Doctor Who (1963) s05e31 Episode Script

What's the matter? Mr Robson, that noise in the impeller, it's started again.
I think we should go down and check the main valve.
Oh, you do, do you? It's right where we think the blockage is.
We? Well, Mr Van Luty Mr Van Lutyens.
I thought he'd get his nose in.
Come on! You lot get back to work! Van Lutyens, I want to talk to you.
Mr Robson, there is something alive in the pipeline.
You're out of your mind, there's nothing down there.
I promise you, sir, I did hear something.
You've been unnerving my crew.
Now you, get out! Listen! That's it! Did you hear what I said? Shut up and listen will you! Down there in the darkness waiting No, Jamie, don't touch it.
But it's only a piece of seaweed.
Yes, unless it really did move like Victoria said.
Oh, how can it move.
It's not a living thing, is it? Everything in the sea is living, Jamie.
Well it did move! It gave me a shock.
It was like a spider.
Yes, well we're not taking any chances.
Hold that for me, will you? Well what's this for? We're going to take a closer look at this weed.
Now bring the bag down here.
Right onto the floor.
Don't let it touch your fingers.
Careful, slowly does it.
Mind your fingers.
There What are you going to do with it? We're going to see if an ordinary piece of seaweed really can move.
Doctor, my wife, will she be all right? Oh yes, I think so.
I don't think there is any panic, but I'd get her under medical supervision if I was you.
Yes, I'll go back to the Medicare Centre at the Compound and arrange for her to be taken in there.
Yes, you do that.
Poor man.
Aye.
Hey! I thought we were supposed to be prisoners? Yes, so did I.
We better make the most of it, um.
We've got a lot of work to do back at the TARDIS.
She seems to be sleeping peacefully.
Come on.
What is it, that sound? It's uncanny it's like a heartbeat.
It's stopped again.
Well this is surely proof enough! Proof? That there is something down there blocking the impeller Rubbish! Hysterical nonsense.
But you heard it.
That dreadful sound I heard a fault in the base of the impeller.
But the impeller isn't working! Don't you believe a thing until you see it? I want that pump operational in half an hour! Now get to it! What are you doing, Doctor? Well you see, Jamie, these two cylinders contain a small amount of natural gas.
It should be quite interesting to see what sort of effect it it has on the weed.
How are you doing, Victoria? I don't know, I think you ought to have a look.
Um Oh yes, well that's got the natural iron content.
Well I did the Bunsen test, like you told me, but I found something which worried me.
Oh yes, I'm not surprised.
Is this hot? No, no.
You see this a this rusty stuff here.
Yes.
Well it means that the weed is giving out a gas - probably toxic.
Toxic? Um.
Hey, Doctor! What are these little wriggly things in the weed? Now just a minute, Jamie looking at little wriggly things! Where? Here, look.
Look in there.
Jamie! This is it! There's molecular movement! Come and see, Victoria.
There! Why, that's amazing.
What does it mean? Hmmmmmmm It means, Jamie, that the weed is just as much alive as you and me.
Ah, Mr Harris.
I've been trying to get hold of you.
Mr Robson won't listen to reason.
I'm sorry, Van Lutyens, I've got something more important on my mind at the moment.
Important! What is more important? My wife is ill! Get out of my way, man.
Price! Yes, sir Is Doctor Paterson back? No, we've heard nothing from D Rig, sir.
Right.
Get on to the Matron at the Medicare Unit and tell her to send a couple of orderlies over to my quarters with a stretcher to bring my wife in.
She's ill.
Yes, sir.
What's the panic now, Harris? Oh, and get on with it.
Harris, I asked you a question.
My wife is ill.
She needs medical attention.
What's the matter with her, she got a hangover? She's very ill, Mr Robson.
Who says so, that Doctor fellow? Incidentally, where is he and the two kids? Oh well, I left them in my quarters when I found my wife was ill.
You what? Those three prisoners were in your charge and you left them there? I was worried about my wife.
I didn't have time to think about it That's your trouble you never do think, do you Harris, when you should.
Those three prisoners were in your charge.
I don't care.
Don't you understand? My wife was lying on the floor when I got there.
She was unconscious and that smell of toxic gas was there.
She's been poisoned, Robson, poisoned! And this toxic gas, where does it come from? Oh, I don't know.
And none of us will know now you've let them loose.
How could they possibly have anything to do with it? That still doesn't alter the fact that you let those prisoners go without my authority.
Prisoners? A harmless old man and a couple of teenagers? That "harmless old man" is probably a saboteur.
It's probably him that's been tampering with that release valve on the shoreline.
Creating all those variations in pressure you got so excited about! Oh don't be so ridiculous, Robson.
You're clutching at straws, stupidly blind to the real facts! Don't shout at me, boy! Mr Robson, sir.
Mr Robson.
The impeller, it's moving again.
Good man.
I told you it was only a mechanical fault, didn't I? It just started quite suddenly.
Well keep it going, man.
I don't know if we can Don't lose it now.
You fools! You stupid fools! Well the fault's not this end! It must be jammed at the base.
You wanted this, didn't you? It's just what you wanted! You should have listened to me, Robson.
What? Turned off the flow? Ruined a reputation of thirty years.
Reputation! Don't you realise that what is going on here is beyond your comprehension? That whatever it is that is in the pipelines - that's jamming the impeller, has taken over the rigs - is a menace and a threat to us all? The only menace and threat around here is you, Van Lutyens and you Harris.
Listen WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT!? I want that impeller working in half an hour.
I'll be in my quarters.
Let me know as soon as the impeller starts moving again.
He's cracking up, Harris.
Look.
I've got to get back to my wife.
Harris! You can't go now.
He's losing control.
My wife's been poisoned.
She's in good hands, ya? She'll be brought into the Medicare Unit.
What can you do? But I ought to go and see her.
To hang about and worry, that's all.
Robson is cracking up.
You're the only man with authority to take over.
We need you here.
Chief.
Sir.
Mr Robson, you know him better than any of us How do do you think he's all right? Well he's under a lot of pressure, I think his nerves are a bit Yeah pressure, strain.
He's cracking up, I tell you.
Well you're not helping him you know.
That's not my job.
I'm here to give technical advice, which he ignores.
All right, he knows a lot about engineering, but not all.
And what he does not know is the state of mind of those men out on the rigs.
He ought to know.
He was out on those rigs himself long enough.
Oh Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Plenty of professional experience of normal conditions, but these are not normal conditions.
There is something very strange going on here, but he refuses to accept the new factor.
So what what do you think he should do? I know what I would do - close the Compound, evacuate the rigs! He'd never do it.
We've lost contact with two rigs.
We have a major blockage in the main pipeline.
The impeller is jammed, and we still don't know what is causing the trouble.
But we regained contact with Baxter on Rig D and he said everything was under control.
Yeah, and we've not heard from him since.
And what about Rig C? Oh that could be a telecommunications fault somewhere.
Yeah, it could be, but we have to check that it is, and we have to check the valve at the base of the impeller.
But what does Robson do? Nothing! Nothing! Well I suppose he might listen if we all put it to him.
What do you think, Chief? You're absolutely right of course.
We must check.
That's it, Doctor! That's the creature I saw back at the Compound.
Yes.
Yes, I was afraid it would be.
But how did it get in this book? Well I told you, Victoria, this is a book of legends and superstitions.
This particular drawing is supplied by ancient mariners in the North Sea in the middle of the eighteenth century, Jamie.
That's my time.
You mean to say, this is the creature Victoria saw back at the Compound.
Yes I think there's no doubt about it.
Well, what about these great clumps of weed.
Well there's obviously some connection between the weed and the creatures themselves.
Ah, aahh.
Oh, no! Gas! Jamie! Jamie, help me get the lid on! Oh, no quickly! I was right.
The weed formations are feeding off the natural gas beneath the North Sea and giving of toxic gas.
Come on.
We must get back to Harris' Harris' quarters.
Come along.
Just a minute, that weed went back in its tank very suddenly, didn't it? I wonder why? Come on.
Oh! No, I will not listen! It's you Van Lutyens, isn't it? Isn't it? You've been undermining my authority ever since you came here.
You and Harris.
You've been stirring up trouble just to get at me, haven't you? You've even got the Chief on your side now.
One of my oldest and trusted friends.
Mr Robson At least I thought I could trust you.
Mr Robson, all we wanted to do is I know what you want! I know what you all want! You gonna get at me, just to give up! I'm not going to give you that pleasure.
Why don't you go and join him? Go on, join Van Lutyens! Go on, join him! What are you standing around for? What are you starring at? I'm in charge! I'm in charge here! Mr Robson! I'm in charge of this Compound, Harris! It's my responsibility! Mine! My responsibility! Do you still think he's capable of running this place? You do what you like.
I'm going to get in touch with my people in the Hague.
What can they do? Well they might push your people in London into some sort of action.
Give me a direct line to Van der Post, Hague Central! Yes, sir.
Who's there? Go away.
I'm not to be disturbed.
Aaarrgh! Mr Robson! No no aarrgh! My face aarrgh! Mr Robson, wait! I need your permission to send two men down the impeller shaft Well, thank you, Victoria.
Yes, nobody here.
Better that way.
You speak for yourself.
I'd rather ah! Oh no! Ahtchoo! Gas! Where's it coming from? Jamie, try the kitchen.
Mrs Harris! She's gone away! Mrs Harris? Mrs Harris.
Oh yes of course, Mr Harris had her taken over to the medical centre.
At least I hope he did.
Doctor, quick help me! That's Jamie! Jamie! Doctor, I'm in here.
I can't hold out much longer.
Oh! Oh! Quick! The terrace! Victoria, follow me! What are we going to do? Give me a hand! Come on! Jamie, Catch this! Come on, you can do this! Come on.
Press it down, Victoria! In here, look! Well it was in here.
I saw it! You did? Yes, it was moving.
Something alive.
You don't believe me! Oh yes, I believe you, Mr Harris.
It must have come out of the ventilator grille, like it did in the oxygen store.
You mean when that girl Victoria was locked in.
Yeah.
And having achieved its purpose, back down the shaft.
Purpose? What purpose? Who knows? We know very little about it.
And no one's tried to find out.
I know.
Least of all Robson.
Yes, he rushed out of here as though he were he was out of his mind.
You better alert security.
He may do himself some harm.
Yes, you're right.
At least the stuff won't get out of here.
Oh really, Mr Harris.
There must be hundreds of grills in this Compound.
And once the foam has got into the shaft it could emerge from any one of them.
I suppose you're right.
Then we must insist that all emergency ventilators are kept shut.
Mr Harris, you know what you must do now? Do? Assert yourself.
Take over the Compound.
Price! Yes, sir.
I want you to alert the security posts.
Mr Robson may be ill.
I'd like to know his whereabouts.
Very good, sir.
And order all areas to keep their emergency air vents closed.
Understand? Yes, sir.
You're taking over then? Robson is still officially in charge.
I've already informed my authorities at the Hague.
You must do the same with your Director in London.
Yes.
Price.
Yes, sir.
Get me Board Headquarters.
I want to speak to Megan Jones.
Are you all right, Jamie? Oh, I've come over dizzy.
Well you just rest a while.
I'll just get my breath back.
Doctor, why is it that we always land up in trouble? Well Victoria, it's the spice of life, my dear.
Well I'm not so sure.
I don't really like being scared out of my wits every second.
Is something wrong? Well I just wish that one Oh never mind.
You 'right, Jamie? Come with me.
What's the matter with Victoria? Thank you, Miss Jones.
We'll see you then in three hours time.
Goodbye.
Three hours, and the whole Compound will be crawling with board officials.
Let's hope the situation doesn't get any worse.
I only hope Megan Jones understands why I've taken over.
It was she who insisted that Robson should know this particular complex in the early days.
You did right, I will stand by you.
You couldn't let Robson go on.
You had the men on the rigs to think of.
They are now her responsibility.
If only we knew what we were up against.
These creatures that have been getting into the refinery, where do they come from? We don't even know what they are? That's where you're wrong, Mr Harris.
We do know what they are.
At least I think we do.
Seaweed! Seaweed? Yes.
Not the sort that you'd normally find on the beach.
This seaweed happens to be dangerously alive.
Alive? But how can it be I think you better listen to me.
I think you'd all better listen to me.
Large formations of seaweed have been coming up on the beaches along this coast.
Seaweed that shows clear indications of having life like human beings.
Is it this seaweed that's blocking the pipes then? Yes, I think there's no doubt about it.
We must clear the base of the impeller.
No wait! The weed is capable of protecting itself.
It gives of a toxic gas.
It's also a parasite.
It attaches itself to other living things.
You mean human beings? But what happens to them? I'm afraid I don't know.
But my wife was stung by the seaweed.
Ah yes, but she survived, didn't she? How is she? Well I asked the Medicare Centre to bring her in.
Price.
Get Medicare for me and ask how my wife is now.
Doctor, I've just seen one of these creature things that your young friend saw in the Oxygen Room.
Oh, where? In Mr Robson's cabin.
It might have attacked him.
He was in a wild state when I went in and just run out.
He hasn't been seen since.
Oh dear.
Mr Harris, sir.
Yes? The Matron says she's sorry, she hasn't brought your wife in yet.
But she's sending someone over now.
What! What is it, Doctor? Well we've just come from your quarters, your wife wasn't there! The place was covered with seaweed Is this right? Yes.
Yes, I'm afraid it is.
Then where is she? Where is she? I must go and find her.
Wait! Well where do you think she is? Do you think it has anything to do with this seaweed stuff? I don't know.
I simply don't know.
There is little time.
You know what you must do? Yes You will obey?