Doctor Who (1963) s07e05 Episode Script

Doctor Who Transcript Project Doctor Who Season 7 Doctor Who and the Silurians 1 of 7 Well, this is fantastic.
- What was that? - Nothing.
Hey! Spencer! Spencer! "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wade.
" - Doctor? - Yeah.
Come on, Bessie.
Be more cooperative.
"All mimsy were the borogoves - and the mome raths - Doctor.
outgrabe.
" - Hello, Liz.
- You'll never get that thing running.
Don't you be so disrespectful.
I'll have you know, this is a car of great character.
I was very lucky to get her.
Are you really going to drive about in it? Yes, certainly.
I've nearly finished my modifications.
I thought we might take her out for a trial run in a minute.
Now, I wonder what that's for.
Oh, well.
Urgent message from the Brigadier.
He's away, isn't he? Investigating some scientists.
Yes, but he wants us to join him.
''Miss Shaw and the Doctor will report themselves forthwith to Wenley Moor.
" ''Attend a briefing meeting at'' My dear Miss Shaw, I never report myself anywhere.
Particularly not forthwith.
It's just his way of putting things.
No, I'm sorry, Liz.
I won't go.
I'm far too busy.
Come on, Doctor.
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves" It would make a nice trip for us.
We could visit the caves.
Caves? What caves? Well, that part of the country's famous for them.
- Oh.
Is it? - It is.
All right then.
- I'll drive you up there in Bessie.
- Bessie? - There, Bessie.
- I see.
Well, there we are.
Here, hold that, will you? I trust that point is clear.
And I would emphasise again that despite the presence of our friends from UNIT, to whom we shall give every possible cooperation, this problem is, I am sure, a scientific one.
It is our duty as scientists to deal with it ourselves.
Only by exercising redoubled vigilance in all our duties can we track down the errors that are holding back the work of this research centre.
The work of this research centre is vitally important.
- Ah, there you are at last.
- There you are at last.
Right.
And just where are we? - In a cave.
- We can see that.
Or rather, in an atomic research centre which has been built into these caves.
- Why? More security? - Exactly.
Look, may I ask you, why am I here? Come this way, will you? The meeting's waiting.
We are already very considerably behind in our research programme and I am and I am determined we shall recover our lost ground and go on to make the new and important discoveries that lie ahead.
All right, that will be all.
I'm sorry.
Gentlemen, my colleagues, Miss Elizabeth Shaw and the Doctor.
Dr.
Lawrence, director of this establishment.
- How do you do? - How do you do? - His number two, Dr.
Quinn.
- Hello, Doctor.
Major Baker, station security officer.
Dr.
Lawrence, perhaps you'd be good enough to put my colleagues in the picture.
This establishment consists basically of a device for research into the nature of the atom, cyclotron, otherwise known as a proton accelerator.
It bombards atoms with subatomic particles.
Why? We are on the verge of discovering a way to provide cheap, safe, atomic energy, for virtually every kind of use.
We're developing a new kind of nuclear reactor, one that converts nuclear energy directly to electrical power.
Yeah, well, that's all very well, but what is going wrong? Two things.
First, an abnormally high rate of personnel trouble.
Nervous breakdowns.
Absenteeism.
Accidents.
But the really serious problem is the power losses.
There have been a certain number of unexplained leakages in the power supplied by the nuclear generator.
I am confident we shall find an explanation.
You haven't found one yet, Dr.
Lawrence.
That's why I'm here.
Well, it's a highly complex piece of machinery, naturally there are problems.
Naturally.
Now, there are three possible approaches to this problem.
- Security.
- Everything has been double-checked.
Then you will triple-check it, Major Baker, - under my supervision, clear? - Yes, sir.
Personnel.
This will be dealt with by Miss Shaw.
- Yes? - Yes.
Finally, the purely scientific angle.
Now the Doctor here - What is it, Doctor? - It's the most extraordinary thing.
I can't seem to find my sonic screwdriver anywhere.
You're not proposing to dismantle a piece of equipment worth fifteen million pounds with a screwdriver? Well, it's not worth fifteen million pins if it doesn't work, is it? Doctor, I suggest you start by just looking round.
Yes.
Let me take you both over the installation.
Splendid.
Come on, Liz.
Dr Quinn, which way do we go? - To the left.
- To the left.
Brigadier.
I shall expect to hear from you as soon as you've anything to report.
You'll see that our work is disrupted as little as possible.
Of course, sir.
I'll use this room as my HQ, if I may.
Very well.
And I should be grateful if you could hurry things up, Brigadier.
I want this place working normally again.
We all do, sir.
I must say, sir, that I fail to see the necessity for the involvement of UNIT.
How long have these disturbances been going on? - Three months.
- And there's your answer.
Sir? Something's been happening here which is outside the normal security pattern and that is precisely the business of UNIT.
Sir.
- I think I have the solution.
- Have you? Someone has been carrying out a planned, deliberate programme of sabotage from the inside.
Electron voltage readings - Now, this is the very - right.
- heart of the cyclotron.
- Initiate circuit check.
Literally so.
In fact, we're actually inside the machine itself.
You have your own nuclear reactor then? Oh, yes.
Oh, yes.
The cyclotron uses power in enormous quantities.
Would you care to step down? What happens if one of these power losses occurs at a particularly crucial time? So far, we've always managed to stabilise.
- If you didn't? - Well, theoretically Your nuclear reactor could turn into a massive atomic bomb.
You ought to shut down the place at once.
That would be a decision for the Director.
A decision he might be reluctant to make? Dr.
Lawrence has the research programme very much at heart.
I think I'd better make a start on the personnel files.
I wonder if someone could show me where to go.
Yes, of course.
Mr.
Roberts, take this young lady - across to Dr Meredith - You all right, dear? - in the medical wing.
- Yes.
Yes, I'm fine.
- Come this way, please.
- I'll join you later, Liz.
Okay.
- You don't mind if I carry on? - No, no, please do.
Quite an achievement, building this centre in these caves.
Yes.
There are miles of them still in their natural state.
Breathtaking.
Ever been potholing? No, not for a very long time.
No, well, I'm very keen on it.
- At least I was until - Until what? A couple of our junior technicians went exploring on their day off.
There was an accident, one of them was killed.
- The other is still in the sickbay.
- Do you have your own doctor? No.
Dr.
Meredith comes in from the local hospital.
This technician, was he badly hurt? Well, now, I'm not sure.
They seem to be hushing it up.
- I wonder why.
- I beg your pardon? - I said, "I wonder why".
- Oh, well.
Dr.
Quinn, these power losses, do they take any particular pattern? As far as we can see, completely random.
I see.
Well, I wonder whether I could possibly check.
A fresh eye, you know.
Yes, of course.
Here's the log.
Excuse me a moment.
Quinn here.
No, no, no.
236 today.
Now get that right, 236.
Yes, indeed.
- Dr.
Quinn? - Excuse me.
Yes? This log seems to be incomplete.
Look, I'll ring you back.
That log should be kept every day.
Miss Dawson? - Yes, Dr.
Quinn.
- Come down here a moment, will you? What an extraordinary thing.
Miss Dawson, there's a query here.
Perhaps you can help.
Do you know who usually keeps this log? - It used to be Spencer.
- Well, that explains it.
Spencer's the chap who got hurt in the caves.
No, Dr.
Quinn.
I don't think it does explain it.
- Look.
- At what? There, at the bottom of the page, by the string, the binding, you'll see a tiny shred of paper.
Some of those pages have been torn out.
I might be able to help you if you could only tell me what you were looking for.
- I don't know myself yet, Dr.
Meredith.
- We've had a lot of trouble, of course.
Mild neurosis, imaginative ailments, one nervous breakdown.
Yes, so I see.
But of course, these things are quite unavoidable.
This isn't the only atomic research establishment in the country, you know.
The others haven't quite the same problem.
Working continuously underground, you hardly know day from night, down here.
Liz, any luck with those records? I take it you're yet another member of the UNIT team? - Yes.
Depressing, isn't it? - This is Dr, Meredith.
Splendid, just the chap I wanted to see.
Now look, this patient of yours, Spencer, the one who was injured in the caves, may I see him? I'm sorry, that's quite out of the question.
- Oh, really.
Why's that? - Because I won't allow it, that's why.
I'm about to have him moved into hospital.
Besides, you have no authority.
Dr.
Meredith, as an associate of UNIT, I think you will find that I have the authority to do precisely as I please.
- May I now see your patient? - Oh, it seems I have no choice.
All right, but I warn you, it's at your own risk.
Thank you.
How long has he been behaving like this? Since he came out of his coma, with occasional spells of trying to throttle me.
Astonishing.
It's quite astonishing.
It's the only thing that keeps him quiet.
Was he much of an artist before the accident? Not that I know of.
Excuse me.
- It's absolutely amazing.
- Careful, Doctor.
Yes, all right.
What's this one, old chap? It's all right, old chap.
It's all right.
Take it easy.
Keep away, Doctor.
Get out.
Leave this to me.
It's all right, old chap.
Now calm down.
Settle down now.
Calm down.
That's it.
Steady on now.
That's it.
Calm down.
Nobody's going to hurt you.
Are you all right? I did warn you.
Yes, I'm all right.
He's just frightened, that's all.
So was I.
What's made him like this? Some kind of fear.
It's absolutely incredible.
It's thrown his mind back millions of years.
- 24, 35.
- Check.
- 28 over 2.
- Check.
wrong there, isn't there? No wonder, the T14's not working.
You test it today? Dr.
Quinn, the secondary readings.
Roberts, would you mind testing the T14? Yes, sir.
I'm frightened.
What's going to happen? You mustn't panic, just behave normally.
This UNIT investigation, they're bound to discover something.
I know.
It's a risk.
- 24, power normal.
- Good.
John, you've got to tell them to stop.
At least while these people are here.
Do you think I haven't? Either they don't listen or they don't understand.
They've got to stop.
T14, SK.
Thank you, Roberts.
Tell the Brigadier or Baker, they'll help.
- Before someone else gets killed.
- They wouldn't believe me.
And anyway, there's far too much at stake.
Now, take your hand off.
It's not worth the risk.
The knowledge I shall gain is worth any risk.
It's very comprehensive, Major Baker.
Not quite, sir.
There's you and your team.
- No doubt you'll see to that.
- Yes, sir.
I checked on your security clearance as soon as you arrived.
Miss Shaw's clearance has just come through.
- You're very thorough.
- This man you call the Doctor, sir, there is nothing on file at central intelligence records about him.
No.
There wouldn't be.
- Well, then may I ask, sir - No, Major Baker, you may not.
The Doctor is my personal responsibility.
Oh, yes, very homely.
Right, thank you, Major Baker.
We'll have another go at those files later.
Sir.
I shall be in my office.
- Where exactly is his office? - The other end of the corridor.
He's very conscientious, isn't he? Well, he slipped up badly once some years ago, he's been trying to make up for it ever since.
Well, you'd better look out, Doctor.
He wants to run a security check on you.
- I wish him joy of it.
- I don't suppose you've found anything? The contrary, I've found enough to make me very, very worried.
- Stand by, stand by.
- Everything normal, Dr.
Quinn? Everything is perfectly normal, thank you, Director.
- We've just completed final checks.
- Good.
I'd like to include some of these supplementary tests.
And have our schedule fall even further behind? With UNIT looking over our shoulder? No.
I don't think so.
Stand by.
Prepare to initiate programme 236.
Check.
Proton acceleration, phase three.
Phase three.
Check.
Roberts, electron voltage reading, please.
Roberts.
- Electron voltage readings.
- Sorry, sir.
Electron voltage reading, two thousand million, power rising.
Thank you.
Cave drawings on the walls? My dear Doctor, if that's what you call evidence.
Of course it's evidence.
Look, this poor devil sees his friend killed in an accident, he wanders around those caves for hours before they get him out.
Well quite naturally he has some kind of breakdown.
Which turns him into a brilliant Palaeolithic cave artist? What about the logs then? Those torn out pages? Now, there you may have something.
Could be sabotage, I suppose.
Or someone trying to cover up simple incompetence.
Lethbridge Stewart, what on earth is the point of my trying to discover things for you, if you keep turning them down all the time? Then I suggest you discover something I can't dismiss.
You're not exactly a little Sherlock Holmes yourself, are you? - What the devil's that? - It's another power failure.
Come on, Dr.
Watson.
Power very erratic, sir.
It keeps dropping off, and then suddenly there's a boost.
Get that reaction back under control, Dr.
Quinn.
- Shall I take over? - That won't be necessary, thank you.
Stand by.
We are going to close down in carefully measured stages.
There is no need for panic.
Just follow normal routine.
Proton acceleration very irregular.
Close down sector 1.
Electron voltage readings, please.
Six thousand million, still rising.
Sector 1 closed down, sir.
- What's going on? - Close down sector 2.
They're trying to close down the cyclotron without the nuclear reactions getting out of control.
- Sector 2 closed down, sir.
- I hope they manage it.
- Anything we can do? - Yes.
Keep out of the way.
Close down sector 3.
Power still fluctuating.
Roberts, close down sector 3.
No.
It's no good.
I can't.
The power is back on full.
Proton acceleration seven thousand million, still rising.
Roberts! Roberts! Roberts! Shut down sector 3.
Someone take over.
Shut down sector 3.
- Sector 3 shut down.
- Thank you, Doctor.
Close down sector 4.
Now, what about those records, Liz? Well, there's a terrifically high rate of minor neurosis, two hundred percent above the normal, - even for a place like this.
- Any pattern? Everyone who was affected worked at one time or another in the cyclotron room.
- Even I felt odd when I was there.
- Really? In what way? A feeling of oppression, almost terror.
You know, it's obviously something that only affects some humans.
Otherwise they'd all crack up.
So you too think it's something to do with the cyclotron room? No, well, not really, but it is the deepest part of the centre - and it's the nearest to those caves.
- So? Everything leads back to those caves, Liz.
Davis was killed there.
Spencer was frightened into becoming a caveman.
That reminds me.
There's a report here on Davis.
- ¿Yes? - The police forwarded a copy.
Let's have a look.
Even a map showing where they found him.
Good, good.
''Immediate cause of death, fracture of the cranium.
" ''Further observations, unusual abrasions on the body, strangely resembling scratches or claw marks.
" ''Presumably caused during fall.
'' Claw marks?