The Brain of Morbius

Part One

(On a distant planet, an alien, insectoid by the looks of it, crawls through some ruins towards a small craft with a bubble dome. A humanoid with a hook instead of one hand watches, draws a knife then pounces. The alien squeals as it is stabbed.)

[Solon's parlour]

(Philip Madoc is putting the final touches to a bust he is sculpting when the man with the hook enters carrying something covered in a sack.)

SOLON: You were quick, Condo. Were there no survivors?
CONDO: One, an oxygen breather.
SOLON: Humanoid? Excellent. Let me see.

(Solon takes the sacking off the item to reveal the insectoid's head.)

SOLON: No, that won't do. Even if the ganglia could be. No, the cranium's too narrow, the cerebrum undeveloped. That is an insect! Even a half-witted cannibal like you can see it won't do!
CONDO: But the big head's not come, master. Not to Karn.
SOLON: It must, Condo. One day, a true humanoid species, warm blooded, with a central nervous system. One such specimen, just one, and I can complete my work here.

[Planet surface]

(The TARDIS materialises amongst the ruins and the Doctor rushes out. Thunder rolls.)

DOCTOR: Come out, meddlesome, interfering idiots. I know you're up there so come on out and show yourselves!

(Sarah sneaks out cautiously with a torch.)

DOCTOR: Messing about with my TARDIS. Dragging us a thousand parsecs off course.
SARAH: Oi, have you gone potty? Who are you shouting at?
DOCTOR: The Time Lords, who else? Now, you see? You see? They haven't even got the common decency to come out and show their ears.
SARAH: They're probably afraid of getting them boxed, the way you're carrying on.
DOCTOR: It's intolerable. I won't stand for any more of it.
SARAH: Oh look, why can't it have just gone wrong again?
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: The TARDIS.
DOCTOR: What? Do you think I don't know the difference between an internal fault and an external influence? Oh, no, no, no. There's something going on here, some dirty work they won't touch with their lily white hands. Well, I won't do it, do you hear!

(Thunder rolls in reply.)

SARAH: There's something ominous. Where are we, do you think?
DOCTOR: I don't know and I don't really care.
SARAH: Oh, come on. Come on, stop being so childish.
DOCTOR: I'm just going to sit here and do nothing.
SARAH: So there.
DOCTOR: Yes.

(Sarah spots the insectoid's spacecraft.)

SARAH: Look, Doctor. Oh, come on, have a look at it. I mean, you don't know what you might be missing. Well, do you know what it is?

(The Doctor plays with his yoyo.)

DOCTOR: Yes. Ejection bubble.
SARAH: A what?
DOCTOR: A space parachute.
SARAH: Pardon?

(She climbs onto the ruins to get a better look around.)

SARAH: Hey, Doctor, quick. Come and look at this! There must be about a dozen wrecked spaceships out there. It's like the Sargasso Sea.
DOCTOR: Fancy.
SARAH: It's incredible. I mean, why should they all have crashed here?
DOCTOR: I've no idea.
SARAH: Well, I think you should take a look. Coming?
DOCTOR: No, thanks. I'm just going to sit here and practise my double loops.
SARAH: Well, please yourself. I'm going anyway. Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Yes.

(Sarah leaves. The Doctor goes over to the TARDIS and wipes some dirt off its notice board. Then Sarah screams. He runs over to the ruins where she is kneeling by the remains of the insectoid.)

SARAH: I suppose it was the crash?
DOCTOR: Not the crash. Afterwards.
SARAH: After? So it was deliberate?
DOCTOR: Looks as if he escaped in the ejection bubble, and while he was wandering around dazed someone or something attacked him. Poor Mutt.
SARAH: Mutt?
DOCTOR: Yes, a mutant insect species. Widely established in the Nebula of Cyclops. I thought I recognised the stars.
SARAH: You've been here before?
DOCTOR: I was born in these parts.
SARAH: Near here?
DOCTOR: Well, within a couple of billion miles, yes.
SARAH: Hey, look!

(The lightning reveals Solon's castle nearby, looking like a basilica with lots of flying buttresses.)

SARAH: Come on. At least it's civilisation.

(It starts to rain. Sarah tries to cover her head with her quilted jacket, while the Doctor puts up a broken umbrella.)

SARAH: Oh god. Come on.

(A young woman dressed in red watches them go.)

[Solon's laboratory]

(The mad scientist has rigged up the Mutt's head to one of his contraptions, and puts electrical currents through it. The eyes move, then the mandibles. He notes the results.)

SOLON: Motor reflexes seven tenths.

(A lightning strike blows out his power supply. He lights a candle.)

SOLON: Condo! Condo, fetch some lamps.

(He goes to the door.)

SOLON: Condo!

(Solon leaves. Something moves behind a curtained off section of the lab.)

[Shrine]

(The young woman reports to a much older woman.)

MAREN: Two of them?
OHICA: A male and a female, Maren, in the valley below.
MAREN: Our senses reach beyond the five planets. They were not
OHICA: They are here.
MAREN: No ship can approach Karn without detection. Even the silent gas dirigibles of the Hoothi are felt in our bones while still a million miles distant.
OHICA: There was no ship, Maren. The last was the cruiser of the Mutts.
MAREN: Then how? How, Ohica?
OHICA: I do not know. I say only what my eyes have seen.
MAREN: Is it as I feared? For months now I have had a dream that the Elixir of Life would be taken from us.
OHICA: Taken?
MAREN: Next to myself, Ohica, you are the oldest of our sisterhood. Come, let me show you.

(They cross the room to an oval metal panel set partway up the wall. Maren unlocks the clasp and opens it to reveal a flame flickering in a rock alcove. Below it is a goblet.)

OHICA: The Flame of Life! Maren, what is wrong? Why is it so low?
MAREN: The Flame dies, Ohica. Every month, every day, it sinks lower.
OHICA: How can this be? At our ceremonies the Flame has burned brightly, higher than my shoulder.
MAREN: A deception. For many months past, before each ceremony, I have secretly fed the Flame with powdered Rine Weed.
OHICA: But if the Flame dies, there will be no more Elixir.
MAREN: It has been low now for over a year. The vessel remains empty.
OHICA: Then we are doomed. Our sisterhood will perish.
MAREN: We are only servants of the Flame. If the Flame dies, then so must we.

(Maren closes the panel and locks it again.)

OHICA: Maren, should not the others know?
MAREN: Not until the end is certain. As you know, Ohica, the secret of the Life Elixir is known only to our sisterhood and the High Council of the Time Lords. Since the time of the stones we have shared the Elixir with them. Now there is none to share.

(Ohica helps Maren back to her throne.)

MAREN: The few phials that are left I have kept for ourselves. But for months I have felt the Time Lords would come to rob us of these last precious drops.
OHICA: You think the two I saw have been sent to steal the Elixir?
MAREN: If that is so, we must deal with them. Summon our sisters. We will form a circle.

[Solon's parlour]

(Solon enters carrying a lamp.)

SOLON: Where have you been?

(Condo is on an upper level.)

CONDO: Master.
SOLON: I asked you, you stupid ox, where have you been? (Condo comes down the stairs.)
CONDO: I go find food, master.
SOLON: You're lying. You can't deceive me, Condo. You've been looking for that arm again, haven't you. I've told you before. You get the arm back when our task here is finished. You serve me well and I'll put it back as neatly as I took it off. But if you fail me, you'll keep this for the rest of your life. Do you understand?
CONDO: Yes, master.

(A bell rings.)

CONDO: The door. Somebody ring.
SOLON: Answer it, you fool.

(Condo opens the door to reveal the Doctor and Sarah.)

DOCTOR: Can you spare a glass of water?
SARAH: Can we come in?
SOLON: Humans. At last. Humans!

(Solon goes to greet them.)

SOLON: My dear sir. My dear, dear sir. You have no idea what a pleasure this is. It's so long since we've. Condo, take their clothes.
SARAH: Well, if we could just shelter for a while, that would be fine.
SOLON: Great heavens, you can't go walking on a night like this. I wouldn't dream of letting you proceed one step further. Condo, stir yourself. Our guests are cold and tired and wet and. Let me take your hat, sir. There. Oh. What a magnificent head.
SARAH: What?
SOLON: Superb head.
DOCTOR: Well, I'm glad you like it. I have had several. I used to have an old grey model before this. Some people liked it.
SARAH: I did.
SOLON: What?
DOCTOR: I said, some people liked it, but I prefer this model.
SOLON: Forgive me. What a surly host you must think me. Please, come in, come in. Make yourselves at home. Warm yourselves and sit down. Condo, pour the wine.
SARAH: Oh, it's very kind of you. Thank you.
SOLON: Not at all, not at all. It's an honour to offer you whatever comforts my humble abode can provide. As you see, the amenities here are rather antiquated.
SARAH: Oh, no, I think it's very
DOCTOR: Interesting.
SARAH: Oh, yes, yes.
SOLON: Well then, tell me, tell me about your adventures.

(They all sit at a round table in front of the log fire.)

SOLON: It's so rare that anyone arrives here on Karn.
DOCTOR: Karn, is it? I should have known.
SOLON: You mean you arrived here without knowing?
SARAH: Oh well, we often go on a sort of mystery tour, don't we, Doctor? Doctor?

(The Doctor is staring over his shoulder at the mystery bust, now in darkness. )

DOCTOR: You seem very keen on heads, Mister er.
SOLON: Solon.
DOCTOR: Mister Solon.
SOLON: Mehendri Solon.
DOCTOR: It's very good.

(The Doctor goes over to the bust and Solon follows.)

SOLON: Yes, I. Modelling is one of my hobbies, you know, but unfortunately this is not a very good example.

(Solon covers the bust with a cloth.)

DOCTOR: Oh no, I thought I recognised the face.
SOLON: No.
DOCTOR: No?
SOLON: You made a mistake.

(They return to the table.)

DOCTOR: Talking of heads, or their absence, we found a headless body lower down the mountain.
SOLON: How distressing.
DOCTOR: Yes, it was.
SOLON: It must have been from one of those crashed spacecraft, no doubt.
DOCTOR: Yes, that's another thing. How many did we count, Sarah?
SARAH: Fifteen.
DOCTOR: Fifteen. The wreckage of fifteen ships all in this one area.
SOLON: There's a belt of magnetic radiation.
DOCTOR: Magnetic radiation?
SOLON: Oh, I don't know anything about it, but I believe that is the theory. In fact, Karn has become quite notorious.

(Condo brings a tray with goblets and a jug, bowls and a plate of food.)

SOLON: Ah, here we are. Now, let's hope that Condo has brought something special. Thank you. Condo, how many times have I told you the wine must be opened and allowed to breathe.
DOCTOR: Oh, please, please.
SOLON: No, no, no. So would you please do as you've been instructed? Hurry.

(Condo leaves with the jug.)

SOLON: He's an excellent fellow, very devoted to me, but his intelligence is not the highest.
SARAH: What happened to his arm?
SOLON: Oh I, er, many years ago I dragged him from the wreck of a Dravidian starship and his arm? Well, amputation was the only way of saving his life.

(Solon serves up the food in the bowls.)

[Shrine]

(The Sisters are on their knees around Maren on a raised circular dais as she gazes into the large stone on her ring.)

SISTERS: Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire.

(Maren's ring becomes a scrying device, and the TARDIS appears.)

SISTERS: Sacred.
MAREN: I see it.
SISTERS: Flame.
MAREN: I see the machine of our enemy.
SISTERS: Sacred fire. Sacred Flame.
MAREN: Concentrate, sisters. More power!
SISTERS: Sacred fire.
MAREN: Bring the machine here.
SISTERS: Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred

(The TARDIS solidifies.)

MAREN: Enough. Enough. It is done.

(They all go over to the TARDIS and hold their hands an inch away from its surface.)

MAREN: I was right, Ohica. It is a time machine.
OHICA: Of the kind
MAREN: A TARDIS. Only the Time Lords know the secret of such machines.
OHICA: Then the one I saw is a Time Lord.
MAREN: Sent here to steal the Elixir.
OHICA: Maren, what can we do? Alone among all the races in our galaxy, the Time Lords are our equals in mind power.
MAREN: That is true, Ohica. Other races we can destroy from within. We can place death in the centre of their beings, send them mad with false visions. But with this one such powers would have no effect. He would close his mind to us.
OHICA: Then we are lost!
MAREN: There are other ways. But first we must find him. Form a circle, sisters.

(They return to the dais.)

SISTERS: Sacred fire. Sacred Flame.

[Solon's parlour]

(Condo brings the open jug of wine.)

SOLON: One never really overcomes the nostalgia for one's planet of origin. Sometimes at night I look up at the sky and I think, will I ever see Earth again?
SARAH: I know the feeling.
DOCTOR: What made you settle on Karn?
SOLON: Well, nobody lives here. Nobody bothers me. I can get on with my work.
SARAH: What kind of work is that?
DOCTOR: Microsurgical techniques into tissue transplant. It was the title of the book you published.
SOLON: You know something of my history, Doctor.
DOCTOR: One of the foremost neurosurgeons of your time. Considerably after your time, Sarah. Yes, your disappearance caused quite a stir. It was said by some you'd joined the followers of the cult of Morbius.
SOLON: Malice. Academic jealousy. I just had to get away.

(Condo puts his knife back in his belt.)

[Shrine]

SISTERS: Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire.

(Maren's ring shows her the Doctor draining a goblet of wine and smiling.)

MAREN: So, our enemy thinks himself safe in Solon's castle.
SISTERS: Sacred fire. Sacred Flame.

[Solon's parlour]

(Sarah pours her wine into a dish when no one is looking.)

SOLON: You know, I always knew that one day I'd have a guest with a head for such a fine vintage.

(Suddenly, the doors blow open and the wheel chandelier crashes to the floor. The cloth is ripped away from the bust and the fire is blown out. The doors slam shut again. Sarah comes out from underneath the table.)

SARAH: What was that?
SOLON: Oh, just a freak squall.
DOCTOR: Or a telekinetic visit.
SOLON: What?
DOCTOR: From the Sisterhood of Karn.
SOLON: What do you know of the Sisterhood?

(The Doctor drunkenly taps the side of his nose and turns to look at the bust. He stands.)

DOCTOR: I know who that reminds me of now. One of the Time Lords. Morbius.

(The Doctor staggers slightly.)

SARAH: Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: One of the most despicable criminally minded wretches that ever lived.

(The Doctor sits down again then passes out.)

SARAH: Doctor!
SOLON: There are some of us who would not agree with that, Doctor.

(Sarah slumps back in her chair, unconscious.)

SOLON: It worked, Condo. He is ours!
CONDO: We take head now?
SOLON: You put that away. This will be no crude butchery. A head such as this, a head that will soon command the universe, must be taken with care and skill. Every step must be planned. Every suture, every small incision has to be perfect. This will be my great triumph, Condo. A thousand years from now, people will remember Solon's last and greatest operation.

(He measures the Doctor's head.)

CONDO: Not last, master. Me last.
SOLON: What?
CONDO: Arm. You made promise.
SOLON: Any third rate hack can fix an arm, but a head, the centre of the nervous system, that takes more than just skill. That takes genius.
CONDO: Girl.
SOLON: What girl?
CONDO: Her.
SOLON: Kill her.

(Condo shuffles over to Sarah.)

SOLON: Condo! I am anxious to get on. Now take him to the laboratory. I want to start my work.

(Condo lifts the Doctor over his shoulder and carries him out.)

SOLON: Mind his head.

(Once they have gone, Sarah opens her eyes and follows them.)

[Solon's lab]

(Solon listens to the Doctor's hearts with a wooden stethoscope.)

SOLON: A secondary cardiovascular system. So he's a Time Lord. I thought as much. That's excellent, because we have no problem of tissue rejection.
CONDO: Time Lord dangerous.
SOLON: What?
CONDO: Much power, master.
SOLON: Rubbish! The Time Lords are spineless parasites. Morbius offered them greatness once but he was betrayed and rejected. They'll pay for that mistake, Condo. These pacifist degenerates will be the first to feel the power of his revenge.

(Solon puts a scalpel against the Doctor's throat. Meanwhile, Sarah is searching the corridors. Condo brings a trolley of surgical implements.)

SOLON: What's that for? Do you think I'm going to operate in this light? We need proper lighting and power for the instruments, so we have to repair the generators. Come.

(Solon and Condo take the lamp and leave the Doctor lying on the examination couch. A mist drifts over him and he vanishes.)

[Corridor]

SOLON: There is a lot to be done. I have to remove the Doctor's brain before I can start the operation. Hurry!

(After Doctor Frankenstein and Igor have passed, Sarah comes out of the shadows and goes to the lab.)

[Solon's lab]

(Sarah enters the dark room. She looks around, then notices movement behind the curtained area.)

SARAH: (sotto) Doctor? Is that you?

(She goes to the curtain and pulls it aside to reveal someone on a bed.)

SARAH: Oh, Doctor, wake up.

(The thing on the bed sits up. Its body is a mish-mash of different species sewn together, but it has no head!)

Part Two

[Solon's lab]

(Sarah backs away from the blind creature.)

SARAH: He's mad. He must be.
SOLON [OC]: Before we start the operation all instruments must be sterilised. Do you understand?

(Sarah looks around for a hiding place.)

[Corridor]

SOLON: We'll start the operation at once as the risks of meningal infection are very high.

[Solon's lab]

SOLON: I think just one medic is sufficient to.

(Solon notices that the examination couch is empty. He checks behind the curtain.)

SOLON: Condo.
CONDO: Doctor gone.
SOLON: I can see that, you chicken-brained biological disaster, but how? And where? That drug. Did you put it all into the wine?
CONDO: Yes, master. All little bottle in big.
SOLON: Then he must still be unconscious. He can't have moved. That squalid brood of harpies, the Sisterhood. That accursed hag Maren found I was holding a Time Lord and rescued him. May her stinking bones rot! I'll see her die, Condo. I'll see that palsied harridan scream for death before Morbius and I are finished with her.
CONDO: What do?
SOLON: We must get the Doctor back. We must!
CONDO: Sisters see much, master. See with mind.
SOLON: I could wait a lifetime and not find a head as suitable. Whatever the risk, we have to get him back. Come.

(Solon and Condo leave. Sarah comes out of hiding and leaves too. )

[Shrine]

(The Doctor is lying on the floor, still tied up with ropes. He wakes to find himself surrounded by women holding flame-shaped spears.)

DOCTOR: Have I been ill long, nurse?
MAREN: I am leader of the Sisters.
DOCTOR: Hmm? Sorry, matron.

(The Sisters sit him up and offer him a drink.)

MAREN: Maren.
DOCTOR: No, thank you. I had a little drink about an hour ago. Events have moved along while I was asleep.
MAREN: You feign ignorance, Time Lord?
DOCTOR: Please, just call me Doctor. I hate all this bowing and scraping.
MAREN: Do you wish to confess?
DOCTOR: Confess? To what?
MAREN: That you were sent here by the High Council of the Time Lords.
DOCTOR: Well, I have to confess
MAREN: Good.
DOCTOR: That I don't really know. The calibrators have been on the blink recently.

(He sees the TARDIS across the room.)

DOCTOR: How did you get her here, by the way?
OHICA: The power of the Sisterhood.
DOCTOR: Really? What, you mean you still practise teleportation? How quaint. Now, if you got yourself a decent forklift truck
MAREN: Doctor, you have but a little time left. Will you waste it prattling nonsense or confess your guilt.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, I have but a little time left?
MAREN: Before you die.
DOCTOR: But I'm only seven hundred and forty nine. Life doesn't begin until seven hundred and
MAREN: At the next sun. That is agreed.
DOCTOR: Not by me, it isn't. I haven't even been consulted.
MAREN: Confess that you were sent here to steal the Elixir of Life, and your death will be made easy.
DOCTOR: I haven't the vaguest notion of what you're talking about. The last thing I remember, I was taking a glass of wine with Solon and Morbius.
MAREN: Morbius is dead.
DOCTOR: That's right. Morbius is dead.

(The Doctor realises what he has said.)

DOCTOR: How did I get that impression?
MAREN: The Time Lords destroyed Morbius for his crimes here on Karn.
DOCTOR: Solon had a clay model of his head. But it was more than that. A living mental contact. I felt the mind of Morbius.
OHICA: Morbius was executed for leading the rebellion. His body was placed in a dispersal chamber and atomised to the nine corners of the universe.
DOCTOR: I know that. But I tell you, Maren. Just for a second, before I passed out, his mind touched mine. I felt his burning hatred and anguish. Morbius is alive.
MAREN: I suppose you think raising these old fears can somehow help you, but I was present at his execution. Morbius is dead, Doctor, and you will join him very shortly.

[Rocks]

SOLON: Quietly. We're nearing the shrine.

(They hide behind some large stones as a Sister passes carrying firewood.)

CONDO: Condo kill?
SOLON: Put that away, you oaf. The last thing I want is trouble from the Sisters.
CONDO: Not kill Sisters, master? How we get big head?
SOLON: We wait. They've got to come out sometime, so we wait. Then we follow, and when he's alone. But not until then, do you understand?
CONDO: Master.

(Condo starts up.)

SOLON: What is it?
CONDO: Condo hear.
SOLON: I heard nothing.

(Up on an outcrop of rock, Sarah has trodden on a loose stone. Carefully she reaches down and picks it up before it falls. Below, more Sisters pass the hidden men.)

CONDO: Why Sisters take wood?
SOLON: I was wondering the same thing.

[Shrine]

(Because they are building a pyre around a stake.)

OHICA: All is ready, High One.
MAREN: The sun appears. I give you the last chance, Doctor, to confess your guilt.
DOCTOR: I'm guilty of nothing.
MAREN: This powder can spare you from the anger of the flame. Without it, you will die in torment, so confess.
DOCTOR: You seem convinced I'm guilty. Why is it so important I confess?
MAREN: With your spoken confession, the Time Lords can never deny they plotted against the Sisterhood.
DOCTOR: Plotted against you? You've got it wrong, matron.
MAREN: Nevertheless
DOCTOR: Nevertheless nothing. For years, the Time Lords have extended their friendship towards the Sisters. When Morbius and his rebels overran this planet, who was it saved you?
MAREN: The Time Lords acted then as they do now, from self-interest. They too feared Morbius. They too depended on the Elixir of Life for their survival.
OHICA: And now the Elixir no longer forms, you Time Lords want for yourselves the little that remains.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, the Elixir no longer forms?
OHICA: The Sacred Flame dies.
DOCTOR: How can it? That flame is the product of gases forcing up along a geological fault from deep in the molten heart of the planet. It will burn for millions of years.
MAREN: It dies.
DOCTOR: Unless some subterranean movement. Have you noticed any tremors recently?

(A gong interrupts him. The sun shines in and the Sisters worship it.)

OHICA: It is time for the sacrifice, High One.
MAREN: Take him. The flame must feed.
DOCTOR: No, wait, please. Please, listen.

(The Doctor is tied to the stake.)

DOCTOR: Why don't you listen? This could explain why I've been sent here. You need scientific advice.
MAREN: You had the chance of mercy, Doctor.

(The Sisters start chanting and twirling around the stake.)

DOCTOR: This could be a grave mistake, Maren. If those gases are sealed in, this entire mountain could explode. Remember Cotopaxi? Mount Vesuvius? What about Pompeii? Surely you remember Popocatepetl?

[Rocks]

SOLON: It's the song of death.
CONDO: What?
SOLON: They're sacrificing to the flame. I must see what's happening. I must get nearer.
CONDO: No, master. Evil place.
SOLON: The sacrifice to the flame. They never offer up one of their own. It's always an outsider. I must see what's happening.

(Sarah follows at a distance.)

[Shrine]

(Solon and Condo make their way along a narrow rock passage while the Sisters continue their chant and dance, and their torches burst into flames.)

SOLON: Stop it! Stop it!
CONDO: Master.
MAREN: What is the meaning of this?
SOLON: I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry.
MAREN: Death to those who enter the Shrine.
SISTERS: Death, death, death, death.

(Condo moves to defend Solon, and Maren zaps him with her ring.)

MAREN: Your presence is a blasphemy against the Sacred Flame.
SISTERS: Death, death, death.
SOLON: Maren, High One, believe me, I meant no harm.
MAREN: The harm is done. The sacrifice is defiled.
DOCTOR: Take no notice, Solon. I'm delighted to see you.
OHICA: Be silent!
DOCTOR: That music was terrible.
OHICA: Enough! The High One commands.
SOLON: Maren, I only came here to ask a favour from the Sisterhood. I never intended to offend against
MAREN: What is the favour, Solon?
SOLON: In all the years I've been here on Karn, I've never asked or sought anything of the Sisterhood before. I've helped you, I've treated many of the Sisterhood.
MAREN: All this is true. What do you want?
SOLON: The Doctor. Spare his life.
DOCTOR: Hear, hear. Seconded. Anyone against?
MAREN: The Doctor is condemned. He must die in the flame.
SOLON: But the Time Lords and the Sisterhood, they
MAREN: That alliance no longer exists!
SOLON: Maren, I beg you, I beseech you. If you must sacrifice, then take my servant!
MAREN: Go, Solon. Leave now.
SOLON: Look, please, if you're going to sacrifice him, then just leave me his head. Only as far as the cervical vertebrae. You can keep the rest but I must have his head. Please, don't burn his head. I need it. I need it for my
MAREN: The Sisterhood know of your unnatural experiments, Solon. Your affairs hold no interest for us.

(While Maren speaks, a hand reaches into the Doctor's pocket and takes out a pair of cutters which she uses to unfasten him.)

MAREN: Your presence here on Karn is tolerated only as long as you keep your place. Be gone from here at once or you too will die in the flame.
SOLON: I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry.

(Solon and Condo leave.)

SISTERS: Sacred Flame. Sacred fire.
MAREN: Make the offering.
DOCTOR: I'm ready, Maren.
MAREN: Flame of life, fire of death, take this body into thy eternal heart.

(Sarah joins in the ritual as the Sisters kneel to Maren in turn before lighting the pyre. The Doctor writhes as he tries to keep away from the flames. Maren shuts her eyes, and when she opens them again, he has gone from the stake. She spots him with Sarah at the doorway and fires her ring at them, but misses.)

MAREN: Stop them! Stop them!

[Shrine passageway]

(Sarah and the Doctor hide as two Sisters run along the rock passage.)

DOCTOR: Come on, let's follow them. They must know the way.

[Solon's parlour]

SOLON: What a waste. What a stupid, senseless waste.
CONDO: You give Condo. Why?
SOLON: What?
CONDO: Condo good servant. You give Sisters, let kill Condo.
SOLON: Silence, you chattering ape. Haven't I enough to think about?
CONDO: Condo kill you!

(Condo puts his hook around Solon's neck.)

SOLON: Now don't be a fool.
CONDO: Condo not fool. Condo not fool now.
SOLON: Now stop it, do you hear? Now let me go.
CONDO: You make Condo fool. Now you die.
SOLON: Condo, what are you doing? For mercy's sake. No, no, don't. I didn't mean it. I wouldn't have let them. You can't think I'd have let them do it? It was only a joke. It was just a silly joke.
CONDO: Solon joke.
SOLON: That's all. Just a joke. A stupid joke.
CONDO: Condo not joke. You loose hands.

(Solon twists away just before Condo brings his knife down.)

SOLON: No, no, I'll do anything. You want your arm? You can have your arm back!
CONDO: Take hook? Give good arm?
SOLON: I wouldn't lie to you, would I? I mean, I have the arm. You know I've got the arm. That's what you always wanted, isn't it?
CONDO: Give arm now. Condo not kill.
SOLON: You go to the laboratory and get it ready, and I'll fetch the arm.

(Condo leaves. Solon picks up a lamp and opens a door at the end of the room past the bust of Morbius.)

[Rocks]

DOCTOR: I think we've given them the slip. The barbecue's off. What's the matter?
SARAH: I can't see.
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: I've gone blind.
DOCTOR: Let me look. Let me look.
SARAH: Ow. It was the flash.
DOCTOR: Shush. Keep still, keep still. I can't see anything. They look perfectly normal to me.
SARAH: Oh, is that hopeful?
DOCTOR: Yeah, of course it is. The flash probably numbed the optic nerve. It'll wear off in a few hours. Come on.
SARAH: Or not, as the case may be.
DOCTOR: Oh, Sarah.
SARAH: Sorry, sorry.
DOCTOR: Gently, gently.
SARAH: Thanks. Hey, you know, I could always sell flowers, couldn't I? You know, lovely fresh violets, guv. If I ever get back to Piccadilly.
DOCTOR: Shush. If you're going to sit there wallowing in self-pity, I'll bite your nose.
SARAH: You.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's go.
SARAH: Right. Where are we going?
DOCTOR: Solon's.
SARAH: What? Are you nuts?
DOCTOR: Come on. I've got the measure of Solon now.
SARAH: No, Doctor, he's a maniac. He's got a body there. No head, oh no. It's just made out of lumps of things.
DOCTOR: Has he, now?
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: Well, I have a feeling he's keeping something else there too. Something far worse than a headless body.
SARAH: I just don't understand you.
DOCTOR: Come on.

[Basement]

(In the depths of his castle, Solon is talking to someone we cannot see in a room with possibly more lab equipment than the one upstairs.)

SOLON: I promise you faithfully you'll be free again, but I only need a little more time to complete my final experiments.
MORBIUS: I grow weary of your endless promises, Solon. Always you need more time.

(The voice is a little burbley and slightly electronic. Davros-ish.)

SOLON: But if you could only see how much has been accomplished and how little remains. I have worked night and day in your service, Morbius. When I brought you here there was nothing! I had to build my own laboratory out of ruins. I had to invent and construct my own equipment to start experiments.
MORBIUS: Experiments? When we formed this plan to outwit the Time Lords, nothing was said of experiments! You told me it could be done.
SOLON: And it can, Morbius, it can. I've made so many discoveries. I have mastered new techniques no other man has even conceived. I can transplant limbs, organs. I can create life. And all against the most appalling difficulties.
MORBIUS: Yet I am still here! I can see nothing, feel nothing. You have locked me into hell for eternity. If this is all there is for me, I would sooner die now.
SOLON: There is so much at stake. I cannot afford to take a risk. Every step is an advance into new fields of surgery. Every step has got to be tested.
MORBIUS: Solon! You desire to be know as the creator of Morbius, rather than his servant.
SOLON: No, Morbius, you must trust me. I face many problems. Even Condo has become unreliable and must be put down.
CONDO [OC]: Master! Master!

[Solon's parlour]

(Condo is shouting down the stairs from the main room.)

CONDO: Master!

(Solon enters to see the Doctor and Sarah sitting at the table.)

SOLON: Doctor. Well, what happened? Did they release you?
DOCTOR: Oh, we got away.
SOLON: I did my best to save you at the risk of my own life. I tried to make Maren see reason.
DOCTOR: Yes, I noticed. I was very touched by your concern.
SOLON: Well, it's wonderful to see you. Some wine?
DOCTOR: No, thank you. We've had one taste of your hospitality. All I want from you, Solon, is a professional opinion. Sarah's been blinded. Examine her eyes.

(Sarah holds the Doctor's hand as Solon looks at her.)

SOLON: We'll have to go to the laboratory.
DOCTOR: After you.

[Shrine]

OHICA: They may still be hiding among the rocks, Maren. Shall we continue searching?
MAREN: The Time Lord can never leave Karn. We have his TARDIS. Sooner or later he will return for his machine, and we will be ready for him.
OHICA: Yes, High One.
MAREN: Next time he will not be so fortunate, Ohica. He will wish he had died in the flame.

[Solon's lab]

(Solon is using an otoscope to peer into Sarah's eyeball.)

DOCTOR: Well?

(Solon continues the examination, so the Doctor walks away and takes the opportunity to look at the thing behind the curtain. He returns.)

DOCTOR: Well?
SARAH: Yes, what's the verdict?

(Solon shakes his head.)

SOLON: I think there's every chance, every chance of a complete recovery, but I have to check my findings, of course. Condo, would you take the, our young guest back to the parlour, please.
SARAH: No! Doctor, don't let
DOCTOR: Now Sarah, don't worry. Whatever the truth is, you'll hear it. Go on.
CONDO: Girl not see. Condo help.
DOCTOR: Thank you.

(Condo guides Sarah out.)

DOCTOR: Well?
SOLON: I'm very, very sorry.
DOCTOR: Can't you operate?
SOLON: The retina's almost completely destroyed. There's nothing I can do for her.
DOCTOR: Nothing?
SOLON: Well, there's a faint chance.
DOCTOR: A chance?
SOLON: No, it's impossible.
DOCTOR: What chance?
SOLON: The Elixir of Life. As you know, it regenerates tissues. But the Sisterhood control its only source. You're not going to get any from there.
DOCTOR: If that's what's needed, I'll get it.
SOLON: You can't go back to the Shrine. They'd kill you on the spot.
DOCTOR: I must take that risk. Sarah can stay here.
SOLON: You don't know Maren. Maren is not going to let you have the Elixir.
DOCTOR: We'll see.
SOLON: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes.
SOLON: Good luck.

(The Doctor leaves, and Solon smiles.)

SOLON: Condo!

(Solon dips a piece of wood in some ink and starts writing.)

[Solon's parlour]

SOLON [OC]: Condo!
CONDO: Master call. Condo go him.

(Condo leaves Sarah to walk into a chair and knock a glass off the table.)

SARAH: Ow!
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon!
SARAH: Hello?
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon, is that you?
SARAH: Who's there?
MORBIUS [OC]: Solon!

(Sarah stumbles up the steps and goes towards the door to the cellar.)

[Solon's lab]

(Solon has finished his letter and is sealing it with some wax when Condo enters.)

SOLON: Condo, I want you to take this to the Sisterhood. You understand?
CONDO: Sisters?
SOLON: Now, don't worry. You're in no danger. Just put it into their hands. But you must hurry. You must get there before the Doctor. Do you understand that? Right.

(Solon hustles Condo out.)

[Basement]

(Sarah has managed to get down the stairs without falling.)

SARAH: Where are you?
MORBIUS: Here.
SARAH: Who is it? What's the matter?
MORBIUS: Who are you?
SARAH: I just want to help. What's wrong? I can't see.
MORBIUS: Where have you come from? Are you one of the Sisterhood?
SARAH: No.

(We get to see the remains of Morbius - a brain and upper spinal cord in a vat of green liquid.)

MORBIUS: Did Maren send you to destroy me?
SARAH: No, of course not!
MORBIUS: Yes, she did! You she-devils want to destroy me!
SARAH: No!
MORBIUS: Now, before I've had my revenge!
SARAH: No!
Part Three

[Basement]

SOLON: What are you doing here?
SARAH: Oh! I heard a voice. Someone
SOLON: You shouldn't be in here. Nobody's allowed in here. You could do untold damage. Now, get out!

(Solon pushes Sarah out of the room and shuts the door. She stumbles back to the foot of stairs.)

[Outside the basement room]

MORBIUS [OC]: Solon, have you lied to me again?
SOLON [OC]: I, Morbius, lied?
SARAH: (sotto) Morbius.

[Basement]

MORBIUS: You said we were alone here.
SOLON: The Doctor and the girl have only been here a few hours. Morbius, his head is perfect for the purpose. Once I have it, we can begin our final operation.
MORBIUS: If the head is suitable, why haven't you already started?
SOLON: I think he suspects
MORBIUS: There are two of you! Your servant, Condo, has the strength of a giant.
SOLON: There might be a struggle, and the brain could suffer irreparable damage. It must be in perfect condition!

(Tissue stretched between two sets of electrodes vibrates with annoyance.)

MORBIUS: Do you think I care about my ultimate appearance? Just to walk again, to feel, to see!
SOLON: Naturally, that is how you think now, my lord, but when you are once more a physical entity, imagine how you will see yourself then. Think how it will be then.
MORBIUS: Solon, I think of nothing else! Trapped like this, like a sponge beneath the sea. Yet even a sponge has more life than I. Can you understand a thousandth of my agony? I, Morbius, who once led the High Council of the Time Lords and dreamed the greatest dreams in history, now reduced to this, to a condition where I envy a vegetable.
SOLON: You must endure for only a little while longer. I swear it. I have sent the Doctor into a trap.

[Outside the basement room]

SOLON [OC]: He's gone back to the Shrine of the Sisterhood, but they are warned and they are waiting, and by sunset he will be dead.

(Sarah carefully closes the chamber door and turns the lock.)

[Basement]

(Solon sees the lock turn.)

SOLON: Open this door! Do you hear me? Open this door or you will die for this.

[Outside the basement room]

MORBIUS [OC]: What is it, Solon? What has happened?
SOLON [OC]: The girl has shut me in. What a senseless gesture. What can she hope to accomplish.

(Sarah feels her way up the stairs.)

SOLON [OC]: Open this door! When Condo gets back, you will die!

[Solon's parlour]

SOLON [OC]: Do you hear me? You will die!

(Sarah finds the main door and leaves.)

[Shrine]

SISTERS: Sacred Flame, sacred fire.

(It is communion time for Ohica and four other members of the Sisterhood, and the goblet is offered to each to drink a drop of Elixir.)

SISTERS: Sacred Flame, sacred fire. Sacred Flame, sacred fire. Sacred Flame, sacred fire.
MAREN: From the sacred Flame, you have been granted the gift of eternal life. Cherish and serve the flame, my sisters.

(Four Sisters leave.)

MAREN: Only you five will now survive, Ohica.
OHICA: You mean there is no more Elixir?
MAREN: That was the last.

(Maren puts the goblet back in front of the Flame and closes the door.)

MAREN: Now our Sisterhood is surely doomed.
OHICA: But High One, you yourself should have been among those who drank of the Elixir. It is your time.
MAREN: There was only enough for five of our sisters, not for more.
OHICA: Maren, you know what will happen.
MAREN: It is ordained.

(A Sister hands over Solon's letter.)

OHICA: A message, High One, brought by Solon's servant.
MAREN: (reads) The Doctor is returning.
OHICA: Already?
MAREN: Solon claims to have tricked him. He still bargains for the Time Lord's head.
OHICA: He's an insolent fool.
MAREN: No, they are both insolent, Ohica. Yet the Doctor is not a fool. Has he no fear of the Sisterhood? Does he think death a trivial thing?
OHICA: What shall we do?
MAREN: Be ready. Warn the guards.

[Rocks]

(Arms outstretched to feel her way, Sarah nearly falls off the top of the rocks. She squeals, then carefully feels the edge of the outcrop as she goes back to the path downwards.)

[Shrine passageway]

(The Doctor has arrived.)

DOCTOR: Ding dong.

(A net falls on him, and Sisters surround him.)

DOCTOR: We can't go on meeting like this.

[Solon's parlour]

(Condo returns from his errand.)

CONDO: Master? Master?
SOLON [OC]: Down here, Condo. Down here!

[Shrine]

OHICA: Why have you returned?
DOCTOR: I need some of your Elixir.
MAREN: At last you confess.
DOCTOR: No, not for myself. Sarah was blinded by the ray from your ring. I need the Elixir to restore her sight.
MAREN: This is what Solon said?
DOCTOR: Yes.
MAREN: But he knows the effect of the ray is not permanent.
OHICA: The girl will recover.
DOCTOR: I see. A wasted journey. Well, thank you, ladies. That's really all I called about.
MAREN: You have been condemned to die.
DOCTOR: We're not going through all that again. If I wanted to steal from you, would I come in through the front door?
MAREN: Then why did you come to Karn if not to steal?

(The Doctor removes the net.)

DOCTOR: I can't answer that question, Maren, until I know what Solon intends, but I have a feeling something incredibly evil is brewing.
OHICA: Nothing happens on Karn without our knowledge.
DOCTOR: A Time Lord could live on Karn without your knowledge. He could place a barrier around his mind.
MAREN: What are you suggesting?
DOCTOR: Morbius was a Time Lord.
MAREN: Oh, that name again. I tell you, I saw his execution. I saw his body placed in the dispersal chamber. Nothing of Morbius, not the smallest atom, still exists.
DOCTOR: Was Solon living on Karn at the time?
MAREN: I believe so. There were many on Karn then. They came from all across the galaxy to attend the trial of Morbius.
DOCTOR: A war criminal. A ruthless dictator, but with millions of fanatical followers and admirers.
MAREN: Riff-raff and mercenaries. The army he brought to Karn was the scum of the galaxy.
OHICA: He promised them the Elixir of Life and immortality.
MAREN: Morbius betrayed our secret. Until then, only the Time Lords knew of the Elixir. Now we have to remain constantly on guard against the entire cosmos.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, that's something else I want to mention. You really can't go on dragging innocent space travellers to their deaths.
MAREN: Innocent?
DOCTOR: Until proved guilty. Those spaceships might just be passing. No, if I'm going to help you, I must insist upon one thing.
MAREN: What?
DOCTOR: Wrecking of spaceships has got to stop. Agreed?

[Rocks]

(Sarah tumbles down the last of the steps down the outcrop, and makes her way across the open space until her questing hands find - )

CONDO: Come.

(He takes hold of her by the hair.)

SARAH: Condo.
CONDO: Master order. Find girl. Maybe kill girl.
SARAH: No, no, Condo, please don't. No, please.
CONDO: Come.
SARAH: Let go, please, Condo. You're hurting me.
CONDO: Condo not kill.
SARAH: Please, Condo, let me go.
CONDO: Girl nice.
SARAH: Yes. Please let me go, Condo.
CONDO: Master order!
SARAH: No! Please, you're hurting me.
CONDO: Find girl. Girl pretty.

(Condo lets go of her hair.)

CONDO: Condo like.

(Condo takes Sarah's arm instead.)

SARAH: Ow! If you stop breaking my arm I might like you a little bit.
CONDO: Not like. Condo ugly.
SARAH: Condo, please let me go. I must find the Doctor.
CONDO: Doctor dead.
SARAH: No, you're lying. He can't be! I know he can't.

(Condo picks up Sarah.)

SARAH: Condo, please put me down!
CONDO: Better you come now. Master want.
SARAH: Please, put me down!

[Shrine]

MAREN: Your arrogance is limitless, Doctor. I've only to raise my finger for you to be put to death.
DOCTOR: But I'd be no use to you dead, Maren, and you do have a problem.
MAREN: The Flame of Life.
DOCTOR: No Flame, no Elixir. No Elixir, pretty soon no Sisterhood.
MAREN: When the Flame dies, our Sisterhood dies. It is ordained.
DOCTOR: There's nothing mystical about that flame, Maren. It's a perfectly natural phenomenon. If it's dying, there must be a reason. A scientific, physical reason.
MAREN: I have served the Flame for centuries. There is nothing to be done.
DOCTOR: Then you have nothing to lose by letting me see it.
OHICA: He is right, Maren. What harm is there?
MAREN: Send the guards to the outer chamber.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
MAREN: No eyes outside the Sisterhood have ever looked upon the Flame of Life.

(Maren unlocks the door of the Flame.)

OHICA: It is even lower!
DOCTOR: Is it always this colour?
MAREN: Always.
DOCTOR: Fascinating. And the heat from the flame causes oxidation of the chemicals in the rocks, and then, no doubt, a chemical reaction with rising superheated gases and you have your Elixir. The impossible dream of a thousand alchemists dripping like tea from an urn.
MAREN: Do not try to understand mysteries beyond the reach of the mind.
DOCTOR: Oh, I wouldn't think they're beyond a decent spectrograph, Maren. One could probably synthesise that stuff by the gallon, though the consequences would be appalling.
OHICA: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: What? Everyone trying to live forever? No. Death is the price we pay for progress, you know.
MAREN: You speak in riddles, Doctor. The Time Lords were glad enough of the Elixir.
DOCTOR: Only in rare cases. When, for instance, there's some difficulty in regenerating a body. We don't take it regularly like you, otherwise we'd fall into the same trap.
MAREN: And what trap are we in?
DOCTOR: Immortality. You must have been old when the Elixir was discovered. How many centuries have passed while you have remained unchanged. How long since anything here changed?
MAREN: Nothing here ever changes.
DOCTOR: Exactly my point. No progress. Please, stand back.

(The Doctor takes something from behind his ear.)

MAREN: What is that?
DOCTOR: A little demon.

(The Doctor lights the flash-bang then drops it into the hole that the Flame is coming out of.)

MAREN: Stop! He must not touch

(The Flame goes out.)

OHICA: The Flame is dead.
MAREN: Take him. Guards! You have defiled the magic of the mountain. Now you must die!

(The Doctor is back against the stake. Maren holds up her ring and then the whole room lights up.)

OHICA: The Sacred Flame! We are saved, High One!
DOCTOR: Soot, that's all. There'll be no charge. Of course, you won't get any Elixir for quite a while yet. This rock's got to warm right through.
MAREN: And so now, Doctor, you expect us to show gratitude?

[Solon's lab]

(Sarah is tied down firmly to the examination couch.)

SOLON: I don't think our young guest is going to escape again, Condo.
CONDO: Master not hurt girl.
SOLON: Why, I've misjudged you all this time, Condo. Under that brutish exterior there lurks a tender, compassionate nature.
CONDO: Condo like girl.
SOLON: Oh, he's such a romantic.
SARAH: You think you're a bundle of laughs, don't you.
CONDO: Hair pretty.
SOLON: All right, that'll do. She doesn't like it. Now get out. Go on, get out.

(Condo leaves.)

SOLON: Poor old Condo. Perhaps I'll give him your hair as a memento.
SARAH: You're insane, Solon. You're mad.
SOLON: Oh, no, I'm not. That's what they said, but they were jealous. They envied my achievements. When I said I could create life, they laughed at me, they mocked me. Only Morbius had the faith to believe in me. Only Morbius. They will laugh the other side of their faces.

(Solon pulls back the curtain on the Body.)

SOLON: Every part of this, every organ is mine, with my own hands. They'll see. And it's functioning perfectly, exactly to the required standard. It only needs the head and I (pause) It's getting dark already. Maren should have sent the Doctor's head by now. Nothing could have gone wrong. Condo saw him go into the Shrine. I don't understand it.

[Basement]

MORBIUS: Is it time, Solon?
SOLON: I do not yet have the Time Lord's head, master.
MORBIUS: What do you mean, Time Lord?
SOLON: The Doctor.
MORBIUS: The Doctor is a Time Lord?
SOLON: That is why his head is so perfect. From one of your own race, from one of those who turned up on you and tried to destroy you, you get a new head for Morbius. The crowning irony.
MORBIUS: Fool!
SOLON: I'm sorry, the pun was irresistible.
MORBIUS: You fool, Solon. Don't you see what this means? The Time Lords have tracked me down.
SOLON: No, you're wrong.
MORBIUS: I am not wrong. I know the Time Lords. Pallid, devious worms. You had the Doctor here and you let him go. You were tricked!
SOLON: You mean Maren and the Doctor plotted together?
MORBIUS: Of course they did! And now the Time Lords will return in force to finish their work. Find me helpless, defenceless. They'll destroy me, Solon. Because of you, they'll destroy me! All my suffering will have been for nothing.
SOLON: And all my work. All that terrible, lonely isolation. What can I do? How can I stop them?
MORBIUS: We have only one chance. You must get me away from here before they arrive.
SOLON: I can't. The support cell can't be moved, and without it your brain would die.
MORBIUS: The body can be my support system. You must get me into it, Solon.
SOLON: That is impossible. Without a head it cannot be done.

[Outside the basement room]

(Condo is listening.)

MORBIUS [OC]: You have the girl. Use her head.
SOLON [OC]: The female braincase is too small. If I were to attempt it, you would die as surely as at the hands of the Time Lords.

[Basement]

MORBIUS: I have to get out of this tank! Solon, you spoke once of constructing an artificial braincase.
SOLON: I abandoned that a long time ago.
MORBIUS: Why?
SOLON: Because there were too many problems. Formidable problems. There was no way of eliminating the build-up of static electricity within the cranial cavity. Periodically it would have earthed through the brain, upsetting the delicate equilibrium, dislocating the neural centres.
MORBIUS: But you made a braincase.
SOLON: Yes! It's here somewhere.

(Solon opens a container and removes a perspex dome with a metal base, brass fittings for eyes on stalks and ears, and electronic connectors at the rear.)

SOLON: No, it can't be done, Morbius. There would be severe pain, there would be seizures, perhaps even madness.
MORBIUS: Whatever the risks are, I will take them rather than surrender to the Time Lords. There is no choice left to me, Solon.
SOLON: I will do my utmost, my lord, with all the skill I have.
MORBIUS: Prepare me for the operation.

(Solon pulls a hose from the bottom of the jar, and the green liquid gushes out to leave the brain unsupported.)

[Shrine]

OHICA: Maren, is what we are doing right?
MAREN: It is out of our hands now, Ohica. Take him to Solon.

(Eight Sisters carry the Doctor out on their shoulders, on a stretcher.)

[Basement]

(Solon and Condo gently pick up Morbius' jar.)

SOLON: Right, I want to start the operation. Careful, very careful. That's it, that's it.

(They carry it out of the room.)

[Solon's lab]

(And into here.)

SOLON: Very good. Right, over here. That's it. Be very careful. Down. Down. That's it.

(The Body has also been brought here.)

SOLON: Condo, I want you to work the pump.

(Condo spots a nice humanoid left hand on the Body.)

CONDO: (sotto) Condo's arm. You take Condo's arm for this.
SOLON: Hurry up, man. This is no time for trivialities. The brain will deteriorate unless it's connected again soon.
CONDO: You take Condo's arm!

(Condo pushes Solon to the floor. Solon takes out a small hand weapon and shoots Condo, but he doesn't kill him. They struggle, and the jar containing Morbius' brain is knocked over. It falls out and onto the floor.)

SOLON: You cretin! You stupid animal!

(Solon shoots Condo twice more.)

SARAH: What happened?
SOLON: You murderous animal!
SARAH: Don't shoot him, Solon. What happened?
SOLON: Morbius, Morbius. The greatest intellect there has ever been.

(Solon gently picks up the brain.)

SOLON: Destroyed by a mindless brute.
SARAH: What happened? Solon, where's Condo? What happened?
SOLON: There was an accident. Morbius' brain on the floor.

(Solon places the brain in the perspex braincase.)

SOLON: I don't know what damage has been done. You must help me.
SARAH: What? Help you? No.

(Solon cuts Sarah free.)

SOLON: I need an assistant. I can't do the operation on my own.
SARAH: Doctor, you can't leave me. Solon, I can't.
SOLON: You will do as I say.
SARAH: I can't. You can't make me.
SOLON: You will do as I say!
SARAH: I don't really understand.

(Solon drags Sarah over to the Body.)

SOLON: Put your hand on this pump. Now, once every three second you
SARAH: No, no, wait, wait, think. What if I make a mistake?
SOLON: If he dies, you die.

(Sarah takes hold of the handle and raises it, then pushes it down and counts to three. Solon returns to the braincase. Condo crawls out into the corridor. The Sisters carry the apparently dead Doctor through the rocks. Time passes. Solon is finishing attaching the braincase to the Body.)

SOLON: The pressure. I said every three seconds, girl. I've connected the casing to a neural harness. It's much safer than the old biomechanical links.
SARAH: Do I stop pumping now?
SOLON: Yes. All that's left is to disconnect the external power supply to the brain and test for neural feedback.

(He does so. A claw arm jerks.)

SOLON: There, did you see that? That was a positive response. Did you see that?
SARAH: I can't see anything. Anyway, that thing had the twitches since I first met it.
SOLON: Those were random nervous reflexes. That was a definite response to stimulation. Watch.

(The claw jerks and snaps again.)

SOLON: Did you see? You see, that was the first sign you'd expect.
SARAH: Successful?
SOLON: The motor centres of the brain have taken over. If there was no cerebral damage, within a few minutes Morbius will live again.

(The doorbell rings.)

SOLON: Go and answer.

(Solon leaves. Morbius stirs.)

[Solon's parlour]

(Solon enters as the Sisters leave. They have left the Doctor on the floor. Solon cradles his head in his hands.)

SOLON: Morbius was wrong.

[Solon's lab]

(Sarah is starting to get her sight back. Morbius gets off the operating table and comes up behind her, his claw reaching for her neck.)

Part Four

[Solon's lab]

SARAH: I can see. I can see again! (Sarah turns, sees Morbius and screams. She dodges around the room trying to keep away from the wicked claw, and they knock over a bunsen burner in the process. It ignites the contents of a kidney bowl, which Morbius' claw then touches. He catches fire and starts screaming too, knocking over the table and sending the burning substance across the floor. Sarah escapes.)

[Solon's parlour]

(Sarah runs in. Solon is still cradling the Doctor's head.)

SARAH: You'd better do something. That monster of yours is on the loose.
SOLON: Oh, no, not yet. It's too soon. I've got to stop him.

(Solon runs out. Sarah sees the Doctor lying on the floor.)

SARAH: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Hello, Sarah. Nice to be seen again.
SARAH: Oh, Doctor.
DOCTOR: You thought I was dead, didn't you? You're always making that mistake. Come on, we've got to find Morbius' brain. Solon has to be stopped.
SARAH: Doctor, you're too late.
DOCTOR: I can't be.

[Solon's lab]

(Morbius' claw isn't burning any more, but he is still wrecking the lab. He pulls down the curtain and sees himself in a mirror. After a few moments of disbelief, he smashes it. Solon enters.)

SOLON: Morbius, stop it! This is Solon. Solon, your creator. Can you hear me? Now listen. Your brain may be damaged. Broca's area. The speech centre isn't functioning properly. Look, don't you recognise me? I made you.

(Morbius attacks Solon, crushing his chest, then leaves the lab.)

[Solon's parlour]

DOCTOR: A glass braincase?
SARAH: Yes. Or plastic. I don't know. Anyway, you can actually see that brain inside it, like a goldfish bowl.
DOCTOR: Can you read his thoughts?
SARAH: No. Look, I'm serious, Doctor. It's horrible.
DOCTOR: And crude. It could lead to a brain malfunction and that spells danger.

(Morbius enters.)

DOCTOR: Keep calm, Sarah. Keep calm. Whatever you do keep. You are calm. Hello, Morbius. You remember me?

(The Doctor tries to shake Morbius' humanoid hand, and he gets hit over the head with the claw for his troubles.)

SARAH: Doctor! Doctor! Doctor, please get up. Please.

(Morbius advances on Sarah.)

SARAH: No, no.

(She backs up against the stairs, and falls.)

[Corridor]

(Condo hears the noise.)

SARAH [OC]: Argh! Get up, Doctor, please.

[Solon's parlour]

SARAH: Doctor, please. Please, Doctor, I need your help!

(Condo runs in as Sarah makes for the basement door. He gets between her and Morbius, and shuts the door. Sarah falls down the cellar steps.)

CONDO: You not kill girl.

(Condo and Morbius grapple, hook and knife versus giant claw. It's an even battle.)

CONDO: Condo kill you.

(But Morbius makes Condo drop the knife, then gets his claw to Condo's throat. Morbius wins, then goes outside. The Doctor comes round, and opens the cellar door. Upstairs in the lab, Solon is recovering, but his ribs are sore. He goes to a drawer and gets out a hypodermic.)

[Basement]

(The Doctor picks up Sarah at the foot of the stairs and carries her in.)

SARAH: Where are we going? Where are we going?

(He lies her down on the work bench.)

DOCTOR: Are you all right?
SARAH: What happened? Where is he?
DOCTOR: Gone for a lurch, I think. He killed Condo. Shush. You stay there.
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: I'll be back soon.

[Solon's parlour]

(Solon fits the hypodermic into a dart gun and comes down the stairs. He sees that the Doctor is no longer on the floor.)

DOCTOR: It's not your night, is it, Solon.
SOLON: I thought you were dead. Morbius has got to be stopped.
DOCTOR: He should never have been started.
SOLON: His brain is only functioning on the motor level. I hadn't finished the operation, and you've got to help me. If I don't find him soon then the consequences could be incalculable.
DOCTOR: Really?
SOLON: Yes. His hated for the Sisterhood is his deepest emotion at the instinctual level at which his mind's now working.

(The Doctor heads for the door.)

DOCTOR: Come on.

[Rocks]

(Morbius encounters a Sister amongst the rocks, and puts his claw around her throat.)

KELIA: No!

(A little later, the Doctor and Solon find her body draped over a carved slab.)

SOLON: Dead?
DOCTOR: Yes. Is that a stun gun?
SOLON: Yes.
DOCTOR: He can't have gone far. You go that way. We'll try and cut him off across these rocks.

(So they split up. The Doctor encounters Morbius first and gets pinned against the rocks by that claw. Solon hears Morbius' inarticulate noises and shoots the hypo into his back. Morbius slumps. Solon checks him.)

SOLON: There's no damage as far as I can see.
DOCTOR: No damage?
SOLON: There might be a slight contusion of the corpus callosum. I don't know until I get it back.
DOCTOR: Solon, this thing you've made is an unspeakable abomination. It's just throttled the life out of someone.
SOLON: Simple animal instinct, Doctor. Morbius wouldn't want to aggravate the Sisterhood at this stage. Lift him up with me.
DOCTOR: What?
SOLON: I've got to get him back before the anaesthetic wears off.
DOCTOR: All right, Solon. But when we get him back, he's not going out again. Not ever.

(The Doctor puts Morbius over his shoulder.)

SOLON: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: I mean this operation is going to end where it began, on the operating table. The brain can be detached and returned to the Time Lords.

[Shrine]

(The dead Sister is carried in.)

MAREN: Who is responsible? Who killed Kelia, our sister?
OHICA: She was found near Solon's habitation, High One.
MAREN: Solon?
OHICA: The sister who found her saw a creature high among the rocks.
MAREN: What creature?
OHICA: She only saw it briefly, but then later she saw the Doctor and Solon hunting for it.
MAREN: So, Solon has succeeded in his vile experiments.
OHICA: And if the Doctor is right, High One, he will have given it the brain of our ancient enemy, Morbius.

[Solon's lab]

DOCTOR: Five minutes, Solon. You've got five minutes.
SOLON: Doctor, I've spent my lifetime
DOCTOR: You've spent your whole life resurrecting evil. Now, either you disconnect the brain or I'll do it my way.

(The Doctor brandishes his wire cutters.)

SOLON: Oh, no. I'll do it.
DOCTOR: Five minutes, Solon. I'll be back to count the pieces.

[Basement]

(Sarah is still sleeping on the work bench.)

DOCTOR: Oi, oi, I've done it. Come on.

(Sarah wakes with a start.)

SARAH: Oh, I just had the most terrible dream.
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: First of all, I was blinded. Then I was attacked by a great claw thing looked like it was made from butcher's leftovers. And then I was
DOCTOR: Knocked down a flight of stairs.
SARAH: How did you know?
DOCTOR: I was there.
SARAH: You were? What happened to Mister Allsorts?
DOCTOR: Solon's dismantling him.
SARAH: That's a switch.
DOCTOR: Force majeure.

(But actually, Solon is locking them into the chamber.)

DOCTOR: We're lucky he botched the operation. The brain of Morbius and that body makes a terrifying combination. For the sake of the future of the universe, I had to make him destroy his handiwork.
SARAH: Was he really that dangerous?
DOCTOR: Who, Morbius?
SARAH: Uh huh.
DOCTOR: There was a civilisation here once. Now look at it. And there are other planets like it, all destroyed by Morbius. Nothing but ashes.

(The Doctor discovers that the door is locked.)

DOCTOR: Damn! I should have stayed with him.
SARAH: Sonic screwdriver.
DOCTOR: It's in the TARDIS.
SARAH: Oh.

[Solon's lab]

(Solon has the braincase open, and is working on the connections to the body.)

SOLON: This time, Morbius, there'll be no mistakes.

[Shrine]

OHICA: Is it right that we should let the Doctor fight our battles for us?
MAREN: What are you saying?
OHICA: Morbius is our enemy also.
MAREN: There is no proof. No proof, Ohica, that the brain of Morbius still survives. That was simply the Doctor's theory.
OHICA: One that makes meaning of Solon's meaningless work. And Solon himself is evil. The blood of our sister Kelia stains his hands.
MAREN: Away from the Flame our powers fade. Even if the Doctor is right, there is little we can do to help.
OHICA: We should do the little we can. If the Doctor faces both Solon and Morbius then
MAREN: Ohica, I am too old. Too old and weak to leave the Shrine. I could not lead you.
OHICA: Then let me, High One. Give the order and let me lead the Sisterhood.

[Basement]

SARAH: There must be something we can do. It's not like you to give up. I mean, Solon has got to be stopped, hasn't he?
DOCTOR: There's a thousand tons of reinforced concrete between us and Solon's laboratory. I know these places. Hydrogen plants are all built to the same basic design, the Scott Bailey principle. I've got an idea.
SARAH: I knew you would.
DOCTOR: Solon must've kept the brain alive in a colloidal nutrient. Hydrogen cyanide, Sarah. Hydrogen cyanide.
SARAH: Hydrogen cyanide.

(They search the room.)

DOCTOR: HCN.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: HCN.
SARAH: Ah ha! HCN.

(Sarah holds up a small bottle.)

DOCTOR: Prussic acid. Good girl.
SARAH: So what do we do now, drink ourselves to death? What are you looking for? If you tell me, I can help you. Is it big, is it small? What is it?

(The Doctor kicks over a side table to reveal a small ventilation duct in the wall.)

DOCTOR: I knew there'd be one.
SARAH: Oh, come on. We're not going to get out through there.
DOCTOR: That isn't the idea. That duct should lead to Solon's laboratory.
SARAH: Are you suggesting I crawl
DOCTOR: No, I'm not.
SARAH: Then what?
DOCTOR: We've got all we need to make cyanogen.

(The Doctor starts pouring liquids into a kidney bowl.)

DOCTOR: Cyanogen. Just a drop, two, three.

(He puts the bowl into the duct.)

DOCTOR: Stand back, Sarah. I mean well back.
SARAH: Okay.
DOCTOR: If we can create the right combustion conditions

(He pours the Prussic acid into the mix and retreats as it produces a gas.)

DOCTOR: Something should happen.

(Upstairs, Solon is closing up the braincase as the gas starts to drift in through a vent.)

SARAH: How do we tell if it's worked?
DOCTOR: Well, if we're still here in a month
SARAH: It hasn't worked.
DOCTOR: Correct.
SARAH: Hmm. How many hours in a month?

[Solon's lab]

SOLON: I've done it. Morbius, I've done it. (coughs) You will live. You will (cough) You will live again.

(Solon clutches his throat and falls across Morbius' body. Morbius sits up and he falls to the floor.)

MORBIUS: Cyanide.

(He sees the gas coming from the vent.)

MORBIUS: Ah.

[Basement]

(Ohica leads the Sisterhood through the rocks.)

SARAH: How many seconds in a month?
DOCTOR: Two million six hundred and seventy eight thousand four hundred.

(Morbius makes a noise behind them.)

SARAH: Short month.
MORBIUS: An ingenious idea, Doctor, but ineffectual. Your poison affected only Solon. I have the lungs of a birastropthe.
DOCTOR: With a methane filter. What does it feel like to be the biggest mongrel in the universe?
MORBIUS: Solon designed this body for efficiency, not for its appearance. To be free again is all that matters.
DOCTOR: Free to cause more havoc, more destruction?
MORBIUS: The Time Lords will not oppose me again, nor the Sisterhood. When it is learnt that I, Morbius, have returned from the grave, my followers will rise in their millions.
DOCTOR: You really can't go on calling yourself Morbius. There's very little of Morbius left. Why don't you think of another name? Potpourri would be appropriate.
SARAH: How about Chop Suey?
MORBIUS: What!
DOCTOR: Chop Suey, the galactic emperor.
MORBIUS: You will be the first to die.
DOCTOR: Brain getting a little overheated, is it? Careful, not as strong as it was.
MORBIUS: My brain functions perfectly.
DOCTOR: I doubt it, Morbius. All that time in a tank, it's gone soft. Do you dare put it to the test?
MORBIUS: What test?
DOCTOR: We have all the apparatus here. I challenge you to a mind-bending contest.
MORBIUS: I am a Time Lord of the first rank. What are you?
DOCTOR: Oh, nothing, nothing. A mere nobody, but I don't think you're in the first rank any more.
MORBIUS: Very well, Doctor. If that is how you want to die, I accept your challenge.
DOCTOR: There's sporting gentleman.
SARAH: What's mind-bending?
DOCTOR: Time Lord wrestling. It's usually a game but it can end in death lock.
MORBIUS: It will, Doctor. I, Morbius, do not play games.
DOCTOR: Neither do I. Are you ready?

(There is a tall piece of metalwork with a circular piece at head height. The Doctor and Morbius place their foreheads against armatures at head height which are connected to the circle by wires.)

DOCTOR: En garde, Morbius.

(The Doctor switches it on. The circle fills with images, first of Morbius and how he originally looked, then the Doctor and his previous incarnation.)

MORBIUS: Is your mind, Doctor, going?
SARAH: Doctor.
MORBIUS: How far, Doctor? How long have you lived?

(Patrick and Bill, then a man with a moustache, someone with a powdered wig.)

MORBIUS: Your puny mind is powerless against the strength of Morbius.

(More faces, including a William Shakespeare lookalike. Presumably these are Morbius' previous appearances.)

MORBIUS: Back. To. The. Beginning!

(Then there is a bang inside his braincase and it fills with smoke. They both disconnect, and Morbius staggers away. The Doctor falls sideways.)

SARAH: Doctor?
(Morbius leaves while Sarah waves smelling salts under the Doctor's nose.
The Sisterhood enters the parlour as Morbius comes up the stairs. They brandish their torches at him and drive him outside. Ohica takes the opportunity to go down to the basement. She finds Sarah cradling the Doctor's head.)
OHICA: What has happened?
SARAH: I think he's dying.

(The Sisterhood drive Morbius up the rocks and over a cliff. It is a long way down.)

[Shrine]

MAREN: The Time Lord dies. Only the Elixir of Life can save him.
OHICA: And we have none.

(Maren goes to the Flame and opens the cover.)

SISTERS: Sacred Flame. Sacred fire. Sacred Flame. Sacred fire.

(Maren takes the goblet.)

MAREN: Enough has formed, Ohica. Enough for the Doctor.
OHICA: But High One, your own need.
MAREN: Here, take it. Perhaps the Doctor was right. There should be an end.

(Maren turns to the Flame, and Ohica pours the Elixir into the Doctor's mouth. He sits up, then lies back again.)

DOCTOR: Nectar? Stewed apricots. No custard. Ah!
OHICA: Maren!

(The old woman is sitting in the Flame. As they stare, she turns into a young woman before vanishing completely.)

DOCTOR: Was that the last?
SARAH: Without it, you would have died.
OHICA: It was ordained.
DOCTOR: And Morbius?
OHICA: He is destroyed. We owe you thanks, Doctor,
DOCTOR: Oh please, Ohica, please, no speeches of gratitude. Sarah and I have an engagement.
SARAH: We have?
DOCTOR: Come along.
SARAH: Thank you, Ohica.

(The Doctor gives Sarah the key and she opens the TARDIS. )

DOCTOR: Goodbye, Sisters. Oh, in case you have trouble with the chimney.

(He hands her two flash-bangs.)

OHICA: What are they?
DOCTOR: A might atom and a thunder flash.

(He goes into the TARDIS.)

OHICA: There is some ancient writing here, Doctor. Is it a Time Lord spell? What does it say?
DOCTOR [OC]: Light the blue touch paper and stand clear.

(The TARDIS dematerialises with a bang and flash.)

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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