CHRISTOPHER
ECCLESTONBILLIE PIPER
DOCTOR WHO
ROSE
by Russell T Davies
The moon is floating in the centre of the scene. We glide past it to see the earth suspended in orbit. Then we start to zoom in very quickly, Europe fills the screen, then London, then the roof of an apartment building, then, finally, an alarm clock shrieking that it is 7:30 AM.
The arm of Rose Tyler stretches out and hammers on the snooze button. Rose is nineteen years old, blond, and Billie Piper so now you all know what she looks like. Her room is the pinkest, little girlest, princess frilly thing you have every seen. She gets out of bed.
She runs out the door to her room, picking up a bag as she goes. She leans over and kisses her mom on the cheek, Jackie is an older, scattier, version of Rose.Rose: Bye.
Jackie: Later.Rose takes a bus to her job at Henrik's department store. She laughs with her co-workers. At lunch she chats and laughs with her boyfriend Mickey in front of a fountain. Then it's back to work. Finally the shop is closing down and she gets to leave. That's when the doorstop hands her a bag of money. Rose sighs and steps onto an elevator bound for the basement.
She gets off the elevator. The basement is a dark and gloomy hallway. She goes up to a door marked: H.P. WILSON, C.E.O.
Rose: Wilson? Wilson, I've got the lottery money. Wilson?
She knocks.
Rose: You there? But, I can't hang out because they're closing the shop. Wilson?
She looks up and down the hall. She hears a noise.
Rose: Hello.
She starts to walk down the hall.
Rose: Hello, Wilson, it's Rose. Hello? W...Wilson?
She goes into a storage room. She turns on a light. The room is filled with plastic dummies.
Rose: Wilson?
She walks further into the room.
Rose: Wilson?
The door slams behind her. She runs to it. It's locked. Something rustles in an unlit part of the room.
Rose: Is that someone knocking about?
She walks in the direction of the sound.
Rose: Who is it?
Dummy heads turn behind her to follow her progress. One walks out in front of her.
Rose: Yes, you got me. Very funny. Right, I got the joke. Who's idea was this? Was it Derrick's? Is it? Derrick, is this you?
Now all of the dummies are coming at her. They corner her. She falls backwards into a pile of cloths and gets up. The dummies raise their arms to attack her. Suddenly someone grabs her hand. She looks over. It is the Doctor. He is a skinny man with dark hair in a crew cut, grey eyes, strong features, and a black leather jacket.
The Doctor: Run!
And they do. They dash down a hall and into the elevator. A dummy shoves its arm in before the door can close. The Doctor fights with it and rips it off. The doors close.
Rose: You pulled his arm off!
The Doctor: Yep!He tosses it to Rose.
The Doctor: Plastic.
Rose: Very clever. Nice trick. Who were they, then, students? Is this is a student thing, or what?
The Doctor: Why would they be students?
Rose: I don't know.
The Doctor: Well you said it. Why students?
Rose: 'Cause... to get that many people dressed up and being silly... they got to be students.
The Doctor: That makes sense. Well done.
Rose: Thanks.
The Doctor: They're not students.
Rose: Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to call the police.
The Doctor: Who's Wilson?
Rose: The chief electrician.
The Doctor: Wilson's dead.
They get out of the elevator.
Rose: That's not funny. That's sick.
The Doctor: Hold on, Mind your eyes.He flashes his sonic screwdriver (a silver tube thing with a blue light at the end) at the elevator keypad.
Rose: I've had enough of this now. Who are you then? Who's that lot there? I said, who are they?
The Doctor: They're made of plastic, living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this.He pulls a weird technological thingamajig out of his pocket. It looks suspiciously like a bomb.
The Doctor: So, I'm going to go upstairs and blow it up, and I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, go on, go on then and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this because if you do you'll get them killed.
He goes through the door to the roof and closes it behind him. Rose starts to walk away. Then the door pops open again.
The Doctor: I'm the Doctor by the way. What's your name?
Rose: Rose.
The Doctor: Nice to meet you Rose. Run for your life!He slams the door shut. Rose runs, still holding the dummy arm.
A cab nearly hits her on her way out of the shop. She doesn't stop until she's down the street. Then she looks back. Nothing is happening. She starts to walk away. Then a giant blast rocks downtown London as the department store explodes. She runs home, and as she does, she passes a strange blue box that looks almost, but not quite, like an old fashioned telephone booth.
Back at the apartment Rose shares with her mother, Rose sits on the couch watching TV. She looks numb. Jackie gives her a mug of tea.
TV: The whole of central London has been closed off as police investigate the fire. Earlier reports indicate...
The words, "Department store bombing," scroll across the bottom of the page.
Jackie (on the phone): I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter. Oh, and here's himself.
Mickey comes running in to comfort his girlfriend.
Mickey: I've been phoning your mobile. You could have been dead. It's on the news and everything. I couldn't believe that the shop when up.
Rose: I'm all right, honestly. I'm fine. Don't worry about it.
Mickey: But what happened?
Rose: I don't know.
Mickey: W...What's it though, what caused it?
Rose: I wasn't in the shop. I was on the outside. Didn't see anything.Jackie comes back into the living room, she is still holding the phone. She hands it to Rose.
Jackie: It's Debby on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. 500 quid for an interview.
Rose: Oh that's brilliant! Give it here!Rose takes the phone off Jackie and hangs it up.
Jackie: Well you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out.
The phone rings again. Jackie picks up. She walks out of the room talking.
Jackie (on phone): Beth! She's alive! I've told here, sue for compensation. She was within seconds of death...
Mickey: What're you drinking? Tea? Na, Na, that's no good, that's no good; you're in shock, you need something stronger.
Rose: I'm all right.
Mickey: Now come on. You deserve a proper drink. We're going down to the pub, you and me, my treat. How about it?
Rose: Is there a match on?
Mickey: No, no, just thinking about you, bade.
Rose: There's a match on, ain't there.
Mickey: Well, that's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes.
Rose: Go on then. I'm fine, really. Go!She points to the dummy arm which Rose chucked on top of a chair.
Rose: Get rid of that.
She kisses Mickey and playfully shoves him away. He picks up the dummy arm.
Rose: Bye bye!
Mickey: Bye!He waves the arm at her, and then pretends to strangle himself with it. They both laugh. He leaves.
TV: 15 fire crews are in attendance, but there is little chance of saving the infrastructure...
Outside, Mickey tosses the arm in a trashcan, but as he walks away, the can moves.
Cut to Rose's alarm clock. It's shrieking 7:30 AM again. Rose slams it off and sits up sleepily.
Jackie (from living room): There's no point of getting up, sweetheart. You've got no job to go to.
Rose flops back down.
A while later she is eating breakfast with her mom.
Jackie: There's Finches. You could try them, they've always got jobs.
Rose: Oh great, the butchers.
Jackie: But it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces, and I'm not kidding about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma. Arianna got 2000 quid off the council, just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek. I know she is Greek, but that's not the point. It's a valid claim.Rose hears a noise. She gets up and walks to the front door to examine a cat flap.
Rose: Mom, you are such a liar. I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're going to get strays.
Jackie: I did it weeks back.
Rose: Na, you thought about it.Now Rose notices a pile of bent nails under the flap. It moves. She jumps back, and then looks again. It opens. The Doctor's face is staring through. Rose jumps up and opens the door.
The Doctor: What're you doing here?
Rose: I live here.
The Doctor: But what you do that for?
Rose: Because I do. I'm only home because someone blew up my job.The Doctor looks at his sonic screwdriver.
The Doctor: Must've got the wrong signal. You're not plastic are you?
He reaches out and taps Rose's head.
The Doctor: No, bonehead. Bye then.
He turns to leave. Rose grabs his arm and drags him in, closing the door to trap him.
Rose: You, inside, right now!
Jackie: Who is it?
Rose: It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us... 10 minutes.
Jackie: She deserves compensation.The Doctor pops his head into Jackie's bedroom.
The Doctor: Oh, we're talking millions.
Jackie: A-hmm, I'm in my dressing gown.
The Doctor: Yes you are.
Jackie: There's a strange man in my bedroom.
The Doctor: Yes there is.
Jackie: Anything could happen.
The Doctor: No.
He walks into the living room where Rose is busy tidying up.
Rose: Don't mind the mess. D'you want a coffee?
She walks into the kitchen.
The Doctor: Might as well, thanks. Just milk.
Rose: We should go to the police, seriously.The Doctor explores the living room, not really listening. He picks up a tabloid and flips through it.
The Doctor: That won't last; he's gay and she's an alien.
Rose: I'm not blaming you, even if it was some sort of joke that just went wrong.He picks up a book and flips through it in about 5 seconds.
The Doctor: Hmm, sad ending.
Rose: It said on the news they found a body.He looks her name on an envelope.
The Doctor: Rose Tyler.
He walks over to a mirror and plays with his face.
The Doctor: Ah, it could have been worse. But look at the ears.
He starts playing with a deck of cards.
The Doctor: Luck be a lady...
Rose: Anyway, if we do go to the police, I want to know what I'm saying. I want you to explain everything.The cards fly everywhere.
The Doctor: ...Maybe not.
He hears a noise.
The Doctor: What's that then? You got a cat?
Rose: No.He looks behind the couch. The plastic dummy arm flies up and grabs him by the throat. He chokes, unable to breath, and crashes around the living room trying to fight it off before the last of his air is squeezed away. Rose is still in the kitchen, oblivious.
Rose: We did have, but... we used to get strays that come in off the estate.
She walks into the living room carrying the coffee. She puts it down on a coffee table. The Doctor reaches out an arm to her, his eyes bugging out. He tries to gag out some words. Rose doesn't notice, even though she is right beside him.
Rose: I told Mickey to chuck that out. Honestly, give a man a plastic hand. Anyway, I don't even have your name...
Now she turns to him but with her eyes half closed, concentrating.
Rose: Doctor... what was it?
The Doctor finally pries the thing off his neck. It leaps into the air and makes a beeline for Rose's face. The pair crash around the living room trying to get it off. They fall onto the table, splashing coffee everywhere. In the other room, Jackie turns on a hair dryer. The pair goes from the floor to the couch. The Doctor finally manages to yank the hand off her face. He holds it away from his own head and neck using the sonic screw driver to subdue it. There are a few tense moments as the plastic hand grabs, twitches, and finally dies.
The Doctor: It's all right, I've stopped it. There you go, you see?...
He tosses it to Rose.
The Doctor: 'Armless.
Rose: Do you think?She hits him with it.
The Doctor: Ow!
Now it cuts to a new scene. Rose is chasing the Doctor down the stairs.
Rose: Hold on a minute. You just can't go swanning off.
The Doctor: Yes I can. Here I am. This is me swanning off. See ya!
Rose: That arm was moving. It tried to kill me.
The Doctor: Ten out of ten for observation.
Rose: You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You...you got to tell me what's going on.
The Doctor: No I don't.
They go through a door and emerge outside.
Rose: Alright then, I'll go to the police! I'll tell everyone! You said if I did that I'd get people killed. So, your choice: tell me, or I'll start talking.
The Doctor: Is that supposed to sound tough?
Rose: Sort of.
The Doctor: Doesn't work.They keep walking. Rose turns to him.
Rose: Who are you?
The Doctor: I told you; the Doctor.
Rose: Yeah, but, Doctor what?
The Doctor: Just the Doctor.
Rose: The Doctor?
The Doctor: Hello!He waves at her.
Rose: Is that supposed to sound impressive?
The Doctor: Sort of.
Rose: Come on then, you can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?
The Doctor: No... I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home.
Rose: But, what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?
The Doctor: Oh, suddenly the whole world revolves around you? You were just an accident. Got in the way, that's all.
Rose: It tried to kill me.
The Doctor: It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there. Then you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down. It was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you was because you met me.
Rose: So, what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you?
The Doctor: Sort of, yeah.
Rose: You're full of it.
The Doctor: Sort of, yeah.
Rose: But, all this plastic stuff, who else knows about it?
The Doctor: No one.
Rose: What? You're on your own?His face darkens.
The Doctor: Well who else is there? I mean, you lot. Well, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly - while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on.
She grabs the plastic arm off the Doctor.
Rose: Hey, start from the beginning.
Cut to a new scene. They're away from the apartment building and walking through a park.
Rose: I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?
The Doctor: The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead.
Rose: So, that's... radio control?
The Doctor: Thought control.Rose is silent.
The Doctor: Are you all right?
Rose: Yeah. So who's controlling it then?
The Doctor: Long story.
Rose: But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies? What's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?The Doctor laughs.
The Doctor: No.
Rose: Er, no.
The Doctor: It's not a price war.They laugh some more, and the Doctor stops, and the joking ends.
The Doctor: They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?
Rose: No.
The Doctor: But you're still listening.He walks away from her, heading for a strange blue box that looks almost but not quite like an old-fashioned telephone both.
Rose: Really though, Doctor, tell me, who are you?
He stops. A strange look passes over his face. He walks back to her.
The Doctor: Do you know, like I were saying? About the earth revolving?
He looks at her. She doesn't answer.
The Doctor: It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world's turning, and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it.
He takes her hand.
The Doctor: The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go...
He drops her hand.
The Doctor: That's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler.
He picks up the plastic arm and waves it as Rose.
The Doctor: Go home.
He walks up to the blue box and turns to give her a sad look. Rose walks away. A strange noise sounds behind her. A gust of wind lifts her hair. She runs back to the spot where she left the Doctor. Both he and the blue box are gone.
Now to the next scene in Mickey's apartment. A knock sounds at the door. He goes to answer it. It's Rose.
Mickey: Hey, hey, here's my woman.
He slaps her bottom.
Mickey: Kit off.
Rose: Shut up.
Mickey: Coffee?
Rose: Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don’t mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer?
Mickey: Yeah, any excuse to get in the bedroom.Rose walks off to Mickey's bedroom to use the computer. As a parting thought he calls out after her:
Mickey: Don't read my e-mails!
Rose is in the bedroom on the computer, typing into a Google-like search engine. First she tries the word "Doctor". She comes up with a page with links to everything from an online doctor finder, to applications for higher education, to TV websites. She scrolls to the top of the page. Displaying links 1-10 out of 72,000,000. She decides to narrow down her search and types in "Doctor Living Plastic". This time she gets slightly fewer links, but not the kind she wants. The top one looks like an advertisement for a wax museum. For a moment, it looks like she is about to give up, then she gets a sudden brainwave and types in "Doctor Blue Box". This time the top link says:
Doctor Who?
... do you know this man
contact Clive here. ...She clicks on it and finds herself confronted by a blurry image of the Doctor. The caption reads:
DOCTOR WHO?
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN
CONTACT CLIVE
A new scene. A yellow car is driving down a residential street. Inside, Mickey is driving and arguing with Rose at the same time.
Rose: You're not coming in. He's safe. He has a wife and kids.
Mickey: Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say.He stops the car. Rose gets out. Mickey watches a man setting out his trash bin. Rose walks up to a house and knocks. A kid answers.
Kid: Hello.
Rose: Hello, I've come to see Clyde. We've been e-mailing.
Kid: Dad! It's one of your nutters.The kid runs off. Clyde emerges from a side hallway and shakes Rose's hand.
Clyde: Oh, sorry. Hello, ah... you must be Rose. I'm Clyde, obviously.
Rose: I'd better tell you now, my boyfriend's waiting in the car just in case you're going to kill me.
Clyde: No. Good point. No murders.He wives at Mickey who scowls back.
Clyde's Wife: Who is it?
Clyde: Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website.He turns to Rose.
Clyde: Come through here. I'm in the shed.
They leave. Clyde's wife walks down the stairs carrying a load of laundry.
Clyde's Wife: She? She's read the website about the Doctor? She's a She?
She shuts the front door.
In the car, Mickey scowls even harder.
Clyde and Rose are walking through the garden to the shed. Inside, it is a mess. Shelves and tables overflow with albums, old newspaper clippings, dog-eared files, and just about everything else you can think of. Photographs hang from lines suspended across the ceiling. A turned-on laptop sits on a table in the midst of the mess.
Clyde: A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I...I couldn't just send it to ya. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean? You dig deep enough - keep a lively mind - this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place: political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories. No first name, no last name, just "The Doctor" - always "The Doctor". And the title seems to be passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?
He motions at the laptop. It is on the opening "have you seen this man?" page of his website.
Rose: Yeah.
Clyde: I tracked it down at the Washington public archive, just last year. Er... the online photo was enhanced, but, er... if we look at the original…He takes out a series of photos and shows them to her one by one. In each one, the Doctors face becomes less distinct, until he is just a barely recognizable blur in a large crowd. The scene in the last photo is very familiar.
Clyde: November 22, 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy. See?
Rose: Must be his father.
Clyde: Going further back, er…He digs out an old black and white photo from the early days of photography. It depicts a man who looks exactly like the Doctor, standing with a large family dressed in old-fashioned clothes.
Clyde: April 1912, this is a photograph of the Daniels family of South Hampton, and friend. This was taken the day before they were set to sail for the new world, on the Titanic, but for unknown reasons they cancelled their trip, and survived.
He puts this picture away and picks up a truly old drawing done in ink.
Clyde: And here we are, er... 1883, another Doctor, and look, the same image, it's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra the night that Krakatoa exploded.
He puts the drawing away and looks Rose in the eye.
Clyde: The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings a storm in his wake and he has one constant companion.
Rose: Who's that?
Clyde: Death.
Mickey is sitting in the car. The plastic black box starts to creep toward him.
In the shed.
Clyde: If the Doctor's back, if you've seen him, Rose, then one thing's for certain: we're all in danger.
Mickey gets out of his car and walks up to the now still trash bin. He flips open the lid and looks inside.
Mickey: Come on then!
Clyde: He's singled you out. The Doctor's making house calls... and God help you.
There is nothing inside the bin. Mickey frowns and turns to walk back to his car, but he can't. His hands are stuck to the bin. He tugs and tugs but can't get away. Suddenly the plastic bin swallows him with a loud burp.
Rose looks hard at Clyde.
Rose: But, who is he? Who do you think he is?
Clyde: I think he's the same man. I think he's immortal. I think he's an alien from another world.
Rose is outside, walking to the car.
Rose: Alright, he's a nutter. Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak. You win.
She gets into the car. She doesn't notice that Mickey's skin is strangely shiny and plastic-like.
Rose: What are we going to do tonight? I fancy pizza.
Plastic Mickey: Pizza, p, p, p, pizza.
Rose: Or Chinese.
Plastic Mickey: Pizza.They drive away. The car is swerving wildly.
Later, in a fancy restaurant, Rose and Plastic Mickey sit together at a small table waiting for their meal.
Rose: D'you think I should try at the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then? Dishing out chips?... I could do A levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stones's fault. I only left school because of him, and look where he ended up. What do you think?
Plastic Mickey: So where did you meet this Doctor.
Rose: Oh, I'm sorry, was I talking about me for a second?
Plastic Mickey: Because I reckon it all started back at the shop. Am I right? Was he something to do with that?
Rose: No.
Plastic Mickey: Come on.
Rose: Sorta.
Plastic Mickey: What was he doing there?
Rose: I'm not going on about him, Mickey, really I'm not. 'Cause, I know it sounds daft, but I don't think he's safe. He's dangerous.
Plastic Mickey: But you can trust me sweetheart - babe - babe - sugar.He bounces between different words like a broken record while jerking his head back and forth.
Plastic Mickey: You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you Rose, because that's what I really want to do sweetheart - babe - babe - sugar - sweetheart.
Rose: What are you doing that for?
Waiter: Your champagne?
Plastic Mickey: We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?He tries to offer it to Rose.
Waiter: Ma'am, your champagne?
Rose: It...it's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?
Plastic Mickey: I need to find out how much he knows. So, where is he?
Waiter: Doesn't anyone want this champagne?
Mickey: Look, we didn't order it!He looks up. The waiter is the Doctor.
Mickey: Ah, gotcha!
The other patrons of the restaurant are starting to notice the commotion.
The Doctor: Don't mind me - I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!
He shakes the bottle and releases the cork. It flies at Plastic Mickey's forehead and is sucked into the imitation flesh with a popping sound. He chews and then spits the cork out at the Doctor.
Plastic Mickey: Anyway!
His hands morph into plastic knife-club things and he starts smashing through tables. The Doctor grabs and yanks his head off.
Plastic Mickey's Head: Don't think that's going to stop me!
The now headless body keeps smashing things. People scream. Rose pulls a fire alarm.
Rose: Everyone out! Out now!
In the confusion, the Doctor and Rose run for it.
Rose: Get out! Get out! Get out!
She and the Doctor run through the kitchen and through a metal service door. Plastic Mickey is right behind them.
They find themselves in an alley that has its exit sealed off by a tall metal gate. The only thing in the alley other than the dumpsters is a strange blue box. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to lock the service door, but Plastic Mickey starts bashing dents in it. Rose rushes to the gate - locked.
Rose: Open the gate! Use that tube thing! Come on!
The Doctor: Sonic screwdriver.
Rose: Use it!
The Doctor: Nah... Tell you what, let's go in here.He unlocks the door of the blue box and steps in.
Rose: We can't hide inside a wooden box!
The dents in the door are getting bigger and bigger. Plastic Mickey is nearly through. She continues to bash on the locked gate.
Rose: It's going to get us! Doctor!
Rose turns and runs into the box.
It's bigger on the inside than the outside.
She runs out just as quick as she ran in, and walks around the outside examining it. Plastic Mickey smashes one club-knife hand through the door. Rose rushes back into the blue box.
The inside is massive and alien, with a round control centre in the middle. On top of the control centre is a kind of green tube pump thing.
Rose: It's gonna follow us.
The Doctor: The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now shut up a minute!He fiddles with the control panel and Plastic Mickey's head.
The Doctor: You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source.
He turns to Rose.
The Doctor: Right, where d'you want to start?
Rose: Um... the inside is bigger than the outside?
The Doctor: Yes.
Rose: It's alien?
The Doctor: Yep.
Rose: Are you alien?
The Doctor: Yes. Is that alright?
Rose: Yeah...
The Doctor: It's called the TARDIS, this thing. That's: T, A, R, D, I, S. That's: Time and Relative Dimension in Space.Rose starts crying.
The Doctor: That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us.
Rose: Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?
The Doctor: Oh, I didn't think of that.
Rose: He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head, they copied him, and you didn't even think, and now you're just going to let him melt!
The Doctor: Melt?He turns around. Plastic Mickey's head is melting into the control panel.
The Doctor: Oh, no, no, no, no, no!
Rose: What are you doing?The Doctor madly dances around the control panel. The green tub pump thing pulses.
The Doctor: Following the signal, it's fading! Wait a second, I've got it! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there! Almost there! Here we go!
The tube thing stops pulsing. The Doctor rushes out the door.
Rose: You can't go out there! It's not safe!
But it's not the ally, and plastic Mickey is nowhere to be seen. Outside the TARDIS, there is a balcony overlooking the Thames. Rose runs out.
The Doctor: I lost the signal. I was so close.
Rose: We've moved. Does it fly?
The Doctor: It disappears there and reappears here, you wouldn't understand.
Rose: But, if we're... someplace else, what about about that headless thing? Is it still on the loose?
The Doctor: Melted with the head. Are you going to wither on all night?
Rose: I'll have to tell his mother.The Doctor gives her a questioning look.
Rose: Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him again. You were right. You are alien.
She starts walking away.
The Doctor: Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey...
Rose: Yeah, he's not a kid.
The Doctor: ...It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on top of this planet. Alright!
Rose: Alright!
The Doctor: Yes it is!There is an awkward silence.
Rose: If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the north?
The Doctor: Lots of planets have a north.Rose accepts his answer. Her eyes turn to the TARDIS. She reads the words painted on it.
Rose: What's a Police Public Call Box?
The Doctor: It's a telephone box, from the 1950's. It's a disguise.
Rose: Okay. And this living plastic, what's it got against us?
The Doctor: Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet - lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in air - perfect, just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein planets rotted, so Earth - dinner.
Rose: Anyway of stopping it?He pulls out a blue vial.
The Doctor: Anti-plastic.
Rose: Anti-plastic?
The Doctor: Anti-plastic. But first I have to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?
Rose: Hold on, hide what?
The Doctor: The transmitter, the Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal.
Rose: What's it look like?
The Doctor: Like a transmitter - round and massive - somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London. A huge metal circular structure, like a dish, like a wheel, radial, close to where we're standing. It must be completely invisible.The Doctor has been walking while giving Rose his explanation. Now he has stopped with his back to the Thames. Plainly visible behind him, across the river, is the London Eye. Rose nods at the giant Ferris wheel.
The Doctor: What?
He looks.
The Doctor: What?
Rose nods again. He looks again.
The Doctor: What is it? What?
Then on his third look he finally gets it.
The Doctor: Oh. Fantastic!
The Doctor and Rose run over a bridge to the Eye, their hands linked.
They end up below the Ferris wheel.
The Doctor: Think of it: plastic, all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive; the shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables...
Rose: The breast implants.
The Doctor: Still, we found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath.Rose goes off exploring while the Doctor is still looking about. She looks down at a sewer grate.
Rose: What about down here?
The Doctor: Looks good to me.
They climb into the murky underworld and find themselves on a balcony overlooking a seething vat of… something.
The Doctor: The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat, a living, plastic creature.
Rose: Well then, tip in your anti-plastic and let's go.
The Doctor: I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance.He runs down a set of stairs to a lower balcony and addresses the Consiousness.
The Doctor: I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contact according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation.
The Nestene Consciousness gurgles.
The Doctor: Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?
Rose sees Mickey huddled in the corner on another balcony.
Rose: Oh my God!
She runs to him. He's whimpering softly.
Rose: Mickey, it's me! Okay! It's alright!
Mickey: That thing down there, the liquid, Rose, it can talk.
Rose: You're stinking. Doctor, they kept him alive!
The Doctor: Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy.
Rose: You knew that and you never said?
The Doctor: Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?Rose helps Mickey up.
Rose: Come on.
The Doctor takes the stairs down to a lower balcony with no railing. It overhangs the Nestene Consciousness.
The Doctor: Am I addressing the Consciousness?
It gurgles.
The Doctor: Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warshunt technology, so may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?
It gurgles.
The Doctor: Don't give me that! This is an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights.
It gurgles violently.
The Doctor: I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk. But they are capable of so much more. I'm asking you, on their behalf, please, just go!
Two dummies are sneaking up behind him.
Rose: Doctor!
One dummy grabs him. The other takes the anti-plastic.
The Doctor: That was just insurance, I wasn't going to use it.
More angry gurgles.
The Doctor: I was not attacking you! I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy, I swear I'm not.
It gurgles.
The Doctor: What do you mean?
An elevator door opens on the balcony where Rose and Mickey are. The TARDIS is inside. The Nestene Consciousness gurgles like crazy. It quivers in its vat.
The Doctor: No, no, honestly no. Yes, that's my ship.
The Consciousness gurgles again, except the gurgle sounds suspiciously like the words "Bad Wolf".
The Doctor: That's not true! I should know. I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them.
The gurgles are getting very angry now. The consciousness is swelling in and out of its vat.
Rose: What's it doing?
The Doctor: The TARDIS, the Nestene has identified it as superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion. Get out Rose! Just leg it! Now!Far from running, she gets out her cell phone and starts dialling.
Rose: Mom!
Jackie is walking out of a police station.
Jackie: Oh, there you are. I was just going to phone. You can get compensation. I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me.
Rose: Where are you mom?
Jackie: I'm in town!
Rose: No, just go home. Just go home right now!
Jackie: Darling, you're breaking up. Listen, I'm just going to do a bit of late night shopping. I'll see you later. Tah-rahh!
Rose: Mom! Mom!
A beam of electricity, or something shoots straight up out of the Nestene Consciousness.
The Doctor: It's the activation signal! It's transmitting!
The beam shoots out of the centre of the London Eye Ferris wheel.
Rose: It's the end of the world!
Cut to the shopping centre. Clyde is with his wife and kids. They are walking by a shop display window.
Clyde: ...No point in creating a spreadsheet if you're going to spend summer money in winter months…
The dummy in the shop window moves.
Clyde's wife: (Intake of breath) Oh my god! I thought they were dummies. I nearly had a heart attack.
Now dummies all over the shopping centre start moving. Clyde looks around suspiciously. Suddenly the dummies break through the glass of their display cases. Clyde has a shocked look on his face.
Clyde: It's true! Everything I read, all the stories! It's all true!
A dummy's hand flips open to reveal a gun. It shoots Clyde. We hear his wife screaming.
Back to the sewer. The Doctor is still struggling with the dummy that is restraining him. The Nestene roars in rage (or satisfaction?). Bits of the roof are crumbling in.
The Doctor: Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!
A giant chunk of the roof caves in, taking the exit with it.
Rose: The stairs are gone!
She and Mickey run to the TARDIS but can't get in.
Rose: We haven't got the key.
Mickey: We're going to die!
Back to the shopping centre. Jackie steps off an escalator and notices the destruction that the living plastic dummies are causing all around her. She screams, drops her bags, and runs.
In the sewer, the Doctor is still struggling to get free. Rose and Mickey crouch down to avoid the derbies falling from the ceiling, and hug.
Jackie runs outside. It's even worse. Cars are crashed into posts and dummies run around shooting people. She hides behind a car, but as she does, three wedding-dress dummies in a display window behind her come to life and burst through the glass.
The Doctor now know that it is hopeless. The world will be destroyed, but he still puts up a fight. He looks up at Rose with a face that says "I'm sorry".
The wedding-dress dummies corner Jackie.
The Doctor is grunting and kicking at his tormenter but he still can't do anything. This is when Rose stands up, and looks at the Doctor with an "I'm not ready to die yet" look. Mickey grabs her leg.
Mickey: Just leave him!
Jackie screams as the wedding-dress dummies point their arms at her.
Rose breaks free of Mickey and jumps into action.
Mickey: There's nothing you can do!
She grabs a nearby fire axe.
Rose: I've got no A-levels....
The first of the three wedding-dress dummies flips open its gun-hand at Jackie.
Rose: No job...
So does the second wedding-dress dummy.
Rose: No future.
So does the third.
Rose: But I'll tell you want I have got - Jericho Street Junior School Under-sevens Gymnastics Team - I got the bronze.
She uses the fire axe to chop a chain free of the wall. She then swings on it Tarzan-style down to the level where the Doctor is trapped. The distraction is just enough to allow him to overpower the dummy restraining him. Rose, still swinging, knocks the second dummy (the one holding the anti-plastic) into the vat of the Nestene Consciousness. The blue vial breaks open on contact, sending the pudding-like invader into its death throes.
The Doctor: Rose!
He catches her before she can swing over the vat, and draws her safely onto the platform. He grins.
The Doctor: Now we're in trouble.
All hell breaks loss (as if it hadn't before). The dying Consciousness lifts itself out of the vat screaming in agony. Things explode. The roof starts caving-in in earnest.
But a shot of the giant Ferris wheel shows us that the signal has stopped beaming.
In the street, the wedding-dress dummies stiffly close their guns, lower their arms, and walk away. Then they fall down, dead. Everywhere, dummies fall in strange positions, reduced to nothing more than harmless, ordinary plastic.
In the sewer, the Doctor unlocks the TARDIS. They all get in. The ship disappears just as the sewer totally collapses, killing the Nestene Consciousness in a fiery cataclysm.
On the street, the last dummy falls. Jackie gets up, stunned.
The TARDIS materializes in a back alley, safe at last. Mickey runs out and cowers by a dumpster. Rose walks out with surprising calm, considering what she's come from. She gets out her cell phone and calls her mom.
Jackie: Rose! Rose! Don't go out of the house! It's not safe! No, there were these things, and they were shooting, and they...
Rose hangs up laughing.
Jackie: Hello? Hello?
Rose goes and hugs Mickey.
Rose: Fat lot of good you were.
He whimpers and points at the TARDIS. The Doctor has appeared in its doorway.
The Doctor: Nestene Consciousness - easy.
Rose: You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me.
The Doctor: Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, uh... I don't know... you could come with me? This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge.
Mickey: Don't! He's an alien, he's a thing.
The Doctor: He's not invited. What d'ya think? You could stay here - fill your life with work and food and sleep - or you could go, uh... anywhere.
Rose: Is it always this dangerous?
The Doctor: Yeah.Mickey hugs Rose's leg.
Rose: Yeah, I can't. I've, um... gotta go and find my mom and... someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so...
The Doctor looks very sad. He says nothing for a long moment.
The Doctor: Okay. See you around.
He goes back inside the TARDIS. It vanishes. The displaced air creates a breeze that tugs on Rose's clothes and hair, and carries away with it a sea of possibilities. Rose helps Mickey up.
Rose: Come on then, let's go. (Gently.) Come on. Come on.
They're walking away when she hears the sound of the TARDIS's engines. A new wind blows her hair, bringing back all of the possibilities, plus some more. She spins around. Yes! The doctor is back. He smiles at her from the doorway of his ship.
The Doctor: By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?
Rose smiles. She turns to Mickey.
Rose: Thanks.
Mickey: Thanks for what?
Rose: Exactly.She kisses his forehead, and then turns and runs into the Doctor's open arms.