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DOCTOR WHO
THE LEISURE HIVE
Written by
David Fisher
Part Four
(Overlap from Mena's seed falling)
[INT. Boardroom]
(The FOAMASI who had accompanied the Doctor pulls off KLOUT's face and clothes next, to the sound of much chirping, then takes a small module from the BROCK Foamasi and swallows it.)
FOAMASI: (in BROCK's voice) Now that I have your attention and this traitor's voice synthesiser, I must explain. I am the Foamasi government.
(He hands his papers to MENA, who, in turn, passes them to the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: Mmm, it looks genuine to me.
PANGOL: These people are enemies.
FOAMASI: Those two are the enemy - a saboteur and a murderer.
PANGOL: They were the cause of all these accidents?
FOAMASI: With assorted colleagues, they've been systematically trying to run this planet down.
MENA: But Brock-
FOAMASI: The real Brock never left Earth.
MENA: I don't understand.
FOAMASI: Since our last government clamp-down, the West Lodge has been looking for a new venue for its illegal activities. Argolis would have been ideal.
MENA: They should have known we'd never sell.
FOAMASI: Their business methods are very persuasive. This one is the leader of all sectors. With him under arrest, the West Lodge is wound up. You're going back to face trial.
(MENA has an attack, which gives the two WEST LODGE FOAMASI a chance to bolt from the room. The GOVERNMENT FOAMASI throws a bomb-like item at them and, in a green glow, they become encased in cotton-like filaments.)
FOAMASI: The filaments will hold them until we board our shuttle.
(The DOCTOR, HARDIN, and ROMANA follow the GOVERNMENT FOAMASI from the room.)
PANGOL: We can't let these aliens go.
MENA: Why not?
PANGOL: Don't you understand? They've been spying on our planet!
MENA: The government agents mean to help.
PANGOL: An excuse to infiltrate.
MENA: I'm not persuaded, Pangol.
PANGOL: Then I must persuade you.
MENA: Must?
PANGOL: Yes. There are new imperatives.
MENA: Let me past. It is my duty to escort them to their shuttle.
PANGOL: Then I relieve you of that duty.
MENA: Let me pass immediately. That is an order.
(PANGOL has hold of her hand and forces her down.)
PANGOL: No!
(MENA slides down the table and onto the floor as she loses consciousness.)
[INT. Corridor of the Hive]
FOAMASI: I'm glad this has ended so satisfactorily.
DOCTOR: If it has ended.
FOAMASI: With the arrest of those two, peace is restored.
ROMANA: What the Doctor means is-
DOCTOR: Don't cross your bridges before they're hatched.
[INT. TRG room]
PANGOL: (stopping the DOCTOR and company and holding his arm out toward the window) Wait! The Argolin dawn. The dawn of the new Argolis. No-one can now be permitted to leave. You are destined by history to remain and watch.
FOAMASI: I am an ambassador. To interdict my departure would be an act of war.
PANGOL: You won't leave here alive.
ROMANA: Come on. We'd better do something quickly.
[INT. Laboratory]
ROMANA: The random field frame.
HARDIN: It's probably back in the generator by now.
ROMANA: Then Pangol's ready to proceed.
HARDIN: Yes. If Pangol's replaced the random field frame, we'll still be getting surges.
ROMANA: I can't see any way round that, can you, Doctor? Doctor?
DOCTOR: Please get on with it. There's so little time.
HARDIN: Now, if we had a second random field frame-
DOCTOR: The TARDIS.
ROMANA: Not the Randomiser.
DOCTOR: Perfect. With the stabilising matrix.
ROMANA: It's too risky. How long would it take us to build one?
HARDIN: I must work out some new eigenfunctions.
ROMANA: Right. I'll modify the oscillator.
(The DOCTOR leaves.)
[INT. Boardroom]
(PANGOL enters and reaches for the Helmet of Theron.)
MENA: (weakly) No! No, that is a sacred symbol.
PANGOL: A symbol of our shame. (he pulls it down) The Helmet of Theron is a call for revenge.
MENA: Theron worshipped the flame of war.
PANGOL: A flame that welded Argolis into a single nation.
MENA: And brought us death.
PANGOL: And he will be avenged. We, Pangol, the child of the generator, will fulfil his dreams of great conquests.
MENA: How? With what army?
PANGOL: We are the army.
MENA: You've perfected it?
(He exits with the helmet as MENA loses her hold on the table and falls to the floor again.)
[INT. TRG room]
(The DOCTOR starts as he comes through the door of the generator room - VARGOS is at the console. The DOCTOR backs out, and the door closes. VARGOS has heard something and turns, but nothing seems amiss.)
PANGOL [OC]: (walking through the corridors as the sun rises outside) Guides of Argolis, according to our ancient laws, we, Pangol, declare ourselves your new leader.
(VARGOS leaves the control console, and the DOCTOR enters.)
PANGOL [OC]: We are the future, guides of Argolis. For what is about to happen and for the aeons that lie beyond, you will grant us your unquestioning obedience.
(The DOCTOR heads for the TARDIS, stopping behind the console and the red statue on his way.)
[INT. Laboratory]
PANGOL [OC]: Citizens of the old Argolis...
HARDIN: Mena's dead.
PANGOL [OC]: Your appointed tasks in the Experiential Grid are hereby concluded.
[INT. TRG room]
PANGOL: All guides to the Recreation Generator. Citizens of the old Argolis, today your lives will be irrevocably changed and the Hive itself transformed as we equip ourselves for the rebirth of this great planet.
(The DOCTOR enters the TARDIS.
MENA slowly extends a hand up onto the table and makes her way painfully around it until reaching the communications controls.)
[INT. Laboratory]
HARDIN: 'We, Pangol'? What does he mean?
ROMANA: I think it's more than just a figure of speech.
HARDIN: If only we could have saved Mena.
ROMANA: It's not too late. Look.
(The hologram still shows the boardroom, where MENA is trying to say something.
HARDIN heads for the door.)
ROMANA: Hardin!
HARDIN: I've got to get up there.
ROMANA: You'll get caught! (HARDIN keeps moving) Doctor, tell him. (but she is speaking to an empty chair) Where is he?
(She uses the hologram unit to search for the DOCTOR. She finds him.)
ROMANA: He's heading for the generator. He's mad! He's going to try to fit the Randomiser himself.
[INT. TRG room]
VARGOS: The Foamasi shuttle is requesting permission to take off, sir.
PANGOL: Denied.
VARGOS: Their request has diplomatic priority, sir.
PANGOL: Denied!
(The DOCTOR enters the compartment with the Randomiser.)
PANGOL: The Foamasi will return to the Hive to witness the fulfilment of Argolin destiny.
(VARGOS retreats.)
[INT. Generator cubicle]
DOCTOR: The anti-baryon shield. Anti-baryon shield. Anti-baryon shield. Now, where was it, exactly?
[INT. TRG room]
(PANGOL holds the helmet high and nearly shouts.)
PANGOL: Citizens of Argolis, the time has come!
VARGOS: Sir, we have another urgent request from the Foamasi shuttle for clearance.
(ROMANA steps into the room.)
PANGOL: The Foamasi request clearance? Let them try taking off. I'll clear them into time and space!
ROMANA: Stop! Stop! You mustn't start the generator.
PANGOL: Another defiant alien. Nothing can stop us now.
ROMANA: But the Doctor's in there!
PANGOL: Begin the programme.
TANNOY: Attention. This is the launch systems controller. The Foamasi shuttle has launched.
PANGOL: Well, blow it into space!
ROMANA: That is an act of war!
PANGOL: War is the destiny of the new Argolis.
(The shuttle explodes, and ROMANA and the ARGOLIN stagger back with the shock wave.)
ROMANA: The Foamasi shuttle. He's mad! You've got to stop him! You've got to stop him! He's mad!
(Meanwhile, PANGOL has placed the helmet on his head and entered the cubicle.)
ROMANA: Stop him! Stop him!
(The sphere shows one PANGOL split into two, then three. A column of PANGOLS soon forms behind each of the three.)
ROMANA: Oh no. An army of Pangols.
(PANGOLS begin leaving the cubicle. One removes the helmet from his head.)
ROMANA: (to him) Stop this. The Doctor's in there.
PANGOL: Remove that alien trash. Let her rot outside.
(Two PANGOLS grab her by the arms and drag her off. Several more follow.)
ROMANA: Let me go! The Doctor's in there. Let me go! Let me go!
PANGOL: Continue the programme.
(PANGOLS keep appearing in the sphere and emerging from the cubicle. They begin marching in step.)
[INT. Boardroom]
HARDIN: (entering the boardroom furtively) Mena?
(She is on the floor. He checks her pulse and presses some buttons on the communications unit.)
PANGOL [OC]: Fetch the body of the chairman. That too can be disposed of, outside.
[INT. Corridor of the Hive]
ROMANA: Stop! Let me go! Let me go! The Doctor's in there! Let me go!
(The group stop.)
ROMANA: What are you doing?
(The figure in front of her raises his visor.)
ROMANA: Doctor!
(She smiles but then frowns as the DOCTOR, sans beard and wrinkles, vanishes.)
[INT. TRG room]
(PANGOL stands before his lines of PANGOLS. He turns to look at the sphere, helmet in his arms, but the image starts to blur.)
PANGOL: (approaching it) No. No. No. No.
[INT. Corridor of the Hive]
(Another figure raises his visor.)
DOCTOR: It's terribly simple. It's a tachyon image. Outwardly Pangol, inwardly me. Unfortunately, these tachyon images are very unstable.
DOCTOR 2: Or fortunately, depending on your point of view.
(Both DOCTORS vanish. ROMANA is unhappy and befuddled again.)
[INT. Boardroom]
(VARGOS enters. He kneels to check MENA's status. HARDIN grabs the back of his neck, and VARGOS falls.)
HARDIN: The generator.
(HARDIN lifts MENA into his arms and carries her out.)
[INT. Corridor of the Hive]
ROMANA: Then where's the Doctor?
(One more DOCTOR appears. She feels his shoulders.)
ROMANA: Thank heavens. At least you're solid enough.
DOCTOR: Come on, we've got work to do.
(He pulls his visor down and starts walking away. He vanishes, leaving only one more helmeted figure.)
ROMANA: Please.
DOCTOR: Ssssh, careful.
ROMANA: You're the last one.
DOCTOR: The first one, actually.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: The first one out of the generator.
ROMANA: Then you're real?
DOCTOR: It's hard to tell.
(He thumps his chest a few times, then gives a cough.)
DOCTOR: Yes, I feel real enough. Yes, it's holding up quite well so far.
(We see HARDIN carrying MENA through the corridors.
Meanwhile, the DOCTOR puts his usual clothes back on.)
DOCTOR: That's me nearly complete. Where's my coat?
ROMANA: Here. I think I see. The images must have been multiplied in a sort of FIFO stack.
DOCTOR: FIFO stack? Ah, yes, I see what you mean. First in, first out. Where's my hat? Thank you.
ROMANA: Which would make you the original.
(The DOCTOR removes his scarf, magician-style, from the helmet.)
DOCTOR: Well, I had concluded that empirically, but it's nice to have some theoretical background.
ROMANA: I've just remembered.
DOCTOR: What? Mena! Come on, quick.
[INT. TRG room]
PANGOL: We shall begin again!
(HARDIN enters with MENA.)
HARDIN: Out of my way.
PANGOL: Dispose of her outside.
HARDIN: Out of my way!
PANGOL: Outside! I order you! She's dead! I am in command!
HARDIN: She's stopped breathing. The generator is her only chance!
PANGOL: No, I must be leader! The Argolin need me. A new army can still be built. We can change the generator.
I must be leader!
(There is a struggle. PANGOL wrestles with HARDIN, who falls to the ground. The cubicle door closes on PANGOL as he picks MENA up. The DOCTOR and ROMANA enter at this point.)
ROMANA: Look!
DOCTOR: I think I set it on rejuvenation.
ROMANA: What? Anything could happen. It's totally unstable.
HARDIN: It's useless. The doors won't open while it's running.
DOCTOR: It's too late. They've written out the override.
(The sphere shows MENA and PANGOL's face merging. The DOCTOR notices the helmet on the floor, and he picks it up.)
ROMANA: It's too dangerous!
(He throws the helmet at the sphere, causing it to shatter. The cubicle door opens, and MENA steps out, looking perhaps a little younger than at the start of the serial. She is carrying a crying baby.)
MENA: (briskly) This time, I must try to bring him up properly, but there's work to do first. We must contact the Foamasi and avert this war.
FOAMASI: (waving a claw) You mentioned Foamasi?
(The DOCTOR takes baby PANGOL in his arms.)
MENA: But your shuttle.
FOAMASI: The West Lodge leader who impersonated Brock must have tried to take off without us.
DOCTOR: So Brock and Klout are kaput, little Pangol. (The child cries.)
MENA: I'm so sorry. Naturally, we'll replace your vehicle.
FOAMASI: Later. You and I have a lot to discuss, Madam Chairman.
MENA: Forgive me, but I didn't quite catch your name.
(The FOAMASI clicks and chirps the answer.)
MENA: Ah, of course. Well, let's continue this discussion in the boardroom.
(As she takes the FOAMASI's arm, PANGOL shrieks.)
DOCTOR: Hardin!
HARDIN: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Have a baby.
(He hands the crying baby to HARDIN.)
DOCTOR: I think we're redundant here. Let's go.
ROMANA: The Randomiser.
DOCTOR: What about it?
ROMANA: Well, we can't just leave it here.
DOCTOR: Why not? I don't like not knowing where we're going to turn up next.
ROMANA: Neither does the Black Guardian. That is the point of the thing. The Black Guardian's a real threat.
DOCTOR: Some galactic hobo with ideas above his station. The cosmos is full of them. Anyway, there's been enough randomising on this job.
ROMANA: Job? It was meant to be a holiday.
DOCTOR: Well then, I'm going to be very glad to get back to work. And I'm missing K9.
(They step into the TARDIS, which immediately dematerialises.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
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