Back ] Home ] Up ] Next ]

 

FURY FROM THE DEEP

EPISODE TWO

by VICTOR PEMBERTON

first broadcast - 23rd March 1968
running time - 23mins 55secs


1. OXYGEN STORE ROOM

(VICTORIA watches terrified as the weed and foam surge towards her across the floor.)

VICTORIA: Doctor... Jamie... hurry.


2. CORRIDOR

(Both men charge down the corridor, looking everywhere for VICTORIA.)

DOCTOR/JAMIE: Victoria! Victoria, where are you!? Victoria!


3. OXYGEN STORE ROOM

(The weed creature gets closer and closer to VICTORIA.)

VICTORIA: No!

(She screams...)


4. CORRIDOR, OUTSIDE OXYGEN STORE ROOM

(The screams lead the DOCTOR and JAMIE straight to the Oxygen Store Room.)

JAMIE: In here!
DOCTOR: (Smelling/hearing the hissing noise from the door.) Gas!

(Both men are overcome by a violent fit of sneezing. Composing themselves they force the door open. VICTORIA is still shouting out "No!" as the creature advances towards her. Unable to see the weed creature, the DOCTOR and JAMIE pull VICTORIA into the corridor, and all three collapse by the side of the now closed door.)

VICTORIA: Doctor!
JAMIE: What happened?
DOCTOR: Deep breath... take deep breaths

(ROBSON, the CHIEF ENGINEER and VAN LUTYENS appear at the end of the corridor. They see the three travellers and charge down the corridor towards them.)

ROBSON: What's going on here? Who let you three out of the cabin?

(VAN LUTYENS and the CHIEF ENGINEER open the door to the Oxygen Store Room and immediately have to cover their mouths because of the gas.)

VAN LUTYENS: Mr Robson, in here, it's gas!
ROBSON: Check it then. Find out what it is

(ROBSON stands over the three while the other two staff members re-enter the OSR with handkerchiefs over their mouths.)

VICTORIA: Oh, Doctor... a horrible creature.
DOCTOR: (Puzzled.) Creature?
VICTORIA: Didn't you see it? It was over in there. It came straight towards me... covered with seaweed and foam and this horrible hissing sound... and then I screamed...
DOCTOR: (Holding her close in his arms.) All right, Victoria.
ROBSON: (Cynically.) Creature?! The girl's hysterical.
VAN LUTYENS: (Coming out of the Oxygen Storage Room.) Mr Robson, they're empty. The seals are broken.
ROBSON: (Interrogating VICTORIA.) Why were you in there?
VICTORIA: I... I was hiding. I heard someone coming, so I went in.
ROBSON: (Glaring at VICTORIA.) This door is always kept locked. You broke in! You emptied those cylinders, didn't you?
VICTORIA: Oh, no, no. It was open and someone locked it behind me.
JAMIE: (Menacingly to ROBSON.) She's telling the truth. The door was locked from the outside.
DOCTOR: Yes it was locked.
VAN LUTYENS: This room wasn't full of oxygen when we came in here. It was another gas of a toxic composition.
ROBSON: All right, if it was a poison gas, where did it come from?
DOCTOR: What about up there? The ventilator's open.
VAN LUTYENS: (To VICTORIA.) Did you open the ventilator?
VICTORIA: No, it opened by itself.
JAMIE: Then, whoever locked you in must have opened it. But how?
VAN LUTYENS: From here.

(The DOCTOR and VAN LUTYENS spot the ventilator control panel on the wall. The position on its dial is indicating "OPEN".)


5. HARRIS' QUARTERS

(MAGGIE is having difficulty in breathing since she was stung by the clamp of seaweed. Feeling dizzy and disorientated, she is currently lying down on the bed in the bedroom while HARRIS is sitting by her.)

HARRIS: What is it, love?
MAGGIE: I don't know... I feel so dazed... my hand...
HARRIS: Let me see.

(He examines the hand.)

HARRIS: It looks all right. What happened?
MAGGIE: I don't... remember.
HARRIS: You said you were stung or something.
MAGGIE: Did I? Why, yes... yes, yes it must have been. I went to get the file you asked for. I put my hand inside...

(She rises from the bed and turns to HARRIS.)

MAGGIE: ...and then... it was seaweed.
HARRIS: All right, my love...

(HARRIS helps MAGGIE back down onto the bed, smoothes her forehead with his hand and kisses her gently.)

HARRIS: ...lie still and rest. Shall I get you some food, a glass of milk or something?
MAGGIE: Honey... you couldn't even boil an egg.
HARRIS: You shouldn't have married a scientist then. Maggie!
MAGGIE: Darling...darling... darling...

(MAGGIE rises, suddenly, from the bed and hugs HARRIS.)

HARRIS: Maggie!

(But MAGGIE stares towards the kitchen... The seaweed that MAGGIE had thrown out on the kitchen patio is now nestling in a bed of foam. And the bubbles and the weed are popping to emit a gaseous vapour. The relentless thumping heartbeat grows in intensity, tearing into MAGGIE's mind... HARRIS tries to get her to lie down again but fails.)

HARRIS: What is it, love? What's the matter?
MAGGIE: I still don't know... I just feel...

(HARRIS manages to get her head down on the pillow again.)

HARRIS: I better get you a doctor. I'll go back and see if Dr Paterson's returned yet from Rig D. Will you be all right?
MAGGIE: I think so.
HARRIS: Well if he isn't back, there's this other doctor, he might be able to help. I won't be long.

(MAGGIE looks like she is falling asleep and, with a last look at his wife, HARRIS leaves his quarters. MAGGIE's eyes spring open as she listens to the thumping sound of the heartbeat. Then, like a zombie, she rises from the bed and moves slowly into the kitchen. The heartbeat grows louder and louder as she moves towards the kitchen patio door. She opens the door to see the out-of-control seaweed clump expanding in size. She slams the door and locks it. Rubbing her eyes, she stands with her back to the door, looking totally bewildered.)


6. IMPELLER ROOM

(In the Impeller Room, ROBSON and VAN LUTYENS push their way through a crowd of engineers who are anxiously watching a cluster of meters on the wall. The CHIEF ENGINEER turns to greet ROBSON.)

ROBSON: So what's the panic?
CHIEF: It's the pump, sir! The revs have dropped.
VAN LUTYENS: The pump is slowing down?
CHIEF: Yes, she's not holding steady even now. I don't understand it.
ROBSON: Well don't stand there thinking about it, man, do a complete check.
DOCTOR: Excuse me, may I say something?

(They all turn to the DOCTOR who is at the back of the room. ROBSON's glance tells him to mind his own business.)

DOCTOR: When I was in the pipe room, a short while ago, I'm sure I heard a movement coming from inside the pipe.
VAN LUTYENS: What kind of movement?
DOCTOR: Well, the same as I heard on the beach, a sort of thumping sound.
VAN LUTYENS: But that's what they heard out at the rigs.
ROBSON: (Snaps.) What you heard, and what everybody else heard, was a mechanical fault somewhere along the line.
DOCTOR: Then why did they hear it out at the rig?
ROBSON: Because, my friend, underneath this impeller shaft is a vast sealed gasometer buried in the earth. It acts like an echo chamber. It'll make the sound of a pin dropping sound like that of a thunder clap. It travels along the pipes.
DOCTOR: Oh, this wasn't a mechanical sound.
ROBSON: All right then, suppose there is something in the pipe, a fish or something. What do you want me to do about it?

(There is no doubt that the DOCTOR has put ROBSON on the defensive.)

DOCTOR: Turn off the gas flow. At least until you've had a chance to investigate.
ROBSON: That's out of the question.
VAN LUTYENS: Mr Robson, if there is something in the pipeline...
ROBSON: (Adamant.) We do not turn off the flow, and that is final.

(The CHIEF ENGINEER has been checking the readings...)

CHIEF: Mr Robson, sir.
ROBSON: Yes?
CHIEF: Down another half.
ROBSON: It must be a mechanical fault. Get a couple of men and check, man, check.
VAN LUTYENS: If you allow the pressure to build up in the pipeline, you'll blow the whole rig sky-high.
DOCTOR: And blow us with it.
VAN LUTYENS: All because you're too stubborn to turn off the gas.
ROBSON: All right, what do you think it is? One of these creatures the hysterical girl thought she saw.
DOCTOR: Well who knows.


7. CONTROL CONE

(PRICE is showing JAMIE and VICTORIA the layout of the complex. They both look at the equipment in awe...)

JAMIE: You mean to say that this place supplies all the gas for the whole of the south of England?
PRICE: And the whole of Wales.

(VICTORIA's face is illuminated by a succession of different coloured lights, flashing on and off all over the Cone.)

VICTORIA: What are all those lights for?
PRICE: (Pointing to the equipment.) Well that's a plan of the entire compound, and each of those lights represents a remote control camera that I can switch through to this screen, if I want to look at any particular area. Like this.

(He switches the camera showing JAMIE and VICTORIA different parts of the complex.)

JAMIE: Oh. Where are all these 'rigs' people talk about?
PRICE: Well, they're out at sea of course, but that plan over there shows you the relative position of all the rigs under our command.

(VICTORIA points to the large red-coloured oblong shape in the centre of the panel that PRICE has just pointed out.)

VICTORIA: What's the big one in the middle?
PRICE: Well that's the central Control Rig complex, the sort of the nerve centre of the whole thing. The other rigs feed her with gas, and she in turn pumps it to us via the main pipeline, see.
VICTORIA: How awful to have to live out at sea. And lonely.
PRICE: Oh, I don't know. Mr Robson once spent four years on one of the early rigs without ever going ashore.
JAMIE: Aye, that would account for quite a lot.

(The man himself enters the room and immediately starts giving orders. He turns to one of the engineers.)

ROBSON: Hey you! Come in here and give a hand.
JAMIE: Doesn't that man ever call anyone by their name?
PRICE: Well they'd probably be in trouble if he does. No, he's all right, is Robson. Certainly knows all there is to know about rigs, anyway.

(HARRIS, looking very worried, enters the room and goes straight up to PRICE.)

HARRIS: Price! Has Doctor Paterson returned from Rig D yet?
PRICE: No, sir.

(HARRIS spots VICTORIA and JAMIE. He goes up to them.)

HARRIS: Where's your friend, the Doctor?
JAMIE: In there...

(He points to the Impeller Area. HARRIS immediately goes down to the Impeller Area where he meets the DOCTOR coming back with VAN LUTYENS into the control room.)

HARRIS: Doctor! Doctor, I need your help. It's my wife. She's very ill.
DOCTOR: (Awkwardly.) Well I'm not sure that I...
HARRIS: You must come.
ROBSON: (Firmly.) He will not go with you.
HARRIS: This is an emergency, it's my wife.
ROBSON: These people are in my custody, until I decide what to do with them.
HARRIS: (Almost pleading.) But my wife!
ROBSON: (Snaps.) Don't bring your domestic affairs into the refinery, Harris. (To the other staff in the room.) That goes for the rest of you.
HARRIS: (Appalled and through clenched teeth.) Mr Robson, my wife is ill. If anything happens to her, I'll...
ROBSON: All right, one hour.
HARRIS: (To the DOCTOR.) Come with me.

(HARRIS and the three time travellers rush from the room.)


8. HARRIS' QUARTERS

(MAGGIE has opened her front door to two strange men. One of them, Mr. OAK, is small and fat. The other, Mr. QUILL, is tall and thin. Both of them are dressed in a white cap, tunic and trousers. They look like medical orderlies.)

OAK: Mrs Harris?
MAGGIE: Yes.
OAK: We are maintenance controllers, madam. I wonder if we might have a few words with your husband?
MAGGIE: Oh, my husband isn't here, He's at the compound.
OAK: Oh dear, that does make it rather difficult. We've come to carry out an inspection.
MAGGIE: Inspection?
OAK: In the Kitchen. Your husband didn't tell you?
MAGGIE: No. Couldn't it wait until another day? I'm... I'm not feeling very well.
OAK: I'm sorry, madam, it has to be carried out without delay. Chief Robson's instructions.
MAGGIE: That man never stops giving instructions, does he? Oh, I suppose you better come in then.
OAK: Thank you. My name is Mr Oak and this is my colleague, Mr Quill.

(The two men enter the quarters, QUILL raising his cap in greeting.)

MAGGIE: Yes, well, please be quick. I'm really not very well.
OAK: Of course, madam. Now don't you worry about us, Mrs Harris, you won't even know that we're here. Will she?

(MAGGIE disappears quickly back into her bedroom. Only then does Mr. OAK's smile fade. The two men enter the kitchen.)

OAK: The bag, Mr Quill.

(While OAK starts to examine the cooker, QUILL takes two pairs of white gloves out of the bag...)


9. IMPELLER AREA

(The CHIEF is still keeping an eye on the readings.)

CHIEF: Mr Van Lutyens.
VAN LUTYENS: What is it?
CHIEF: Feed line from the Control Rig. An excessive pressure build up in the pipeline.
VAN LUTYENS: She's almost up to capacity.
CHIEF: She'll blow herself wide open.
VAN LUTYENS: So there's a build up in the pressure coming in from the rigs and a drop in the pressure of the flow going out to the receiving stations.
CHIEF: There must be something interfering with the impeller itself.


10. CONTROL CONE

(PRICE gets a message from the Communicator.)

PRICE: Mr Robson, sir.
ROBSON: Yes.
PRICE: This is from Control Rig, sir. They say there's a pressure build up in their feed line, sir.
ROBSON: Right, ask them how much, will you.

(VAN LUTYENS enters from the Impeller Area.)

VAN LUTYENS: Almost up to danger level, Mr Robson. Shall I give the order to turn off the gas?
ROBSON: You will not, Mr Van Lutyens.
VAN LUTYENS: There'll be an explosion any minute.
ROBSON: There will not be an explosion.
VAN LUTYENS: There must be, if you don't turn off the gas.

(ROBSON turns his back on the Dutchman and yells out some orders.)

ROBSON: Open release valve, Section D, full pressure, will you?
VAN LUTYENS: What are you doing, man? It's too late for that. You can't possibly release enough gas in time.
ROBSON: You want to bet, Mr Van Lutyens?


11. HARRIS' QUARTERS

(MAGGIE is sitting at a dressing table in the bedroom. Now and then banging sounds come from the kitchen. MAGGIE looks very tired and drawn. In the kitchen, the two men suddenly stop work as the heartbeat starts up again. Both men are now wearing gloves. With a smile OAK turns on the cooker and QUILL opens the patio door. As the two men turn and start to walk towards the bedroom, the foam starts to sweep into the kitchen. In the bedroom, MAGGIE is brushing her hair. When she looks into the dresser mirror she sees OAK and QUILL looking at her with stupid, idiotic grins on their faces. She looks at them in puzzlement.)

MAGGIE: What are you doing in here?

(No answer.)

MAGGIE: Is there something that you want?

(They both stare at her with their grins, and MAGGIE starts to look worried. She starts to move away, but then OAK and QUILL open their mouths wider and wider, toxic gas hissing out. MAGGIE tries to back away from them, but they are between her and the door. Soon MAGGIE is overcome by the gas and collapses on the floor.)


12. SEA

(Somewhere along a lonely stretch of beach, the hissing sound of gas continues. This time however, it is being released from the valve on top of the giant pipeline tube. The hissing sound suddenly stops, as the valve is closed.)


13. IMPELLER AREA

(A large cheer goes up from the Engineers when the readings change.)

CHIEF: It's down. The pressure in the pipeline, it's back to normal.

(VAN LUTYENS says something in Dutch (probably "Thank Goodness") and then carries on...)

VAN LUTYENS: I wouldn't have thought you could possibly have done it in the time.
ROBSON: When you have too much gas in the tube, you release it. Didn't they teach you that much back at evening classes in the Hague, Mr Van Lutyens?

(He turns to PRICE.)

ROBSON: Contact Chief Baxter, Control Rig, will you? Tell him the immediate crisis is over. Oh, and a... contact the other rig chiefs.
PRICE: Right.
VAN LUTYENS: But the feed out to the receiving stations is still dropping. The impeller is still slowing down...

(This causes ROBSON to snap... again.)

ROBSON: What's the matter with you, Van Lutyens? You've been trying to teach me my job ever since you came here. I've been drilling for gas in the North Sea for most of my life. I don't need people like you or Harris to teach me how to do it.
PRICE: (From the communicator.) Mr Robson, sir. It's C Rig, sir. Can't raise them, no response at all.
VAN LUTYENS: (Ironically.) So, the immediate crisis is over, yeah.


14. HARRIS' QUARTERS

(HARRIS and the TARDIS crew arrive at HARRIS' quarters to see the front door was wide open.)

HARRIS: Maggie, I've brought the Doctor.
VICTORIA: Oh no it's the same...
DOCTOR: I smell gas! There's gas in this house!
JAMIE: It's coming from in here.

(JAMIE points to the bedroom and all four charge in. MAGGIE is lying alone on the floor, but OAK and QUILL are nowhere to be seen. The gas is overpowering, and the four have to cover their mouths and noses to stop themselves breathing in the gas.)

DOCTOR: The Window, Jamie! Jamie, the window! Quickly! Quickly!

(JAMIE, with a wooden chair, smashes open the bedroom window. Clear air rushes into the room. HARRIS kneels by his wife, trying to awake her.)

HARRIS: Maggie...


15. CONTROL CONE/IMPELLER AREA

(PRICE turns from the communicator.)

PRICE: I'm sorry, sir, I can't raise them.

(At the area between the Control Cone and the Impeller Area, VAN LUTYENS and ROBSON are arguing.)

VAN LUTYENS: There, are you pleased with what you've done?
ROBSON: I'm warning you, Van Lutyens.
VAN LUTYENS: And I warned you, but you are too [another Dutch word], too stubborn to listen. Look at the facts, man. The fact that we lose contact with two rigs. Have unprecedented, inexplicable pressure variations for over three weeks.
ROBSON: So that's it. You've been talking with Harris, eh?
VAN LUTYENS: Yeah, Mr Harris did show me his figures. Only because you refused to listen to him. That's why I went out to the Control Rig, to see if there was an explanation out there.
ROBSON: And what did you find? Nothing. I'll tell you why. 'Cause there's nothing to find!
VAN LUTYENS: All the same, Mr Harris' figures...
ROBSON: (Almost screaming.) Are bunk! And the rest of his upply-tapey tin-pot ideas. He's still a school kid with his bits of paper and his graph and his... slide rule. You think I'm going to take any notice of him? I know every nut and bolt on every one of those rigs out there!
VAN LUTYENS: (Roaring back.) All right! So your prejudice prevents you from accepting Mr Harris' calculations. But what about me? Do you treat my opinion with as much contempt?
ROBSON: (Scoffs.) You? You are here to offer me your expert advice, but I'm not obliged to take it. I run this outfit the way I think fit. Is that understood?
CHIEF: (Calling from the Impeller Area.) Mr Robson, the impeller. Quick, two men.

(They rush into the Impeller Area.)

CHIEF: She's down to 140 revs. Something must be jamming it at the base.

(The Impeller slows down and stops...)

VAN LUTYENS: Well, Mr Robson, where do we go from here? Come on, now, you have all the answers, don't you?
CHIEF: Wait a minute, quiet!
VAN LUTYENS: What is it?
CHIEF: I think I can here something...

(And he can. It is the unmistakable sound of the heartbeat...)


16. HARRIS' QUARTERS

(The DOCTOR examines MAGGIE with his stethoscope, while HARRIS and the others look on worriedly.)

DOCTOR: No, no, no. No.
HARRIS: Look, what's the matter with her?
DOCTOR: Well she's in some sort of coma. Possibly because of this gas - it was toxic.
HARRIS: It isn't possible there could have been a gas leak in the flat. Besides, natural gas isn't toxic.
DOCTOR: Well this isn't natural gas. This is the gas we found when Victoria was locked in the Oxygen Room.
HARRIS: But where could it have come from?
DOCTOR: I don't know. What was the matter with her before this happened?
HARRIS: Well, she said she'd been stung by some... seaweed or something.
JAMIE: Seaweed?
HARRIS: I asked her to get a file from my study, and she found the seaweed inside it.
DOCTOR: Did you put it there?
HARRIS: Well no, of course not.
DOCTOR: (Standing up from examining MAGGIE.) There's no marks or abrasions.
HARRIS: No.
VICTORIA: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Um.
VICTORIA: What's this?
DOCTOR: What. Oh!

(VICTORIA points at the seaweed which is now in another corner of the bedroom.)

JAMIE: A bit of seaweed. What's it doing in here?
DOCTOR: It's still wet.
HARRIS: Perhaps it's the same sort that Maggie was talking about.

(HARRIS reaches out for the seaweed...)

DOCTOR: No! Don't touch it.
HARRIS: Why?
DOCTOR: Well, in the first place you don't want to get stung like your wife, do you? And in the second place, whoever put it in your file meant you to touch it.
HARRIS: But that's ridiculous. Wait a minute! I was sure I put that file in my briefcase this morning, but it wasn't there when I went to get it. I was on my way home... when I met Maggie. But why? Why should anyone want me to get stung by a piece of seaweed?
VICTORIA: Well I hate the stuff. It's so slimy and horrid.
JAMIE: Och, well you've seen seaweed before, haven't you? There was loads of it down by the pipeline this morning.

(This catches the DOCTOR's interest.)

DOCTOR: By the pipeline?
JAMIE: Aye, the place is overrun with it.
VICTORIA: Well not like that, it didn't move.
JAMIE: Move?


17. IMPELLER AREA

(Everybody is rushing about now. The CHIEF is standing by the readings and yelling orders at everybody.)

CHIEF: I want them all checked, every remote control release valve on the line. And check and double check all those circuits.

(VAN LUTYENS spots the CHIEF.)

VAN LUTYENS: Excuse me, Chief, could I have a word with you please?
CHIEF: Yes of course.
VAN LUTYENS: The impeller is still not functioning, eh?
CHIEF: No it's not.
VAN LUTYENS: And that sound we heard, have you heard it again?
CHIEF: No. As Mr Robson says, it's probably just a mechanical fault.
VAN LUTYENS: You believe that?
CHIEF: Well it's really not my job to...
VAN LUTYENS: Ah! Come on, man, you're the chief engineer, the impeller is your responsibility.
CHIEF: It's not my job to formulate theories, it's Mr Robson's.

(The name causes VAN LUTYENS to explode.)

VAN LUTYENS: Robson! Robson, what's the matter with you? Are you frightened of him or something?
CHIEF: No, Mr Van Lutyens, I just respect his judgement.
VAN LUTYENS: Well I'm sorry Chief. Could I have a word with you in private?
CHIEF: Well I...
VAN LUTYENS: It's important.
CHIEF: (To the other Engineers.) Check the feed valves!

(The two men walk into the Control Hall and VAN LUTYENS pulls out a diagram.)

VAN LUTYENS: I've been looking at the installation plan, and the ah... impeller intake is rather particular. I think I know where the blockage may be.
CHIEF: All right.

(The Dutchman takes out a small pen and uses it to point some things out on the diagram.)

VAN LUTYENS: Well this valve is at the base of the main shaft and leads directly to the intake, yeah?
CHIEF: Uhum.
VAN LUTYENS: Well as far as I can see there is no point between that valve and the... Control Rig where a blockage could occur big enough to stop the impeller.

(The Dutchman points this area out, but the CHIEF points out another area.)

CHIEF: Apart from the undersea emergency valve.
VAN LUTYENS: But you've got remote control observation on those and they're free.
CHIEF: Um.
VAN LUTYENS: So the impeller intake must be at fault.
CHIEF: It's possible.
VAN LUTYENS: Possible, man, it's the only answer! What we have to do is to go down and free that valve.
CHIEF: I'll have to check with Mr Robson.

(The Dutchman explodes again at the mention of ROBSON...)

VAN LUTYENS: Robson! Robson! What's the matter with you? Are you children? Can't you do anything on your own initiative?
CHIEF: Look, I can't send men down there without his approval.
VAN LUTYENS: (Snaps.) Can you not also blow your nose without approval?

(This causes the CHIEF to turn and face VAN LUTYENS with a stony face.)

CHIEF: Now listen to me, Mr Van Lutyens. I've worked with Mr Robson a long time. We were out there on those rigs together in the early days. You may think he's wrong to run this place in the way he does, but I trust him. And I take orders from him purely because I trust his judgement. No other reason.
VAN LUTYENS: I'm sorry, Chief, I shouldn't have said that. You forgive me, yeah? Now what I would like you to do is to go to Mr Robson and say you think we know where the blockage is, and get official permission to inspect the bass of the shaft.
CHIEF: Listen, if that's your theory, that's not mine.
VAN LUTYENS: It's the only possibility. Anyway, that sound you heard, it must have come from the bass of the shaft.
CHIEF: If the main valve was open it could be an echo from any one of those rigs.
VAN LUTYENS: If it is open! But you do not know that it is open, and you will not know until you go down and check.
CHIEF: Well, I suppose I could put it to him.
VAN LUTYENS: You're not going to tell me that that is a mechanical fault.
CHIEF: I'll go and see him.
VAN LUTYENS: He's in his cabin.

(Just then, ROBSON actually enters the room and the CHIEF calls him over.)

CHIEF ENGINEER: Chief!
ROBSON: What's the matter?
CHIEF ENGINEER: Mr Robson, that noise in the impeller, it's started again. I think we should go down and check the main valve.
ROBSON: Oh, you do, do you?
CHIEF ENGINEER: It's right where we think the blockage is.

(ROBSON catches the "We".)

ROBSON: We?
CHIEF ENGINEER: Well, Mr Van Luty...
ROBSON: Mr Van Lutyens. I thought he'd get his nose in.
ENGINEER: Come on!
ROBSON: You lot get back to work!

(He spots VAN LUTYENS and starts to march up to him.)

ROBSON: Van Lutyens, I want to talk to you.

(VAN LUTYENS is standing by the actual pipeline.)

VAN LUTYENS: Mr Robson, there is something alive in the pipeline.

(It is clear that ROBSON is just holding onto his temper.)

ROBSON: You're out of your mind, there's nothing down there.
CHIEF ENGINEER: I promise you, sir, I did hear something.
ROBSON: You've been unnerving my crew. Now you, get out!

(The heartbeat starts up again.)

VAN LUTYENS: Listen!

(The CHIEF hears it too.)

CHIEF ENGINEER: That's it!
ROBSON: Did you hear what I said?
VAN LUTYENS: Shut up and listen will you! Down there... in the darkness... waiting...


Next Episode


Doctor Who
PATRICK TROUGHTON

Jamie
FRAZER HINES

Victoria
DEBORAH WATLING

Robson
VICTOR MADDERN

Harris
ROY SPENCER

Price
GRAHAM LEAMAN

Maggie Harris
JANE MURPHY

Curney
JOHN GAVIN

Chief Engineer
HUBERT REES

Van Lutyens
JOHN ABINERI

Baxter
RICHARD MAYES

Quill
BILL BURRIDGE

Oak
JOHN GILL


Title Music by
RON GRAINER
and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Story Editor
DERRICK SHERWIN

Designer
PETER KINDRED

Producer
PETER BRYANT

Director
HUGH DAVID

(c) BBCtv 1968


Transcribed by
LEE HORTON
CHRIS MOORE

 

Back ] Home ] Up ] Next ]