1. INT. TARDIS. CONSOLE ROOM
(SUSAN operates the door control and starts to walk hesitantly out.)
THE ESCAPE
(A crack of thunder and a flash of lightening...)
Written by
TERRY NATION
(...makes her hesitate momentarily but then she summons courage and walks through the doors….)
2: EXT. FOREST
(SUSAN walks through the exterior doors, the box of drugs gripped tightly. Thunder and lightening still fill the air. A flash of lightning illuminates a
being stood on a rock to one side of the TARDIS. SUSAN sinks to the ground in fear, but the being is not a mutant. It is a perfectly proportioned, blond haired
man, wearing a strange cloak covered in hexagonal shaped scales.)
SUSAN: (Her voice shaking.) Who are you? What do you want?
ALYDON: Don’t be afraid.
SUSAN: (Shouting in fear.) What do you want?
(The man steps further into the light. SUSAN realises that he is nothing like a mutant but instead has a perfect form. He fear disappears and is replaced by
wonder.)
SUSAN: But…they said you were…but, they called you...but you’re not - you’re perfect!
ALYDON: I tried to speak to you in the forest yesterday, but I frightened you. I’m sorry.
SUSAN: I was frightened! I was terrified!
ALYDON: Yes, I was very clumsy. I have come now to make certain you understand how to use the drugs I left for you.
SUSAN: You left? But we thought they’d been dropped by accident.
ALYDON: No.
SUSAN: We didn’t even know they were drugs…
ALYDON: (Startled.) You mean you haven’t taken them yet? But you must!
(SUSAN gets up from the ground.)
SUSAN: Well, that’s why I came back, you see. My...my Grandfather and two of my friends are prisoners in the city and…
ALYDON: No, please, please, you’re...you’re too quick for me.
(SUSAN cowers back slightly as the man jumps down from the rock and approaches her.)
ALYDON: There are four of you, I know that - I’ve watched you - but what do you mean, “prisoners”?
SUSAN: Well, don’t you know about the Daleks?
ALYDON: But...
(He looks through the trees towards the city.)
ALYDON: So the Dalek people have survived. (Points.) But…but do they live in that dead city?
SUSAN: Well, underneath it, anyway. You see, the Daleks want the drugs too, and they won’t let us go until I bring them back to them.
ALYDON: But why should they want the drugs? Surely they must have some themselves if they’re still alive?
SUSAN: (Tearfully.) I don’t know! Look, my Grandfather and my friends are terribly ill, and I must take the drug back to them…please?!
(SUSAN starts to move off….)
ALYDON: No, no, no wait!
(SUSAN stops.)
ALYDON: Are you sure the Daleks want the drugs for your friends and not for themselves?
SUSAN: I hadn’t thought of that...
ALYDON: Do you trust them?
SUSAN: No! Well...I’m not sure.
ALYDON: You still have the drugs I left for you. I shall give you a further supply which you must hide as best you can…
(He takes a second metal box from within his cloak and passes it to SUSAN. She shrinks back from the proffered gift.)
ALYDON: (Gently.) Do you trust me?
(SUSAN pauses, then smiles.)
SUSAN: Yes!
(She takes the box.)
ALYDON: I am Alydon of the Thal race.
(He takes off his cloak.)
ALYDON: I shall go with you through the forest to the outer wall of the city - if you will allow me?
SUSAN: Thank you. I don’t understand, they said you were, well, they called you mutations.
ALYDON: Here, take my cloak, you’re cold.
(He wraps his cloak around SUSAN’S shoulders.)
SUSAN: Thank you
ALYDON: We are the survivors of a final war, but the radiation still persists and that is why your friends are ill. I wonder if the Daleks have seen us?
SUSAN: Seen you?
ALYDON: I mean, if they call us “mutations”, what must they be like…?
(He leads her back through the trees...)
3: INT. CITY. CONTROL ROOM
(One DALEK glides forward and joins another at a control console. The voice of another DALEK issues from the console...)
DALEK: (OOV: over tannoy.) I have returned the girl to the cell.
FIRST DALEK: Very well.
DALEK: (OOV: over tannoy.) They are asking for water.
FIRST DALEK: Give them some.
(It switches off the tannoy and speaks to its companion….)
FIRST DALEK: It is clear that the girl must have made contact with the Thals.
SECOND DALEK: Our prisoners could bring the Thals to us.
FIRST DALEK: Precisely that.
(The FIRST DALEK glides away.)
4: INT. CITY. CELL
(SUSAN is tending to the DOCTOR who is still unconscious.)
SUSAN: (Worried.) The Thal said the drug would act quickly.
(IAN and BARBARA are now fully recovered.)
IAN: Don’t give him any more water, Susan. His pulse is steady now anyway.
BARBARA: My arms are tingling.
SUSAN: Yes, Alydon said you’d feel that. It...it just means the drug’s working, that’s all.
IAN: This Alydon of yours seems to have kept his wits about him - giving you that extra supply of drugs.
SUSAN: Yes, It was strange when the Daleks found it. I thought first of all they were going to keep both lots, then they suddenly seemed to change their
mind and gave the second lot back to me.
IAN: Yes…still, the Thals seem more friendly.
SUSAN: Oh yes. Alydon gave me this cloak to keep me warm.
(SUSAN picks up the cloak from the floor.)
BARBARA: Why do the Daleks think they’re mutations?
SUSAN: I don’t know. Judging by Alydon, they’re magnificent people.
(The DOCTOR starts to stir.)
DOCTOR: (Weakly.) Susan…
(SUSAN drops the cloak and rushes to his side. The old man is still covered in sweat.)
SUSAN: Grandfather! You’ll feel better soon.
DOCTOR: Yeah...
SUSAN: I brought the drugs back.
DOCTOR: Oh…oh, give me a little while…and then…we must go…back to the ship…
SUSAN: No, we’re still prisoners…
DOCTOR: Oh, are we? Oh yes, well, we will...we must leave here soon, we must, we must leave... must…
(He drifts off again.)
SUSAN: As soon as Grandfather’s properly awake, we must try and find a way of helping the Thals.
BARBARA: We can’t even help ourselves, locked up in here like this.
(She walks off and, dejected, sits next to IAN.)
SUSAN: We must try and talk to the Daleks.
(She picks up the cloak again.)
SUSAN: Alydon says the Thals are going to starve unless they can find new supplies of food.
(She spreads the cloak out on the floor and sits on it.)
SUSAN: You see, after the war, the Thals that survived managed to cultivate small plots of land. Well, that’s how they’ve survived ever since. But
they’ve always had to be very, very careful, because the crops have always been in danger. But you see, they rely on a great rainfall that only happens about
every four or five years…
(Above SUSAN, a camera fixed in an arch of the cell is watching and listening to her….)
SUSAN: …well, it’s two years overdue now, and all their crops are ruined. Well, that’s why the whole Thal race had to leave their plateau...
5: INT. CITY CONTROL ROOM
(The DALEKS watch the girl on their monitor and listen to SUSAN’S words….)
SUSAN: (On monitor.)… and go in search of food. Alydon says unless we can help them...them arrange some sort of treaty with the Daleks, well
they’re all going to die.
IAN: (OOV: On monitor.) But how can we, Susan?
SUSAN: (On monitor.) Well, he wants to talk to the Daleks. He said if they agree to supply food for them, then one of us must take a message
outside the city.
(One DALEK turns off the scanner.)
SECOND DALEK: We could let this catastrophe destroys the Thals.
FIRST DALEK: Will they let themselves starve to death? No. I feel preserving our prisoners was a good idea.
SECOND DALEK: And an arrangement to bring the Thals inside our city an even better one.
FIRST DALEK: We’ll let our prisoners sleep, and then give them food. After that, we can plan.
SECOND DALEK: Why not begin…now?
(The FIRST DALEK’S iris contracts as it speaks...)
FIRST DALEK: Because the lapse of time, the relaxation of sleep, the provision of food…all these things will give them a false…sense…of se…cur…ity!
6: INT. CITY. CELL
(The travellers have been sleeping. The cell door slides open and all except the DOCTOR wake instantly as a DALEK stands in the doorway. In place of the
usual arm is a different attachment - a tray with several items upon it.)
DALEK: We have brought you food and more water.
(The DOCTOR awakens as BARBARA moves forward and takes the tray.)
DALEK: The girl is to come with me.
(IAN leaps to his feet.)
IAN: Why?
SUSAN: It’s all right.
BARBARA: Well, what are they going to do to her?
DALEK: She will be returned, We are going to help the Thals, which is what you want us to do. Come now.
(SUSAN follows the DALEK out. The door closes.)
DOCTOR: I can’t understand. Why have they taken Susan?
IAN: (Thoughtfully.) How do they know we want to help the Thals?
7: EXT. FOREST
(ALYDON waits near the TARDIS. Several other Thals approach. Among them is a tall blond young Thal.)
ALYDON: Ah, Ganatus!
GANATUS: Alydon.
ALYDON: You have been longer than I thought.
GANATUS: The path was rough.
ALYDON: The dead city lies over there…
(He points through the trees. Behind them, an older Thal, wearing a simple crown on his order gives an order to some other of his people.)
TEMMOSUS: Set the tent there, towards the west.
(A young Thal girl wearing a short but elaborate headdress, walks past several Thals as they begin setting up the camp and approaches the TARDIS, She is
DYONI. She gestures to the ship and speaks to the crowned leader.)
DYONI: Oh, what is it, Temmosus?
TEMMOSUS: This must be the craft in which the strangers arrived here.
(ALYDON and GANATUS approach TEMMOSUS and DYONI.)
TEMMOSUS: So, Alydon, we were right to believe the city inhabited.
(ALYDON gives a short bow.)
ALYDON: Yes, Temmosus.
TEMMOSUS: I wonder what they’ll be like? How they’ll be disposed towards us...
GANATUS: (Bitterly.) They are Daleks.
TEMMOSUS: Yes, but we’ve changed over the centuries. Why shouldn’t they? The once famous warrior race of Thals are now farmers.
DYONI: But the Daleks were teachers weren’t they, Temmosus?
TEMMOSUS: Yes, they were - and philosophers.
GANATUS: Perhaps they are the warriors now.
TEMMOSUS: From the distance, the city looks as if they make science and invention their profession. It’s a magical architecture. Perhaps we can
exchange ideas with them, learn from them…
(GANATUS has lain down on a nearby rock.)
GANATUS: (Unconvinced.) Perhaps…
(TEMMOSUS looks over the TARDIS.)
TEMMOSUS: And these others, they arrived here in this weird object?
ALYDON: Yes Temmosus.
TEMMOSUS: And you trust them, Alydon?
ALYDON: I have only spoken with the young girl...
(DYONI spins round sharply.)
ALYDON: But if the others are anything like her, I would trust them absolutely.
TEMMOSUS: (Slightly mocking.) I hope you are not too generous in your beliefs. (To DYONI.) What do you say, Dyoni? Hmm?
DYONI: (Haughtily.) I have no opinions on the matter.
GANATUS: (Laughs.) How unusual!
(He and ALYDON laugh.)
TEMMOSUS: Where is the girl now?
ALYDON: I have given her the drugs and she has returned to the city.
DYONI: (Snaps.) It would have been better if you’d given it to a man instead of a girl.
ALYDON: Well, I had no chance! They’re prisoners in the city.
GANATUS: (Suddenly alert.) “Prisoners”?
TEMMOSUS: Are you sure?
ALYDON: I’m afraid so. From everything the young girl said, the Daleks are certainly very suspicious of others.
TEMMOSUS: Tell me, Alydon, how old is this young girl?
ALYDON: Oh, no longer a child, not yet a woman.
TEMMOSUS: Ah, then perhaps it’s safe for you to talk to her...
(He looks at DYONI.)
TEMMOSUS: ...if she’s not yet a woman.
(GANATUS bursts out laughing as DYONI storms away. ALYDON watches her go.)
ALYDON: I don’t understand her! If we don’t find the new food supply for next year, we’re finished! Doesn’t she understand that? We’re all
working towards the same end…
GANATUS: Now there’s a double meaning for you!!
TEMMOSUS: (To ALYDON.) But don’t you realise that Dyoni sees her personal future in you? You must remember that when we left our plateau and
started on this journey, she was little more than a child - but that was four years ago.
ALYDON: I am not quite so blind.
GANATUS: (Scornfully.) Ha!
TEMMOSUS: Well, go on. What have you planned?
ALYDON: The young girl will speak with the Daleks, and the message will come from the city.
TEMMOSUS: Direct from the girl?
ALYDON: Yes.
TEMMOSUS: But how shall we know that it’s not a trick?
ALYDON: Well, she told me her name - Susan - and that is how the message is to be signed. Otherwise, we shall know the Daleks are hostile to us.
8: INT. CITY. CONTROL ROOM
(Surrounded by the creatures, SUSAN is sitting on the floor at a small table, writing on a pad as the DALEKS dictate a message to her.)
FIRST DALEK: …and liquid foods. Water in abundance. We can also supply…unlimited quantities of fresh vegetables which are forced in artificial
sunlight.
(SUSAN is struggling to keep up with the DALEK’S rapid pace of dictation.)
SUSAN: Just a minute… ”in artificial sunlight”, all right , go on…
SECOND DALEK: In return, we shall expect the Thals to help us in the recultivation of the land surrounding the ci…
(SUSAN has stopped writing midway through this sentence.)
FIRST DALEK: Why have you stopped writing?!
SUSAN: Well, I can only ask them. I can’t accept for them.
FIRST DALEK: Then put down that we expect them to help us.
(SUSAN recommences writing.)
SUSAN: Yes, I’m sure they will.
(SUSAN mutters the final lines as she writes them.)
SECOND DALEK: Please sit still while we examine what you’ve written.
(SUSAN holds the message pad up. The SECOND DALEK grabs hold of the pad on the end of its suction cup and holds it up in front of the eye-stalk of the FIRST
DALEK.)
FIRST DALEK: What is the last word here?
SUSAN: The last word?
FIRST DALEK: “Su..saan”
(SUSAN bursts into laughter.)
FIRST DALEK: Stop that noise!
(She quiets down and attempts to explain.)
SUSAN: Well, it…it’s...it’s what I’m called. It’s my name. Susan.
FIRST DALEK: And you told the Thals that you would write this “name” on the message?
SUSAN: Yes. Look, there’s no need to be frightened of them. They’re very friendly people. All they want is food. Let me take the message to them.
FIRST DALEK: No.
SUSAN: Why not?
SECOND DALEK: We have planned…otherwise.
(The third DALEK moves with the letter towards the scanner. It bursts into life showing SUSAN’S companions in the cell.)
IAN: (On monitor.) But how long are they going to keep Susan, Doctor?
BARBARA: (On monitor.) What do they want with her?
DOCTOR: (On monitor.) Perhaps they are going to let us go. I…I don’t know.
(The DALEK turns the scanner off.)
SUSAN: (Proudly.) We knew you could hear us because you knew about the Thals and the food.
FIRST DALEK: It does not matter. We have the message now.
(Another DALEK roughly pushes a shocked SUSAN with its arm. She realises their true intentions.)
9: INT. CITY. CELL
(Later, SUSAN has been returned to the cell. IAN is stood underneath the camera.)
IAN: (Whispers.) All set, Doctor?
(He then speaks louder and falsely, as if in a bad play.)
IAN: The whole pattern of things is suspicious. Just because the Daleks didn’t kill us is no reason to trust them.
DOCTOR: (Also falsely.) Or suspect them, either.
BARBARA: Well, maybe they just have a different way of doing things.
IAN: The Thals have helped us. The Daleks put us in a cell. I know which of the two I prefer.
DOCTOR: I tell you the Daleks are brilliant people! I think we ought to co-operate with them.
IAN: Ever since you talked alone to the Daleks, you’ve been on their side. What have they done? Bribed you or something?
(He grabs the DOCTOR and spins him round to face him.)
IAN: (Shouts.) Look! I want to know why! Why are you on their side and against the rest of us?
DOCTOR: (Shouts.) Take your hands off me! How dare you!
(SUSAN runs forward. BARBARA also rushes in.)
SUSAN: (Shouts.) Leave my Grandfather alone!
IAN: (Shouts.) I want an answer!
BARBARA: (Shouts.) Ian, stop arguing!
SUSAN: (Shouts.) Leave him alone!
IAN: (Shouts.) ___ to his face!
(SUSAN jumps on IAN’S back and he staggers towards the wall with the camera.)
DOCTOR: (Shouts.) Keep away from me!
(BARBARA pulls the DOCTOR to one side.)
BARBARA: (Shouts.) Susan, what are you doing!?
(SUSAN grabs the device and pulls it out of its socket.)
10: INT. CITY. CONTROL ROOM
(The picture disappears off the scanner.)
11: INT. CITY. CELL
(IAN and SUSAN fall to the floor where the girl holds up the camera to him.)
IAN: Did I hurt you?
SUSAN: (Laughing.) No!
DOCTOR: Don’t waste time!
(IAN grabs the camera and stares into it.)
IAN: Fixed you for a while!
12: INT. CITY. CONTROL ROOM
(The DALEKS observe the dead scanner.)
FIRST DALEK: Do you think it was broken accidentally in their struggle?
SECOND DALEK: No. The cable is strong. They have broken it deliberately.
THIRD DALEK: They can be moved immediately to another room; the eye repaired.
FIRST DALEK: No.
SECOND DALEK: Extermination, then?
FIRST DALEK: There is no escape from the room that holds them. They may well be useful again. We shall deal with the Thals.
13: INT. CITY. CELL
DOCTOR: The point is, how do we get out of here? Wait until the Daleks open the door and force the issue?
BARBARA: Well, we’d never get near them.
SUSAN: We must try and trick them. We must all pretend to be dead - then when they come in to investigate, we must rush down the corridor…
IAN: Yes, and then what? No, we must find a way of putting these machines out of action.
BARBARA: Yes, remember what they did to your legs.
IAN: Yes...
(The DOCTOR suddenly taps the floor with his shoe.)
DOCTOR: The floors are metal...all the floors are metal!
BARBARA: Well, so are the streets of the city outside.
DOCTOR: Why?
BARBARA: I don’t know…
DOCTOR: No, I know you don’t know. I mean, why do they use metal? Is it because that it lasts longer, or because…
IAN: (Realises.) …because it’s essential to them! That’s an idea!
BARBARA: Well, how is that going to help us?
IAN: Well, if metal is essential…
DOCTOR: (Interrupts.) No, no, no, no, no, now listen, let’s concentrate on the Daleks. Have you noticed, for example, that when they move about
there’s a sort of acrid smell?
SUSAN: Yes, yes, I’ve notice that!
BARBARA: I know - A fairground!
IAN: That’s it! Dodgems!
DOCTOR: It’s electricity! I think they’re powered that way.
IAN: Yes, but just a minute - they have no pick-up or anything. And only the base of the machine touches the floor. How do they complete the circuit?
SUSAN: Batteries?
DOCTOR: No, no, no - I believe the Daleks have discovered a way to exploit static electricity. Very ingenious, if I’m right.
BARBARA: What, drawing power from the floor?
DOCTOR: Precisely! If I’m right, of course. Now, what do we know, apart from guessing how they’re powered, hmm?
SUSAN: Well, they can see all round them.
BARBARA: Yes...their eye is flexible, like a large camera lens.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now Chesterton...
(He looks for the teacher who is kneeling behind him staring at the floor.)
DOCTOR: Do you mind concentrating, young man?
IAN: Hmm? Susan?
SUSAN: Mmm?
IAN: The cloak the Thals gave you?
SUSAN: Yes, it’s just behind you.
(IAN grabs the cloak and starts examining it.)
IAN: Ah. Barbara, come here.
(SUSAN and BARBARA join him.)
IAN: Now what do you think this is made of?
BARBARA: Oh, I don’t know. It isn’t plastic, or…I don’t think it’s nylon either…
IAN: Whatever it is, it’ll do for what we want.
(The DOCTOR joins them.)
DOCTOR: And what will it do, young man, hmm?
IAN: Insulate. If you are right, Doctor, about the Daleks taking up power from the floor, this is a perfect way of putting them out of action.
14: EXT. FOREST
(A Thal walks past DYONI carrying the metallic lizard-like creature that the travellers found soon after they landed.)
DYONI: (Enthusiastically.) Oh look, Ganatus, they’ve found a Magnadon under some bushes!
GANATUS: Dead, I hope?
DYONI: Well, of course it’s dead.
(GANATUS smiles.)
DYONI: (Angrily.) Oh, I never know when you’re serious and when you’re joking.
GANATUS: We’ll be able to recharge the hand-lights. I’ll go and tell Antodus.
DYONI: (Sneers.) Is he still afraid of the dark?
(GANATUS scowls coldly at her.)
DYONI: Oh , I’m sorry, I…
GANATUS: (Snaps.) My brother isn’t afraid of anything!
(He storms off. Nearby ALYDON is deep in thought. He moves over to where TEMMOSUS is sat down.)
ALYDON: Temmosus, suppose the Daleks refuse to help us? What then?
TEMMOSUS: I believe the Daleks hold the key to our future. Whatever that future may be, we must accept it, gracefully and without regret.
ALYDON: I wish I could be as objective as you. We’ve lived for so long a time…
TEMMOSUS: Perhaps we have lived too long.
(He sees ALYDON’S shocked look.)
TEMMOSUS: I’ve never struggled against the inevitable - it’s a vain occupation.- But I should always advise you to examine very closely what you
think to be inevitable. It’s surprising how often apparent defeats can be turned to victory.
(GANATUS runs up to them, followed by DYONI and the other Thals. He’s holding SUSAN’S message.)
GANATUS: This was found at the city gates.
(TEMMOSUS takes it and reads it over.)
ALYDON: Well, what does it say?
TEMMOSUS: (Excited.) They’re going to help us!
(The Thals react with delight.)
TEMMOSUS: It’s signed by the girl, Susan. She says the Dalek people have no malice towards us, and they hope that they can work with us to build a
new and safe world, free from the fear of war. They have the ability to produce food by means of synthetic sunlight and they have left a quantity of it for us
in the entrance hall of their main building. We are to collect it tomorrow!
(The Thals exchange delighted comments.)
TEMMOSUS: (Quietly.) So, there is a future for us…
15: INT. CITY CELL
(SUSAN is listening against the cell door.)
SUSAN: Shh! He’s coming!
(SUSAN runs to one side of the door. IAN is on the other side. The DOCTOR stands in the middle of the cell with BARBARA lying on the floor near his feet.)
DOCTOR: Ready?
IAN: Yes.
DOCTOR Now, all of you, watch very carefully. See that you notice every detail on that machine. Right?
(The door opens and a DALEK, carrying another tray stops on the threshold. Its suspicions are aroused and it’s eyestalk moves from side to side observing
IAN and SUSAN.)
DALEK: Move back from the door.
(IAN and SUSAN do as they are told.)
DALEK: (To SUSAN.) Take the food.
(She does so. The DALEK moves backwards and the door slides shut. The group move towards the DOCTOR to relay their observations but he holds up a finger to
quieten them for a pause to ensure they are not overheard - then points at IAN.)
DOCTOR: Well?
(IAN holds up the destroyed camera.)
IAN: I’ll be able to jam the door with a piece of this.
(The DOCTOR points at SUSAN.)
SUSAN: They seemed to be able to cover all of us.
BARBARA: It’s impossible to hide from it.
IAN: Yes, perhaps we can throw a coat over the lens…
BARBARA: Surely it would see you.
IAN: (Frustrated.) Yes… (Thinks.) Doctor, perhaps we can stage something. You know, a distraction. And when the lens looks the other way,
throw something over it.
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, yes...
(BARBARA turns to SUSAN as she sits eating on the floor.)
BARBARA: No, wait a minute. Susan, throw me your shoes.
(The girl is puzzled but nevertheless takes them off and does as she is asked.)
IAN: What are you up to?
(BARBARA starts picking ash from the forest off SUSAN’S shoes and putting it into the water bowl.)
BARBARA: I’m making mud…
16: INT. CITY. CELL (LATER)
(The DOCTOR checks his pocket watch.)
DOCTOR: If he’s on time, we have three minutes.
(IAN holds up a piece from the camera.)
IAN: I’m ready.
(IAN goes and lies down next to the door. The DOCTOR walks over to BARBARA who is moulding a lump of ashen mud in her hands.)
DOCTOR: How’s the mud?
BARBARA: Oh, it’s very sticky and very nasty.
(The DOCTOR smiles and hugs her.)
DOCTOR: Very good. A Very good idea!
(SUSAN has the cloak in her hands.)
SUSAN: Shall I spread the cloak over?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes. Not too near the door - we don’t want to make him suspicious.
(She points at a spot in the middle of the room.)
SUSAN: Just down there?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, quickly!
(She lays out ALYDON’S cloak.)
DOCTOR: Hurry child!
(IAN is listening at the door.)
IAN: He’s coming!
(SUSAN rushes to lay the cloak out and lie down herself on it. She looks nervous, as do all her companions as they wait a tense moment for the opportunity to
put their plan into action.)
17: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
(The DALEK approaches the cell.)
18: INT. CITY. CELL
(The door slides open and IAN wedges his piece of the camera under the hinge and then quickly scrambles out of immediate range. A DALEK, again carrying a
tray, glides into the doorway. It looks down at SUSAN.)
DALEK: Take this.
(SUSAN gets up from the floor and takes the tray. BARBARA, mud in hand and slowly so as not to arouse suspicion, walks nearer the door. The DALEK glides
backwards. The door starts to slide shut, but stops on the camera piece. It rises and falls on the piece as it re-attempts to close. The DALEK glides back into
the doorway and looks down to investigate.)
DOCTOR: Now!
(BARBARA runs forward and, with one push, wedges the lump of mud onto the eye-piece. The DALEK instinctively pushes her to the floor. An alarm sounds from
within the casing. IAN and the DOCTOR runs forward, grabbing the creature by its arms and desperately trying to manouevre the DALEK onto the cloak whilst
preventing it aiming it’s gun at one of them. All the time, the DALEK keeps up a chant of alarm.)
DALEK: Keep away! Keep away from me. Keep away from me!
(It pushes the DOCTOR against the wall.)
DALEK: Keep away! Keep away!
(The DALEK manages to push IAN to the floor.)
IAN: Get the gun! The gun!
(He runs round the casing to catch the gun but the DALEK pushes its suction cup arm under his chin and against the wall.)
DALEK: Keep away from me! Keep away from me! Keep away from me! Keep away from me! Keep away from me!
(As SUSAN and BARBARA hold the cloak down and shout out, IAN is in danger of being choked but he braces himself against the wall and pushes the DALEK with
his legs - onto the cloak. At an instant, the alarm cuts out, the creature goes silent and its arms and eye-stalk sag down towards the floor.)
SUSAN: Yes, we’ve got it!
DOCTOR: Well done, Susan!
BARBARA: Ian?
(She moves to help him up.)
DOCTOR: (To SUSAN.) Are you all right, Susan?
SUSAN: Yes Grandfather.
DOCTOR: Splendid, splendid.
(IAN regains his feet.)
IAN: I think I’m all right.
(He goes towards the silent DALEK.)
IAN: Swing it round, keep out of the way, Susan…
SUSAN: Yes…
(They spin the DALEK round.)
IAN: Now, I think it’s worked. (To the DOCTOR.) Take your hand off the gun.
(He does. The DALEK remains inactive.)
IAN: It has! It’s worked!
(He starts to examine the base of the DALEK’S dome-like head.)
IAN: There must be a catch here somewhere…I’ve found one!
(He pushes the dome back. A strange gurgling noise emanates from the casing. IAN catches a glimpse of the contents and slams the lid back shut.)
IAN: (Quietly.) Susan, Barbara, go in the corridor and keep a look out.
BARBARA: Yes.
(The girls walk out with a glance at IAN’S sickened expression.)
IAN: (To the DOCTOR.) You’ll have to help me.
(He re-opens the lid and stands back. He and the DOCTOR take a long look at the contents and then at each other.)
IAN: Let’s roll it off the cloak.
(Grunting, they push the machine from the cloak. It remains inert.)
IAN: All right?
DOCTOR: Yes.
IAN: Give me the cloak.
(The DOCTOR picks the cloak up and hands it to IAN. He pushes it inside the casing to grabs its contents within the folds.)
IAN: That’s it. All right?
DOCTOR: Right.
IAN: Now...
DOCTOR: There it is, right.
IAN: Lift!
DOCTOR: Yes.
(Together, they haul the creature, hidden within the cloak, out of the casing. The DOCTOR carries the cloak and its contents over to a corner of the cell and
drops it there.)
IAN: Now, see if I can get inside it
(He shouts to SUSAN and BARBARA outside the cell.)
IAN: All clear in the corridor?
19: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
SUSAN & BARBARA: Yes
SUSAN: (To BARBARA.) I think there’s a sentry down the other end of the corridor.
BARBARA: Well, they made such a terrible noise…
(She calls back through the doorway.)
BARBARA: Ian…hurry!
20: INT. CITY. CELL
(Back in the cell, IAN is inside the DALEK casing, the dome-lid still open.)
IAN: Not much room for my legs, but try the top.
DOCTOR: Barbara, Susan, give me a hand!
(The two girls run back into the cell and the three push the dome back into place.)
DOCTOR: Let it down gently.
(He calls to IAN inside the casing.)
DOCTOR: How is it?
(IAN’S voice from within the casing has the same electronic grating tone as a DALEK but is more human in its intonation.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) It’s very cramped indeed.
DOCTOR: Well, can’t you sound more like a Dalek?
BARBARA: Yes, in a monotone. You’ve heard them.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing - imitating a DALEK voice.) Do...you...mean...like...this?
DOCTOR: That’s it! That’s it!
SUSAN: Ha! Marvellous! Can you see all right?
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) No. There’s some sort of screen…oh, it’s the mud! Wipe the mud off the lens.
SUSAN: Oh yes! All right!
(SUSAN wipes the eye-piece with her handkerchief.)
SUSAN: Eurgh, it’s all clogged up…
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Ah…
SUSAN: Is that better?
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Yes, yes, I can see now.
SUSAN: Good.
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) But I can’t make this thing move…it...it’s full of controls…
DOCTOR: Oh, don’t worry, we’ll push you.
(The three of them turn the casing round to face the door.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) Well, it moves well enough.
SUSAN: Yes.
BARBARA: But, surely they’ll know that we’re pushing you?
DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, they won’t be...suspicious at all.
(They push the DALEK through the doorway into the corridor.)
21: INT. CITY. CORRIDOR
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) All right now, Susan, Barbara, you get in front and pretend I’m taking you for questioning.
SUSAN: All right.
BARBARA: Yes.
(The two girls get in front of the DALEK with the DOCTOR behind to push it. They look nervously down the corridor.)
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) And Susan?
SUSAN: Yes?
IAN: (OOV: Within casing.) You lead us. You know the way.
SUSAN: All right.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SUSAN: It’s this way then…
(They set off.)
22: INT. CITY. CELL
(Behind them in the cell, the cloak starts to move. A three fingered glistening claw emerges from beneath the folds…)
Next Episode
THE AMBUSH
Dr. Who
WILLIAM HARTNELL
Ian Chesterton
WILLIAM RUSSELL
Barbara Wright
JACQUELINE HILL
Susan Foreman
CAROLE ANN FORD
Temmosus
ALAN WHEATLEY
Alydon
JOHN LEE
Dyoni
VIRGINIA WETHERELL
Ganatus
PHILIP BOND
Dalek voices
PETER HAWKINS
DAVID GRAHAM
Daleks
ROBERT JEWELL
KEVIN MANSER
MICHAEL SUMMERTON
GERALD TAYLOR
Title Music by
RON GRAINER
with the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental Music by
TRISTRAM CARY
Story Editor
DAVID WHITAKER
Designer
RAYMOND CUSICK
Associate Producer
MERVYN PINFIELD
Producer
VERITY LAMBERT
Directed by
RICHARD MARTIN