The End of the Road V

(ROLL OPENING CREDITS)

1. INT. RECEPTION AREA (DAY)

Tasambeker, the Doctor and Peri are present.

TASAMBEKER
Why have you come here?

DOCTOR
I want to discuss a statue erected in the Garden of Fond Memories.

TASAMBEKER
Ah yes, there we memorialize all those who choose simply to have their mortal remains interred here rather than take use of our other services...

DOCTOR
And also those who your other services failed to save.

Tasambeker scowls.

TASAMBEKER
What is your complaint? Which particular statue are you referring to?


2. EXT. THE GARDEN OF FOND MEMORIES (DAY)

The Doctor, Tasambeker and Peri stand in the garden next to a long, narrow pond opposite the pathway. Alarms still on in the background. The Doctor points to the statue at the head of the pond.

DOCTOR
THAT statue.

TASAMBEKER
It’s impossible!

We see the face carved on the plinth. Still, white and with a serene smile, it is a detailed carving of the Doctor’s face. And, beneath it are carved the words THE DOCTOR.

(FINISH OPENING CREDITS)
(THE END OF THE ROAD)
(EPISODE TWO: HARSH TRUTHS)

1. INT. CHAPEL (DAY)

This is shown on the screen. The GREAT HEALER’s voice can be heard chuckling.

PERI
But it’s not possible.

DOCTOR
It is in the TARDIS.

DRONE VOICE
IT IS THE DOCTOR.

GREAT HEALER
Excellent. The lure has worked.

DRONE VOICE
SHOULD HE BE DETAINED?

GREAT HEALER
No. It will be far more satisfying to see his own curiosity deliver him into my hands.


2. EXT. THE GARDEN OF FOND MEMORIES (DAY)

As before. The statue smiles down at the trio.

TASAMBEKER
That statue has been there for over eight years. It was one of the first memorials erected after Tranquil Repose was established.

DOCTOR
Eight years. Just eight years.

TASAMBEKER
I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you sir. I visit this Garden at least once a day.

PERI
To pay your respects?

TASAMBEKER
Well, no. Smoking is not allowed indoors.

DOCTOR
I need to know who built this statue. The exact information.

TASAMBEKER
Yes, sir, but I can assure you it was entirely above board. This Garden was set up specially by the founders of Tranquil Repose. No monuments may be raised without the express written permission of the Great Healer.

DOCTOR
The Great Healer? Is he here, in Tranquil Repose?

TASAMBEKER
I cannot answer, sir, for security reasons.

DOCTOR
I want to speak to him. By communicator if necessary. Get me an appointment.

Tasambeker’s recovering from shock and getting irritated with him.

TASAMBEKER
Sir?

DOCTOR
Now. Please. Chop-chop. All of the above. Or I’ll sue.

TASAMBEKER
For what?

DOCTOR
My appearance used in this way counts as copyright theft.

TASAMBEKER
Very good sir.

Tasambeker scowls and hurries away. Peri approaches the Doctor.

PERI
This is real, isn’t it?

DOCTOR
Seems so.

PERI
I mean, REALLY real. We’re in the future. Our future, I mean. Personally. We’re in the future and you’re... you’re...

DOCTOR
Yes. The nightmare of every time traveler – arriving in your own destiny.

The Doctor looks quietly up at the statue.

DOCTOR
And I thought I was good for a few more regenerations.


3. INT. TR CORRIDORS (DAY)

NATASHA and GRIGORY run down the corridor and come to a halt by a pair of doors. Natasha pulls out her map and studies it while Grigory swigs from his flask.

GRIGORY
A bit of tomb-robbing Grigory, you said. Easy as Grigory, you said. We’re being helped by someone on the inside Grigory, you said. No trouble at all Grigory, you said. We’ll be running for our lives after three counts of murder and attempted body-snatching Grigory, you said. Oh, wait, no you didn’t!

NATASHA
Voxnic metabolized yet?

Grigory swigs from his flask again.

GRIGORY
Not sure. My hands may shake with fear. Or from delirium tremens. Where are we?

NATASHA
Not on the map.

GRIGORY
Oh good, that means they can never catch us.

NATASHA
Not really. But this corridor was supposed to end several metres ago. The bulbs are still on, so this section is in regular use.

GRIGORY
Not used by your precious insider though, obviously!

Natasha tries the doors. The open onto darkness.

NATASHA
More of the complex not on the map.

GRIGORY
This far down, it can only lead underground. No way out of here. No future either, I bet.

NATASHA
Yes, well, unlike you, I studied the map closely.

GRIGORY
I spent all night studying it!

NATASHA
With takeaway and an old Kara Wardras film about Cybermen.

Grigory toasts her and swigs again.

GRIGORY
Student revision method number four. Never fails.

NATASHA
It damn well failed this time. There are service lifts to every level. Not many alternative exits, true, but we can return to the surface and sneak out.

Natasha steps into the dark. Grigory is thoughtful.

GRIGORY
Lifts. Ramps and lifts. Why are there no stairs?

NATASHA
Trolley access, you idiot. Now come on!

Grigory shrugs and follows her, mellow with booze.

GRIGORY
Natasha, I was in plenty of hospitals and I had plenty of stairs...


4. EXT. THE GARDEN OF FOND MEMORIES (DAY)

The Doctor and Peri sit on a stone bench. The statue stands behind them.

PERI
How long have you known?

DOCTOR
Time is an abstract concept.

Peri gives him a reproving look.

DOCTOR
A while. I arrived here before, saw the statue marked The Doctor. I thought it was a coincidence. Someone else. I mean, when I was younger I was a much older man. My hair had turned white. I needed spectacles. I mean...

He waves at the still white copy of his features.

DOCTOR
Someone else called the Doctor. Made sense. But it was only after I left I remembered when I grew older I’d look different. But I never really gave it much thought. Until a few days ago. I looked in the mirror, and realized that statue was looking back. Destiny. Inescapable. We’re already on Nekros. And soon I’ll arrive here maybe eight years ago and... die.

PERI
Maybe... Maybe you’ll regenerate again. I mean, OK, you didn’t get to keep this body very long, but it doesn’t mean you’re doomed. To die, I mean.

DOCTOR
Oh, Peri, look at me. That sculpture was made by someone who had access to my body, my clothes – and these statues cost far too much to be wasted on someone who might not be dead. If I regenerated, they would never have erected it.

PERI
Maybe they finished it before you changed.

DOCTOR
That long? Then I didn’t change. Won’t change.

PERI
Vanity?

DOCTOR
Peri, this is my favorite body, but the day I choose death before losing it is the day I go back to Gallifrey to begin my career in local politics and let people die if there’s a chance to save them.

A pause.

PERI
It’s a good likeness.

DOCTOR
Yes, very good likeness.

PERI
It’s sort of immortality.

DOCTOR
Of a kind. I never thought the precogniscence of my own death would be so... disturbing.

PERI
It’s why you wanted to take me home, isn’t it? So I wouldn’t have to know this. So when we parted company, I’d head off back to college thinking of you flying through space and time, righting wrongs... not dead and buried in the snow.

DOCTOR
It’s what I wanted to believe myself.

PERI
This is why we never visited Earth in the 21st century. You never wanted me to stumble across my own gravestone.

DOCTOR
Yes. Well, that and the fact it gets pretty miserable until the Greenhouse Crisis ends.

PERI
Well, obviously.

DOCTOR
Obviously.

They chuckle, but their sobriety quickly returns.

PERI
So... what now?

DOCTOR
Well, the surprise is gone. Might as well find out all details of how I died. Then, if I can, drop you off at home and go to meet my maker.

PERI
You’ll get to act all know-it-all before the end.

DOCTOR
Yes, and we all love being able to do that.


5. INT. DJ’S RECORDING SUITE (DAY)

The DJ stares at the screen showing the Doctor and Peri. He is now dressed as an 1980s punk – dyed blue mohawk, lots of makeup, chains and denim. The Stranglers’ Golden Brown plays in the background.

DJ
Whoaaaaaaaaaa.... hea-veeeeeey. Any of you guys understanding this? Cause this is deep! Deep! Through the windmills of my mind and out the other side!


6. EXT. THE GARDEN OF FOND MEMORIES (DAY)

As before.

PERI
We can’t change this, can we?

DOCTOR
No.

PERI
You sure?

DOCTOR
I’m sure. 900 years, Peri. More than most people get. If I wanted to live forever, I could have stayed home.

PERI
But, surely, we can go back in time, fake your death, pay for the statue and laugh about it afterwards.

DOCTOR
I’m not sure we can.

PERI
Why not?

DOCTOR
Because once Ms. Tasambeker tells us what happened, then it’s set in stone.

PERI
Well, we leave before we hear it. Or we make sure what she says is a lie.

The Doctor looks at her.

DOCTOR
It’s the end of the road, Peri.

PERI
So? When the road ends, we just get out of the car and keep walking.

The Doctor smiles.

DOCTOR
All right, Peri. We’ll do it. Time might be against us, but we won’t go quietly.

Peri holds out a hand.

PERI
Together?

The Doctor takes it.

DOCTOR
Together.

They rise and head for the ramp.

DOCTOR
Let’s see where young Tasambeker’s got to.


7. MODEL SHOT

An establishing shot of Kara’s factory.


8. INT. KARA’S OFFICE (DAY)

LYTTON paces while KARA sits at her desk.

LYTTON
So how do you intend to deal with the Great Healer’s followers?

KARA
The disciples of any fanatic will not give up without a struggle, but my forces can overwhelm them – but only when they are shocked by the news of the Great Healer’s death.

LYTTON
No problem. I’ll return back here for my fee.

KARA
That is a distance of twenty kilometers, more than enough to time for the followers and agents to regroup.

LYTTON
Then I’ll let you know by communicator.

KARA
I would prefer you to signal me the moment you enter the Great Healer’s inner sanctum. Therefore, the Great Healer will be distracted by my rebellion while his agents are distracted by your attack on the Great Healer himself.

LYTTON
The Inner Sanctum?

KARA
The catacombs of Nekros, established just after colonization before the Long Cold. In the Ice Fields on the outermost edges of Tranquil Repose, south from here. His main base is deep within the catacombs, underground.

LYTTON
Yes. He buries his head beneath rocks and pretends nothing can see him. Typical of him.

Vogel enters containing a bulky black box with coloured buttons.

VOGEL
I have it, madam.

KARA
How nice. And so incredibly compact.

VOGEL
Our engineers do such wonderful work.

Lytton rolls his eyes.

LYTTON
If I might interrupt this tedious double act - what is that box?

KARA
A special, one-way transmitter – with built in booster to project through the catacomb roofs. Once inside the Inner Sanctum, you must activate it with a simple five-digit transmitter. The final button will send a pre-recorded, specially encoded signal to my computer here. Then I wipe out the Great Healer’s forces while at the same time you wipe out the Great Healer.

LYTTON
And if I don’t send the message, you assume I’m dead and don’t risk everything on your rebellion.

KARA
I would have too much to lose – even if my part in this was NOT discovered.

LYTTON
And supposing this transmitter is captured?

VOGEL
If anything but the correct sequence is entered, the message inside will corrupt. If sent, we will not be fooled.

LYTTON
So many safety features. Don’t you have any confidence in me?

KARA
With your legendary reputation and skill for death? How could we?

LYTTON
You’re right. My skills are impressive. And the Great Healer will discover this to his cost. And should I at any time suspect you two are cheating me, you will get a free demonstration of my skills – once you’ve paid me, of course. Now what is the code?


9. INT. RECEPTION AREA (DAY)

The ATTENDANTS stand to attention, all dressed neatly and in make-up. Tasambaker is as well. JOBEL strides up and down like an army sergeant. The ATTENDANTS are clearly intimidated by him.

JOBEL
...and Mr. Takis has given me his personal guarantee that the body-snatchers will be caught and dealt with, thus leaving us free to get on with our work. Now this is a big day at Tranquil Repose and nothing else will go wrong. Do you understand me?

A nervous, hesitant nod.

JOBEL
Good. Although the President has yet to arrive, the utmost decorum is to be shown from this moment on. Blue cotton gloves are to be worn at all times.

He shows off the gloves on his hands.

JOBEL
There will be no drinking, swearing or smoking of herbal mixtures – especially in the presence of the deceased. The key word is respect. To the President. To his wife. And above all, to me.

The doors open and the Doctor and Peri peer through. The Doctor holds a finger to his lips and they listen as Jobel marches down the line once more.

JOBEL
Tranquil Repose has been in operation for nearly a decade but despite this none of you maston-brained biological cul-de-sacs seem to grasp the concept. We may be in the “stiff” business as the DJ may have very, very crudely put it, but the universe considers our clients are loved ones who have passed on pastures finer and lusher than those they knew during their lives. Total claptrap of course, but to shatter this fragile illusion will be to invite a fate so horrible not even the Great Healer could mend you. Are you... picking... your... nose?

One of the attendants, scratching his nose, freezes. Then he very gently lowers his hand.

JOBEL
I should hope not.

Two FEMALE ATTENDANTS giggle and gossip.

JOBEL
All NECESSARY conversation will be conducted in a whisper... ladies.

They shut up.

JOBEL
Anyone – and I mean ANYONE – who breaks these rules, inadvertently or deliberately, between now and the President’s depature will find themselves scrubbing out the mortuary preparation room for the next three years. With a toothbrush.

He smiles broadly.

JOBEL
Or maybe I’ll just kill you and give your corpses for the medical students to practice on. You’d like that, wouldn’t you Tasambeker. I can just imagine you slashing away happily with a scalpel. Now, are these instructions understood?

Very timid nods.

JOBEL
Dismissed. The lot of you. Get out of my sight.

The attendants scramble away as fast as they can.


10. INT. TR CORRIDORS (DAY)

TAKIS and LILT approach the section. The doors stand open.

LILT
Where’s this lead to?

TAKIS
The catacombs set up by the first colonists.

LILT
Why have an entrance there?

TAKIS
It links up with the Great Healer.

LILT
Isn’t that a bit dangerous?

TAKIS
The place is a maze, you need an escort. It’s also cold enough. If the body snatchers are down there, they’ll freeze before they get to the surface.

LILT
Especially with the Long Cold due soon. They say it’s getting earlier every year.

TAKIS
Yes. I hope you took a last look outside. Once it starts, for the next three months the only way out of here is the space port.

Takis closes the doors.


11. INT. CHAPEL (DAY)

This is shown on the screen.

LILT
Never really thought about it that way before. I guess we’re kind of trapped inside till the snows end. Still, it’s nice and warm.

TAKIS
For the moment. And we also have two murderers on the loose.

The image changes to a frozen image of Natasha.

GREAT HEALER
Identify genetic makeup and cross-reference to the Pherran Information Bureau.

DRONE VOICE
I OBEY.

The image solarizes back and forth then changes to a passport phot of Natasha smiling. Text is overlaid on it, scrolling upwards then the words NATASHA L. STENGOS.

GREAT HEALER
Stengos! Hah!

DRONE VOICE
ARTHUR V. STENGOS ADMITTED TO TRANQUIL REPOSE TWO YEARS THREE MONTHS SEVEN DAYS PREVIOUSLY. SUFFERING CHRONIC HOFFEL’S IRRADIATION CONTAMINATION. CURED TWO YEARS THREE MONTHS FOUR DAYS PREVIOUSLY. CURRENT STATUS, AWAITING PROCESSING. REPEATED EFFORTS MADE BY NATASHA STENGOS FOR REVIVAL OR REPATRIATION.

GREAT HEALER
Very well. Have him taken to the Incubation Chamber. On display. We shall give these grave robbers what they have come here for.


12. INT. RECEPTION AREA (DAY)

The attendants have gone. Only Tasambeker remains. Jobel is admiring the death mask. The Doctor and Peri approach the steps leading up to it.

TASAMBEKER
Mr. Jobel?

JOBEL
Oh, I’d have guessed you’d stay behind. Trouble follows you around. No one else does.

TASAMBEKER
I’m sorry, Mr. Jobel.

JOBEL
Yes, you are sorry. What is it?

Tasambeker points to the Doctor and Peri.

TASAMBEKER
This man has a complaint about the Garden of Fond Memories.

JOBEL
Just the one?

TASAMBEKER
There is a statue constructed of him there, despite the fact he’s still alive.

Jobel crosses and looks the Doctor up and down.

JOBEL
Yes, I can see the resemblance. But you’re mistaken. The statue at the front of the pond, yes? That was composed in lieu of a perpetual instatement by special order of the Great Healer. A very close friend of his died in some horrible accident, there was nothing left to bury, but micro-recordings of his features were enough for the statue.

DOCTOR
It’s a statue of me. I am the Doctor.

JOBEL
You are a Doctor. The one immortalized in the statue was killed before Tranquil Repose was ever thought up – before the Great Healer even arrived on Nekros.

DOCTOR
Well, there’s a simple way to deal with this. I want to see the Great Healer.

JOBEL
That will be a contest worth missing. I’m afraid for security reasons, that will not be possible. But, I must admit... it is a startling resemblance. Tasambeker, go and see the Great Healer and inform him of this situation.

DOCTOR
You mean he doesn’t already know?


13. INT. CHAPEL (DAY)

On the screen, the Doctor points straight at us.

JOBEL
What do you mean?

DOCTOR
There is a surprising amount of surveillance cameras in this complex. Presumably your Great Healer character has access to their information? In which case he already knows.

TASAMBEKER
Those security cameras are for the exclusive use of the Perpetual Instatement Personalized Information and Communication Service.

PERI
‘PIPICS’? Gotta work on the acronyms.

The Great Healer chuckles.


14. INT. RECEPTION AREA (DAY)

Jobel slides closer to Peri who in turn slides closer to the Doctor.

JOBEL
My dear pretty one, the Perpetual Instatement Personalized Information and Communication Service is what gives Tranquil Repose the purest and unsullied of edges over all funerary competition – devised by the Great Healer himself.

DOCTOR
Er... why?

TASAMBEKER
Because otherwise our services could be interpreted as slightly...

PERI
Sterile?

JOBEL
Yes. That’s exactly right.

He slides closer and slips his arm around her.

JOBEL
Those ruby red lips of yours form such wonderful words.

Peri grins broadly and rests her head on his shoulder.

PERI
Really? Like the words ‘one step nearer and I rip off your toupee’.

Jobel releases her but stays where he is, fuming.

JOBEL
My what?

PERI
You’re wearing...

The Doctor laughs very loudly and leads Peri away from Jobel.

DOCTOR
Peri, leave him with one last bastion of pride. Now, Chief Embalmer, I never gave permission to be viewed by any information and communication service, personalized perpetual instatement or otherwise. Who is this Big Brother character?


15. INT. DJ’S RECORDING SUITE (DAY)

Status Quo’s Pictures of Matchstick Men plays. The DJ furiously scrubs makeup from his face and pulls the wig off and throws it onto a heap. He speaks with his own accent.

DJ
Oh no, guys. Product placement and I’m not ready. Still too dazed by all that discussing of time travel and destiny. Or maybe it was voxnic milkshake experiment...


16. INT. RECEPTION AREA (DAY)

Jobel leads the Doctor and Peri over to a screen with the TR logo.

JOBEL
You can say hello to him yourself.

The logo vanishes and is replaced with DJ. He is now dressed in blue like an attendant and has a ginger mullet wig.

DJ
Hi there!

Peri smiles at his assumed American twang.

PERI
Hey!

The DJ’s grin is now fixed. He’s embarrassed.

DOCTOR
And you are the Perpetual Instatement Personalized Information and Communication Service?

DJ
Yeah, you got it in one but I like to be called the DJ. Now, if you’re missing your resting ones and want to tell them just how much, then why not call on me?

DOCTOR
Why not indeed?

The interruption ruins the DJ’s mock confidence.

DJ
Well... er... You see, I am the messenger who connects YOUR hearts with THEIR hearts via some swinging nineteen sixties sounds! So, I’ll be hearing from ya – and so will they!

The screen blinks off.


17. INT. DJ’S RECORDING STUDIO (DAY)

The image of the Doctor, Peri, Jobel and Tasambeker retreats into one of the nine images on the screen. The DJ massages his closed eyes and lets out a sigh – it’s hard to tell if he’s embarrassed or just relieved. He reaches out an punches a button. Jimi Hendrix’s All Alone In The Watchtower plays. The DJ relaxes, then looks miserable.

DJ
Eight long years. And I still can’t talk to people who can talk back.

- to be continued...