Saturday, March 31, 2007

The Enemy Within IX

(RUN OPENING CREDITS)

1. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The demented shape of the Plasmaton creature is behind the DOCTOR. DANIEL stands before him. PASCOE, TRACEY, THEO and EMILY stand in the background, listless and zombified.

DOCTOR
Ready when you are.

DANIEL
Of course. But you are wrong in one vital respect. I wasn’t lying about who I was.

The Doctor’s face falls. Then the two deformed hands clamp over his ears. There is an ethereal howling. The Doctor’s eyes bug as he struggles to breathe. The howling gets louder and louder. We zoom in on the Doctor’s agonized face and superimpose...


2. MONTAGE

Each line punctuated with a scorching white flash. The voices echo and reverb surreally, with lots of howlaround patterns and feedback distorting the images. Scenes from THE WAR GAMES, TERROR OF THE AUTONS, COLONY IN SPACE, THE SEA DEVILS, THE TIME MONSTER FRONTIER IN SPACE, THE DEADLY ASSASSIN, THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, LOGOPOLIS, CASTROVALVA, TIME-FLIGHT, THE FIVE DOCTORS, PLANET OF FIRE.

BEEVERS MASTER
Well Doctor?

FOURTH DOCTOR
Of course. The Master.

FIRST DOCTOR
Do I know you, young man?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
You may have changed your appearance, but I know who you are.

SECOND DOCTOR
Oh? Do you?

THIRD DOCTOR
He used to be a friend of mine once. A very good friend. In fact, you might almost say we were at school together.

MASTER
Believe it or not, we were at the Academy together.

SECOND DOCTOR
I had every right to leave.

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Stealing a TARDIS? Oh I'm not criticizing you, we are two of a kind.

SECOND DOCTOR
We most certainly are not!

MASTER
Envy is the beginning of all true greatness.

THIRD DOCTOR
How many times have I told you? Violence will never get you anywhere.

JO GRANT
You ought to be a bit more reasonable with the Master.

DELGADO MASTER
Doctor, why don’t you come in with me? We’re both Time Lords, we're both renegades. We could be masters of the galaxy!

JO GRANT
I mean, he keeps offering you a share in the galaxy, or whatever’s going on, and you keep refusing him and playing dirty tricks on him!

MASTER
You and I belong to the future.

SECOND DOCTOR
No objective can justify such slaughter!

WAR CHIEF MASTER
I'm not the cold-hearted villain you suppose me to be. My motives are purely peaceful.

MASTER
Patience is a PARTICULAR virtue of mine.

DELGADO MASTER
Look at all those planetary systems, Doctor. We could rule them all!

THE THIRD DOCTOR
What for? What is the point?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
It seems my trust in you was a little misplaced.

SECOND DOCTOR
Did you really think I’d take part in your disgusting scheme?

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Why not? You must have been a little tempted by the thought of becoming the ruler of an entire galaxy!

DELGADO MASTER
You’re my intellectual equal. Almost.

FOURTH DOCTOR
He’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. He’s almost up to my standard...

SECOND DOCTOR
I'm afraid that there's no alternative.

DELGADO MASTER
Displaying your usual sickening lovability, I suppose?

MASTER
Devious to the last.

WAR CHIEF MASTER
Don't do it Doctor, you CAN’T! You KNOW what will happen!

DELGADO MASTER
Doctor, is that you?

THIRD DOCTOR
My, my, my, you’ve changed. Another regeneration?

PRATT MASTER
I have suffered enough from your stupid interference in my designs, Doctor.

FOURTH DOCTOR
Who is the Master? My sworn enemy – a fiend who glories in chaos and destruction..

FIFTH DOCTOR
All right, Master. It’s me you want.

PRATT MASTER
Who else but you? So despicably good. So insufferably compassionate! I want you to die in shame and disgrace...

TIME LORD
He’ll certainly try to kill you, Doctor.

PRATT MASTER
The Doctor will die.

FOURTH DOCTOR
I thought you were going to destroy me.

DELGADO MASTER
But not without considerable regret.

THIRD DOCTOR
But I still don't see why... What can you possibly gain?

DELGADO MASTER
The pleasure of seeing the human race exterminated, Doctor. The human race of which you are so fond. Believe me, that'll be a reward in itself.

THIRD DOCTOR
You’re risking the total destruction of the entire cosmos!

DELGADO MASTER
Of course I am. All or nothing – literally! What a glorious alternative!

FOURTH DOCTOR
You’re mad... YOU’RE UTTERLY MAD!

DELGADO MASTER
Who isn’t? The only difference is that I’m a little more honest than the rest.

FOURTH DOCTOR
The Master is consumed by hatred. It’s his one weakness.

PRATT MASTER
Weakness, Doctor? That’s where you’re wrong. Hatred is strength!

DELGADO MASTER
My strength is as the strength of ten because my heart is pure.

THIRD DOCTOR
Don’t worry, he’s not going to kill me.

DELGADO MASTER
That is your last mistake.

PRATT MASTER
Congratulations, Doctor – you’re just in time for the end!

MASTER
The universe is purged of the Doctor and his impossible dreams of goodness!

DELGADO MASTER
Just think of the future - dominion over all time and all space! Absolute power forever! And no Doctor to ruin things for me!

DELGADO MASTER
You realize, of course, that you’re a doomed man, Doctor?

THIRD DOCTOR
Oh, I’m a dead man. I knew that as soon as I came through that door, so you’d better watch out! You see, I’ve nothing to lose, have I?

NYSSA
Gone forever.

ADRIC
And the Master?

MASTER
Journey’s end, Doctor.

The Master screams as the flames consume him.

THIRD DOCTOR
Would you condemn anybody to an eternity of torment - even the Master?

FOURTH DOCTOR
He’s the quintessence of evil.

DELGADO MASTER
You always were an optimist, weren’t you?

A blinding white explosion of noise.


3. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

We zoom out from the Doctor, still transfixed. But there is no sign of the Plasmaton. The humans’ eyes have returned to normal. The howl fades and the humans collapse in unison, followed by the Doctor, clutching his head. He groans. Silence. The rain has stopped. The Doctor croaks, every syllable is agony.

DOCTOR
Is it over?

A familiar chuckle, by the voice now identifiable.

THE MASTER
Oh, no, my dear Doctor, it’s not over.

The Doctor stares up at him. Dressed in his usual attire, the MASTER stands over him.

THE MASTER
It’s just begun.

(FINISH OPENING CREDITS)
(THE ENEMY WITHIN)
(EPISODE THREE: WAR OF NERVES)

1. EXT. OUTSIDE THE MANOR (NIGHT)

The rain has dried up. Mist wafts eerily across the scene.


2. MONTAGE

We fade from shot to shot, showing the inhabitants of the manor as they lie sprawled, half aware and half unconscious at various places in the house – the Doctor, Theo, Maurice, Daniel, THE COLONEL, PERI, Emily, Tracey and Pascoe. We hear the Master chuckling, merging with the Second Ghost laughing, and the old voice rasping.

VOICES
Obey... I have gained wisdom, wisdom born of pain, the weak shall fall or follow...


3. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor lies sprawled on the floor, eyes narrowed, on the knife edge of consciousness. We see this from high above him. Slowly, we start to rotate as if the room is spinning gently, and very slowly zoom in, corkscrewing down towards his dazed face. We hear voices echoing, as if remembering a dream. A calm, female voice is whispering, the Doctor’s disembodied voice sounds half-asleep and distant.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Hmm?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Try again?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
The Eclipse of Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
You’re not making any sense.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time. Time, the Eclipse of Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
I don’t know what you mean.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
Be more precise.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Full circle. Things must be allowed to turn full circle.

DOCTOR (VO)
What do you want?

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Time.

DOCTOR (VO)
So you keep saying.

FEMALE VOICE (VO)
Full circle of time... time...

The Doctor’s eyes close and his head lolls, finally losing consciousness.


4. INT. BEDROOM (NIGHT)

The room is lit by a sinister electric green glow that comes from a single light bulb. It hangs from the ceiling on a chain and is covered by cobwebs. Shadows are thick in the corner. The Doctor calmly and cautiously moves around the room, shading his eyes from the intense green glare. Shadows are thick in the corner. Peri stands by the door, as if trying to stay as far away from the green light as she can. Breathing can be heard.

DOCTOR
Hello? Hello?

Unafraid, he shrugs.

DOCTOR
Is there anybody out there?

The old voice replies – a series of rasping gulps. Every syllable is labored and gutteral, at times unintelligible. A patch of shadow detaches itself.

THE VOICE
Things... fall... apart
The centre... cannot... hold...

The Doctor frowns at the wraith. He continues to circle the light, and so does the spectral figure, as if chasing each other very slowly.

DOCTOR
Who are you?

THE VOICE
My... self.

DOCTOR
What's your name?

THE VOICE
Ras... sil... on.

DOCTOR
“Rassilon”? Don't be ridiculous!

A death rattle. Or a giggle.

DOCTOR
Very amusing. All right, whoever you are, what do you want? Well? Why are you here?

THE VOICE
Because... I can...

DOCTOR
THAT is the best answer you've got?

THE VOICE
Why... should I... need more?

DOCTOR
Oh, well, it must be important. If you want to hang around here instead of going across the Great Divide.

THE VOICE
You... fear it. You cannot cross.

DOCTOR
Neither can you, obviously. I take it you are dead?

THE VOICE
Not quite.

DOCTOR
But you're not alive.

THE VOICE
Not quite.

DOCTOR
Why else aren't you in Heaven?

THE VOICE
Only... the good... go to heaven.

The Doctor’s voice is apprehensive.

DOCTOR
And you’re not good, I take it?

THE VOICE
I... smell... the flesh... the blood...

DOCTOR
Did the smell bring you here?

THE VOICE
No.

DOCTOR
No? Then what did?

THE VOICE
You... did.

The Doctor finally starts to appear afraid. Behind him, watching this with amusement, is the Master, arms folded. He is gone the next time we cut back there.

DOCTOR
Me?

THE VOICE
You... Doctor.

The Doctor changes direction, moving back anti-clockwise. The ghostly form changes direction as well.

DOCTOR
Yes. Me Doctor. You are...?

THE VOICE
Playing.

DOCTOR
"Playing"?

THE VOICE
Playing with toys... and they break... just like you...

DOCTOR
I'm not broken, I think you'll find.

THE VOICE
Not yet... not yet...


5. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Peri is lying where she fell. Her eyes snap open. She looks around. No sign of Maurice. She finds the torch nearby. It’s broken.

PERI
Useless.

She drops it on the floor and gets to her feet stiffly.

PERI
Maurice? Maurice, are you there?

She creeps down the corridor.

PERI
Promise I won’t kick you again... unless you’re possessed... or really annoying...

She moves down the passage and out of sight. Gradually introduce the green light. Pull back to show that Maurice is cowering in the corner, shaking almost involuntarily. The vial lies on the ground before him, seemingly the cause of the green glow.

MASTER (VO)
Maurice Fforde-Jones...

Maurice glances up fearfully and recoils. It is the Master.

MAURICE
I can’t take much more of this... I can’t take ANY more of this... why won’t anyone stay and help me? Why?

MASTER
You’re hiding.

MAURICE
You found me! Why not them?

MASTER
Maybe you’re hiding too well for them to find you. But not hiding well enough for me. I will always find you. No matter where you go, no matter how still you keep, no matter how silent you remain... I will be right beside you.

MAURICE
Go away!

MASTER
And leave you alone forever? Is that what you want?

Maurice snatches up the vial.

MAURICE
I’ll use this!

MASTER
I’m terrified. But if you use that cyanide on me, you won’t be able to...

MAURICE
SHUT UP!

Maurice gets to his feet.

MAURICE
SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!

MASTER
You can’t make me.

MAURICE
I’ll get a priest! Or a vicar! Or some relevant cleric! You’ll be banished, excommunicated, exorcised, the whole kitten kaboodle!

MASTER
You don’t have the courage!

MAURICE
I so have the courage.

MASTER
Then why are the other members of your family still alive?

Maurice loses some of his fire.

MASTER
You could kill them all. The family fortune, all those wonderful and shiny pieces of crystallized carbon, just waited for you. If the others were gone, you would have sole access. All that money. What would you use it for? Power? Freedom? Dominion over this country... or any others?

Maurice drops the vial. It bounces on the carpet.

MAURICE
I can’t kill them.

MASTER
To coin a phrase, you should unlock your potential.

MAURICE
Who are you?

MASTER
I am the Master.

MAURICE
Master? Of what?

MASTER
Everything.

MAURICE
You’re not the master of me!

MASTER
Aren’t I? You can only escape me by freeing yourself. But you’re not up to that. You are only useful for the nourishment you provide.

He moves towards Maurice.

MAURICE
Keep away from me!

MASTER
I am my own Master. And my hunger needs to be sated.

MAURICE
NO! Get away!

The green light gets thicker and thicker. Maurice slumps against the wall. The Master looms over him. Tears are streaming down Maurice’s face.

MAURICE
Please! PLEASE! NOOOOOOO0000000!

We cut to the other end of the corridor. Peri looks up, as if hearing Maurice’s scream. She looks back down the corridor. It is empty. She turns and heads off.

PERI
Doctor? Doctor, are you in here?


6. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor’s eyelids flutter open as he hears Peri’s voice. He stiffly sits up and looks around. The lights are now on. There is no sign of anyone else. The Doctor rises and moves over to the French windows. They are closed and no longer cracked. The Doctor frowns – there are still shards of broken glass on the carpet.

PERI (VO)
Doctor?

DOCTOR
Coming.

The Doctor turns and pauses by the bar. All the bottles are wrecked – broken, warped, and the various other knickknacks there are bent or twisted. He picks up a shot glass. It is in pieces.

DOCTOR
Not by some kind of impact or violence... As if the temperature changed suddenly. Suddenly and intensely. Now, I wonder what could have done that? Something that creates energy for itself by dropping the temperature itself? A few degrees would be enough energy to throw a table across the room. Yet, the tables are where they were. So what are you doing with all that energy? Wasting it, probably. It’s what you normally do.

He crosses to the exit. The Doctor casts a last glance across the room. We follow his gaze – the intact French windows, a couple of cupboards, the snooker table, the Master standing like a waxwork in the shadows, the gun rack... The Doctor whips his gaze back to where the Master was. He isn’t there now, nor is there any trace he was.

DOCTOR
Nothing and nobody. Sums you up rather well, doesn’t it?

He exits.


7. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

The staircase is now intact. There is no message scratched on the wall. Nor is there any blood on the floor. The Doctor reacts cautiously to each of these, stepping gingerly over where the blood would be, avoiding the patch of wall.

DOCTOR
Who are you in armor, visiting our rivers? Speak from where you are, stop there, say why you come. This is the region of the Shades, and Sleep, and drowsy night. It breaks eternal law for the Stygian craft to carry living bodies!

Peri stands at the top of the stairs. She hurries down to him.

PERI
Doctor! I knew you’d be OK.

She embraces him.

DOCTOR
More than I did. Are you all right? That’s the question.

PERI
Oh, the usual. Got attacked by that black shape, then an urban legend chased me round the manor before Maurice got possessed by the ghost and tried to pour cyanide down my throat.

DOCTOR
Yes, I... I heard about that.

PERI
How?

DOCTOR
Hard to explain. Where’s Maurice now?

PERI
No idea.

DOCTOR
Peri, I told you to look after them!

PERI
I tried! They just all... disappeared. I can’t find anyone. Not even that thing from the swamp or the green light or even the black shape. Like none of it ever happened.

DOCTOR
Yes. I think things have come to a head.

PERI
What do you mean?

DOCTOR
The... ghost. It was on its last legs. Now it’s fully recharged itself. Assuming it has some sort of plan, it’s probably underway now.

PERI
So what do we do?

DOCTOR
Back to the TARDIS. I need time to think.

He heads over to the front door and tries it. Locked. He takes out his sonic screwdriver and mucks about with the lock.

PERI
But what about the others?

DOCTOR
Have you seen them?

PERI
No...

DOCTOR
Well, neither have I. So we’ll just have to assume they are out of our reach until further notice. But the TARDIS scanners should be...

He shakes the screwdriver and tries again.

DOCTOR
Odd.

PERI
Don’t tell me your new gadget is playing up?

DOCTOR
Fine. I won’t.

He shakes the door angrily.

DOCTOR
I can’t budge it.

PERI
Should we look for the key?

DOCTOR
Let’s just try a different exit.

The Doctor heads towards the Saloon. Peri follows.

PERI
Even the writing’s disappeared.

DOCTOR
Probably was never there.

PERI
Guess so.

Peri runs her hand over the wall, thoughtfully. The Doctor keeps walking.

PERI
What did it mean anyway?

The Doctor stops and looks back, pretending not to understand.

DOCTOR
What did what mean?

PERI
That writing? The equation on the wall?

DOCTOR
Oh that. Nothing much.

PERI
So what did it mean?

DOCTOR
Peri, we should be going now.

PERI
Why? What are you hiding?

DOCTOR
I’m not hiding anything. Those symbols were, quite simply, a student ID code. You have those in St. Michelle, Pasadena?

Peri rolls her eyes.

PERI
Yeah, we do. Why would a ghost of all people carve – or pretend to carve – a student number in the wall? What good would that do?

DOCTOR
It all depends on who the student number belongs to, doesn’t it?

PERI
So? Who does it belong to?

DOCTOR
Just someone I went to school with. Doesn’t matter.

They enter the Saloon.


8. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor sticks his head around the door, checking the coast is clear. He enters and heads over to the French windows. Peri follows.

PERI
It must matter!

DOCTOR
Must it? I suppose it matters that our sinister spectre took the form of a strange green light? Snatching out thoughts from your subconscious to scare you?

Peri is defensive as she pouts.

PERI
I coped.

DOCTOR
I know, you did magnificently. It’s just... well, what upsets me might not upset you.

PERI
Yeah, I mean a student number is WAY creepier than a green light that drives you out of your mind.

DOCTOR
It wasn’t just the student number. It was a message.

PERI
A message? What kind of message?

He points to the wall, as if reading invisible words.

DOCTOR
“Sentenced to death. Trial a fake. We are all being used.”

PERI
OK. What’s the problem with that?

DOCTOR
I first saw those words scratched into the wall of a cellar. In a chateau. A long time ago. It was the usual situation. The TARDIS landed in No Man’s Land, 1917, the British troops got the wrong idea, thought I might be a German spy, I was given an instant court martial by a particularly mean-looking general. And he sentenced me to death.

PERI
You defended yourself, didn’t you?

DOCTOR
I did. I just assumed it was rough military justice unable to grasp the staggering importance of my incredible legal defense... but then I saw that scratched in the execution cell. You see, Peri, it WASN’T 1917. It wasn’t Earth. That general wasn’t human. It was all a great illusion, an experiment. Whole platoons of soldiers were being abducted, kidnapped, and then let loose, told they were still in World War I. And not just World War I. Lots of wars. All those people slaughtered. I put a stop to it. But so many people were dead before I even arrived – and that included people who had found out the truth. The poor wretch who scratched that message found out what was going on. But they were executed before they had a chance to fix it. It was only pure chance I found it. And, I admit, since that day it prays on my mind. I was lucky not to share that fate. One day I won’t be so lucky. And there won’t be a happy ending. For anyone.

A beat. Peri touches his arm comfortingly.

PERI
It’s OK to be scared about stuff like that.

The Doctor blows out his cheeks.

DOCTOR
Such judgement in one so young.

PERI
But what does the algebra have to do with this?

DOCTOR
That student number... it was part of that fiasco. Let’s say no more. We have a long walk back to the TARDIS in a dark wood – and even if that plasmaton has dispersed, I don’t relish going through that landscape in the dark...

He crosses to the windows.

DOCTOR
Even the broken glass is gone. Oh well.

He hauls on the handles, but the doors do not open. He tries again. He pushes them. Peri tries the doors gently. They don’t budge.

PERI
Locked?

DOCTOR
Perhaps...

He takes out the sonic screwdriver, rotates it and smashes the end against the glass. Nothing. He tries again.

DOCTOR
This glass is very strong. Especially considering it was shattered easily enough earlier tonight. All right, Peri. Now we bring out the big guns.

The Doctor returns to the snooker table.

PERI
The big guns?

DOCTOR
To whit, you.

He holds up a snooker cue and hands it to her.

DOCTOR
With the power invested in me as Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords, I hereby authorize you to smash those French windows.

He indicates the doors and stands back.

PERI
Me?

DOCTOR
You’ve got the blunt object.

PERI
I’m not used to breaking and entering like this.

DOCTOR
You can do it. Just imagine it’s me when I’m irritating.

Peri shifts awkwardly.

PERI
You’re not THAT bad.

The Doctor sighs with exasperation.

DOCTOR
All right, imagine it was that first-year engineering student you dated for an afternoon.

Peri looks at him, shocked.

PERI
Chuck?!

DOCTOR
Yes, I think it was Chuck.

PERI
Who told you about Chuck?!?

DOCTOR
Is he the one you said “only spoke jargonese” and was unable to explain anything without over-complication of how the mechanics worked?

Peri is slightly taken aback at the description, and forgets her shock.

PERI
Yeah... Kinda like you in respects.

DOCTOR
Hardly. Do you travel in time and space with Chuck? I think not.

Peri remembers what she was upset about.

PERI
How do you know about Chuck?!

DOCTOR
I do listen to you occasionally, Peri. Especially when you criticize my methods when I’m busy trying to bond crystal transversers to the lateral balance cones!

Peri grumbles to yourself.

PERI
Can’t even talk about you behind your back, nowadays...

DOCTOR
Can we get on with escaping the haunted house, please, Peri?

PERI
OK...

Taking a deep breath, she swings it like a club against the glass violently. Nothing. She does it again and again before dropping it. She’s out of breath.

PERI
What’s plan B?

DOCTOR
That WAS plan B. The same force that’s stolen the Fforde-Jones family has somehow sealed off this house...

The Doctor heads for the door to the hallway. Peri follows.

PERI
But how?

DOCTOR
That’s the burning question!

We pull back, gently building the green light. Daniel’s body is now sprawled on the couch that was empty seconds before. And Tracey is slumped beside it. Daniel’s eyes are closed. He looks peaceful. She sadly strokes his cold cheek.

TRACEY
This isn’t real. I’m not living this. Just... just seeing it. You know what feeling, Daniel? Maybe, if I wait here long enough, you’ll wake up. If I wait here long enough.

Daniel understandably does not reply.

TRACEY
Why didn’t the others care? The Doctor cared. His friend did too. But they were just friends of yours... unless you were lying. But they cared more than Daniel, more than Emily. More than your own father. I don’t think Theo will cry for you when he finds out. Didn’t they care about you when you were alive? Didn’t they? Do you think they care about me? Heh. No, I don’t think so either. Just between you and me, I like my family better. We could have gone to mother’s this weekend. But you wanted to come here instead.

She starts to tear up.

TRACEY
I should have shouted at you. Made you do what I say. But I thought... I thought the others might help you. And now you’re gone. And none of them even wanted to help you. I don’t know if we could have helped you... I’m sorry. I should have kept a closer eye on you. I’m sorry. I want to...

She takes hold of his hand.

TRACEY
I won’t leave you. Everything's gonna be just fine. Or it won’t. I don’t care anymore.

MASTER (VO)
You sound lost.

We now see the Master stands over the snooker table, looking down at the triangle of balls as if it is fascinating. Tracey doesn’t take her eyes off Daniel. She is not surprised as his sudden arrival.

TRACEY
I am lost.

MASTER
Aren’t we all?

Tracey laughs, a sharp broken noise.

TRACEY
I don’t feel up to philosophy tonight.

MASTER
I’m not surprised. Tell me, Tracey, do you honestly think this misery of yours is helping Daniel? That he wants it? That he actually cared about you at all?

TRACEY
I don’t want you here.

MASTER
Then I will leave. I just thought I should point out that Daniel killed himself.

TRACEY
To save us.

MASTER
But he didn’t.

TRACEY
He tried.

MASTER
Did he? You think he failed to save you? I think he abandoned you to your fate. He cut his losses and ran the only way he could. He took what you might term “the easy way out”, and left all his troubles behind... for you to endure.

Tracey rests her head against Daniel’s. She doesn’t look at the Master.

TRACEY
I loved him. That’s all that matters.

MASTER
Do you want him back?

TRACEY
Yes.

The Master shakes his head.

MASTER
I can’t bring him back.

TRACEY
I didn’t think you could.

MASTER
But you could go to him.

TRACEY
How?

MASTER
How do you think? Join him... in oblivion.

She almost smiles, still note taking her gaze from her husband.

TRACEY
Tempting.

The Master walks over to her, arms folded.

MASTER
No more pain. No more loss. No more suffering this nasty world without your beloved. Between you and me, there’s another war on the horizon that you would be well advised to miss. You could end it all.

Tracey finally looks at the Master with dead eyes.

TRACEY
If it’s such a wonderful escape... why did YOU come back from the dead?

The Master laughs.

MASTER
Perhaps I don’t like the crowds that appear in the afterlife of late.

TRACEY
Then leave me. Be alone.

We realize the Master has vanished.

MASTER (VO)
If that is what you wish, then that is what you will have.

Tracey rests her head against Daniel and lets her eyes fall closed.

to be continued...

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Enemy Within VIII

34. EXT. EXECUTION YARD (DAY) B&W

A yard divided by a wooden barrier. A group of NEANDERTHAL LOCALS stand watching. GUARDS in visor-covering space helmets stand guard, armed with rifles. Beyond the barrier is a low platform, above which is suspended a noose. Around a corner stand the Ghosts, watching on with grave expressions. An EXECUTIONER in a traditional black mask stands by the noose as a PRISONER is brought in, manacled.

PA
Bring in the condemned.

The two ghosts exchange whispers. The Second Ghost watches on, distant.

FIRST GHOST
Shouldn’t we do something?

SECOND GHOST
No. We shouldn’t.

FIRST GHOST
She’s innocent! We saw her – she didn’t steal...

SECOND GHOST
We are not supposed to interfere.

FIRST GHOST
She doesn’t deserve to die!

SECOND GHOST
I suppose she doesn’t.

FIRST GHOST
We could give evidence, speak up for her... They might listen to us!

SECOND GHOST
They might execute us as well. Do you want that? Do you want the others to find out about this little jaunt? You know how they frown on us at the best of times.

The prisoner struggles but the stronger Executioner forces his head into the noose. The two ghosts watch on as, off sight, there is choked scream and the crowd roars. The First Ghost dives out of sight and retches. The Second Ghost watches for a moment longer and follows his companion.


35. INT. SHORT CORRIDOR (NIGHT)

It is dark, and a strange wind is howling. Items are tumbling drunkenly from the walls and windows. Distantly, the creature can be heard and its rasping scream. Emily scrambles over to the door at the end of the corridor, hair and clothes flapping in the wind. Peri can be heard screaming. Emily wrenches open the door as there is another dazzling flash of lightning – revealing Daniel is standing right behind her. Not realizing this, Emily stumbles out into the storm.


36. EXT. OUTSIDE THE MANOR (NIGHT)

Theo is still staring up at the window. A sinister green light is pulsing up there. Emily runs through the rain towards him.

EMILY
Theo! Theo!

THEO
Emily.

EMILY
Theo, the others... there’s something in the house! It’s killed Daniel and... and...

THEO
The Day of Wrath is finally here.

EMILY
What?

THEO
Before the day of the Lord comes, the sun will be turned to darkness... and the moon into blood....

EMILY
Theo!

Emily grabs his arm and wrenches him around. His eyes are closed, and his shirt collar has been ripped and there are bruises on his neck.

EMILY
What happened? Who did this to you?

THEO
Oh, that great and terrible day! And all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved...

EMILY
Theo, you’ve got to...

His eyes snap open. They are bone white, showing possession like Pascoe.

THEO
And the name of the Lord is Dominus...

Emily backs away from him, speechless. Theo stalks towards her.

THEO
For our Lord is our Master...

Emily turns and is about to run when she sees the creature looming out of the dark towards her, its huge limbs reaching for her face.

EMILY (VO)
Please, someone please! Help me, help meeeee ---

Her scream is cut off abruptly. Theo watches on, a slight trickle of yellow foam at his mouth. The voice emerges from his mouth.

THE VOICE (VO)
And we shall worship and obey him...

He turns his sightless eyes back to the window.


37. EXT. QUARRY (DAY) B&W

The First Ghost looks unwell. The Second Ghost is helping him. They are heading back to the fake boulder.

FIRST GHOST
That punishment... it was... was...

SECOND GHOST
Severe?

FIRST GHOST
Barbaric!

SECOND GHOST
It’s a primitive planet, you said so yourself.

FIRST GHOST
Those people have invaded it. They aren’t primitive.

SECOND GHOST
Compared to us, they are.

FIRST GHOST
We should have stopped them!

SECOND GHOST
How? We have no weaponry. Try to see it as they see it.

FIRST GHOST
What are you talking about?

SECOND GHOST
A leader, by definition, has to have a strong hand. The execution was staged to send a message to the people. The RIGHT message.

FIRST GHOST
Do you think that’s justified?

SECOND GHOST
One man’s justice is another man’s abhorrence. Here and now, with these people, in this society, it is justice plain and simple.

FIRST GHOST
She was innocent!

SECOND GHOST
A minor detail. Those overlords have established a climate of fear which will prevent further theft and crime. A necessary sacrifice for the good of the many. Look at it as they do, and can we really condemn them?

FIRST GHOST
I... I suppose not.

They stop by the boulder. The door opens. The First Ghost looks back down the hill, swallowing with nausea.

FIRST GHOST
It’s terrible.

The Second Ghost puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

SECOND GHOST
Yes. But we have to suffer such things if we want to see the Cosmos for ourselves.

FIRST GHOST
Maybe it would be better to stay at home.

SECOND GHOST
I’m sure Cardinal Azmael would be delighted to hear you tow the party line.

FIRST GHOST
Oh, very amusing. Let’s just get back in time for quantum field theory before the prefects notice we’re gone.

SECOND GHOST
We missed spatio-temporal dynamics.

FIRST GHOST
No we didn’t. We just didn’t attend class.

He smiles weakly. The Second Ghost smiles back. They step into the boulder and the door slides shut. Moments later it vanishes.


38. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor’s eyes snap open. He is sprawled on a couch in the saloon. It is still raining outside, but there is no longer a raging storm. He reaches up and touches the back of his head, which is sore. His hands show no blood. He jumps off the couch and looks around, suddenly giddy. As if someone has cut his strings, he falls heavily to the ground. He tries to move again, but seems exhausted.

DOCTOR
Daniel? Simon? Strange discarnate entity? Anyone? Oh my head.

TRACEY
Things fall apart.

The Doctor frowns and manages to roll onto his back. Tracey sits in the chair, cradling a cocktail and staring into the depths of the alcohol.

DOCTOR
Hello, Tracey.

TRACEY
The centre cannot hold.

The Doctor sits up.

DOCTOR
Can’t it?

TRACEY
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed...

Unimpressed, the Doctor completes the quote.

DOCTOR
And everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.

Tracey looks at him darkly.

TRACEY
The best lack all conviction –
While the worst are full
Of passionate intensity.

DOCTOR
William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming, 1920. Probably still in the charts. I take it you’re reciting it for a reason?

TRACEY
Surely some revelation is at hand!

DOCTOR
Surely the Second Coming is at hand?

TRACEY
You can’t hide the blood on your hands.

DOCTOR
That’s not from the poem.

TRACEY
I know what you have done. You thought you could get away with it.

DOCTOR
I often do. To what particular transgression do you refer, young lady?

TRACEY
You could have saved me. But you let me die.

DOCTOR
Tracey, that’s the ghost talking, isn’t it?

TRACEY
Why did you kill me?

DOCTOR
I haven’t the faintest idea. All I know is that I didn’t succeed. Who are you, anyway?

TRACEY
I was screaming and you let me DIE! I WAS SCREAMING! WHY DID YOU KILL ME?

The Doctor holds up his hand and rubs his thumb and forefinger against each other.

DOCTOR
There, my dear, you will find the universe’s smallest violin playing a very sad tune for you. Either be concise or go away. I don’t know who you are, what you are, or what I did to offend you. But the humans here are innocent.

The Doctor’s voice emerges from Tracey’s mouth.

DOCTOR (VO)
Who in this life is purely innocent?

DOCTOR
Oh, clever. Pity I was certifiably insane when I said that, or you might have a case. I give up. If that’s all you’ve got to say, to quote the founder of the Abbey Theatre as he bemoans the decline of European ruling classes, then I have better things to do with my time! If you’ll excuse me...

The Doctor crosses to the door and opens it. Pascoe is waiting for him.

PASCOE
There is another meaning to the poem.

DOCTOR
Oh yes, of course.

Chuckling, the Doctor backs away from Pascoe, trying to keep an eye on him as well as Tracey. He heads over for the French doors, still loose and the window panes shattered. He keeps talking all the time.

DOCTOR
The preposterous notion that humanity, Western civilization and of course, the entire Earth is caught in a historical cycle of 2000 years? Occult nonsense, and I told his brother that - in person!

He spins but the door is pushed open by Theo, now seemingly back to normal. The Doctor backs away, banging into the snooker table. He bites down a cry of pain.

THEO
Yeats knew the terminal point approaches. A new age will dawn.

DOCTOR
“Knew”? He “knew” no such thing – he spent most of his time in seances or libraries reading up on mysticism.

The Doctor moves around the snooker table, but Tracey is approaching from the other side.

DOCTOR
It was an idea popular at the time and, by the way, why am I arguing about the merits of Irish poetry with an audio-visual hallucination?

The trio are closing in around the Doctor.

THEO
You tell me.

The Doctor continues to look for a way past the possessed humans. He is loathe to touch them, as if they are contagious.

DOCTOR
You aren’t actually here, are you? This force, this Dominus is tampering with my perceptions. Maybe he’s bashed down your mental defenses – and it has to be said – that would not be too strenuous a task, and is borrowing your traits. I’m sure he hasn’t got you all the same way he got Daniel.

PASCOE
Are you, Doctor? Are you sure?

DOCTOR
Yes. Otherwise, you would have made your move sooner.

TRACEY
But you would not be here to appreciate it.

DOCTOR
Ah yes, that grudge of yours. What exactly did I do? Kill you? I can’t deny the fact I’ve killed people, but I never deliberately set out to murder anyone. Or at least never went through with it. And I definitely never took pleasure in it...

Pascoe reaches for the Doctor’s face, and he jumps onto the snooker table and runs for the open door to the rest of the house. Emily stands there, waiting. The Doctor skids to a halt. The others are closing in on him.

EMILY
You will know pain. You will know fear. And then you will die for what you did.

DOCTOR
But what did I do?

EMILY
You know what you did.

DOCTOR
Then what’s the harm in checking?

EMILY
The writing, as they say, Doctor, is on the wall.

She points. Frowning, the Doctor turns to check the wall. He pales. Words have been scratched into the wall.

SENTENCED TO DEATH
TRIAL A FAKE
WE ARE ALL
BEING USED


The Doctor tries to speak, backing away in horror. His eyes are bugged, he seems to be unable to breathe properly. The four humans are all around him. He struggles to comprehend this, falling to his knees. As if having a heart attack, he clutches his chest.

DOCTOR
It’s not true... It’s not true! You’re lying! You’re always lying! YOU’RE DEAD! I SAW YOU! I SAW YOU DIE!

THE VOICE (VO)
Why did you kill me?

The Doctor can’t take his eyes from the words on the wall.

THE VOICE (VO)
Why did you kill me? Why did you kill me? Why did you kill me? WHY DID YOU KILL ME?!?

The Doctor finally snaps. He roars at the ceiling.

DOCTOR
BECAUSE YOU DESERVED IT!

The Doctor’s strength seems to vanish.

DOCTOR
You deserved it... deserved worse...

He crumples unconscious on the floor.


39. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

It’s very dark. There is a sound of faint sobbing. A groan.

MAURICE (VO)
Who’s that?!

PERI (VO)
Wha— Maurice? Zat you?

MAURICE (VO)
You sound like Peri.

PERI (VO)
Wha? I am Peri. What happened?

MAURICE (VO)
Don’t think. Just don’t.

PERI (VO)
Where are the others?

MAURICE (VO)
Turning and turning
In the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear
The falconer
Turning and turning and turning...

PERI (VO)
Maurice! Where are you? I can’t see, it’s so dark...

MAURICE (VO)
Things fall apart, Peri!
The centre cannot hold!

Light blinks on. Peri uses the torch to see they are in the same corridor as before. There is no sign of Tracey or the Colonel. Maurice is slumped against a wall, hugging his knees, sweating with fear.

MAURICE
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed everywhere...

PERI
What are you talking about?

MAURICE
Everywhere...

A hideous howl echoes through the night – an inhuman moan, mixed with an animal roar. Peri swings the torch back and forth but they are quite alone.

PERI
Is that downstairs?

MAURICE
Doesn’t matter. It’s looking for the living. It’ll find us wherever we go.

PERI
Don’t get depressed or give up or anything like that.

MAURICE
It’s getting closer. Nowhere to hide.

PERI
What’s getting closer?

MAURICE
The Sphinx.

Peri stares at him.

PERI
The Sphinx?

MAURICE
Yeah. The Spinx. The new messiah. I’ve seen its forerunners, it’s messengers. Those big birds I found. You thought they didn’t mean anything but you were wrong. You see, it’s heralded by giant black birds. It’s all in the line about indignant desert birds. Shadows birds. Black birds. Daniel loved that poem. Sang it all the time. Or whatever it is you do with poems.

PERI
Maurice, the Sphinx is not inside the building. It’s too big to get inside. Let’s just assume it’s the ghost and let’s try and find the others.

MAURICE
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds!

PERI
Come on!

Another roar. Closer. Peri gets to her feet and looks around.

MAURICE
The darkness drops again...

PERI
Maurice! Get up, quick! Come on, move!

MAURICE
But now I know that twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle... and what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Peri grabs him by the ear and pulls him to his feet.

MAURICE
ARGH!

PERI
Where are the others?

MAURICE
Emily ran off. You saw her run off.

PERI
And what about Tracey? Your dad?

MAURICE
It took Tracey.

PERI
What did? That grim reaper guy?

MAURICE
Yes. She’s gone now.

PERI
Gone where?

Maurice giggles.

MAURICE
Far away
To where all the nice children play
And she’s asked us to stay
In her place for the day!

Peri slaps him. Maurice crashes against the wall, sliding back to his former position.

PERI
Look! My hand is getting sore! So either snap out of it or I’ll change tactics.

MAURICE
And then what? This house... it won’t let us leave. It’s been watching us for so long, it knows every move we make... Look around you! Everything’s different! It’s moved! Things in houses don’t move on their own!

PERI
And it doesn’t happen here!

MAURICE
It does when you’re not looking! Nothing in the house moves when you’re LOOKING! It waits until you look away!

PERI
You’re getting hysterical!

MAURICE
Am I? Look around! All the doors are open!

Peri does. She shines the torch down the corridor. Every door is wide open.

PERI
T-they were closed before...

MAURICE
Yes. Locked too. But they’re not locked now. They’re wide open now. How do you think that happened, my little colonial kitten?

Peri snaps, shouting at him.

PERI
Maybe the ghost that can walk through walls, turn staircases into timber and make bodies out of thin air did it! Maybe we just THOUGHT they were closed and YOU’RE a totally useless lounge lizard going crazy! Now, I will make this simple enough for your tiny brain to understand: stay here or come with me. Either way, good luck.

She turns and heads off back down the corridor, the way she came.

MAURICE
You’re going the wrong way.

PERI
No I’m not. I’m going to find the Doctor.

MAURICE
What’s the point?

Maurice calls after her, sounding tired.

MAURICE
Every era passes away every twenty centuries. The new era Christ ushered in is over. The old order is coming to an end and there is nothing anyone can do about it now! Not you, not me, definitely not the Doctor.

PERI
Even if you’re right, we’ve still got seventy years to go!

Maurice snorts derisively.

MAURICE
What’s a few decades between Messiahs when all is said and done?

Peri stops dead. The electric green glow Theo saw is seeping around the far end of the corridor, getting brighter and brighter. Her jaw drops. The strange, almost obscene grunting becomes deeper, louder and closer. Peri is, simply, freaking out.

PERI
The green light... the green light...

MAURICE
Oh, it’s coming back is it?

Peri tears her gaze from the glow as it moves down the corridor and runs over to Maurice, hauls him to his feet and together they head for the exit. The green glow is now so thick nothing can be seen through it.

PERI
WE’VE GOT TO GO!

Maurice laughs, amused as she drags him down the corridor.

MAURICE
Turning and turning and turning!
Things fall apart and the centre cannot hold!

The green glow oozes after them.


40. THE BEYOND

The same as the creature left it. The Doctor is sprawled on the “floor”, looking exhausted. He looks around, confused. The Second Ghost and Daniel are standing over him.

SECOND GHOST
Why did you kill me?

The Doctor looks at him through half-lidded eyes and speaks calmly.

DOCTOR
I don’t want to be here. Where am I?

DANIEL
You’re out on the edge.

DOCTOR
The edge? The edge of what?

DANIEL
Everything.

SECOND GHOST
Why did you kill me?

DOCTOR
No, not this again...

DANIEL
Why did you kill me?

DOCTOR
Not again.

SECOND GHOST
Why?

The Doctor sits up, angry.

DOCTOR
I told you why! You know precisely WHY I did it! You gave me more reasons to end your life then there are stars in the sky! And you mocked me when I spared you... but no more. There are monsters out there with far greater claims on my time. When the Daleks and the Cybermen and the pale horsemen, lonely children and bored gods have had their fun haunting me, maybe, just maybe I’ll waste time on you.

SECOND GHOST
I trusted you. And you knew that, didn't you? You knew it all along.

DOCTOR
I don’t have to listen to this.

The Doctor gets to his feet and finds the First Ghost standing before him.

FIRST GHOST
And now he’s dead. Thanks to you.

DOCTOR
Thanks to us, I think you’ll find. Excuse me.

He pushes past the First Ghost onto face the Second.

SECOND GHOST
Why did you betray me, old friend?

DOCTOR
I betrayed myself as well. You always have to take the egocentric view, don’t you, “old friend”. If you hadn’t, things would be different.

DANIEL
You lie! You wanted me as a scapegoat while you fled to safety!

DOCTOR
You know that’s not the truth. So you’re either lying to me or you’re completely insane. Either way, I don’t have time for this.

He turns around and heads back up the tunnel, pushing past Daniel, Theo, Emily and Pascoe, and the two ghosts, then Daniel again.

THEO
Why did you kill me?

PASCOE
Why did you betray me?

FIRST GHOST
Why? WHY?

SECOND GHOST
I didn’t betray you, did I? You betrayed me

DOCTOR
What happened to you was your own fault!

SECOND GHOST
I was building the foundations of a new tomorrow, Doctor!

DOCTOR
Yes. A tomorrow I pray will never occur.

SECOND GHOST
It would be my legacy – a legacy of peace! You would have been one of its first beneficiaries and now it may be gone for good!

DOCTOR
Then I’m glad. If I could, I go back in time and do EXACTLY the same things and I’d laugh while I did it. I destroyed what you were creating because I knew how cynical and decayed your little “legacy” would be. And you’ve proved me right, haven’t you?!

He looks at the Second Ghost in disgust.

DOCTOR
Get out of my way and STAY out of my way.

Now Daniel, the figure moves aside. The Doctor strides past. The Second Ghost calls after him, furious.

SECOND GHOST
IT’S NOT OVER YET, DOCTOR!

The Doctor strides into the gloom, face determined.


41. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

The same wreckage as before. No sign of Pascoe and the rain has stopped. The Doctor emerges from a doorway, as if straight from the Beyond. He is unfazed.

DOCTOR
I think it is. I don’t know what’s causing this, it’s a puzzler, but hardly the priority at the moment, is it?

SECOND GHOST (VO)
I SWEAR! IT IS NOT OVER YET!

The Doctor turns. The creature fills the corridor behind him, elongated arms and legs crooked trying to fit in the confined space. Its gigantic mouth is big enough to step inside. The roaring is deafening. Unafraid, the Doctor takes a step backwards... and he falls with a cry.


42. THE BEYOND

The Doctor is falling – the tunnel of the Beyond is now a vertical shaft. The Doctor lashes out, trying to grab something to stop his fall. The twisting light that makes the shaft reform into faces (the Ghosts, Daniel, Theo, Emily and Pascoe), forming a ring around the Doctor that follows him as he falls.

DOCTOR
No one can live beyond their own deaths! You are dead!

SECOND GHOST
And YOU saw to that!

DOCTOR
This is just a fantasy! Dreams!

SECOND GHOST
And yet it is happening.

DOCTOR
Fine! Go back over the Great Divide, you’re not wanted here!

The faces mouth for the rasping voice.

THE VOICE
Did I betray you? Or did you betray me?! WHY DID YOU KILL ME?

DOCTOR
You’re not interested in the answer SO STOP ASKING THE QUESTION!

THE VOICE
Surrender! Surrender, Doctor!

DOCTOR
To what?! I’ve never been one to give up so easily!

THE VOICE
SURRENDER!

DOCTOR
Give in? Never!

SECOND GHOST
I have learned so much. About survival... and anger. There are ways of killing that I alone have mastered, that no one else could ever match. And now you are in my domain, the Dominus reigns supreme! You will know pain, you will know fear and then you will die!

DOCTOR
I’m not in pain, I’m not scared and I’m STILL alive – do your worst.

SECOND GHOST
Oh, I shall, Doctor.

THE VOICE
I shall.

Demented laughter follows the Doctor as he plummets.


43. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Peri and the beyond-fear Maurice are running down the corridor into darkness. The sinister green glow seems to be following them. They pass open doorways, and each one has Daniel standing in it, watching them go past. Peri is too freaked to notice and Maurice is beyond caring. They turn a corner down some steps and out of sight.


44. INT. SHORT CORRIDOR (NIGHT)

Dark and gloomy. No sign of anything supernatural. Peri runs for the door, but it’s locked and she and Maurice duck down and hide. A long moment passes. No green light, noises or anything.

PERI
I think it’s gone.

Maurice sounds bored.

MAURICE
What is that thing?

Peri struggles to control her breathing.

PERI
The green light.

MAURICE
What’s that?

PERI
Not a hundred per cent sure. It’s just... just, it’s not good.

She is very freaked.


45. THE BEYOND

The Doctor, looking exhausted, is struggling to his feet. The Second Ghost stands nearby, looking out at us. A look of realization crosses his face.

DOCTOR
You’re stealing from my mind...

No reaction.

DOCTOR
You’re stealing from my mind... a psionic vampire, snatching up all our mental energies. No wonder you’ve been targeting me, trying to scare me with that preposterous notion about you being... Well, anyway, Daniel did more damage to you than I thought. When he died, your life support was cut off. You’re living on borrowed time, so you rather recklessly used all your energy to scare us stupid in the hope we’d both nourish you or provide a new host. Well, not good enough, my non-corporeal friend. You’ll be dead by dawn – in EVERY sense.

The Second Ghost continue to stare ahead.

SECOND GHOST
If I am, there will be companions for my death.

The Doctor frowns and follows his gaze. His bravado falters.

DOCTOR
Peri...


46. INT. SHORT CORRIDOR (NIGHT)

Peri is shivering. Maurice is slumped against the wall. He’s given up.

PERI
A-at my college. You see, w-when you join the fraternity, there’s always some kind of initiation ceremony, a pledge. At my one, it was to spend a night at this run down, abandoned hospital at the edge of the campus. They always said that the, the second floor was haunted and not to go there. So the girls would set up camp on the bottom floor. They weren’t supposed to go upstairs, no matter what. But they hear these n-noises coming from upstairs and see this, kind of green light that keeps moving...

MAURICE
Like that one.

PERI
Yeah. Exactly like that one. And one by one, the girls go to investigate. The f-first one thinks maybe its some frat boys playing a trick, or something like that. But the girl doesn’t come back and the others look for her upstairs, and they don’t come back. So the last one is left alone. Finally she heads upstairs a-and she sees the green light coming from behind a door. She opens it and finds this room... and there’s this electric green light bulb hanging from the ceiling, covered in cobwebs. And the first girl who disappeared is there, out of her mind, dancing and clawing at the lightbulb. And the others... their bodies are on the ground, scratched... bleeding...

The corridor behind them lights up with the sickly glow. Peri flinches.


47. THE BEYOND

The Doctor’s face falls.

DOCTOR
Oh, Peri.

SECOND GHOST
Everyone has a flaw, Doctor. A thought, a memory, a vision... a feeling you never want to feel again, turning your blood to ice and making your eyes sweat.

The Doctor clearly recognizes Peri’s words being used.

SECOND GHOST
Yours was that little message on the wall. Hers is this. And how much can her frail human heart take, when the light comes to claim her.

DOCTOR
Peri is no fool. If there’s one thing I’ve taught her...

SECOND GHOST
But will she remember that through her fear?

DOCTOR
I have faith in her. Absolute faith.

SECOND GHOST
Then you will not object to it being tested.


48. INT. SHORT CORRIDOR (NIGHT)

It is now lit green by the blinding glare from the side passage. Maurice stares at expressionlessly, his voice dead and perspiration down his face.

MAURICE
Is there a moral to this story?

PERI
No! It’s just... just a stupid ghost story...

Her eyes widen. Her confidence returns.

PERI
A stupid ghost story from the seventies, so why is it here and now? Unless Casper is the one behind it. So why does he want us to run away? Unless he wants us not to go back to the Saloon... so that is where I’ll go.

She stands up.

MAURICE
You can’t! That thing will... will...

PERI
I don’t know. It might just be green light. But Perpuguiliam Brown isn’t going to die being scared of a green lightbulb, ghosts or no ghosts!


49. THE BEYOND

The Doctor folds his arm and practices being smug.


50. INT. SHORT CORRIDOR (NIGHT)

Peri strides towards the light. Maurice suddenly screams.

MAURICE
PERI! PLEASE! DON’T LEAVE ME! PERI! PERI!!

She vanishes into the green glow, leaving him alone. Maurice stares, bug-eyed, horrified. His voice is slurred.

MAURICE
It’s not fair. You could have helped. You could have saved me...

Maurice’s look of horror fades gently. A cruel, amused look crosses his face. He leers and rises. The green light has vanished. Peri looks around with the torch, much more confident. She hums to herself.

PERI
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you...


50. THE BEYOND

The Doctor turns to face the Second Ghost.

DOCTOR
Your plan is foiled in every sense. Your energy is almost run out – soon you won’t be able to do anything except slowly expire!

SECOND GHOST
In the meantime, however, the advantage is mine.

DOCTOR
So what do you intend to do with it, pray?

The Second Ghost grins at the Doctor.

SECOND GHOST
You tell me.


51. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Peri is heading down the long corridor, torch brandished, almost relaxed. Maurice follows, preoccupied as he takes something from his pocket.

PERI
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused...

MAURICE
You could have helped me, Miss Brown.

PERI
What?

She turns. Maurice is struggling to take the top off a vial.

MAURICE
You let me die. It’s not something you just forgive.

PERI
Maurice, what are you –

She breaks off as he looks up. His eyes are bone white. He grins, drooling yellow foam.

MAURICE
It tastes just like bitter almonds. Or is that arsenic? I’m sure you’ll find out. It’s all over very quickly I understand. I didn’t want anyone to suffer.

He advances on Peri, who stares at him, incredulous.

MAURICE
But you... yes, I want you to suffer.

Peri shrugs.

PERI
You’re only human. Trouble is...

She kicks him very hard somewhere very delicate. He doubles over.

PERI
So am I.

She turns. Maurice reaches out with shocking speed and grabs her hair, hauling her back. The other arm wraps around her neck, holding her in place as he holds the open vial near her face. His voice mingling with a familiar raspy voice.

THE VOICE
You killed me... now I am going to kill you!

Peri struggles to no avail. Maurice wrenches her head back, causing her mouth to open.


52. THE BEYOND

The Doctor rounds on the Second Ghost.

DOCTOR
I surrender!

SECOND GHOST
Sorry, too late.

DOCTOR
Then I’ll do you a deal. Just let her go! Don’t hurt her!

SECOND GHOST
And in return?

DOCTOR
I won’t fight you any more. You’ve been targeting me for some kind of mental energy, and a Time Lord has far, far more mental energy than any human. If I remove the telepathic barriers, you can feast like a king.

SECOND GHOST
You’ll do it?

DOCTOR
Yes.

SECOND GHOST
But I know how little I can trust you.

DOCTOR
I swear on any oath you care to mention – just let her go!

The Second Ghost moves off, bored.

DOCTOR
PLEASE!


53. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The Doctor now stands in the Saloon in the same position, Daniel standing where the Second Ghost was. Pascoe, Tracey, Theo and Emily stand, listless and zombified.

DANIEL
My dear Doctor... you only had to ask.


54. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Maurice snarls and releases Peri, throwing her to the ground as he fastidiously replaces the stopper. Peri is coughing and choking.


55. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

The demented shape of the Plasmaton creature is behind the Doctor.

DOCTOR
Ready when you are.

DANIEL
Of course. But you are wrong in one vital respect. I wasn’t lying about who I was.

The Doctor’s face falls. Then the two deformed hands clamp over his ears. There is an ethereal howling. The Doctor’s eyes bug as he struggles to breathe. The howling gets louder and louder. We zoom in on the Doctor’s agonized face and superimpose...


56. MONTAGE

Each line punctuated with a scorching white flash. The voices echo and reverb surreally, with lots of howlaround patterns and feedback distorting the images. They soon overlap, becoming harder and harder to understand.

DANIEL
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer...

THE VOICE
I am the God of all Hellfire!

FIRST GHOST
He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.

DALEK
EXTERMINATE!

DANIEL
I’m burning!

COLONEL
The mind of gods are taking control!

EMILY
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...

PERI
Don’t put out the light!

LYTTON
Join us, Doctor.

THEO
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned...

THE VOICE
Something is waiting in the central void.

MAURICE
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

CYBERLEADER
Monsters and demons are coming to eat your black, cursed souls!

TRACEY
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand;

TURLOUGH
Angels are falling out of the sky, to their deaths in the cold sea!

LYTTON
Join us, Doctor! Join us!

PERI
A shape with lion body and the head of a man--
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun is moving its slow thighs...

TURLOUGH
While all about it reel shadows of the indignant desert birds!

LYTTON
Join the ranks of the lost.

FIRST GHOST
I understand.

LYTTON
Join the Legions of the Dead!!

RANI
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

DALEK
COME AND JOIN US IN THE EVERLASTING FIRES OF HELL!

PERI
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

THE VOICE
WIN OR LOSE...

The voice is now less breathless. A less distorted voice can be heard within it.

THE VOICE
LIVE OR DIE...

The voice is even louder, but now the speaker seems to have regrown a voice box. The reverberating echoes make it hard to identify the voice though.

THE VOICE
IT... ENDS... HERE!

A blinding white explosion of noise.


57. INT. SALOON (NIGHT)

We zoom out from the Doctor, still transfixed. But there is no sign of the Plasmaton. The humans’ eyes have returned to normal. The howl fades and the humans collapse in unison, followed by the Doctor, clutching his head. He groans. Silence. The rain has stopped. The Doctor croaks, every syllable is agony.

DOCTOR
Is it over?

A familiar chuckle, by the voice now identifiable.

THE MASTER (VO)
Oh, no, my dear Doctor, it’s not over.

The Doctor stares up at him. Dressed in his usual attire, the MASTER stands over him.

THE MASTER
It’s just begun.


(END OF EPISODE TWO)
(NEXT EPISODE: WAR OF NERVES)
(ROLL END CREDITS)

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

The Enemy Within VII

24. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

The Doctor sneezes and rubs his streaming eyes. He tries to move, but can’t seem to find the energy. The rasping laugh is heard. The Doctor tenses. Another chuckle. Human, this time – with apparently genuine amusement. The Doctor peers through the dusty gloom as a shape emerges from beside the staircase, the source of the laughter.

DOCTOR
Who was it who said the dead have a great sense of humor?

The shape moves into the weak light, revealing it is, in fact PASCOE. He’s not in good shape. His eyes are bone white and a kind of yellow foam drips from his grinning mouth. He is laughing with delight, seeming almost to glide out of the shadows. In his hand is a shotgun – broken. He then un-breaks it and aims at the Doctor.

DOCTOR
Oh, no. One human life is all you get, you appalling apparition! LET HIM GO!

Laughing even louder, Pascoe cocks the shotgun.

DOCTOR
Oh, well, if you want to do it like that.

Pascoe presses the barrel of the shotgun against the Doctor’s forehead. The laughter becomes the evil rasping, throaty voice.

THE VOICE (VO)
The world outside is falling away...

The Doctor stares unflinchingly up at the white-eyed Pascoe. As the possessed manservant’s finger tightens on the trigger, the Doctor reaches out, snatches a broken piece of wood and swings it up, knocking the barrel aside as his momentum drags him out of the way – and the bullets slam into the wall behind the Doctor.

THE VOICE (VO)
No!

The Doctor lunges forward, grabs Pascoe and sends him reeling into the debris. The Doctor stares at the shotgun as if fascinated by it.

DOCTOR
I hate projectile weapons. No stun function built in.

Pascoe screams and lunges at the Doctor who, at the last second, half-turns and crashes the gun butt against Pascoe’s head. His eyes turn normal, then he falls heavily.

DOCTOR
Maybe they do.

The Doctor bends over Pascoe and checks his pulse.

DOCTOR
Be at peace with the world. I’m sure you understand.

The Doctor straightens up to see the black spectre again.

DANIEL (VO)
Why did you kill me?

The Doctor boggles.

DOCTOR
...Daniel?


25. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

The Colonel, Maurice, Tracey and Emily are standing near the open door to Theo’s room. Peri runs back into view.

EMILY
What was that noise?

PERI
The ghost. We have to get out of here, we can’t go that way, so we need another way out.

COLONEL
The north staircase leads to the tradesman’s entrance. Come on.

They start to move out, but Maurice doesn't budge.

MAURICE
We can’t go outside!

PERI
We can’t stay here either!

EMILY
And Theo is out there.

MAURICE
Your point being? The last time someone went outside they hanged themselves from a tree! I don’t want to repeat that experiment, I don’t want to go outside and that’s final!

A sizzling flash of light and a massive crash of thunder. The whole house shudders. Peri struggles to keep her balance, and the others barely manage it. The furniture rattles. It fades into hard, loud rain.

MAURICE
What was that?!

COLONEL
Just thunder, you moron!

EMILY
It felt like an earthquake!

COLONEL
So the storm must be close.

PERI
What storm? It was a clear night five minutes ago!

Tracey pulls open the curtains. The window is rendered opaque with rain. More lightning flashes and the window rattles in the breeze.

TRACEY
That’s not natural.

EMILY
What do you mean?

MAURICE
Summer storms always come from the west. This one’s come from the east. From the wrong way. Straight to this house...

PERI
Are you a meteorologist?

MAURICE
What do meteors have to do with anything?! I know the weather round these parts, and that is not normal!

Another lightning flash and another loud crash of thunder. The lightning flash goes on for a surprisingly long time.

EMILY
Theo’s out in the middle of that.

MAURICE
Well, if he is, how are we supposed to help him? If we go outside, we’ll get caught in the storm, probably lost and...

PERI
And if we stay here, we deal with the thing that killed Daniel! My dad once said, “There’s no such thing as bad weather – just inappropriate clothing.” Come on. It’s just rain and lightening.

MAURICE
Have you ever been struck by lightening?!

PERI
No, so this is our chance to find out what it’s like. Come on.

She heads down the corridor. Maurice stays where he is while the others follow.

MAURICE
Fine. Do what you want, but I’m...

There is another crash of thunder. The window shatters in shards of glass. Maurice dives for the sanctuary where the others are. Furniture is knocked over. The gale shrieks down the corridor.

TRACEY
That horrible noise... it... it sounds...

COLONEL
Human.

TRACEY
Yes. Like a human voice.

EMILY
Or an inhuman one.

Maurice looks accusingly at Peri.

MAURICE
Is that really what you want to face outside?

PERI
We only have to get to the TARDIS. Once there, we’re laughing.


26. INT. HALLWAY (NIGHT)

As before. The Doctor and Daniel face off.

DANIEL
Why did you kill me, Doctor?

The Doctor sighs.

DOCTOR
No. Not Daniel. Another plasmaton. Dear me, you are running low, aren’t you?

DANIEL
Why did you kill me?

The Doctor starts to sing cheerfully, ignoring Daniel.

DOCTOR
Nostra patria è il mondo intero
nostra legge è la libertà
ed un pensiero
ribelle in cor ci sta.


Daniel looks baffled.

DANIEL
What are...

The Doctor cuts across him, firmly.

DOCTOR
Ma torneranno Italia
I tuoi proscritti
Ad agitar la face
Dei diritti.

DANIEL
Answer me! Why?

The Doctor picks his way over the rubble towards the door.

DANIEL
You think this will change what you’ve done?

Daniel steps out of the shadows, in front of the Doctor, who ducks round him, still chanting.

DOCTOR
Nostra patria è il mondo intero
nostra legge è la libertà
ed un pensiero
ribelle in cor ci sta.


DANIEL
Why? Doctor? WHY? WHY DID YOU KILL ME?

The Doctor reaches the door and starts to tug at the lock.

DANIEL
You can’t ignore me Doctor! Why did you do it?

DOCTOR
Nostra patria è il mondo intero
nostra legge è la libertà
ed un pensiero
ribelle in cor ci sta.


Daniel is standing right beside the Doctor.

DANIEL
Why?

The Doctor ignores him, tugging at the lock. With a scowl, Daniel reaches out and grabs the Doctor’s shoulders and effortlessly hauls him from the door and hurls him across the room. The Time Lord cries out as he is sucked down the hallway. The throaty voice emerges from Daniel’s mouth as he starts to disperse into the gloom.

THE VOICE (VO)
Our homeland is the whole world
Our law is liberty
We have one thought –
Revolution – in our hearts!

He vanishes completely.


27. EXT. QUARRY (DAY) B&W

A barren, rocky space. A few plants are growing. With a familiar wheezing groaning sound, a large upright boulder appears. A blunt-edged chunk of it opens like a door pushed on a telescoping metal tube. Stepping out of the time machine is the cheerful FIRST GHOST emerges, a fit, keen-eyed man of the same age. He wears a long duster jacket with many pockets and buckles, and some sci-fi goggles. The SECOND GHOST - young handsome man in his twenties, clean shaven, and dressed in a conservative practical outfit – emerges far more cautiously.

FIRST GHOST
Well, it’s not exactly a garden spot, but suitable enough. Yes.

SECOND GHOST
Here of all places. The society’s barely reached the industrial age. Everyone will be paranoid, violent and extremely distrusting of outsiders.

FIRST GHOST
And how is that different from most industrial societies?

SECOND GHOST
Oh, very droll.

FIRST GHOST
I just wanted a stroll. We can head back home the moment we’ve stretched our legs.

SECOND GHOST
Yes. You said that before.

FIRST GHOST
Did I?

SECOND GHOST
Yes. When we played truant and stole a skimmer to head for Paradise Island.

FIRST GHOST
That was a special case, my friend. Let us have that stroll.

SECOND GHOST
I suppose it was a total coincidence we landed on the one side of the planet containing the collection of cities where most of the population live inside or between?

FIRST GHOST
I thought you didn’t believe in coincidence.

SECOND GHOST
That’s what I mean.

They move into the outskirts of some woods.

SECOND GHOST
You realize of course we probably won’t be able to pass for natives. Just because they’re humanoid...

FIRST GHOST
My dear friend, I don’t intend to get into some firefight with the locals! What do you take me for. Just a quick escape from Anzor and the others. A chance to relax. But I did notice some sort of primitive stronghold over the hill, a sort of town inside a wooden fence, surrounded by a moat and some wooden spikes...

SECOND GHOST
Anyone who builds something like that won’t be happy about two aliens watching them.

FIRST GHOST
I never said I wanted to be spotted. Come along, where’s your sense of adventure?

SECOND GHOST
Right now it’s stuck in the black star with no life support.

FIRST GHOST
How about your wonder and curiosity?

SECOND GHOST
Back at the ship.

The First Ghost tuts and shakes his head.


28. EXT. OUTSIDE THE MANOR (NIGHT)

Lightning crackles across the sky. The rain is sheeting down.


29. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

The lights are flickering. The group moves cautiously down the passage which clearly has not been used for some time.

MAURICE
I’m sure I heard the front door slam.

COLONEL
It was just thunder.

MAURICE
It was not thunder! It was the door slamming BETWEEN thunder!

EMILY
Maybe it’s Theo? He’s found his way back.

MAURICE
Or the Doctor running for it, and leaving us to the mercy of...

PERI
Maurice? Just shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Apart from anything else, the Doctor double-locked the door. So Theo would have to use another way to get in. And the Doctor isn’t going to abandon us.

Maurice is now getting progressively more hysterical.

MAURICE
How do you know?!

PERI
I don’t! You’re just hearing things! It’s either the ghost messing with you or just you cracking up, so either way, just build a bridge and get over it!

MAURICE
Sorry.

PERI
It’s OK.

The lights flicker, go out and then return. For a brief instant, two red lights – like eyes – hover in the gloom before them. Simultaneously, thunder rumbles. Peri takes out the torch as the lights return, showing there was nothing there.

PERI
Anyone else see that?

MAURICE
I wish I hadn’t.

TRACEY
What’s smell? It’s like something burning...

PERI
Forget it! It’s just toying with us. How much further do we have to go, Colonel?

COLONEL
Two more corridors after this one.

Peri takes a deep breath and tries to sound chirpy.

PERI
Well, best foot forward...

They head down the corridor again. As they move out of view, we see the shadow-shape is unhurriedly moving down the corridor after them.


30. EXT. ALLEYWAY (DAY) B&W

A medieval-looking alleyway in a medieval-looking city.

SECOND GHOST
Well, it looks as if we got here unnoticed. Which suits me. Should we go back?

FIRST GHOST
Just a quick look round.

SECOND GHOST
You will be the death of me one day.


31. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

The group cautiously move down a short flight of stairs into a longer, gloomy corridor. Water is dripping from the ceiling.

PERI
So, people did actually die here?

COLONEL
Years and years ago. Nothing like this has happened before.

PERI
Maybe the ghosts just woke up? No, this doesn’t make sense. It’s one evil ghost after us, not the ghosts of his victims.

MAURICE
Maybe this evil ghost is what caused him to... to... kill them in the first place? A demon? You said it feeds off fear. Maybe it’s only started to get hungry now, years later, when no one would suspect a thing. If anything happens to us, the lines are down, the roads are flooded, we don’t have a hope... What you can’t see won’t hurt you... it’ll...

Tracey shushes him and takes his hand.

TRACEY
You’re getting upset, Maurice. Just relax.

MAURICE
Relax? Are you insane? Are you even aware of the situation we’re in?! DO YOU? Sorry, sorry. It’s just... this is just too spooky! And there have been signs. Haven’t there? Signs and portents.

TRACEY
What are you on about?

MAURICE
Yesterday. We found a dead bird on the lawn. But, but, it wasn’t a normal bird. It was huge, the size of a dog. All distorted and oil black. The monster was dead though. Just seemed to fall out of the sky. Doesn’t that mean something?

PERI
Yeah, you’re panicking! Did the bird say anything? Do anything?

COLONEL
No. It was dead.

EMILY
Well, people do find dead birds and ghosts aren’t involved.

MAURICE
But there are no birds like that in this country! Where did it come from?!

PERI
How should I know? I haven’t even seen it!

MAURICE
So just take it from me! IT WASN’T NORMAL!

PERI
OK, hands up who wants to slap him first?

All bar Maurice raise their hands. Maurice glares at them all, hysterical.

MAURICE
Oh yes, VERY AMUSING! We’re trapped and surrounded by things beyond comprehension, so let’s pick on Maurice! That will cheer us up! That will... Oh my god...

His voice has dropped to a whimper. He raises a shaking hand and points down the corridor into the gloom. The others follow his gaze, despite their best efforts sharing his fear. He whimpers again and points to a patch of shadow in the corner. Just visible on the floor are two shoes, half lost in shadow along with whatever is wearing them. Silence bar the rain. Peri swallows.

PERI
T-Theo? Theo, is that you?

No reaction. The raspy laugh begins.

PERI
Theo?

The laugh becomes a moaning scream as there is another flash of lightning... Maurice and Emily cry out. Peri peers through the flash as it ends. As the thunder fades, she calmly strides over to the shoes and kicks them. They fly across the corridor.

PERI
Just an empty pair of shoes. Now are we moving or not?

The laughter begins again. Peri speaks firmly.

PERI
Ignore it.

She turns and moves down the corridor. The Colonel and Tracey follow, but Maurice and Emily are less eager. Emily pauses by the window and cries out. Maurice flinches.

MAURICE
What? What did you see? EMILY, WHAT DID YOU SEE?

Emily stares through the rain beyond the window.

EMILY
Theo...


32. EXT. OUTSIDE THE MANOR (NIGHT)

Barely visible through the rain, Theo stands absolutely still on the lawn, looking straight at the window. He is soaked. His eyes are locked on the window.


33. INT. UPPER LANDING (NIGHT)

Emily looks through the window with naked relief.

EMILY
Theo...

COLONEL
That’s not Theo.

EMILY
He’s alive! He’s alive and out there!

She turns and runs down the corridor, shoving Maurice and Peri out of the way.

PERI
Hey, no! Wait up!

COLONEL
Emily, m’dear! It’s not him!

MAURICE
What do you mean, it’s not...

Peri looks back and sees the black shape now stands directly behind Tracey.

PERI
TRACEY!

Tracey ducks away. The Colonel spins, raises his rifle and fires point blank at the spectre. A chunk of plaster is knocked loose as the bullets pass straight through the black figure. Immediately the throaty laughter booms around them from all sides. The lights flicker again, then one by one explode in sparks, until the only light illuminates the shadow creature. The Colonel fires the gun again. Peri screams as the darkness becomes pitch black. There is the rasping howl and the sound of flames crackling.

- to be continued...