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DOCTOR WHO
DESTINY OF THE DALEKS

Written by
Terry Nation

Part Four

(Overlap from the Doctor running up to the device)

[EXT. At the Nova device]

(The countdown reaches 20, and the DOCTOR still can't find a way into the tube. He kneels beside the tube, next to ROMANA, and a MOVELLAN weapon shoots him. He falls to the ground. The timer wraps round, with a little beeping, when it reaches 0000.)
SHARREL: Malfunction.
AGELLA: No, I didn't arm the device. It seemed unnecessary, as we merely wanted to draw the Doctor into the open.
SHARREL: Very well. Take her. You two, take him.
(TYSSAN watches as AGELLA and LAN remove her from the tube. Two other MOVELLANS drag the DOCTOR off. TYSSAN runs.)

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DAVROS: Advise Dalek Central Control in space that I require immediate transportation.
DALEK 1: It has been done. A deep-space cruiser is on its way.
DAVROS: When will it reach Skaro?
DALEK 2: Estimated arrival time six hours.
DAVROS: Six hours? Too long. Every moment we remain on Skaro, we are vulnerable to attack. All operational Daleks to remain on maximum alert until I am aboard the cruiser and safely in space. Maximum alert.
DALEK 1: As you command.
DAVROS: My safety is to be your primary concern. You will make any sacrifice that is required to protect me.
DALEK 1: I obey.
DAVROS: Very well. Now, you have a computer sphere containing the logistics and status of the Dalek battle fleet.
DALEK 1: It contains every detail of the situation.
DAVROS: Bring it to me.
DALEK 1: The information was checked and supervised by the Supreme Dalek.
DAVROS: Supreme Dalek, pah. That is a title I shall dispute most vigorously. I created the Daleks. It is I who will guide their destiny. I am the Supreme Commander!
(A Dalek sucker places the sphere on his chair, and it starts bleeping, with lights moving within.)
DALEK 1: You will be obeyed.
DAVROS: Excellent. Now I wish to concentrate. Leave me.
DALEK 1: I obey.

[INT. Ship]

(The DOCTOR and ROMANA are asleep on the soft furniture as the others bustle around.)
AGELLA: Motors are running up. Chargers operating in full capacity. We will have launch power in 32 minutes.
SHARREL: Commence lift-off countdown. Is the device reset?
LAN: Yes. Commander, I think it wise that the device be activated manually. If it is left on automatic, the Daleks may find it and destroy it. It must be guarded to the very last moment.
SHARREL: Yes.
LAN: The operator will be destroyed, of course.
SHARREL: Necessary. You will perform this function, Lan.
LAN: Yes, Commander.
SHARREL: Take the device to the designated location. Report when you are in position, then stay with the device. Detonate on my radio command.
LAN: Understood.
DOCTOR: Robots! Of course!
SHARREL: Welcome back, Doctor.
DOCTOR: One race of robots fighting another. Is she going to be all right?
SHARREL: She'll recover.
(ROMANA is awake, eyes open, but she gives no other sign of stirring.)
DOCTOR: Good, good.
SHARREL: Tell me, Doctor, when did you first realise we were robotic?
DOCTOR: The night the roof fell in on Agella.
AGELLA: Agella.
DOCTOR: Agella, yes, how's your hand?
SHARREL: Disfunction or death, as you know it, only occurs in us with massive circuitry disturbance. We are infinitely superior.
DOCTOR: Are you really?
SHARREL: We function logically.
DOCTOR: My condolences to you.
SHARREL: Why, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Because you'll never defeat the Daleks. Let me demonstrate. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: Are you feeling all right?
ROMANA: Yes, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good. We're going to play a game. Now.

[INT. Dalek control centre]

(The sphere settles down, dark and quiet - DAVROS has finished contemplating its information. The Daleks have returned.)
DAVROS: A concise report, and a fascinating problem. The Daleks have met a foe worthy of their powers. Another race of robots.
DALEK: Correct. Dalek superiority will ultimately triumph, and the Movellan force will be exterminated.
DAVROS: You have been fighting them for centuries, and still you are not victorious!
DALEK: It is only a matter of time.
DAVROS: No. Two gigantic computerised battle fleets locked together in deep space, hundreds of galactic battle cruisers vying with each other for centuries, and not a shot fired?
DALEK: Our computers are planning the moment of maximum advantage.
DAVROS: And so are theirs. It will never come. You have reached a logical impasse.
DALEK: Understood.
DAVROS: So that is why you have returned to find your creator.
DALEK: You will reprogram our battle computers for us. The Movellans will be exterminated!

[INT. Ship]

(The DOCTOR and ROMANA are playing roshambo while Movellans look on.)
DOCTOR: Paper wraps stone. Ha-ha!
ROMANA: Ha, stone blunts scissors.
DOCTOR: Scissors cuts paper. Ha, ha! But suppose we were two computers controlling two great battle fleets, eh? Each one working perfectly logically to outmanoeuvre the other. Well, you're robots. You try it.
SHARREL: We're perfectly-
DOCTOR: Try it! Go on.
(Playing rapidly and silently, the two Movellans twice both choose scissors, then both opt for stone.)
DOCTOR: (catching their upraised hands) Ha! You see? You're caught in an impasse of logic. You've discovered the recipe for everlasting peace. Congratulations. I'm terribly pleased.
SHARREL: Our objective is victory, Doctor - the destruction of the Dalek fleet.
DOCTOR: You play with me, eh? Come on.
SHARREL: Paper.
DOCTOR: Scissors cuts paper.
SHARREL: Stone.
DOCTOR: Paper wraps stone.
SHARREL: Scissors.
DOCTOR: Stone blunts scissors. Again. Scissors cuts paper.
SHARREL: Stone.
DOCTOR: Paper wraps stone.
SHARREL: Scissors.
DOCTOR: Stone blunts scissors!
SHARREL: Thank you, Doctor. Our battle computers must have a new element programmed into them. An advantage, however small, that will change the balance of power. You.
ROMANA: And the Daleks want the same thing.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SHARREL: When we reach the fleet, you will reprogram our computers.
DOCTOR: I will?
AGELLA: Yes. The Dalek fleet will be wiped from the heavens, and nothing will stand in our way of the conquest of the galaxy.
DOCTOR: No, you've overlooked something. Suppose I was willing to help you to change the balance of power, which I'm not. Davros will be doing exactly the same things for the Daleks. I mean, he may be mad, but his computer skills are almost as great as mine.
SHARREL: That is precisely why we're taking you with us, Doctor. When we're safely in space, the Nova device will detonate and destroy Davros. With your skills, the impasse will be broken.

[EXT. Nova device]

(LAN squats, crushing rocks with his hand. He hears rocks moving nearby. Investigating, he finds TYSSAN lying on the ground. An escaped slave WORKER approaches. When LAN turns at the noise, TYSSAN removes the tube thing from his belt, and LAN staggers about before collapsing. TYSSAN unscrews the end of the unit and does something within as the other former prisoners cluster around.)
TYSSAN: Now, this bit here and this bit here. Good. (screwing it closed again) Now, let's see if the Doctor's right.

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DALEK 1: Report.
DALEK 2: Surface scans indicate the Movellan ship is preparing for launch.
DALEK 1: Estimated time to lift-off?
DALEK 2: Twenty-one minutes. Report continues. Listening scanners have detected non-Movellan voices inside the space vehicle. Computers identify the voices as those of the Doctor and his companion.
DAVROS: They must be stopped. The Doctor could reprogram the Movellan battle computers. He would counteract my advantage. The Movellan ship must be destroyed.
DALEK 1: Our firepower will be ineffective against its hull.
DAVROS: Then we need more than firepower. Unpack the explosives.

[INT. Ship]

(The DOCTOR and ROMANA are playing again, with their discussion sotto voce and their moves louder.)
ROMANA: Scissors cuts paper. Let's get out.
DOCTOR: Yes. Paper wraps stone. How?
(Scissors and scissors.)
ROMANA: Stalemate. Do something.
DOCTOR: When I give the signal, move.
(The DOCTOR rises. A MOVELLAN holding out a weapon pushes him back down into his seat.)
DOCTOR: Stone blunts scissors.
ROMANA: Good plan. Scissors cuts paper. Paper wraps-
DOCTOR: Jelly baby.
ROMANA: Jelly baby?
DOCTOR: Doctor catches robot. (He eats the jelly baby.)
AGELLA: Commander, Lan is not answering my signals.
SHARREL: Go out and check he's still in position.
AGELLA: At once.
SHARREL: Launch programme.

[EXT. At the Nova device, near the ship]

(AGELLA finds Lan's communicator on the ground. As LAN approaches, she picks it up. He takes the unit from her belt. She spins and falls into his arms as the escapees approach.)
TYSSAN: Well done, Lan.
(He unscrews the unit and starts making changes to it.)

[INT. Dalek control centre]

(The Daleks are, with one exception, festooned with explosives just above weapons level.)
DAVROS: Now, understand me clearly. You will not deviate from your objective, no matter what the provocation. Let no opposition halt you. When you reach the Movellan space vehicle, position yourselves around the ship, as close as possible to the hull. The sacrifice you make will ensure total Dalek victory in the space war! Carry out your orders!
DALEK 2: We obey.
(All explosive-wearing Daleks leave.)
DAVROS: Total Dalek victory. Then on to still greater conquests. I will lead. Davros will lead!

[INT. Ship]

(We see LAN and AGELLA from the outside, leading the rabble inside. Seeing TYSSAN inside, next to the entrance, the DOCTOR jumps up.)
DOCTOR: Don't you ever speak to me like that again, you understand? Never!
ROMANA: What did I say?
DOCTOR: Jelly baby! (to the others) You keep out of this. It's a personal matter, isn't it?
ROMANA: Yes!
DOCTOR: So just mind your own business.
ROMANA: You tell him.
DOCTOR: And you mind your own business too.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: Duck!
(The MOVELLAN next to the DOCTOR takes a tumble over the ducking Time Lord's back - LAN has fired. AGELLA shoots other MOVELLANS. The prisoners now rush in, grabbing at belt units. At least one escapee is knocked to the ground. The DOCTOR heads for the computer beside the main screen as four MOVELLANS advance on him. He blows his dog whistle, slowing them down. This allows ROMANA to snatch three units.)
DOCTOR: (grabbing the last belt unit) Ah, well - so much for logic. (handing the unit to ROMANA) A mind that can be scrambled by a dog whistle.
ROMANA: These are Movellan minds?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, not quite. They're just power packs with some main circuits.
ROMANA: Orders for the day and the power to carry them out.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's it. Tyssan! Tyssan. Well done, Tyssan. Any news of Davros?
TYSSAN: Nothing.
DOCTOR: The Daleks will be sending a ship for him. We mustn't let him get away.
TYSSAN: We've only got a handful of men. How can we stop him?
DOCTOR: One, two, three, four, five. I'll go alone. Ask me why.
TYSSAN: Why?
DOCTOR: They're unconscious. Also I'm a very dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing. You stay here, Tyssan. You'll need this ship to get home. Romana, you help him.
DOCTOR [OC]: I will return! (He has headed out the airlock.)

[EXT. Ruins]

(The DOCTOR ducks down around a corner as the suicide Daleks approach the area.)
DALEK 2: Do not deviate. All units, proceed as ordered. The space vehicle must be destroyed.

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DOCTOR: (sotto) Davros. Davros. (normal volume) Davros?
DAVROS: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Hello. I didn't think getting to see you would have been so easy. Are you just going to sit there quietly and wait for the Dalek ship to pick you up?
DAVROS: I have one more thing to do before I leave. It seems we have both been much in demand, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Well, it's nice to be wanted, isn't it, eh?
DAVROS: Putting aside our differences for a moment-
DOCTOR: Oh?
DAVROS: Speaking simply as scientists, the problem is fascinating, don't you agree?
DOCTOR: Oh yes, two vast computers so evenly matched they can't out-think one another.
DAVROS: Two space fleets totally impotent.
DOCTOR: Yes.
DAVROS: You know how the stalemate can be broken, of course.
DOCTOR: Oh, of course.
DAVROS: I realised you would. So obvious, but they can't see it. Would you have told the Movellans?
DOCTOR: Oh, no.
DAVROS: I suspected you wouldn't.
DOCTOR: Would you have told the Daleks?
DAVROS: But I dared not take the risk. I had to stop them taking you.
DOCTOR: But you failed. The prisoners set me free.
DAVROS: The Movellan ship will never lift off! Soon, my Daleks, carrying more than half a megaton of explosives, will press against the hull and I will simply activate this control (gestures to a control on his chair) to detonate.
DOCTOR: (bending to the other's level) Really. And how will you stop me activating that control before they reach their target?
(The Dalek remaining in the control centre approaches from behind the DOCTOR.)
DAVROS: I would not.
DOCTOR: Really?
DALEK: Do not move!
DAVROS: You see, there's nothing you can do to stop it now.

[EXT. Dunes]

DALEK 2: Let no opposition halt you. Advance for total Dalek victory. Objective sighted. Advance.

[INT. Ship]

TYSSAN: (entering) Well, we got them all.
ROMANA: Was Commander Sharrel with them?
TYSSAN: No. I thought he was up here.
ROMANA: Well, I can't find him.
TYSSAN: Oh, it's not important. Even if he got away, he can't do much on his own.
ROMANA: The Nova device! He'll try to detonate! (She runs for the exit.)

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DALEK 2 [OC]: Now commencing final approach to ship.
DAVROS: Very soon now, Doctor. Very soon.

[EXT. Dunes]

DALEK 2: Do not deviate. Let no opposition halt you.

[INT. Ship]

(The main screen shows a report:

SCANNERS INDICATE
STRONG DALEK FORCE
RANGE 100 METRES
CLOSING )

[EXT. Outside the Movellan ship]

(DALEKS approach the ship as the WORKERS run out, carrying Movellan weapons.)
DALEK 2: Exterminate!
(The Daleks are doing better in the fight. The bipeds recognise this and run away.)

[EXT. At the Nova device]

(SHARREL is crawling toward the device. ROMANA runs over a dune and tries wrestling him to the ground. She pulls him down by the leg, and his motion toward the device drags her down. As he reaches for the detonator, she kicks his arm off him. She then grabs his control unit, sets the Nova device further away, and flings the belt unit into the distance.)

[INT. Dalek control centre]

DAVROS: When the Dalek ship arrives, you will accompany us.
DOCTOR: Oh, I'm sure they'll welcome me with open arms. I mean, they would welcome me with open arms if they had arms. Please, please, no offence meant at all.
(He tosses his hat over his shoulder. It lands on the Dalek's eyestalk.)
DALEK: Malfunction.
DAVROS: Behind you.
DALEK: Malfunction.
DAVROS: Behind you.
DALEK: Visual circuit is impaired.
DAVROS: To your right. To your left.
DALEK: Malfunction.
DAVROS: To your right. This way!
DALEK: Malfunction.
(It decides to shoot at random when it can't see. The DOCTOR ducks behind a bank of computer equipment.)
DAVROS: Not me, you fool!
DALEK: Vision impaired! Vision impaired! Malfunction! Loss of visual control. Malfunction! Malfunction!
(The DOCTOR finds an explosive, which he attaches to the Dalek. He pushes it down a corridor.)
DALEK: Malfunction! Loss of control! Loss of control! Loss of control!
DOCTOR: Bye-bye.
(The Dalek explodes. There is a lot of smoke, and we see that the skirt of its casing has come apart.)
DOCTOR: My hat!
DAVROS: Keep away.
DOCTOR: What?
DAVROS: Keep back.
(The DOCTOR reaches under DAVROS's hand and pushes upward. DAVROS resists the motion. The DOCTOR removes his hand suddenly, so DAVROS hits the detonation button. We see the suicide Daleks explode before they have taken position at the Movellan ship.)

[INT. Ship]

(The escaped prisoners are on board. So is DAVROS, in a small chamber in white and blue, with a blue snowflake on the top portion. His torso is visible through the mid-height portion.)
DOCTOR: All elephants are pink. Nellie is an elephant. Therefore, Nellie is pink. Logical?
DAVROS: Perfectly.
DOCTOR: You know what a human would say to that?
DAVROS: What?
TYSSAN: Elephants aren't pink.
DAVROS: Bah. Humans do not understand logic.
ROMANA: They're not slaves to it like the Daleks or the Movellans.
DOCTOR: That's why the Daleks came back for you. They remembered they were once organic creatures themselves, capable of irrational, intuitive thought, and they wanted you to give it back to them to get them out of their trap of logic.
DAVROS: I have failed!
DOCTOR: Yes. What does it feel like?
DAVROS: What will happen to me?
TYSSAN: A high-security ship has started out from Earth to meet us. You will be taken to stand trial for your crimes against the whole of sentient creation.
DAVROS: There is not a ship, not a prison that can hold me!
DOCTOR: No, but I think this little device can. It's a cryogenic freezer. Even you can't escape from a solid block of ice. (whispers) Bye-bye, Davros.
(He presses a button on the corner to turn it on. It begins to fill with vapour. He places his hand against the inside.)
TYSSAN: Doctor! Doctor!
(We see part of a message on the main screen, on 'FLIGHT PROGRAMME ... CRAFT STATUS'.)

[EXT. Dunes]

(The DOCTOR and ROMANA run into the dunes as the ship's entrance closes and the craft begins to rise from the sand and into the air.)
DOCTOR: That was a narrow escape. Come on. We've got some digging to do.

[EXT. Outside the TARDIS]

(The pair begin to push rocks away from the TARDIS.)
ROMANA: Doctor, could you really have solved their problems and won the war for them?
DOCTOR: Of course I could. It's obvious.
ROMANA: Was it?
DOCTOR: Yes. Both sides were fighting with computers, perfectly logically. Each computer could predict the move of the other and counter it. Result - stalemate.
ROMANA: So the first side that switches its computer off and does something irrational-
DOCTOR: Wins the battle, yes. Make mistakes and confuse the enemy.
ROMANA: Brilliant.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Is that why you always win?
DOCTOR: Yes. What?
ROMANA: Because you always make mistakes.
DOCTOR: Mistakes? Me? Well, perhaps once a century or so.
(They enter the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR [OC]: Well, I have made the odd mistake.
(The ship dematerialises.)
ROMANA [OC]: Not that switch.
DOCTOR [OC]: What?
(And materialises again.)
DOCTOR [OC]: Oh, yes.
(The TARDIS dematerialises again.)

The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl

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