Doctor Who (1963) s18e11 Episode Script

So that's what frightened the marshmen off.
More of them.
Look.
They're only spiders.
They're only spiders.
The door.
Shut the door.
Adric? What are you doing? Romana's out there.
Open the door.
I think I pulled the wrong lever.
What's happening? I don't know.
I think we're travelling.
- What have you done to it? - A little anaesthetic.
I'm trying to research the psychodynamics of these creatures.
Their motivation to attack us is immensely powerful.
- It is? - It's well documented.
Of course, I have never seen one before.
But it's in the manual.
Well, it wasn't aggressive when I met it.
Anyway, it's only a baby one.
- They have the same basic brain type.
- Mmm.
Dexeter, that's not psychodynamics.
You've been taking tissue samples.
A scientist is responsible to the community, Doctor.
Each of us has his task to perform.
- I don't understand your tasks.
- What do you mean? Well, you're all so busy.
Maintenance crews everywhere.
What are you up to? Preparing for the embarkation, of course.
Of course - Are you leaving Alzarius? - Yes.
All our endeavours are directed to the return to Terradon.
Then if you're leaving the planet, why all the fuss about the marshmen? Take a look at that tissue sample.
Remarkable, isn't it, Doctor? The organisation of the cell structure.
Well, that's life, Dexeter.
There are anomalies unaccounted for by the Deciders.
There are? Look, isn't it time we were getting it back to its natural habitat? It's too late for that, Doctor.
It's about time I got back to my own natural habitat.
Haven't seen a blue box with a light on top, have you? - What? - It's called a Tardis.
It must be out there somewhere.
It's impossible to leave the Starliner.
The doors are sealed.
- Oh, I think I can organise something.
- What did you have in mind, Doctor? - Oh, it was just a hypothetical idea.
- Your entry was more than a hypothesis.
Perhaps our security system is not all the manuals claim.
You can't always go by the manuals.
Without the store of knowledge in the Great Book Room, we would not have survived.
Doctor, please show me how you gained access.
Certainly.
Varsh, do something.
You're the clever one, Adric.
Where are we going? How should I know? Romana set the coordinates, not me.
Maintenance unit 12, report to locations can resist a sonic screwdriver, especially in expert hands.
Any method of entering the Starliner is of grave concern.
Excuse me.
Oh, what a pity.
I thought it was an image translator.
I need one for my ship.
Tell me, Decider Login, why are your maintenance men removing a perfectly good optronics circuit? Huh? Tell me that.
I know nothing about these matters myself, but the manuals are thorough in their requirements.
At this rate, the preparations will take years to complete.
Oh, generations, Doctor.
We've no illusions about that.
Generations? Well, there's always something that needs to be perfected.
- A little patience goes a long way.
- Yes.
Too much patience goes absolutely nowhere.
You spoke of some vehicle you travel in.
Yes, I have got a vehicle.
I'm feeling rather lost without it.
- I can help you to find it.
- Really? Why would you do a thing like that? - I have a daughter.
- Oh.
Attention, Citizen Dampier Help me find my daughter, I'll help you find your ship.
- All right.
- Unseal the entrance.
But the decision was made to keep the entrance sealed.
Decisions can be changed.
Good heavens.
What is it? Good heavens.
It's Romana.
Romana? - Father.
- What? Keara.
You're safe.
Romana Roma Romana? Adric.
What is this, Noah's ark? Where's Romana? - She's not here.
- Where is she, then? - Back at the cave.
- What cave? Never mind.
Keara, you're alive.
These short trips don't usually work.
And the chances of reversing a short trip are even more remote.
Still Here's hopping.
Would you cross your fingers? No, no.
Not like that.
No.
Very good.
There'll have to be an inquiry, but at least you're alive.
- Romana, are you all right? - Yes.
- Giant crab spiders.
- Yes.
You collect K9 together.
- There's a dead spider.
- Collect that one, too.
- Are you sure you're all right, Romana? - I'm fine.
Who are you? Of course, it should be full-grown for my experiments.
- But this one will do? - We do need a better specimen.
We're lucky to have this one.
Aren't we, Nefred? The Doctor regards it as suitable.
He seems very wise.
I'm prepared to consider his theories.
Dexeter, what exactly do you hope to learn? The nature of these creatures.
We're afraid of them, we retreat from their presence, and yet we know nothing about them.
You know nothing.
I was forgetting, Decider.
I understood from Decider Draith that these creatures were mentioned in the system files.
But if we could put that secret knowledge of yours - beside what I can discover, we could - What is it, Nefred? Dexeter, your experiments will be secret.
Of course, Decider, if you so advise.
Garif, we must confer on this matter.
Meanwhile, please postpone the examination.
The creature's no use at all under anaesthetic.
The revival will take about an hour.
We will return before then.
She's still alive.
Some kind of coma.
- Did you find K9's head? - No, it wasn't in the cave.
No.
It's not a toxin.
It must be something in those spider bites, some kind of psychochemical.
- How long will it last? - How do I know? Let's get back to the science unit.
I want to put some of that spider tissue under the microscope.
Wait here.
The Deciders are in conference.
About us? They have other matters on their minds.
You'll have to have patience.
- Patience.
- It's a virtue, they say.
But I don't suppose that would appeal to stealers of river fruit.
What are they going to do? Is it a trial? - An inquiry, my father said.
- What difference does it make? - Are they going to kill us? - Of course not.
- It's a ploy, just psychological.
- That's what you said about Mistfall.
The creature will soon be ready for the experiment if the Deciders permit.
The First Decider has explained something of the position to us.
In the past, these creatures were regarded with superstitious awe, figures symbolising the whole of life on this planet.
And as such, their origins were not to be looked into.
- A wall of deliberate ignorance.
- Oh, we agree.
The First Decider has given his permission for the experiments to proceed.
Excellent.
- On one condition.
- Oh? That we supervise.
And there is to be complete secrecy.
Do you understand? - Adric should be here.
- You're very loyal to him.
- I'm all he's got.
- Poor thing.
You've got a father.
Quiet.
The Deciders are coming.
Now my father's a Decider, I'm an orphan, too.
When the Starliner crashed upon this planet, our ancestors vowed that their one endeavour would be to repair the ship and to return to Terradon.
- Each generation has renewed that vow.
- The work is continuous.
On your behalf.
- Isn't that right, Decider Login? - Yes.
On behalf of us all.
Then what is to be done, Decider Login, with those that betray that vow, betray that work? I have talked to them.
They are children.
- Very well.
Do these children now understand what we're doing for them? And do they now understand the warning against Mistfall? And the supremacy of the community? I believe they do.
Then let them rejoin the preparation.
There is no punishment.
Stop worrying, Adric.
Romana will be perfectly all right in here.
That's very good.
Very good.
The anaesthetic has worn off and the creature is now fully sentient.
L"m about to begin a surgical examination of its brain.
Dexeter.
Doctor, you"re just in time to see my theories put to the test.
Dexeter, you promised you wouldn"t harm that marsh creature.
Without a scientific understanding of these creatures, we are doomed to fear them forever.
That"s not scientific understanding, it"s cold-blooded murder.
I repeat.
I am beginning surgery.
Dexeter, please stop.
You've no right.
Please.
No, no, no.
Don't.
Don't.
Take away the bodies.
Adric, go back to the Tardis and wait with Romana.
You Deciders allowed this to happen.
The Marsh creatures are mindless brutes.
Animals.
Yes.
Easy enough to destroy.
Have you ever tried creating one? We were within our rights.
One might argue that Dexeter was overzealous.
Not an alibi, Deciders.
You three are supposed to be leaders.
Certainly we are.
Though, of course, Nefred is, uh, is now our First Decider.
Then Nefred is responsible.
- For the community, yes.
- No.
No.
Perhaps they haven't let you in on the secret, Login.
- Shall I tell him, gentlemen? - Secret? Yes.
And the fraud of perpetual movement.
The endless task going round and round.
The same old components being removed and replaced.
No, Doctor, that's too harsh.
The preparations are necessary.
Preparations? For what? This Starliner isn't going anywhere.
Well, the manuals promise us a journey to Terradon.
Yes, but it must be made ready first.
Ready? It's been made ready for centuries.
This ship could take off in half an hour if you had a mind to it.
What? Is that true? You accuse us of wilful procrastination? Yes.
The wilful procrastination of endless procedure.
You want to hold on to the old order.
- You understand a great deal, Doctor.
- True.
But not everything.
That's certainly true.
You're standing in the Great Book Room.
These galleries contain manuals on the repair and maintenance of every single item on this ship.
Everything is listed, down to the smallest rivet.
Thanks to the manuals that have been passed down, we can take the Starliner apart and put it together again perfectly.
Though there is one thing we can't do, Doctor.
One secret our ancestors kept for themselves.
What's that? Nobody knows how to pilot this ship.
What? Unit leader Dyvo to the auxiliary power section immediately.
Unit leader Dyvo to the auxiliary power section immediately.
Additional maintenance units required by air purification control.
Additional maintenance units required by air purification control.
The spiders only appear at Mistfall.
- No one's ever analysed one before.
- Well Oh, yes.
Leucine, isoleucine, methionine.
Hmm.
Usual complement of amino acids.
That's odd.
I've seen that cell shape somewhere before.
What about Mistfall itself? Has anyone ever analysed that? Yes, but the secret is only known to the Deciders.
What? Well, so now you know.
I do, but the information is privileged.
Oh.
Oh.
Uh, Doctor, every 50 years or so, another planet takes Alzarius away from its sun.
The cooling process, it's inevitable.
Yes.
The mists.
And then the high nitrogen content in the spider cells.
So? So it's difficult to judge not knowing the norm on this planet.
We need some tissue samples from Dexeter and the marshchild Well, of course.
Now, what did Dexeter do with that slide? - Doctor.
- Not now, Adric, not now.
- Doctor, it's Romana.
- What about Romana? - She's gone.
- What? What? Marshmen.
Marshmen.
In my Tardis? Come on, let's find Romana.
Come on.
What's that? It's the other half of my waistcoat.
What's that? - Image translator.
- What? It's broken.
Right.
No more pictures of Gallifrey, then.
Come on.