8. Finding the Secret Base
SCENE #75 – EXT – LARGE GRASSY FIELD, CLOSE TO STOCKBRIDGE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
In the large grassy field, the Doctor, Billy and Max run for their lives. As they run, the helicopter zooms past. It flies down as it makes its dive and is almost about to hit them.
DOCTOR
(cries) “Max, Billy! Down!!!”
The trio get down before the helicopter’s chopper blades hit them. Rupert and Samuel’s laughter echoes as the helicopter flies off. The Doctor, Max and Billy get up onto their feet before they run again.
MAX
(shouts; to Rupert; Samuel) “Idiots! Can’t you see you’re going to kill someone if you make a dive like that?!”
DOCTOR
“I don’t think they’re listening, Max.”
BILLY
“Doctor! We’re going to get ourselves jacked if we don’t do something to stop that helicopter and its maniacs attacking us!”
DOCTOR
(protests) “We’re doing well with dodging them, aren’t we?!”
MAX
“It may not be enough! I agree with Billy! We should do something!”
BILLY
“Doctor, we’ll have our bodies skinned alive by those chopper blades if we’re not careful!”
DOCTOR
(agitated) “Trust me, you two! I know what I’m doing!” (Pause; realises; cries) “Both of you, get down!!!”
The Doctor, Billy and Max fall to the ground, as the helicopter comes on top of them again. Billy cries out in pain before the helicopter zooms off again with Rupert and Samuel laughing away.
MAX
(concerned) “Billy?! Billy, you’re hurt!”
DOCTOR
(concerned) “Billy, are you injured badly?”
BILLY
(in pain) “Oww…it’s my wrist. I…I could feel the force of that wing blade as it came down. I think my arm caught it when I tried to duck!”
The Doctor checks Billy’s wrist.
DOCTOR
(reassuringly) “You’ll be alright. Just a flesh wound really. Don’t raise your arms up like that in the air again when ducking next time, Billy.”
BILLY
“I’ll try to remember, Doctor.”
MAX
(shouts) “Doctor! There are some bushes up ahead! Beside those trees! We can shelter under there!”
DOCTOR
“Yes! Provided we’ll have enough time to find another hiding place before that helicopter crashes into the bushes! Come on! Let’s get moving now!”
The Doctor drags Billy, as they and Max run for the bushes with the helicopter chasing after them.
SCENE #76 – INT – COCKPIT, HELICOPTER – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Inside the helicopter, Rupert and Samuel laugh like mad as they pilot it.
RUPERT
(laughs) “They run like foxes when chased by hounds!”
SAMUEL
(laughs) “They fret and hide in bushes and trees!”
RUPERT
“We’ll make those trees scream their branches off! We’ll burn them! Prepare the flame throwers, mate!”
SAMUEL
“And missiles?”
RUPERT
“Yes, Sammy! And missiles!”
SAMUEL
“Right you are!”
Samuel sets to work as he gets the flame throwers and missiles into place.
SCENE #77 – EXT – BUSHES, LARGE GRASSY FIELD – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
The Doctor, Max and Billy eventually reach and hide behind the bushes in the large grassy field. They look up to see the progress of the helicopter.
MAX
(baffled) “Doctor. I don’t like the way that helicopter’s just sitting there in the air! There’s something uneasy about the way it’s just sitting there.”
DOCTOR
“I agree with you, Max. I wonder what they’re up to.”
MAX
(enthused) “Doctor! Perhaps you can use that book again! With the beam of yours! Coffee stain was it you pressed?”
DOCTOR
“What?! Max, I’m not prepared to fire a beam of light onto a helicopter from a book! Especially when the villains inside are attacking us!”
MAX
“You didn’t think so at the time when Maggie and Phillip threatened us.”
DOCTOR
“That was on a low setting.”
BILLY
“You don’t have to destroy the helicopter, Doctor. Just give it a warning shot.”
MAX
“I see what Billy means, Doctor. He’s got a point. All we need to do is deflect the helicopter and the boys in there from attacking us.”
The Doctor thinks for a bit, as he contemplates this course of action.
DOCTOR
(gradually; reluctantly) “Alright. Let’s give those boys a warning shot, shall we?!”
The Doctor fumbles through his coat pockets and takes out the book. Whilst doing that, the helicopter ejects fire from its flame thrower at one of the trees nearby. The tree bursts into flames and collapses. This startles Max and Billy.
MAX
(cries; anxiously) “Oh blooming cripes!”
BILLY
(anxiously) “They’ve also got a flame thrower of some kind. At least I think it’s a flame thrower!” (cries) “Look out!”
DOCTOR
(shouts) “Get down, Max; Billy! Get down!!!”
The Doctor, Max and Billy get down, as the helicopter flies over them. They’re about to open fire with missiles and the flame thrower, as Rupert and Samuel laugh madly from inside.
MAX
“Listen to them! Laughing away like lunatics! They must think we’re nothing!”
BILLY
“Doctor?! I think now is the time to use that book of yours!”
DOCTOR
“Quite right, Billy. Let’s find the coffee stain.”
The Doctor opens the book and goes through the pages, before he comes to the coffee stain on a particular page.
DOCTOR
“Found it.” (to Max; Billy) “Ready, you two?”
MAX
“Yes.”
DOCTOR
“One…two…two and a half…”
BILLY
“Oh just do it!”
DOCTOR
“Three!”
The Doctor presses the coffee stain and a beam of light shoots out from the book as it fires a warning shot at the helicopter. The helicopter then gets hit by the beam of light.
BILLY
“Hey, Doctor! I thought it was supposed to be a warning shot!”
DOCTOR
“It was a warning shot, Billy.”
MAX
“Then why has the helicopter just been hit?”
They watch as the helicopter makes its winding descent to crash.
SCENE #78 – INT – COCKPIT, HELICOPTER – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Rupert and Samuel are terrified and panic-stricken, as they lose control of the helicopter once they’ve been hit.
RUPERT
(cries) “We’ve been hit! They’ve shot something at us!”
Samuel tries to speak into the cockpit radio.
SAMUEL
(through radio) “Mayday, mayday! We are going down! I repeat, we are going down! Assistance required! Repeat; assistance required!”
RUPERT
“And we haven’t even used the cursed flame throwers enough!”
Rupert and Samuel hold on tight as the helicopter goes down.
SCENE #79 – EXT – BUSHES, LARGE GRASSY FIELD – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
MAX
(apprehensively) “Doctor, they’re going to crash!”
DOCTOR
“You’re right, Max! It’s heading off down yonder!”
BILLY
“Look! It’s going to hit that wall of hedges!”
DOCTOR
(cries) “Down!!!”
The Doctor, Billy and Max duck as the helicopter crashes into the hedge wall. An explosion occurs as the helicopter is smashed and blown up. A fire soon blazes. The trio eventually raise their heads to see the damage caused.
BILLY
(concerned) “Ooh! That was nasty! I hope those two men weren’t killed.”
MAX
“Perhaps there was an ejector seat in that helicopter.”
DOCTOR
“Let’s hope they managed to bail out in time!” (Pause) “The fire’s getting stronger now.”
BILLY
“Look! Look, Doctor! Look up there!”
DOCTOR
“Why Billy? What is it?!”
BILLY
“Over there! By the wreckage!”
MAX
“Hang on! I’ll fetch my binoculars! See what Billy’s seeing!”
Max fishes out his binoculars and peeks through them to see what Billy’s seeing.
MAX
“Oh yes! I see what Billy sees now!”
DOCTOR
“What?”
MAX
“Crawling out of the wreckage. Those two men Rupert and Samuel. They’re crawling out!”
BILLY
“Yes, that’s right. They look badly burnt! And bruised and injured!”
DOCTOR
“I’m amazed they managed to survive in one piece.”
MAX
“No hang on. Wait a mo.”
DOCTOR
“What?”
MAX
“Take a look. See what I see.”
The Doctor takes Max’s binoculars and looks through them. A moment of silence ensues.
DOCTOR
“What is it I’m supposed to see, Max?”
MAX
“Look closer at their arms and limbs.”
DOCTOR
“I don’t see…” (Pause; realises) “Oh. Oh dear. That’s not right.”
BILLY
“What? What; let me see!”
Billy takes the binoculars and looks through them.
BILLY
(realises) “Oh. That’s odd.”
MAX
“I know.”
BILLY
“Yes. Those two are covered in green gunge all over. Like fluid of some kind.”
DOCTOR
“It’s not fluid, Billy.”
MAX
“No. It’s certainly not. It’s pouring from their bodies, disgusting as it is. It’s…”
DOCTOR
(finishes) “Blood. It’s green blood.”
BILLY
“What?! Are you trying to say that…Rupert and Samuel have green blood in their bodies?! That’s ridiculous!”
DOCTOR
“It’s true, Billy. You can see that for yourself.”
MAX
“They’re not real, are they? Not with that kind of blood. Not human. Aliens are they, Doctor?”
DOCTOR
“No. I’m afraid it’s something more than that, Max. Something deadly. Something sinister.” (Pause; realises) “Of course! That must be it!”
BILLY
“What? What do you think they are, Doctor?”
DOCTOR
“They’re clones!”
BILLY
“Clones?!”
DOCTOR
“Genetically engineered bipeds. Servitors conditioned to serve their masters. That’s why they’re acting so inhuman and behaving not right in the head.”
MAX
“How can you be sure they’re clones, Doctor?”
BILLY
(interrupts; anxiously) “Err, Doctor?”
DOCTOR
“Hmm? Something wrong, Billy?”
BILLY
“Shouldn’t we move on or else we might get ourselves in the throes of those lunatic madmen crawling towards us.”
DOCTOR
“Ah! Yes, of course! Quite right, Billy! We should move on!”
MAX
“And there are those soldiers, knights and villagers on their way here. Marching on the field as you can see.”
BILLY
(realises; troubled) “Oh yes! So I can see!”
DOCTOR
“Here’s hoping they won’t spot us! Come on, you two! Off to Wells Wood!”
The Doctor, Max and Billy head off from the bushes and make for Wells Wood. Whilst the helicopter continues to burn, the army of knights, soldiers and villagers walk through the grassy field and a burned green-bleeding Rupert and Samuel crawl on after them.
SCENE #80 – EXT – TRAKEN VILLAGE, SOMEWHERE IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Back in Traken village, Nyssa and Andrew walk together. There is calm in the air as they walk. Incidental music from ‘Circular Time; Autumn’ gets played in the background.
ANDREW
“There’s a full moon out tonight.”
NYSSA
“Yes. There is.” (Pause) “I really enjoyed that meal. Thank you, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“It’s my pleasure. I’m here to please.”
NYSSA
“And you do it splendidly.” (Pause) “It was so good to talk over good times as well. When we were together, I mean.”
ANDREW
“Yeah, it was.” (Pause) “I noticed you weren’t drinking much wine though.”
NYSSA
(gradually) “I didn’t want to drink much, Andrew. I was…concerned to let you take advantage of me like last time. I intended to be controlled in my manner towards you.”
ANDREW
(solemnly) “I see.”
NYSSA
(reassuringly) “Oh I didn’t mean that in any derogatory way. I…” (Pause; apologetically) “Sorry. That came out the wrong way.”
ANDREW
(reassuringly) “No, no. That’s alright I…I know what you’re trying to say.”
Moment of tense silence ensues.
NYSSA
(changes subject) “It is a lovely moon out tonight. I can’t remember if we had a full moon on our first date together here.”
ANDREW
“I remember it had gone cold on that night. I offered you my coat to keep you warm, but you refused.”
NYSSA
“I told you it wasn’t necessary.”
ANDREW
“Then you started rambling on about some planet you came from up in the stars. Somewhere in the middle of the Orion belt.”
NYSSA
“You did eventually believe me, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“I know, I know. I thought at first it was an excuse to get rid of me. Some deranged and pathetic excuse – saying you’re from another planet.” (Pause) “Then I kissed you. On that same cold starry moonlight…or moonless…night. I kissed you. Remember?”
NYSSA
“How could I forget? You were quite forceful on that night.”
ANDREW
(dreamily) “I managed to break some ice with you then. You told me it was the first time you ever did that. To kiss a man.”
NYSSA
“I’ve had a lot of practice since then, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“Yes. Of course.” (Pause) “You told me I was vulnerable when I kissed you.”
NYSSA
(abjectly) “Well, you were.”
ANDREW
“You liked it though. Can’t understand why. You said it was a new skill for you. Letting surprises in.”
NYSSA
“Yes. It certainly was.”
Moment of silence.
ANDREW
“I wish it could be as magical and heavenly as it was back then. So young; inexperienced; madly in love with each other.” (Pause; gently) “Please, Nyssa.”
NYSSA
(puzzled) “What?”
ANDREW
(gently) “Please let me just kiss you again. Just once. I promise…I’ll only do it once.”
NYSSA
“Please Andrew, don’t.”
ANDREW
“I promise I will stop. I’ll do it in an instant. Straight away. Just one kiss and that’ll be it!”
Andrew leans forward to kiss Nyssa, but she stops him.
NYSSA
(firmly) “No Andrew! No!”
ANDREW
(angrily) “Alright! Have it your way! You can’t blame a guy for trying!”
Andrew turns away, becoming upset.
NYSSA
“Andrew, I’m sorry! But I can’t let you kiss me like that! It’ll mean…it’ll mean bringing back fond memories for me and our romance.”
ANDREW
“And that’s bad, is it?!”
NYSSA
“Yes. Because we can never go back to where we left off!”
ANDREW
“Why not?! Why not get back together and pick up where we left off, Nyssa?! Answer me that! Why?!”
NYSSA
“You know perfectly well why, Andrew?! Because I can’t!”
ANDREW
“Because of Billy!”
NYSSA
“Yes! Yes, because of Billy!” (Pause) “I love him, Andrew. And I can’t leave him like I left you! Billy reminds me of you, Andrew. More than you realise. And I can’t afford to make the same mistakes I did with you.”
ANDREW
“Oh now you’re telling me!”
NYSSA
“I thought this was supposed to be us settling a score together! We decided…”
ANDREW
(interrupts) “You decided, Nyssa! Not me!” (Pause) “I’m finding it hard to resolve what we had. I can’t give you up! I just can’t, Nyssa!”
NYSSA
(firmly) “I’m afraid you have to, Andrew! You’ve got to move on with your life! You have to find someone else!”
ANDREW
“There was only one person in my life and that’s you, Nyssa! I can’t give you up so easily! Not now that I have a second chance seeing you after these years!”
NYSSA
“I’m pleased to see you after all these years too, Andrew! But I can’t forsake Billy. Not even when I promised…” (trails off; puzzled) “Andrew? Andrew, are you alright?”
Andrew then convulses and contorts in pain. He groans as he stumbles forward.
ANDREW
(groans) “Oh! Oh…my!”
NYSSA
(concerned) “Andrew?! What’s the matter with you, Andrew? What’s wrong?!”
ANDREW
(groans) “I…I feel so ill! It…is…my stomach!”
Andrew then collapses to the ground. Seeing this, Nyssa gets on her hands and knees to attend to him.
NYSSA
(cries) “Andrew? Andrew?!”
But Nyssa finds Andrew unconscious as she tries to revive him.
NYSSA
(cries) “Andrew?! Andrew, wake up! Andrew!!!”
Concerned and anxious, Nyssa gets no response from Andrew.
SCENE #81 – EXT – LARGE GRASSY FIELD, CLOSE TO STOCKBRIDGE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Back in the large grassy field close to Stockbridge, Oswald and Melanie meet up with Rupert and Samuel. They’re now helped by three community members from Stockbridge village. They’re Reverend Shilling, Mr. Brett the church verger and Constable Hughes the policeman. They search the grounds of the grass field. Reverend Shilling also has his choir boys to help out searching the grounds. Constable Hughes also has two other policeman helping him. The crashed helicopter still keeps burning in the distance.
OSWALD
(angrily; to Rupert; Samuel) “You two are idiots! Idiots! Letting that Doctor, the boy and their crackpot friend get away!”
RUPERT
“Pardon me, but it wasn’t our fault!”
SAMUEL
“Yeah. That Doctor had a few tricks up his sleeve!”
MELANIE
“Oh shut up, you two! Those dumpy friends of ours aren’t going to be pleased with us, you know!”
Oswald, Melanie, Rupert and Samuel are then joined by Reverend Shilling, Mr. Brett and Constable Hughes.
REVEREND SHILLING
“Oswald, my son? The fire brigade’s managed to get most of the fire out I see.”
HUGHES
“If only they could hurry up!” (shouts) “Put them lights out! Put those blinking lights out!”
REVEREND SHILLING
“I’m afraid though that our lads can’t find any trace of this Doctor and his friends.”
OSWALD
“Tell them to search harder then, Vicar. We’re not leaving this place!”
MELANIE
“Tell those choir boys of yours to get on their hands and knees searching the grounds!”
REVEREND SHILLING
“Oh very well.” (to Mr. Brett) “Mr. Brett, you know what you have to don’t you?”
BRETT
“You just tell me to get those choir boys shoving and I’ll see it to that they look through all these bushes and trees.”
HUGHES
“That’s all very well, Verger. But my police force only consists of Rob and Henry. How are we expected to search the entire village and countryside from top to bottom?!”
OSWALD
“Do we have to think of everything? Get some knights and soldiers to help you out! We can spare some surely!” (to Melanie) “Can’t we, Melanie?”
HUGHES
(protests) “It’s not right, you know. Having to work us day and night looking for three criminals…”
MELANIE
(interrupts) “Oh stop whining, Constable! Nobody’s interested.”
REVEREND SHILLING
“See you later, Constable.”
BRETT
“Bye, Mr. Hughes.”
HUGHES
(to Reverend Shilling; Brett) “Yeah. Bye for now, Vicar and Verger!” (sardonically; to Oswald; Melanie) “No thanks to you, Mr. Jackson and his lovely daughter!”
Hughes makes a rude noise and gestures at Oswald and Melanie before he leaves.
REVEREND SHILLING
(to Brett) “Come on, Mr. Brett. Let’s see to those choir boys! I was hoping to write my sermon later on.”
BRETT
“Very well, your reverence.”
Reverend Shilling and Brett also leave.
RUPERT
“Wierdos.”
SAMUEL
“One wonders how we put up with them.”
MELANIE
“We act the same as our counterparts, remember?”
OSWALD
(apprehensively) “Be quiet, you lot. I’ve recently received new orders. Listen carefully now.”
Melanie, Rupert and Samuel listen carefully as Oswald tells them what the new orders they’ve been given are.
SCENE #82 – EXT – WELLS WOOD, STOCKBRIDGE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
In Wells Wood, the Doctor, Billy and Max arrive. They carry lighted torches to see in the dark. The trio soon come to the place where the book was found underneath the trees.
BILLY
“This is where you found the book? In between those roots of that tree?”
DOCTOR
“Yes. And it’s where we found those footprints. Which surprisingly or unsurprisingly, however you want to look at it, have gone. I vote the latter.”
MAX
(enthused) “Where do we start? How do we find the base?”
DOCTOR
“We don’t.”
MAX
“We don’t?”
DOCTOR
“We wait until they allow us to go in!”
BILLY
“Doctor, you can’t expect them to do that. They won’t want us in their base.”
DOCTOR
“They will, Billy. Since we’ve got this.”
The Doctor waves the Althrace book in his hand.
MAX
“Ah yes! The book! They’ll certainly want that!”
DOCTOR
“Hopefully we should use the book as a bargaining chip to gain entry.”
BILLY
“We don’t even know what that book is, Doctor.”
MAX
“I agree with Billy, Doctor. We could run the risk of sending that book to the enemy too fast.”
SCENE #83 – INT – OPS CONTROL, UNDERGROUND BASE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
In the ops control room of the underground base underneath Wells Wood, the alien officer with his sergeant and corporal watch the Doctor, Billy and Max on their monitor screens.
DOCTOR (V’O)
(continues) “These aliens, whoever they are, may be wise in temporal mechanics. They may just be taking the book on delivery back to Althrace. How they’ll do that, I wonder. On the other hand, if they seek to destroy rather than put the book to good use and scholarship, then we must confront and talk to them.”
The alien officer turns to his sergeant.
KROND
“See that they’re allowed in, Sergeant. Make sure they are greeted well.”
The sergeant salutes.
STUMP
“Yes, Commander. As you say, Commander.”
KROND
“Corporal?”
HURN
“Sir?”
KROND
“Order our troopers to keep guard on the perimeter. If the Doc-tor and his associates infiltrate, be on the alert.”
HURN
(proudly) “Yes, sir. I understand, sir.”
KROND
“Get on with it, Corporal! Don’t delay! All of you; don’t delay!”
The sergeant and the corporal salute…
STUMP/HURN
“Sir!”
…before they march off and depart to set about their duties.
SCENE #84 – EXT – WELLS WOOD, STOCKBRIDGE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Meanwhile, with the Doctor, Billy and Max…
DOCTOR
“So that’s that. We wait here until they let us in.”
MAX
“No matter how long it’ll be before they do that?”
DOCTOR
“Exactly.”
BILLY
“At times like these, I wish Nyssa was here. I wonder where she is. It’s been a while since I saw her.”
DOCTOR
“Don’t worry, Billy. I’m sure we’ll see Nyssa again soon.”
Just then, the ground begins to open up.
MAX
(realises) “Doctor?!”
DOCTOR
(to Max) “Not now, Max.” (continues; to Billy) “Nyssa is good with keeping her promises. You should know that, Billy.”
MAX
“Doctor?!”
DOCTOR
“Not now, Max.”
BILLY
“I know she’ll keep her promise, Doctor. It’s just…I just hope she’s managed to sort things out with Andrew.”
DOCTOR
“And I’m sure she has.”
MAX
“Doctor?!”
DOCTOR
“Max, what?!”
MAX
(anxiously) “Doctor, the ground! It’s opening!”
DOCTOR
“What?!”
The Doctor, Billy and Max watch, as a secret door in the ground slowly opens up.
BILLY
“He’s right Doctor! The ground’s giving way! Just where you found that book in between those roots.”
The ground eventually stops opening up to reveal a passageway down below.
BILLY
“Good heavens! There are steps! Leading downwards. Seems to be some sort of passageway down there.”
DOCTOR
“Curiouser and curiouser.”
MAX
“Do we go down the steps then?”
DOCTOR
“I presume we do, Max. And an open invitation at that.”
BILLY
(apprehensively) “Doctor we can’t just stroll down there. We don’t know what we might be facing!”
DOCTOR
“We can’t stay here, Billy. We might as well go down and meet our enemy in their underground base. What better way to do it.” (Pause) “Coming?”
The Doctor eagerly goes down the steps into the passageway leading downwards. Billy and Max eventually follow.
BILLY
“I’m going to regret doing this! Entering the spider’s lair.”
MAX
“I’m afraid I already have, Billy.”
They make their way down the stairs, before the secret door closes slowly behind them.
SCENE #85 – EXT – TRAKEN VILLAGE, SOMEWHERE IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Back in Traken village somewhere in Gloucestershire, Nyssa helps Andrew recover from his fit. He groans as he wakes up.
NYSSA
(concerned) “Andrew? Andrew, are you alright?”
ANDREW
(grumbles) “I’ll be fine. Don’t bother. I’ve just had a fit, that’s all.”
NYSSA
(concerned) “Have you had these fits long, Andrew?”
ANDREW
“Not long. They come about suddenly like this one.”
NYSSA
(concerned) “Are you feeling better? It wasn’t something you ate, was it? I knew that meal you had wasn’t appetising as you thought. I suspected [that…]”
ANDREW
(angrily) “Oh what do you care, Nyssa? You don’t care about me.”
NYSSA
“That’s not true! I do care about you, Andrew! Far more than you think. I want to help you, Andrew. Please let me help you.”
ANDREW
“Then stay here with me please! Let’s carry on where we left off!”
NYSSA
“You know I can’t do that, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“Then why bother asking?”
NYSSA
“I can’t leave Billy like that. It’ll break his heart.”
ANDREW
“More than it would break mine?”
NYSSA
(gradually) “You weren’t willing to take me seriously, Andrew. Billy has. I need someone like Billy. And I’m sorry to say this, but you can’t have me back.”
ANDREW
“You think I’d give you up for the sake of being with him. I know what I want, Nyssa. And I want you. Don’t you realise that?”
NYSSA
(saddened) “Obviously this matter of settling a score hasn’t worked, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“What’s there to settle?”
A moment of tense silence ensues.
NYSSA
“I’d like to be taken home, Andrew. I want to see Billy. I need to be with him. Take me back to Billy please!”
ANDREW
“No.”
NYSSA
“Take me back to Stockbridge please!”
ANDREW
“No, I will not.”
Another moment of silence.
NYSSA
(gradually) “Then I shall have to find some other way, won’t I?! I’ll catch a bus or walk back if I have to.”
ANDREW
“I can’t allow you to return to Stockbridge, Nyssa.”
NYSSA
“I won’t let you stop me!”
ANDREW
“You are to come with me.”
NYSSA
“I won’t be ordered about by you, Andrew.”
ANDREW
“It wasn’t an order, Nyssa.”
NYSSA
“It wasn’t?”
ANDREW
“No. It was a statement of fact!”
Andrew then grabs hold of Nyssa. Nyssa cries out in pain as Andrew holds her. She struggles to break free.
NYSSA
(bewildered) “Andrew, what are you doing? Let go of me! Let me go Andrew, please!”
ANDREW
(threateningly) “You will not get away! Not this time!”
NYSSA
(pleads) “Andrew, please! You’re hurting me!”
ANDREW
(threateningly) “You must be kept alive! For the glory of the empire!”
NYSSA
(puzzled) “What are you talking about, Andrew? What’s wrong with you?”
Andrew then pulls out a pistol and aims it at Nyssa’s head.
ANDREW
“You will do as I say!”
NYSSA
(shocked) “Andrew?! Put that gun down at once!”
ANDREW
“You will get into my car and say nothing! Understand?”
NYSSA
(cries) “Andrew, this isn’t funny! Please put the gun down!”
ANDREW
(seriously) “I said ‘get into my car’! Or I shoot!”
NYSSA
(disbelievingly) “You’re not serious!”
Andrew shoots the pistol far-off, causing Nyssa to scream.
ANDREW
“That will be your only warning!”
NYSSA
(shocked) “You are serious, aren’t you?”
ANDREW
“Get in the car!”
NYSSA
(calmly) “Alright, alright, Andrew. I’ll get in the car. Just don’t shoot, please.”
Reluctantly, Nyssa gets into Andrew’s car whilst being held at gunpoint by him.
ANDREW
“Through the driver’s side if you please!”
Nyssa opens the car door and gets in through the driver’s side, before sitting down in the passenger’s seat. Andrew himself gets in. He then switches on the car’s engine.
NYSSA
“Where are you taking me, Andrew? Am I allowed to know that?”
ANDREW
“You’ll be taken back to our headquarters.”
NYSSA
“Headquarters?”
ANDREW
“You’ll find out soon enough.” (threateningly) “Don’t try anything!”
Nyssa remains seated and does nothing whilst Andrew drives the car off. They leave Traken village behind them, as they head back to Stockbridge.
SCENE #86 – INT – PASSAGEWAY, UNDERGROUND BASE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
In the underground passageway beneath Wells Wood, Billy, the Doctor and Max make their way through the dark with their torches switched on.
BILLY
“Doctor? We seem to be underground.”
DOCTOR
“Well spotted, Billy. I wondered how long it would take for you to realise that.”
BILLY
“But where’s it leading us? We must have been down here for…twenty minutes?”
MAX
“I thought it was two hours.”
BILLY
“Do you know where we’re going, Doctor?”
DOCTOR
“Haven’t the foggiest.”
BILLY
“Figures.”
They walk on further, until they eventually come to where the path forks out.
BILLY
(groans) “Oh no!”
MAX
“What is it? What’s wrong?!”
BILLY
(dismayed) “We’ve come to a dead end.”
DOCTOR
“A fork in the path doesn’t mean a dead end, Billy. It just means we’ve got to choose – left or right.”
BILLY
“Exactly! A dead end! We’ll end up in the wrong place if we go either way.”
DOCTOR
(shrewdly) “You really are full of optimism today.”
BILLY
“It’s rather difficult when your head’s clouded with dark thoughts as well as being in the dark.”
DOCTOR
“Fair enough.”
MAX
“Perhaps we ought to split up.”
BILLY
“Split up?! What for?”
MAX
“Well if one of us takes one direction and two take the other, we may find two interesting places to comment on. But then again not.”
BILLY
“That’ll be too risky. Who’s to say one of us has to go [alone…?]”
DOCTOR
(interrupts) “I’ll go off down the left-hand tunnel. You Billy and you Max go down the right-hand tunnel.”
BILLY
(shocked) “What?! No Doctor, you can’t go off by yourself!”
MAX
“I was actually suggesting I’d go by myself, Doctor. I don’t mind [solitary…]”
DOCTOR
“I’m expendable, Max. You’re not.”
MAX
(puzzled) “What’s that supposed to mean?”
DOCTOR
“Nothing. Now you two just go off to the right and find out what’s in there.”
BILLY
(anxiously) “Doctor, we don’t have the Kraston Four communicators! Nyssa’s got damaged, remember? And you’ve got the only one! We don’t know what we’ll find in either tunnel [should we…]”
DOCTOR
(interrupts) “Billy, trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
BILLY
(groans) “Doctor!”
DOCTOR
“Please, Billy! We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes if we haven’t found anything.” (Pause) “Now go off with Max and find out what’s down there on the right. Will you do that, Billy?”
A moment of uncomfortable silence ensues.
BILLY
“Alright then.”
DOCTOR
“Good man.” (to Max) “Max, look after my friend won’t you?”
MAX
(reassuringly) “Don’t worry, Doctor. I’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll treat Billy as if he were my own brother.”
BILLY
“Brother?”
Max puts his arm around Billy.
MAX
(to Billy) “We’ll have a jolly time together! Won’t we, Billy?”
BILLY
(wryly) “Oh yes. Jolly. I can just imagine.”
DOCTOR
“Right. Off you go, you two. Down the right whilst I go left. Meet you in fifteen minutes if not sooner.”
With that, the Doctor heads off left whilst Billy and Max head off right. Their footsteps pitter patter, as they go off in different tunnels.
SCENE #87 – INT – CLONING CHAMBER, UNDERGROUND BASE – DAY, AFTERNOON (2010)
Meanwhile, Nyssa has been brought in by ‘Andrew’ into a cloning chamber of the underground base.
NYSSA
“Andrew, please! Tell me what’s going on?! What is this place?!”
As they enter, they meet Melanie.
NYSSA
(dismayed) “Oh no. You again.”
MELANIE
“Ah! Here you are! We’ve been expecting you, dear.”
NYSSA
“What is it you want of me? You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to capture me.”
MELANIE
“You’ve been held in high regard. Though I don’t see why you should be.”
NYSSA
(wryly) “I’m glad you’re satisfied.” (Pause) “What have you done to Andrew?! What have you done to my former boyfriend?”
MELANIE
(to Andrew Clone) “Thank you, underling. You did very well.”
ANDREW CLONE
“I seek to serve for the glory of the empire.”
MELANIE
“That’s good to hear!” (to Nyssa) “You girl! Get over here!”
NYSSA
(to Andrew Clone) “Andrew, what’s got into you?!”
ANDREW
(cries; from nearby) “Nyssa? Nyssa, is that you?!”
Nyssa turns to see another Andrew, strapped tight inside a cloning cubicle.
MELANIE
(taunts) “Were you talking about this being your boyfriend…or the other one?”
Nyssa manages to break free from the Andrew clone and makes her way over towards the ‘real’ Andrew.
NYSSA
(shocked) “Andrew?! Andrew, you’re here!”
ANDREW
(relieved) “Nyssa, thank goodness! I think I’ve just had a bad dream.”
MELANIE
(taunts) “You’re still having one, mate.”
NYSSA
(to Andrew) “Andrew, I don’t understand. I’ve just…we were in…” (Pause) “Why are you strapped inside this cubicle?”
ANDREW
(laughs; wryly) “I was hoping you’d tell me that.”
NYSSA
“You’ve got wiring technology plugged to your head. A sort of headset…clamped around your skull.”
ANDREW
“And there was me thinking I’d been with you to Traken village.”
NYSSA
“I think you have, Andrew. I’m not sure, but…”
Nyssa then turns to Melanie.
NYSSA
(angrily) “What do you think you’re doing?! If this is the real Andrew, then…”
MELANIE
(interjects) “Who’s the impostor?” (laughs) “Why he’s a clone, dear thing.”
NYSSA
“A clone?! That Andrew’s a clone?!”
MELANIE
“All afternoon you’ve been frolicking about with a clone. And you didn’t even realise it. Not one bit did you think you’d been out with a clone. Not as clever as you thought, Nyssa of Traken.”
NYSSA
“Just who are you people? What is it you want? How do you know so much about me?! I demand an explanation!”
The alien officer then enters.
KROND
“You’d be advised to co-operate for the next few hours, young fe-male. Your insolence will be the death of you if you do not.”
Nyssa turns to see the alien officer and becomes aghast.
KROND
“You fear my appearance. Good. It is fortunate I am still able to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy.”
ANDREW
(shrewdly) “Nyssa? Who’s ‘shorty’ here?”
NYSSA
(frightened) “Who are you?” (insistently) “You put my former boyfriend in this cubicle for your experiments. What is it you want?!”
KROND
(proudly) “I am Commander Krond of the Fifth Sontaran Battle Fleet! Krond…the Winner! And what I want…is you, Nyssa of Traken!”
Commander Krond stands one hand on one hip, as Nyssa sees the full form of a Sontaran warrior.
Sting music. Roll original 1982 Peter Davison end credits.
© Tim Bradley, 2018
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