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DOCTOR WHO
NIGHTMARE OF EDEN
Written by
Bob Baker
Part Three
(Overlap from 'Ah, Doctor')
[INT. Eden projection]
(In the jungle, they are cast in a greenish glow. They walk past some trees.)
DOCTOR: Well, how do you like Eden?
ROMANA: I don't.
DOCTOR: Might give us a few answers, though.
ROMANA: Which way?
DOCTOR: Let's go east.
ROMANA: How do you know which way is east?
DOCTOR: Well, I don't. We'll go that way and we'll call it east.
ROMANA: Why not call it north?
DOCTOR: All right. We'll call it north.
ROMANA: North-east?
(Something makes a slavering sort of growling noise nearby.)
DOCTOR: (sotto) Can we go, please?
(They quietly make their way into the jungle, with a familiar green-eyed shambling creature not far behind.)
[INT. Lounge]
(The doors are finally prised open.)
FISK: Doctor!
(The two agents and DYMOND give the projection a glance, then head into the other part of the lounge area.)
FISK: Come on. You may as well give yourself up.
COSTA: There must be another way out of here.
DYMOND: I don't know.
FISK: There's got to be. What's that?
DYMOND: It's a door.
FISK: Yes. It's locked. Get Tryst.
(DYMOND leaves.)
[INT. Eden projection]
ROMANA: How did you know we could get into the projection?
DOCTOR: Well, the same way I knew we could get into the TARDIS. Tryst doesn't realise what he's stumbled on. At least, I don't think he has.
ROMANA: A relative dimensional field?
DOCTOR: Yes. All this is recorded on laser crystal. When it's played back-
ROMANA: It's restructured on an intradimensional matrix.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, roughly speaking.
ROMANA: So without the dimensional osmosis damper, everything gets mixed up together and we can just walk straight into the projection.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: And anything else can just walk straight out.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: I've never met such idiots as those customs men.
DOCTOR: Idiots? They're worse than idiots, they're bureaucrats. They just exist to tangle people up, wrap them round and round in red tape until they can't move. Romana?
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: I can't move.
(We see vines wrapping around the pair's legs, and then one encircles the DOCTOR's throat. A carnivorous plant begins to reel him into its suddenly opening maw.)
DOCTOR: Don't wriggle, don't wriggle. It'll realise it's got dinner.
ROMANA: Dinner?
DOCTOR: Yes. It eats people.
ROMANA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Quick, over there. The root.
ROMANA: Root?
DOCTOR: Root, root!
(She pulls a thick root over to the DOCTOR, who bites it and gets a mouthful of green goo, which begins spurting everywhere. The oversized Venus flytrap relaxes its hold, then falls back into the underbrush. The DOCTOR drops the root.)
ROMANA: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Let's get out of here.
DOCTOR: You know, that didn't taste at all bad.
[INT. Lounge]
TRYST: I can't turn it off. The selector's gone. It's difficult to believe the Doctor would do this. Why?
FISK: The man is a criminal, that's why.
TRYST: (right into his face) I don't see the logical connection.
FISK: Well, criminals are like that.
TRYST: Ah.
FISK: Now, this other exit - can you open it?
TRYST: It leads to the first-class bathroom. The Doctor couldn't open it - it opens by personal key.
FISK: It's the only way he can-
(TRYST opens the door for the two men, who enter to continue their search. TRYST is left with DYMOND.)
TRYST: I think the Doctor is in serious trouble, Dymond. It's a pity. Such a brilliant mind.
[INT. Eden projection]
(Hearing more growling, the DOCTOR and ROMANA huddle behind a boulder.)
ROMANA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Shush. It's waiting for us to make any kind of sound.
(The creature galomphs past.)
DOCTOR: (sotto) It's gone. Now take care.
(They step cautiously forward. The DOCTOR smiles and breathes out. The creature rears up in front of them, causing ROMANA to shriek. They start running off. We see a man fire at the creature from behind some foliage.)
ROMANA: What was that?
DOCTOR: I don't know. (raises his hand) Hello there. Thank you very much. We're terribly grateful to you for saving our lives.
ROMANA: Who are you?
STOTT: The name's Stott.
DOCTOR: Stott! Stott of the Tryst expedition?
STOTT: Yes.
DOCTOR: (holding out the radiation band) Yours, I believe. I'm the Doctor. This is Romana. We're travellers and-
(He is interrupted by growling.)
DOCTOR: Come on - this way.
STOTT: I know a safe place. Follow me.
[INT. Stott's building]
(STOTT brings them to a hut with diamond-shaped windows and flicks on the lights within. There are a table and chairs, pieces of equipment, and a bunk.)
DOCTOR: Not bad. Not bad at all. How long have you been here?
STOTT: A hundred and eighty-three days. They left me for dead on Eden. I tried to get back here to call the ship, and I got caught up in the event transmuter.
ROMANA: How did you get those marks?
(He has three scars running down his face.)
STOTT: A mandrel. The thing I saved you from.
ROMANA: Mandrel. Doctor, they're called mandrels.
DOCTOR: Well, Stott, you've got some explaining to do. A hundred and eighty-three days here?
STOTT: Yes. I thought I was going to be stuck here for the rest of my life. There were a few times when I felt like blowing my brains out. The hardest thing was being able to look out and see Della.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, quite. Tell me, when did you first discover you could get out of the projection?
STOTT: After the accident. Something must have gone wrong with the CET machine. The edge of the projection was shimmering.
DOCTOR: Really?
STOTT: I decided I had nothing to lose, so I walked straight through it and found myself on the Empress. Then I took one of the passenger coveralls so I could walk about unnoticed.
DOCTOR: Why didn't you tell Tryst and Della you'd got out?
STOTT: Because of what I am and what I'm doing.
DOCTOR: Really?
STOTT: I'm a major in the Intelligence section of Space Corps, on a special assignment to find out who's drug-running.
DOCTOR: Ah-ha. You thought it was me, didn't you?
STOTT: For a while. Then I overheard you and Romana talking in the lounge.
ROMANA: Tryst thought it was you, and now he thinks it's Della.
STOTT: Tryst's a fool. He knows nothing. He didn't even realise his expedition was being used to transport a new sort of Vrax that someone had found.
ROMANA: Yes, if you store in on crystal in the CET machine, it can't possibly show up on a molecular scan.
STOTT: He must have arranged somewhere along the line for a pick-up. They'd have to get the stuff out of the projection and pass it on.
DOCTOR: Yeah. You've got the stuff I had?
STOTT: Just a tiny sample. Secker must have found it. He may even have been involved himself.
DOCTOR: Yes, but more important is where the main supply is hidden and where it comes from.
STOTT: All I know is that it's in Eden somewhere. I've been searching all this time. No result.
DOCTOR: Then we've got to get the dimension projection sealed off again, which means doing what we first came to do.
STOTT: And what's that?
DOCTOR: Separate the ships. Tell me, if we go out of the projection in that direction, do we come to the power unit?
STOTT: Yes. You can get out of the projection any way you want.
DOCTOR: Good, good. Then that's what we'll do. Come on. Well, come on.
(STOTT turns off the lights and shuts the door as he leaves.)
[INT. Outside the power unit]
K9: (as STOTT emerges) Identify.
(The DOCTOR and ROMANA emerge.)
STOTT: (gun pointed at K9) Look out, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's all right. He's mine.
STOTT: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's just a perfectly ordinary electric dog.
K9: Master, I have located the power unit.
DOCTOR: Good, good. Now listen, K9. This is Stott. He's a friend. All right?
K9: (making a sniffing sound) Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good. Let's get to work.
(STOTT and K9 stand guard.)
[INT. Power unit]
DOCTOR: Liquid hydrogen, turbopump exhaust, reactor core, pressure shell. Right.
ROMANA: Doctor, do you really know how to get this thing going?
DOCTOR: Of course I do. I can start anything from a steam engine to a TARDIS. Have you got a match?
ROMANA: What for?
DOCTOR: I want to jam this switch down.
ROMANA: Would a toothpick do?
(She removes one from the DOCTOR's mouth.)
DOCTOR: Perfect.
K9: Master, during your absence I encountered alien creatures in this area.
ROMANA: Mandrels, K9.
K9: Name noted, Mistress.
DOCTOR: You'd better guard the door, K9. How many were there?
K9: Five units, Master.
DOCTOR: Five! I'd better get a move on, or they'll be all over the ship.
ROMANA: Hadn't we better deal with them first?
DOCTOR: Oh no, no, no. Until the ships are separated and the projection is stabilised, it'd be like trying to bail out a small boat with a-
ROMANA: Sieve?
DOCTOR: Yes.
[INT. Passenger corridor, beside the lift]
ATTENDANT: We're doing everything we can. The skipper's got a-
WOMAN 2: We should have been on Azure hours ago. My passengers asked me to represent them, to take our complaint to the captain.
ATTENDANT: You must understand, he's very busy in the emergency. He's doing everything possible to get you to Azure.
(When the ATTENDANT presses the lift button, the doors open and a mandrel attacks the WOMAN. He sounds the alarm before a second creature attacks him.)
[INT. Bridge of the Empress]
(RIGG is watching the monitor and laughing as mandrels terrorise and mutilate his passengers.)
COSTA: What's going on, Captain?
RIGG: Nothing much, nothing much.
COSTA: What's happening? What are those things?
RIGG: They're a sort of judgement on us all.
COSTA: What? I'll have you shot for this, Captain.
COSTA: (on the intercom) Bridge here. Emergency. The passengers on pallet 67 are under attack. All armed crew members, proceed to pallet
67 immediately! (to a laughing RIGG) I shall be charging you with gross neglect of duty. The passengers should be your first concern, yet I find you drunkenly looking on as they are attacked and killed! Well?
RIGG: They're only economy-class. What's all the fuss about?
[INT. Power unit]
(The DOCTOR is working on one in a bank of several control units - vending-machine-shaped boxes with several panels of lights and dials.)
DOCTOR: Is that the one, Romana? Romana, was that-
ROMANA: (screaming) Mandrel! (She runs to the DOCTOR's side, as a Mandrel lumbers toward them from the camera's angle.)
DOCTOR: K9!
(The mandrel grabs the DOCTOR and starts squeezing.)
DOCTOR: K9, quickly!
(K9's beam interrupts the bear hug, and the creature staggers, then falls from the DOCTOR onto the floor.)
STOTT: Doctor, they're coming from both ways.
DOCTOR: I've got to get this finished. Romana, did you check the cable to the reactor?
ROMANA: Yes, I'm pretty sure it was that one.
DOCTOR: Well, check it. I need to be absolutely sure.
ROMANA: (hesitating as she makes to step over the creature) Igh.
DOCTOR: It's perfectly all right. (kicking the creature) It's quite dead.
ROMANA: If you say so.
(With a grunt, she jumps over the corpse. STOTT, on guard, is holding a gun in the background.)
DOCTOR: Was it the one?
ROMANA: No, sorry. It's the one below.
DOCTOR: It's a good thing you checked. I could have caused a spectacular explosion.
ROMANA: (jumping back over the body) All ready to go now?
DOCTOR: Nearly. Two things. (holds up a finger) I need to know whether the power on the bridge is on maximum. Two, the demat has to be switched on from the TARDIS at exactly the same time as I switch on this old gas oven. All right?
ROMANA: All right.
DOCTOR: Good.
[INT. Bridge of the Empress]
FISK: Captain, this ship is a disaster area. I'm placing you under arrest for gross neglect of duty.
(RIGG stops laughing as COSTA pulls his arm behind his back.)
RIGG: Hey, it's really nice being arrested. (COSTA leads him out.)
FISK: Now, about the, er, mandrels?
TRYST: Yes.
FISK: Mandrels. We need to seal them off and then destroy them. I'll send for heavy weapons.
TRYST: I'd rather if they're not killed, if that's possible.
FISK: The things are killing our people, man. What do you suggest?
TRYST: Er, some sort of tranquillising drug?
FISK: We haven't got time for pussyfooting around! I can't think why you care so much about such ugly, disgusting things.
TRYST: It's all a matter of conservation. If they are killed, the whole species will have gone.
FISK: Look, I'm in charge here. I'll do what I think is best.
CREWMAN [on monitor]: Level B. Two mandrels have got into the fuel section.
FISK: Then kill them.
CREWMAN [on monitor]: Well, we're worried about hitting the fuel tanks if we fire.
FISK: You see what I mean, Tryst? Keep them under surveillance, and if they move out of there, destroy them.
CREWMAN [on monitor]: Aye-aye, sir.
FISK: Has the Doctor been seen in that sector?
CREWMAN [on monitor]: No, sir.
FISK: Yes, well. Pass the word around that if he offers the slightest resistance to arrest, shoot him.
CREWMAN [on monitor]: Shoot him, sir?
FISK: He's a criminal, isn't he? What else do you do with criminals?
CREWMAN [on monitor]: Sir.
[INT. Power unit]
DOCTOR: Stott, I want you and Romana to go back through the jungle. K9, I want you to go back the way you came.
K9: Negative, Master. Blurred zone still operative. These zones are matter interfaces.
DOCTOR: Will you listen to me, please? Stott and I came through one. It's perfectly all right if it's on the edge of a hull. All you need is a little determination.
K9: Affirmative. Determination, Master.
DOCTOR: Good. Now, when you get through, I want you to go back to the demat machine set up near the TARDIS, and when I whistle, you switch it on. Right?
K9: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good.
ROMANA: What about you? You're not going to be here when the power unit comes on, are you?
DOCTOR: No, no. I'm going to rig myself a little time device. Could I borrow your watch, please?
(He removes it from STOTT's wrist.)
STOTT: Certainly.
DOCTOR: Good. Is that on ship's time? Right. Now, I'll give you till 20:25 to reach the bridge and put the power on. I'll set my device so I can escape in good time.
ROMANA: What about the mandrels? You won't have K9 or a gun.
DOCTOR: I'll have to use my wits. Now, off you go. Take care. Look out for excise men. I don't think they like us very much. Off you go, then.
(STOTT, ROMANA, and K9 leave.)
DOCTOR: Twenty oh one.
[INT. Beside the lift]
(FISK is speaking to the heads of the ship's crew.)
FISK: I want this ship searched from top to bottom. If you see the Doctor or his lady companion, arrest them. If they resist, kill them. Right, get on with it.
(He gets into the lift.)
[INT. Beside the airlock]
DYMOND: (carrying a helmet, beside the airlock door) Shall I put it on destruct?
TRYST: I think not. We'll see how things develop. We'll keep in touch.
[INT. Eden projection]
(STOTT and ROMANA creep through the jungle when they hear a loud roar.)
ROMANA: Look out!
(STOTT shoots his green-and-blue energy at the mandrel a couple of times. It staggers, and they run past just before it collapses.)
[INT. Power unit]
(The DOCTOR is taking the watch apart and using some of the pieces within the control unit. The body behind him makes a noise and moves slightly.
The time is 20:16. The mandrel rises to its feet behind the DOCTOR as he continues to work.)
DOCTOR: Plenty of time.
(He bends down to pick something up, causing the mandrel's paw to miss him narrowly. The creature roars, and the DOCTOR turns to face it.
Meanwhile, K9 pauses at the edge of the interface area, then enters.)
[INT. Eden projection]
ROMANA: You go back and guide the Doctor through.
STOTT: What about the excise men?
ROMANA: I'll manage.
STOTT: Right.
(STOTT returns the way he came, while ROMANA leaves the projection, then the lounge.)
[INT. Power unit]
(The DOCTOR steps between two of the control units, which are too close together to allow the mandrel through. While it is flailing at the gap, he circles the bank of units and returns to where he was working, makes a final adjustment with the sonic screwdriver from the side of the unit, and starts the countdown. The mandrel hears the ticking sound and heads straight for it.)
DOCTOR: No. No.
(The mandrel swipes at the machine, and there is a large flash and puff of smoke. The mandrel falls to the ground and melts into steaming chunks of a chalky substance and powder before the DOCTOR's eyes. He crouches next to the pile and picks up some of the white substance.)
DOCTOR: Vraxoin. Of course! So that's it.
[INT. First-class corridor]
(ROMANA hears voices and hides in a cloakroom as the two excise men round the corner.)
COSTA: How much longer do we have to stay up here?
FISK: Until the job's finished. How many casualties so far?
COSTA: Here's the list. Twelve dead, twenty-nine injured. Enough for a small war.
FISK: You know what this means?
(COSTA orders a drink from a dispenser in the wall opposite ROMANA's hiding place.)
COSTA: What?
FISK: Almost certain promotion.
COSTA: Promotion?
FISK: It's bound to be, a situation as big as this. It'll sort itself out, and in the end we'll have two tailor-made suspects, the Doctor and the girl. We'll be the golden boys of the day.
COSTA: (removing two glasses of drink from the dispenser) We don't actually know anything about those two.
FISK: You found the traces of Vrax in the Doctor's pocket. What more do you want?
(The two men head for the lounge, and ROMANA carefully makes her way through the corridors toward the bridge.)
[INT. Next to the TARDIS]
(The DOCTOR's machine is still set up, with the cable trailing to it from the TARDIS.)
K9: (approaching the machine) In position. Waiting.
[INT. Power unit]
(It is 20:21. The DOCTOR is trying to repair nests of frazzled wires where the mandrel attacked the control unit.)
DOCTOR: 20:21? I'll never do it.
[INT. Bridge of the Empress]
(RIGG is no longer smiling. He is entering the depressed-but-still-distracted stage of the drug trip.)
ROMANA: The Doctor's got into the power unit.
RIGG: Good, good.
ROMANA: We're going to separate the ships now.
RIGG: Have you got something for me? Something I need?
ROMANA: I must put full power on. (he grabs her wrist) Please, let me pass, Captain.
RIGG: I must have something for this terrible feeling, don't you understand?
ROMANA: I haven't got anything.
RIGG: You're lying. I know you've got the stuff. Now tell me where it is.
ROMANA: Please, let me just set the controls and I'll help you. Now let me go.
RIGG: I don't care about the stupid ship, woman. I want something for this feeling! Now you can help me. Now, now, please. I'll give you money. I've got money. How, how much? How much?
ROMANA: Let me just get the ship operating, and then I'll see that you get medical help.
RIGG: Just a little bit. I know you've got it! Now let me have some or I'll kill you!
ROMANA: I haven't got anything!
(He tries to clobber her. She ducks under his arm and heads for the control stations, but RIGG grabs her wrist as she reaches toward the panel. While caught, she looks up at the time. It's 20:23.
We cut to the DOCTOR, who is working up a sweat.)
RIGG: (wrestling her away from the control stations) Give it to me!
(FISK enters and shoots RIGG.)
ROMANA: (pulling her arms down from in front of her face, then sighing in relief) Thank you. He was going to kill me.
FISK: (gun still out) Well, it wouldn't have mattered much, since you're going to die anyway. Trafficking in drugs is punishable by death on Azure.
ROMANA: Whereas bureaucratic murder is rewarded with promotion.
FISK: I didn't invent the rules, I just enforce them. (she heads back for the control panel) Don't touch those controls.
ROMANA: But you don't understand. The Doctor is in the power unit. We're going to separate the ships now. I must operate the drive.
FISK: I don't know what you're up to, but I intend to stop you. Touch those controls and I shoot!
ROMANA: I thought you were going to kill me anyway.
FISK: Don't touch them!
(She looks at the time. It is now 20:45.
We again see the DOCTOR. He finishes his work and puts the toothpick in place. We hear ticking again. He blows his dog whistle.
K9 switches on the demat machine, which sends a beam of alternating purple and green energy into the interface area.
At 20:25, ROMANA presses the power control, and we see things shimmer again as they did the first time an attempt was made to separate the ships.
The DOCTOR runs into an interface area and disappears as the ships separate.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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