FRONTIER IN SPACEBY
MALCOLM HULKEEPISODE FOUR
1: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE AIRLOCK
(CROSS turns the dial further. A pressure gauge on the wall starts to rise.)
2: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. AIRLOCK
(Within the airlock, the noise of escaping air gets louder. The DOCTOR crosses to the door and tries to turn an unlocking wheel.)
DOCTOR: The door - it's locked!
(They hear the escaping air.)
DOCTOR: They're depressurising.
(DALE hears it too.)
PROFESSOR DALE: Listen.
DOCTOR: Don't you understand, man! They're pumping out the air!
PROFESSOR DALE: Well...we're going to suffocate!
DOCTOR: Of course we're not.(He rushes and grabs one of the empty cylinders. He then uses it to try and bring their plight to anyone's attention by banging it against the locked door.)
PROFESSOR DALE: That's no good. They...they'll never hear us.
DOCTOR: Well, they certainly won't if we don't try.
PROFESSOR DALE: (Breathlessly.) Help! Help! Help!
DOCTOR: Professor, don't shout! You'll just waste oxygen.(With the air getting thinner, the old PROFESSOR starts to slump on the floor. The DOCTOR gives up his attempt and bends down to help him.)
DOCTOR: Come on, Professor, come on. Come on, up you get.
3: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE AIRLOCK
(The gauge outside is almost at the highest level. Beneath it, a black gloved hand reaches out for the air dial and starts to turn it in the other direction.)
4: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. AIRLOCK
(Air starts to rush back into the room as the DOCTOR helps the PROFESSOR up.)
DOCTOR: Come on, ___.
(He hears the incoming air.)
DOCTOR: Listen! Listen - it worked!
(He helps the struggling PROFESSOR to his feet and waits for the airlock door to open. It does so to admit a surprising figure.)
MASTER: I do hope that you're alright, Doctor.
(Catching his breath, the DOCTOR nods...)
DOCTOR: You. Yes, I might have guessed.
MASTER: I'd hate you to come to any harm, you know?
5: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. GOVERNOR'S OFFICE
(The GOVERNOR'S office is as plain and functional as the rest of the prison. The man himself sits behind a report of the incident, with the MASTER, still in his commissioner's uniform, beside him. CROSS, the DOCTOR and DALE stand before the desk, with armed truncheon wielding guards behind them.)
DOCTOR: It was a deliberate attempt at cold-blooded murder, Governor. And I demand an enquiry!
PRISON GOVERNOR: (Calmly.) You were trying to escape. You've only yourselves to blame for the consequences.
DOCTOR: I also believe there was a conspiracy to destroy this man...(He nods at DALE.)
DOCTOR: ...because he's politically dangerous to you.
PRISON GOVERNOR: (Riled.) How dare you!
PROFESSOR DALE: Cross said he would help us to escape, and he left spacesuits for us in the airlock.
DOCTOR: With no oxygen in the cylinders.
PRISON GOVERNOR: (To CROSS.) Is there any truth in this?
CROSS: No, sir. They stole the suits. Must have messed it up and taken ones with empty cylinders.
DOCTOR: And I take it we that also locked ourselves in the airlock from the outside and switched off the air supply, mm?
MASTER: He does have a point there, you know, Governor? Had it not been for my time...
CROSS: (Interrupts.) Maybe another prisoner did it? You know, one who had it in for 'em?
PRISON GOVERNOR: You are both guilty of attempting to escape. You'll both be placed in solitary confinement for the next year.
MASTER: Er, just a moment, Governor, do what you will with the old man but that one...(He points with his papers at the DOCTOR.)
MASTER: ...comes with me.
(The GOVERNOR signs his report.)
PRISON GOVERNOR: Mmm, out of the question, I'm afraid. He's committed an internal offence and is subject to prison discipline. Take 'em away.
(The guards lead the DOCTOR and the PROFESSOR out of the room. CROSS steps forward.)
CROSS: Sorry about this, sir. I'll, er, see it doesn't happen again.
PRISON GOVERNOR: Yes, it had better not. Alright, you can go.
CROSS: Sir.(CROSS leaves.)
MASTER: You know, I do wish that you'd reconsider, Governor. Obtaining custody of that prisoner is very important to me. And I do have a warrant.
(He waves his papers.)
PRISON GOVERNOR: Well, it's out of the question, I'm afraid. You see, he's under punishment. When he's completed his solitary confinement, I'll, er, reconsider.
MASTER: I see.(The MASTER starts to pace the office, thinking...)
MASTER: You know, I have a theory about this incident.
PRISON GOVERNOR: It's no concern of yours.
MASTER: I think that those two prisoners were telling the truth. I think that your trusty, Cross, was helping them.
PRISON GOVERNOR: Why should he do that?
MASTER: On your instructions.
PRISON GOVERNOR: (Angrily.) That is an outrageous suggest...
MASTER: (Interrupts.) Oh come, Governor! You rid yourself of a politically dangerous prisoner, and foster the legend that escape is impossible in one go. I must congratulate you.
PRISON GOVERNOR: You're being very impermanent!
MASTER: Suppose I were to support the Doctor's demand for an official enquiry? Some very awkward questions could be asked?(The GOVERNOR tries not to look nervous as he strokes his beard.)
PRISON GOVERNOR: I have nothing to fear.
MASTER: Haven't you? Oh come, Governor. Hand the Doctor over to me...and I promise you he'll be no further trouble to you.(The GOVERNOR sits back in his chair and waves his hands.)
PRISON GOVERNOR: Well, I've no wish to be uncooperative. What would you do with him?
MASTER: Oh, take him back to Sirius 4 and see that he stands trial. (Sighs.) You wouldn't believe the list of crimes he's committed.
6: INT. MOON. LUNAR PENAL COLONY. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL
(The DOCTOR sits on a narrow bench in his darkened solitary confinement cell. The door hums open and the GOVERNOR and the MASTER enter and stand over him.)
PRISON GOVERNOR: I'm releasing you into the custody of this commissioner. He will fly you back to Sirius 4 to stand trial.
DOCTOR: And may I ask what I'm supposed to have done there?(The MASTER coughs, opens his papers and starts to read...)
MASTER: "Defrauding the Sirius 4 Dominion Bank, evasion of planetary income tax, assault and battery committed upon the person of a Sirius 4 police official, taking a spaceship without authority and piloting the said spaceship without payment of tax and insurance. Landing the said spaceship on an unauthorised area of Sirius 3". Need I go on?
DOCTOR: I seem to be quite the master criminal, don't I? (To the GOVERNOR.) You don't mean to say that you really believe all this nonsense, do you, Governor? Whatever credentials he's shown you are forged.
MASTER: Oh come, Doctor, you know the game's up. Why not admit defeat? (To the GOVERNOR.) You know, this man always works with an accomplice - a girl.(The DOCTOR looks sharply up at the MASTER.)
MASTER: I've got her under lock and key in my ship.
(The DOCTOR'S eyes open as he takes in the implied threat. The MASTER looks down at him and smiles.)
MASTER: Well, Doctor, are you coming quietly?
7: EXT. MOON
(The small spaceship that the DOCTOR saw from the airlock is the MASTER'S stolen police ship.)
8: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(Within it, a worried JO sits within a barred cage in the well of a room in the rear of the ship. A raised platform runs round the edge of the room. There are two bunks in the cage with silver blankets on them. The door from the airlock opens and two guards lead the DOCTOR in. He has changed back into his own clothes. The MASTER follows.)
DOCTOR: Hello, Jo.
JO: Doctor!(The DOCTOR is led round the raised area to where he is next to JO. He leans through the bars.)
DOCTOR: How are you - alright?
JO: Well...
MASTER: (Interrupting.) Right, they'll be plenty of time for the exchange of social pleasantries. Put him inside.(One guard opens the barred door to the cage and the other leads him inside and pulls the door to. It is locked.)
MASTER: Thank you, gentlemen. You can leave them to me now.
(The two guards leave through the airlock. The MASTER goes up to the bars of the cage. Inside, the DOCTOR and JO sit on their respective bunks.)
MASTER: Well, Doctor, this is an interesting reversal. I remember your once visiting me when I was in prison.
DOCTOR: You know, I'd very much like to know why...?
MASTER: (Interrupts.) Why you've been locked up?
DOCTOR: No - why I'm still alive.
MASTER: Oh, your health is very precious to me - for the moment. You see, my...my employers are most interested in you.
JO: The Ogrons?
MASTER: Miss Grant, please! I employ them.
DOCTOR: Yes, well whatever it is you're up to, you needn't expect any help from me.
MASTER: I don't need any help. Your simple presence will be quite enough. Oh, by the way, I need hardly warn you there is no point in trying to escape. This is an interplanetary police spaceship, specially built for carrying prisoners - as you can see.(He gestures at the cage.)
DOCTOR: Er, stolen, of course?
MASTER: Oh, of course. Oh, and another thing...(He points at a small camera which hangs down from the ceiling.)
MASTER: There's a closed circuit television camera trained on you from up there, so you will be under continuous observation. I think that's all. Well now, if you'll excuse me, I have some rather complicated astro-navigational calculations to work out.
(He steps up to the raised platform.)
DOCTOR: Er, may I ask where we're going?
MASTER: Certainly - to the home of our friends, the Ogrons. A barren and uninteresting planet on the remote fringes of the galaxy.
JO: Why are you taking us there?
MASTER: That, Miss Grant, you will discover when you arrive.(He walks out of another door heading towards the bridge. The DOCTOR dives over to JO'S bunk and starts to speak urgently.)
DOCTOR: Right, now listen to me. We haven't got much time before he gets back to the flight deck. Now, the first thing we've got to do is to escape. Now they took my sonic screwdriver from me in the prison, but they didn't get a hold of this.
(From out of the edge of his boot, he pulls out a long flexible steel string.)
DOCTOR: A steel file.
JO: Right, let's go.
DOCTOR: No, not yet. Let's wait until he gets back to the flight deck, then he'll set the controls. Now this is an automatic spaceship. Once we're underway, the computers take over - right?
JO: Okay, so what's the plan?
DOCTOR: Now this is what we're gonna do...
JO: Mmm hmm?
9: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER has changed out of his police commissioner's suit and back into his own normal collarless suit. With a clipboard in his hand he enters the bridge, which closely resembles that of the cargo ship but with one pilot's seat. He adjusts several controls and a picture of the moon appears on of the two monitors. He puts in his co-ordinates and a console read out changes from 46487 to 68110. He straps himself in and switches on the second monitor. It shows the view from the cell area.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) Right, you'd better hold in there, you two. We're about to lift off.
10: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The DOCTOR and JO patiently wait.)
11: EXT. MOON
(The rocket's engines fire...)
12: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(...and soon the image of the moon's surface, moving beneath the spaceship, appears on the first monitor.)
13: SPACE
(The small spaceship moves out of the moon's orbit and swings into space.)
14: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER picks up a book and also switches on the intercom from the cell area. The DOCTOR'S conversation to JO comes over.)
DOCTOR: (On monitor.) So I told the High Council of the Time Lords. I said they had absolutely no right to put me on trial in the first place. Well, if I chose to go wandering around the universe in my own time, that...
15: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
DOCTOR: ...was my business.
JO: What about stealing the TARDIS?
DOCTOR: I didn't steal it. I just borrowed it. I fully intended to return it, I assure you. Anyway, she wasn't exactly the latest model, poor old thing.
JO: (Laughs.) You can say that again.
DOCTOR: I tell you, I made a complete fool of that prosecuting council, though. I ridiculed his every argument.(What the MASTER doesn't notice is that the DOCTOR, sat on a bunk facing the camera, has his hands behind him, cutting through a metal bracket that forms part of the lock of the cage.)
DOCTOR: Yes, and I told him that I had the complete answer to every one his charges against me.
JO: And then what happened?
DOCTOR: Then what happened - well, they found me guilty, changed my appearance and exiled me to Earth.
JO: And that's where you met me!
16: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER holds his book as is making an attempt to read it but cannot help but listen into the conversation...)
DOCTOR: (On monitor.) That's right. That's where I met you. And that alone made the exile worth while, Miss Grant.
(The MASTER gives a grimace of laughter.)
JO: (On monitor.) Thank you!
DOCTOR: (On monitor.) Not that there's anything wrong with Earth. Well, it's quite a nice little planet in its own way, but...after all, I am a Time Lord, Jo, and I think I've deserved my freedom.
JO: (On monitor.) Right!(The MASTER switches on the microphone.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) In reminiscent mood, are you, Doctor? Poor Miss Grant - you have my deepest sympathy.
(He laughs, switches off the microphone and settles back with his book - "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS".)
17: SPACE
(The police ship shoots through space.)
18: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The DOCTOR continues to cut through the bracket as he continues his diversionary conversation...)
DOCTOR: As I soon realised, the trouble with Lethbridge-Stewart is that he's got a military mind.
JO: Well, he is a Brigadier, after all. I mean, what do you expect?
DOCTOR: No, that's the trouble though.(Behind him, the file is almost at the top of the piece of metal.)
DOCTOR: He's hidebound, you see. He always does everything by the rules. I keep telling him. I said, there are times, you know, when you've simply got to cut right through the red tape.
JO: And you managed to do that, have you?
DOCTOR: Yes, I've managed to cut...(He manages a last pull and the metal bracket is severed.)
DOCTOR: Right through it.
(JO smiles.)
DOCTOR: And I'm not gonna let authority stand between me and my freedom.
(JO gets up and moves to the bars. She sighs.)
JO: Lethbridge-Stewart, how mu... Hey! As far as he's concerned...
19: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(Her movement means that her image effectively takes up all of the camera shot as it appears on the bridge, where the MASTER is absorbed in his book.)
JO: (On monitor.) ...I've been absent without leave all this time. I'm always telling you that you've no idea where you're going in...
20: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
JO: ...that TARDIS of yours.
(She talks on as the door to the cage quietly opens...)
JO: I mean, you're supposed to be getting me back to Earth - right? And we keep landing up in one terrible situation after the other.
(...and closes again now that the DOCTOR is out.)
JO: I mean, when I get back, I'll probably be court-martialed, and then I'll be put in a cell again.
(The DOCTOR crawls on his hands and knees round the base of the cage.)
JO: That's if we do get back, and the way things are going, it doesn't look like it. But if we do get back, I'm telling you one thing, right here and now...
(Now out of camera range, the DOCTOR stands and opens a cupboard in the corner of the room which contains a spacesuit and oxygen cylinder. He takes off his jacket.)
JO: I'm never going back in that TARDIS with you again. But if we do get back, I really do think you ought to be a bit more reasonable with the Master.
(JO has sat back down on one of the bunks, talking to a huddled mass beneath one of the blankets. The DOCTOR starts to divest himself of his boots.)
JO: I mean, he keeps offering you a share in the galaxy, or whatever's going on, and you keep refusing him and playing dirty tricks on him. Then, you see, the trouble is with you is, well, you're so stiff-necked. I mean, you've got to realise that this...
21: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(On the bridge, the MASTER continues with his book.)
JO: (On monitor.) ...time, the Master has won. You might as well make the best out of a terrible situation. I mean, look at it now. Here we are...
(Distracted by JO'S wittering, and not taking his eye off the page, he reaches for a dial and turns the volume right down and then up slightly in order that the volume is decreased. He continues reading.)
JO: (On monitor.) Goodness knows where he's taking us to. I mean, just a few of those Ogrons is bad enough. Can you imagine a whole planet of them?
22: SPACE
(The policeship continues on its long journey.)
23: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The DOCTOR has now put on all of the spacesuit except the helmet and the oxygen pack.)
JO: Still, I suppose I suppose it's all my own fault really. I mean, if I hadn't asked my uncle to pull those strings and get me that job, I'd never have landed up in this mess in the first place.
(The DOCTOR points to the camera and indicates to her that she should block it again. She gets up.)
JO: You know, some people think that it's very romantic working in intelligence.
(She gets up, stands in the camera's field of vision and continues...)
JO: Oh, but my goodness, I could tell you it's not.
(The DOCTOR meanwhile, holding the helmet and pack, dashes round to the airlock door.)
JO: I mean, they that I run around all day with terrific looking James Bond style going to suave dinner parties.
(He selects one of the two buttons on the control panel next to the door and pushes it open.)
JO: Oh, but I don't, you know.
(He waves a goodbye to JO and enters the airlock.)
JO: I mean, I dine with the Brigadier and I'm doing the filing at HQ, which is very, very difficult, or else I'm running around making tea and being general dogsbody. I mean, times come really when I'm...
24: SPACE
(The external airlock door opens and the fully-suited DOCTOR steps out into space.)
25: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER reads on while JO'S faint voice just reaches him...)
26: SPACE
(The DOCTOR, floating round the edge of the ship, grabs hold of some maintenance hand-holds that form a series of steps.)
27: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(A light flashes on a panel marked "COURSE CORRECTION". The MASTER puts down his book and starts to make adjustments. He presses the intercom switch.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) You'd better hold on again, you two in there. Doctor, Miss Grant, I'm going to make rather a sharp course correction.
28: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
MASTER: (OOV: Over intercom.) It'll only last a moment.
(JO looks fearful as she knows what this could mean.)
29: SPACE
(The rockets engines fire and the entire structure moves off from the DOCTOR who is left stranded in space. He grasps out ineffectually.)
30: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER finishes his correction.)
31: SPACE
(The DOCTOR continues to float, just yards from the ship. He reaches out behind him and pulls out his oxygen line. He then turns up the pressure on the pack and uses the forcefully escaping gases from the upheld line to propel him back towards the hull. Once there he, plugs the line back into his suit.)
32: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The MASTER realises that all is silent in the cell area.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) Is everything alright, Miss Grant?
33: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(A shocked JO looks up at the camera.)
JO: Yes...yes, I'm fine.
MASTER: (OOV: Over intercom.) You appear a little distressed?
JO: No, I'm...I'm just a bit shaken, that's all.
MASTER: (OOV: Over intercom.) Yes, I can quite...
34: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
MASTER: (Into microphone.) ...understand. And how about you, Doctor? No ill effects, I hope?
(There is obviously no reply.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) Doctor, are you alright?
JO: (On monitor.) Please don't wake him. He's...he's fast asleep.(The MASTER is instantly suspicious.)
MASTER: (Into microphone.) Is he? How very relaxed of him.
(He dashes out of his seat and moves to a wall storage cupboard. Taking a blaster out of it, he moves off the bridge.)
35: SPACE
(The DOCTOR resumes his climb up the maintenance steps to the top of the ship. There, he opens a hatchway on the roof and climbs in.)
36: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(JO resumes her monologue, but her voice is shaky.)
JO: You really ought to be more careful, Doctor. I mean, I know there's a lot of...a lot of evil in the universe, but you can't help to put it all right by yourself.
(JO doesn't notice as the door from the front of the ship opens and a personification of that evil walks quietly in and watches her.)
JO: I mean, one of these days your...your luck will run out and you'll get yourself killed...
MASTER: Thank you, Miss Grant, we'll let you know!(She looks up as the MASTER points the gun at her.)
MASTER: Where's the Doctor?
(She looks towards the airlock door.)
37: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(The route that the DOCTOR has taken ends up at another hatch in the ceiling of the bridge. He opens it and checks that the area is empty.)
MASTER: (On monitor.) I say, he has been busy, hasn't he?
(Seeing that it is, he starts to climb down a fixed wall-ladder.)
MASTER: (On monitor.) Where is he, Miss Grant?
JO: (On monitor.) He's gone.
MASTER: (On monitor.) I see. He found a spacesuit and he's gone into the airlock - is that it?(At the base he takes his helmet off.)
38: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The MASTER has entered the cage and keeps the blaster pointed at an upset JO.)
MASTER: Why? What's his plan?!
JO: He...he wanted to get to the flight deck. He...he was outside the ship when you made your course correction!(She is having difficulty holding back the tears. The MASTER however is amused.)
MASTER: Was he now? (Laughs.) How very unfortunate. By now he's probably thousands of miles away, swimming around in space by himself.
(JO continues to quietly sob.)
MASTER: But just in case he isn't, you come with me, Miss Grant.
(He grabs her arm and roughly pulls her out of the cage. He pulls her up the steps onto the raised platform and round to the airlock door. He opens it.)
MASTER: Right, in you go, Miss Grant.
(He pushes her inside and closes it again. He then steps down and into the cage, looking up into the closed-circuit camera.)
MASTER: Can you hear me, Doctor?
39: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
MASTER: (On monitor.) Are you on the flight deck? If so, listen to this - Miss Grant is in the airlock.
(But the bridge is empty...)
40: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
MASTER: Unless you surrender yourself to me immediately, I shall open the outer door and hurl her into space.
(Looking at the camera, he fails to see the DOCTOR emerging from the bridge area and tying his belt-end round his wrist. Too late, the MASTER turns as the DOCTOR uses the belt to whip the weapon from the MASTER'S hands.)
MASTER: What an ingenious fellow you are, Doctor!
41: SPACE
(Outside the ship, a large round battlecruiser is starting to approach them.)
42: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The MASTER makes a dive for his gun but the DOCTOR slams a socked foot through the bars and on top of it.)
DOCTOR: Oh, no you don't!
(The MASTER then runs out of the cage and make a run for the airlock controls. The DOCTOR sees this and also runs round. He again uses his belt to whip the MASTER'S hand away from the controls and then pushes him onto the railings of the platform.)
JO: (OOV: Inside airlock.) Please let me out!
43: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. AIRLOCK
(JO hammers on the inside of the airlock door.)
JO: Doctor! Please let me out somebody!
44: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(Outside, the fight continues. The MASTER grabs the DOCTOR'S leg and hurls him backwards, thereby managing to get the advantage - his finger on the airlock button.)
MASTER: Now hold it, Doctor, hold it!
(The DOCTOR pauses and the MASTER points into the cage.)
MASTER: Get that blaster over to me or I press this button, and that will be the end of Miss Grant!
45: SPACE
(The battlecruiser homes in on the policeship.)
46: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The DOCTOR walks up to the MASTER with the weapon and reluctantly hands it over to him.)
MASTER: Thank you, Doctor.
(They are suddenly jolted as the battlecruiser locks on.)
DOCTOR: Well, we appear to have company.
47: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. AIRLOCK
(In the airlock, JO looks nervously at the outer door. It opens and a DRACONIAN CAPTAIN and two of his soldiers walk in.)
48: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
DOCTOR: Would these be your Ogron friends?
MASTER: (Puzzled.) Why, no, no.(The two men step backwards from the airlock door. The MASTER still holds his gun and has it pointed at the door.)
DOCTOR: Well, I should try and be a bit more hospitable, old chap. Come on, put that gun away. They've probably got us out-numbered.
(The MASTER drops the gun down just before the inner airlock door opens and the DRACONIAN CAPTAIN, his own gun raised, steps through. The other two follow with JO.)
MASTER: Welcome on board my ship. To what do I owe the honour?
DRACONIAN CAPTAIN: Why have you violated the Draconian frontier?
MASTER: Ah, yes, I'm most apologetic about that, but it was really beyond my control. You see, my prisoners were trying to escape and my...my ship was thrown off course.
DRACONIAN CAPTAIN: Prisoners?
MASTER: Yes, I am the commissioner of Earth's interplanetary police. I'm taking these two people back to planet Sirius 4 for...for trial. Ah, here is my warrant of authority.(He takes a small wallet out of his breast pocket.)
DOCTOR: Now don't believe this man - he's lying.
DRACONIAN CAPTAIN: I'm not concerned in disputes between Earthmen. Owing to the many insults and outrages committed against the empire of Draconia, a state of emergency exists and all diplomatic relations have been severed. You have violated Draconian space. The penalty is death.
MASTER: I insist on speaking to higher authority!
DRACONIAN CAPTAIN: You are in Draconian space. I am the authority here.
DOCTOR: Captain, you cannot condemn us without a trial. Now, I have vital information for your Emperor. At least give me the chance to speak to him?(The CAPTAIN considers and turns to his men.)
DRACONIAN CAPTAIN: We shall take them to Draconia. Put them in the cage.
(One of the soldiers pushes JO down one way from the raised platform towards the cage while the other herds the DOCTOR and the MASTER in a different direction towards the same destination, despite the latter's vociferous protests...)
MASTER: But you can't do that! I'm a commissioner of interplanetary police - this is my spaceship! I tell you - you cannot do that!
49: SPACE
(The two vessels unlock and the policeship moves off.)
50: INT. POLICE SPACESHIP. CELL AREA
(The DOCTOR and JO sit on a bunk. The MASTER stands with his arms folded, glowering at the two Draconian guards.)
DOCTOR: Well, personally I'm quite happy to be going to Draconia, Jo. Perhaps we can convince the Emperor what our friend here has been trying to do.
MASTER: You really think he'd believe you?
DOCTOR: Well, this won't be my first visit to Draconia, you know? Many years ago, I spent quite some time there. I was able to help them through a period of very great difficulty.
MASTER: Hmm! Displaying your usual sickening lovability, I suppose?
JO: So there's a good chance that they'll believe you, huh?
DOCTOR: Well, it's a long time ago. Things may have changed. But I do understand the Draconian mentality, Jo. It all depends how you approach them.
JO: (To the MASTER.) So, if they do believe the Doctor, you've had it!
MASTER: Perhaps, Miss Grant, perhaps. One never knows when help may be at hand.(He settles down on the other bunk.)
MASTER: Now, if you'll excuse me, I think that this is going to be rather a long journey, so, er, goodnight.
(He lies down with his back to the DOCTOR and JO. They fail to see that he has taken a small signalling device out of his pocket and has switched it on. A light starts to flash on the unit.)
DOCTOR: Er, we'll wake you with a cup of tea in the morning.
MASTER: Thank you.(The MASTER lies back, with the device still emitting its signal...)
51: SPACE
(...which is picked up far off in space by a ship similar to the one that JO saw from the portal of the cargo ship.)
52: INT. OGRON SPACESHIP. BRIDGE
(Inside a silvery metallic control room, a lone Ogron sits at a control console on a raised gantry which runs round part of the room. The signal appears on his monitor and the creature makes adjustments to the controls.)
Dr. Who
JON PERTWEEJo Grant
KATY MANNINGThe Master
ROGER DELGADOProfessor Dale
HAROLD GOLDBLATTPrison Governor
DENNIS BOWENCross
RICHARD SHAWDraconian Captain
BILL WILDEWritten by
MALCOLM HULKETitle Music by
RON GRAINER
and
BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOPIncidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSONSpecial Sound
DICK MILLSScript Editor
TERRANCE DICKSDesigner
CYNTHIA KLJUČOProducer
BARRY LETTSDirected by
PAUL BERNARD
COLOUR
© BBC 1973