equip them with all the knowledge of the universe. (His hand gestures above his controls in the foreground as the DOCTOR works with the explosives and wires.)
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, we've heard all that. The Daleks can do all that for themselves.
DAVROS: The Daleks need me.
DOCTOR: What? (jumps to DAVROS's side) The Daleks left you for dead centuries ago. You've given them all you've got. What do they want you for now, eh? What's so special about the Movellans that they need your help again, eh?

[INT. Ship]

SHARREL: The Daleks have gained their objective. Their objective has been identified. (while the main screen shows a black-and-white scan-line-style picture of Davros) Name - Davros. Function - creator of the Daleks. Species type - mutant humanoid. This data will be processed. Strategy will be determined shortly.
(The screen says

DAVROS
CREATOR OF DALEKS
HUMANOID MUTANT )

[INT. Outside 'bunker']

(A Dalek approaches the bunker in which the Doctor and Davros can be indistinctly heard to be speaking. We see through its eyepiece the footsteps in the dust. It retreats, returning the way it came.)

[EXT. Quarry]

ROMANA: How much further?
TYSSAN: Across that next rise. Shouldn't take long now.
(Except that a Dalek patrol is visible behind the patch of green grass in front of them.)
TYSSAN: We could go back, take another way around.
ROMANA: We haven't got that long. It's only a question of time before the Daleks find the Doctor.
TYSSAN: Get under cover. I'll try and lead them off. When I get clear, I'll get to the ship as soon as I can.
ROMANA: Okay.
(TYSSAN starts climbing the cliff. As ROMANA watches, the visible Dalek fires but can hit only some of the rock from this angle.)

[INT. 'Bunker']

DOCTOR: (fiddles with explosive) There. That should do it. Very good. Well, aren't you going to ask me what it is, hmm? All right, I'll tell you anyway. (holds out the explosive) Life insurance. What were we talking about?
DAVROS: Your inevitable destruction.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, we had that conversation last time we met. I'm more interested in your survival. I saw you destroyed. The Daleks blasted you at point-blank range.
DAVROS: Ha! There was damage to my primary life-support system. The secondary and backup circuits switch in immediately. Synthetic tissue regeneration took place whilst bodily organs were held in long-term suspension.
DOCTOR: Blimey, wasn't that outstaying your welcome in rather a big way?
DAVROS: Until the Daleks' universal supremacy is accomplished, I cannot allow myself the luxury of death.
DOCTOR: Aw, poor Davros.
DAVROS: However, it is a luxury I shall delight in bestowing upon you.
DOCTOR: Ha ha! You're very generous.
DAVROS: (following as the DOCTOR climbs up to the window with his orange explosive in hand) Since my entombment, I have no knowledge of the advancement of my Daleks. Of course, they have achieved great things.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, oh yes. They've wreaked havoc and destruction, destroyed countless innocent lives-
DAVROS: Only the beginning! Now I have returned, the campaign will begin in earnest. I have slept, but now I have awakened, and the universe will be sorry!
DOCTOR: Davros, you. 'I have slept, but now I have awakened, and the universe will be-'. You're misquoting Napoleon! One day I'll tell you what happened to him too.
DAVROS: Armed with new technology, I will-
(There is a flash and a sound of Dalek fire. The Daleks are now inside the room, despite the flimsy 'door'.)
DALEK 2: You will move into the open. If you fail to obey in five seconds, you will be exterminated. One, two, three, four-
DOCTOR: (coming up behind DAVROS with an explosive next to the latter's head) Hold it! Hold it. Now, tell them what I've got here.
DAVROS: He is holding a primed explosive device.
DOCTOR: And one false move, and it goes right down inside his chair. I'll turn Davros and his life-support system into scrap metal. Now back off!
DALEK 2: We obey only Davros.
DAVROS: He is simply buying time. Do as he says.
DOCTOR: Do as he says.
DALEK 2: We obey.
DOCTOR: I believe this is what's called a Mexican stand-off.
DAVROS: Ha. How long do you think you can sustain your advantage, alone and against such odds?
DOCTOR: Ha, ha. Wouldn't you like to know, eh? Wouldn't you like to know? (he looks through the window) Wouldn't I like to know?

[INT. Ship]

(After a shot of ROMANA running into the spaceship.)
SHARREL: What's happened?
ROMANA: The Doctor, he needs help. (approaches the main screen) Where did you get that picture? How do you know about Davros?
SHARREL: We have our means. Mobilise unit 5. (to ROMANA) You will remain here.

[INT. 'Bunker']

(A Dalek leads slave WORKERS through the corridors. They stop outside the formerly barricaded room.)
DALEK: Attention, attention. The action we are about to take is your responsibility. It will cease only when you agree to total surrender.
DOCTOR: Now what?
(A male worker in shabby clothes steps forward.)
DALEK: Exterminate.
(The worker dies, and a female worker steps forward.)
DALEK: Exterminate. (She too dies.)
DALEK: Exterminate.
DOCTOR: Stop!
(The DOCTOR returns to his position behind DAVROS.)
DALEK: You surrender?
DOCTOR: All right. All right. You can have Davros, but only on my conditions.
DALEK: State them.
DOCTOR: All slave workers to be released immediately and allowed to leave the city.
DALEK: Continue.
DOCTOR: Nothing to come in here until I'm out and in the clear.
DALEK: Conditions unacceptable. Exterminations will continue.
DOCTOR: Stop! One more killing and I detonate the device. I'll destroy Davros.
DALEK: Logic unacceptable. Detonation would also destroy you.
DOCTOR: Ha-ha! Yes, you hadn't foreseen that one, had you?
DALEK: Self-sacrifice illogical, therefore impossible. Exterminations will continue.
DAVROS: (as the DOCTOR holds the device directly in front of him) Agree. Agree to his terms. He will do what he says. His logic is impaired by irrational sentiment. Agree. I, Davros, command it.
DALEK: We obey.
(The WORKERS collect their corpses and begin to shuffle out.)
DALEK: The workers have been released.
DOCTOR: Good, good. Now I'll need one minute to get clea-. Get back! (to DAVROS) I told you this was life insurance. I've adapted the device to explode by remote control.
(He attaches the explosive to the side of DAVROS's casing.)
DOCTOR: All I have to do is squeeze my sonic screwdriver and boom boom Davros.
DAVROS: You need not elaborate, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Just so long as you've got it clear. (He leaves through the window.)
DAVROS: We'll meet again, Doctor. Never doubt it. We'll meet again.
DOCTOR: (peering back in for a moment) Don't you be so sure.
DALEK: Exterminate the prisoners.
DAVROS: Quickly, the explosive. He will detonate.
(The DOCTOR stops at the ruins and pulls his sonic screwdriver out.)
DAVROS: Remove the explosive!
DALEK: We obey.
(The explosive has been removed and is in the 'hands' of a Dalek when it goes off.)
DAVROS: Come. There is much to be done. You must tell me of all the victories the Daleks have won whilst I have slept. And all the defeats. I shall learn from your mistakes. The Daleks shall be made into perfect creatures. They will be invincible! The Daleks will rule the universe!
(He leads them off through the corridors.)

[INT. Ship]

ROMANA: Oh yes, the Doctor knows more about the Daleks than anyone.
SHARREL: He is an expert in robotics?
ROMANA: An absolute genius.
SHARREL: (as she makes to leave) You'll be safer here. You will stay.
(She finds that AGELLA and LAN are standing in her way.)
ROMANA: But you're dead.
(AGELLA shoots her in the head, and she falls to the floor.)
SHARREL: Emission power?
AGELLA: Level 3. Consciousness will not return for some time.
SHARREL: Prepare the Nova device. We must be ready to destroy this planet as soon as we've secured our new objective, the Doctor. (The Doctor's scan-line image appears on the screen.)

[EXT. Sandy terrain]

(The DOCTOR hugs the bottom of a sandy cliff wall.)
DALEK: (visible above) Seek and locate. Seek and locate.
DALEK 3: (above the DOCTOR's new location) We obey.
(Pulling his hand from the cliff surface, he comes away with a pinkish bit of biomass.)
DOCTOR: Oh, a Kaled mutant. Of course. The Daleks were originally organic life forms. (speaking to the slightly gelatinous creature) I think you've just told me what the Daleks want with Davros, haven't you?
(He throws it against the cliff, where the creature, now looking more sac-like, squidges. He walks off.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the sands, the MOVELLANS are setting up a perspex tube. LAN carries a device that is beeping.
We return to the DOCTOR, who is joined by a running TYSSAN.)

TYSSAN: Doctor. Doctor.
DOCTOR: Tyssan.
TYSSAN: I've been looking for you. It's hard to move around, though. There are Dalek patrols everywhere.
DOCTOR: Yes, so I've seen.
TYSSAN: I found the other prisoners. They told me what you'd done to free them. (sits down by the cliff) They're very grateful.
DOCTOR: Oh, it was nothing, nothing. Where are they now?
TYSSAN: Hiding. If we can lay our hands on some weapons, I'm hoping to turn them into some sort of fighting force.
(A Dalek approaches from our direction.)
DOCTOR: That could be very useful, Tyssan.
DALEK: Remain where you are. (their hands are now up) You will turn and walk ahead of me. If you make any attempt to escape, you will be extermi-
(An explosion destroys the Dalek mid-'Exterminate'.)
DOCTOR: (to the responsible Movellan at the top of the cliff, who starts to scramble down the sand) Awfully decent of you. Very grateful.
CASSANDRA: (with weapon out) You will accompany me back to our spacecraft.
DOCTOR: Well, all in good time. There are a few things I want to do first.
CASSANDRA: That is not a request. It is an order. Move!
DOCTOR: I do seem to be in demand today. Come on, Tyssan.
(But he turns and snatches the green-liquid-filled tube from her belt. She spins in place and then falls to the ground as he and TYSSAN throw it back and forth over her head.)
TYSSAN: What the devil? Why did she turn against you?
DOCTOR: I'm not sure she was ever for me.
TYSSAN: (as the DOCTOR tears open the front of her uniform) What are you doing?
(There are electronics behind a clear panel with screws in the corners.)
DOCTOR: Just as I thought. Just another race of robots, no better than the Daleks. (He taps on the panel.)

[EXT. Beside the Nova device]

LAN: Ready.
(LAN carefully sets the beeping device on the round white base, onto which the perspex tube is lowered. It begins making an oscillating whirring noise rather than beeping.)
LAN: Make sure the seals are tight. Right, move back.
(There is a chirping, and we see green seven-segment numbers on a display at the top of the device count down from 0035 to 0030.)
MOVELLAN: How does it work?
LAN: It changes the molecular structure of the atmosphere. The atoms become flammable. If the Nova device was activated outside the protective shielding, the atmosphere surrounding this planet would burn up in seconds.
(There is a flash, and the area within the tube becomes white-hot for a moment.)

[INT. Ship]

AGELLA: Lan reports the Nova device functions perfectly.
SHARREL: Excellent. Unfortunately, our attempts to capture the Doctor have failed so far. What we need is some way to get him out into the open. (looks at ROMANA) Take her.
(Two MOVELLANS lift her.)

[EXT. Near the Nova device]

(The DOCTOR and TYSSAN approach the chirping and see an unconscious ROMANA stuffed into a perspex tube. There is a Nova device beside her. Its display counts down from 0071 to 0066.)
DOCTOR: Tyssan, get back out of sight.
(He runs over to the tube and knocks on it. 49. He feels all over it but cannot find a way to open it. The timer counts down to 0033.)


The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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