Doctor Who (1963) s14e01 Episode Script
The Masque of Mandragora, Part One
(DOCTOR WHO THEME) -SARAH: Where are we now? -The TARDIS.
Where else? I know we're in the TARDIS, I just don't know this bit.
I'll give you a guided tour someday.
SARAH: What's in there? DOCTOR: Boot cupboard.
Not very interesting.
Boot Boot cupboard? That's enormous! DOCTOR: Oh, I've seen bigger boot cupboards.
-SARAH: But just how big is the TARDIS? -Well, how big's big? Relative dimensions, you see.
No constant.
That's not an answer.
How big are you at the moment? and that's still not an answer.
Listen, listen, there are no measurements in infinity.
You humans have got such limited, little minds.
I don't know why I like you so much.
Because you have such good taste.
DOCTOR: That's true.
That's very true.
Oh! This looks good.
-What? -Eh! Oh, yes.
Yes, it is good.
Do you know, this is the second control room? You know, I can run the TARDIS just as easily from here as I could from the old one.
(BLOWS) (CHUCKLING) Come to think of it, this was the old one.
-That looks like a shaving mirror.
-Yes, it is.
(PLAYING RECORDER) (GENTLE WHIRRING) (SARAH EXCLAIMING) -Ah-ha! -What? What's that? DOCTOR: It's the Mandragora Helix.
I thought we'd avoided it.
Oh Well, what's the Mandragora Helix? It's a spiral of pure energy that radiates outwards in ways no one understands, though, at its centre, there's a controlling intelligence.
-Intelligence? -Yes.
SARAH: We're heading straight for it.
DOCTOR: Yes.
DOCTOR: It seems more active than usual.
Let's hope we can counter-magnetise enough to resist the pull.
-Is it living? -It's living, all right.
But that's all anyone (HIGH-PITCHED BEEPING) (BOTH EXCLAIMING) Oh! Something has hit us, Doctor! We'll just have to push on and hope we come out the other side.
-Oh, it's inside my head! -Concentrate, Sarah.
-On what? -Anything.
Anything.
(SCREAMING) Say the alphabet backwards, come on.
z -Y, X -W, U, V, T, S F, E, D C, B, A.
It's all over.
It's all over.
-Any ill effects? -No, I don't think so.
-Are we there? -Where? -Where we're going.
-I don't know.
The Astrosextant Rectifier has gone out of phase.
I'll just go out and have a look.
Not you, me.
You stay there.
Hmm.
Bigger than my boot cupboard.
(ECHOING) I see what you mean about relative dimensions.
Yes.
I thought I told you to stay inside.
(SOFT WHIRRING) -What's that noise? -What noise? Come on, quick! Get down.
Come on.
Quick! (WHIRRING GETS LOUDER) Come on, let's get out of here.
-What was it? -Helix energy.
It could've been very nasty.
What do you mean, "Could've been very nasty"? It was Will you stop wittering.
(ECHOING CONTINUES) (MAN LAUGHING EVILLY) (WOMAN SCREAMING) (MAN YELLING) Leave a few alive, Captain, to tell the others how insurrection is dealt with.
(WOMAN SCREAMING) (SOLDIERS GRUNTING) Make way for Count Federico.
(MONKS CHANTING IN BACKGROUND) He was a good man, Giuliano.
Ajust and noble ruler.
Hieronymous, you foretold my father's death.
How? Everything is foretold by the stars.
I am just a humble astrologer.
I only interpret their meaning.
The exact day, the very hour.
It's not possible.
When Mars comes into conjunction with Saturn in the seventh layer in the House of the Ram, and the Moon is full grown, death comes to great ones.
-So it is decreed -I don't believe it.
HIERONYMOUS: Many do not believe it.
But the decrees of fate will be obeyed.
We have no choice.
I'm sorry you couldn't be present at my father's deathbed, Uncle.
I came as quickly as I could.
There were important matters of state to attend to.
I see.
I'm sorry.
I thought you were out enjoying some sport.
There was some trouble among the peasants in the villages.
They needed a lesson.
Isn't that your sport, Uncle? (BELL TOLLING) You're upset now, my lord, but don't anger your uncle.
Not at this time.
If I don't speak the truth, Marco, who will? You're alone now, Giuliano.
Your uncle is strong and ruthless.
You're forgetting, Marco, I am Duke now.
And I want to rule over a land where there is no tyranny, no lies, no blind ignorance and superstition, like that old fool preaches about the stars.
We make our own lives, Marco.
Not the stars.
Nevertheless, it is most remarkable.
Your father was in good health.
To die so suddenly And he did predict it.
Exactly.
FEDERICO: Oh, he angers me.
The last obstacle between myself and the dukedom.
Your nephew Giuliano? -How soon? -You must be patient.
I've been patient.
Now it is almost within my grasp.
Nevertheless, so many deaths in so short a time, all so suddenly You said yourself it was written in the stars.
Don't say you're doubting your own predictions? Giuliano has a sharp mind.
He may suspect.
All the more reason to act quickly.
One day, two days at the most.
The poison is still ready? (SIGHING) Well, what's wrong? These last few weeks, as the summer solstice approaches, I have been feeling Feeling what? As if my powers were growing.
As if I had been chosen to be granted visions of the future.
Ha! So many correct predictions have gone to your head.
-The stars will not be mocked.
-And neither will I! Cast your horoscope, Hieronymous.
The young duke Giuliano will die in two days' time.
I will do the rest.
(MAN LAUGHING EVILLY IN DISTANCE) (WHOOSHING) Strange.
-Forced landing.
-You mean you weren't in control? Not that time.
I didn't touch a thing.
Promise.
Oh, it's very pleasant.
Nice, warm, hmmm? Maybe that's why I stopped using the old control room.
Doctor, there's some fantastic oranges over here.
Helix force fields must have distorted the coordinates.
(LAUGHING) We've landed on Earth.
Glass technology indicates Mediterranean area.
Late 15th century.
Not a very pleasant time.
Sarah? Sarah? Sarah? Stop.
Now, put the girl down Gently.
(WHIRRING) Hey (EXPLOSION) (SCREAMS) Mandragora energy.
And I brought it here.
It got into the TARDIS.
What is it? Well, there's this man in Florence who claims that by arranging ground glasses in a certain order it's possible to see the Moon and the stars as large as your hand.
(SCOFFING) Is that a good thing? Well, of course it's a good thing.
That way we can learn more about them, understand their mystery.
What is there to know about the stars except how they move in the heavens? And we've known that for hundreds for years.
That's the whole point, Marco.
Perhaps the stars don't move as we think they move.
That's what this man in Florence is saying.
Maybe the stars don't move at all.
Maybe it's we who move.
(LAUGHING) It is customary to knock before entering a room, Uncle.
I'm sorry, Giuliano, but there's bad news.
-Why? What's happened? -Tell him.
Sire, forgive me.
It is not of my doing, but this morning I was casting a horoscope I've told you often enough, I don't believe in horoscopes.
I only wish I, too, could not believe, but it was there too plainly to be ignored.
What was there? My death? Please, my lord, do not take these things lightly.
I beg you not to leave the palace.
Take no risks of any kind.
I've no intention of sacrificing my life to some old superstitious nonsense.
Remember your father? He too scoffed.
Oh, yes.
I remember my father.
His death remains a mystery.
But of one thing I am certain, it was nothing to do with the stars.
How are the troubles with the peasants, Uncle? We think they're being stirred up by spies sent by our enemies.
But we shall catch them and make them pay for it.
(ALL CHATTING) (THE DOCTOR WHISTLING) Excuse me.
I'm a traveller around here.
I'm a stranger in these parts.
And I was wondering if you'd seen a girl.
She'd be about, um (ALL EXCLAIMING) She's a friend of mine.
She'd be about -About five foot four and a half.
-Who're you? -I'm a traveller.
-From where? Have you seen a young girl about five foot -CAPTAIN: Silence! -Probably with orange juice on her chin.
Your life is in peril.
Produce your documents.
(RATTLING) (HORSE NEIGHING) CAPTAIN: After him! Don't let him go! Come on, this is ridiculous! Where are you taking me? -Who are you? Say something! -Release her.
Where was she found? MAN: On the slopes of the Hill of Sorrows.
-At what hour? -MAN: At the noon hour.
Exactly as it was foretold.
"A maiden fair of face and sturdy of body.
" You can forget the flattery.
What do you lot want? It is written that some are conscious of the purpose for which they are chosen.
Others are as innocent lambs.
-Sorry? -My child, the purity of your sacrifice renders it doubly welcome to the mighty Demnos, god of the twin realms of moon tide and solstice.
Sacrifice? Now just a minute Let her be prepared to receive the sacred blade.
This is the man, sire.
I hear you led my ruffians quite a dance.
Oh, just a short gallop.
It's good for the liver.
(LAUGHING) -What is your name? -Hmm? Uh, Doctor.
Where do you come from? You wear strange garments.
Around.
Around.
You're already tall enough, Doctor, you will answer my questions civilly and promptly or your body will be lengthened on the rack.
Please don't threaten me, Count, I've come here to help you.
Sire, let me punish this insolent dog! Wait.
The fellow interests me.
How can you help me? A wave of energy has been released, Count.
It's part of the Mandragora Helix.
It could do untold damage.
And I must take it back to the stars.
(LAUGHING) (ALL LAUGHING) Please.
Please.
Please.
Please listen.
Listen.
Please.
I realise that must sound very strange to you.
Let me put it this way.
A ball of heavenly fire has come down to Earth.
It could consume everything in its path, it could destroy the world.
His mind is afflicted, sire.
It's the fall from the horse.
He professes sorcery.
There is no gold for you in San Martino.
My seer Hieronymous is the finest in the land.
Ask your seer Hieronymous if he's ever seen an energy wave.
-Do you tell the future? -Sometimes.
-Can you tell mine? -DOCTOR: No.
Why not? Because you don't have a future unless you listen to me.
Send Hieronymous here.
If you are making sport with us, Doctor, we shall make sport with your body.
Be warned.
(BELL TOLLING) Hurry, hurry! The curfew! (WHIRRING) (SCREAMING) Now, answer me this.
What does it signify when Venus is in opposition to Saturn and a great shadow passes over the Moon? -This is all a great waste of time.
-Answer him.
-Well, it depends, doesn't it? -On what? On whether the Moon is made of cheese, on whether the cock crows three times before the dawn, and 12 hens lay addled eggs.
(SCOFFING) What school of philosophy is that? DOCTOR: I can easily teach him.
All it requires is a colourful imagination and a glib tongue.
And you, Doctor, have a mocking tongue.
Prepare the execution.
But you haven't listened to a word I've said! Who is that man? A spy.
A most uncommon spy.
SARAH: (SCREAMING) No! No! You are blessed, my child.
Few have the honour of serving the mighty Demnos so totally.
When the Moon rises over the southern obelisk, your hour of glory will have come.
Cup.
(SARAH WHIMPERING)
Where else? I know we're in the TARDIS, I just don't know this bit.
I'll give you a guided tour someday.
SARAH: What's in there? DOCTOR: Boot cupboard.
Not very interesting.
Boot Boot cupboard? That's enormous! DOCTOR: Oh, I've seen bigger boot cupboards.
-SARAH: But just how big is the TARDIS? -Well, how big's big? Relative dimensions, you see.
No constant.
That's not an answer.
How big are you at the moment? and that's still not an answer.
Listen, listen, there are no measurements in infinity.
You humans have got such limited, little minds.
I don't know why I like you so much.
Because you have such good taste.
DOCTOR: That's true.
That's very true.
Oh! This looks good.
-What? -Eh! Oh, yes.
Yes, it is good.
Do you know, this is the second control room? You know, I can run the TARDIS just as easily from here as I could from the old one.
(BLOWS) (CHUCKLING) Come to think of it, this was the old one.
-That looks like a shaving mirror.
-Yes, it is.
(PLAYING RECORDER) (GENTLE WHIRRING) (SARAH EXCLAIMING) -Ah-ha! -What? What's that? DOCTOR: It's the Mandragora Helix.
I thought we'd avoided it.
Oh Well, what's the Mandragora Helix? It's a spiral of pure energy that radiates outwards in ways no one understands, though, at its centre, there's a controlling intelligence.
-Intelligence? -Yes.
SARAH: We're heading straight for it.
DOCTOR: Yes.
DOCTOR: It seems more active than usual.
Let's hope we can counter-magnetise enough to resist the pull.
-Is it living? -It's living, all right.
But that's all anyone (HIGH-PITCHED BEEPING) (BOTH EXCLAIMING) Oh! Something has hit us, Doctor! We'll just have to push on and hope we come out the other side.
-Oh, it's inside my head! -Concentrate, Sarah.
-On what? -Anything.
Anything.
(SCREAMING) Say the alphabet backwards, come on.
z -Y, X -W, U, V, T, S F, E, D C, B, A.
It's all over.
It's all over.
-Any ill effects? -No, I don't think so.
-Are we there? -Where? -Where we're going.
-I don't know.
The Astrosextant Rectifier has gone out of phase.
I'll just go out and have a look.
Not you, me.
You stay there.
Hmm.
Bigger than my boot cupboard.
(ECHOING) I see what you mean about relative dimensions.
Yes.
I thought I told you to stay inside.
(SOFT WHIRRING) -What's that noise? -What noise? Come on, quick! Get down.
Come on.
Quick! (WHIRRING GETS LOUDER) Come on, let's get out of here.
-What was it? -Helix energy.
It could've been very nasty.
What do you mean, "Could've been very nasty"? It was Will you stop wittering.
(ECHOING CONTINUES) (MAN LAUGHING EVILLY) (WOMAN SCREAMING) (MAN YELLING) Leave a few alive, Captain, to tell the others how insurrection is dealt with.
(WOMAN SCREAMING) (SOLDIERS GRUNTING) Make way for Count Federico.
(MONKS CHANTING IN BACKGROUND) He was a good man, Giuliano.
Ajust and noble ruler.
Hieronymous, you foretold my father's death.
How? Everything is foretold by the stars.
I am just a humble astrologer.
I only interpret their meaning.
The exact day, the very hour.
It's not possible.
When Mars comes into conjunction with Saturn in the seventh layer in the House of the Ram, and the Moon is full grown, death comes to great ones.
-So it is decreed -I don't believe it.
HIERONYMOUS: Many do not believe it.
But the decrees of fate will be obeyed.
We have no choice.
I'm sorry you couldn't be present at my father's deathbed, Uncle.
I came as quickly as I could.
There were important matters of state to attend to.
I see.
I'm sorry.
I thought you were out enjoying some sport.
There was some trouble among the peasants in the villages.
They needed a lesson.
Isn't that your sport, Uncle? (BELL TOLLING) You're upset now, my lord, but don't anger your uncle.
Not at this time.
If I don't speak the truth, Marco, who will? You're alone now, Giuliano.
Your uncle is strong and ruthless.
You're forgetting, Marco, I am Duke now.
And I want to rule over a land where there is no tyranny, no lies, no blind ignorance and superstition, like that old fool preaches about the stars.
We make our own lives, Marco.
Not the stars.
Nevertheless, it is most remarkable.
Your father was in good health.
To die so suddenly And he did predict it.
Exactly.
FEDERICO: Oh, he angers me.
The last obstacle between myself and the dukedom.
Your nephew Giuliano? -How soon? -You must be patient.
I've been patient.
Now it is almost within my grasp.
Nevertheless, so many deaths in so short a time, all so suddenly You said yourself it was written in the stars.
Don't say you're doubting your own predictions? Giuliano has a sharp mind.
He may suspect.
All the more reason to act quickly.
One day, two days at the most.
The poison is still ready? (SIGHING) Well, what's wrong? These last few weeks, as the summer solstice approaches, I have been feeling Feeling what? As if my powers were growing.
As if I had been chosen to be granted visions of the future.
Ha! So many correct predictions have gone to your head.
-The stars will not be mocked.
-And neither will I! Cast your horoscope, Hieronymous.
The young duke Giuliano will die in two days' time.
I will do the rest.
(MAN LAUGHING EVILLY IN DISTANCE) (WHOOSHING) Strange.
-Forced landing.
-You mean you weren't in control? Not that time.
I didn't touch a thing.
Promise.
Oh, it's very pleasant.
Nice, warm, hmmm? Maybe that's why I stopped using the old control room.
Doctor, there's some fantastic oranges over here.
Helix force fields must have distorted the coordinates.
(LAUGHING) We've landed on Earth.
Glass technology indicates Mediterranean area.
Late 15th century.
Not a very pleasant time.
Sarah? Sarah? Sarah? Stop.
Now, put the girl down Gently.
(WHIRRING) Hey (EXPLOSION) (SCREAMS) Mandragora energy.
And I brought it here.
It got into the TARDIS.
What is it? Well, there's this man in Florence who claims that by arranging ground glasses in a certain order it's possible to see the Moon and the stars as large as your hand.
(SCOFFING) Is that a good thing? Well, of course it's a good thing.
That way we can learn more about them, understand their mystery.
What is there to know about the stars except how they move in the heavens? And we've known that for hundreds for years.
That's the whole point, Marco.
Perhaps the stars don't move as we think they move.
That's what this man in Florence is saying.
Maybe the stars don't move at all.
Maybe it's we who move.
(LAUGHING) It is customary to knock before entering a room, Uncle.
I'm sorry, Giuliano, but there's bad news.
-Why? What's happened? -Tell him.
Sire, forgive me.
It is not of my doing, but this morning I was casting a horoscope I've told you often enough, I don't believe in horoscopes.
I only wish I, too, could not believe, but it was there too plainly to be ignored.
What was there? My death? Please, my lord, do not take these things lightly.
I beg you not to leave the palace.
Take no risks of any kind.
I've no intention of sacrificing my life to some old superstitious nonsense.
Remember your father? He too scoffed.
Oh, yes.
I remember my father.
His death remains a mystery.
But of one thing I am certain, it was nothing to do with the stars.
How are the troubles with the peasants, Uncle? We think they're being stirred up by spies sent by our enemies.
But we shall catch them and make them pay for it.
(ALL CHATTING) (THE DOCTOR WHISTLING) Excuse me.
I'm a traveller around here.
I'm a stranger in these parts.
And I was wondering if you'd seen a girl.
She'd be about, um (ALL EXCLAIMING) She's a friend of mine.
She'd be about -About five foot four and a half.
-Who're you? -I'm a traveller.
-From where? Have you seen a young girl about five foot -CAPTAIN: Silence! -Probably with orange juice on her chin.
Your life is in peril.
Produce your documents.
(RATTLING) (HORSE NEIGHING) CAPTAIN: After him! Don't let him go! Come on, this is ridiculous! Where are you taking me? -Who are you? Say something! -Release her.
Where was she found? MAN: On the slopes of the Hill of Sorrows.
-At what hour? -MAN: At the noon hour.
Exactly as it was foretold.
"A maiden fair of face and sturdy of body.
" You can forget the flattery.
What do you lot want? It is written that some are conscious of the purpose for which they are chosen.
Others are as innocent lambs.
-Sorry? -My child, the purity of your sacrifice renders it doubly welcome to the mighty Demnos, god of the twin realms of moon tide and solstice.
Sacrifice? Now just a minute Let her be prepared to receive the sacred blade.
This is the man, sire.
I hear you led my ruffians quite a dance.
Oh, just a short gallop.
It's good for the liver.
(LAUGHING) -What is your name? -Hmm? Uh, Doctor.
Where do you come from? You wear strange garments.
Around.
Around.
You're already tall enough, Doctor, you will answer my questions civilly and promptly or your body will be lengthened on the rack.
Please don't threaten me, Count, I've come here to help you.
Sire, let me punish this insolent dog! Wait.
The fellow interests me.
How can you help me? A wave of energy has been released, Count.
It's part of the Mandragora Helix.
It could do untold damage.
And I must take it back to the stars.
(LAUGHING) (ALL LAUGHING) Please.
Please.
Please.
Please listen.
Listen.
Please.
I realise that must sound very strange to you.
Let me put it this way.
A ball of heavenly fire has come down to Earth.
It could consume everything in its path, it could destroy the world.
His mind is afflicted, sire.
It's the fall from the horse.
He professes sorcery.
There is no gold for you in San Martino.
My seer Hieronymous is the finest in the land.
Ask your seer Hieronymous if he's ever seen an energy wave.
-Do you tell the future? -Sometimes.
-Can you tell mine? -DOCTOR: No.
Why not? Because you don't have a future unless you listen to me.
Send Hieronymous here.
If you are making sport with us, Doctor, we shall make sport with your body.
Be warned.
(BELL TOLLING) Hurry, hurry! The curfew! (WHIRRING) (SCREAMING) Now, answer me this.
What does it signify when Venus is in opposition to Saturn and a great shadow passes over the Moon? -This is all a great waste of time.
-Answer him.
-Well, it depends, doesn't it? -On what? On whether the Moon is made of cheese, on whether the cock crows three times before the dawn, and 12 hens lay addled eggs.
(SCOFFING) What school of philosophy is that? DOCTOR: I can easily teach him.
All it requires is a colourful imagination and a glib tongue.
And you, Doctor, have a mocking tongue.
Prepare the execution.
But you haven't listened to a word I've said! Who is that man? A spy.
A most uncommon spy.
SARAH: (SCREAMING) No! No! You are blessed, my child.
Few have the honour of serving the mighty Demnos so totally.
When the Moon rises over the southern obelisk, your hour of glory will have come.
Cup.
(SARAH WHIMPERING)