Part One

[TARDIS]

(K9 is plugged into the underside of the console.)

DOCTOR: You ready, K9?
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Right. I want you to set a course of binary coordinates ten zero eleven zero zero by zero two from galactic zero centre.
K9: Coordinates laid in.
DOCTOR: Very good.
K9: Spatial drive initiated.
DOCTOR: Well done, K9. Well, now we've dropped off our Earth friend we can be on our way.
ROMANA: You've made up your mind, then?
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. We can't resist a summons to Gallifrey. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to seeing how Leela and Andred are getting on. You can meet your twin, K9. You know Romana, it. Romana?

(Romana has gone into the TARDIS's interior.)

DOCTOR: You stay there, K9. You're in charge.
K9: Master.

[Romana's room]

(Romana is lying on her bed. The Doctor knocks on the door then opens it. Romana is crying.)

DOCTOR: Ahem. Do you mind if I come in?
ROMANA: The Time Lords want me back.
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, you only came to help with the Key to Time.
ROMANA: Doctor, I don't want to spend the rest of my life on Gallifrey. After all this.
DOCTOR: Well, you can't fight Time Lords, Romana.
ROMANA: You did, once.
DOCTOR: Hmm. And lost.
ROMANA: Well, there's nothing more to discuss, then. We have to go.
DOCTOR: I'm afraid so.

[TARDIS]

K9: Course set and holding. ETA to Gallifrey thirty two minutes. Flight path clear. Wait. Sensors indicate. No vocabulary available.

(The TARDIS stops travelling and spins on the spot. It shimmers.)

K9: Cannot comprehend. Cannot, cannot comprehend. Cannot comprehend.

[Romana's room]

(The shimmering effect is everywhere.)

ROMANA: Doctor, what's happening?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

[TARDIS]

K9: I have lost control of the TARDIS.

(The shimmering stops and the TARDIS whizzes on its way again. The Doctor and Romana run in.)

DOCTOR: K9!
K9: I have regained control, master. TARDIS has stabilised.
ROMANA: Well, what happened, K9?
K9: Cannot explain, mistress.
DOCTOR: Never mind about that, just give me the data.
K9: Cannot comply.
DOCTOR: What? There must be some data.
K9: Substantial data was received, master, yes, however I am unable to assimilate it.
DOCTOR: Well, just give me a report on all damaged parts.
K9: No damage, master.
DOCTOR: What? What, none?
K9: All component parts are functioning normally, master.
DOCTOR: I don't believe it. I don't believe it! All component parts functioning normally, ha! Pah. You mean to tell me that after all we've been through, the systems are functioning perfectly?
K9: Not perfectly, Master, adverb attributed was normally.
ROMANA: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Hmm?
ROMANA: We've materialised.
DOCTOR: Indeed we have. Let's take a look, shall we?

(The scanner shows a plain brown landscape.)

DOCTOR: Oh, yes. The wilderness of outer Gallifrey. Ready to go?
ROMANA: I suppose so.
DOCTOR: Come on, it's not the end of the universe. We're home.
ROMANA: Sorry.
DOCTOR: Oh please, don't keep apologising. Try and brighten up.

(The Doctor goes outside, and Romana heads for her room.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Romana!

[Forest clearing]

(This is not the landscape on the scanner. Romana comes out of the TARDIS.)

DOCTOR: Romana! This isn't Gallifrey.

(The Doctor sits on a fallen tree trunk.)

ROMANA: It certainly isn't.

(Birds fly up behind the Doctor, making him jump.)

[By the lake]

(Two men are skinny dipping in the lake whilst their fellows gather large melon-like fruits into wicker boxes. A group of teenagers sneak in and start helping themselves to fruit piled up nearby. The workers are not amused.)

OMRIL: Hey! Get them!

(The teenagers scatter into the forest and the men follow.)

[Forest]

OMRIL: No sign of them. Well, at least they got no river fruits.
RYSIK: I suppose that's something.
OMRIL: Let's go.

(The pursuers leave.)

VARSH: That was close.
TYLOS: Easy, Varsh. You said it would be easy.
VARSH: All right, Tylos
TYLOS: It's not all right.
KEARA: Look. Down there.

(Two older men are walking through the fruit gathers.)

TYLOS: Decider Draith. And Dexeter. What are they doing here?

[By the lake]

(The clean shaven younger man puts a large box on a table and opens it. He selects one of the river fruit and splits it in half with a machete.)

DEXETER: Yes, there seems to be a trace. Just a trace.

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor looks at the image on the scanner.)

DOCTOR: That is Gallifrey. That is Gallifrey.
K9: Coordinates are correct, master.
ROMANA: Ten zero eleven zero zero by zero two. K9 is right.
DOCTOR: But it's absurd. It's just absurd.
K9: Master.
ROMANA: What are we going to do?
DOCTOR: Well, we can't take off until we find out precisely what's wrong with the TARDIS.

(The Doctor ducks underneath the console.)

ROMANA: Doctor, the last time you tried that
DOCTOR: Practice, practice

(Bang and flash! Smoke comes from the pedastal. )

[By the lake]

(Dexeter is using tweezers to examine the 'seeds' of the river plants.)

DRAITH: They seem to be moving.
DEXETER: It's the same sign noted fifty years ago by Corellis and Dell. They postulated that they might be eggs of some kind.
DRAITH: Insect eggs?
DEXETER: Perhaps. Unfamiliar insect life is supposed to precede each incident.
DRAITH: Yes, it's true.
DEXETER: Can you confirm this? Is it mentioned in the System Files?
DRAITH: You overreach yourself, Dexeter.
DEXETER: Forgive me, Decider, but if there is some way we can let science illuminate your inner knowledge, you
DRAITH: I cannot discuss the System Files. Sometimes I wish I could share it with someone, but I too must obey the Procedure.
DEXETER: Of course, Decider.

[Outler's cave]

(Tylos is sharpening his knife on a stone. The teenagers have a visitor, another young lad. Everyone say Hi to Matthew Waterhouse.)

VARSH: So, you want to be an Outler.
ADRIC: I'm serious.
TYLOS: Nobody joins unless we all agree.
VARSH: You belong in the Starliner, Adric.
KEARA: Ask him the Embarkation Question.
TYLOS: Yes, go on.
VARSH: When the Starliner leaves Alzarius, were will you be?
ADRIC: Not here.
TYLOS: You see?
KEARA: He'll be in the Starliner.
TYLOS: If it ever does take off.
ADRIC: It will!
TYLOS: He believes all that stuff
ADRIC: It will take off. But I won't be on it.
KEARA: And you won't be on Alzarius either?
ADRIC: I don't know. I'll be somewhere else.
TYLOS: Daydreamer.
ADRIC: I'm sorry, I just can't explain.
KEARA: He belongs in the Great Hall of Books with all the other dreamers.
TYLOS: Anyway, we said no Elites. Unless you want to make special rules for your brother?
VARSH: We've broken all family ties.
ADRIC: But I don't expect special treatment.
KEARA: Don't you? Isn't that what the star's for?

(The blue star on Adric's jacket pocket.)

ADRIC: That is for mathematical excellence.
KEARA: So the boy can count. Give it to me.

(Adric grabs Keara's arm and twists it behind her back.)

ADRIC: Keep your hands off it!
KEARA: Let go!
ADRIC: And don't tell me what to do. I've had enough orders in the Starliner. Can't you keep these two under better control?
KEARA: He talks like a Decider already.
TYLOS: He's no better than we are.
ADRIC: Of course I'm better than you. I'm an Elite.
VARSH: That won't help you outside the Starliner when you're struggling to stay alive.
ADRIC: It's you people who talk like Deciders.
KEARA: What?
ADRIC: I mean, you can't even steal a few river fruits.
TYLOS: I'd like to see you try.
ADRIC: All right.
VARSH: Go back to the Starliner, Adric.
TYLOS: No. If your little brother really wants to prove himself
VARSH: They'll be guarding the fruits now. It's too dangerous for us.
TYLOS: We don't have badges for mathematical excellence. You know what this is?

(Tylos holds up a piece of plaited twine, with decorations laced into it.)

TYLOS: It's our badge. It has to be earned.
ADRIC: Right.

[Science unit]

(Things are swimming around in a dish under the microscope. Two more older men are there.)

NEFRED: If this is Mistfall
DEXETER: I hope so, Decider Nefred. Scientifically.
GARIF: You're too young to remember the last one, Dexeter, but it's not something I look forward to.
NEFRED: Nor I.
GARIF: Nor Decider Draith, I'm sure.
DEXETER: Decider Draith. I must get back to him.
NEFRED: I was a boy the last time the mists came. Horrible. Horrible.

(The Deciders leave. Dexeter reads from a small notebook.)

DEXETER: A kind of spider. Incomprehensible lifeform. Infectious.

[By the lake]

(Dexeter runs over to Draith.)

OMRIL: Dexeter again. What's going on?
RYSIK: I told you something was up. I told you.

(Meanwhile, the teenagers are watching from the forest as Adric swims across the lake. He reaches the shore by the stockpile of fruits and creeps ashore. Then steam and bubbles start to form in the lake. The adults gather to look. The Decider pushes through them.)

DRAITH: Let me through. Make way.

(The water seems to be almost boiling.)

DRAITH: Indeed. Mistfall!

(General consternation. The two swimmers start struggling in the water.)

SWIMMER: Help me! Help us!
DRAITH: In the water!
OMRIL: Come on, let's get them.

(The two men drag the swimmers out. They are actually wearing loinclothes. Shame.)

DRAITH: Citizens! Citizens. Citizens! As First Decider and Keeper of the System Files, I must announce to you the coming of Mistfall.

(Everyone gasps in horror.)

DRAITH: There is no need to be alarmed as long as you all follow the Procedure. We have two hours.

(The people start to gather up their baskets and rugs, and leave. Adric sneaks over to the pile and picks up three fruits. He is spotted.)

DRAITH: Adric!

(Adric drops the fruits and runs. Draith gives chase.)

DEXETER: Decider, come back! They're not worth it!

[Forest]

VARSH: Split up. We'll meet back at the cave.

(Draith spots Adric running through the ferns and moves to cut him off by the shore.)

[By the lake]

(Adric's foot sinks in deep mud and he falls amonst the mist. Draith goes up help to him.)

DRAITH: Adric! Come on, they're closing the Starliner. Come on.

(Draith pulls Adric to his feet.)

DRAITH: Come on, come on.
ADRIC: Leave me alone.

(Adric ducks between Draith's legs, knocking him backwards into the mud where he lies motionless.)

[Starliner reception]

(The people return to a large, shiny purple spaceship standing taller than the few surrounding trees. It's construction is almost crystalline. They go inside and check in at the reception desk. Knives have to be left here.)

LOGIN: Have you seen my daughter? Have you seen any of the Outlers?

(Everyone say Hi to George Baker, before Inspector Wexford.)

MAN 3: No, no.

(He goes to the check-in desk.)

LOGIN: Is there been any news.

(The man there shakes his head. The Deciders approach.)

NEFRED: Citizen Login. What is it?
LOGIN: Sirs, forgive me.
GARIF: Your daughter?
LOGIN: She's out there, unprotected. Is there nothing we can do?
NEFRED: She and the other Outlers chose to leave us, Login.
GARIF: The doors must close.
LOGIN: But Keara, she's so young.
NEFRED: And you, Login, are a greatly valued citizen, but we cannot change the law for you.
GARIF: Not even for Decider Draith. He too has only one hour in which to return.

[By the lake]

ADRIC: Decider! Decider Draith!

(Something starts to pull Draith into the water. Adric isn't strong enough to help.)

DRAITH: Tell Dexeter we've come full circle

(Draith disappears into the bubbling muddy water.)

[Starliner reception]

NEFRED: Time to start up the siren.

(The final stragglers arrive.)

NEFRED: Still no sign of Decider Draith.
GARIF: When those doors close, you will be First Decider.
NEFRED: And we shall need a third.

[TARDIS]

(Adric runs through the forest, and comes across a clearing with a strange blue box parked in it. Inside, Romana hears hammering.)

ROMANA: What was that noise?
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: I thought I heard a noise.

(She opens the door.)

DOCTOR: Well, of course you heard a noise.

(The Doctor resumes his work under the console, then slowly stands up again.)

DOCTOR: Who are you?

(Adric passes out.)

[Outler's cave]

(The three teenagers run in as the siren echoes.)

VARSH: No!
KEARA: We saw it, Varsh.
VARSH: Anything could make that water bubble. It could be anything!
KEARA: It could be Mistfall.
VARSH: Mistfall's a myth!
TYLOS: The others don't think so. I saw them heading back to the Starliner.
VARSH: Deserters!
KEARA: It's just us now.
VARSH: And Adric. Don't let the Deciders fool you. They've taken these things and twisted them to their own advantage.
TYLOS: Well, you'd better be right, or else we're dead.

[Romana's room]

(Adric is on Romana's bed as the Doctor tends to an injury on his right knee.)

ADRIC: I've got to warn them.
DOCTOR: What?
ADRIC: Mistfall.
DOCTOR: Mistfall?
ADRIC: My brother says it's a myth. The Outlers all think the Deciders are lying. But I've seen it.
DOCTOR: Mistfall?

[Starliner reception]

(A man runs inside.)

GARIF: The internment may be a long one. Ten years perhaps until we step onto the surface again.
NEFRED: Decider Draith is too late. Seal the doors.

(The final person runs in.)

LOGIN: Have you seen Keara or Tylos?

(The outer door comes down.)

LOGIN: No! There are others out there. My daughter! My daughter.
NEFRED: The air out there cannot support life. We have to seal the doors. We need all our strength, Citizen Login.
LOGIN: You're quite right. We must redouble our effort toward the Embarkation.
NEFRED: A fine spirit. Yes, our work must continue.
GARIF: Our first task must be to choose a new Decider.
LOGIN: Yes, of course.
NEFRED: We thought of seeking your advice on the matter.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Wrong place at the wrong time.
ROMANA: Again.
DOCTOR: What?
ROMANA: Sounds like a type D oligarchy. Typical use of propaganda. He could have been hallucinating. A folk tale, a myth.
ADRIC: That blue box I saw. I saw a blue box.
DOCTOR: A blue box. Really? What was it like?
ADRIC: Well it was old. And there was a door. No, there were two doors, and they opened inwards. And there was something funny about them. Handles weren't on the same level.
DOCTOR: Quite right. We're inside it. It's called a TARDIS. This boy's not hallucinating. How's your transcendental dimensionalism? Never mind about that. Come on, K9.
ROMANA: Where are you going?
DOCTOR: Well, to the marsh. We can't stand around here theorising. The boy convinces me.
ROMANA: Yes, but we still haven't worked out what's wrong with this.
DOCTOR: What's wrong with what?
ROMANA: Oh, the console, the scanner.
DOCTOR: Oh, that. Yes, that recurring image of Gallifrey. Well, it's something really quite simple. The image translator reads the absolute values of the coordinates.
ROMANA: Of course it does. Real space doesn't have (penny drops) negative coordinates. Doctor, that disruption we came through.
DOCTOR: Well, it's just a thought.
ROMANA: It's a very nasty thought. That would mean that we're out of real space altogether.

[By the lake]

DOCTOR: What do you make of this fog, K9?
K9: Unfamiliar composition. Initial analysis indicates non-toxic.
DOCTOR: Non-toxic?

[TARDIS]

(Romana is making notes.)

ADRIC: I must go back and warn the others.
ROMANA: Fifteen, four, two. Er, you'd better take this.

(She hands him a little sphere, which beeps.)

ADRIC: Oh, a homing device.
ROMANA: Yes. It'll help you find your way back to the TARDIS. How's the knee?
ADRIC: Healed.
ROMANA: Adric.

(Adric removes the plaster to reveal clean skin through the bloodied hole in his trousers.)

[By the lake]

(The mist is getting thicker.)

K9: Master, alert.

(Bipedal amphibians rise from the water and make their way towards land.)

Part Two

[By the lake]

(Once the amphibians make it onto solid ground, they stop, gasping.)

DOCTOR: They've stopped moving, K9.
K9: The observation is correct.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's get out of sight.
K9: Slow movement is advised, master.

[Outler's cave]

VARSH: Decider Draith is dead?
TYLOS: Well, leader?
VARSH: All right, all right, maybe I was wrong. You'd better not be lying, Adric.
ADRIC: The Doctor believed me.
TYLOS: He is lying.
ADRIC: No, I'm not. Look. They gave me that.

(Tylos takes it and sneers.)

ADRIC: It's a homing device for locating the TARDIS.

(It beeps. Keara runs in.)

KEARA: They've sealed the Starliner.
TYLOS: The mist is getting thicker.
VARSH: The TARDIS.
ADRIC: No.
KEARA: We can't stay here.
VARSH: Why not the TARDIS, Adric?
ADRIC: It's too small.
TYLOS: That's not what you told us.
KEARA: You said it was huge
ADRIC: Well, I can't remember where it is.

(Tylos holds up the beeping homer.)

[Forest]

(The Doctor and K9 hide in undergrowth as the amphibians stagger slowly past through the muddy, misty ground.)

DOCTOR: It's as if they're trying to acclimatise, which they seem to be doing rather quickly. Follow them, K9.
K9: Master.
DOCTOR: Let me know where they settle.

(K9 goes off as a final smaller amphibian comes out of the lake. The Doctor encounters it in the forest.)

DOCTOR: Hello?

(It runs off.)

DOCTOR: Oh. How odd. I usually get on terribly well with children.

[TARDIS]

ROMANA: Negative coordinates.

(The Outlers run in.)

ROMANA: Doctor, I've calculated that the

(Varsh and Tylos approach her with knives drawn. She gives Adric a glare.)

VARSH: We're taking over your ship.

[Great Book Room]

(A multi-tiered library of cards in diamond-shaped racks. Nefred is on the upper level as Garif enters.)

GARIF: Nefred, I must speak with you. Nefred, is something wrong?
NEFRED: Garif, I have seen the System Files.
GARIF: As is your right.
NEFRED: Garif, if you could but guess.
GARIF: Only you are entitled to those secrets.
NEFRED: But such secrets, Garif. Such secrets.
GARIF: You're right about Login. We must have him with us.
NEFRED: He's probably the most respected man in the community.
GARIF: After yourself.
NEFRED: After no one.
GARIF: What if he refuses the post?
NEFRED: I shall be very afraid.

(Login enters.)

LOGIN: Deciders.
NEFRED: Ah, Login. Have you made up your mind?
LOGIN: I have.
NEFRED: Do you accept the post?
LOGIN: I do.
NEFRED: And your daughter?
LOGIN: Keara? Keara was a disruptive element.
NEFRED: And what is your first concern?
LOGIN: The welfare of the community and the work toward the Embarkation.
GARIF: Well done. And welcome, Decider Login.

(In the forest, K9's way is blocked by a stream.)

[TARDIS]

VARSH: Where is the Doctor?
ROMANA: On his way back.

(Tylos twists Romana's arm behind her back.)

ROMANA: Ow! Get off.

(Tylos puts his knife to Romana's throat.)

KEARA: Watch out!

(Adric grabs Tylos and makes him let go of Romana and his knife. Romana picks it up and points it at Tylos' throat before offering him the hilt.)

ROMANA: Your knife.
ADRIC: I'm sorry. This is my fault.
ROMANA: What do you want?
VARSH: It's Mistfall.
ROMANA: The Doctor.

(Romana reaches for a control, and the TARDIS tilts then sways. Everyone falls.)

ADRIC: How did you do that?
ROMANA: I'm not quite sure.

(The TARDIS tilts the other way. Meanwhile the Doctor returns to the clearing, gets out his key, then sees there is nothing to put it into. There is a purple square on the ground where the TARDIS was. The young amphibian watches the Doctor run back into the forest.)

KEARA: What's happening?
ADRIC: I don't know!
ROMANA: Something has picked up the TARDIS.

[Outside the Starliner]

(The Doctor presses a button below a golden star and above a sign saying Keep Clear. Nothing, so he knocks.)

DOCTOR: Hello?

(The mist starts to swirl around him so he uses his sonic screwdriver on the button. Nothing happens so he starts to walk away, then the door rises.)

[Starliner reception]

(The Doctor ducks in underneath the rising door.)

DOCTOR: Hello? Hello?

(There is a river fruit on the unmanned reception deck. He picks it up, but it is too big to go in his pockets. Instead, he spears it with the knife that was left behind, then is distracted by a corridor.)

DOCTOR: Hello?

(The Doctor goes up the short corridor. The amphibian enters takes the knife. The Doctor returns to see the knife-free fruit.)

DOCTOR: Hello?

[Great Book Room]

(Nefred is in full golden uniform for his speech.)

NEFRED: Even as our ancestors journeyed from Terradon, and even as our descendants will one day return there, so we are once again enclosed within our Starliner. This great ship brought us far from our own shores and long ago, damaged and departing from its course, landed our forebears in this alien land. Citizens, we are not of this planet. Therefore we will lack nothing, though we have lost its suns, its waters, and its rich fruits.

[Starliner]

(The speech is broadcast throughout the ship.)

NEFRED [OC]: For generations, the Starliner has been our shelter and a reminder of our true home, but

[Great Book Room]

NEFRED: We will not falter. Rather, we will redouble our efforts towards the Embarkation!
ALL: Towards the Embarkation!
NEFRED: Citizens, continue the work of maintenance.

(The Doctor finishes reading the large book on the reception desk, closes the outer door and goes off to explore.)

[TARDIS]

(The TARDIS is still swaying back and forth. Finally there is a big Crunch! and it stops. Everyone picks themselves up from the floor.)

TYLOS: Let's get out of here.
VARSH: We don't know what's out there.
TYLOS: I'm not staying here. I don't trust her.
ROMANA: What about Mistfall?
TYLOS: We'll go back to the Starliner.
VARSH: The Starliner is closed.
ROMANA: Adric, is there any machinery on your planet that could lift the TARDIS?
ADRIC: How heavy is it?
ROMANA: Er, five times ten to the six kilos in your gravity.
ADRIC: No.
TYLOS: Deciders' talk.
KEARA: When Mistfall comes, the giants leave the swamp.
VARSH: The marshmen.
TYLOS: You're trying to scare us. Are you suggesting the marshmen carried this thing?
ROMANA: Let's have a look.

(But the scanner is still telling lies.)

VARSH: That's not Alzarius.
ROMANA: No, its still Gallifrey. If the Doctor's theory's right, we'll need a local image translator to see what's out there.
ADRIC: Or we could just look out through the door.

(Romana peeks out of the TARDIS to see they are in a cave full of marshmen.)

[Starliner]

MAN [OC]: Maintenance unit nine to level seven in section thirteen. Maintenance unit nine to level seven in section thirteen.

(The Doctor avoids the maintenance crew, then stops. The marshman ducks back out of sight. The Doctor finds the knife on the floor and takes it.)

MAN [OC]: Peripheral maintenance units seventeen and twenty two to level ten.

(The Doctor ducks back to avoid a group who have just finished working on a panel at a junction.)

MAN [OC]: Peripheral maintenance units seventeen and twenty two to level ten.

(The Doctor passes another panel with Keep Clear on it. Elsewhere, the marshman is spotted.)

OMRIL: A creature from the marsh. Shush.

(But it is trapped between two groups of people and starts screaming.)

OMRIL: Get back.

(The Doctor arrives.)

DOCTOR: Gently, gently. Can't you see it's terrified?
OMRIL: What do you mean it's. Who are you?
DOCTOR: A visitor.
OMRIL: But how did you? You unsealed the entrance.
DOCTOR: Yes, but I sealed it up again. I try to leave things as they are. Shush. Come on, come on. You're all right. Come on. Everything's going to be all right. You're quite safe with me.

(The man hits the Doctor with his work tool. The marshman turns to run but the men grab it.)

[Great Book Room]

(The room is dark.)

OMRIL: Intruders, Decider. This one unsealed the entrance.
LOGIN: What?

(The marshman is draggged in, in a net, screaming.)

GARIF: That creature! A marsh creature!
OMRIL: It's docile. Totally harmless.
GARIF: We've waited a long time to examine one of these. Take it to Dexeter.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no, no. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Shush, shush.

(The Deciders each step into spotlights.)

NEFRED: I am Nefred.
GARIF: I am Garif.
LOGIN: I am Login.
DOCTOR: And I am the Doctor.
NEFRED: We have questions to put to you.

[Outler's cave]

(The marshmen are battering the outside of the TARDIS with sticks when K9 finally catches up. Romana peeks out when the battering stops.)

ROMANA: K9.
K9: Do not be afraid. I am non-hostile. Operating in data acquisition mode. Explain your

(A marshman knocks K9's head off.)

ROMANA: Oh! K9.

[TARDIS]

ADRIC: That was your computer?
ROMANA: Yes. Oh, he can be repaired. In fact, we always seem to be repairing him.
VARSH: Senseless creatures!
ROMANA: I don't think so. They're adapting very fast. That's intelligent behaviour.
TYLOS: Intelligent? Trying to kill us?
ROMANA: But they probably don't even know there's anyone in here. To them the TARDIS is just a big boulder.
KEARA: Why did they choose this cave?
VARSH: Yes, why our cave?
ROMANA: Why did you choose this cave?
VARSH: To keep an eye on the Starliner, of course.
KEARA: It looks straight down into the valley.
ROMANA: Of course.
ADRIC: The momentum.
ROMANA: Yes.
ADRIC: If the TARDIS is as heavy as you say
VARSH: What is it? What momentum?
ROMANA: Accelerating down the slope. How far, Adric?
ADRIC: Five thousand metres.
ROMANA: Phew. I think we're about to become a battering ram to smash in the Starliner.

[Great Book Room]

NEFRED: You witnessed the death of Decider Draith?
DOCTOR: Look, I'm sure this ceremonial's all terribly impressive
GARIF: Please answer the questions, Doctor.
LOGIN: Decider Draith.
DOCTOR: Well, Decider Draith was dragged into the swamp. What have the marshmen got against you?
GARIF: We're investigating that question.
NEFRED: They seem to resent our presence as aliens.
DOCTOR: Why can't people be nice to one another, just for a change. I mean, I'm an alien, and you don't want to drag me into a swamp, do you. You do.
GARIF: How do you know this about Decider Draith if you did not witness the event?
DOCTOR: Well, I have a very reliable eyewitness, and then when I went to the scene of the crime
LOGIN: You went to the marsh?
DOCTOR: Yes.
LOGIN: But the mists. How could you breathe?
DOCTOR: Well, an odd smell, I agree, but definitely non-toxic.
LOGIN: Clearly the witness is lying. The manuals say the mists are fatal.
GARIF: Not necessarily.
LOGIN: Not necessarily?
NEFRED: As First Decider, I am now Keeper of the System Files.
GARIF: The truth is known to Nefred. We must simply accept the inconsistencies.
NEFRED: It is fitting that the citizens believe the mists are dangerous.
GARIF: It stops them from straying when Mistfall comes.
LOGIN: But if that is so
NEFRED: It is for the good of the community.
LOGIN: My daughter may still be alive.

(Dexeter enters.)

NEFRED: Citizen Dexeter, you have examined the marsh child?
DEXETER: The specimen is useless. Nothing. No aggression, none of the characteristic traits. Useless.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on. Depends on your point of view.
DEXETER: I'm speaking scientifically.
DOCTOR: So am I.
DEXETER: You're a scientist?
DOCTOR: Nice to meet you. Useless, you say? Listen, would you care for a second opinion?

[TARDIS]

ADRIC: You can't take off from inside a cave.
ROMANA: Well, I'd explain but I don't think even your maths is good enough. I'm shutting the door.
KEARA: Wait! They're leaving!

[Outler's cave]

(Romana comes out of the TARDIS. There are some very large arachnids with three glowing eyes and two long fangs scuttling about.)

ROMANA: So that's what frightened the marshmen off.

(A river fruit bursts open and another one comes out of it.)

TYLOS: More of them! Look!
ROMANA: They're only spiders.

(The Outlers run iside the TARDIS.)

ROMANA: They're only spiders.

[TARDIS]

KEARA: The door! Shut the door!

(Varsh presses a random button as Adric gets into the TARDIS.)

[Outler's cave]

ROMANA: Adric?

[TARDIS]

(The door closes.)

ADRIC: What are you doing? Romana's out there! Open the door!

(Adric presses another button and the time rotor starts going up and down. The TARDIS dematerialises, leaving Romana and the headless K9 in the cave.)

ADRIC: I think I've pulled the wrong lever.

(Back in the cave, Romana picks up a fruit to throw at the advancing spiders. It bursts open, and its occupant bites her on the cheek. She collapses.)

Part Three

[TARDIS]

TYLOS: What's happening?
ADRIC: I don't know. I think we're travelling.

[Science unit]

(The marsh child is on an examination table, covered mostly by a blanket.)

DOCTOR: What have you done to it?
DEXETER: A little anaesthetic. I'm trying to research the psychodynamics of these creatures. Their motivation to attack us is immensely powerful.
DOCTOR: It is?
DEXETER: It's well documented. Of course, I've never seen one before, but it's in the manuals.
DOCTOR: Well, it wasn't aggressive when I met it. Anyway, it's only a baby one.
DEXETER: They have the same basic brain type.

(The Doctor uncovers its arm.)

DOCTOR: Dexeter, that's not psychodynamics. You've been taking tissue samples.
DEXETER: A scientist is responsible to the community, Doctor. Each of us has his task to perform.
DOCTOR: I don't understand your tasks.
DEXETER: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, you're all so busy. Maintenance crews everywhere. What are you up to?
DEXETER: Preparing for the Embarkation, of course.
DOCTOR: Of course. Are you leaving Alzarius?
DEXETER: Yes. All our endeavours are directed toward the return to Terradon.
DOCTOR: Then if you're leaving the planet, why all the fuss about the marshmen?
DEXETER: Take a look at that tissue sample. Remarkable, isn't it, Doctor? The organisation of the cell structure.
DOCTOR: Well, that's life, Dexeter.
DEXETER: There are anomalies unaccounted for by the Deciders.
DOCTOR: There are? Look, isn't it time we were getting it back to its natural habitat?
DEXETER: It's too late for that, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Come to think of it, it's about time I got back to my own natural habitat. Haven't seen a blue box with a light on top, have you?
DEXETER: What?

(Login enters.)

DOCTOR: It's called a TARDIS. It must be out there somewhere.
DEXETER: It's impossible to leave the Starliner. The doors are sealed.
DOCTOR: Oh, I think I can organise something.
LOGIN: What did you have in mind, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, it was just a hypothetical idea.
LOGIN: Your entry was more than a hypothesis. Perhaps our security system is not all the manuals claim.
DOCTOR: You can't always go by the manuals.
LOGIN: Without the store of knowledge in the Great Book Room, we would not have survived. Doctor, please show me how you gained access.
DOCTOR: Certainly.

[TARDIS]

KEARA: Varsh, do something.
TYLOS: You're the clever one, Adric. Where are we going?
ADRIC: How should I know? Romana set the coordinates, not me.

(Romana currently has a whole group of spiders sitting on her, and the marshmen have gathered branches for cudgels as they make their way through the forest.)

[Starliner]

MAN [OC]: Maintenance unit twelve, report your location.
DOCTOR: Can resist a sonic screwdriver, especially in expert hands.
LOGIN: Any method of entering the Starliner is of grave concern.

(They come across a maintenance group. The Doctor takes a unit from one of them.)

DOCTOR: Excuse me. Oh, what a pity. I thought it was an image translator. I need one for my ship.

(He gives the unit back.)

DOCTOR: Tell me, Decider Login, why are your maintenance men removing a perfectly good optronics circuit? Tell me that.

(They walk on through the corridors.)

LOGIN: I know nothing about these matters myself, but the manuals are thorough in their requirements.
DOCTOR: At this rate, the preparations could take years to complete.
LOGIN: Oh, generations, Doctor. We've no illusions about that.
DOCTOR: Generations?
LOGIN: Well, there's always something that needs to be perfected. A little patience goes a long way.
DOCTOR: Yes, but too much patience goes absolutely nowhere.
LOGIN: You spoke of some vehicle you travel in.
DOCTOR: Yes, I have got a vehicle and I'm feeling rather lost without it.
LOGIN: I can help you to find it.
DOCTOR: Really? Why would you do a thing like that?
LOGIN: I have a daughter.
DOCTOR: Oh.
MAN [OC]: Attention, Citizen Dampier, report to coordinator immediately.

[Starliner reception]

LOGIN: Help me find my daughter, I'll help you find your ship.
DOCTOR: All right.
LOGIN: Unseal the entrance.
OMRIL: But the decision was made to keep the entrance sealed.
LOGIN: Decisions can be changed.

(A familiar sound fills the air. The Doctor gets his head out of the way as the TARDIS materialises.)

LOGIN: Good heavens! What is it?
DOCTOR: Good heavens! It's Romana! Romana?

(The Doctor knocks on the TARDIS door.)

KEARA: Father!
DOCTOR: What?
LOGIN: Keara! You're safe!
DOCTOR: Romana?

(Tylos comes out and is grabbed by security.)

DOCTOR: Romana?

(Varsh comes out and is also arrested.)

DOCTOR: Romana? Adric! What is this, Noah's ark? Where's Romana?
ADRIC: She's not here.
DOCTOR: Where is she, then?
ADRIC: Back at the cave.

(The Doctor enters the TARDIS, pushing Adric in with him.)

DOCTOR [OC]: What cave? Never mind!
LOGIN: Keara, you're alive.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: These short trips don't usually work. And the chances of reversing a short trip are even more remote. Still, here's hopping. Would you cross your fingers?

(Adric crosses his index fingers to ward off evil.)

DOCTOR: No, no. Not like that.

(A T symbol.)

DOCTOR: No!

(The Doctor demonstrates, and Adric copies him.)

DOCTOR: Very good.

[Starliner reception]

LOGIN: There'll have to be an inquiry, but at least you're alive.

(The TARDIS dematerialises.)

[Outler's cave]

(Romana is sitting up now.)

DOCTOR: Romana, are you all right?
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: Giant crab spiders.
ROMANA: Yes.
DOCTOR: You collect K9 together.
ADRIC: There's a dead spider.
DOCTOR: Collect that one, too. Are you sure you're all right, Romana?
ROMANA: I'm fine. Who are you?

[Science unit]

DEXETER: Of course, it should be full grown for my experiments.
NEFRED: But this one will do?
DEXETER: We do need a better specimen.
GARIF: We're lucky to have this one, aren't we, Nefred? The Doctor regards it as suitable. He seems very wise.
DEXETER: I'm prepared to consider his theories.
NEFRED: Dexeter, what exactly do you hope to learn?
DEXETER: The nature of these creatures. We're afraid of them, we retreat from their presence, and yet we know nothing about them.
NEFRED: You know nothing.
DEXETER: I was forgetting, Decider. I understood from Decider Draith that these creatures were mentioned in the System Files. But if we could put that secret knowledge of yours beside what I can discover, we could
GARIF: What is it, Nefred?
NEFRED: Dexeter, your experiments will be secret.
DEXETER: Of course, Decider, if you so advise.
NEFRED: Garif, we must confer on this matter. Meanwhile, please postpone the examination.
DEXETER: The creature is no use at all under anaesthetic. The revival will take about an hour.
NEFRED: We will return before then.

[Romana's room]

(The Doctor sets the TARDIS in flight and leaves the console room. Romana is lying on her bed with Adric in attendance.)

DOCTOR: She's still alive. Some kind of coma. Did you find K9's head?
ADRIC: No, it wasn't in the cave.
DOCTOR: No, it's not a toxin. It must be something in those spider bites, some kind of psychochemical.
ADRIC: How long will it last?
DOCTOR: How do I know? Let's get back to the science unit. I want to put some of that spider tissue under the microscope.

[Great Book Room]

OMRIL: Wait here. The Deciders are in conference.
KEARA: About us?
OMRIL: They have other matters on their minds. You'll have to have patience.
VARSH: Patience.
OMRIL: It's a virtue, they say. But I don't suppose that would appeal to stealers of river fruit.
TYLOS: What are they going to do? Is it a trial?
KEARA: An inquiry, my father said.
TYLOS: What difference does it make? Are they going to kill us?
VARSH: Of course not. It's a ploy, just psychological.
TYLOS: That's what you said about Mistfall.

[Science unit]

DEXETER: The creature will soon be ready for the experiment, if the Deciders permit.
GARIF: The First Decider has explained something of the position to us.
LOGIN: In the past, these creatures were regarded with superstitious awe, figures symbolising the whole of life on this planet.
GARIF: And as such, their origins were not to be looked into.
DEXETER: A wall of deliberate ignorance.
GARIF: Oh, we agree. The First Decider has given his permission for the experiments to proceed.
DEXETER: Excellent!
GARIF: On one condition.
DEXETER: Oh?
LOGIN: That we supervise.
GARIF: And there is to be complete secrecy. Do you understand?

[Great Book Room]

(Nefred is on the upper tier, reading, as the Outlers confer down below surrounded by security.)

VARSH: Adric should be here.
KEARA: You're very loyal to him.
VARSH: I'm all he's got.
KEARA: Poor thing.
VARSH: You've got a father.
OMRIL: Quiet. The Deciders are coming.

(Login and Garif enter.)

KEARA: Now my father's a Decider, I'm an orphan too.
NEFRED: When the Starliner crashed upon this planet, our ancestors vowed that their one endeavour would be to repair the ship and to return to Terradon.
GARIF: Each generation has renewed that vow.
NEFRED: The work is continuous on your behalf. Isn't that right, Decider Login?
LOGIN: Yes. On behalf of us all.
GARIF: Then what is to be done, Decider Login, with those that betray that vow, betray that work?
LOGIN: I have talked to them. They are children.
NEFRED: Very well. Do these children now understand what we're doing for them?
GARIF: And do they now understand the warning against Mistfall?
NEFRED: And the supremacy of the community?
LOGIN: I believe they do.
GARIF: Then let them rejoin the preparation.
NEFRED: There is no punishment.

[Starliner reception]

(The TARDIS materialises.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Stop worrying, Adric. Romana will be perfectly all right in here.

(The Doctor and Adric come out of the TARDIS.)

MAN [OC]: Maintenance unit one five briefing area two.

(The Doctor speaks to the maintenance team nearby.)

DOCTOR: That's very good. Very good.

[Science unit]

DEXETER: The anaesthetic has worn off and the creature is now fully sentient.

[Great Book Room]

DEXETER [on screen]: I'm about to begin a surgical examination of its brain.

(The Doctor and Adric burst in.)

DOCTOR: Dexeter!
DEXETER [on screen]: Doctor, you're just in time to see my theories put to the test.

[Science unit]

DOCTOR [on screen]: Dexeter, you promised you wouldn't harm that marsh creature.
DEXETER: Without a scientific understanding of these creatures, we are doomed to fear them forever.
DOCTOR [on screen]: That's not scientific understanding, its cold-blooded murder.

(The marsh child opens its eyes, and so does Romana, brightly coloured veins showing in her skin.)

DEXETER: I repeat. I am beginning surgery.

(Romana screams as the scalpel slices into the marsh child's scalp.)

DOCTOR: Dexeter, please stop! You've no right. Please!

(The marsh child struggles against its restraints. In the Book Room, the Deciders and the Doctor watch it break free and strangle Dexeter before smashing up the lab. Then it sees the Doctor on the screen and reaches for him.)

[Great Book Room]

DOCTOR: No, no, no. Don't! Don't! No!

(The marsh child breaks the screen. The explosion on its side kills it.)

NEFRED: Take away the bodies.
DOCTOR: Adric, go back to the TARDIS and wait with Romana.

(Adric leaves.)

DOCTOR: You Deciders allowed this to happen.
GARIF: The marsh creatures are mindless brutes. Animals!
DOCTOR: Yes. Easy enough to destroy. Have you ever tried creating one?
NEFRED: We were within our rights.
GARIF: One might argue that Dexeter was overzealous.
DOCTOR: Not an alibi, Deciders! You three are supposed to be leaders.
GARIF: Certainly we are. Though, of course, Nefred is, er, is now First Decider.
DOCTOR: Then Nefred is responsible.
NEFRED: For the community, yes.
DOCTOR: No, no! Perhaps they haven't let you in on the secret, Login. Shall I tell him, gentlemen?
GARIF: Secret?
DOCTOR: Yes! And the fraud of perpetual movement. The endless tasks going round and round. The same old components being removed and replaced.
LOGIN: No, Doctor, that's too harsh. The preparations are necessary.
DOCTOR: Preparations? For what? This Starliner isn't going anywhere.
LOGIN: Well, the manuals promise us a journey to Terradon.
GARIF: Yes, but it must be made ready first.
DOCTOR: Ready? It's been made ready for centuries. Look.

(The Doctor pulls a a pile of large files from the middle of the library 'shelves' to reveal a control panel.)

DOCTOR: This ship could take off in half an hour if you had a mind to it.
LOGIN: What?

(Login leaves the Deciders and joins the Doctor.)

LOGIN: Is that true?
NEFRED: You accuse us of willful procrastination?
DOCTOR: Yes! The willful procrastination of endless procedure. You want to hold onto the old order.
NEFRED: You understand a great deal, Doctor.
DOCTOR: True.
NEFRED: But not everything.
DOCTOR: That's certainly true.
NEFRED: You're standing in the Great Book Room. These galleries contain manuals on the repair and maintenance of every single item on this ship.
GARIF: Everything is listed, down to the smallest rivet.
NEFRED: Thanks to the manuals that have been passed down, we can take the Starliner apart and put it together again perfectly.
GARIF: Though there is one thing we can't do, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh?
GARIF: One secret our ancestors kept for themselves.
DOCTOR: What's that?
NEFRED: Nobody knows how to pilot this ship.
DOCTOR: What?

[Starliner]

(The former Outlers are taken to a junction to replace a unit in it. Keara holds out the instruction manual while Varsh does the work.)

MAN [OC]: Unit leader Dyvo to the auxiliary power section immediately. Unit leader Dyvo to the auxiliary power section immediately.

(They move on to the next one.)

MAN [OC]: Additional maintenance units required by air purification control. Additional maintenance units required by air purification control.

[Science unit]

(The dead spider is being dissected.)

LOGIN: The spiders only appear at Mistfall. No one's ever analysed one before.
DOCTOR: Well.

(The Doctor puts some of its innards under the microscope.)

DOCTOR: Oh, yes. Leucine, isoleucine, methionine. Hmm. Usual complement of amino acids. That's, that's odd. I've seen that cell shape somewhere before. What about Mistfall itself? Has anyone ever analysed that?
LOGIN: Yes, but the secret is only known to the Deciders.
DOCTOR: What? Well, so now you know.
LOGIN: I do, but the information is privileged.
DOCTOR: Oh. Oh.
LOGIN: Doctor, every fifty years or so, another planet takes Alzarius away from its sun. The cooling process, it's inevitable.
DOCTOR: Yes. The mists. And then the high nitrogen content in the spider cells.
LOGIN: So?
DOCTOR: So it's difficult to judge not knowing the norm on this planet. We need some tissue samples from Dexeter and the marsh child. Well, of course. Now, what did Dexeter do with that slide?

(Adric bursts in.)

ADRIC: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Not now, Adric, not now!
ADRIC: Doctor, its Romana.
DOCTOR: What about Romana?
ADRIC: She's gone!
DOCTOR: What? What?

[Romana's room]

(The place is a tip.)

ADRIC: Marshmen.
DOCTOR: Marshmen. In my TARDIS? Come on, let's find Romana.

(Adric stops to pick up the boater Romana wore in Shada.)

DOCTOR [OC]: Come on!

[Starliner]

(The Doctor picks up a piece of fabric lying on the floor. He goes down a corridor and collects another piece.)

ADRIC: What's that?
DOCTOR: It's the other half of my waistcoat. What's that?

(Adric picks up a piece of equipment.)

ADRIC: Image translator.
DOCTOR: What?
ADRIC: It's broken.
DOCTOR: Right. No more pictures of Gallifrey, then. Come on.

(Down in the bowels of the Starliner, Romana arrives at a hatch labelled - Emergency escape to be used only when ship has achieved planetfall. Romana opens it, and lets the marshmen onto the Starliner.)

Part Four

[Starliner]

MAN [OC]: Security alert. Number one emergency hatch has been opened. Number one emergency hatch has been opened. Security alert. Number two emergency hatch has been opened.

[Starliner reception]

VARSH: Marsh men!

[Starliner]

DOCTOR: You know, she could be anywhere. There must be a better way of doing it than this. We've come full circle. You know what I think
ADRIC: That's what the Decider said.
DOCTOR: Decider?
ADRIC: In the marsh.
DOCTOR: Really? What did he say? Exactly what did he say?
ADRIC: Tell Dexeter we've come full circle.
DOCTOR: Tell Dexeter we've come full circle. How's your knee, by the way?
ADRIC: That was hours ago.
DOCTOR: That was quick.
ADRIC: Old people take a bit longer, of course. Sometimes a whole day.
DOCTOR: Really? Rapid cellular adaptation; that settles it.
ADRIC: Settles what?
DOCTOR: We're going back to the science unit. Come on!
MAN [OC]: All citizens remain in their quarters. All citizens remain in their quarters. Starliner has been boarded by
ADRIC: Varsh!
VARSH: Marsh men. We've got to go back for Tylos.
DOCTOR: No, no, no! Run and get away. Take her in the science unit.
ADRIC: But we must
DOCTOR: In the science unit.

[Great Book Room]

LOGIN: How did they get in? The entrances are sealed.
GARIF: Well, if that's right, what if the doctor betrayed us?
NEFRED: I don't think so. He's already demonstrated his great wisdom. He's not a man to side with chaos.
GARIF: Nevertheless, chaos surrounds us. What are we to do?
LOGIN: Yes, what are we to do?
NEFRED: Well, Login, you're a Decider now. What are we to do?

[Starliner reception]

DOCTOR: Tylos? Tylos?

[Science unit]

VARSH: We're not helping much in here.

[Starliner reception]

DOCTOR: Look, you've got alien protein in your brain tissue. I haven't had time to analyze it yet, but I'm sure effects are probably only temporary. Please, please, don't do that. Look, this is your problem. Think about it. Psychopathology, huh? Why are you doing this? Think about it. Look! Look, K9. You remember K9 and the TARDIS. That's nice. Stay by the TARDIS. Stay by the TARDIS. Stay by the TARDIS.

[Great Book Room]

LOGIN: It might be possible to close this substructure.
GARIF: No, it seems as if the marsh creatures are already inside the main hull.
LOGIN: The bulkheads, sir?
NEFRED: One recourse, certainly.
LOGIN: Nefred, Garif, we must close these bulkheads and these, and we must gather the citizens in here at once.
GARIF: Yes, I see the plan has some merit in it.
LOGIN: And we must do it quickly.
NEFRED: We must certainly respond to this crisis on a real time basis, Decider Login, but appropriately.
GARIF: Decider Nefred is right, Decider Login.
NEFRED: I have been constructing the histories of our relationship with the marsh men.
GARIF: While a single defense response has a certain appeal, we must also consider the long-term consequences.
LOGIN: It's not a defensive response.
NEFRED: We need a holistic approach, I think.
GARIF: I wonder if you've had time to consult this manual on the peripheral unit power supplies.

[Outside the Science unit]

ADRIC: The Doctor told us to stay in there.
VARSH: But we're not doing anything.
KEARA: What can we do?
VARSH: Come on.

[Great Book Room]

NEFRED: That the marsh creatures, though they rarely speak, are the possessors of intellect.
GARIF: Furthermore, they have amazing powers of adapting to new situations.
NEFRED: Yes, their emergence from the marsh, for instance. Breathing air through their gills.
GARIF: So you can see the difficulty.
LOGIN: So you're suggesting that we do nothing.
GARIF: Well, nothing too precipitate. Whatever measures we do, they will adjust to.
LOGIN: And that is your conclusion from all this knowledge, do nothing!
NEFRED: This knowledge and more. The assistant Deciders concur?
GARIF: They do.
NEFRED: Hasty action will only add to the general sense of panic.
LOGIN: Evacuate!

[Starliner]

DOCTOR: I thought I told you three to stay put.
VARSH: We want to help.
KEARA: Doctor, where's Tylos?
DOCTOR: He's dead.

[Great Book Room]

LOGIN: Nefred!

[Science unit]

DOCTOR: Lock that door and barricade it.
DOCTOR: Dexeter's been doing DNA analysis. Adric!
ADRIC: It is what you wanted, isn't it? For the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: But it's other people's property. Do you think its right going around taking other people's property?
ADRIC: Sometimes.
DOCTOR: Well, if it works on the TARDIS, it would definitely prove we were in E-space.
ADRIC: E-space?
DOCTOR: Yes, the Exo-Space-Time Continuum, outside our own universe. I suspect that what we came through. Look, do you mind if we do one thing at a time? Good. Now for a short course in Cytogenetics.

[Emergency hatch]

LOGIN: Close the emergency hatch! See that the bulkheads are each closed on each end of this section.

[Science unit]

ADRIC: So you've got spider tissue and the marsh creature.
VARSH: And here's the first slide of batch three.
DOCTOR: Thank you. Oh! Tsk, tsk. Alas, poor Dexeter. Reduced to a tangle of stained chromosomes.
KEARA: It's ready, doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, that should put Romana to rights.

[Emergency hatch]

NEFRED: Login, Garif, we have procrastinated too long. If you survive this
LOGIN: Yes!
NEFRED: Seek out the Doctor. He can teach you to fly the starliner. It is my wish that you all leave Alzarius.
LOGIN: And return to Terradon? No, we cannot return to Terradon.
GARIF: What if the Doctor shows us how?
NEFRED: We cannot return.
LOGIN: Why?
NEFRED: Because we have never been there.
GARIF: Decider Nefred, what are we to do? Tell us. Tell us what to do.
LOGIN: He's already told us what to do. Garif, we must find the Doctor.

[Science unit]

DOCTOR: You understand? Avoid all contact. Avoid all contact. Adric! Adric, the serum!
KEARA: Doctor, look out!
DOCTOR: Quick, the serum!

[Starliner]

LOGIN: Where's the Doctor?
ADRIC: Follow us!

[Science unit]

DOCTOR: Good!
KEARA: Suppose it doesn't work?
DOCTOR: If it doesn't work, she's dead. How long's it supposed to be since the starliner crashed?
KEARA: Forty generations.
DOCTOR: Forty generations. That's a good round figure. Can't be right, though.
KEARA: Why not?
DOCTOR: Well, evolution goes in quantum leaps, but doesn't go that fast.
KEARA: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Carrier type comparisons. Yes. Definitely morphological similar carrier types. Plus the inversions in bands eight to ten might be significant. I need to establish how long the evolutionary process has taken.
KEARA: From spiders to marsh creatures?
DOCTOR: From spiders to marsh creatures and beyond.
ROMANA [OC]: You could try gel electrophoresis.
DOCTOR: That's a good idea.

[Starliner reception]

LOGIN: Tylos!
VARSH: Don't touch him! Look out! We're all right, go on!
LOGIN: We'll find the doctor, come on!
ADRIC: My cylinder is running out!
VARSH: Leave this to me. Go and get more oxygen!
ADRIC: I can't leave you on your own!
VARSH: Adric, don't argue!

[Science unit]

ROMANA: Forty generations? More like four thousand generations.
KEARA: Since the Starliner crashed?
DOCTOR: Yes. The Deciders procrastinated more than we thought.
KEARA: Can I see? How can you tell all that from the marsh creature cells?
DOCTOR: That's not the marsh creature. That's Dexeter.
KEARA: Dexeter?
DOCTOR: That's the marsh creature. And that's the spider.
KEARA: The same cells.
DOCTOR: Adric!
ADRIC: Varsh is trapped!
DOCTOR: What?

[Starliner reception]

VARSH: Adric!
ADRIC: Varsh!
DOCTOR: Is he dead? Poor Varsh. Have you any more oxygen?
LOGIN: As much as you want. We have an electrolytic power system
DOCTOR: Which will actually make the stuff?
LOGIN: Yes.
DOCTOR: Splendid. Enough to fill the whole starliner?
LOGIN: Well, I'll see what I can do.
KEARA: He saved our lives. You'd better keep this for him.

(She gives Adric Varsh's plaited belt.)

[Power unit]

COMPUTER: Oxygen supply to all areas. Oxygen supply to all areas. Oxygen supply to all areas.

[Emergency hatch]

GARIF: We've got to kill them. Kill them!
DOCTOR: No. No, I think we should let them go.
GARIF: What?
DOCTOR: Look! They adapted quickly.
GARIF: They'll learn to breath the air.
DOCTOR: Yes.
GARIF: They might break into the ship and wipe out the crew.
DOCTOR: Yes. Still the manuals in the great book room will show them how to put it all together again.
GARIF: They could learn to read?
DOCTOR: Yes. Just like they did forty thousand generations ago. They're your ancestors.
LOGIN: Nefred's dying words. That's why we can't return to Terradon.
GARIF: It's horrible!
DOCTOR: Oh, I don't think so. We're all basically primeval slime with ideas above its station.
GARIF: How can you compare us to those, those things?
DOCTOR: Yes, I see what you mean. I suppose they are adaptive, intelligent.
GARIF: Login, shut the door. They've gone.
LOGIN: But how long for?
GARIF: What?
LOGIN: They've learned to get out.
GARIF: Well, quite. Will they learn to come in?

[Starliner reception]

LOGIN: So the first marsh men came to resemble the original crew of the starliner.
DOCTOR: Yes. The creatures most willing to survive in it.
GARIF: Terradonians. We are not Terradonians.
DOCTOR: I know you're not Terradonians. You're not marsh men either, are you? Which is what they seem to resent.
GARIF: I'm afraid they'll return. If they re-enter the ship
LOGIN: We must do what Nefred said. Doctor, you must fly the starliner. You must fly us out of here.
DOCTOR: What? You mean, fly you to Terradon?
LOGIN: Or any other suitable planet.
GARIF: Well, certainly. This is a colony ship. We can program it to find them.
ROMANA: If they stay here, generations of evolution may be wiped out.
LOGIN: Please, Doctor, it's our whole future.

[Great Book Room]

DOCTOR: Stabiliser. Power Fuel.
GARIF: The system files, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good.
LOGIN: And this is the flight manual. I've heard of it, but I've never seen it.
GARIF: The pages referring to takeoff were damaged in the crash.
DOCTOR: Shhh. Ready? Thrusters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
ROMANA: Ground hold disengage.
DOCTOR: Got it.
ROMANA: Then it's just ignition.
DOCTOR: Which is that button there, gentlemen.
ROMANA: The manual is readable from there on.
DOCTOR: Have a good flight gentleman!
GARIF: Doctor!
LOGIN: You don't want us to take off on our own?
GARIF: Doctor, come back!
DOCTOR: The green button gentleman!
GARIF: Such a momentous decision!
LOGIN: We must do what Nefred said.
GARIF: I see his point, but on the other hand
LOGIN: Garif, we must live up to our names. We must make this decision together.
GARIF: But you will agree. It does require some thought.

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: They asked me to stay on you know, become a Decider.
ROMANA: You, a Decider?
DOCTOR: Yes. I decided not too.
ROMANA: Doctor, what did happen while I was unconscious?
DOCTOR: Oh, Adric and I were too busy to think about you.
ROMANA: Hmm. Adric's left us a present.
DOCTOR: Really? An Image Translator! Loot! He stole that. Still It might come in useful.
ROMANA: It works!
DOCTOR: Yes unfortunately.
ROMANA: Negative coordinates.
DOCTOR: Yes that settles it. We're out of our own time and space, Romana.
ROMANA: Exo-space?
DOCTOR: Yes. What I think we came through was a Charged Vacuum Emboitment.
ROMANA: A CVE.
DOCTOR Hmmm. One of the rarest Space-Time events in the universe.
ROMANA: Doctor, look. The Starliner is taking off.
DOCTOR: Well, they made a decision.
ROMANA: And we're trapped. Unless we can find another CVE.
K9: Affirmative.

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.