DEATH
TO THE
DALEKSBY
TERRY
NATIONPART ONE
1: EXT. EXXILON (NIGHT)
(A spaceman dressed in a blue military tunic pauses at a ledge overlooking a small pool of water. He looks round and then sets off at a run over sandy rocky dunes and through swirling mists that rise from the soil. Exhausted he quickly falls against another dune but quickly recovers himself and moves off again. He runs down a small rise and pauses to get his breath. No sooner has he done so than an arrow thuds into his side. He grunts with pain and grasps the shaft of the arrow. Swaying on his feet, he collapses down an incline next to him which falls to another pool of water. The spaceman tumbles down the incline and splashes into the pool...)
2: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(The TARDIS is in flight carrying its occupants towards their holiday on Florana. The DOCTOR swirls a large opened beach umbrella over his head as he sings happily to himself...)
DOCTOR: “Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, I do like to be beside the sea...”
(Across the room, SARAH is dressed in a beach outfit and carries several items from on top of a cabinet to a beach bag on a wooden chest. She puts them down as the DOCTOR lowers the umbrella and carries on whistling his tune.)
SARAH: Sunglasses, sun lotion, water wings...
DOCTOR: Well, you won’t need those for a start.
SARAH: Oh, we’re going swimming, you said.
DOCTOR: You can’t sink on Florana.
SARAH: (Proudly.) I can sink anywhere.
DOCTOR: The waters effervescent - the bubbles support you.
SARAH: (Smiles.) Like swimming in a glass of ___ salts.
DOCTOR: Alright, but you wait until you’ve seen Florana.(He carries the umbrella away...)
DOCTOR: I always come back from Florana feeling a hundred years younger.
(...failing to spot a series of alarm lights flashing on the console.)
DOCTOR: Ah, the air is like a magic potion...
(However, SARAH has spotted them...)
SARAH: Doctor?
DOCTOR: And the beauty of it all is...
SARAH: (Interrupts.) Doctor, should that red light be flashing?(The DOCTOR rests the umbrella on a wall next to an inflatable beach bed and crosses to the console. The lights in the room start to slightly dim and then flare.)
DOCTOR: We seem to have got a mains power...
(An explosion on the other side of the console cuts out his words and causes SARAH to scream. The lights within the room all fade to almost total darkness and the hum of power dies away.)
SARAH: What is it, Doctor? What’s happening?
DOCTOR: I’m not sure. I’ll cut in the emergency units.(He presses several buttons and both the lights and the hum of power returns. They both sigh.)
DOCTOR: Well, that’s a relief. If they hadn’t worked, we’d have been in real trouble.
(SARAH smiles but her happiness is short-lived as the lights fade once more.)
SARAH: Oh...it’s starting again.
(There is a sudden crash of an explosion and the TARDIS lurches to one side, throwing the DOCTOR and SARAH to the floor.)
SARAH: Oh!
3: EXT. EXXILON. GULLY (NIGHT)
(The TARDIS, rocking on its base, materialises in a dark, mist-filled gully, next to a strange still figure...)
4: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(The lights and hum in the room are once more fluctuating. SARAH, grasping onto the console for support, gets to her knees. She looks across the console but, alarmed, can see no sign of the DOCTOR. Suddenly he appears, clambering upwards on the console like SARAH.)
DOCTOR: Oh, there you are.
(They both get to their feet.)
DOCTOR: Well, one thing’s certain - we’ve landed.
(The fluctuating hum is starting to sound like a faint cry of pain. SARAH looks across the darkened console.)
SARAH: It’s as if the TARDIS...was dying?
DOCTOR: Sarah, the scanner - quickly. There could be enough charge to operate it.(SARAH presses the switch and the scanner lights up for a moment, showing the swirling mists outside.)
SARAH: Did you see anything, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Only fog. Fascinating, isn’t it?
SARAH: What’s fascinating about Fog?
DOCTOR: Well, perhaps that’s what’s put the TARDIS out of action.(Whatever power remains in the TARDIS to provide light and power dies down. The room is in almost total darkness.)
SARAH: Oh...
(SARAH, more nervous than ever, crosses to the DOCTOR for support. She watches as the glow of a hexagonal wall light dims to nothing.)
SARAH: Don’t...don’t we have emergency storage cells or something?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course.(He walks round the console and presses more switches. Power returns...and almost immediately fades away again.)
SARAH: Dud battery?
DOCTOR: Hardly. Listen...(There is total silence. SARAH speaks, her voice now echoing in the metallic chamber devoid of any life or energy.)
SARAH: Can’t hear anything.
DOCTOR: Yes, exactly. Not a click, not a tick - nothing. Well the TARDIS is a living thing - thousands of instruments. Its energy sources never stop.
SARAH: Well they have now. Everything’s completely dead.(The DOCTOR points across the room to the wooden cabinet.)
DOCTOR: Sarah, there’s a torch in that cabinet. Get it for me, will you?
SARAH: Oh...right.(She feels her way around the console and within the cupboard.)
SARAH: Ah, here we are.
DOCTOR: Good.(She switches the large torch on. It gives off a glare of light.)
SARAH: (Satisfied.) Ah...
(Before the DOCTOR can look over the console for the trouble, the power in the torch fades away.)
SARAH: Oh! Now what?
DOCTOR: Well, don’t worry. I’ve...I’ve got an oil lamp in here.(He turns to the wooden chest and opens its doors.)
DOCTOR: That should be alright. Yes, there it is.
(He pulls open the chest and takes out the brass base and glass cover of the oil lamp. He also has some matches.)
SARAH: Ah, don’t tell me - you’re going to rub it and produce a genie!
DOCTOR: On the contrary, I’m going to light it...(He strikes a match.)
DOCTOR: ...and illumine us!
SARAH: (Happily.) Ah!(The DOCTOR lights the lamp.)
DOCTOR: There we are.
(The lamp flares but does not go out.)
SARAH: Oh, hooray for old-fashioned oil!
DOCTOR: (Laughs.) Well, we’ll have to get it adjusted.(He adjusts to flame to a steady light.)
DOCTOR: That’s better. Right, now let’s see where we are.
SARAH: Florana, you said?(He passes her the lamp.)
DOCTOR: Here, hold this for a minute, will you? Normally this door is power operated. We’ll have to work it by hand. Where’s that crank handle?
(He looks back in the chest.)
DOCTOR: There it is.
SARAH: Oh...(He takes the metal crank handle over to the doors.)
DOCTOR: Now bring the light over here, please.
(SARAH follows him a plays the light over to the wall on the left-hand side of the doors where the DOCTOR inserts the handle into a small hole in the wall. He starts to turn it and behind the doors start to inch open.)
DOCTOR: Bit more...
(He continues to turn.)
DOCTOR: Is that enough?
SARAH: Think so.(The mists from the outside start to swirl in through the gap in the doors.)
DOCTOR: Good, right, that’s enough.
(He starts cranking and takes the lamp from her.)
DOCTOR: Oh, now, follow me. Let’s take a look.
(He goes first and edges through the gap. SARAH follows.)
DOCTOR: Alright?
SARAH: Yes.
5: EXT. EXXILON. GULLY (NIGHT)
(They move out of the TARDIS and into the misty gully. Strange sounds fill the night air. They look through the gloom and it isn’t long before SARAH starts to shiver.)
SARAH: Ooh! It’s cold!
DOCTOR: Well, this is no ordinary fog.
SARAH: You mean this isn’t the air that’s like a magic potion?
DOCTOR: It must be perfectly obvious to you, Sarah, that we’ve gone ever so slightly astray so sarcasm of that...(SARAH suddenly screams, cutting off the DOCTOR’S admonitions. He spins round to see what has caused the alarm and sees the figure near the TARDIS. He moves towards it with the lamp and reveals its true nature...)
DOCTOR: Ah, it’s alright - it’s just rock.
SARAH: A s...statue?
DOCTOR: No...some sort of life form that has become petrified, I should think.
SARAH: I was close to becoming petrified myself!(The DOCTOR examines the rocky soil.)
DOCTOR: No, I doubt if anything has grown here for centuries.
SARAH: Well, unless you’re planning on raising lettuce, it doesn’t seem too important.
DOCTOR: Well, if the rest of the planet’s like this, then life here certainly doesn’t depend on photosynthesis.
SARAH: What life?
DOCTOR: Some power emanating from this planet has stopped the TARDIS’s energy banks. Now logically, that power can hardly be of geological origin.
SARAH: (Nervously.) You...you mean somebody...or something...has caused it?
DOCTOR: Yes, exactly.
SARAH: Right, well let’s fix the TARDIS...and clear out!(She moves back towards the TARDIS but the DOCTOR hardly follows. They fail to see that there is a moving figure in the gully as a hand suddenly grasps a rock as it observes the two new arrivals.)
DOCTOR: I’m sorry, I’m afraid we can’t fix it. Not unless we discover the source of the power that’s blocking us.
SARAH: Oh, well how are we going to do that?
DOCTOR: I’ve no idea.
SARAH: (Alarmed.) You mean that we’re...!(She collects herself and lowers her voice.)
SARAH: ...we’re trapped? Stuck here for ever?
DOCTOR: Until we can discover the source of that energy loss - yes.
SARAH: Well, what do you want me to do?
DOCTOR: Well, I think to begin with, we must check the immediate area - don’t you?
SARAH: Yes, right. Ooh! Not really dressed for this climate, am I?
DOCTOR: Well, for heaven’s sake, girl, go and put something warm on.
SARAH: Yes, right.(She heads back towards the TARDIS but stops and returns somewhat nervously.)
SARAH: You won’t go away, will you?
(The DOCTOR shakes his head. She smiles and returns to the TARDIS. Almost immediately, the DOCTOR re-interprets his assurance and starts to wander through the gully. Behind him, two figures follow. They wear long brown cloaks which completely cover their heads and bodies, giving them the appearance of moving rock.)
6: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(SARAH rifles through the cabinet and pulls out a brown dress which she slips into over her beachwear.)
7: EXT. EXXILON. ANOTHER PART OF THE GULLY (NIGHT)
(Lamp held aloft, the DOCTOR moves further and further through the gully. Another figure-like statue is nearby but the DOCTOR ignores it as he bends down to examine more soil. However this statue is very much alive and the cloaked figure starts to run at the crouched traveller. The DOCTOR looks up as the attacker is almost upon him...)
8: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(SARAH puts on a pair of boots and finishes dressing. Still cold and muttering to herself, she crosses the room and edges through the gap in the door.)
9: EXT. EXXILON. GULLY (NIGHT)
(Emerging from the TARDIS, the DOCTOR is not to be seen.)
SARAH: Doctor?
(She gets no reply. She looks round and starts to wander through the gully herself.)
SARAH: (Nervously.) Doctor?
(Standing near a rock, she calls once more...)
SARAH: Doctor?
(...and moves off. The “rock” moves and follows her. It is another of the cloaked figures.)
10: EXT. EXXILON. ANOTHER PART OF THE GULLY (NIGHT)
(SARAH continues through the thick mists, quietly calling...)
SARAH: Doctor? Doctor?
(She looks to one side and sees that a “statue” has seemingly just frozen still. She quickly darts off and the “statue” moves and follows. SARAH runs at full pace across the rocky ground and through the mists, seemingly losing her follower. She pauses to look round and sees the abandoned oil lamp on the ground. She goes up to it and picks it up. Feeling something on the side of the lamp, she looks at her hand...)
SARAH: (Alarmed.) Blood?
(Repulsed, she throws the lamp down with a cry. Nearby two of the cloaked figures turn upon hearing the cry. SARAH sets off back at a run towards the TARDIS, making it back without incident.)
11: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(However, one of the cloaked figures is within the TARDIS and making an exploration of the darkened console room. It hears SARAH’S gasps of relief as she makes it back and squeezes through the gap in the doors. It melts back into the shadows. SARAH stands for a moment, half-gasping, half-sobbing. She looks across the room for any sign of life...)
SARAH: Do...
(Suddenly she hears footsteps rapidly approaching from outside and looks through the gap in the doors...)
12: EXT. EXXILON. GULLY (NIGHT)
(...where she sees the two approaching cloaked figures.)
13: INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(Still gasping and sobbing, she goes back into the TARDIS and grasps the crank handle, desperately trying to turn the doors closed. The handle is still but she manages, inch by inch, to close the gap. Taking the handle with her, she examines the doors in the gloom and, seeing that they are closed, rests her head against them in relief. The figure now closed in with her in the room starts to approach from behind, coming nearer and nearer. At the last moment, SARAH turns and screams as she sees the attacker upon her. She starts to rain blows down upon the creature with the crank handle and it grunts in pain as it falls to the floor, seemingly unconscious. More distraught than ever, SARAH puts the handle back into the hole and starts to re-open the doors as the figure on the floor starts to recover, its hand twitching and moving towards her. The doors edge open as the hand moves nearer and then grabs her leg. SARAH screams again and, with all her strength, dashes the handle down upon the creature several more times. It falls once more and SARAH runs out of the TARDIS.)
14: EXT. EXXILON. GULLY (NIGHT)
(Such is her speed as she runs away from the police box exterior, the cloaked figures barely have time to react before they start to follow.)
15: EXT. EXXILON. CREVASSE (NIGHT)
(The DOCTOR is led through a crevasse. His wrists are bound by a rope which is pulled by a cloaked figure who walks in front, also carrying a flaming torch. Another cloaked figure with a spear follows and completes the group. The DOCTOR suddenly stumbles and falls. The figure following prods him to get back to his feet and then pulls him up...only for the DOCTOR to elbow-jab him to the ground. The DOCTOR, his wrists still bound, then turns on the figure at the front, pulling the torch from him and using it to parry the spear used by the second figure as it recovers. The DOCTOR then uses the torch to club it back down again. The first figure has produced a primitive axe from beneath the folds of its ragged cloak and stalks the DOCTOR. He throws the torch uselessly at it and then edges backwards and falls against a sandy bank. The axe comes down but the DOCTOR rolls out of its way and throws the creature down. It gets to its feet, as does the DOCTOR. The figure brings the axe down again but, with a cry, the DOCTOR grabs the axe and uses aikido to bring the creature to the ground unconscious. The DOCTOR runs off.)
16: EXT. EXXILON (NIGHT)
(SARAH carefully makes her way between the rocks. She jumps into hiding behind a rock as her two pursuers move past, not seeing her. After they have gone, SARAH comes out from behind the rock and sets off again. She has not gone many paces before she is aware of a glare of light and a sound like an electronic gong. She stops and looks up, her face filled with wonder. She moves closer towards the subject of her amazement. It is a massive structure made of up many terraces and ramps which, in turn, contain small pyramid-like structures and many free-standing columns. It is pure white in colour with no obvious entrances or windows. Surmounting this stunning structure is a tall column, reaching up into the night sky which is surmounted by a light which illuminates in synchronisation to the electronic gong sound and which lights up all of the city and much of the rocks beyond. SARAH checks once more behind her and then moves through the rocky wastes towards to the structure...)
17: EXT. EXXILON
(Night has ended and with it the mists have died down. The DOCTOR, his wrists cut free of the rope, moves through a bleak wasteland of rock and sand. Up above him, one of the figures watches, its cloak almost totally camouflaging it against the rocks. It clambers down the rocks after the DOCTOR has gone past.)
18: EXT. EXXILON. CREVASSE
(The DOCTOR spots a narrow crevasse and starts to make his way through it. Above him, a spear carrying figure follows his progress. The crevasse widens out and the DOCTOR strides along but suddenly stops when he sees a taut rope on the ground on which a poor attempt has been made to cover it with sand. It is obviously some sort of trap. The DOCTOR gently fingers more of the sand away and thinks to himself. He creates a slight gap under the rope and picks up a small rock. He steps back a few paces and lobs the rock at the rope. He hears a noise and looks upwards to see a huge boulder tumbling down towards him. He runs back and shelters in a fold in the rock as the boulder crashes into the crevasse, right onto the spot where he was stood. Almost immediately, a human figure comes over the edge of the cliff above him, knife in hand towards the DOCTOR. It is a grizzled man with dark hair and a beard who wears a blue military tunic. He grabs the DOCTOR and the two men wrestle to the ground, each desperately trying to gain control of the knife. Another similar figure appears over the cliff edge. This man, clean shaven, carries a bow and arrow and yells down at his fighting companion...)
RICHARD RAILTON: Galloway!
(The first man looks up at the newcomer.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Galloway!
(The second man runs down into the crevasse where GALLOWAY has got off the DOCTOR who is getting to his feet.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Fool! He’s not one of them!
(The second man helps the DOCTOR up as GALLOWAY looks round.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Sorry, we’ve been a bit jumpy. We tend to attack first and ask questions aft...
(GALLOWAY interrupts in a broad Scottish accent.)
DAN GALLOWAY: There’s something moving.
(They look up. There is no one else in the immediate vicinity.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Let’s get back to our base. We can talk there.
(The three set off. Up above them, another of the cloaked and perfectly camouflaged figures watches them go...)
19: EXT. MSC BASE
(Nearby, a small prefabricated metal structure has been set up at the end of a gully in the rocks. A third human patrols nervously outside it. He too wears a blue military tunic and carries a bow and arrow as his only weapon. He hears a noise and ducks into hiding behind a rock. The noise is caused by the arrival of the DOCTOR, GALLOWAY and the third man. The latter holds up his hand for them to pause as the young man on patrol rises up out of hiding with the bow and arrow aimed.)
RICHARD RAILTON: It’s alright, Peter. He’s quite friendly.
(The three move nearer to the metal structure. A dour GALLOWAY mutters to himself.)
DAN GALLOWAY: We hope.
RICHARD RAILTON: Keep a sharp watch, Peter. Dan heard some movement out there.
PETER HAMILTON: Aye aye, sir.(The young man settles back into hiding as the other three go through a flimsy metal foil door into the structure.)
20: INT. MSC BASE
(Within there are two more people. An older man lies wounded on a bed. He has cuts on his face and a bandage round his head. He is barely conscious and is tended to by a young red-haired woman. They both wear tunics but the young woman’s is of a lighter blue than the men’s and with a different insignia. The room has a water dispenser, table and chairs and some pieces of scientific equipment of low shelves but little else. The woman goes up to the newcomers.)
JILL TARRANT: (Hopefully.) Did you find Jack?
RICHARD RAILTON: I’m afraid not.(He looks at the man on the bed.)
RICHARD RAILTON: How is he?
JILL TARRANT: He’s not good. And we’re down to our last pack of sulphagent tablets, Richard.(The DOCTOR looks across the room at the man on the bed.)
DOCTOR: What happened to him?
(The young woman looks at the DOCTOR with suspicion. She looks at GALLOWAY who nods his agreement that it is alright to answer the DOCTOR.)
JILL TARRANT: The Exxilons took us by surprise, right after we landed.
DAN GALLOWAY: These stone knives of theirs have got some sort of...poison on them. They’re dirty wee fighters.
RICHARD RAILTON: I’m sorry, perhaps we ought to introduce ourselves. I’m Captain Railton, second in command of the expedition...(He looks at the wounded older man...)
RICHARD RAILTON: And this is Commander Stewart.
(...and then at the young woman.)
RICHARD RAILTON: And that’s Jill Tarrant - our civilian geologist.
JILL TARRANT: Are you from Earth?
DOCTOR: In a round-about sort of way, yes.(The dour Scottish man holds out his hand.)
DAN GALLOWAY: Dan Galloway.
RICHARD RAILTON: Lieutenant Galloway is our weapons officer.
DOCTOR: Well, it would have saved me a few bruises if we’d shaken hands the first time we’d met. Hello, how do you do?(They shake hands.)
RICHARD RAILTON: The chap outside is Lieutenant Peter Hamilton.
DOCTOR: Lieutenant? Are you a military expedition?
RICHARD RAILTON: MSC.
DOCTOR: (Puzzled.) Master of Science?
RICHARD RAILTON: Marine Space Corps.
DAN GALLOWAY: Now maybe you’ll tell us about yourselves? Where were you heading when I jumped you?
DOCTOR: Er, back to the TARDIS. That’s my spaceship. I have a young companion with me - Sarah Jane Smith. I only hope she had the good sense to stay inside after I was captured.
RICHARD RAILTON: Where is the ship?
DOCTOR: Well, it’s not far from here.
DAN GALLOWAY: Oh, if the lassie stayed in your ship, she should be safe enough.
DOCTOR: Yes - if. Sarah’s rather headstrong. By now, I expect she’s out looking for me.
RICHARD RAILTON: Well, even if she is, it needn’t be too dangerous as long as she’s careful. The Exxilons seem to be night creatures.
JILL TARRANT: We don’t see much of them during the day. Just so long as she didn’t go near that forbidden city of theirs.
DOCTOR: What forbidden city?
RICHARD RAILTON: Only their high priests can visit it.
DAN GALLOWAY: Anyone else they catch near it...(GALLOWAY, knife in his hand, mimes the cutting of his throat.)
DAN GALLOWAY: That’s their lot.
JILL TARRANT: They’re sacrificed.
DOCTOR: Well, what is this place? Where is it?(The three people look at each other.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Pass me the visual file, will you, Jill? We’ve got some pictures.
(JILL fetches a file of pictures while the DOCTOR and RAILTON move to the central table.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Thank you.
(RAILTON starts to go through the pictures of the structure that SARAH saw.)
RICHARD RAILTON: It’s a fantastic building. Must have been constructed thousands of years ago.
JILL TARRANT: And not by a stone age tribe like the Exxilons either.
RICHARD RAILTON: They treat it as a sort of shrine. If you’re caught near it, it’s certain death.
21: EXT. CITY WALL
(Blissfully unaware of the danger, SARAH has reached the foot of the forbidden city. She is amazed by its contours and structure. She moves out of the surrounding rocks and up to the base wall. Within an alcove and carved several symbols. SARAH places her hands on the main wall which glows at her touch. Surprised, she repeats the manouevre and then moves into the alcove. She reaches for the symbols which also glow at her touch.)
SARAH: No doors...no windows...
(Thoroughly caught up in her investigation, she doesn’t see the Exxilon behind her who rushes up, its cloak raised as if to envelop her. She turns and cries out as it reaches her...)
22: INT. MSC BASE
(The MSC team are having a meal which they share with the DOCTOR. JILL feeds COMMANDER STEWART as GALLOWAY and the DOCTOR sit at the table. RAILTON carries over trays for himself and the DOCTOR and sits with them.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Then as soon as we got within range of Exxilon, we had total malfunction - on all instruments. We managed to touch down without damaging the ship, but we can’t take off again until we find some way of restoring power.
DOCTOR: Tell me, what’s the purpose of your expedition?(As he tucks into the food, the DOCTOR doesn’t see the humans look at each other in amazement.)
JILL TARRANT: Well, to collect parrinium.
DOCTOR: Parrinium?
JILL TARRANT: It’s a chemical. It can be found in minute quantities on Earth, but it’s so rare there that it’s virtually priceless. A chemical detecting satellite did a fly-past on this planet and registered that it was as common here as salt.
DOCTOR: Well, forgive me, but what do you want it for?(GALLOWAY puts down his spoon in frustration at the DOCTOR’S questions.)
DAN GALLOWAY: Och, man! Where have you been hiding?
(The meal takes on an embarrassed tone as the DOCTOR looks round the group.)
DOCTOR: Well, here and there...one place and another. Well, I am a little out of touch, I’ll admit.
JILL TARRANT: Well, the outer worlds are being ravaged by a disease. The colonists are dying in their thousands. Another ten million men, women and children will die unless we help them and help them quickly. Every hour we’re stuck here on this planet, the death toll’s mounting.
DOCTOR: Parrinimum will halt this disease?
JILL TARRANT: Mmm.
RICHARD RAILTON: Well, it can cure and give immunity, but they need it in quantity and they need it fast.
JILL TARRANT: If it’s not delivered within a month, it’ll be too late.(The group falls silent at the continuing failure of their mission.)
DOCTOR: (Quietly.) I see.
(His meal finished, the DOCTOR takes his tray away.)
RICHARD RAILTON: We managed to get a message off before we had total power failure - to Earth. We asked them for a relief ship.
DOCTOR: Well do you happen to know if that message was received?
DAN GALLOWAY: Oh, if it had been I think we’d have had help by now.
DOCTOR: Yeah. I think we can safely assume that no help is coming. So, might I make a suggestion...?(Before he can state this, PETER HAMILTON runs into the base, shouting with joy...)
PETER HAMILTON: The relief ship is here! Come on, quickly!
(He runs out and his amazed team and the DOCTOR follow.)
RICHARD RAILTON: The relief ship?
DAN GALLOWAY: The relief ship’s here?(STEWART is left behind.)
23: EXT. MSC BASE
(The five run out of the base and look up into the sky.)
RICHARD RAILTON: Did you see it?
PETER HAMILTON: No, I heard it - up in the haze. Over to the north a little bit.
DAN GALLOWAY: Probably making a spiral descent. We should hear it again in a moment.(And they do so. JILL runs to one side and looks over the rocky wasteland.)
JILL TARRANT: Here she comes!
(They see what looks, for all the world, like a flying saucer. It spins across the sky and over the horizon.)
RICHARD RAILTON: They’re landing in the next valley - come on!
(They run off towards the landing place. Behind them, two Exxilons come out of hiding and move towards the base.)
24: INT. MSC BASE
(Within the base, STEWART is barely conscious. His head lolls from side to side. His eyes open and he looks to one side in a panic...)
25: INT. SACRIFICIAL CAVERN
(A large group of Exxilons stand in a stone cavern. Their cloaks pushed back, it can be seen that their faces are as brown as their cloaks and look like ghastly parodies of skulls. Their eyes are large, round and an opaque white. One Exxilon looks slightly different to the others in that his face and cloak are a hue of red - as though died by blood. He is the HIGH PRIEST. The cavern is lit by many candles and torches, some carried by the Exxilons. A fire in a stone well stands in the middle of the floor and to one side of the cavern has been erected a crude wooden cage. Echoing incantations fill the air as the HIGH PRIEST and the Exxilons approach the cage from a mist-covered altar. Within the cage, SARAH stands with her wrists bound by a rope suspended from the ceiling. The HIGH PRIEST holds up a hand and delivers his verdict...)
HIGH PRIEST: You have looked upon the sacred place. You have walked where only the chosen may go. You have defiled the place of all power.
(He gestures to two Exxilons who enter the cage and approach SARAH as the others return to the altar. SARAH is unbounded and pushed to the cage door. On the other side of the cavern, the HIGH PRIEST stands with his hands raised.)
HIGH PRIEST: A judgment has been made. Prepare her for sacrifice!
(The Exxilons grunt in pleasure as SARAH starts to cry out and struggle against her captors.)
26: EXT. EXXILON. SHIP LANDING SITE
(The new ship lands, sand being thrown up into the air by its exhaust blasts. JILL is the first to reach the spot, running out of the rocks and pointing.)
JILL TARRANT: It’s over there!
(The others join her and look upon the ship as the engines die down.)
PETER HAMILTON: That doesn’t look like an Earth ship, sir.
DAN GALLOWAY: Maybe it’s that new Z-47 they’ve been planning.
RICHARD RAILTON: She’s not a Space Corps craft.(He walks towards the ship.)
DAN GALLOWAY: Well, I hope they haven’t run into the same power block.
(The other three people follow with a suspicious DOCTOR bringing up the rear.)
DOCTOR: We’ll know soon enough.
(The five stand before the closed door of the ship. It hums upwards...)
27: INT. SHIP
(...revealing a bare interior. PETER yells into the ship.)
PETER HAMILTON: Come on out - the welcome party’s all here!
(A familiar shape glides from one side of the interior and out of the ship.)
28: EXT. EXXILON. SHIP LANDING SITE
(A shocked DOCTOR recognises it immediately...)
DOCTOR: Daleks!
(The MSC people retreat backwards, having themselves recognised the creatures from Skaro.)
29: INT. DALEK SHIP
(Three more DALEKS glides from the ship.)
30: EXT. EXXILON. SHIP LANDING SITE
DALEK: The Earth creatures are to be exterminated - fire at my command!
RICHARD RAILTON: Wait a minute! Wait - you can’t!
DALEK: Total extermination - fire, fire, fire!(JILL buries herself in the DOCTOR’S shoulder as the DALEK weapons extend and fire...)
Doctor Who
JON PERTWEESarah Jane Smith
ELISABETH SLADENDan Galloway
DUNCAN LAMONTRichard Railton
JOHN ABINERICommander Stewart
NEIL SEILERPeter Hamilton
JULIAN FOXJill Tarrant
JOY HARRISONHigh Priest
MOSTYN EVANSDalek voices
MICHAEL WISHERDalek Operators
JOHN SCOTT-MARTIN
CY TOWN
MURPHY GRUNBARFights arranged by
TERRY WALSHWritten by
TERRY NATIONTitle Music
RON GRAINER
and BBC Radiophonic
WorkshopTitle Sequence
BERNARD LODGEMusic composed and
conducted by
CAREY BLYTONand played by
The London
Saxophone QuartetSpecial Sound
DICK MILLSVisual Effects
JIM WARDMasks
JOHN FRIEDLANDERCostume Designer
L. ROWLAND WARNEMake-Up
MAGDALEN GAFFNEYFilm Cameraman
BILL MATTHEWSFilm Sound
BILL CHESNEAUFilm Editor
BOB RYMERStudio Lighting
DEREK SLEEStudio Sound
RICHARD CHUBBScript Editor
TERRANCE DICKSDesigner
COLIN GREENProducer
BARRY LETTSDirected by
MICHAEL BRIANT
COLOUR
© BBC 1973