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The Trial
of a Time Lord
by Robert Holmes
Part Three
The Doctor leads the way out of the tunnel entrance and into the open
forest as Balazar follows and exclaims, "It's beautiful!" at his first
sight of outdoors in his life.
The Doctor notes this casually and says he knew Peri wouldn't still be
here, as that girl can't obey an order.
Peri and Glitz are nearing the tunnel entrance, with Glitz showing signs
of near collapse. Dibber follows at a small distance behind them, and
the party of villagers are bringing up the rear.
Peri yells "Doctor!" at the Doctor from up the slope. He sees her and
waves for her and her friends to hurry up to the tunnel.
The chase continues at about the same spacing as before.
The Doctor tells Balazar to get back inside the tunnel entrance quickly
and then helps Peri through as she reaches the entrance. He helps
Glitz through the door, and worriedly shouts "Come on!" to get Dibber
to the door before the villagers get there.
Dibber climbs in, and the Doctor follows him.
Peri and Glitz stand inside the entrance, well, at least Peri does.
Glitz begins collapsing in a corner and tells the entering Dibber that
he always knew exercise was bad for you.
The Doctor runs in and tells them he wouldn't lie there if he was him
unless he wanted to be killed by a spear in his back.
Glitz asks if Dibber did the job, and Dibber answers "Of course."
The Doctor runs down the escalator stairs, telling them they have to
get out of here, and Peri asks how they're going to do that.
He heads for the entrance to the tunnel system, but stops suddenly as
he sees the L1 robot standing in his way ahead of him.
The Doctor motions for everyone to head back for the stairs.
Everyone heads back for the stairs and stop suddenly as they see the
party of villagers waiting for them at the top, with a gun pointed
at them all by the man with the broken tooth.
The L1 robot starts down after them all.
"Well now what?" asks Peri.
The Doctor looks around himself at the options, all none of them, and
tells her, "I don't know. I really think this could be the end!"
The man with the chipped tooth opens fire and the shot goes wild, hitting
a piece of wall behind Glitz. It seems clear that the man doesn't know
what he's doing.
Suddenly Balazar shouts that he knows this man and calls him Broken Tooth.
Broken Tooth seems to know Balazar as well as he stops firing at them
and turns his bewildered attention towards the trundeling robot.
Balazar calls it the Immortal one and the Doctor tells him to fire at it
(from his place kneeling on the floor along with Peri and Glitz).
Dibber stands in front as if there's nothing to be worried about and
explains to Broken Tooth how to better squeeze the trigger until the
Doctor pulls him down as well. The advice seems to work as Broken Tooth's
next shots hit the robot right on target.
Broken Tooth's shot seems to fracture the robot's view of the world. . .
Drathro demands to know what has happened as they have lost their video
picture and contact with the service robot. He orders Humker and Tandrell
to reactivate it, and Humker says they are trying. Tandrell reports the
robot doesn't respond.
"You must make it work!" shouts Drathro. "I must have the Doctor here!
My black light system is failing!"
The Doctor examines the dormant L1 robot as Balazar and Broken Tooth
reacquaint themselves. Broken Tooth had been assumed to have been
culled, but it turns out that he, like Balazar, was released to the
surface thanks to Merdeen.
The Doctor turns from the robot and apologizes to the men for breaking
up their reunion, and tells them he has to leave and find the aerial
to Drathro's black light converter. He starts rushing out towards the
surface until he bumps into Dibber who tells him there's no need to hurry
as the aerial's gone.
"Gone?" asks the Doctor. "Where?"
"I blew it up," answers Dibber. Glitz adds that it'll put the L3 out of
action.
The Doctor can't believe what he's hearing, and informs Glitz that this
is more likely to cause a chain reaction because the black light system
is so unstable. Blowing up the aerial is about the worst thing that
could have been done.
The Doctor turns back for the entrance to the subways and tells them
he's going to have to shut the black light system down now, but he
is stopped by Broken Tooth and the villagers.
Broken Tooth tells them all that they are coming back to the village
where the queen has unfinished business with Glitz.
"No!" exclaims the Doctor angrily until Broken Tooth puts the muzzle of
his gun in the Doctor's face and says, "You will come with us, and you
will come quietly!"
As they are all led up to the surface, Glitz rebukes Dibber for showing
him how to use the gun.
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The Inquisitor turns from the screen and motions for the Valeyard to stop
the evidence, and he does so. She then asks him is these brutal and
repititious scenes are necessary to his case as she finds primitive
physical violence distressing.
The Doctor adds that he does too, especially when on the receiving end.
The Valeyard suddenly leaps up as though to grab food he's just been
hand-fed and informs the Inquisitor that he too finds it repugnant to
witness, but that the Doctor has a well-known predeliction for violence.
The Doctor leaps up and calls, "That is a foul slur!"
The Inquisitor quickly and angrily tells the Doctor not to interrupt.
Instead the Doctor just goes on and begins to tell her how much he hates
violence although occasionally he may have to resort to a modicum of
force as a means of self-defense. . .
"Doctor, you will have ample opportunity to put your case at a later point!"
"But. . . " he begins again, and then finally is silent.
The Inquisitor turns back to the Valeyard and tells him she would appreciate
it if these scenes were kept to a minimum.
The Valeyard apologizes but tells her that with the accused's offenses
as they are (and the Doctor seethes) that a certain amount of "graphic
detail" is going to be unavoidable.
The Inquisitor tells him to continue, and as he starts up the Matrix the
Doctor angrily pouts down in his seat.
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Prosecution Interface One "The Mysterious Planet"
Continued
The entire party of villagers and prisoners from assorted planets and times
treads back up the hill slowly towards the village.
Along the way, the Doctor picks up a twig of wood and turns it over in his
hand as though it were interesting, and he shows it to Peri as though to
show her how interesting it is.
Merdeen treads stealthily down a corridor, possibly already aware of the
fact that he's being followed by Grell who is in a parallel corridor that
opens on to the one he's in just ahead.
As they both meet, Grell turns and faces Merdeen with his crossbow pointed
right at his chest.
Grell tells Merdeen he seems lost, and Merdeen tells him he isn't, but
that Grell seems to have mislaid his train.
Grell reminds him that stealth is better achieved on foot, especially
when "we hunt dark secrets." His tone is one of accusation.
Merdeen says he thought they were hunting the Doctor.
"Him too," answers Grell.
Suddenly Merdeen's helmet's radio comes on and the Immortal calls his name.
Merdeen's face turns towards the camera's point of view as Drathro tells
Merdeen that he has urgent work for Balazar to complete, but he cannot
find him.
Merdeen replies that he will search for him at once.
He then turns away from Grell and the weapon still pointed at him, and
Grell demands to know where Merdeen is going. He just looks at Grell
calmly and tells him to continue his search for the Doctor.
Merdeen walks away, leaving Grell standing by himself for a moment.
After that moment, Grell sets off after Merdeen.
In the former Underground station where the L1 robot rests in peace,
there is suddenly life again as its main light snaps back on and it
shifts on the terrain to stabilize itself.
Tandrell leaps to his feet exclaiming, "I did it! I did it! I reactivated
the robot!"
Humker gets to his feet as well and snidely sneers, "I think you'll find
that *I* did it!"
"I beg your pardon, I did it!" insists Tandrell.
"I did!" insists Humker.
They go back and forth like this a few more times until the massive form
of Drathro behind them shouts for them to be silent, as their constant
infantile bickering is draining his energy reserve.
The prisoners are all brought before Queen Katryca in her "throne hut,"
and it is plain that Balazar is not being considered a prisoner as he
stands to the side with Broken Tooth.
The Doctor looks around the room with some interest.
Katryca addresses Glitz and notes that her hospitality seems not to have
been to his liking.
Glitz answers that he just needed to get a breath of fresh air.
The Doctor laughs at this (a little hollowly as though to try and convey
an air of friendliness into the atmosphere).
Katryca politely asks who this is, and the Doctor reaches forward to
shake her hand, then stops as he sees that will force him to put his
hand straight through the fire bowl. He steps back a bit and tells
her he is known as the Doctor. He then calmly goes on to tell her there
has been a misunderstanding and that he shouldn't be here at all.
Katryca asks if he is a star traveller, and the Doctor says he is, in
a manner of speaking.
She asks if he is interested in the Great Totem of Haldron.
The Doctor asks, "I beg your pardon?" until Glitz, seeing an easy
opportunity to score, tells him she means the light converter.
The Doctor then says he definitely yes and begins to ask how she knew
this. Katryca interrupts by asking Broken Tooth if he searched the
Doctor for guns. Broken Tooth reports the Doctor has none.
Katryca turns and says that makes the Doctor very interesting for a
star traveller who is interested in the totem.
The Doctor tells her he's come to repair it.
Katryca says he is very prompt as "your friends have only recently
damaged it."
The Doctor points at Glitz and Dibber and tells her that they are not
his friends, then realizes this might have meant Peri too and takes
her around the shoulder to point out that they are together.
The Doctor next goes on to tell Katryca that the totem is not what it
seems. "Its function is to convert ultra-violet energy to black light."
Katryca says this is interesting, but she doesn't understand a word of it.
The Doctor clarifies a little and explains that the Immortal depends
on black light to function, as he is a robot.
Katryca again concludes this is fascinating, since Glitz told her it
was a navigational beacon.
The Doctor looks at Glitz for a second and then tells Katryca that he's
lying.
"A common complaint among star travellers," smiles Katryca. The Doctor
laughs at her joke but Glitz gets upset and insists he is not a liar.
Katryca is angry with him again and shouts, "How shall I know who speaks
the truth? All I am certain of is that the gods are angered at your
coming to our world. I will read their wishes in the flames."
She begins to look into the pot of flame standing between her and the
Doctor. The Doctor looks at it for a moment, then apologizes to
Katryca and begins to leave as he tells her he's got to get back to
Drathro.
Katryca shouts that they will remain where they are, and the guards
close off the door accordingly.
"You have no quarrel with us!" shouts the Doctor, then motions at Glitz
and Dibber. "They destroyed your beacon!"
Katryca informs him that star travelling is forbidden by the gods. She
nods at Balazar and decrees that he shall remain with their tribe, and
then orders the others to be removed from her sight.
Humker and Tandrell watch the screen which shows the L1's view of the
surface world. It appears to have left the forest for an open field.
Humker comments on all the unpleasant green.
Tandrell tells him it is vegetation.
Humker asks Drathro why it was not burned, and Drathro answers that only
part of the planet was enveloped by fire.
Humker asks what the vegetation's function is, and Drathro answers that
it supports primitive life.
Tandrell decrees that primitive life is unnecessary.
"So vegetation is unnecessary," concludes Humker.
"Your syllogism is also unnecessary, Humker," says Tandrell.
Humker sneers that it wasn't a true syllogism as it only contained
the major and minor premise. Tandrell says it was still unnecessary,
like so much that he says.
The L1 robot passes a fence that marks the outside of the village.
The Doctor, Peri, Glitz, and Dibber are all again placed in the cell,
this time guarded personally and inside the cell by Broken Tooth and
Balazar.
Dibber remarks he thought they'd seen the last of this place.
The Doctor turns to Balazar and tells him they've got to help them
get out of this cell.
Balazar and Broken Tooth tell him they dare not as the queen would burn
them in their place.
The Doctor tells them if he doesn't get out here, they're all going to burn.
Glitz looks up at him from the seat he's already taken and sneers,
"You're the Time Lord! Haven't you got a ring you can rub? A magic lamp?
Something for these sort of emergencies?"
The Doctor tells him he thinks this is more Glitz's style, then asks what
does bring Glitz to this planet in the first place.
Glitz tells him its purely a private enterprise to collect a few mouldering
files of no interest to anyone except for scholars such as himself.
"Oh, you're a scholarly philanthropist, are you?" asks the Doctor skeptically.
"Exactly the description, Doctor," answers Glitz.
"Who goes around blowing up black light converters," adds the Doctor.
Glitz tells him that that was merely an expediency to allow him to endow
a library on to him home planet of Salostopus.
"In the constellation of Andromeda?" asks the Doctor.
Glitz is a little surprised the Doctor has heard of it as the Doctor
regards this information carefully, putting it together with something
else he's heard recently.
Peri tells Glitz that what they don't know is the name of this planet
that they're on.
Glitz admonished a man of the Doctor's learning for not knowing that this
is Earth.
Peri says she knew it, but the Doctor insists it is still in the wrong
position.
"Only by a couple of light years," says Glitz like its no big deal.
The Doctor huffs in disbelief.
Dibber adds that this wrong position is why the lost expedition missed it.
The Doctor asks what lost expedition this is, and Dibber begins to
explain that Andromeda bunged off some robots in a relief ship, when
Glitz interrupts and tells him not to go on as it was ll a long time ago.
Balazar suddenly pipes up and tells them all that the word Earth is
mentioned many times by the great writer, H.M. Stationary Office.
There seems to be an embarassed pause in the conversation at this point,
as though no one knows what to say next, until suddenly the wall behind
where Peri and the Doctor are standing begins to violently tumble
inwards as it is pressed in by the advancing shape of the L1 robot.
The wall caves completely, and Dibber comments he thought they'd seen
the last of this thing as well. Glitz holds Dibber in front of him
where he can keep an eye on him.
The Doctor tells everyone to keep calm and stay still as he thinks the
robot is looking for him, but it appears confused, noting the way it
shakes back and forth looking for something and not finding it.
Balazar and Broken Tooth edge behind the robot and sneak out the hut
through the hole in the wall it left.
Glitz suggests that the Doctor shake the robot's hand or something.
The Doctor takes the advice and throws himself in front of its camera,
telling it he is the Doctor and asking, "How do you do?" The robot
seems not to notice, and it turns back the other way again.
The Doctor tries something else and grabs one of the protrusions on its
lower left side as though to shake hands.
There is suddenly an electronic whine and the Doctor is thrown away as
though pushed by something. His head hits the back wall hard and he
is severely dazed.
The protrusion and others like it suddenly pop out of the robot,
revealing themselves to be the ends of long metal tentacles that wrap
themselves around the Doctor's body and pick him up. He appears to
lose consciousness as the robot pulls him above its treads and starts
to tread backwards.
Glitz and Dibber run for it out the hole in the wall, and Peri shouts
that they've got to help the Doctor. Glitz tells her he'll be alright
as he's in good hands. They then both take Peri with them, against
her will, and run out the hole.
Katryca sees Balazar and Broken Tooth before her throne and asks what's
happened as she ordered them to guard the prisoners.
Balazar tells her the Immortal came and took them. Broken Tooth adds
that they both saw him walk through the wall.
Katryca gets to her feet and orders them to get the guns.
The robot's course out of the village takes it past some huts and four
people plowing up earth with hoes.
"Habitations," notes Drathro, surprised at what the monitor shows.
Tandrell notes that only Man makes habitations.
Drathro tells them that all life perished in the Fire, and that if men
now live on the surface, they must have come from his biosphere.
Tandrell asks how that could be possible.
Humker adds it is forbidden.
Tandrell insists all work units still obey Drathro's orders.
Drathro concludes that some must have escaped or been helped to escape.
Humker asks if it is important.
"They're out of control," says Drathro. "Outside the plan."
Tandrell says they are outlaws.
"Now my existence is threatened," begins Drathro. "They have destroyed
the source of my energy. Take measures! Create a defensive system!
Identify and destroy the traitors!"
Humker and Tandrell shift back and forth in front of each other trying
to get around each other to carry out the orders.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"All this is irrelevant and hypothetical!" interrupts the Doctor loudly.
"Background testimony," defends the Valeyard.
"What possible value foes the Farmyard here think there is," shouts
the Doctor, "in listening to some half-incapacitated robot, and a couple
of diminuitive nitwits who might as well be robots!"
The Inquisitor rebukes the Doctor, noting he's allowing his disrespect
to show again.
The Doctor apologizes, but says the question still stands.
"As prosecutor," explains the Inquisitor, "the Valeyard has the right to
include any evidence he considers to be relevant, provided he can justify
its inclusion."
"But any record relating to persons not in my presence must be sheer
conjecture!" protests the Doctor.
The Valeyard stands and explains that the accused is clearly ignorant of
the latest methods of surveillance.
The Inquisitor explains to the Doctor that the evidence is taken from
the Matrix, a knowledge bank fed constantly by the experiences of all
Time Lords wherever they may be.
The Doctor says he knows this, but that his point is that he's not.
"Not what?" asks the Inquisitor impatiently.
"Not part of the scenes being shown by the Scrapyard here!" he explains
at last, pointing at the Valeyard and then apologizing for the name,
saying its a force of habit.
"Doctor," explains the Valeyard as though speaking to a small child,
"The experiences of third parties can also be monitored and accessed if
needed, as long as they are within the collection range of a TARDIS."
"Oh," says the Doctor, surprised. He then looks accusing again and
demands to know if his old model TARDIS has been bugged without his
knowledge.
"Bugged?" asks the Inquisitor as though saying a word she doesn't want
to repeat.
"It is a reference to the new surveillance system, my Lady," explains
the Valeyard. "The expression derives from an Earth term," he adds
with a hint of disdain.
The Inquisitor says she sees and then tells them she thinks they're
wasting time on an unimportant issue, then asks the Valeyard to
continue the evidence.
The Valeyard presses the Matrix control near his seat, and the Matrix
screen above the jury's heads resolves into a view of the L1 robot
carrying the Doctor into the woods, being chased and overtaken by
a party of villagers led by Katryca.
The Doctor takes his seat but regards the Valeyard before he does so,
as though wondering how the Valeyard knew something.
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Prosecution Interface One "The Mysterious Planet"
Continued
Katryca takes the lead in the party of villagers that form a human barrier
ahead of the L1 robot. A safe distance behind the robot, Glitz and Dibber
watch the action with Peri held between them.
The robot stops and regards the people ahead of it.
"Stop the Immortal!" calls Katryca before she opens fire with the rifle
she's taken careful aim with.
Peri protests to Glitz and Dibber that they'll kill the Doctor and
struggles to be let go. Glitz tells her they've all go to go sometime,
and goes on to comment on this supreme sacrifice.
"What a person. If I have time I'll compose the eulogy for his funeral."
Katryca and the other villagers fire at the robot again. The shots are
all well aimed and seem to hit the robot's surface and not the Doctor's
body. One shot ricochets off where the robot's right shoulder would be
if it had arms.
Drathro worriedly notes from the monitor image that the villagers have
guns.
Humker says that guns can be manufactured.
Tandrell disagrees with him and tells him that their manufacture requires
advanced technology.
"Therefore," concludes Humker, "the fact that they have guns means that
they also possess advanced technology."
Tandrell tells him this is false reasoning and that these people are
savages, meaning their guns must have been supplied from without.
"The Doctor," adds Drathro as suddenly the picture scrambles again and
is lost. Humker and Tandrell run for their consoles to try and get
the robot going again.
At the same time, Humker says, "The L1 robot has ceased transmitting
signals," and Tandrell says, "From all the available data that would seem
the logical presumption."
Humker looks up exasperatedly at the screen and tells Tandrell that it
is obvious as the robot has ceased transmitting signals.
Tandrell tells him he was replying to Drathro.
"The Doctor is from Gallifrey," begins Drathro. "He has been sent to
recover the secrets left by the Sleepers. To do that, he has armed
the outlaws, therefore his intention is to foment rebellion against my
authority!"
Drathro turns away to consider further, and Tandrell mutters to Humker
that with nothing left but the power from some back-up storage cells,
the Doctor is quite likely to win.
Humker asks what will happen to them, and Tandrell says he dreads to think
about that.
Grell is again stalking Merdeen, and Merdeen stops to ask him if he
is following him.
Grell tells him that like him, he is looking for a lost man. He again
has his crossbow aimed right at Merdeen. He tells him he thinks it
would be more productive if they worked as a team.
Merdeen asks what makes Grell think Balazar and the Doctor will be
together.
"Events," answers Grell.
"Meaning?" asks Merdeen dangerously.
"I don't think the Immortal's orders are always carried out," replies
Grell with threat in his voice. "Especially when it comes to culling."
Merdeen tells him he always supervises the cullings himself, still
trying to bluff this out.
Grell tells him he knows that. Merdeen asks what Grell's getting at then.
Grell accuses Merdeen of sending people outside.
Merdeen asks what it matters as anyone going outside gets burned by the
Fire and will still die.
Grell tells Merdeen he knows he doesn't believe the surface still burns.
"I believe what the Immortal tells me," swears Merdeen.
"Then you are a liar!" spits Grell. "The Doctor is with Balazar, isn't he?
And both of them have left the subways."
Merdeen suddenly smiles and asks why the Immortal has instructed them to
search for both of them then, and Grell says he doesn't know, however
he is not shaken and says that they need to talk about this, unless
Merdeen would prefer he took his suspicions to the Immortal.
With his bow still drawn, Grell urges Merdeen down a corridor.
The villagers all look over the wreck of the L1 robot, and Balazar asks
if the Immortal is dead at last.
Katryca declares that the Immortal's reign is ended. Broken Tooth rouses
the villagers into a "Long live Queen Katryca" cheer.
Balazar asks how men will live now that the Immortal is dead.
Katryca tells him that in the Tribe of the Free they never needed the
Immortal, and they will live as they always have, except that now the
Immortal's secrets shall be theirs.
Broken Tooth asks how this will be, and Katryca smiles as she explains
that his treasures are theirs for the taking.
"The Immortal's castle?" asks Balazar.
Katryca waxes lyrical about all the tools and metal that are inside it,
along with the materials that bend and do not break. All the treasures
of their ancient forefathers which they shall learn to use again.
She asks if the villagers agree, and their cheer says that they do.
She exclaims, "Then let us attack!" and she leads them down the slops
with her gun raised, towards the entrance to the tunnel system.
Glitz and Dibber at last release Peri and all three approach the now
alone and unmoving body of the Doctor.
The robot's arms have lost power, and he is resting beneath its base.
Peri goes to him and tries to revive him. Glitz and Dibber unenthusiastically
try to convince her he's a stiff, going by his color.
Peri asks them to help her get the robot off him, and Glitz says he won't
as the Doctor's probably got horrible injuries. Dibber adds that the
guns that were used blow a person to bits.
Glitz takes Dibber aside and tells him he thinks its time for the heavy
artillery, which is hidden not more than a million miles from this very spot.
Dibber says it was a good idea of his own to bring along the multiblasters.
Glitz promises he'll teach that two-faced harridan and her ignorant
peasants to trifle with him.
Dibber reminds him they've gone down the tunnel. Glitz asks what difference
that makes as they can blow them out through the roof, unless the robot
gets them first.
Dibber suggests they fetch the guns then, and Glitz instead tells Dibber
to go by himself and get the guns. He will meet him at the entrance.
Dibber protests that the multiblasters each weigh at least a hundred
somethings, and Glitz notes that this is the reason he employs Dibber,
to fetch and carry. He tells Dibber to cut along and each go their
seperate ways.
Peri calls the Doctor's title loudly again, and this time he wakes up.
"You're alive. I knew it," says Peri like she was never worried.
The Doctor begins to rub his aching head and speaks in a deeper voice
than usual. "Oh my head hurts abominably, Sarah Jane. Where are we?"
Peri realizes the Doctor's mixed up in his regenerations again, and
tells him she's Peri and that he's lying under the remains of a robot.
His usual persona reasserts itself and he starts to free himself of the
robot. Peri helps him get to his feet. He rubs several painful bruises
as he finally extricates himself from the dead robot's tentacles.
He asks Peri where Katryca and the others are. Peri tells him they've
gone to the tunnels.
The Doctor is surprised by this and asks why they've done this. Peri
reports that from what she could here, now that the Immortal's dead they've
planned a takeover.
The Doctor looks at the L1 and tells Peri this isn't the Immortal, just . .
He stops himself and asks how long they've been gone, and Peri tells him
just for a couple of minutes.
The Doctor tells Peri they've got to get after them because they've got
to be stopped, and that the situation is worse than she can imagine.
He sets off quickly down the hillside.
"It always is," mutters Peri before following the Doctor.
Katryca and the other villagers practically run down the escalator stairs
and over to the entrance to the subways.
Katryca asks Broken Tooth how the Great Door opens, and he demonstrates
by turning the wheel that activates the electronics that make the door
slide open.
Before entering, Katryca tells Balazar and Broken Tooth to lead the way
as they have lived in this blackness will know how to get to the castle.
She hands over her gun to Balazar while Broken Tooth tells her he knows
a tunnel that passes Marb Station and leads straight to the castle.
"Then forward!" cries the queen, and they all follow Balazar and Broken
Tooth into the tunnel.
Humker, Tandrell, and Drathro watch on a monitor screen as the villagers
enter the tunnel system.
Humker remarks that they look very fierce.
Tandrell says this is natural, as they are savages.
Humker comments that they are coming towards them.
Tandrell says Humker has a gift for the obvious.
Humker says he doesn't understand their logic, as they have not harmed them.
Drathro tells them this is a rebellion.
Humker asks what they will do if they break in.
The Immortal says he will kill them.
Humker and Tandrell turn to look at Drathro, and Tandrell reminds him that
their guns destroyed the L1.
Drathro tells them that his plating is stronger and his circuits protected.
The guns will kill only Humker and Tandrell.
They are naturally a little taken aback by this, and Humker asks who will
look after Drathro's research if they die.
"The Doctor," answers Drathro.
Humker and Tandrell trade worried frowns.
Broken Tooth is leading the way down a tunnel, when he stops and tells
everyone to halt as he fears the worst. He believes Marb Station is
back the way they came.
Balazar disagrees, saying it is forward and the castle is ahead from there.
Katryca tells them they have no need for indecision in the Tribe of the
Free. She tells them they have waited long for this moment.
She reminds everyone the Immortal is dead, and that they are about to
plunder his castle. The other villagers all cheer.
She asks again which way they should go, and Balazar and Broken Tooth
each point in different directions.
"Am I to be surrounded by fools?" cries Katryca. She makes her own mind
up and decides to go forward. Broken Tooth protests, but she tells him
she's read this in the flames many times. They'll go forward.
She raises her gun over her head in enthusiasm and leads the charge forward.
Humker and Tandrell are apparantly trying to prove their value by trying
to repair the equipment again.
Humker looks up and tells Tandrell what he's doing is not correct.
Tandrell thinks there is clearly a mechanical defect.
Humker insists it is an electronic malfunction. He looks up and asks
Drathro is he's seen this problem.
Drathro tells them he does not need to observe, as his condition tells
him of the continuing failure of the system.
Humker angrily asks what could have precipitated this malfunction,
and Tandrell adds that there were no warning signs.
Drathro tells them its due to the destruction of the converter's aerial.
Tandrell asks about this, and Drathro says the service robot monitored
that fact as it entered the village.
Tandrell asks if they can repair it, and Drathro tells them it is
impossible.
"Soon the black light system will collapse in upon itself, and we shall all
cease to function."
The Doctor leads Peri quickly through the old Underground station to the
entrance to the subways and tells Peri that there's going to be trouble
with the system as some technical piece is worn out. There will be
nothing for it but to shut the black light system down.
Peri says that sounds easy.
The Doctor says that it is, but that if he shuts the system down, it
means shutting Drathro down too, and he can't see Drathro agreeing to that.
Peri asks what will happen if Drathro won't let him, and the Doctor tells
her the system will implode, destroying everything in the tunnels.
"Great!" says Peri, stopping suddenly. "So that's why we're going in, is it?"
"Peri!" rebukes the Doctor. "I can't let people die if there's a chance of
saving them!"
He enters the tunnel, with Peri reluctantly following.
Glitz stumbles over to the tunnel entrance, exhausted, and sees that Dibber
has beaten him there even with the heavy guns.
"You got the guns then?" he asks Dibber.
"It looks like it, Mr. Glitz," answers Dibber.
Glitz tells Dibber that they were wrong about the Doctor and in fact he's
left. Dibber tells him he hasn't. He's just gone down the tunnel, taking
Peri with him.
Glitz sits back a bit and tells Dibber the Doctor is indeed after what
they are after.
Dibber thinks its still only a could-be, but Glitz is sure, saying that
the Doctor has no more interest in the scientific side of things than he has.
"You didn't fool him then," asks Dibber, "telling him you were a philatilist,
did you Mr. Glitz?"
"Philanthropist, you ignorant dink!" rebukes Glitz, gently slapping Glitz as
he begins to stand up again. "Didn't you learn nothing in that remand home?"
Dibber asks why the Doctor would guess that Glitz wasn't one.
"Do I look like a philanthropist?" asks Glitz.
Dibber asks how he should know as he's never seen one.
"A philanthropist, my son, is someone who gives away all their grotzits
out of the simple goodness of their heart," smiles Glitz, putting a hand on
his own heart.
"Oh, you mean the stupid!" smiles Dibber. "Yeah, you probably do look like
one then."
Glitz slaps him again and tells him to get down the hole. Dibber picks up
his very formidable looking multiblaster and heads into the hole.
Glitz bends down and strains with the effort of picking up the enormous
gun. "Oh dear," says his mouth on his back's behalf. "They are heavy
aren't they?"
Once inside the Underground station hall, Glitz asks Dibber to take his
gun, and Dibber just answers by saying, "You always did despise muscle."
Glitz tells him he doesn't at all, at least not when there are things to
carry. As he struggles to keep up with Dibber, he tells him that if
they should run into the Doctor, he is not to open his mouth and let
him know they are after the stuff MBLEDEP! MBLEDEP!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The soundtrack of the evidence bleeps over the words, and the Valeyard
interrupts the evidence.
"The remainder of that evidence has been excised," he tells the
Inquisitor.
The Inquisitor looks at him in surprised shock, as though a higher court
had handed her an envelope she isn't supposed to open but is supposed to
watch and make sure isn't tampered with.
"Excised, why?" she demands to know.
"By order of the High Council," explains the Valeyard as if that were
explanation enough.
"This is a Judicial Inquiry appointed by the High Council," returns the
Inquisitor, "but independently conducted. It is my decision, Valeyard,
to decide what evidence is relevant."
"Of course, my Lady," answers the Valeyard. "Their honors simply felt
that certain areas of testimony should not be revealed."
"Why not?" asks the Inquisitor.
"Against the public interest, My Lady," answers the Valeyard.
"I cannot conduct a proper and searching Inquiry without full access
to the evidence," says the Inquisitor.
"Naturally, Inquisitor, their honors would be quite prepared to let you
consider the full record en camera," replies the Valeyard.
"And I think that would be unfair to the defendant," says the Inquisitor.
The Doctor looks at her, nods, and points as though he agrees.
The Inquisitor consults her notes and asks the Doctor if he wishes to
lodge a formal objection at this stage.
The Doctor leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
He considers for a second, starts a sentence, and then changes his mind,
saying, "No, ma'am. Let the Valeyard here continue. Give him enough
rope to hang himself, eh?"
The Inquisitor looks at him as though that's an interesting expression to
use in the circumstances, and grants his wish. She tells the Valeyard
to proceed, and he reactivates the Matrix.
All turn and watch the screen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prosecution Interface One "The Mysterious Planet"
Continued
The Doctor hurries Peri down a corridor and tells her to hurry along with him
as there isn't much time.
Peri asks how long they've got before this black light thing goes up.
He says there's no telling, and reminds her they've got to pass Queen Katryca
on their way into the castle and make that demented robot see sense after that.
"So, you have returned."
The voice belongs to Merdeen. He has just stepped into the corridor,
standing behind Peri and the Doctor.
The Doctor stops and turns. Peri does as well.
"Merdeen!" says the Doctor, recalling his name as though proud he was able to.
"Missed your train?" he asks a little worriedly as he sees the menacing
expression on Merdeen's face and the crossbow in his hand.
"The train is noisy. We hunt by foot," answers Merdeen.
"What are you hunting?" asks the Doctor.
"You!" answers Merdeen.
Merdeen raises his crossbow towards the Doctor.
The Doctor looks at the bow in surprise.
Merdeen squeezes the trigger and fires.
The Doctor
COLIN BAKER
Peri
NICOLA BRYANT
The Valeyard
MICHAEL JAYSTON
The Inquisitor
LYNDA BELLINGHAM
Katryca Glitz
JOAN SIMS TONY SELBY
Drathro Merdeen
ROGER BRIERLEY TOM CHADBON
Broken Tooth Dibber Balazar
DAVID RODIGAN GLEN MURPHY ADAM BLACKWOOD
Humker Tandrell Grell
BILLY McCOLL SION TUDOR OWEN TIMOTHY WALKER
Title Music composed by Incidental Music Special Sound
RON GRAINER DOMINIC GLYNN DICK MILLS
Production Manager Production Associate Production Assistant
CLARE GRAHAM ANGELA SMITH JOY SINCLAIR
Assistant Floor Manager O.B. Lighting O.B. Sound
STEPHEN JEFFREY-POULTER JOHN WIGGINS BILL WHISTON
Visual Effects Designer Video Effects Vision Mixer
MIKE KELT DANNY POPKIN JIM STEPHENS
Technical Co-ordinator Studio Camera Supervisor Videotape Editor
ALAN ARBUTHNOTT ALEC WHEAL STEPHEN NEWNHAM
Studio Lighting Studio Sound
MIKE JEFFERIES BRIAN CLARK
Costume Designer Make-Up Designer
KEN TREW DENISE BARON
Script Editor
ERIC SAWARD
Desinger
JOHN ANDERSON
Producer
JOHN NATHAN-TURNER
Director
NICHOLAS MALLETT
(C) BBC MCMLXXXVI
First transmitted on 20 September, 1986.
This synopsis by Steven K. Manfred
Synopsis copyright July 12, 1994.
Permission is given to all to copy this synopsis as long as it is not for
reasons of profit.
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