Ascension of the Cybermen

[Space]

(The voice of the Lone Cyberman over scenes of a starship graveyard.)

ASHAD [OC]: The Cybermen were defeated. The victors of a billion battles, broken. An empire of might and terror, fallen. Their weaknesses exploited. Their armies outfought. Their conquests surrendered. Every empire has its time, and every empire falls. But that which is dead can live again... in the hands of a believer.

(The head of a Cyberman drifts towards us. Cue opening titles coming from within its eye socket.)

[Ireland]

(A man bicycles along a track, then suddenly stops and dismounts. There is a baby in a basket in his way. He takes it home to his wife.)

[Farmhouse]

(Naturally, he informs the Garda.)

SERGEANT: And you say you just found it in the lane?
PATRICK: I did.
SERGEANT: Like that?
PATRICK: Like that.
SERGEANT: No note?

(Shaken heads.)

MEG: We'll look after him. Until you find the parents.
PATRICK: That's right.

(Time passes. The red-headed boy has a birthday. A letter arrives.)

MEG: Well?
PATRICK: It's official. He's ours.
MEG: Oh! Oh, our beautiful baby boy. Aren't you, Brendan?

(Brendan is in his nice new school uniform. Riding on his father's shoulders.)

PATRICK: Woohoo! There you go. Let's go. Let's go.
MEG: Ready for your first day?
BRENDAN: Yeah.

(Helping Dad rake the hay.)

PATRICK: In you go. The muscles of you! Good lad. That's a good lad.
MEG: Oh!

(Getting checked out by the District Nurse.)

BRENDAN: (open wide) Aaah.

(In bed with a temperature.)

MEG: If it gets worse, I'll call the doctor.

[Planet surface]

(A ringed planet glows faint but large in the sky.)

DOCTOR: Half a mile out. The exact coordinates Shelley gave us are just down there.
GRAHAM: You want us to lug all this stuff down there?

(To what looks like a village complete with church.)

YASMIN: What's wrong, Graham? Can't take the commando lifestyle?
RYAN: Hey! No commando jokes, please. I don't need that image in me head.
YASMIN: Any ideas what we're walking into?
DOCTOR: This planet, this time period - we're in the very far future, immediate aftermath of the CyberWars. Cybermen have hunted down and wiped out the majority of the human race. Sorry. It was never a good time to break that news to you. If it's any consolation, it almost wiped out the Cybermen, too.
GRAHAM: Yeah, but almost isn't good enough, is it?

(Scans with the sonic screwdriver.)

DOCTOR: No. I'm getting a handful of human life signs down there.
RYAN: When you say a handful, how much are we talking?
DOCTOR: Seven.
RYAN: Seven humans left?
DOCTOR: If I had to guess, I'd say that's the last remaining human settlement this side of the universe right now.

[Settlement]

FEEKAT: How are the repairs?
RAVIO: Piece of cake. Gravraft's completely fixed, completely fine, we're good to go.
FEEKAT: Really?
RAVIO: No. But you always look at me with those puppy dog eyes and say, please tell me it's good news.
FEEKAT: How long will it take?
RAVIO: A day, maybe more. I promise I'm doing everything I can.
FEEKAT: I know you are, but those last signal bursts indicated that we don't...

(Echoing booms as two spaceships fly overhead. A young man runs over, possibly Feekat's son.)

RAVIO: It's too soon.
ETHAN: You said there weren't any more. You said they wouldn't find us.
RAVIO: They always find us.
FEEKAT: I said I hoped there weren't any left.
ETHAN: You said it was too good to be true.
RAVIO: Yeah, well, sometimes I just want to be wrong.
DOCTOR: Question. Would you like some help?

(Ravio points a weapon at them.)

DOCTOR: You don't need to use that against us.
FEEKAT: Who are you? Where'd you come from?
DOCTOR: Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz. Don't worry about where we're from, concentrate on how we can help.

(Ravio lowers her weapon.)

DOCTOR: All right. Set this all up like I showed you.

(She scans the area.)

DOCTOR: Two cyber shuttles, just landing. Who's in charge?
FEEKAT: I... I guess I am, as much as anyone is.
DOCTOR: Fought Cybermen before?
FEEKAT: No. We've run from them.
DOCTOR: Escape craft?
RAVIO: Damaged in planetfall. I've been trying to fix it, but we've got no spare parts. I've botch-built a couple...
DOCTOR: Don't need your life story. Get everybody into the buildings and tell them, do not run. Please, do as I say. You can trust us.

(Graham has set up his gizmo, plugging in leads and turning on the power, making the array turn round.)

GRAHAM: Bish, bash, bosh.
ETHAN: What's that?
GRAHAM: This, cockle, is a neural inhibitor system.
ETHAN: A what?
GRAHAM: Yeah, I didn't have a clue either. As far as I understand it, your basic Cyberman is part-human, part-machine. Now, they have suppressed all emotion and sensations of pain, which means, if we can un-suppress those and they realise what's happening to their bodies, it sends them a bit mad, which is one way of stopping them. And that is what this gizmo is supposed to be doing.
ETHAN: And will it definitely work?
GRAHAM: Well, I hope so, son, cos we've come a long way. Now, do us a favour. Get yourself safe, there's a good lad.

(Yasmin's doo-dah is a globe with spikes.)

RAVIO: What is that thing?
YASMIN: Particle projector. The Doctor's customised it to project particles of gold into the air. Cybermen are allergic to gold, right?
RAVIO: I did hear that once. I'm going to go and get the Gravraft going.

(Ryan has been joined by another man.)

YEDLARMI: Forcefield, yeah? Hmm. Yeah, pretty rudimentary.
RYAN: Yeah, well, you got a better one?
YEDLARMI: We ain't got nothin'. Oi! Fuskle. Here. He's my little brother. He don't say much, not any more. It's a forcefield, mate. And people. It's got to be good news. Will you tell him what it does?
RYAN: It's for any Cyberman that comes near.
YEDLARMI: See? We're gonna be all right. Yedlarmi. (shake hands) And Fuskle. Well, give him your hand, then. If you're not going to speak, at least give him your hand.

(The Doctor does another scan.)

FEEKAT: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Trying to see where they're coming from. But they're sending a jamming signal, trying to confuse us as to what they are and how many. What weapons have you got, Feekat?
FEEKAT: Two guns. One's broken.
DOCTOR: So basically nothing.
FEEKAT: We're not soldiers. I was a teacher. Ravio was a nurse. We've got a childminder, a driver, a builder. We're just ordinary humans, refugees, and we've all lost everything... and everyone. All to the Cybermen. And nobody cares.
DOCTOR: I care. Me and my friends, we care. Please, get inside the building. We'll fight whatever's coming.

(Boom.)

DOCTOR: Activation time, fam! Get close. I don't know how many they are or which direction they're coming from.
BESCOT: Quick!

(The gold projector powers up. There's a whoosh.)

RYAN: Hey, do you hear that sound?

(Fuskle is panicking and wants to run.)

YEDLARMI: Stay. Seriously, mate. I know you're scared. We're all scared.

(A bunch of flying Cyber-heads appear.)

DOCTOR: Cyberdrones.

(They target the Doctor's gizmos.)

DOCTOR: Fam, get down! They're targeting the defences!

(And very accurately, too. Yasmin's is the last to go, then they fly inside the church through a window.)

YEDLARMI: Fuskle!

(Fuskle runs, Yedlarmi chases after him.)

DOCTOR: No! Get down! I said, don't run!

(Fuskle is heading for another building with the other survivors.)

BESCOT: Come on, you can make it!
DOCTOR: Ah! Fuskle, don't run! No!

(Bescot runs too, and another woman.)

DOCTOR: Get back here! You can't outrun them!

(The runners all get killed as Yedlarmi is held back.)

YEDLARMI: Fuskle!
FEEKAT:Stay in here.

(The nine Cyberdrones fly off and the survivors come out.)

DOCTOR: Please. Run. Get to your ship.
FEEKAT: I am sick of running.
YEDLARMI: I want to fight 'em.
DOCTOR: It won't be a fight, it'll be a massacre. The drones are just the advance guard. I'll buy you some time. Go. Now!
FEEKAT: Come on. Let's go. You and Ravio get the Gravraft started. Ethan and I will grab the supplies.
GRAHAM: The systems didn't stop 'em, Doc.
DOCTOR: I know.
YASMIN: They destroyed everything we brought with us.
DOCTOR: I know.
RYAN: We haven't got anything else to defend ourselves or them.
DOCTOR: I know! Listen to me. Do not argue. Go with the humans. Help them. Get them out of here. You won't make it back to the TARDIS alive. Make sure you're with them.
RYAN: What about you?
DOCTOR: I'll hold them off.
GRAHAM: How are you going to do that?
DOCTOR: This isn't a discussion.
YASMIN: We're not just gonna leave you.
DOCTOR: Yes, you are. You have to, all of you. No questions. Get out. I've been so reckless with you.
YASMIN: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: You're human. If they capture you, they'll convert you. I'll find you. Get safe now!

(Stomping approaching. The Lone Cyberman, Ashad, appears.)

DOCTOR: Yeah, me again. Here to stop you for good this time. It's just you and me.

(Two more Cybermen approach.)

CYBERGUARD: Strategic defences destroyed. Life signs identified.
DOCTOR: Or not.
CYBERGUARD: All humans will be deleted.
DOCTOR: Rethink. Keep the others safe. Act as bait. See ya!

(She runs.)

GRAHAM: Go, go, go!

(Ashad spots them.)

CYBERGUARD: Three targets acquired. Delete.

(Ryan gets cut off from Graham and Yasmin.)

RYAN: Keep going!

(They run down a corridor.)

CYBERGUARD: Surrender, humans.

(And out to where the Gravraft is parked.)

YASMIN: Get out of here! There are Cybermen behind us!
RAVIO: We're not ready. I haven't got Feekat and Ethan.
GRAHAM: Listen to Yaz and get inside.
YASMIN: Graham, where's Ryan?

(The two Cyberguards are shooting at them.)

RAVIO: Get inside the Gravraft!
GRAHAM: No, no, we've got to find our friends.

(The Cyberdrones approach.)

RAVIO: Get inside if you want to stay alive!
GRAHAM: Ryan!
RAVIO: Get inside!

[Gravraft]

RAVIO: Go! Expedite takeoff now!
BESCOT: What are you doing? We can't take this lot.
YEDLARMI: Fuskle's dead because their stuff didn't work.
BESCOT: Yedlarmi, I'm sorry.
RAVIO: Their weapons are going to destroy the outer shell. We need to go now!
BESCOT: Not without the others.
YEDLARMI: The others are dead. We all know it's true. If they haven't got here by now, that thing must've got 'em.
GRAHAM: Look, we've only come in here for shelter, and our friends are still out there.
RAVIO: Sit down!
GRAHAM: Our friends are still outside!
YASMIN: Look, you need to let us out!
RAVIO: It's too late.

[Settlement]

(The Gravraft takes off under fire. The Doctor watches it wobble away. Ryan takes cover.)

DOCTOR: Shh! What are you still doing here? I told you to get out.
RYAN: We got separated. Hey, what's that?
DOCTOR: Final fallback option to get us out alive.

(She sonicks what looks like a cylindrical hand grenade. Ashad is prowling a building.)

ETHAN: What's it doing?
FEEKAT: Shh!
ASHAD: I know you're here. Surrender.
FEEKAT: Hey. Stay here. Ethan, no!

(Ethan comes out of hiding.)

ETHAN: I'm here. It's just me. No one else. I surrender. You can take me.
ASHAD: You show courage. But you're a liar.

(Ashad shoots at Feekat's hiding place and he tumbles out.)

ASHAD: So few of you now. Should I let you live? You could tell the tale, speak of their deaths, of my power, to every other species. Spread my message. Tell them, be afraid. All humanity have been erased. All life will fall, and the Cybermen will rise again.
DOCTOR: Not if I have anything to do with it. Run!

(She throws her grenade at Ashad's feet.)

DOCTOR: Go!

(Running.)

RYAN: Doctor, we've got to find Yaz and Graham.
ETHAN: I saw them get on the Gravraft. They're gone.
RYAN: What?
DOCTOR: Concentrate, Ryan. We have to get out of here. We can't make it to the TARDIS. No escape ship, a relentless Cyberman and very limited options. Well, one option. How fast are you feeling? Come on.

[Planet surface]

RYAN: Are we going to steal their ship?
DOCTOR: Yes, we are!

[Cyberfighter]

DOCTOR: Hot-wiring a Cyberfighter. Oh, it's warp. Of course. Which makes it trickier, unless you're me, which I am, which is good, cos I used to hot-wire warp drives for fun on a weekend as a teenager. Not that we had weekends. Or teenagers. Basically, I used to do this a lot and people got mad. But now it's going to save our lives, so who was right all along and is now the real winner?
ETHAN: There's a faster way. Here. Let me.
RYAN: Hey, do you need help with that, kid?
ETHAN: Who are you calling kid?

(Engines come on.)

DOCTOR: This is going to make him cross. Here we go. Hold on. Hate these controls.

[Planet surface]

CYBERGUARD: Cyber shuttle theft in progress, leader. Human life signs aboard.

(The Cyberfighter flies off.)

[Farmhouse]

(Meg goes to smooth down a bit of grown-up Brendan's hair.)

BRENDAN: Mum!
MEG: Sorry. Very smart.
PATRICK: Ready then, son?

[Garda]

SERGEANT: It's a good form. You've done a good job on this. Very neat handwriting. And why do you want to be a guard, Brendan?
PATRICK: He wants to serve.
SERGEANT: Best leave the lad speak for himself, eh, Pat?
PATRICK: Right.
BRENDAN: I want to make a difference.
SERGEANT: I was with him the day he found you. Look at you now.

[Gravraft]

GRAHAM: Yaz, where are we? What are we doing here? I think we're stuck with this lot. How are we going to get back to the Doc and Ryan?
YASMIN: Don't worry, we'll find them.
GRAHAM: Well, and how are we going to do that?
YASMIN: Me and you, together? No one else stands a chance.
YEDLARMI: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're pushing it too hard.
RAVIO: Don't tell me how to work this thing.
YEDLARMI: Who's the one who salvaged this thing in the first place?
RAVIO: Yeah, and who patched it up?
YEDLARMI: You'll wreck it if you push it past half power. Seriously.
RAVIO: Look how low the life support has got. We won't get there with anything less than 90 percent.
YEDLARMI: We won't make it at all if you push it past 90.
YASMIN: Make it where?
BESCOT: To Ko Sharmus. And the Boundary. It's where we've been trying to get to. Our only point of safety.
YEDLARMI: Yeah, that's what we've been told.
BESCOT: You've got to believe, Yedlarmi.
YEDLARMI: Do we? And how's that working for us?
BESCOT: It's the best we've got.
GRAHAM: And what Boundary are you talking about?
RAVIO: Supposedly a way out of this galaxy. A gateway, a direct route out of here, into another random part of the universe. We get through there, the Cybermen can't follow. The Boundary patterns are never the same twice. It's our best hope of safe harbour.

(Bang, alarms.)

YEDLARMI: Energy parcelling's cratering. Didn't I say you were pushing it too hard?
RAVIO: It's fine.
YEDLARMI: What did I tell you?
RAVIO: It's fine!
BESCOT: Fourteen breaches in the shell lining.
YEDLARMI: Oxygen pressure's dropping.
BESCOT: Energy cells compromised. Contents getting critical.

(Bang!)

GRAHAM: Ah!
RAVIO: Okay, it's not fine.
YEDLARMI: The whole system's melting down.
RAVIO: It can't, not here.
BESCOT: It's going to blow. Get down!

(Explosion.)

[Cyberfighter]

(At warp.)

RYAN: This is rough. It's making me feel sick.
DOCTOR: Cyber warp tech. Not designed for humans. Ooo! Have a humbug. It'll help. Added ginger.
ETHAN: I've programmed in a destination of Ko Sharmus. That's where the others will be heading. Now, if this is warp drive, we'll get there before them. I've been scanning, but I can't see them. Maybe we're already ahead. What?
DOCTOR: You're good at this.
ETHAN: First thing my dad taught me. How to hijack cyber ships, how to take 'em apart, how to burn 'em to the ground. I was four.
DOCTOR: Born in wartime.
RYAN: So this is all you've ever known.
ETHAN: The war made us pariahs, because of what was always coming for us. The last Cybermen, intent on destroying the last humans.

(A hologram appears.)

DOCTOR: Ah! Here he is, the bad penny. We were just talking about you.
ASHAD [hologram]: We know where you are. We will find you.
DOCTOR: Yeah, yeah. Have you not asked that great slab of Cyber AI you absorbed about me? I'm the Doctor. Consult the Cyberium, mate. I've stopped you lot so many times before, and I'll do it again, time after time after time.
ASHAD [hologram]: No. The Cyberium does know you. Both you and humanity will be destroyed, and I shall bring the Cyber race to its greatest ever glory.
DOCTOR: Quite a grudge you've got against humanity, especially considering you used to be one.
ASHAD [hologram]: When the glorious Cyber Empire arrived, I was a willing recruit. But as I took my rightful place, as I began my blessed ascension, I was denied. At first I cursed myself, hid in the shadows, ashamed. But now I understand I was not discarded. I was chosen to revive the glory of the Cyber race.
DOCTOR: There's no glory being a Cyberman. And there's definitely no glory in you. I mean, talk about an identity crisis. You despise who you are. That anger and hatred that's driving you, those are human emotions. The real Cybermen, they don't do emotions, so you loathe your own being because of what's driving you. Now that's what I call an inner conflict.
ASHAD [hologram]: Yes. You are correct.
DOCTOR: Oh. Am I? I didn't expect you to take it that well. I'll have to bill you for therapy at this rate.
ASHAD [hologram]: The Cyberium has given me understanding. It has distilled my purpose. I am the perfect vessel. Everything is in me for the ascension of the Cybermen, and beyond.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, beyond? What's beyond that?
ASHAD [hologram]: All your deaths. The death of everything is within me.

[Cliff]

BRENDAN: Stop there, thief! Come on, then. Give me the bag. Everybody gets their stuff back.

(The thief pulls out a revolver.)

BRENDAN: You don't need to do that.
MICHAEL: Move round now.
BRENDAN: All right, all right.

(Now Brendan is on the cliff edge.)

BRENDAN: Look, I know you don't want to use that.

(Gunshot. Brendan falls backwards. Thud. The Sergeant runs along the shingle beach.)

SERGEANT: Brendan! Brendan.

(Brendan gasps and sits up.)

BRENDAN: I... I'm fine. I'm fine! Which way did he go? Come on.

(And runs off.)

[Garda]

(Being checked out by a doctor.)

BRENDAN: I was lucky.

(Patrick and the Sergeant look at each other.)

[Farmhouse]

(Newspaper headline - Miracle fall officer receives commendation.)

MEG: It's a lovely picture. You look very dashing.
BRENDAN: Ma, put it away.

[Gravraft]

GRAHAM: We're still alive!
YEDLARMI: Give it time.
GRAHAM: I wish you was a bit more glass half-full, sunshine.
RAVIO: He's right, though. If anyone's got any heartfelt end-of-life speeches, now is probably the moment.
GRAHAM: Er...
YASMIN: Well er...
RAVIO: Oh, God, you're not actually going to do that, are you?
YASMIN: There must be something we can do. Why is all this shut down?
RAVIO: We've got to conserve what little power we've got left.

(Thud on the hull.)

BESCOT: What was that?
RAVIO: I don't know.
GRAHAM: Any idea where we are?
YEDLARMI: Middle of space, dying slowly.
GRAHAM: Yes, thank you, Eeyore, I got that much.
BESCOT: Oi, you. How many times have we had to get out of trouble together?
YEDLARMI: There's only three of us now. We're just the scraps.
BESCOT: Yeah, but we're still not going to go down without a fight.
YASMIN: What are those noises?
RAVIO: We were passing through the old battlegrounds when everything failed. Who knows what's out there.
YASMIN: I'm going to take a look.
YEDLARMI: Oi, careful, will you?

(Yasmin climbs up to a viewport.)

GRAHAM: What's out there? Can you see what's making the noises?
YASMIN: Yeah, I can.
GRAHAM: And?
YASMIN: Bits of dead Cybermen, floating in space.
RAVIO: Must be one of the last battle sites.
GRAHAM: They're definitely dead though, right?
RAVIO: Look, we're turning.
BESCOT: What else can you see?
YASMIN: Dormant ships. Loads of 'em. That's hope right there. Right, Graham?
GRAHAM: Yaz, jump down. Let's have a look. There you go, look. Now, that one at the front, there's an opening in it, like a... a docking bay. If we could just get in there, and get across there, you know what
RAVIO: We'd never reach it. We don't have the power.
GRAHAM: Well, what about life support?
YASMIN: Yeah. Channel the remaining energy off those systems.
GRAHAM: That's what you need, burst of acceleration.
BESCOT: It might work.
RAVIO: We could vent the air pressure. It could spin us enough.
YEDLARMI: We'll lose all the oxygen. We'll be dead.
GRAHAM: We're dead anyway! At least let's have a go, eh?
BESCOT: Okay.
YEDLARMI: So, we channel every last bit of life support towards propulsion. Everything off. Shut everything down. Any system that's still got even the tiniest hint of power has got to go. We must be mad.
YASMIN: Not mad. Hopeful.
RAVIO: Okay.
GRAHAM: Don't panic. And don't take any deep breaths, cos they ain't gonna come.
YASMIN: We've been stranded in space before.
GRAHAM: Yeah.
RAVIO: Here we go.
GRAHAM: Yeah.

(Ravio gives the nod and appropriate levers are pulled. The Gravraft tumbles towards the Cybercruiser and slots neatly through into the docking bay.)

GRAHAM: We landed.
RAVIO: I think we did.

(They laugh.)

[Cybercarrier]

YEDLARMI: Look at the size of this place.
RAVIO: We must've come in through the docking bay entrance.
YASMIN: Well, good job they left the doors open.
YEDLARMI: We triggered automation sensors as we came in. Set everything going again. You two are lucky.
GRAHAM: We're not lucky, sunshine, we're persistent. We never give up. Luckily for you.
YASMIN: Let's have a look around.
GRAHAM: Right.

(A Cyberfighter drops out of warp nearby.)

[Cyberfighter]

CYBERGUARD 1: Exiting warp, leader. The trail of the human craft ends here.
CYBERGUARD 2: Human life signs registering on carrier ship.
ASHAD: Yes. The Cyberium sees all. Their destiny and ours, intertwined. The site of our greatest defeat, and soon a shrine for our rebirth.

[Planet]

DOCTOR [OC]: Shuttle calling Ko Sharmus. Anyone hear me? Anyone there on Ko Sharmus, talk to me. Please? What I'd give for a friendly voice right now.

(An older man comes out of a tent.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Go on, please? Shuttle calling Ko Sharmus.
KO SHARMUS: Ko Sharmus responding.

[Cyberfighter]

KO SHARMUS [OC]: Hello? Hello?
ETHAN: We've made it!
DOCTOR: This is the Doctor. Who's that?

[Planet]

KO SHARMUS: I've told you. This is Ko Sharmus.
DOCTOR [OC]: Ko Sharmus? You're a person, not a planet?
KO SHARMUS: Who are you? What do you want?

[Cyberfighter]

ETHAN: We're human. We've come to cross the Boundary.

[Planet]

KO SHARMUS: No, I don't think so.

[Cyberfighter]

DOCTOR: What do you mean?

[Planet]

KO SHARMUS: There are no more humans.

[Cyberfighter]

DOCTOR: Well, we've got news for you. First things first, we're on a stolen Cybership, but we're not Cybermen, we're friendly, and there's more on the way.

[Planet]

DOCTOR [OC]: Very much looking forward to meeting you.

[Cyberfighter]

DOCTOR: Now forgive me, I need to jump off. I have to land this thing properly.

[Planet]

DOCTOR [OC]: I'll just park this thing over the bridge.

(Ko Sharmus watches them fly overhead.)

[Cybercarrier]

(Same designer as for the Borg Cubes...)

RAVIO: It's so cold in here.
GRAHAM: Ah, see? That is cos you're alive and breathing, cos of us.
RAVIO: Are you going to keep going on about that?
GRAHAM: Yes, every hour on the hour. What are you laughing at?
YASMIN: You.
GRAHAM: What about me?
YASMIN: You've come a long way, Graham O'Brien.
GRAHAM: Thanks, Yaz.
YEDLARMI: I raided one of these carriers once. Nearly got fried to death. Good times. CyberControl should be just down here.
YASMIN: Wait. Is this a Cybership?
BESCOT: War carrier. We get this working, it can get us to Ko Sharmus. Maybe even find your friends.
GRAHAM: War carrier? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
YASMIN: What was it carrying?

[CyberControl]

YEDLARMI: This is the control deck, all right. Systems still intact. Full power banks. This'll get us to Ko Sharmus. We could even use it to cross the Boundary.
BESCOT: Use it as a settlement ship till we find the best habitable planet.
YEDLARMI: Yeah, that could work.
GRAHAM: Oh, careful, son. You sounded slightly positive there for a sec.
RAVIO: I'm going to take a look around the rest of the carrier, see what else is here.
GRAHAM: I'll come with you. It'll be safer with two.
BESCOT: Go careful.
GRAHAM: I was born careful.
YASMIN: That's actually true.
YEDLARMI: It's going to take a while to reboot. Have to go one section at a time.

[Cybercarrier]

(The lights come on as they open the bulkhead door.)

GRAHAM: Level 139. It's always been my favourite level.
RAVIO: It's as good as any.
GRAHAM: At least he's got the power back on, though, eh?

(They stagger.)

GRAHAM: Ah!
RAVIO: They must have got us moving.
GRAHAM: Yeah.
RAVIO: You know, I'm starting to think we're in with a good chance of surviving today.
GRAHAM: Oh, not just today. You've still got a lot of life ahead of you.
RAVIO: Yeah, well, I hope you're right.

(They come to another bulkhead door with a glowing blue disc.)

GRAHAM: How do you reckon we get in?

(The doors creak open.)

GRAHAM: Right. Let's have a butcher's. Butcher's hook? Look? It's cockney rhyming slang. No, don't worry about it.
RAVIO: You are really strange.
GRAHAM: Excuse me, I'm the most normal bloke you're ever going to meet.
RAVIO: No, strange is a compliment. I like strange.
GRAHAM: Oh? Oh, well...

(The lights don't come on but the doors close behind them.)

GRAHAM: What do you reckon these are, then?

(He kicks a pod and it powers up.)

GRAHAM: Oop. Hello.

(Ravio touches the blue disc on the pod and it opens to reveal its obvious contents.)

RAVIO: This was a troop carrier, bringing soldiers to the front. Fresh Cybermen ready to fight. Warrior class.

(Lights start to come on.)

GRAHAM: There's got to be over a thousand Cybermen in here.
RAVIO: I counted ten doors on each level.
GRAHAM: Well, how many levels on this ship?
RAVIO: Several hundred.
GRAHAM: And we're in the middle of stealing it.

(Meanwhile, down in the docking bay...)

ASHAD: We are home. The Cyberium has called me to this task, and now its vision shall be fulfilled.
CYBERGUARDS: Hail the Cyberium.

[Planet]

DOCTOR: Afternoon! Or is it morning? Loving the coastline.
KO SHARMUS: Three of you. Not just one, but three of you. I don't believe it. There's me, having lost all hope.
DOCTOR: Consider us your hope restored. I'm the Doctor. This is Ryan and Ethan. Do you mind if I have a shufti around? How are your defences here? Come on.

[Shanty]

DOCTOR: Did this settlement start with you?
KO SHARMUS: Yes. Myself and handful of others fleeing the Cybercamps.
ETHAN: So you fought in the war?
KO SHARMUS: Yes. For a long time. Then I was captured and held in a human interment camp for processing. Sent for upgrade. I was one of the lucky ones who got away. We had heard tell of this place. We didn't really believe it, but we managed to get here. The war hadn't made it this far, so we built shelter and, over time, others came. The word spread.
ETHAN: So where's everyone else?
KO SHARMUS: There's only me. I helped everyone else through the Boundary. And then, because I'm an idiot, I felt like it was my duty to wait in case others came. But it's been a long time.
DOCTOR: You sacrificed your own life on the chance others were still out there.
KO SHARMUS: You make it sound more noble than it is.
ETHAN: So it's true? The Boundary, it's real?
KO SHARMUS: Of course it's real.
DOCTOR: Will you show us?

[CyberControl]

(An alarm sounds.)

YASMIN: I think this is trying to tell us something.
YEDLARMI: Oh, no.
BESCOT: We've been boarded.
YASMIN: Open the comms channel.
YEDLARMI: Yeah, yeah, I'm doing it.
YASMIN: Graham, Ravio, head to the control deck. Cybermen just boarded.

[Cybercarrier]

YASMIN [OC]: Graham, Ravio, this is Yaz. Cybermen have boarded and are on your level. Get back here as quick as you can.

(They run to a bulkhead door.)

YASMIN [OC]: Yaz calling Graham and Ravio, can you hear me?
GRAHAM: Yes, thank you!

(A door closes in front of them as Ashad and his escort come round the corner.)

ASHAD: Wait.

(The door opens and Ashad enters the Warrior storage area.)

ASHAD: Abandoned no longer. Ascension is near!

[CyberControl]

YEDLARMI: No wonder they almost wiped us out. The systems on this ship are the most advanced I've ever seen. Have you seen the speed we're going at? It'll barely take us any time to get to Ko Sharmus.
GRAHAM: Yeah, bringing hundreds of thousands of dormant Cybermen with us.
RAVIO: We can't do that. We cannot take Cybermen to the Boundary.
YASMIN: What are our other options? Surrender this ship? Land on another planet and set the Cybermen loose there? We're going to keep all of you safe. We're going to find the Doctor and we're going to take them Cybermen down. Aren't we, Graham?
GRAHAM: Yes, we are, Yaz. Totally. Very much so.
YEDLARMI: That's some high-level self-delusion.
GRAHAM: None of us are giving up, eh? Not now. Glass half-full, right?
BESCOT: What do you think they're doing down there?
YEDLARMI: Let me activate the ob system.
GRAHAM: They've opened up those containers.

[Cybercarrier]

ASHAD: Awaken, my soldiers. The ascension shall begin.

(Ashad fires his laser on continuous into a Cyberman. His guards do the same. The Cybermen scream.)

[CyberControl]

RAVIO: We're carrying the Cyberman that makes other Cybermen scream.

[Planet]

(On a stony shore.)

RYAN: So where's this Boundary? Cos that's just the sea.
KO SHAMUS: This is where it starts, every time. Where I've seen people go through, and I hope they're alive and well elsewhere.
DOCTOR: That's quite a risk everyone's taking. A leap into the unknown.
KO SHAMUS: It was preferable to the alternative. If you want to see it, step closer. It responds to proximity.

(The Doctor walks forward.)

KO SHAMUS: A bit further, and it will respond.

(The purple Vortex from the opening credits appears.)

KO SHAMUS: Here it comes.
DOCTOR: How is that possible?
KO SHAMUS: I don't know, but it's good, isn't it? It's the last way out of this galaxy.

[Garda]

OFFICER: It's a sad day for us all here, but if any man can be said to have earned a peaceful retirement, it's our Brendan. On behalf of the local community, and everyone past and present who you've helped, we'd like to present you with this memento. May we all live up to the standards you've set us. Thank you, Brendan.
BRENDAN: Thank you, sir.

(A carriage clock.)

[Outside the Garda]

(Old Brendan walks out in civilian clothes to meet his unaged father and Sergeant.)

SERGEANT: Hello, Brendan. Would you mind coming with us to the back office?

[Back office]

(They walk back through the Garda. Patrick puts the carriage clock down on a table, then they both handcuff Brendan to a chair and put headphone on him.)

PATRICK: We have to get rid of everything, I'm afraid.
SERGEANT: Thank you for your service. We're sorry you won't remember it.

(The Sergeant turns on the machine and Brendan writhes and screams.)

[CyberControl]

(Ravio is flying the carrier.)

YEDLARMI: We're coming out of Vortex. We're not far away.
YASMIN: Close enough to send a signal, warn 'em we're coming.
BESCOT: I can help you do that.
GRAHAM: Guys, they're all waking up down there.

(All the pod doors open and the warriors step out. They salute the Lone Cyberman.)

ASHAD [on screen]: We know you're here. My warriors are coming for you.
YASMIN: Yaz looking for the Doctor, all frequencies. Yaz looking for the Doctor.

[Planet]

DOCTOR: Yaz, we can hear you. Can you hear me?
YASMIN [OC]: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Where are you?
YASMIN [OC]: We're on a Cyber battle cruiser with that Cyber guy and a lot of Cyber troops that are waking up.

[CyberControl]

GRAHAM: They're coming!

(He closes the bulkhead door.)

GRAHAM: They're right outside the door!

[Planet]

DOCTOR: Yaz, get off that ship now.

[CyberControl]

YASMIN: We can't! We're trapped and they're about to break in.

[Planet]

DOCTOR: Yaz. Yaz!

(Something happens in the Boundary.)

ETHAN: What is that?
DOCTOR: That's not possible.
KO SHAMUS: I've never seen it look like that before.
DOCTOR: That's my home planet. That's Gallifrey.

(The Cybermen push the door open.)

DOCTOR: How is Gallifrey here?

(Then a figure jumps in.)

MASTER: Wow! Oh! Ah! That's a good entrance, right? Be afraid, Doctor. Because everything is about to change... forever.

(Closing theme is classical Who.)

Transcript originally provided by Chrissie. Adapted by TARDIS.guide. The transcripts are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

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