![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
As I did for The Next Doctor, I have transcribed The Planet of the Dead. This is the first half. Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections. As with The Next Doctor I have endowed this with images from Sonic Biro. It is really not dial-up friendly!
Like last time, I have used shorthand to save myself typing certain names many times. The shorted names are:
D – Doctor
CdS – Christina de Souza
MT – Malcolm Taylor
EM – Erisa Magambo
BD – Bus Driver
C – Carmen
[An overhead shot of London, eventually focusing on the International Gallery. Four armed guards march through a long, high room, meeting up with another man standing in front of a gold cup.]
Guard: Positions!
[The four guards take positions at the corners of what is about to become a laser-secured box containg the gold cup. The main guard enters a security code – 6-5-4 – and moves a switch, turning the laser beams on.]
Guard: Night, boys.
[The camera pans up to reveal a Pantheon-like ceiling with the central hole filled in. This cover is moved aside to reveal a figure in black. She looks at the guards and the cup before lowering herself head-first into the room on wires. As James Bond-style music plays, she switches the cup for an object covered in black cloth, presses a button on a remote control at her waist and ascends, flipping right way up as she does so and taking the cup and black covering with her. One of the guards is distracted by a small sequeaking noise and turns to look at the cup. He sees that the object on the pedastal is now a gold waving cat.
The figure in black runs along a back-lit hallway through a series of rooms lined with objects and then removes her mask to smile, revealing a woman we will come to know as Lady Christina de Sousa. As she does so, an alarm sounds through the building. She sighs in obvious unhappiness and then takes off out of an exit. At the end of the alley she has just entered, she see a man being pushed against a car by several police officers, who are reading him his rights as they slap the cuffs on him.]
CdS [with no real regret and a half-smile]: Sorry, lover.
[She runs in the opposite direction into a busy street. Police cars, their sirens and lights going, and police on foot are approaching from all directions. One man in a camel-coloured jacket is singled out as Christina's apparent nemesis (D.I. McMillan). Christina gets on a bus that has just pulled up.]
CdS: Hello! I'm so terribly sorry. That card-paying device thing. That's a lobster card, am I right?
BD: Oyster card.
CdS: Ah, well that's a problem, you see. I only use my oyster when there's an 'r' in the month.
BD [deadpan]: It's April.
[Christina sighs and looks defeated.]
D.I. McMillan [to various officers]: Go, go, go.
CdS [grabbing at her ears]: Diamonds! Genuine [showing him an earring]. Drive! [closing his fingers over them]
BD [pocketing them]: Works for me!
[A pair of tan converse are seen from beneath the bus walking along the footpath.]
Policeman: No sign of her.
[The man wearing the converse gets on the bus.]
BD: Just in time, mate.
[Christina looks back uneasily at the police. The man swipes a leather wallet against the oyster card reader, which flashes green, and then the bus driver closes the door. The 200 bus to Victoria via Vauxhall, Oval and Brixton leaves as the man walks back into the bus. Christina sighs in obvious relief and the camera pans to the other passengers – a young black man sitting opposite Christina, and a middle-aged couple several rows behind him. The man sits beside Christina, who looks up at him, startled.]
D: Hello, I'm the Doctor! [offers her a gold foil wrapped egg] Happy Easter! [takes and eats some chocolate]
[Opening Credits]
DI McMillan [to police]: Right, close off the area, get all these people cleared. She's got to be here somewhere!
Policeman: Right, sir. Clear the roads!
[DI McMillan glimpses a shot of Christina as the bus goes past and yells.]
DI McMillan: Stop the bus! She's on the – Come in, get the car! That's definitely her, come on, move it! [runs for a car] Jackson [points back] follow that bus!
[All police cars turn to follow the red double-decker bus, sirens blaring and lights flashing.]
D [eating chocolate]: Funny thing is, I don't usually do Easter. I can never find it. Always at a different time. Although [beat] I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was... [interrupted by bleeping noise] Oh! Sorry, want to hold on to that for me? [gives egg to Christina] Actually, go on, have it, finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth. [grimaces to show mouth full of teeth and then pulls electronic device out of his pocket, flipping it in his hand] Ah! Ooh, we've got excitation! [looking delighted] I'm picking up something – very strange. [holds it to his ear]
CdS [tiredly, as other people on the bus notice the Doctor's strange behaviour]: I know the feeling.
[Christina looks back anxiously through the window at the police cars that are still chasing the bus.]
DI McMillan: All units in pursuit, registration whiskey-9-7-4-golf-hotel-mike. They're heading for the Gladwell road tunnel. Please stop all traffic. Seal off the north end.
Woman in security centre: The bus has entered the south entrance of the tunnel. Officers in pursuit, units now arriving at the north entrance.
Dennison: Tango-1-0-3 at the far end, sir. I sealed off the exit. There's no way out. Over.
DI McMillan: I'm right behind. We've got her.
D [playing with detector, putting up long antenna]: Rhondium particles, that's what I'm looking for. This thing detects them. [flicks it with his fingers] Look, this should go round. The little dish there.
CdS [disinterestedly]: Right now a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?
C [to her husband]: Lou, can you hear them?
Lou: Hear what, sweetheart?
C: The voices. So many voices. [anxious] Calling to us. [a faint whispering becomes audible] Calling so far.
D [as the device begins to work]: Ah, the little dish is going round!
CdS [dully]: Fascinating. [glances uncomfortably back over her shoulder]
D [anxiously]: And round. Ooh! [device lets of sparks and smoke]
Angela [touching her hair]: Excuse me, d'you mind?
D [not sorry]: Sorry, that was my little dish. [little dish is making higher-picked squeaking sounds]
CdS [impatiently]: Can't you turn that thing off?
D [realising and turning to Christina]: What was your name?
CdS [with exaggerated patience]: Christina.
D [getting into his seat]: Christina, hold on tight! [grabbing a rail] Everyone, hold on!
[The bus is suddenly jolted forward, people thrown out of their seats.]
C [panicking]: The voices, the voices, they're screaming!
[Windows smash and lights flare in the cabin. A young man is thrown down the stairs from the upper level.]
Nathan: What's going on?
[A brilliant white light floods the cabin and everyone covers their eyes.]
Dennison: Tango-1-0-3. Unit in position, sir.
[Policemen aim guns at the tunnel entrance.]
Dennison: Sorry to report, but, er, no sign of the bus. Over.
DI McMillan: It's gone. Right in front of me. [on radio] The bus is just – gone. Over.
[Police at north end of tunnel exchange confused glances. A shot along the tunnel fades into a close-up of the Doctor's right eye, which pans out to show his face, reflecting the suddenly brilliant light of the world outside the bus. He begins to open the door as Christina gets up to go with him.]
D: End of the line. [steps out onto sand] Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton.
[The bus is a smoking wreck, the roof badly damaged and the wheels buried in sand. The passengers get out to see a world made of sand.]
[The next shot is the sight of the bus on a television screen. A hand/claw is tapping at the figure of the Doctor on the screen and strange hisses and clicks are audible.]
Lou: We should get out. Even if that's the Saraha. We can't stay on board this thing.
C [tearfully]: I'm not going out there. They're still calling! All around us! The voices are crying!
Lou [anxious]: What voices, sweetheart?
C: The dead! [as Lou sits beside her and rubs her arm] We're surrounded by the dead.
[The Doctor, wearing his glasses, picks up a handful of sand and lets it flow through his fingers.]
Angela: That's impossible. There are three suns! Three of 'em!
Barclay: Like with all those planets that were up in the sky.
Nathan: But it was the Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?
Barclay: Oh, man, we're on another world.
BD: It's dented though. Not as bad as it looks. The chassis's still holding together. My boss is gonna murder me.
Angela: Can you still drive it?
BD: Oh, no, no, no. The wheels are stuck firm. They're never gonna budge.
* * *
DI McMillan: Dennison, listen. Seal off the far end. Nothing is to come through.
Dennison [softly]: I don't understand, sir. How can a bus just disappear?
[They nod at each other.]
* * *
CdS [putting on sunglasses]: Ready for every emergency.
[The Doctor stops playing with the sand and takes off his glasses, removing the sonic screwdriver and using it to darken the lenses.]
D [putting them back on]: Me, too.
CdS: And what's your name?
D: I'm the Doctor.
CdS: Name, not rank
D: The Doctor.
CdS: Surname.
D: The Doctor.
CdS: You're called 'the Doctor'?
D: Yes, I am.
CdS: That's not a name, that's a psychological condition.
D: Funny sort of sand, this, there's a trace of something else. [tastes it, waggling his tongue to remove the taste] Bleagh, bleagh, bleagh, bleagh, bleagh. Blah. Not good.
CdS: Well, it wouldn't be, it's sand.
D: No, it tastes like... [inhales sharply and gets up] Never mind.
CdS: What is it, what's wrong?
Barclay [advancing on the Doctor, pointing at him]: Hold on a minute, I saw you, mate, you had that thing, that machine. [points back at the bus] Did you make this happen?
D [groans]: Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me. Look, look, if you must know, I was tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby. But it was a tiny little hole, no danger to anyone. Only it gets big and we drive right through it.
BD: Well then, where is it? Hey, there's... there's nothing. There's... there's just sand.
D: Right. [marches in the direction from which the bus came] You want proof? We drove [he picks up a handful of sand] through this. [flings the sand into the air to reveal a ripple in the sky like water]
* * *
[Back at the tunnel entrance, the police see the same ripple.]
DI McMillan: What the hell was that?
* * *
CdS: And that's...?
D: A door. A door in space.
BD: And what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home. We can get to London through there?
D [waggles head]: The bus came through, but we can't.
BD [hasn't listened to his warning]: Well then, what are we waiting for?
D: No, no, no, don't!
BD [running at the door]: I'm going home, mate!
D [running after him]: I said don't!
[There's a scream as he passes through and his skeleton is visible in bright white light as the Doctor, Christina and the others duck back. Lou and Carmen look around, afraid.]
* * *
[Back in London, the police cringe at the sound and then look up as a skeleton staggers through and collapses.]
* * *
Barclay [almost beside himself]: It was a skeleton, man. It was bones, just bones!
* * *
DI McMillan [uneasily]: Dennison, ah, I think we're out of our depth here. We need experts. Get me UNIT! Emergency code 1.
* * *
[Barclay sits down on the sand, upset. The Doctor looks around uneasily. Angela is comforted by Nathan.]
D: The bus. Look at the damage. It was the bus protecting us. Great big box of metal.
CdS: Rather like a faraday cage.
Nathan: Like in a thunderstorm, yeah? Safest place is inside a car cause the metal conducts the lightning right through. We did it at school.
CdS: If we could only travel back inside the bus... A faraday cage needs to be closed. That thing's been ripped wide open.
D: Well, slight interdynamics of the wormhole. There's enough metal to make it work I think. I hope!
CdS: Then we have to drive five tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands, correct?
D: I'd say nine and a half tons. But the point still stands, yep.
CdS [briskly]: Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline. Which starts with appointing a leader.
D: Yes. At last. Thank you, so...
CdS: Well, thank goodness you've got me. Everyone do exactly as I say. Inside the bus immediately.
[The Doctor frowns, wrong-footed.]
Nathan: Is it safe in there?
CdS [cooly]: I don't think anything's safe anymore. But if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking's slower.
[Barclay is still sitting on the ground, rubbing his neck, and he glares at her.]
CdS [as if to children]: Come on, all of you, right now.
[Angela scuttles for the bus, followed by Nathan.]
CdS [to the Doctor]: And you. The Doctor.
D [nods]: Yes, ma'am.
CdS [to Barclay]: Up! Come on!
[He grudgingly does so and follows them onto the bus, kicking sand as he goes.]
CdS: ...Point 5: The crucial thing is do not panic. Quite apart from everything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We don't need to add any more. Point 6: Team identification. Names. I'm Christina. This man is apparently the Doctor.
D: Hello.
CdS [to Nathan]: And you?
Nathan [with a little wave]: Nathan.
Barclay: I'm Barclay.
Angela: Angela. Angela Whittaker.
Lou: My name's Louis. Everyone calls me Lou. And [to his wife] this is Carmen.
CdS: Excellent. [lightly] Memorize those names. There might be a test. Point 7: Assessment and application of knowledge. [looks at Doctor, who is looking out of the window as if rather bored] Over to you, the Doctor.
D [looks up, somewhat startled]: I thought you were in charge!
CdS [smugly] I am. And a good leader utilises her strength. You seem to be the brainbox. So. Start boxing.
D: [swinging his legs around to stand up]: Right. So. The wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident.
C: No. It... it.... it... wasn't. That thing [points back] the doorway, someone made it. For a reason.
D [warily]: How do you know?
[Carmen looks embarrassed, as if no one will believe her, so Lou takes over.]
Lou: She's got a gift. Ever since she was a little girl, she can just tell things. We do the lottery twice a week
CdS [dismissively]: You don't look like millionaires.
Lou [calmly]: No. But we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. [shakes head, with an affectionate smile] Don't tell me that's not a gift.
[Christina looks somewhat abashed.]
D [hand behind his back]: Tell me, Carmen, how many fingers am I holding up?
C [with certainty]: Three. [as he releases one] Four.
D: Very good. [looks around] Psychic ability exacerbated by an alien sun. What did you see, Carmen? Tell me what's out there.
C: Something. Something is coming. Riding on the wind. And shining. [as whispering grows louder]
D [anxious]: What is it?
C [as whispering stops abruptly]: Death. Death is coming.
Angela: We're gonna die!
[Angela begins to cry, Barclay panics and Nathan looks terrified.]
Barclay: Oh, I knew it, man. I said so!
Nathan: We can't die here. No one's gonna know.
CdS: This isn't exactly healthy.
Barclay: Shut up. We're not gonna...
[An ever increasing mass of voices as panic fills the bus.]
CdS: It's not doing any good.
D: All right, now stop it, everyone stop it!
[Angela is sobbing and he grabs her shoulders, turning her to face him.]
D: Angela – look at me. Angela. Angela? Answer me one question, Angela. That's it. At me. At me. [as she looks up at him] There we go. Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?
Angela: Doesn't matter now, does it?
D: Answer the question.
Angela: Just home.
D: What's 'home'?
Angela [crying]: Me – and Mike – and Suzanne, that's my daughter. She's eighteen.
D [smiling]: Suzanne. Good. [sitting back in his chair, to Barclay] What about you?
Barclay [dismissively]: Dunno. Going round Tina's.
D: Tina? Your girlfriend?
Barclay [half-smile]: Not yet.
D [cheeky grin]: Good boy! [to Nathan] What about you, Nathan?
Nathan: Bit strapped for cash. Lost my job last week. Was gonna stay in, watch TV.
D [cheerful]: Brilliant! [to Lou and Carmen] And you two?
Lou: I was gonna cook.
C: It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up.
D [calmly]: What's for tea?
Lou: Chops. Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special.
D: Oh, that's special. That is so special. Chops and gravy. Mm. [to Christina] What about you, Christina?
CdS [abruptly]: I was going... so far away.
D: Far away, chops and gravy, watching TV, Mike and Suzanne, and poor old Tina.
Barclay [faint grin]: Hey!
D: Think of them. 'Cos the planet out there, with three suns, a wormhole, and alien sand – that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing! Compared to all those things waiting for you – food, home, people. Hold on to that. 'Cause we're going to get there. I promise. I'm going to get you home.
* * *
[UNIT arrives in trucks and cars, with red-bereted soldiers running alongside. DI McMillan's jaw drops at the sight on the oncoming convoy.]
Soldier: Section 1, assume positions. [soldiers with automatic rifles jog up to the line of police] Section 2, assume positions. [more soldiers] Section 3, assume positions. [and more] Section 4. Spread out.
EM [getting out of a car, calmly approaching scene]: Isolate the area.
Soldier: 1 Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
EM: Establish an exclusion zone. Any media, move them back. Any trouble, arrest them.
Soldier 2: Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
EM: I want the vehicles in the standard procedure 5 layout. All outreach officers report to me via Sergeant Calhoun. Is that understood?
Soldier 3: Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
DI McMillan: Thank you, I'm Detective Inspector McMillan.
EM: Clear the area. Thank you.
DI McMillan: Yes, but I was here when the thing – the bus – thing – when it...
EM: I read your report. Now clear the area. Pandovsky, get these men out of the zone.
DI McMillan; Yes, but there's somebody on board that bus...
UNIT soldier: Yes.
DI McMillan: She's mine!
EM [walks up to line of soldiers]: Perimiter guards, stand ready. Stay alert. Any hostile activity – shoot it down.
* * *
Barclay [brings out bus backs]: Here you go!
D: That's my boys! See, we'll lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole. Like duckboards, we'll reverse into it.
CdS: Let some air out of the tyres. Just a little bit. Spread the weight of the bus. Gives you more grip against the sand.
D [impressed]: Oh, that's good.
CdS: Holidays in the Kalahari.
Barclay: Yeah, but those wheels go deep.
CdS: Then start digging.
Barclay [sarcastically]: With what?
CdS [reaches into her backback]: With this. [pulls out shovel with folded handle, which the Doctor takes from her, unfolds and, an intrigued look on his face, hands to Barclay]
D [points at backpack]: Got anything else in there?
CdS [pulls out small hatchet]: Try that. [hands hatchet to Nathan] Might help with the seats.
Nathan [takes hatchet]: Thanks.
[Christina looks smug as the Doctor gives her an impressed look.]
Angela: I can't find the keys!
D [running to door]: Oh, buses don't have keys. There's a master switch. Then there's one button to start, the other one to stop, yeah?
Angela: Right, hold on. Oh, I got it! [flips switch] Here we go, hold tight! Ding, ding! [stamps on accelerator and presses button, bus rumbles for a moment and then dies with a grinding of gears]
D [uneasily]: Oh, that doesn't sound too good.
[The Doctor and Christina peer under the hood at the engine, which is smoking and dusty.]
D: Never mind losing half the top deck, you know what's worse? Sand! Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up.
CdS [getting up and going around to where the boys are laying down the seats]: Anyone know mechanics?
Barclay [gets to his feet]: Me. Uh, I did a two week MVQ at a garage. Never finished it, but.
D [coming up behind Christina]: Off you go then! Try stripping the air filter as much as you can. [walking off] Back in two ticks.
CdS [going after him]: Wait a minute. You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sight.
[They head off across the sand. On a monitor, the claw taps the screen as it did before. Similar clicks and hisses are audible.]
D: Be easier if you left that backpack behind.
CdS: Where I go, it goes.
D: Backpack with a spade and an axe. Christina is going so far away and yet scared by the sound of a siren. Who are you?
CdS: You can talk! Let's just say we're two equal mysteries.
D: We make quite a couple.
CdS: We don't make any sort of couple, thank you very much. Come on then – tell me. If Carmen's right and that wormhole's not an accident then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?
D [through gritted teeth]: I don't know. But every single instinct of mine is telling me to get off this planet right now.
CdS: D'you think we can?
D: I live in hope.
CdS [gloomily]: That must be nice.
[The Doctor eyes her from head to foot.]
CdS [offering her hand]: It's Christina de Souza. To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza. [shakes the Doctor's hand]
D: Ooh, that's handy. And I'm a Lord.
CdS: Seriously? A lord of where?
D [shrug]: Quite a big estate.
CdS [looking at him closely]: No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole, like you knew. And the way you stride around this place like...
D: ...like?
CdS: Like you're not quite...
D [pause]: Anyway, come on! Allons-y!
CdS: Oui! Mais parci de salon d'en pour schma. {Ed: seriously no idea what this would be! Suggestions welcome, along with a translation, although I'd guess it would be something along the lines of 'but we'll need to be careful'.}
D: Oh, we were made for each other!
[They crest the ridge of a sandbank and see clouds in the distance.]
D: Oh, don't like the look of that.
CdS: Stormclouds. Must be hundreds of miles away.
D: And getting closer
CdS: If that's a sandstorm, we'll get ripped to shreds.
D: It's a storm. Who says it's sand?
[They take off running away from the gathering clouds.]
C: Closer and closer and closer. [Lou holds her]
D [bursting back into the bus]: Where is it?
Barclay: There - there on the seat!
[The Doctor snatches up a mobile phone and uses the sonic screwdriver to activate it.]
CdS: You're hardly going to get a signal. We're on another planet.
D: Just watch me! [puts screwdriver away] Right, now, bit of hush, thank you. Gotta remember the number. Very important number.
Voice: Hello, Pizza Geronimo.
D: How'd I get into that? 7-6 not 6-7.
Voice on phone: This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Please select one of the following four options: If you want...
D: Oh, I hate these things!
Angela: If you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person. I saw that on Watchdog.
D: Thank you Angela! [sits down]
Voice: UNIT helpline, which department would you like?
D: Listen, this is the Doctor. It's me.
* * *
[A UNIT soldier carries a phone through the lines and hands it to Captain Magambo.]
Soldier: Captain. Urgent call, ma'am, relayed direct from HQ.
EM: Who is it?
Soldier. It's him, ma'am.
[Captain Magambo waits for more.]
Soldier: It's the Doctor.
[Captain Magambo takes the phone, her eyes wide.]
EM: Doctor. This is Captain Erisa Magambo. [salutes] Might I say, sir, it's an honour?
D: Did you just salute?
EM [awkwardly]: No.
D: Erisa, it's about the bus. HQ said you were at the tunnel, yeah?
EM: And where are you?
D: I'm on the bus, but apart from that, not so clear. Except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous.
EM: A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?
D: No, and we're not going to, but I'm stuck. I haven't got the TARDIS and I need to analyse that wormhole.
EM: We have a scientific advisor on site – Dr Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need – he's a genius.
D [skeptical]: Oh, is he? We'll see about that.
EM [entering the UNIT van and offering Malcolm the phone]: It's the Doctor.
MT: No, I'm all right now, thanks. It was just a little bit of a sore throat. Although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice.
EM [looking frustrated]: It's 'the' Doctor.
[Malcolm turns as Captain Magambo offers him the phone. He looks from her to the phone several times.]
MT [hushed, awed voice]: D'you mean - the 'Doctor' doctor?
EM [as the Doctor rubs his eye awkwardly on the bus]: I know. We all want to meet him one day. But we all know what that day will bring.
D [drily]: I can hear everything you're saying.
MT [gasping with excitement]: Oh, uh, hello Doctor? Oh, my goodness.
D [not pleased]: Yes, I am. Hello Malcolm.
MT [laughing]: The Doctor! Corblimey! I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you! I mean, I've read all the files!
D [starting to smile]: Oh, really? What was your favourite? Giant robot? No, no, let's sort out that wormhole. [to others on the bus] Excuse me.
EM [to Malcolm]: On speakerphone – please. [turns it on speaker] I don't want anyone keeping secrets.
D [sitting in driver's seat]: Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full-range analysis of that wormhole – the whole thing.
MT: Well, I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature.
D: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That'll never work.
MT: It's quite extraordinary, though. I'm measuring an oscilation of 15 malcolms per second.
D: 15 what?
MT: 15 malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel at 10 kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one malcolm.
D [slowly]: You named a unit of measurement after yourself?
MT: Well, it didn't do Mr Watt any harm. Furthermore, 100 malcolms equals a bernard.
D: And who's that, your Dad?
MT: Don't be ridiculous. That's Quartermass.
D [faintly]: Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that, is there anyone else I can talk to?
MT [horrified]: No, no, no, no, but listen. I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image.
D [shocked]: You did what?
MT [nervous]: Is that wrong?
D: No, Malcolm, that's brilliant! So you can actually measure the wormhole? Okay, I agree, that is genius!
MT [faintly]: The Doctor called me a genius.
EM [briskly]: I know, I heard.
D: Now, run a capacity scanner. I need a full report and call me back when you've done it. And – Malcolm – you're my new best friend.
MT: And you're mine, too, sir!
D [getting up and climbing out of bus]: Barclay, I'm holding on to this!
Barclay: Hey, then you'd better bring it back!
[The Doctor and Christina dash past Nathan, who is still trying to dig the bus wheels out.
* * *
MT [leaning over the phone]: You're... you're mine... [to Captain Magambo] He's gone. He's gone.
* * *
[The Doctor and Christina are once more walking over the dunes. A head with a giant eye like a fly's turns to the screen and taps it once more. More clicks and hums.]
D: Send this back to Earth and see if Malcolm can analyse the storm. [takes a photo of the clouds with Barclay's phone]
CdS: There's something in those clouds. Something shining. Look.
D: Like metal.
CdS: Why would there be metal in a storm?
* * *
C [her eyes abruptly opening]: So fast! And strong! [the whispering is back] They ride the storm. They are the storm!
Lou [fearful]: But what are they?
C [afraid]: They devour!
* * *
CdS: Do you hear something?
D [abruptly]: Hold on. Busy.
CdS: There's a noise. Like a sort of...
[The clicking noises increase and we suddenly see the Doctor and Christina through many hegaonal-shaped windows. It's similar to the view through the Vespiform's eyes, except that there is no colour.]
CdS [suddenly turning away]: Doctor!
[A silhouette of a man with a fly's head is suddenly visible.]
* * *
C: There's something new!
And on to part two...
Like last time, I have used shorthand to save myself typing certain names many times. The shorted names are:
D – Doctor
CdS – Christina de Souza
MT – Malcolm Taylor
EM – Erisa Magambo
BD – Bus Driver
C – Carmen
[An overhead shot of London, eventually focusing on the International Gallery. Four armed guards march through a long, high room, meeting up with another man standing in front of a gold cup.]
Guard: Positions!
[The four guards take positions at the corners of what is about to become a laser-secured box containg the gold cup. The main guard enters a security code – 6-5-4 – and moves a switch, turning the laser beams on.]
Guard: Night, boys.
[The camera pans up to reveal a Pantheon-like ceiling with the central hole filled in. This cover is moved aside to reveal a figure in black. She looks at the guards and the cup before lowering herself head-first into the room on wires. As James Bond-style music plays, she switches the cup for an object covered in black cloth, presses a button on a remote control at her waist and ascends, flipping right way up as she does so and taking the cup and black covering with her. One of the guards is distracted by a small sequeaking noise and turns to look at the cup. He sees that the object on the pedastal is now a gold waving cat.
The figure in black runs along a back-lit hallway through a series of rooms lined with objects and then removes her mask to smile, revealing a woman we will come to know as Lady Christina de Sousa. As she does so, an alarm sounds through the building. She sighs in obvious unhappiness and then takes off out of an exit. At the end of the alley she has just entered, she see a man being pushed against a car by several police officers, who are reading him his rights as they slap the cuffs on him.]
CdS [with no real regret and a half-smile]: Sorry, lover.
[She runs in the opposite direction into a busy street. Police cars, their sirens and lights going, and police on foot are approaching from all directions. One man in a camel-coloured jacket is singled out as Christina's apparent nemesis (D.I. McMillan). Christina gets on a bus that has just pulled up.]
CdS: Hello! I'm so terribly sorry. That card-paying device thing. That's a lobster card, am I right?
BD: Oyster card.
CdS: Ah, well that's a problem, you see. I only use my oyster when there's an 'r' in the month.
BD [deadpan]: It's April.
[Christina sighs and looks defeated.]
D.I. McMillan [to various officers]: Go, go, go.
CdS [grabbing at her ears]: Diamonds! Genuine [showing him an earring]. Drive! [closing his fingers over them]
BD [pocketing them]: Works for me!
[A pair of tan converse are seen from beneath the bus walking along the footpath.]
Policeman: No sign of her.
[The man wearing the converse gets on the bus.]
BD: Just in time, mate.
[Christina looks back uneasily at the police. The man swipes a leather wallet against the oyster card reader, which flashes green, and then the bus driver closes the door. The 200 bus to Victoria via Vauxhall, Oval and Brixton leaves as the man walks back into the bus. Christina sighs in obvious relief and the camera pans to the other passengers – a young black man sitting opposite Christina, and a middle-aged couple several rows behind him. The man sits beside Christina, who looks up at him, startled.]
D: Hello, I'm the Doctor! [offers her a gold foil wrapped egg] Happy Easter! [takes and eats some chocolate]
[Opening Credits]
DI McMillan [to police]: Right, close off the area, get all these people cleared. She's got to be here somewhere!
Policeman: Right, sir. Clear the roads!
[DI McMillan glimpses a shot of Christina as the bus goes past and yells.]
DI McMillan: Stop the bus! She's on the – Come in, get the car! That's definitely her, come on, move it! [runs for a car] Jackson [points back] follow that bus!
[All police cars turn to follow the red double-decker bus, sirens blaring and lights flashing.]
D [eating chocolate]: Funny thing is, I don't usually do Easter. I can never find it. Always at a different time. Although [beat] I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was... [interrupted by bleeping noise] Oh! Sorry, want to hold on to that for me? [gives egg to Christina] Actually, go on, have it, finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth. [grimaces to show mouth full of teeth and then pulls electronic device out of his pocket, flipping it in his hand] Ah! Ooh, we've got excitation! [looking delighted] I'm picking up something – very strange. [holds it to his ear]
CdS [tiredly, as other people on the bus notice the Doctor's strange behaviour]: I know the feeling.
[Christina looks back anxiously through the window at the police cars that are still chasing the bus.]
DI McMillan: All units in pursuit, registration whiskey-9-7-4-golf-hotel-mike. They're heading for the Gladwell road tunnel. Please stop all traffic. Seal off the north end.
Woman in security centre: The bus has entered the south entrance of the tunnel. Officers in pursuit, units now arriving at the north entrance.
Dennison: Tango-1-0-3 at the far end, sir. I sealed off the exit. There's no way out. Over.
DI McMillan: I'm right behind. We've got her.
D [playing with detector, putting up long antenna]: Rhondium particles, that's what I'm looking for. This thing detects them. [flicks it with his fingers] Look, this should go round. The little dish there.
CdS [disinterestedly]: Right now a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?
C [to her husband]: Lou, can you hear them?
Lou: Hear what, sweetheart?
C: The voices. So many voices. [anxious] Calling to us. [a faint whispering becomes audible] Calling so far.
D [as the device begins to work]: Ah, the little dish is going round!
CdS [dully]: Fascinating. [glances uncomfortably back over her shoulder]
D [anxiously]: And round. Ooh! [device lets of sparks and smoke]
Angela [touching her hair]: Excuse me, d'you mind?
D [not sorry]: Sorry, that was my little dish. [little dish is making higher-picked squeaking sounds]
CdS [impatiently]: Can't you turn that thing off?
D [realising and turning to Christina]: What was your name?
CdS [with exaggerated patience]: Christina.
D [getting into his seat]: Christina, hold on tight! [grabbing a rail] Everyone, hold on!
[The bus is suddenly jolted forward, people thrown out of their seats.]
C [panicking]: The voices, the voices, they're screaming!
[Windows smash and lights flare in the cabin. A young man is thrown down the stairs from the upper level.]
Nathan: What's going on?
[A brilliant white light floods the cabin and everyone covers their eyes.]
Dennison: Tango-1-0-3. Unit in position, sir.
[Policemen aim guns at the tunnel entrance.]
Dennison: Sorry to report, but, er, no sign of the bus. Over.
DI McMillan: It's gone. Right in front of me. [on radio] The bus is just – gone. Over.
[Police at north end of tunnel exchange confused glances. A shot along the tunnel fades into a close-up of the Doctor's right eye, which pans out to show his face, reflecting the suddenly brilliant light of the world outside the bus. He begins to open the door as Christina gets up to go with him.]
D: End of the line. [steps out onto sand] Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton.
[The bus is a smoking wreck, the roof badly damaged and the wheels buried in sand. The passengers get out to see a world made of sand.]
[The next shot is the sight of the bus on a television screen. A hand/claw is tapping at the figure of the Doctor on the screen and strange hisses and clicks are audible.]
Lou: We should get out. Even if that's the Saraha. We can't stay on board this thing.
C [tearfully]: I'm not going out there. They're still calling! All around us! The voices are crying!
Lou [anxious]: What voices, sweetheart?
C: The dead! [as Lou sits beside her and rubs her arm] We're surrounded by the dead.
[The Doctor, wearing his glasses, picks up a handful of sand and lets it flow through his fingers.]
Angela: That's impossible. There are three suns! Three of 'em!
Barclay: Like with all those planets that were up in the sky.
Nathan: But it was the Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?
Barclay: Oh, man, we're on another world.
BD: It's dented though. Not as bad as it looks. The chassis's still holding together. My boss is gonna murder me.
Angela: Can you still drive it?
BD: Oh, no, no, no. The wheels are stuck firm. They're never gonna budge.
DI McMillan: Dennison, listen. Seal off the far end. Nothing is to come through.
Dennison [softly]: I don't understand, sir. How can a bus just disappear?
[They nod at each other.]
CdS [putting on sunglasses]: Ready for every emergency.
[The Doctor stops playing with the sand and takes off his glasses, removing the sonic screwdriver and using it to darken the lenses.]
D [putting them back on]: Me, too.
CdS: And what's your name?
D: I'm the Doctor.
CdS: Name, not rank
D: The Doctor.
CdS: Surname.
D: The Doctor.
CdS: You're called 'the Doctor'?
D: Yes, I am.
CdS: That's not a name, that's a psychological condition.
D: Funny sort of sand, this, there's a trace of something else. [tastes it, waggling his tongue to remove the taste] Bleagh, bleagh, bleagh, bleagh, bleagh. Blah. Not good.
CdS: Well, it wouldn't be, it's sand.
D: No, it tastes like... [inhales sharply and gets up] Never mind.
CdS: What is it, what's wrong?
Barclay [advancing on the Doctor, pointing at him]: Hold on a minute, I saw you, mate, you had that thing, that machine. [points back at the bus] Did you make this happen?
D [groans]: Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me. Look, look, if you must know, I was tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby. But it was a tiny little hole, no danger to anyone. Only it gets big and we drive right through it.
BD: Well then, where is it? Hey, there's... there's nothing. There's... there's just sand.
D: Right. [marches in the direction from which the bus came] You want proof? We drove [he picks up a handful of sand] through this. [flings the sand into the air to reveal a ripple in the sky like water]
[Back at the tunnel entrance, the police see the same ripple.]
DI McMillan: What the hell was that?
CdS: And that's...?
D: A door. A door in space.
BD: And what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home. We can get to London through there?
D [waggles head]: The bus came through, but we can't.
BD [hasn't listened to his warning]: Well then, what are we waiting for?
D: No, no, no, don't!
BD [running at the door]: I'm going home, mate!
D [running after him]: I said don't!
[There's a scream as he passes through and his skeleton is visible in bright white light as the Doctor, Christina and the others duck back. Lou and Carmen look around, afraid.]
[Back in London, the police cringe at the sound and then look up as a skeleton staggers through and collapses.]
Barclay [almost beside himself]: It was a skeleton, man. It was bones, just bones!
DI McMillan [uneasily]: Dennison, ah, I think we're out of our depth here. We need experts. Get me UNIT! Emergency code 1.
[Barclay sits down on the sand, upset. The Doctor looks around uneasily. Angela is comforted by Nathan.]
D: The bus. Look at the damage. It was the bus protecting us. Great big box of metal.
CdS: Rather like a faraday cage.
Nathan: Like in a thunderstorm, yeah? Safest place is inside a car cause the metal conducts the lightning right through. We did it at school.
CdS: If we could only travel back inside the bus... A faraday cage needs to be closed. That thing's been ripped wide open.
D: Well, slight interdynamics of the wormhole. There's enough metal to make it work I think. I hope!
CdS: Then we have to drive five tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands, correct?
D: I'd say nine and a half tons. But the point still stands, yep.
CdS [briskly]: Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline. Which starts with appointing a leader.
D: Yes. At last. Thank you, so...
CdS: Well, thank goodness you've got me. Everyone do exactly as I say. Inside the bus immediately.
[The Doctor frowns, wrong-footed.]
Nathan: Is it safe in there?
CdS [cooly]: I don't think anything's safe anymore. But if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking's slower.
[Barclay is still sitting on the ground, rubbing his neck, and he glares at her.]
CdS [as if to children]: Come on, all of you, right now.
[Angela scuttles for the bus, followed by Nathan.]
CdS [to the Doctor]: And you. The Doctor.
D [nods]: Yes, ma'am.
CdS [to Barclay]: Up! Come on!
[He grudgingly does so and follows them onto the bus, kicking sand as he goes.]
CdS: ...Point 5: The crucial thing is do not panic. Quite apart from everything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We don't need to add any more. Point 6: Team identification. Names. I'm Christina. This man is apparently the Doctor.
D: Hello.
CdS [to Nathan]: And you?
Nathan [with a little wave]: Nathan.
Barclay: I'm Barclay.
Angela: Angela. Angela Whittaker.
Lou: My name's Louis. Everyone calls me Lou. And [to his wife] this is Carmen.
CdS: Excellent. [lightly] Memorize those names. There might be a test. Point 7: Assessment and application of knowledge. [looks at Doctor, who is looking out of the window as if rather bored] Over to you, the Doctor.
D [looks up, somewhat startled]: I thought you were in charge!
CdS [smugly] I am. And a good leader utilises her strength. You seem to be the brainbox. So. Start boxing.
D: [swinging his legs around to stand up]: Right. So. The wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident.
C: No. It... it.... it... wasn't. That thing [points back] the doorway, someone made it. For a reason.
D [warily]: How do you know?
[Carmen looks embarrassed, as if no one will believe her, so Lou takes over.]
Lou: She's got a gift. Ever since she was a little girl, she can just tell things. We do the lottery twice a week
CdS [dismissively]: You don't look like millionaires.
Lou [calmly]: No. But we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. [shakes head, with an affectionate smile] Don't tell me that's not a gift.
[Christina looks somewhat abashed.]
D [hand behind his back]: Tell me, Carmen, how many fingers am I holding up?
C [with certainty]: Three. [as he releases one] Four.
D: Very good. [looks around] Psychic ability exacerbated by an alien sun. What did you see, Carmen? Tell me what's out there.
C: Something. Something is coming. Riding on the wind. And shining. [as whispering grows louder]
D [anxious]: What is it?
C [as whispering stops abruptly]: Death. Death is coming.
Angela: We're gonna die!
[Angela begins to cry, Barclay panics and Nathan looks terrified.]
Barclay: Oh, I knew it, man. I said so!
Nathan: We can't die here. No one's gonna know.
CdS: This isn't exactly healthy.
Barclay: Shut up. We're not gonna...
[An ever increasing mass of voices as panic fills the bus.]
CdS: It's not doing any good.
D: All right, now stop it, everyone stop it!
[Angela is sobbing and he grabs her shoulders, turning her to face him.]
D: Angela – look at me. Angela. Angela? Answer me one question, Angela. That's it. At me. At me. [as she looks up at him] There we go. Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?
Angela: Doesn't matter now, does it?
D: Answer the question.
Angela: Just home.
D: What's 'home'?
Angela [crying]: Me – and Mike – and Suzanne, that's my daughter. She's eighteen.
D [smiling]: Suzanne. Good. [sitting back in his chair, to Barclay] What about you?
Barclay [dismissively]: Dunno. Going round Tina's.
D: Tina? Your girlfriend?
Barclay [half-smile]: Not yet.
D [cheeky grin]: Good boy! [to Nathan] What about you, Nathan?
Nathan: Bit strapped for cash. Lost my job last week. Was gonna stay in, watch TV.
D [cheerful]: Brilliant! [to Lou and Carmen] And you two?
Lou: I was gonna cook.
C: It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up.
D [calmly]: What's for tea?
Lou: Chops. Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special.
D: Oh, that's special. That is so special. Chops and gravy. Mm. [to Christina] What about you, Christina?
CdS [abruptly]: I was going... so far away.
D: Far away, chops and gravy, watching TV, Mike and Suzanne, and poor old Tina.
Barclay [faint grin]: Hey!
D: Think of them. 'Cos the planet out there, with three suns, a wormhole, and alien sand – that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing! Compared to all those things waiting for you – food, home, people. Hold on to that. 'Cause we're going to get there. I promise. I'm going to get you home.
[UNIT arrives in trucks and cars, with red-bereted soldiers running alongside. DI McMillan's jaw drops at the sight on the oncoming convoy.]
Soldier: Section 1, assume positions. [soldiers with automatic rifles jog up to the line of police] Section 2, assume positions. [more soldiers] Section 3, assume positions. [and more] Section 4. Spread out.
EM [getting out of a car, calmly approaching scene]: Isolate the area.
Soldier: 1 Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
EM: Establish an exclusion zone. Any media, move them back. Any trouble, arrest them.
Soldier 2: Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
EM: I want the vehicles in the standard procedure 5 layout. All outreach officers report to me via Sergeant Calhoun. Is that understood?
Soldier 3: Yes, ma'am. [runs off]
DI McMillan: Thank you, I'm Detective Inspector McMillan.
EM: Clear the area. Thank you.
DI McMillan: Yes, but I was here when the thing – the bus – thing – when it...
EM: I read your report. Now clear the area. Pandovsky, get these men out of the zone.
DI McMillan; Yes, but there's somebody on board that bus...
UNIT soldier: Yes.
DI McMillan: She's mine!
EM [walks up to line of soldiers]: Perimiter guards, stand ready. Stay alert. Any hostile activity – shoot it down.
Barclay [brings out bus backs]: Here you go!
D: That's my boys! See, we'll lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole. Like duckboards, we'll reverse into it.
CdS: Let some air out of the tyres. Just a little bit. Spread the weight of the bus. Gives you more grip against the sand.
D [impressed]: Oh, that's good.
CdS: Holidays in the Kalahari.
Barclay: Yeah, but those wheels go deep.
CdS: Then start digging.
Barclay [sarcastically]: With what?
CdS [reaches into her backback]: With this. [pulls out shovel with folded handle, which the Doctor takes from her, unfolds and, an intrigued look on his face, hands to Barclay]
D [points at backpack]: Got anything else in there?
CdS [pulls out small hatchet]: Try that. [hands hatchet to Nathan] Might help with the seats.
Nathan [takes hatchet]: Thanks.
[Christina looks smug as the Doctor gives her an impressed look.]
Angela: I can't find the keys!
D [running to door]: Oh, buses don't have keys. There's a master switch. Then there's one button to start, the other one to stop, yeah?
Angela: Right, hold on. Oh, I got it! [flips switch] Here we go, hold tight! Ding, ding! [stamps on accelerator and presses button, bus rumbles for a moment and then dies with a grinding of gears]
D [uneasily]: Oh, that doesn't sound too good.
[The Doctor and Christina peer under the hood at the engine, which is smoking and dusty.]
D: Never mind losing half the top deck, you know what's worse? Sand! Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up.
CdS [getting up and going around to where the boys are laying down the seats]: Anyone know mechanics?
Barclay [gets to his feet]: Me. Uh, I did a two week MVQ at a garage. Never finished it, but.
D [coming up behind Christina]: Off you go then! Try stripping the air filter as much as you can. [walking off] Back in two ticks.
CdS [going after him]: Wait a minute. You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sight.
[They head off across the sand. On a monitor, the claw taps the screen as it did before. Similar clicks and hisses are audible.]
D: Be easier if you left that backpack behind.
CdS: Where I go, it goes.
D: Backpack with a spade and an axe. Christina is going so far away and yet scared by the sound of a siren. Who are you?
CdS: You can talk! Let's just say we're two equal mysteries.
D: We make quite a couple.
CdS: We don't make any sort of couple, thank you very much. Come on then – tell me. If Carmen's right and that wormhole's not an accident then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?
D [through gritted teeth]: I don't know. But every single instinct of mine is telling me to get off this planet right now.
CdS: D'you think we can?
D: I live in hope.
CdS [gloomily]: That must be nice.
[The Doctor eyes her from head to foot.]
CdS [offering her hand]: It's Christina de Souza. To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza. [shakes the Doctor's hand]
D: Ooh, that's handy. And I'm a Lord.
CdS: Seriously? A lord of where?
D [shrug]: Quite a big estate.
CdS [looking at him closely]: No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole, like you knew. And the way you stride around this place like...
D: ...like?
CdS: Like you're not quite...
D [pause]: Anyway, come on! Allons-y!
CdS: Oui! Mais parci de salon d'en pour schma. {Ed: seriously no idea what this would be! Suggestions welcome, along with a translation, although I'd guess it would be something along the lines of 'but we'll need to be careful'.}
D: Oh, we were made for each other!
[They crest the ridge of a sandbank and see clouds in the distance.]
D: Oh, don't like the look of that.
CdS: Stormclouds. Must be hundreds of miles away.
D: And getting closer
CdS: If that's a sandstorm, we'll get ripped to shreds.
D: It's a storm. Who says it's sand?
[They take off running away from the gathering clouds.]
C: Closer and closer and closer. [Lou holds her]
D [bursting back into the bus]: Where is it?
Barclay: There - there on the seat!
[The Doctor snatches up a mobile phone and uses the sonic screwdriver to activate it.]
CdS: You're hardly going to get a signal. We're on another planet.
D: Just watch me! [puts screwdriver away] Right, now, bit of hush, thank you. Gotta remember the number. Very important number.
Voice: Hello, Pizza Geronimo.
D: How'd I get into that? 7-6 not 6-7.
Voice on phone: This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Please select one of the following four options: If you want...
D: Oh, I hate these things!
Angela: If you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person. I saw that on Watchdog.
D: Thank you Angela! [sits down]
Voice: UNIT helpline, which department would you like?
D: Listen, this is the Doctor. It's me.
[A UNIT soldier carries a phone through the lines and hands it to Captain Magambo.]
Soldier: Captain. Urgent call, ma'am, relayed direct from HQ.
EM: Who is it?
Soldier. It's him, ma'am.
[Captain Magambo waits for more.]
Soldier: It's the Doctor.
[Captain Magambo takes the phone, her eyes wide.]
EM: Doctor. This is Captain Erisa Magambo. [salutes] Might I say, sir, it's an honour?
D: Did you just salute?
EM [awkwardly]: No.
D: Erisa, it's about the bus. HQ said you were at the tunnel, yeah?
EM: And where are you?
D: I'm on the bus, but apart from that, not so clear. Except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous.
EM: A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?
D: No, and we're not going to, but I'm stuck. I haven't got the TARDIS and I need to analyse that wormhole.
EM: We have a scientific advisor on site – Dr Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need – he's a genius.
D [skeptical]: Oh, is he? We'll see about that.
EM [entering the UNIT van and offering Malcolm the phone]: It's the Doctor.
MT: No, I'm all right now, thanks. It was just a little bit of a sore throat. Although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice.
EM [looking frustrated]: It's 'the' Doctor.
[Malcolm turns as Captain Magambo offers him the phone. He looks from her to the phone several times.]
MT [hushed, awed voice]: D'you mean - the 'Doctor' doctor?
EM [as the Doctor rubs his eye awkwardly on the bus]: I know. We all want to meet him one day. But we all know what that day will bring.
D [drily]: I can hear everything you're saying.
MT [gasping with excitement]: Oh, uh, hello Doctor? Oh, my goodness.
D [not pleased]: Yes, I am. Hello Malcolm.
MT [laughing]: The Doctor! Corblimey! I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you! I mean, I've read all the files!
D [starting to smile]: Oh, really? What was your favourite? Giant robot? No, no, let's sort out that wormhole. [to others on the bus] Excuse me.
EM [to Malcolm]: On speakerphone – please. [turns it on speaker] I don't want anyone keeping secrets.
D [sitting in driver's seat]: Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full-range analysis of that wormhole – the whole thing.
MT: Well, I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature.
D: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That'll never work.
MT: It's quite extraordinary, though. I'm measuring an oscilation of 15 malcolms per second.
D: 15 what?
MT: 15 malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel at 10 kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one malcolm.
D [slowly]: You named a unit of measurement after yourself?
MT: Well, it didn't do Mr Watt any harm. Furthermore, 100 malcolms equals a bernard.
D: And who's that, your Dad?
MT: Don't be ridiculous. That's Quartermass.
D [faintly]: Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that, is there anyone else I can talk to?
MT [horrified]: No, no, no, no, but listen. I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image.
D [shocked]: You did what?
MT [nervous]: Is that wrong?
D: No, Malcolm, that's brilliant! So you can actually measure the wormhole? Okay, I agree, that is genius!
MT [faintly]: The Doctor called me a genius.
EM [briskly]: I know, I heard.
D: Now, run a capacity scanner. I need a full report and call me back when you've done it. And – Malcolm – you're my new best friend.
MT: And you're mine, too, sir!
D [getting up and climbing out of bus]: Barclay, I'm holding on to this!
Barclay: Hey, then you'd better bring it back!
[The Doctor and Christina dash past Nathan, who is still trying to dig the bus wheels out.
MT [leaning over the phone]: You're... you're mine... [to Captain Magambo] He's gone. He's gone.
[The Doctor and Christina are once more walking over the dunes. A head with a giant eye like a fly's turns to the screen and taps it once more. More clicks and hums.]
D: Send this back to Earth and see if Malcolm can analyse the storm. [takes a photo of the clouds with Barclay's phone]
CdS: There's something in those clouds. Something shining. Look.
D: Like metal.
CdS: Why would there be metal in a storm?
C [her eyes abruptly opening]: So fast! And strong! [the whispering is back] They ride the storm. They are the storm!
Lou [fearful]: But what are they?
C [afraid]: They devour!
CdS: Do you hear something?
D [abruptly]: Hold on. Busy.
CdS: There's a noise. Like a sort of...
[The clicking noises increase and we suddenly see the Doctor and Christina through many hegaonal-shaped windows. It's similar to the view through the Vespiform's eyes, except that there is no colour.]
CdS [suddenly turning away]: Doctor!
[A silhouette of a man with a fly's head is suddenly visible.]
C: There's something new!
And on to part two...
busy
There are 2 comments on this entry.