1. FREIGHTER DOCK
(The DOCTOR is tearing down the access tunnel from the launch pad. He started running the moment the ship started to vibrate. A shattering roar comes from
the launch-pad just behind him, and a blast of smoke, flames and chemical fumes rips through the tunnel. The DOCTOR is hurled to the ground.)
DOCTOR: Oh! Ah! No! No, no, no...
(He lies motionless amid the drifting, poisonous smoke and the oncoming flames...)
THE SPACE PIRATES
by ROBERT HOLMES
EPISODE SIX
first broadcast - 12th April 1969
2. CORRIDOR, NEAR FREIGHTER DOCK
(JAMIE and ZOE have been trapped at an intersection by two guards. The patrol suddenly appeared in front of them, cutting them off from the others. They
reached cover unseen, and there they have been forced to wait. Fortunately for JAMIE and ZOE, the guards get new orders over their intercoms and hurry away.
JAMIE and ZOE have scarcely resumed their journey when they feel the ground shake and hear a distant roar.)
JAMIE: What's that?
(ZOE listens and her expression turns to one of shock when she realises what the noise is.)
ZOE: The rockets! The Doctor's going without us!
JAMIE: He wouldn't do!
ZOE: Oh, come on!
(They start running in the direction of the sound.)
3. LIZ 79
(In LIZ 79's cabin, MILO wrestles with the controls.)
MILO: It's no good, Dom! Damn thing won't respond at all!
DOM: Wha... uh... what is it, Milo? What's happened?
MILO: We've walked right into Caven's trap.
DOM: Caven! Of course.
MILO: The LIZ is being operated by remote control. Must have installed an override unit in here somewhere.
4. FREIGHTER DOCK
(Gasping in the still-drifting smoke, JAMIE and ZOE run down the tunnel. They literally stumble over the DOCTOR's unconscious body.)
JAMIE: DOCTOR!
(They crouch down beside him.)
ZOE: Oh, don't touch him, Jamie. Oh, don't touch him at all.
JAMIE: Is he all right?
(ZOE is feeling the DOCTOR's wrist.)
JAMIE: Zoe, is he all right?
ZOE: His pulse is weak. (Pauses.) He must have been caught in the blast of those rocket boosters.
(They both start to cough, as more of the fumes come down the tunnel.)
ZOE: Oh, these fumes! Come on, let's get him out of here.
(JAMIE heaves the DOCTOR over his shoulder and carries him back down the tunnels.)
5. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(DERVISH has finished linking the master control box of his remote control unit to MADELEINE's communications unit. He adjusts the controls and a view of LIZ
79's flight cabin comes up on the monitor. DOM is slumped in a chair; MILO is busy removing a panel from the computer console. MADELEINE stares at the exhausted
figure of her father, scarcely able to believe he is still alive.)
CAVEN: Cut their oxygen supply.
MADELEINE: (In pure anguish.) Caven, NO!
CAVEN: (To DERVISH.) You heard me, Dervish, cut the oxygen. Kill them!
DERVISH: (Throwing a switch.) Oxygen cut.
MADELEINE: (Weeping.) Please, please, I'll help you! I'll do anything.
(She tries to pull DERVISH from the controls. CAVEN brutally shoves her away.)
6. LIZ 79
(MILO is working at the computer console with frantic speed. DOM, meanwhile, is starting to breathe heavily in his chair.)
MILO: Hey, Dom. This must be it. These screw heads have been loosened recently. Let's get this off.
DOM: Milo! I can hardly breathe!
(MILO looks hard at the old man, then gets up and goes over to the air-conditioning grille. Faded ribbons are tied to it - ribbons that should be fluttering
feebly in the breeze of the air-conditioning. They are limp and motionless.)
MILO: The airflow...
DOM: Huh?
MILO: It's been cut!
7. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
MADELEINE: (Pleading.) Connect the flow - please, please, I'll do anything.
(But CAVEN has had enough of it.)
CAVEN: Sit down! Stop that yapping!
DERVISH: All set, boss.
(They look at the screen and see MILO go back to his labours.)
DERVISH: He's wasting his time, it's well hidden.
(They see old Dom Issigri suddenly slip from his chair.)
CAVEN: (Gleefully.) One down, one to go.
MADELEINE: (Gasping.) Father!
(CAVEN, however, spots that the LIZ has just the two passengers.)
CAVEN: Where's the Doctor and his friends?
DERVISH: They're not there!
CAVEN: (Screaming.) WHERE ARE THEY?
8. TUNNELS
(JAMIE has carried the DOCTOR to one of the bigger tunnels, where the air seems to be flowing more freely. However, JAMIE and ZOE are still coughing.)
JAMIE: (As he gently lays the DOCTOR onto the rock floor.) Easy now.
ZOE: That's better, the air's clearer here. Doctor. Doctor!
(The DOCTOR starts to respond to ZOE's voice. He abruptly sits up - and then immediately collapses in a fit of coughing.)
ZOE: (Helping him up.) And again, come on.
DOCTOR: (Coughing.) Oh dear.
JAMIE: Thank goodness for that, we thought you'd gone and had it!
DOCTOR: It's alright Jamie, I'm perfectly all right.
ZOE: Why did Milo take off without us?
DOCTOR: I don... I don't think he intended to, Zoe.
ZOE: Oh but he must have.
(The DOCTOR coughs loudly.)
ZOE: How could the LIZ take off otherwise?
DOCTOR: Milo wasn't anywhere near the controls when it all happened.
ZOE: But surely... Of course - remote control!
(The DOCTOR gets to his feet.)
DOCTOR: Yes, I think it's the only answer.
JAMIE: What good would it do Caven, shooting you up into space in a rocket?
DOCTOR: I'm not sure Jamie, but we've got to find that remote control unit and save Milo and Dom. Come on! Oh!
(He staggers a little and catches JAMIE's arm for support.)
ZOE: Oh now steady, Doctor.
DOCTOR: It's alright, Zoe. I'll be all right if you don't fuss me. Come along.
(They begin moving back towards Issigri HQ. The DOCTOR continues to cough loudly.)
9. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(On the screen, gasping for breath and near to collapse, MILO is still working doggedly at the console.)
CAVEN: (Callously.) They'll be unconscious in five minutes, and dead in fifteen. The V-Ship should drop alongside some ten minutes after that.
Nice timing, Dervish.
MADELEINE: Why don't you just kill them off now? Explode the rocket and have done with it.
CAVEN: Wouldn't suit my purpose.
(DERVISH looks at MADELEINE's anguished face.)
DERVISH: Caven, do we have to go through with this?
CAVEN: What's the matter, cold feet suddenly?
DERVISH: Why can't we get away now while we've still got the chance?
CAVEN: Hermack thinks Clancey's the man he wants. We're giving him Clancey - dead so that he can't talk and with a load of stolen argonite in his cargo
bay.
MADELEINE: Oh you've got it all worked out, haven't you.
CAVEN: (Proudly.) Down to the last detail.
DERVISH: Yeah but what about the Doctor and his friends? Suppose they get in touch with the Space Corps?
(CAVEN rises.)
CAVEN: They won't. I'll find them now and take care of them. (Pointing at MADELEINE.) Now don't take any lick from her. If she gives you any
trouble, kill her!
(As soon as he is out of the room, MADELEINE heads for the remote control unit. Drawing his hand-blaster, DERVISH bars her way.)
DERVISH: I... I don't want to, but if I have to, I'll kill you!
(Realising that DERVISH's fear of CAVEN is strong enough to make him kill her, MADELEINE backs away. She looks at the screen and sees MILO slump to the floor
beside her father.)
DERVISH: I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry.
MADELEINE: They don't stand a chance, do they? By the time the Space Corps get here they'll be dead.
10. V-SHIP
(We see the V-Ship flying in space.)
11. V-SHIP, FLIGHT-DECK
(HERMACK and WARNE are looking thoughtfully at the scanner screen. On the edge of it, can be seen a faint signal.)
HERMACK: Well, what is it?
WARNE: Could be one of the pirate ships - a beta dart.
PENN: Can't make it out yet, sir. It's too far away.
HERMACK: Right. Full boost. We'll get in closer and have a look.
(The engines speed up as HERMACK retakes his seat.)
12. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(DERVISH backs away before MADELEINE's reproachful eyes.)
DERVISH: Don't you understand? There's nothing I can do - nothing!
MADELEINE: This is your one chance to get free of Caven. Help me! We can get the Space Corps out so that...
DERVISH: No!
(She moves towards him again and he raises the blaster.)
DERVISH: I daren't!
(MADELEINE sees a sudden flicker of movement in the doorway. She circles slowly round DERVISH; he moves to keep her in front of him.)
DERVISH: Don't move.
MADELEINE: (Sighing.) All right. I can see it's pointless arguing with a gutless fool like you. You don't care about anything except your own
skin!
DERVISH: (Shrieking.) Shut up! SHUT UP!
(He raises the blaster, his face twisted with hate. For a moment MADELEINE thinks she has goaded him too far, but now DERVISH's back is to the door. JAMIE
bounds into the room and grapples with him. DERVISH swings round, but JAMIE knocks up his gun-hand and the energy-bolt from the blaster slams into the remote
control console. Its screen goes blank. JAMIE draws back a knobbly fist and knocks DERVISH cold. The DOCTOR and ZOE come into the room. MADELEINE runs up to
them.)
MADELEINE: Quickly! We must do something. They've cut off the air in the LIZ and my father's in there - he's dying. This is the remote contraption.
(The DOCTOR hurries to the remote control unit, which is giving off wisps of smoke.)
DOCTOR: Oh my word! I'm afraid the blast from the gun has fused the wires together.
MADELEINE: Can't you do something?
(Producing his sonic screwdriver, the DOCTOR sets to work. However, no one has noticed that DERVISH has recovered and is crawling inch-by-inch towards the
door.)
13. CORRIDOR
(CAVEN is talking to a guard.)
CAVEN: Well?
GUARD: There's no sign of them on this level, sir.
CAVEN: Right, spread down on the next level by the old workings.
GUARD: Right, sir
CAVEN: And if you see any sign of that Doctor and his friends, you shoot to kill.
GUARD: Right, sir.
CAVEN: I'll be back in the Issigri HQ.
14. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(The DOCTOR tries connecting two wires together.)
MADELEINE: Come on! Come on, please!
(The DOCTOR gives a quick run-through of his work.)
DOCTOR: I think... I think that's the air-conditioning circuit reconnected. Now then, the radio link.
(He gets back to work.)
15. LIZ 79
(Soon the DOCTOR's voice comes over the speaker.)
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Hello LIZ 79. Can you hear me? Can you hear me, Dom? Dom Issigri?
(MADELEINE takes over, and her voice comes over the radio.)
MADELEINE: Father! Father, this is Madeleine. Can you hear me?
(There is no movement from MILO and DOM.)
16. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(MADELEINE is worried about the lack of picture on the monitor.)
MADELEINE: (To the DOCTOR.) Are you sure the radio link's working?
DOCTOR: Well, I think so.
MADELEINE: What about the video?
DOCTOR: No, this is much more difficult, I'm afraid.
MADELEINE: How can we tell whether they're all right or not?
DOCTOR: Well...
(Absorbed in the problem presented by the mass of charred circuits, the DOCTOR only gradually becomes aware of JAMIE's voice.)
JAMIE: Hey, Doctor!
DOCTOR: What is it Jamie? I'm busy.
JAMIE: It's Dervish - he's gone!
DOCTOR: What?
ZOE: Well he's bound to bring Caven and the guards back.
JAMIE: Aye.
MADELEINE: I'll close the main doors, then we'll be safe.
(She pulls a lever on her desk and they hear the whisper of hydraulics.)
MADELEINE: Let's try and contact the LIZ again, please.
(The DOCTOR sees the frantic look on her face and nods.)
17. LIZ 79
(The ribbons tied to the air-vent in the flight cabin of LIZ 79 are fluttering feebly again. MILO shakes his head. He feels terrible - as if he has the worse
hangover in the world. To make matters worse, some woman is shouting at him.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Father, Milo, can you hear me? Milo, Father, please answer if you can hear me!
(MILO feebly reaches out and flicks a switch.)
MILO: Hey girl! Stop screeching like a banshee, will you?
MADELEINE: (Joyfully, OOV.) Milo! Milo, is that you?
MILO: Ah... I'll tell ya... Just let me clear the fog from me ears and I'll tell ya!
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Is my father all right?
(MILO rises and kneels by the body of his old friend. His scrawny chest is rising and falling, and his heartbeat is strong. Milo goes back to the controls.)
MILO: Yeah, I think he's all right Maddie.
(A familiar voice booms through the cabin.)
HERMACK: (OOV.) LIZ 79, this is General Hermack.
(MILO clutches his temples.)
MILO: Ah! Not another banshee! Take your volume down, will you General - you're blasting me ears off!
HERMACK: (OOV.) Clancey, cut your motors. We're coming alongside.
MILO: (Furious.) Look General, will you just shut up, and let me get a word in edgeways? I've got something to tell you that'll make your hair
curl. Now just for once in your life, will you listen to me?!
18. CORRIDOR
(Returning from his unsuccessful attempt to track down the DOCTOR and his friends, CAVEN heads towards MADELEINE's office. He is just about to enter the HQ
area when he runs into DERVISH, who is scurrying frantically in the opposite direction.)
CAVEN: (Grabbing him.) Dervish, I thought I told you to...
DERVISH: Caven! The Doctor and his friends... well they attacked me. I was lucky to get away with my life.
CAVEN: (Furiously.) YOU FOOL! They'll bring the Space Corps down on us. Oh you!
(He is ready to hit him.)
CAVEN: Come on!
(Dragging DERVISH with him, he sets off for MADELEINE's office.)
19. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(By now, General HERMACK has interrogated MILO and got most of the story.)
HERMACK: Is this true, Clancey?
(Instead DOM's voice comes over the radio.)
DOM: (OOV.) General Hermack, this is Dom Issigri. What Milo has told you is true. Caven has engineered this whole thing.
(MILO then takes the microphone.)
MILO: (OOV.) And if you don't stop yabbing General, he's going to get clean away with it.
HERMACK: (Slightly annoyed.) All right Clancey, that's quite enough of that. (To PENN.) Give me Issigri Headquarters on the video.
PENN: Yes sir.
(Almost immediately, MADELEINE's face appears on the viewer.)
HERMACK: Miss Issigri, we are coming to your assistance. We're going to launch a full scale attack in approximately...
(He looks at PENN.)
PENN: Fifty-five minutes.
HERMACK: Fifty-five minutes.
20. LIZ 79
(The radio conversation continues.)
MADELEINE: (Sounding very happy.) All right, General. Thank you.
MILO: Hey! Hey! Hey wait on, Maddie! Hey General! What about... What about us?! You can't leave us here like flies on fly-paper.
(The DOCTOR's voice comes over the radio.)
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Hello Milo. Now listen.
MILO: (Happy.) The Doctor!
DOCTOR: (OOV.) I think I can help you dismantle the remote control device and regain control of the LIZ.
MILO: Control of the LIZ. That would be something.
DOCTOR: I think the remote control unit will be probably situated somewhere in the computer preselector. Now do you know where that is?
MILO: Well, of course I know where it is. I know the LIZ like the back of my hand. Now that computer thingummy, that should be err... well ah... (Looking
about.) somewhere about HERE, I guess. (Marching towards another control panel.) AH HA!
DOCTOR: (OOV.) What's happened? Have you found it?
(MILO keeps shouting "Ah!", for some reason.)
MILO: Oh it must be! Oh it must be!
(MILO stares at a small box by the control panel.)
MILO: Hey, you know... Maybe... maybe it'll be somewhere behind here, Dom.
(DOM and MILO start to pull the box away from the wall.)
21. ENTRANCE TO ISSIGRI HQ
(CAVEN stares grimly at the heavy metal door to Issigri HQ.)
CAVEN: It's locked from the inside.
(He turns to the vid-com unit by the door.)
CAVEN: Madeleine...
22. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(CAVEN's picture appears on the monitor.)
CAVEN: (OOV.) ...can you hear me? This is Caven.
(MADELEINE turns from the hated features on the screen to the DOCTOR.)
MADELEINE: He's probably outside the main door. That's where the internal video is.
(She turns back to the screen and throws the microphone switch.)
MADELEINE: You can't get in, Caven. By the time you cut through that door, the Space Corps will be swarming all over Ta.
23. ENTRANCE TO ISSIGRI HQ
CAVEN: Oh dear Madeleine, you've disappointed me. We could have made a fortune together, instead of which I have to leave and you have to die.
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Empty threats, Caven?
(CAVEN drags DERVISH into the vid-com's field of view.)
CAVEN: Oh no. (To DERVISH.) Dervish, you'll need eighteen to twenty demolition charges.
DERVISH: What for?
CAVEN: Connect them in series to the atomic fuel store.
DERVISH: But that's madness, Caven. There isn't time, the... the Space Corps will here before we're finished.
CAVEN: We will, don't worry...
DERVISH: Yeah, but...
CAVEN: DO AS I SAY!
(Shoving DERVISH away, CAVEN turns back to MADELEINE.)
CAVEN: Should be quite a bang. The equivalent of about eighty old-fashioned hydrogen bombs.
MADELEINE: (OOV, shocked.) You'd never do that. You'd blow yourself sky-high as well!
CAVEN: Oh no. We shall explode it when we're a safe distance away, and the V-Ship is right in the flash zone. You have about forty minutes.
(CAVEN raises his hand in farewell.)
CAVEN: Oh, don't try to leave. I'm turning the manual lock from this side. Enjoy the big bang!
(He turns away, and the screen goes blank.)
24. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(MADELEINE looks up from her control console.)
MADELEINE: That's it. I don't think he's bluffing. And if he sets off an explosion in the atomic fuel store...
DOCTOR: Then we must see to it that he doesn't.
JAMIE: (Scowls.) But how? We can't stop him if we're locked in here.
ZOE: What about the Space Corps? Can they get here in time.
(The DOCTOR shakes his head.)
MADELEINE: No, V-ships require a complicated landing technique - they're so large.
DOCTOR: Besides, we shall have to warn them of Caven's intended escape.
JAMIE: Then who's going to get us out of here?
DOCTOR: There's only one man that can, Jamie. Milo!
ZOE: But the LIZ is still jammed in remote control.
DOCTOR: I know, I know, but we shall free it!
JAMIE: (Gloomy.) You hope.
(The DOCTOR stares at JAMIE, then turns to MADELEINE.)
DOCTOR: Get hold of the space patrol and tell them what's happened. I'd better see how Milo's getting on with that bird's nest.
25. ATOMIC STORE-ROOM
(At the core of the atomic store-room is a circular chamber with massive lead shielded doors. Lining its wall in racks are the giant atomic fuel storage
cylinders. DERVISH, in radiation suit, helmet and gauntlets, is clamping down small atomic detonator canisters to selected cylinders. The idea is to set off a
chain-reaction of atomic explosion. CAVEN is watching DERVISH, and is now rapping impatiently on the thick glass inspection hatch set into the door. DERVISH
connects the last canister and moves awkwardly to the door. CAVEN opens it and DERVISH emerges into the stark concrete corridor outside. When the door is closed
he removes his gloves and helmet, and wipes his forehead.)
CAVEN: (Hissing.) You're taking your time.
DERVISH: Only the detonator to connect up now.
(DERVISH opens a metal box standing outside the door. Inside is a contraption like a complicated electronic alarm clock, which rests on a hammock of plastic
webbing. Dervish carefully lifts it out.)
CAVEN: GET A MOVE ON!
(For the first time DERVISH turns an angry face to CAVEN.)
DERVISH: Do you mind?!
CAVEN: (Temporally thrown.) What?
DERVISH: This is something that can't be rushed.
(CAVEN looks at the clock over the door: it reads 11:25. He grabs DERVISH's arm. DERVISH freezes, cradling the detonator.)
DERVISH: Knock that again, and we won't have half a second left. I've known one of these things go up if somebody so much as coughed!
CAVEN: We've got half an hour before that space ship drops on us.
(DERVISH carefully hands the detonator to CAVEN, then puts on his helmet and gloves. He takes back the detonator, CAVEN opens the door, and DERVISH goes back
to complete his terrifying task.)
26. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(MADELEINE is just finishing her report to HERMACK.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) He's planting some sort of explosive device in the atomic fuel store. With a radio controlled detonator.
HERMACK: (To WARNE.) He intends to retire the Beta Dart and explode out of range.
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Yes.
HERMACK: Then we must try and intercept him before he has the chance to transmit the triggering pulse. We'll let you know, Miss Issigri, don't worry.
27. LIZ 79
(MILO, meanwhile, is trying to carry out an equally complicated task. Guided by the DOCTOR's voice over the space radio link, he is trying to find and
disconnect the device that is controlling the ship.)
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Milo? Have you found that little red wire leading into the neuristor bank?
(MILO roots around inside the computer console.)
MILO: Ha! Little red wire, he says! There's about a thousand little red wires here. You hold that bunch, will you Dom?
(He hands a tangle of connections to the patiently waiting DOM. MILO peers into the interior of the console.)
MILO: Now, neuristor bank? Ah, well that might be this one here. I'll give that a go there.
(He pokes a finger into the console. There is a loud cracking and MILO snatches his hand away with a yell.)
DOCTOR: (Cheerful, OOV.) It sounded as if you've found it.
(MILO sucks his fingers.)
MILO: Jumping galactic gob-stoppers, why didn't you tell me it was alive! My fingers.
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Now, somewhere near that neuristor bank, there should be the implanted overriding unit. It's probably transistorised - very small.
(DOM peers over MILO's shoulder and points.)
DOM: Is that it?
MILO: Yeah?
DOM: Is that it?
MILO: (Staring at a small transistor unit connected by some wires.) Could be, Dom. We'll try that one shall we?
(He grabs the unit by its attaching wires and yanks it bodily from the console. Immediately the LIZ gives a tremendous lurch. With a yell of both triumph and
alarm, MILO leaps for the pilot's chair.)
DOCTOR: (OOV.) What's happening?
(MILO is busy checking the response of the controls.)
MILO: I found it!
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Right. Now, dismantle it carefully.
(MILO grins at DOM.)
MILO: I just have. Hold on a second, Dom. We're on our way!
28. ATOMIC FUEL STORE
(CAVEN paces up and down the corridor. He looks up at the clock. It is 11:37. At 11:39 the door opens and DERVISH emerges and pulls off his helmet.)
DERVISH: All fixed.
CAVEN: Good! By twelve hundred hours we'll be far enough away to escape the blast.
DERVISH: Is the ship ready?
CAVEN: On the pad. Come on, let's go.
(He helps DERVISH out of the radiation suit, dropping it by the door, and they hurry away. The digital display on the clock above the atomic store-room
clicks from 11:39 to 11:40.)
29. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(On the scanner screen a small light is rising from a big blob, which is Ta.)
WARNE: That's a Beta Dart on the scope now, isn't it Penn?
PENN: Must be, sir. She's boosting off fast!
HERMACK: Get a minnow Ian, and get after them.
WARNE: Right, sir.
(WARNE hurries eagerly from the flight-deck.)
HERMACK: Lock on intercepting course.
PENN: Yes sir.
30. SPACE
(The V-Ship turns and starts to follow the Beta Dart. Meanwhile, WARNE's minnow rises from the centre of the V-Ship and blasts off into space.)
31. LIZ 79
(MILO beams at DOM, who lies slumped back in the co-pilot's seat.)
MILO: Ha ha, this is just like old times, hey Dom? You and me scuffling along in the old LIZ.
(DOM smiles feebly.)
DOM: (Mumbling.) I wish it was the old days...
(He shakes his head, trying to clear a sudden dizziness. MILO shoots him a worried look.)
MILO: Hold on, Dom. You'll be all right. In a minute or two, we're going to land on Ta, and you'll see little... little Maddy again, Dom.
DOM: Little Maddy?
MILO: Maddy.
DOM: Yes... Yes... Mad... Maddy! Maddy!
(DOM looks as though hearing the name has given him strength.)
MILO: Hold onto something Dom. Hold on, I'm going to try and approach to orbit! (To the LIZ.) Come on, old girl. Don't let me down, now.
32. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
WARNE: (OOV.) I shall be in striking range in about thirty seconds sir.
HERMACK: Right! Don't fire until I give the word.
(A light starts to flash on the console in front of him.)
HERMACK: Oh wait a minute, there's an audio contract.
(A familiar voice cuts through on the communicator channel.)
CAVEN: (OOV.) Beta Dart to V-41! Call that Minnow off our tail, Hermack. I'm warning you if he comes any closer, I'll pull this switch. And
we'll all die together.
(There is a click as CAVEN brakes off communication.)
HERMACK: You'd better pull back, Ian.
WARNE: (OOV.) OK sir, if you say so.
(HERMACK looks up at the flight deck clock. It reads 11:48.)
HERMACK: Twelve minutes. (To PENN.) Get me Issigri Headquarters. I'd better break the news to them.
33. LIZ 79
(DOM and MILO shake a little in their chairs as the LIZ touches down.)
MILO: Ah! Ah! We did it! Ho ho! We did it Dom. We're alright. We're down Dom.
(MADELEINE's voice comes through on the speaker.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Hello LIZ 79. Milo, can you hear me?
MILO: Yeah, loud and clear. We'll be seeing you in a minute, Maddy girl, because we've landed.
(He can hear the tension in MADELEINE's voice.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) Thank goodness for that! Now listen Milo, there isn't much time. You've got to get over to Headquarters and release us
quickly.
MILO: But why? What's going on?
MADELEINE: There's no time for questions! Hurry!
MILO: Right-o!
(MILO heaves himself out of the pilot's seat and looks dubiously at his old friend.)
MILO: You'd better stay down there, old timer. I've got some running to do, and I don't think that you're really up to it!
(MILO hurtles from the cabin. Seconds later DOM hears him clattering down the ladder.)
34. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(MADELEINE is talking to General HERMACK on the vid-com.)
MADELEINE: (OOV.) The Doctor thinks that he might be able to defuse this explosive.
HERMACK: (With a grave expression.) You haven't much more time. Eight... perhaps ten minutes. I've got to launch that Beta Dart at twelve hundred.
MADELEINE: (OOV.) All right, but give us as long as you can.
HERMACK: Good luck. (Under his breath.) You'll need it.
35. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(MILO throws open the doors to MADELEINE's office and leans panting by the door.)
MADELEINE: Milo!
MILO: I haven't run so far since I was knee high to a grasshop...
(He breaks off because the DOCTOR, MADELEINE, ZOE and JAMIE are all sprinting past him out of the door.)
MILO: Hey, what going on here? Where are you all going?
JAMIE: (Over his shoulder.) To turn off a bomb.
MILO: Oh my... A bomb?! Hey, wait for me!
(MILO draws a deep breath and pounds wearily after the others.)
36. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(Major WARNE is speaking quietly over the vid-com.)
WARNE: (OOV.) I could creep the minnow in sir, and get a salvo in before they knew what'd happened.
HERMACK: No wait, they've got seven more minutes.
37. ATOMIC FUEL STORE
(MILO and MADELEINE are bundling the DOCTOR into DERVISH's discarded anti-radiation suit. MADELEINE looks up at the clock.)
MADELEINE: You've got about... six minutes.
(They lower the helmet over the DOCTOR's head. His voice is muffled by the helmet.)
DOCTOR: Right, open the doors.
(JAMIE opens the door to the atomic storage area, and the DOCTOR goes inside. The detonator looks like a great metal spider, its metal body crouching in the
centre of the room, power cables stretching out from it like long silvery legs. The DOCTOR studies it for a moment. The leads are firmly fastened at either end.
The DOCTOR looks at them and then at the clock - 11:55 - five minutes to go. Producing his sonic screwdriver, the DOCTOR begins unscrewing the top of the
detonator unit. JAMIE, ZOE, MADELEINE and MILO jostle round the inspection window to see what the DOCTOR is doing. He has got the lid off the detonator and is
staring inside. A clock inside the detonator is ticking away. He pauses, wondering which one of the wires to cut first. Outside, the others see him pause.)
JAMIE: Look, he's not doing anything.
ZOE: Oh Doctor, hurry!
(MILO explains what the matter is.)
MILO: Grand sakes alive girl, he's got to find the right one. He'll blow us all to bits if he moves the wrong wire.
(They see the DOCTOR reach inside the detonator unit.)
38. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(HERMACK looks at the clock. It now reads 11:57.)
39. SPACE
(WARNE, in his minnow-ship, speeds forwards on a convergent course with the sleek black Beta Dart.)
40. ATOMIC FUEL STORE
(The DOCTOR is gingerly lifting a thin metal cylinder from the middle of a nest of circuits inside the detonator. The cylinder is connected by two thin
wires: one green, one red. They have to be severed - in the right order.)
41. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
PENN: One hundred and fifty seconds, sir.
(HERMACK thinks about it.)
HERMACK: We've got to take the risk.
(Raising his voice he shouts: )
HERMACK: Attack, Ian, attack!
42. SPACE
(11:58. WARNE moves behind the Beta Dart - ready to fire at point-blank range.)
43. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(Time goes by, until 11:59.)
HERMACK: FIRE!
44. SPACE
(Twin torpedoes streak from the nose cone of the minnow-ship, converging upon the Beta Dart.)
45. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(On the communicator, CAVEN appears.)
CAVEN: (Hissing/yelling, OOV.) I WARNED YOU HERMACK!
(CAVEN reaches for the detonator switch in front of him.)
DERVISH: (OOV.) No, Caven, no! We're still in the blast area!
CAVEN: THEN WE ALL DIE TOGETHER! NOW!
(DERVISH appears and throws himself on CAVEN, trying to drag him away from the switch.)
46. ATOMIC FUEL STORE
(The DOCTOR comes to a decision and snaps the green wire, then the red.)
47. V-SHIP, FLIGHT DECK
(We see a close-up of the communicator screen. CAVEN throws DERVISH aside and then throws the detonator switch.)
48. ATOMIC FUEL STORE
(The clock changes to 12:00. Everybody closes their eyes... Nothing happens. They all start to re-open their eyes.)
49. SPACE
(WARNE's Martian missiles strike the Beta Dart, blowing DERVISH, CAVEN & the rest of the pirates into flaming fragments.)
50. MADELEINE'S OFFICE
(Soon after, they are all back in MADELEINE's luxurious office, except for DOM. They are celebrating their victory with the finest champagne.)
MADELEINE: (Turning from the audio communicator.) I've just heard that the Space Corps has destroyed the Beta Dart.
(Everybody starts cheering.)
MILO: Well, at least those varmits have done something right for a change. Yeah?
MADELEINE: General Hermack is coming back here to pick me up. I have to go back to home planet.
ZOE: What for?
MADELEINE: To stand trial.
MILO: Wh... To stand trial? Now... now listen, don't you worry about that, little Maddy girl. I'll have a few words with those danglers about that.
(MADELEINE smiles at him.)
MADELEINE: Don't worry. The General doesn't seem to think that the outcome will be disastrous, and my father's evidence will help.
MILO: Yeah, damn certain it will!
(He remembers DOM.)
MILO: Poor old critter. Hey, would you like to go and have a... have a word with him old Maddy girl? He's only out there on the LIZ.
MADELEINE: (Softly.) Yes, yes. It'll be strange seeing him after all these years.
MILO: Go on. You... you go by yourself. Go on.
(MADELEINE walks over to the door. She passes the DOCTOR and turns to him.)
MADELEINE: I don't know how to thank you.
(She kisses him on the cheek. The DOCTOR looks shocked and embarrassed. JAMIE looks gleefully at the DOCTOR. MADELEINE hurries out.)
ZOE: Doctor?
(The DOCTOR looks into space, rubbing his cheek.)
ZOE: Doctor, what about the TARDIS?
JAMIE: Hey, that's a point. Where is it?
(The DOCTOR pulls himself together.)
DOCTOR: Oh... oh the TARDIS, that's no problem. It's ah... orbiting Lobos, Milo's home planet, in one of the beacon sections.
ZOE: Oh no problem, hey? Well how are we going to get to it?
DOCTOR: Well Milo's very kindly offered us a lift in the LIZ.
JAMIE: Oh no, not the LIZ again! Frankly I'd rather walk.
MILO: (Half hearing this.) You what?
DOCTOR: You never know you might have to...
(JAMIE, ZOE, MILO and The DOCTOR laugh as they leave the room to return to the LIZ and the TARDIS.)
Next Episode
The Doctor
PATRICK TROUGHTON
Jamie
FRAZER HINES
Zoe
WENDY PADBURY
General Nicolai Hermack
JACK MAY
Major Ian Warne
DONALD GEE
Technician Penn
GEORGE LAYTON
Maurice Caven
DUDLEY FOSTER
Dervish
BRIAN PECK
Milo Clancey
GORDON GOSTELOW
Madeleine Issigri
LISA DANIELY
Title Music by
RON GRAINER
and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSON
Designer
IAN WATSON
Producer
DERRICK SHERWIN
Director
MICHAEL HART
Transcribed by
LEE HORTON