Boom Town

(Previously -)

(The Slitheen spaceship crashes in the Thames.)

MARR: There's still no word from inside Downing Street, though we are getting even more new arrivals.

(Margaret unzips her body suit.)

SLITHEEN: We are the Slitheen.
MARGARET: Reduce the Earth to molten slag and then sell it.
DOCTOR: Leave this planet or I'll stop you.

(Mickey hacks into UNIT.)

DOCTOR: The world is in your hands.

(10 Downing Street is destroyed by a missile.)

[Lord Mayor's office]

(Six months later, in a large executive office suite.)

CLEAVER: I've checked the figures. I've checked them again and again. Always the same result. The design is not safe. It could result in the death of millions. I beg of you, stop the project right now, before it's too late.
MARGARET: Well, goodness me. Obviously, Mister Cleaver, you're the expert.
CLEAVER: Then you'll stop it?
MARGARET: It seems I have no choice. (gurgle) Oh, do excuse me. Civic duties leave little time for a sandwich.
CLEAVER: But you promise you'll stop it, today?
MARGARET: Well, of course. Nothing is more important than human life. What do you take me for, some sort of maniac?
CLEAVER: Why, no.
MARGARET: Am I right in thinking you've shown your results only to me?
CLEAVER: Just to you. No one else.
MARGARET: Wise move.

(Cleaver turns away and wipes his brow.)

CLEAVER: I can't tell you, Mrs Blaine. This is such a weight off my mind. I've barely slept. I couldn't believe my own readings. The scale of it. Destruction like the British Isles has never seen before. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that someone wanted this project to go wrong. As though they intended to wipe this city off the map. Thank goodness we've got you, our esteemed leader.

(He turns and screams. Margaret has got out of her body suit.)

[Roald Dahl Plass]

(Mickey arrives at Cardiff Central railway station and heads to the redeveloped Oval Basin. The TARDIS is in front of the huge water tower, a very avante garde slab with water pouring down it. Mickey knocks on the door. Jack answers it.)

JACK: Who the hell are you?
MICKEY: What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?
JACK: Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying.
MICKEY: Get out of my way!

[TARDIS]

JACK: Don't tell me. This must be Mickey.
DOCTOR: Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?
MICKEY: It's Mickey!
ROSE: Don't listen to him, he's winding you up.
MICKEY: You look fantastic.

(Rose and Mickey hug. The Doctor is up a ladder mending something.)

JACK: Aw, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?
DOCTOR: Buy me a drink first.
JACK: You're such hard work.
DOCTOR: But worth it.
ROSE: Did you manage to find it?
MICKEY: There you go.

(Mickey hands over Rose's passport.)

ROSE: I can go anywhere now.
DOCTOR: I told you, you don't need a passport.
ROSE: It's all very well going to Platform One and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything.
MICKEY: Sounds like your staying, then. So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears up there
DOCTOR: Oi!
MICKEY: Look in the mirror. But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of
JACK: Handsome?
MICKEY: More like cheesy.
JACK: Early twenty first Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?
MICKEY: It's bad.
JACK: But bad means good, isn't that right?
DOCTOR: Are you saying I'm not handsome?
ROSE: We just stopped off. We need to refuel. The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions.
DOCTOR: The rift was healed back in 1869.
ROSE: Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it.
JACK: But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race
DOCTOR: But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and
JACK: Open up the engines, soak up the radiation.
ROSE: Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!
JACK: Into time!
DOCTOR + ROSE + JACK: And space!
MICKEY: My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ROSE: Yeah.
JACK: Yep!

[Roald Dahl Plass]

DOCTOR: Should take another twenty four hours, which means we've got time to kill.
MICKEY: That old lady's staring.
JACK: Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box.
MICKEY: What are you captain of, the Innuendo Squad?

(Jack makes a gesture and starts to walk away.)

MICKEY: Wait, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?
JACK: Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?
ROSE: It's a cloaking device.
DOCTOR: It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck.
MICKEY: So it copied a real thing? There actually was police boxes?
DOCTOR: Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell.
JACK: Why don't you just fix the circuit?
DOCTOR: I like it, don't you?
ROSE: I love it.
MICKEY: But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?
DOCTOR: Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do? Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore.
ROSE: What's the plan?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe.

[City hall]

(Mayor Margaret Blaine is making an announcement, with the scale model of the power station centre stage. The banner above her reads - The Blaidd Drwg Project.)

MARGARET: This nuclear power station right in the heart of Cardiff city will bring jobs for all. As you can see, as Lord Mayor, I've had to sanction some radical redevelopments. No photographs! What did I say? Take pictures of the project by all means, but not me, thank you. So, Cardiff Castle will be demolished allowing the Blaidd Drwg Project to rise up, tall and proud. A monument to Welsh industry. And yes, some of you might shiver. The words nuclear power station and major population centre aren't exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that as long as I walk upon this Earth, no harm will come to any of my citizens. Now, drink up. A toast. To the future!
ALL: To the future!
MARGARET: And believe me it will glow.
CATHY: Excuse me, Mrs Blaine? My name's Cathy Salt, I represent the Cardiff Gazette.
MARGARET: I'm sorry, I'm not doing interviews. I can't bear self publicity.
CATHY: But are you aware of the curse?
MARGARET: Whatever do you mean? Cathy, wasn't it?
CATHY: Cathy Salt. That's what some of your engineers are saying, that the Blaidd Drwg Project is cursed.
MARGARET: Sounds rather silly to me.
CATHY: That's what I thought. I was just chasing a bit of local colour. But the funny thing is, when you start piecing it all together, it does begin to look a bit odd.
MARGARET: In what way?
CATHY: The deaths, The number of deaths associated with this project. First of all, there was the entire team of the European Safety Inspectors.
MARGARET: But they were French! Its not my fault if Danger Explosives was only written in Welsh.
CATHY: And then there was that accident with the Cardiff Heritage Committee.
MARGARET: The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear.
CATHY: And then the architect?
MARGARET: It was raining, visibility was low. my car simply couldn't stop.
CATHY: And then just recently, Mister Cleaver, the government's nuclear adviser.
MARGARET: Slipped on an icy patch.
CATHY: He was decapitated.
MARGARET: It was a very icy patch. I'm afraid these stories are nothing more than typical small town thinking. I really haven't got time. If you'll excuse me.
CATHY: Except, before he died, Mister Cleaver posted some of his findings online.
MARGARET: Did he now?
CATHY: If you know where to look. He was concerned about the reactor.
MARGARET: Oh, all that technical stuff!
CATHY: Specifically, that the design of the suppression pool would cause the hydrogen recombiners to fail, precipitating in the collapse in the containment isolation system and resulting in a meltdown.
MARGARET: Who's been doing her homework?
CATHY: That's my job.
MARGARET: I think, Cathy Salt, I think you and I should have a word in private.

[Corridor]

MARGARET: Oh! My little tum is complaining. I think we might have to make a detour to the ladies.
CATHY: I'll wait here.
MARGARET: Oh, come on. All girls together.

[Ladies washroom]

MARGARET: So, you were saying. These outlandish theories of yours?

(Margaret dashes into a cubicle. There are squelchy sounds.)

CATHY: Sounds like we got here just in time.
MARGARET: Continue.
CATHY: Well, I don't know much about nuclear physics, but from what I could make out, Cleaver was saying that the whole project could go up worse than Chernobyl.

(Margaret unzips her forehead. Cathy notices the light under the door.)

CATHY: Is there something wrong with the lights?
MARGARET: Oh, they're always on the blink. I can't tell you how many memos I've sent. So, Chernobyl.
CATHY: Apparently, but a thousand times worse. I know it sounds absurd, there must be so many safety regulations. But Cleaver seemed to be talking about a nuclear holocaust. He almost made it sound deliberate. I mean, we're hardly the Sunday Times, we're only the Cardiff Gazette, but we still have a duty to report the facts.
MARGARET: And you're going to print this information?
CATHY: Are you all right? You sound a bit.
MARGARET: Sore throat. Ahem, ahem. Just a little tickle. But tell me, do you intend to make this information public?
CATHY: I have to.
MARGARET: So be it.
CATHY: Mind you, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad. We're getting married next month, and he says if I cause a fuss, I could lose my job just when we need the money.
MARGARET: Boyfriend?
CATHY: Jeffery. Civil Servant. He's nothing exciting, but he's mine.
MARGARET: When's the wedding?
CATHY: The nineteenth. It's really just to stop my mother from nagging, but the baby sort of clinched it, I suppose.
MARGARET: You're with child?

(Margaret sits on the toilet.)

CATHY: Three months. It's not showing yet. Wasn't planned, it was an accident. Nice accident, though.
MARGARET: Congratulations.
CATHY: Thank you. How about you? You got any kids?
MARGARET: No.
CATHY: Is there a Mister Blaine?
MARGARET: Not anymore. I'm all on my own. I had quite a sizeable family, once upon a time. Wonderful brothers. Oh, they were bold. But all of them gone now. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm cursed.
CATHY: No, no, I don't think so. Not really.
MARGARET: You're very kind. If you don't mind, I might be a while. You run along. Perhaps we could do this another day.
CATHY: Are you all right?
MARGARET: Fine!
CATHY: Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll leave my details with your office. Thanks for talking.
MARGARET: Thank you.

(Cathy leaves the sad Slitheen still in the cubicle.)

[Restaurant]

(On a small jetty.)

JACK: I swear, six feet tall and with big tusks
DOCTOR: You're lying through your teeth!
ROSE: I'd have gone bonkers! That's the word - bonkers!
JACK: I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy.
DOCTOR: How could you not know it was there?
JACK: And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked
ROSE: Naked?!
JACK: And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say
MICKEY: I knew we should've turned left!
JACK: That's my line!
ROSE: I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say ever. That is so brilliant. Did you ever get your clothes back?

(The Doctor snatches a newspaper from the man at the next table and reads it.)

JACK: No, I just picked him up went right for the ship, full throttle. Didn't stop until I hit the spacelanes. I was shaking. It was unbelievable. It freaked me out, and by the time I got fifteen light years away I realised I'm like this.
DOCTOR: And I was having such a nice day.

(The Doctor holds up the front page of the Western Mail, with the picture the photographer took of Margaret.)

[City hall foyer]

JACK: According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty seven fifty six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face. That'll designate Exit One, I'll cover Exit Two. Rose, you Exit Three. Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?
DOCTOR: Excuse me. Who's in charge?
JACK: Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir.
DOCTOR: Right, here's the plan. (pause) Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?
JACK: Present arms.

(They each pull out a mobile phone)

DOCTOR: Ready.
ROSE: Ready.
MICKEY: Ready.
JACK: Ready. Speed dial?
DOCTOR: Yup.
ROSE: Ready.
MICKEY: Check.
JACK: See you in hell.

[Outside the Mayor's office]

(The Doctor speaks to the young man sitting at a desk by the door.)

DOCTOR: Hello, I've come to see the Lord Mayor.
IDRIS: Have you got an appointment?
DOCTOR: No, just an old friend passing by. Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face.
IDRIS: Well, she's just having a cup of tea.
DOCTOR: Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her.
IDRIS: Doctor who?
DOCTOR: Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor.
IDRIS: Hang on a tick.

(Idris goes into the Lord Mayor's office. A tea cup smashes on the floor. Idris comes out again.)

IDRIS: The Lord Mayor says thank you for popping by. She'd love to have a chat, but, er, she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week?
DOCTOR: She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?
IDRIS: Yes, she is.

[Lord Mayor's office balcony]

DOCTOR: Slitheen heading north.

[City hall]

ROSE: On my way.
JACK: Over and out.
MICKEY: Oh my God.

[Lord Mayor's office balcony]

(Idris wrestles with the Doctor as Margaret climbs down a ladder.)

IDRIS: Leave the Mayor alone!

(Meanwhile, Rose runs into a clerk carrying a pile of papers, and Jack leaps over a tea trolley. Mickey crashes into a cleaning woman.)

[City hall car park]

(Margaret reaches the bottom of the ladder and takes off her brooch. She starts to run but sees Rose coming towards her, snarls and removes her right earring. Then Jack comes running from the opposite direction. The Doctor finishes with Idris and sees her running in the only available direction - across the front of the building.)

DOCTOR: Margaret!

(The Doctor gets down the ladder as Margaret removes her other earring and puts it with the first and the brooch. The chase is on.)

JACK: Who's on Exit Four??
ROSE: That was Mickey!
MICKEY: Here I am.
DOCTOR: Mickey the idiot.
ROSE: Oh, be fair. she's not exactly going to outrun us, is she?

(Margaret vanishes.)

JACK: She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never going to get her.
ROSE: Oh, the Doctor's very good at teleports.

(The Doctor holds up his sonic screwdriver and Margaret reappears, running towards them. Vanish, reappear. Vanish, reappear.)

DOCTOR: I could do this all day.
MARGARET: This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?
DOCTOR: You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet.
MARGARET: Apart from that.

[City hall]

DOCTOR: So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family get killed but you teleport out just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?
MARGARET: A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways.
DOCTOR: And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift.
MARGARET: What rift would that be?
JACK: A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go (suck boom)!
DOCTOR: This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity.
ROSE: Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?
MARGARET: We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice. Oh. I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native.
MICKEY: But why would she do that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself.
MARGARET: She's got a name, you know.
MICKEY: She's not even a she, she's a thing.
DOCTOR: Oh, but she's clever.

(The Doctor pulls the middle section out of the model and turns it over to reveal electronics.)

DOCTOR: Fantastic.
JACK: Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?
DOCTOR: Couldn't have put it better myself.
JACK: Oo, genius! You didn't build this?
MARGARET: I have my hobbies. A little tinkering.
JACK: No, no, no. I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you.
MICKEY: I bet she stole it.
MARGARET: It fell into my hands.
ROSE: Is it a weapon?
JACK: It's transport. You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a forcefield. You have this energy bubble, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system.
MICKEY: It's a surfboard.
JACK: A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah.
MARGARET: And it would've worked. Id have surfed away from this dead end dump and back to civilisation.
MICKEY: You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?
MARGARET: Like stepping on an anthill.
DOCTOR: How'd you think of the name?
MARGARET: What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh.
DOCTOR: I know, but how did you think of it?
MARGARET: I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It just sounded good. Does it matter?
DOCTOR: Blaidd Drwg.
ROSE: What's it mean?
DOCTOR: Bad Wolf.
ROSE: But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times.
DOCTOR: Everywhere we go. Two words following us. Bad Wolf.
ROSE: How can they be following us?
DOCTOR: Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind. Things to do. Margaret, we're going to take you home.
JACK: Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?
ROSE: I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa. Wait a minute! Raxacor
DOCTOR: Raxacoricofallapatorius.
ROSE: Raxacorico
DOCTOR: fallapatorius.
ROSE: Raxacoricofallapatorius. That's it! I did it!
MARGARET: They have the death penalty. The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death.
DOCTOR: Not my problem.

[TARDIS]

(Night has fallen.)

MARGARET: This ship is impossible. It's superb. How do you get the outside around the inside?
DOCTOR: Like I'd give you the secret, yeah.
MARGARET: I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods.
DOCTOR: Don't worship me - I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how we doing, big fella?
JACK: This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?
MARGARET: Oh, I don't know. Some airlock sale?
JACK: Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power.
DOCTOR: But we can use it for fuel?
JACK: It's not compatible, but it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning.
DOCTOR: Then we're stuck here overnight.
MARGARET: I'm in no hurry.
ROSE: We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box.
MARGARET: You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you.
MICKEY: Well, you deserve it.
MARGARET: You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly ? Long night ahead Let's see who can look me in the eye.

(No one.)

[Roald Dahl Plass]

(Mickey looks at the water tower. Rose joins him.)

ROSE: It's freezing out here!
MICKEY: Better than in there. She does deserve it. She's a Slitheen. I don't care. It's just weird in that box.
ROSE: I didn't really need my passport.
MICKEY: I've been thinking, you know, we could go have a drink. Have a pizza or something. Just you and me.
ROSE: That'd be nice.
MICKEY: And, I mean, if the TARDIS can't leave until morning, we could go to a hotel, spend the night. I mean, if you want to. I've got some money.
ROSE: Okay, yeah.
MICKEY: Is that all right?
ROSE: Yeah.
MICKEY: Cool. There's a couple of bars around here. We should give them a go. Do you have to go and tell him?
ROSE: It's none of his business.

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor watches Mickey and Rose on the scanner.)

JACK: So, what's on?
DOCTOR: Nothing, just.
MARGARET: I gather it's not always like this, having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last you have consequences. How does it feel?
DOCTOR: I didn't butcher them.
JACK: Don't answer back. That's what she wants.
DOCTOR: I didn't. What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?
MARGARET: It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs. It wasn't funny.
DOCTOR: Sorry. It is a bit funny.
MARGARET: Do I get a last request?
DOCTOR: Depends what it is.
MARGARET: I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just round the Bay. It became quite a favourite of mine.
DOCTOR: Is that what you want, a last meal?
MARGARET: Don't I have rights?
JACK: Oh, like she's not going to try to escape.
MARGARET: Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger? I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?
DOCTOR: Strong enough.
MARGARET: I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them.
DOCTOR: You won't change my mind.
MARGARET: Prove it.
DOCTOR: There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger.
JACK: Except I've got these.

(Jack holds up two bangles.)

JACK: You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away, she gets zapped by ten thousand volts.
DOCTOR: Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat.
MARGARET: Dinner in bondage. Works for me.

(And so Jack is left to carry on mending the TARDIS whilst the two couples go out for their dinners.)

[Bistro 10]

MARGARET: Here we are, out on a date, and you haven't even asked my proper name.
DOCTOR: It's not a date. What's your name?
MARGARET: Blon. I am Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. That's what it'll say on my death certificate.
DOCTOR: Nice to meet you, Blon.
MARGARET: I'm sure. Look, that's where I was living as Margaret. Nice little flat, over there, on the top. Next to the one with the light on.

(The Doctor turns to look and she puts some powder from her ring into the his wine.)

MARGARET: Two bedrooms, bayside view. I was rather content. Don't suppose I'll see it again.

(The Doctor swaps the glasses over.)

DOCTOR: Suppose not.
MARGARET: Thank you.
DOCTOR: Pleasure.
MARGARET: Tell me then, Doctor. What do you know of our species?
DOCTOR: Only what I've seen.
MARGARET: Did you know, for example, in extreme cases, when her life is in danger, a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger.

(She points. The dart flies and the Doctor catches it.)

DOCTOR: Yes, I did.
MARGARET: Just checking. And one more thing. between you and me.

(They look around then lean forward so Margaret can whisper.)

MARGARET: As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs.

(Margaret starts to exhale. The Doctor uses a breath freshener on her.)

DOCTOR: That's better. Now then, what do you think? Mmm, steak looks nice. Steak and chips.

[Mermaid Quayside]

ROSE: The Doctor took me to this planet a while back. It was much colder than this. They called it Woman Wept. The planet was actually called Woman Wept, because if you looked at it, right, from above, there's like this huge continent, like all curved round. It sort of looked like a woman, you know, lamenting. Oh my God, and we went to this beach, right. No people, no buildings, just this beach like a thousand miles across. And something had happened, something to do with the sun, I don't know, but the sea had just frozen. In a split second, in the middle of a storm, right, waves and foam, just frozen, all the way out to the horizon. Midnight, right, we walk underneath these waves a hundred feet tall, made of ice.
MICKEY: I'm going out with Trisha Delaney.
ROSE: Right. That's nice. Trisha from the shop?
MICKEY: Yeah, Rob Delany's sister.
ROSE: Well, she's nice. She's a bit big.
MICKEY: She lost weight. You've been away.
ROSE: Well, good for you. She's nice.
MICKEY: So, tell us more about this planet, then.
ROSE: That was it, really.

[Bistro 10]

MARGARET: Public execution's a slow death. They prepare a thin acetic acid, lower me into the cauldron and boil me. The acidity is perfectly gauged to strip away the skin. Internal organs fall out into the liquid, and I become soup. And still alive, still screaming.
DOCTOR: I don't make the law.
MARGARET: But you deliver it. Will you stay to watch?
DOCTOR: What else can I do?
MARGARET: The Slitheen family's huge. There's a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe.
DOCTOR: But then you'll just start again.
MARGARET: I promise I won't.
DOCTOR: You've been in that skin suit too long. You've forgotten. There used to be a real Margaret Blaine. You killed her and stripped her and used the skin. You're pleading for mercy out of a dead woman's lips.
MARGARET: Perhaps I have got used to it. A human life, an ordinary life. That's all I'm asking. Give me a chance, Doctor. I can change.
DOCTOR: I don't believe you.

[Mermaid Quayside]

MICKEY: So, what do you want to do now?
ROSE: Don't mind.
MICKEY: We could ask about hotels.
ROSE: What would Trisha Delaney say?
MICKEY: Suppose. There's a bar down there with a Spanish name or something
ROSE: You don't even like Trisha Delaney!
MICKEY: Oh, is that right? What the hell do you know?
ROSE: I know you, And I know her. And I know that's never going to happen. So who do you think you're kidding?
MICKEY: At least I know where she is!
ROSE: There we are, then. It's got nothing to do with Trisha. This is all about me, isn't it
MICKEY: You left me! We were nice, we were happy. And then what? You give me a kiss and you run off with him, and you make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing. I can't even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I comes running. I mean, is that what I am, Rose, standby? Am I just supposed to sit here for the rest of my life, waiting for you? Because I will.
ROSE: I'm sorry.

[Bistro 10]

MARGARET: I promise you I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl, just today. A young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. And then I stopped. She's alive somewhere right now. She's walking around this city because I can change. I did change. I know I can't prove it
DOCTOR: I believe you.
MARGARET: Then you know I'm capable of better.
DOCTOR: It doesn't mean anything.
MARGARET: I spared her life.
DOCTOR: You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared because she smiled, because he's got freckles, because they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind.
MARGARET: Only a killer would know that. Is that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy go lucky little life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on because you dare not look back. Playing with so many peoples lives, you might as well be a god. And you're right, Doctor. You're absolutely right. Sometimes you let one go. Let me go.

[Mermaid Quayside]

MICKEY: I'm not asking you to leave him, because I know that's not fair. But I just need something, yeah? Some sort of promise that when you do come back, you're coming back for me.

(Deep rumble.)

ROSE: Is that thunder?
MICKEY: Does it matter?
ROSE: That's not thunder.

[Bistro 10]

MARGARET: In the family Slitheen, we had no choice. I was made to carry out my first kill at thirteen. If I'd refused, my father would have fed me to the Venom Grubs. If I'm a killer, it's because I was born to kill. It's all I know. Doctor, are you even listening to me?
DOCTOR: Can you hear that?
MARGARET: I'm begging for my life.
DOCTOR: No, listen, shush.

(The glasses begin to vibrate, then the plate glass window shatters. Customers scream.)

[Mermaid Quayside]

(People flee the exploding street lights and windows. Rose runs.)

MICKEY: Oh, go on then, run! It's him again, isn't it? It's the Doctor! It's always the Doctor! It's always going to be the Doctor. It's never me!

[Roald Dahl Plass]

(Margaret can't keep up with the Doctor.)

MARGARET: The handcuffs!

(He waits for her, then takes it off.)

DOCTOR: Don't think you're running away.
MARGARET: Oh, I'm sticking with you. Some date this turned out to be!

(Energy is streaming from the TARDIS into the sky.)

DOCTOR: It's the rift. The rift's opening!

[TARDIS]

(Things are going sput! Cracks open up in the plaza.)

DOCTOR: What the hell are you doing??
JACK: It just went crazy!
DOCTOR: It's the rift. Time and space are ripping apart. The whole city's going to disappear!

(Bang! Rose runs into the plaza and sees what is happening.)

JACK: It's the extrapolator. I've disconnected it but it's still feeding off the engine! It's using the TARDIS. I can't stop it!
DOCTOR: Never mind Cardiff, it's going to rip open the planet.

(Rose enters.)

ROSE: What is it? What's happening?!
MARGARET: Oh, just little me.

(Margaret takes an arm out of her body suit and grabs Rose.)

MARGARET: One wrong move and she snaps like a promise.
DOCTOR: I might've known.
MARGARET: I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it. You, fly boy, put the extrapolator at my feet.

(Margaret tightens her grip on Rose's neck. The Doctor nods and Jack obeys.)

MARGARET: Thank you. Just as I planned.
ROSE: I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station.
MARGARET: Failing that, if I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to plan B. To lock onto the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule, thanks to you.
JACK: The rift's going to convulse. You'll destroy the whole planet.
MARGARET: And you with it!

(Margaret stands on the extrapolator.)

MARGARET: While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back, boys. Surf's up.

(The TARDIS console cracks open and bright light hits Margaret.)

DOCTOR: Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart.
MARGARET: So sue me.
DOCTOR: It's not just any old power source. It's the TARDIS. My TARDIS. The best ship in the universe.
MARGARET: It'll make wonderful scrap.
ROSE: What's that light?
DOCTOR: The heart of the TARDIS. This ship's alive. You've opened its soul.
MARGARET: It's so bright.
DOCTOR: Look at it, Margaret.
MARGARET: Beautiful.
DOCTOR: Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light.

(Margaret relaxes and Rose gets free. Then she looks up at the Doctor, smiling.)

MARGARET: Thank you.

(Margaret disappears into the light. The empty bodysuit crumples onto the extrapolator.)

DOCTOR: Don't look. Stay there. Close your eyes!

(The Doctor closes the console.)

DOCTOR: Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut down! Rose, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right.

(Energy stops pouring into the sky.)

DOCTOR: Nicely done. Thank you, all.
ROSE: What happened to Margaret?
JACK: Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence.
DOCTOR: No, I don't think she's dead.
ROSE: Then where'd she go?
DOCTOR: She looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic, like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts.

(The Doctor finds a large egg with dreadlocks on the top inside the bodysuit.)

DOCTOR: Here she is.
ROSE: She's an egg?
DOCTOR: Regressed to her childhood.
JACK: She's an egg?
DOCTOR: She can start again. Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly, she might be all right!
JACK: Or she might be worse.
DOCTOR: That's her choice.
ROSE: She's an egg.
DOCTOR: She's an egg.
ROSE: Oh, my God. Mickey.

(Rose runs out and across the cracked plaza, back to Mermaid Quay where ambulances are taking away the injured. Mickey is watching from the shadows as she goes up to a paramedic and asks a question. Mickey walks away. She returns to the TARDIS alone.)

DOCTOR: We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go, if that's all right.
ROSE: Yeah, fine.
DOCTOR: How's Mickey?
ROSE: He's okay. He's gone.
DOCTOR: Do you want to go and find him? We'll wait.
ROSE: No need. He deserves better.
DOCTOR: Off we go, then. Always moving on
JACK: Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now you don't often get to say that.
DOCTOR: We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again. A second chance.
ROSE: That'd be nice.

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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