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Episode One

[UNIT radar tracking]

(An elegant golden spaceship is picked up on a tracking dish.)

RADAR 1: Twenty five mps. One million miles. Mass, variable.
RADAR 2: Well, if that's its course, we've discovered a comet. Run another course check.
RADAR 1: It's altered its course!
RADAR 2: It can't have.
RADAR 1: Oh, yes it can, mate. You can say goodbye to your comet, 'because whatever that thing is, it's on collision course and heading straight for Earth.

(We get a close up at the approaching ship, with it's organic-looking hull, leech-mouth-like bow, and tail-shaped stern. Inside, large lifeforms with lots of root-like appendages flail around.)

[Brigadier's office]

(A Civil Service type opens a file conveniently labelled Top Secret, then another. Other people are standing and sitting around the room.)

CHINN: Nothing. Nothing at all.
BRIGADIER: No.
CHINN: Brigadier, as head of this committee of enquiry, I must remind you of the Defence Ministry ruling.
BRIGADIER: Mister Chinn, as head of UNIT, I must remind you, that we're not in the Ministry of Defence.
CHINN: All personnel must be properly screened
CHINN + BRIGADIER: And scrupulously filed.
CHINN: As an elementary security precaution, I must insist upon a file for this Doctor, er, what's-his-name.
BRIGADIER: I'm sorry, Mister Chinn. I am personally responsible for the Doctor.
CHINN: Typical! Absolutely typical! That's the kind of high-handed attitude one's come to expect from the UN recently. Now, Brigadier, what about this Doctor? I gather he's not a British subject. Then who is he and where does he come from?

(The Doctor enters, catching the pacing Chinn with the edge of a double door.)

DOCTOR: Good morning. Oh, good morning.

[UNIT corridor]

JO: I gather Washington thinks it's time the Master was dealt with?
FILER: (american) Something like that.
JO: And you're going to deal with him single handed?
FILER: Yeah. No, no, that was Errol Flynn.
JO: Who?
FILER: Forget it.

(Jo and Filer walk past a set of red orange and green lights on the wall under a large number six. They all begin to flash.)

[Brigadier's office]

DOCTOR: My dear Mister Chinn, if I could leave, I would, if only to get away from people like you.
BRIGADIER: Doctor.
DOCTOR: And your petty obsessions! England for the English! Good heavens, man!
CHINN: I have a duty to my country!
DOCTOR: Not to the world?

(Jo and Filer enter.)

JO: Good morning. Oh, I'm sorry. Has the conference started?
BRIGADIER: No, not yet.
JO: This is Bill Filer from Washington HQ.

[UNIT corridor]

(The lights are still flashing but nobody is paying attention.)

YATES: What is it? Do you know?
BENTON: No idea, sir.

[Brigadier's office]

DOCTOR: There's no point in discussing the Master. I keep telling you, he's left Earth by now.
BRIGADIER: We can't be certain of that, Doctor. We must keep on looking.
CHINN: Master? Who is the Master?
FILER: I, er, I have a report here, Brigadier. It's classified I'm afraid, sir.
CHINN: Then I must insist upon staying.
FILER: I'm sorry, sir. You have no clearance.
CHINN: On the contrary, for the duration of this enquiry, I've been guaranteed full access to
FILER: Not by us, sir.
CHINN: This has nothing to do with Washington!
FILER: I'm sorry, sir. You are a security risk.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, er

(An alarm bell rings and red and green lights mounted by the door flash. Yates enters.)

YATES: UFO, sir, coming in fast.

[UNIT radar tracking]

RADAR 2: UFO bearing two zero niner. Five hundred miles and closing.
BENTON: ITS, sir, report sightings confirmed.
RADAR 2: Velocity twenty mps
BENTON: Houston HAL tracking.
RADAR 2: Decreasing.
BENTON: Hawaii HAL tracking.

(Yates, the Brigadier, Chinn and the Doctor enter.)

YATES: What the picture here, lads?
BENTON: Negative on astro. We're running ICBM checks, sir.
CHINN: ICBM? What ICBM? Brigadier, what's going on here?
BRIGADIER: An unidentified flying object appears to be heading for Earth, Mister Chinn. Shouldn't you be in touch with your Ministry?
CHINN: Oh, er, telephone. Quickly, man, quickly.
BRIGADIER: Captain Yates?
YATES: Sir?
BRIGADIER: Show Mister Chinn the direct line.
YATES: Direct line?
BRIGADIER: In there!
YATES: Oh, yes, sir. This way, sir.

(Yates takes Chinn into the office. Jo and Filer stand in the doorway.)

RADAR 1: Course changing. Two zero seven. Two zero six.
BRIGADIER: Well, Doctor, what is it?
DOCTOR: I've no idea.
RADAR 1: Two zero five.
DOCTOR: Variable mass. That's interesting.
RADAR 2: Orbital flight path now.
JO: Is it going to hit us?
RADAR 2: UFO entering atmosphere. now.
BRIGADIER: Compute target area.
RADAR 1: Check.

(The Doctor's lips move as he does the maths in his head.)

DOCTOR: Yes. Somewhere on the south east coast, I should imagine.

(The shingle beach of Dungeness, most likely, where we watch a tramp get on a bicycle.)

[UNIT office]

(Chinn has made his telephone call.)

CHINN: Brigadier!

[UNIT radar tracking]

RADAR 2: South Atlantic, moving north. Bearing now zero two zero.

[UNIT radar office]

CHINN: The Minister wants all these facilities linked up to strike force immediately. I have full authority.
BRIGADIER: Yates?
YATES: All taken care of, sir.
CHINN: Oh, good.

(Yates turns on a set of monitors, showing a radar screen and two angles on a missile.)

RADIO [OC]: One cleared. Flight path green one cleared.
CHINN: Yes, good. Er, get me station command, will you?
BENTON: Yes, sir.
RADIO [OC]: Strike unit A
CHINN: Chinn here, MOD. You know I'm coordinating this operation, don't you. Well, I want you to be ready to destroy this thing the moment I give the word. Oh, you are ready. Good. Well, stand by then.
DOCTOR: All set to destroy it, Brigadier? Whatever it is?
BRIGADIER: Just a precaution, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I see. Shoot first and think afterwards, is that it?
RADIO [OC]: Strike unit B

(Benton is handed a message. Bell takes a telephone call.)

BENTON: Major nuclear powers deny missile launching. Surveillance confirmed.
BELL: Estimated target area England, south east coast. There's a report in from the Met Office, sir. There are freak weather conditions over the whole area.
YATES: Explain.
BELL: Sudden snowstorms, sir. Dense fog's covering the area.

(The tramp is cycling down a snow-covered road when he spots something in a pile of fly-tipping. It is another bicycle, but it is for a little girl and he throws it away again in disgust.)

[UNIT radar tracking]

RADAR 1: UFO over airline flight path Green One. All civil aircraft scattered.

[UNIT office]

RADAR 2 [OC]: ETA sixty seconds. Repeat, sixty seconds. Airborne interceptors closing.
CHINN: (into phone.) Missile strike now! Commit now! Yes, Commander. Now!

(On the large monitor, a missile is launched.)

CHINN: A perfect sitting target!
DOCTOR: Hardly seems sporting, does it?
RADAR 2 [OC]: Contact lost! Contact lost!

[UNIT radar tracking]

RADAR 2: It's gone, sir.
BRIGADIER: What, destroyed?
RADAR 2: No, you don't understand. It's disappeared, sir, and the missiles haven't reached it yet.
DOCTOR: Don't you think you'd better abort? What goes up must come down again. The warheads! Abort, man, abort!

[UNIT office]

CHINN: (into phone.) Abort mission! Destruct, destruct, destruct!

(KaBOOM. The tramp cycles on through the wintery wasteland.)

[UNIT radar tracking]

BRIGADIER: Well?
RADAR 2: Still no trace of the UFO, sir.
BRIGADIER: It can't have disappeared.
BELL [OC]: ITSN report total radar contact lost.

[UNIT office]

BRIGADIER: Well, Doctor? Where's it gone?
DOCTOR: Gone? It hasn't gone anywhere, Brigadier. It's just arriving.

(A golden glow dazzles the tramp, and he careers off the road and down into an icy river. The sign by the bridge says Nuton Power Complex 1 mile.)

[Brigadier's office]

CHINN: We have to assume the thing is hostile. It's landed right by the national power complex. Britain's entire power supply is menaced.
BRIGADIER: (into phone) Right.
CHINN: Brigadier, in accordance with the Emergency Powers Act
BRIGADIER: All right, Mister Chinn, all right. Yates?
YATES: Sir?
BRIGADIER: All available personnel to the assembly area.
YATES: Sir. Sergeant?
CHINN: I'm treating this as a national emergency.
BRIGADIER: Yes, yes, so am I. Doctor?

[UNIT office]

CHINN: From now on, you are to consider yourself under my orders.
FILER: Er, Brigadier? Where do you want me?
CHINN: Mister Filer, this is an internal matter. Your presence is not necessary. If you don't leave immediately, I shall have to have you arrested.
BRIGADIER: Mister Chinn!
FILER: No, no, no, it's all right. It's all right, Brigadier. Well, goodbye, Mister Chinn. Take care.

[Dungeness]

(The tramp comes across the bow of the alien ship sticking out of the shingle, steaming gently.)

JOSH: Oo-arr? Oo-arr?

(He runs over to investigate, and the mouth part of the bow opens. A long, golden tentacle reaches out and grabs Josh, pulling him inside. Meanwhile, Filer is driving down a road. He tunes his car radio to the UNIT frequency.)

YATES [OC]: UFO objective confirmed as area north sector national power complex. All vehicles, repeat, all vehicles, RV this area. Out.

[Axos cell]

(Josh is lying in an organic area, held down by claws growing from the floor.)

AXOS [OC]: Analysis pattern reveals locomotor facility normal, sensory receptors acute, intelligence atypical.

(Filer's car screeches to a halt near the Axos' landing site and he runs across to it.)

AXOS [OC]: This specimen is valueless. Absorb, process and eject.

[Dungeness]

(Filer looks at the bow of the spaceships as a UNIT convoy arrives. Suddenly his throat is grabbed by the tentacle. A klaxon sounds and the convoy comes to a halt by his car. Troops rush across the shingle. )

SOLDIER: All right you boys. Go!

(The Doctor, Brigadier, Jo, Benson and Yates get into the mobile HQ. Several Ministry men join them from a limousine at the rear of the convoy. Inside the spaceship, Filer is getting the same analysis as the tramp did.)

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

CHINN: Sir George, this is Lethbridge Stewart.
HARDIMAN: Brigadier, this is Winser, head of research.

(A be-spectacled geek who appears to be a direct descendant of Lt Carstairs from War Games. Yes, David Savile returns to the show.)

WINSER: I hope you're not contemplating an attack so close to the labs?
HARDIMAN: You realise this complex provides power for the whole of Britain? An attack would be disastrous.
BRIGADIER: An attack? By whom, Sir George? We have no idea what we're up against. We must take these precautions.
CHINN: I've arranged with the army for full artillery support.
DOCTOR: Artillery? Well, your missiles couldn't find their target, what chance bazookas?
BRIGADIER: Sir George, Professor Winser, the Doctor is our scientific advisor.
DOCTOR: As far as I can gather with these primitive instruments here, the device has buried itself deep underground. So there's not much that anybody can do about it, even if it is a bomb.
HARDIMAN: But you don't think it is?
WINSER: Perhaps I could check the readings?
DOCTOR: Yes, please do.
JO: Doctor, look!

(An oscilloscope is going crazy.)

DOCTOR: You know, I would have said that that was a heartbeat.

[Axos cell]

AXOS [OC]: Intelligent, aggressive, possibly dangerous. Hold for further investigation.

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

RADAR 2: Brigadier, something's coming through.
BRIGADIER: Well, let's hear it.
AXOS [OC]: Earth. Axos calling Earth. Fuel systems exhausted. Request immediate assistance. Immediate assistance. Axos calling Earth, Axos calling Earth. Fuel system exhausted.
DOCTOR: More of a cry for help than a threat, wouldn't you say?
CHINN: Brigadier, we can't wait any longer. We must attack now before they have time to reorganise their defences.
DOCTOR: Before you start annihilating the thing, why don't we just take a look at it?
HARDIMAN: I agree.
DOCTOR: Jo, I'm sorry. Not this time.

(The Doctor leaves.)

BRIGADIER: Captain Yates.
YATES: Sir?
BRIGADIER: Stay here and act as liaison. Keep an eye on Miss Grant.
YATES: Sir.
BRIGADIER: Sergeant Benton, check the perimeter guard.
BENTON: Right, sir.

[Dungeness]

(The bow opens again.)

AXOS [OC]: Axos calling Earth. Request immediate assistance. Axos calling Earth.
DOCTOR: Right, Gentlemen. Shall we go in?

(The Doctor, Brigadier, Hardiman, Winser and Chinn enter the spaceship. The entrance closes behind them.)

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

YATES: It's no good going on at me, Jo. You heard the Brigadier and he made it perfectly clear that

(Benton enters.)

YATES: What is it, Benton?
BENTON: Sir. We've found a body, sir.
YATES: Where?
BENTON: Over by the north perimeter. And we've found a car, too. A big Yankee job.
YATES: Come on then, you'd better show me.
BENTON: Right, sir. No, Miss, I wouldn't go if I were you.
JO: All right. I'll stay here.

(The body of the tramp lies in the scrub, under guard. Yates touches it and it crumbles to dust. Of course, Jo sneaks out of the mobile HQ.)

[Axos]

(The Brigadier leads the group along the round corridor and through a slit in a membrane which acts as a doorway. They are watched by various types of eyes all the time. Suddenly the Doctor stops and cringes in pain. Outside, nobody tries to stop Jo as she walks up to the ship, which opens to let her in.)

AXOS [OC]: Attention. Subject non-typical. Investigate. Investigate. Analysis pattern investigates extra-terrestrial. Investigate.
DOCTOR: (faintly) Brigadier! Brigadier! Brigadier!

(The Doctor sees multiple images of the rest of the group but cannot hear them. Jo enters the ship. Axos releases the Doctor.)

BRIGADIER: Are you all right, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes, I suppose so. I must say, this place is full of surprises, isn't it? Let's see what else we can find.

[Axos cell]

(Filer wakes up and tries to break free of the claws holding him down.)

FILER: Help! Help!

(Then he sees another person being held against the wall. A black-clothed figure with neat beard and widow's peak. Serves the Master right.)

[Axos]

FILER [OC]: Help! Help!
JO: Bill? Bill, is that you?

[Axos main chamber]

DOCTOR: Brigadier! Brigadier!

(The others running in. Two figures are visible behind a circular screen, then four beautiful golden people appear in the chamber. They have large blank eyes but are otherwise humanoid, two male and two female.)

DOCTOR: Well, gentlemen, there's your enemy.
AXON MAN: Our worlds are uncountable light years away on the far rim of the galaxy. Our planetary system has been crippled by extreme solar flare activity. Axos is all that remains of our culture. As you can see, our science, unlike yours, has taken an organic path. This ship? This ship was not built for our journey. It was grown.
WINSER: What?
AXON MAN: Yes, grown from a single cell and now its nutrient is all but exhausted. We would like to stay.
CHINN: Well
AXON MAN: Until our nutrition and energy cycles have been fully replenished. In return, according to your custom, we offer a gift, a payment.

(A girl steps forward and hold up a large orange blob.)

AXON MAN: Axonite.

[Axos]

JO: Bill? Bill, where are you?

[Axos main chamber]

(The Axonite has been put on a four foot tall pillar.)

AXON MAN: Axonite is the source of all our growth technology. Axonite can absorb, convert, transmit and programme all forms of energy.
DOCTOR: Even radiation? Why then were you crippled by solar flare?
AXON MAN: It was already too late.
CHINN: Perhaps you could explain, just what it is, what it does. My report, you understand.
AXON MAN: Axonite is, shall we say, the chameleon of the elements. It is a thinking molecule. It uses the energy it absorbs, not only to copy but to recreate and restructure any given substance.
DOCTOR: And yet you still ran out of fuel?
WINSER: And the principle? The principle of Axonite?
AXON MAN: It would be simpler for me to demonstrate Axonite.

[Axos cell]

MASTER: What's your name?
FILER: Filer, Bill Filer. Who are you? What do you want?
MASTER: I'm your fellow captive, Filer. I am the Master.

[Axos main chamber]

(A helpless frog is sitting on the pillar now.)

AXON MAN: A painless lasonic injection of Axonite.

(He takes a large syringe filled with the orange stuff and holds it over the amphibian.)

AXON MAN: This is, I presume, one of your food animals?
HARDIMAN: Er, no, no, it isn't.
AXON MAN: My apologies. Assuming it were, you can see, of course, the possibilities for alleviating the world's food problems.

(He switches on the syringe and the frog grows. A lot.)

AXON MAN: The process is, of course, reversible.

(And shrinks again. It is put in a bowl and taken away.)

WINSER: It's incredible!
HARDIMAN: Unlimited food.
DOCTOR: And unlimited power.
CHINN: We must have it!

[Axos]

JO: Bill?

(One of the root-covered creatures comes out of the wall. She screams.)

Episode Two

[Axos main chamber]

DOCTOR: That's Jo! Come on!

(The Doctor and Brigadier run out.)

CHINN: Sir George, no, wait! Now, regarding an agreement.
AXON MAN: The emergency is sector seven. I'm sorry. I must investigate.

(The Axon man leaves.)

CHINN: I must make my report to the Minister. I think I can take care of this perpetual interference from these UNIT people.

[Axos]

(The Doctor and Brigadier find Jo lying at the feet of Axon Man.)

DOCTOR: Jo! Are you all right? What's happened?

(The Doctor helps Jo up.)

JO: I saw this thing. It was shapeless and horrible and

(Jo sees Axon Man and squeals.)

DOCTOR: It's all right, my dear. Don't be frightened.
BRIGADIER: Miss Grant, what are you doing here? I gave you explicit orders.
JO: I was following you in, sir, and I thought I heard Bill Filer's voice.
BRIGADIER: Filer? In here?
JO: I tried to find him and then suddenly this awful thing appeared. It came straight out of the wall at me!
AXON MAN: I think I can explain. We are close to the organic power sources here. Emission from the energy cells would have affected your sense perception, almost certainly causing you to hallucinate.
JO: And the voices?
DOCTOR: Well, it's all part of the same thing, I'm afraid. You must have been hearing things.
JO: Hearing things?
DOCTOR: Look, Jo, don't worry. The same thing happened to me when I first came in here.
JO: Doctor, I wasn't imagining things. I tell you I heard Bill Filer's voice!

[Axos cell]

(Filer manages to get his gun from an inside pocket and tries shooting the claws that are holding him down.)

MASTER: That won't help you, Filer!
FILER: Go to hell!
MASTER: Now look, if you do what I say, we can both escape from here.
FILER: Oh, yeah, sure. How?
MASTER: That ganglion on the wall behind you, you see it?

(It's a green coiled rope thing.)

FILER: Yeah?
MASTER: That's the nerve sector of this section of Axos. Hit that and the shock will disorientate it temporarily.
FILER: And that's our chance?
MASTER: That's our only chance.
FILER: Okay, I'll try.

(The first shot misses. The second blows a hole in the ganglion, letting gas escape. The claws release Filer and the Master.)

MASTER: Filer! Go!

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

RADAR 2: Your call to the Ministry, sir.
CHINN: Ah, just wait outside, will you?
RADAR 2: Sir?
CHINN: Just wait outside!
RADAR 2: Very good, sir.
CHINN: Minister? Will you scramble, or shall I, sir?
MINISTER [OC]: Just your report, Chinn. I'm sure that will be quite garbled enough.
CHINN: Yes, sir. Well, as I anticipated, we are having a certain amount of trouble with these UNIT people, sir.
MINISTER [OC]: We, Chinn? We?
CHINN: Well, I am, sir.
MINISTER [OC]: Are you quite sure you can handle this matter, Chinn?
CHINN: Oh, yes, sir, yes, of course! Er, about the special powers, sir?
MINISTER [OC]: Because if you are not, just remember, it's your head on the block, Chinn, not mine.

[Axos main chamber]

HARDIMAN: Yes, well, I think we ought to look to the future too. There are tremendous advantages for humanity in Axonite.
DOCTOR: Yes, tremendous material advantages, but I doubt if even Axonite could increase the growth of human common sense. But since you seem hell bent on getting hold of it, I suggest the best thing to do is to restrict its use to your laboratories until we've made a full analysis of all its properties.
WINSER: We?
HARDIMAN: You mean you want to cooperate with us?
DOCTOR: Scientifically, yes.
HARDIMAN: Winser?
WINSER: It depends.
HARDIMAN: On what?
WINSER: Who leads the investigation?
DOCTOR: Why, you do, of course!

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

CHINN: Er, about my request, sir?
MINISTER [OC]: Special powers have already been granted. Do your best to keep me informed, old chap. After all, you are our man on the spot, Chinn, in more ways than one.
CHINN: Minister? Right, Brigadier!

[Axos]

(The Master is caught by tendrils from the walls, and Filer by two golden people.)

MASTER: What about me? I insist you release me. I kept my side of the bargain. I insist!
AXON MAN: Silence.
FILER: Where are you taking me?
AXON MAN: Replication sector.

(Elsewhere...)

AXON MAN: Name them.
CHINN: All we ask is your guarantee that the sole distribution right to all Axonite materials be vested in the British government.
AXON MAN: To bring the greatest possible benefit to all Earth peoples, Axonite distribution must be worldwide.
CHINN: I think I can give you that assurance.
AXON MAN: In that case, all that remains is for me to hand over samples of Axonite for your investigation to begin.
CHINN: Thank you.

(An Axon woman hands over a transparent globe with the stuff in it.)

CHINN: Thank you!

(Chinn leaves.)

AXOS [OC]: Begin re-absorption.

(The woman melts into the wall.)

[Axos main chamber]

BRIGADIER: Mister Chinn? What's been going on here? I warn you, you have no authority.
CHINN: All over, Brigadier. No further concern of yours. Agreement has been reached. Britain has the world rights to Axonite.
BRIGADIER: Not as far as I'm concerned.
CHINN: I'm warning you, Brigadier.

(The Brigadier aims his revolver at Chinn.)

BRIGADIER: I'll take that, please. Thank you. Right, shall we go? Doctor, Miss Grant. After you, Mister Chinn.

[UNIT Mobile HQ]

BRIGADIER: What's going on here, Yates?
YATES: Regulars suddenly took over, sir.
BRIGADIER: Took over?
YATES: We couldn't very well open fire on them, could we, sir?
BRIGADIER: What about the rest of the men?
CHINN: They've all been arrested, and so, Brigadier, have you. If you will excuse me.

(Chinn takes back the Axonite from the Brigadier.)

BRIGADIER: You have no right.
CHINN: On the contrary, I have every right. You're all under security arrest under the Emergency Powers Act.
BRIGADIER: Captain, this is an illegal act.
HARKER: I have my orders, Brigadier.

(Ooo, look. It's Tim Piggott-Smith, everybody.)

BRIGADIER: I must tell you, Mister Chinn, I shall make every possible attempt to warn the UN.
CHINN: Captain, I want all these men put under twenty four hour armed guard. They are to see no one, no one at all. Do you understand? If you need me, I shall be with Sir George.

(Everyone leaves except the Doctor and Jo.)

DOCTOR: Hmm, quite a quandary.
JO: About which side you're on, you mean?
DOCTOR: Why should they foist this gift onto us? They must want something. Jo, tell me again about that creature that you saw.
JO: You mean you believe me?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course I believe you. I always did. Now then, you're quite sure it was Bill Filer that you heard?

(Whilst the Axons do something clever to Filer in their replication unit, the Doctor shows Jo a photograph of the tramp.)

DOCTOR: This body they found, was there no identification?
JO: Apparently not. And when they touched it, it just disintegrated. There was a car, too. Bill Filer's.
DOCTOR: Perhaps he got here ahead of us?
JO: And they didn't find any sign of him?
DOCTOR: No. Perhaps the same thing happened to him.
JO: No! No, he can't be dead. He's still inside that ship.
DOCTOR: I only hope you're right, Jo.
JO: Look, we must get him out. We'll make the Axons let us search.

(Chinn enters with Harker and Winser.)

CHINN: You'll do no such thing. As far as I'm concerned, the man has ceased to exist.

(On the contrary, there are now two Bill Filers.)

JO: As far as you're concerned, Mister Chinn, nothing exists except this contemptible underhanded deal!

CHINN: I don't intend to prejudice anything at this stage. This man, Filer, is not going to cause an incident. There will be no search and that is that. Captain, have them both taken to the complex and put with the others. Remember, no contact with anyone at all.
HARKER: Right, sir.
WINSER: Er, not him. The, er, Doctor's going to help with the preliminary investigations into Axonite.
CHINN: Very well. But understand, the slightest hint of delay or sabotage, it's your head on the block, not mine!

[Axos cell]

(The Master is pinned to the floor now.)

AXON MAN: We have done well, Time Lord.
MASTER: Of course. The humans are fools.
AXON MAN: So far your predictions have proved correct. This is indeed a rich planet you have brought us to.
MASTER: And am I to be released?
AXON MAN: As yet, we have only gained a foothold. For the maximum nutrient value, Axonite must encircle the world within the next seventy two hours.
MASTER: And for that to happen, your secret arrangement with the British Government must be made universally known. Now, I can do that for you. Give me my freedom.
AXON MAN: Your freedom? The bargain, you remember, was that if we spared you and your TARDIS, you would lead us to this planet in return for the death of the Doctor.
MASTER: And the destruction of all life on Earth.
AXON MAN: Of course. But our sensors detected something you neglected to tell us. This Doctor is also a Time Lord, is he not?

(Filer is thrown through the membrane onto the floor.)

AXON MAN: No one is irreplaceable.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(At the Nuton Complex, Winser shows the Doctor round his lab, a clear-walled place a tube running down through the middle, linking two giant hemispheres or spheres, we can't see which, above and below it. The opening dialogue cannot be heard over the music.)

WINSER: This panel here.
DOCTOR: And this brings in the whole output of Reactor One?
WINSER: Yeah! The particles are accelerated round and round the cyclotron in an ever increasing electromagnetic field. Eventually, we hope to have controlled acceleration up to the speed of light. Now, once beyond that point, the particles will be travelling in the fourth dimension. I will be able to begin my experiments with the nature of time itself.
DOCTOR: With the ultimate aim of making travel in time possible?
WINSER: Why not?
DOCTOR: Yes, most impressive. Much larger than my own set-up, of course.
WINSER: Your set-up?
DOCTOR: Yes.

[Axos]

(Replica Filer is being spoken to by a very large eye dangling from the ceiling by its muscles.)

AXOS [OC]: The other Time Lord will be with the Axonite. Find him and bring him here.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

WINSER: Are you trying to tell me that you actually achieved time travel and published nothing?
DOCTOR: In Britain, no.
WINSER: Where, then?
DOCTOR: Elsewhere. Yes, yes, elsewhere.
WINSER: And I suppose you can't remember.
DOCTOR: Yes. As a matter of fact, that's the trouble. I can't.
WINSER: How convenient.
DOCTOR: Most inconvenient, actually. You know, I was thinking, if you'd really like to take a look at my TARDIS, maybe I can arrange to have it brought down.
WINSER: TARDIS? Are you serious?
DOCTOR: Absolutely. Perhaps we can get it operational, with the help of this stuff.

(The Doctor taps the globe of Axonite. Meanwhile Filer wakes up pinned to the floor by claws that react to his attempts to get up quickly, but don't seem to notice very gentle, slow movements.)

WINSER: No, Doctor, I simply won't hear of it!
DOCTOR: But don't you see? It's the simplest way to break it down.
WINSER: You're asking me to risk fifty million pounds worth of equipment!
DOCTOR: Look, all we have to do is take the Axonite, put it in the light accelerator and crack it down into particles.
WINSER: Oh! No, it's far too hazardous. The whole damn lot could go up.
DOCTOR: If it is a thinking molecule, it should analyse itself. All we have to do is switch on and read the printout.
WINSER: Analyse itself? Is the spectroscope set?

(An assistant nods.)

DOCTOR: Spectroscope? You might as well use a magnifying glass.
WINSER: What was that, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Oh, nothing, my dear Holmes.

[Axos main chamber]

(Filer's slow, careful escape from the cell succeeds.)

MASTER: I know their ways on Earth. I can move around freely. I'm familiar with their systems, their organisations. You don't have the time to learn these things. If the nutrition cycle is to be activated in the next seventy two hours, you must have world wide distribution by then.
AXOS [OC]: Data confirms feasibilities. Queries motivation. Decision reads, release Time Lord but retain his TARDIS time capsule until mission completed.
MASTER: But I must have my TARDIS!
AXOS [OC]: Negative. Data indicates time capsule unnecessary for success of mission.
MASTER: Well, at least give me back my laser gun. I may need to defend myself.
AXOS [OC]: Return of laser gun is acceptable. Possession of time capsule will prevent hostile action.

(The giant eye goes dark and the Master leaves. Filer is crouching nearby.)

AXOS [OC]: Cell area. Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!

(Outside the spaceship, a soldier is looking the other way as the Master creeps out of the main hatch. Finally the soldier hears his footsteps crunching on the shingle, turns and gets killed with the laser gun. The Master runs off and the main hatch starts to close. Filer throws himself through at the last moment, sees the dead soldier and runs in the opposite direction to the Master.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

DOCTOR: Well?
WINSER: Not a thing. Damn it. It should show some response to something.
DOCTOR: It's been programmed not to. Don't you see, it's deliberately resisting analysis. Well, isn't it?
WINSER: Go on, say it.
DOCTOR: Say what?
WINSER: I told you so!
DOCTOR: I told you so! Particle acceleration, it's the only answer. If you're not prepared to risk your own equipment, why don't we try mine?
WINSER: I thought you said it was US.
DOCTOR: A certain malfunction of the drive system, yes, but the other components are all right. We could put them through the main reactor.
WINSER: Well, if we (thinks) If we can bypass the malfunction and your light accelerator's compatible, it might work.
DOCTOR: It's the only thing left to do, isn't it? If you could persuade the powers that be?
WINSER: Yes, I suppose you're right. I'll see what I can do.
DOCTOR: Right.

[Army lorry]

(The Master sees a lorry coming along a road and about to drive under a bridge, so he goes onto the bridge and jumps down onto its roof. From there he gets down to the nearside and makes his way to the cab, where the UNIT driver sees him in the wing mirror. Their eyes meet.)

MASTER: I am Master. You will obey me. You will obey me.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The Doctor has unlocked and opened the central tube.)

FILER 2: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Filer! So you got away?
FILER 2: Come with me, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Come with you? What are you talking about?
FILER 2: Come to Axos!

(The replica Filer puts the Doctor in an arm lock, but he uses his Venusian karate to break the hold.)

DOCTOR: I won't go to Axos or anywhere else with you! In any case, you're not Filer!

(Because that finger jab in the collar area hasn't immobilised his attacker.)

FILER 2: Come to Axos.
FILER: Out the way, Doc!

(The Doctor turns to see the real Filer with his gun ready. Replica Filer hits him over the head and he falls, giving real Filer the chance to empty his gun into his evil twin. Then he tries to go hand to hand, and they throw each other around the lab. The Doctor comes to, gets up and tackles one of the men.)

FILER: No, Doc!
DOCTOR: Doc?
FILER: No!

(Replica Filer tries to rush them both. They separate and it rushes headlong into the open light accelerator chamber, where it screams then explodes into a foaming mass of bubbles.)

FILER: Boy, am I glad that's not me in there.
DOCTOR: Are you quite sure it isn't?
FILER: Yeah, quite sure!
DOCTOR: Good! Come along.

[UNIT corridor]

MASTER: You will load the Doctor's TARDIS onto your lorry. You will need some help.
DRIVER: I will need some help.
MASTER: Get the guard to give you a hand.
DRIVER: The guard.
MASTER: Now.

[Nuton Complex office]

DOCTOR: I tell you, Brigadier, they replicated Bill here.
BRIGADIER: Replicated?
DOCTOR: Faked, copied, duplicated.
BRIGADIER: But how?
DOCTOR: Look, does it matter how, Brigadier? We haven't got the time to explain.
JO: Axonite, the copying molecule!
DOCTOR: Yes, thank you, Jo.
BRIGADIER: Yes, but I still don't see
DOCTOR: Bill, was the Master in Axos or not?
BRIGADIER: He is sure is, or was until he escaped.
DOCTOR: Which was why they sent Filer, the fake Filer, after me.
BRIGADIER: Then they're not human at all?
DOCTOR: Human! They're not even humanoid!
FILER: Well, according to the Master, they're some kind of scavenger. You know, no planet, nothing.
DOCTOR: The whole thing's just a pack of lies, Brigadier.
JO: Apart from Axonite copying things.
DOCTOR: Yes, quite. Look, we've got to stop Chinn getting hold of that stuff.
BRIGADIER: Right.

(Harker and a soldier enter.)

HARKER: Nobody move, please. Take his gun.

(Filer gives the soldier his pistol, and he leaves with it.)

HARKER: I'm sorry, Mister Filer.
BRIGADIER: Captain, listen!
HARKER: Brigadier, I already have.

(Harker takes a listening bug from under the desk.)

DOCTOR: And what is your decision?
HARKER: Unfortunately, I have my orders.
DOCTOR: Which are?
HARKER: To confine you strictly to the laboratory.

[UNIT radar tracking]

(UNIT security is useless as the Master makes it all the way through the Brigadier's office and the main office to here.)

RADAR 1: Trap One, do you read me? Over. Hello Greyhound, this is Trap One. Do you read me? Over. No use, Harry. Who are you?
MASTER: The Brigadier sent me.
RADAR 1: What's going on
MASTER: You have a top priority message to send to the United Nations. I will tell you what to say.

(The hapless man meets the Master's eyes and falls under his control.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The Doctor starts a grand old reel to reel tape recorder going and speaks into a microphone.)

DOCTOR: My dear Winser, I hope you'll forgive this unauthorised use of your precious equipment, but in case there is an accident, I'm making this recording of what not to do. I am about to place the Axonite in the light accelerator.

(The Doctor opens up the main tube and puts the orange blob on a stand in the middle, then locks it up again. He checks his watch and makes a note on a clipboard.)

DOCTOR: Now, the idea is to split off a stream of Axonite particles and accelerate them through time. In this way, we shall force it to analyse itself on the printout. Right, here goes. Reactor One activated. Accelerating. Point one. Two. Three. It's reacting. Speed of light, now!

(A bell rings as the Axonite foams and bubbles in the tube.)

[Axos main chamber]

(In the spaceship, the golden people are clutching their heads.)

AXOS [OC]: Emergency! Nutrition cycle prematurely activated! Immediate recovery essential. Emergency! Emergency!

[Nuton Complex corridor]

HARKER: Are the prisoners still inside? Open up!

(Harker enters the room then comes flying back out and lands on the floor, gasping. Filer knocks out the guard.)

BRIGADIER: Sorry, Captain. Well done, Filer. I must get on to UNIT headquarters. You go with Jo and find the Doctor.
JO: But
BRIGADIER: If anyone can explain, he can. Now hurry!

(The Brigadier goes back into the office.)

JO: The Doctor's in the laboratory, isn't he?
FILER: Yeah, that's where the alarms coming from.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The accelerator is up to light x 2.)

JO: Doctor, what are you doing?
DOCTOR: A small experiment, that's all.
JO: What?
DOCTOR: Jo, please keep back! That's Axonite in there. It's now taking the whole output of Reactor One and absorbing it. Absorbing the whole lot and using it to grow.
WINSER: What the hell's happening here? Get away from of my equipment, you idiots!

(Winser turns off the accelerator.)

WINSER: Oh, you stupid quack!
DOCTOR: Don't touch that!

(Winser goes to unlock the tube door. Blue energy lances through him, throwing him backwards. The Doctor stares as Winser changes into something else.)

DOCTOR: Yes, of course! Axons! That ship, Axonite, it's all the same thing! Don't you see we're dealing with one single living creature? Axonite was just the dormant state until I activated it.
FILER: Can't you stop it?
DOCTOR: No, it's too late. Don't you see, Filer? This stuff could endanger the entire world.
JO: Doctor! Look out!

(A large orange blob, which used to be Winser, is rolling towards them. All three run for the door but their way is blocked by a root creature. Another comes in through the opposite door.)

Episode Three

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(Filer gets touched by a root or tentacle, and collapses. Jo and the Doctor are surrounded.)

AXOS [OC]: De-energise them.

(The Doctor and Jo suddenly stiffen, then relax.)

AXOS [OC]: Re-personalise.

(The creatures turn into beautiful people.)

AXOS [OC]: Re-personalisation completed. Take them to Axos.

[Nuton Complex office]

BRIGADIER: (into phone) What are you talking about, man? I repeat, I want an urgent cable to Geneva HQ. Now, message reads, Chinn making illegal unilateral deal. Request confirmation. What do you mean, a similar message has already been sent? It can't have been! Well, there must have been a security leak. Look, just tell me exactly what happened.

(Harker enters and points his gun at the Brigadier.)

BRIGADIER: Just a moment. You can put that away, Captain. I don't think you'll be needing it.
HARKER: Sir, you're still under arrest.
BRIGADIER: I doubt it. I think you'd better get in contact with your HQ.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(Chinn and Hardiman run in. A Axon man is standing there.)

HARDIMAN: What's happened? Where's Winser?
AXON MAN: Your scientist has been killed.
HARDIMAN: Killed? How?
AXON MAN: His body was destroyed by an intense blast of radiation.
HARDIMAN: Radiation?
CHINN: What happened?
AXON MAN: Our instruments showed attempts were being made to interfere with the structure of Axonite. We came to help, but we were too late.
HARDIMAN: We?
AXON MAN: My crew have removed the unstable material.
HARDIMAN: And the radiation?
AXON MAN: Has already been neutralised.
CHINN: Did you authorise these experiments, Sir George?
HARDIMAN: No, I did not. Winser went his own way, poor devil.
CHINN: Did you mean to tell me
AXON MAN: The blame is for you to decide. This kind of thing must never happen again. Never! Otherwise, we shall cancel the agreement.

[Axos cell]

(Jo is held on the floor and the Doctor pinned to the wall.)

JO: Doctor! I can't move!
DOCTOR: Jo, lie still! There's nothing we can do.
JO: Where are we?
DOCTOR: We're back inside Axos, and these claws or whatever you call them, they're a living part of Axos.
JO: Why did they bring us here?
DOCTOR: I wish I knew.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

HARKER: Excuse me, sir. I've been talking to my HQ about Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart.
CHINN: The Brigadier is under arrest.
HARDIMAN: Any sign of Miss Grant or the Doctor?
HARKER: Er, no, sir. Excuse me, sir, the message from HQ.
CHINN: Not now!
HARDIMAN: When you arrived here, were there any signs
AXON MAN: When we arrived there was no one here, except this man.
HARDIMAN: Filer!
AXON MAN: He is in a coma. Since my help is no longer needed. I shall return to my ship.
HARDIMAN: Here, give us a hand. He's terribly ill.

(The Brigadier and a soldier pick up Filer.)

BRIGADIER: You've got a medical wing, haven't you? Well, take him there. Get on with it!
HARKER: Right, sir. Come on.

[Axos main chamber]

(The big eye stares at Jo and the Doctor while it speaks through an image of a beautiful man on the wall.)

AXON MAN [on monitor]: All things must die, Doctor. Mankind, this planet, Axos merely hastens the process.
DOCTOR: Oh? How?
AXON MAN [on monitor]: Axonite is simply bait for human greed. Because of this greed, Axonite will soon spread across the entire planet and then the nutrition cycle will begin.
DOCTOR: Indeed, and what then?
AXON MAN [on monitor]: Slowly we will consume every particle of energy, every last cell of living matter. Earth will be sucked dry!

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

BRIGADIER: On the contrary, Mister Chinn, the position has changed.
CHINN: Changed? How? Captain?
HARKER: I'm afraid so, sir. I did try and tell you. I've had orders direct from the Ministry. I'm to hand over command to the Brigadier.
CHINN: Ministry? But I haven't heard anything about this!
BRIGADIER: Well, you have now.
CHINN: Now, look here
BRIGADIER: Captain, anything on the Doctor and Miss Grant?
HARKER: No, sir.
BRIGADIER: Right, release my men. They'll help you search. We've got to find them.

[Axos main chamber]

DOCTOR: Well, obviously, your plan entails some sort of time limit.
AXON MAN [on monitor]: Axonite must be activated within seventy two hours of our landing.

(The eye goes blank.)

DOCTOR: You know, Jo, I think our friend Chinn, has done the right thing for once. For the wrong reasons, of course.
JO: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, fortunately, he intends to confine the entire supply of Axonite to Britain.

[Nuton Complex office]

MINISTER [on monitor]: Chinn?
CHINN: Sir?
MINISTER [on monitor]: Perhaps you can tell me why the sole result of the special powers I granted you, has been this catastrophic security leak?
CHINN: Catastrophic security leak? Which catastrophic security leak, sir?
MINISTER [on monitor]: The United Nations are demanding the immediate free world-wide distribution of Axonite. The whole thing has blown up in our faces, Chinn.
CHINN: Yes, sir. In our faces, sir.
MINISTER [on monitor]: Distribution is to take place immediately.
CHINN: Yes, sir. Just as soon as I can
MINISTER [on monitor]: Yes, sir. Not as soon as, immediately. Arrange air transport.
CHINN: You can depend upon me, sir.
MINISTER [on monitor]: Hmm? What? Yes, well, just in case we can't. Your resignation, Chinn. All ready for signature. Goodbye, Chinn.
CHINN: (into phone) Hello? Get me air transport liaison. Hello, Chinn here. I want you to arrange for world-wide distribution of Axonite immediately.

[Medical bay]

(Filer is in bed and a nurse makes a note on his chart, then leaves.)

FILER: Axonite. Axonite. Dangerous. Must be kept here. Must not distribute. Must not distribute.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The TARDIS has been delivered by UNIT. Benton speaks to an officer who keeps his back to us and his face covered by greatcoat collar and cap.)

BENTON: Will there be anything else, sir?
GENERAL: Thank you, Sergeant. That will be all.
BENTON: I ought to let the Brigadier know you're here.
GENERAL: You'll do no such thing and that's an order, Sergeant.
BENTON: Sir, he would like to know
GENERAL: This is a surprise inspection. I'll make meself known to the Brigadier in me own time.
BENTON: Very good, sir.
GENERAL: Thank you.

(Benton and the soldiers leave. The Master removes his rubber mask and cap and takes off the greatcoat. He looks around the empty lab, then goes over to the TARDIS and uses his version of a sonic screwdriver on the lock. The door opens and the Master goes inside.)

[Medical bay]

FILER: No, we must find him! Helping them! Got to find him. Must find the Master.

[TARDIS]

(The Master looks at all the wiring littering the main console.)

MASTER: Oh, no! But what does he think he's doing? What a botch-up!

[Axos main chamber]

(The Doctor is suffering an interrogation.)

AXON MAN [on monitor]: Lies are useless, Time Lord!
DOCTOR: Look, for the thousandth time, I tell you I am not a Time Lord.
AXON MAN [on monitor]: We have explored the blocks the Time Lords have imposed upon your memory and can free them. We must have the secret of time travel.
DOCTOR: Must you? Why?
AXON MAN: Soon it will be necessary to expand our feeding range to increase the energy sources available to us. Space-time travel will give us this power.

[TARDIS]

MASTER: Oh, well, I suppose it could be made to work. Just possibly. Right, Doctor. Don't keep me waiting, will you?

[Axos main chamber]

DOCTOR: I refuse to align myself to this cosmic bacteria of yours.
AXON MAN [on monitor]: We shall see. You have seen how Axonite can absorb the life force from a human body. Now we have arranged for your companion to age to death before your eyes.
DOCTOR: Jo?

(On the wall, an image of Jo starts to age.)

DOCTOR: No! No! No! Stop! Stop!
AXON MAN [on monitor]: You will co-operate?
DOCTOR: You cannot defy the laws of time. Give me a chance and I'll prove it to you.
AXON MAN [on monitor]: Very well. Release her.

(The image returns to young Jo.)

AXON MAN [on monitor]: All right, Doctor. Begin.

[Nuton Complex office]

BRIGADIER: The whole question of Axonite's distribution must be shelved until we've found the Doctor and got his report on it.
CHINN: Doctor? I spotted him for a charlatan the moment I saw him. If you ask me, Brigadier, you're not going to see much of that gentleman again.
AXON MAN: Large quantities of Axonite are available for immediate distribution. Perhaps you could show me the extent of the operation.

[Axos main chamber]

AXOS [OC]: Concentrate, Doctor. You have only to think the equation. The mind of Axos will do the rest.
DOCTOR: Very well.

(A set of equations flash up on the wall.)

AXOS [OC]: Good, now the power requirements. What is this? Remember what will happen if you lie.
DOCTOR: Pure mathematics cannot lie. You'll need an immense amount of power to create a time field for anything as large as Axos. (10 to the 9th power mega K-tons, apparently.)
DOCTOR: There you are. There are your final power requirements.
AXOS [OC]: All data confirmed.
DOCTOR: You see? Just as I told you. Far in excess of your total power capacity.
AXOS [OC]: Add the full power output of the Nuton complex to your figures, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, all right, but I fail to see what good it will do.
AXOS [OC]: Data confirms space-time travel possible using additional power from complex. You see, Doctor, we can call upon the additional power of the complex whenever we need it.
DOCTOR: How? You can't just walk in there and take it.
AXOS [OC]: On the contrary, Doctor. We can.

[Nuton Complex office]

CHINN: Cape Kennedy, ten units of Axonite in transit. Washington Pentagon, five units due for take-off eleven hundred hours GMT. Ottawa, one unit Axonite in transit. Baikonur ten units, ETA twelve thirty GMT. Lop Nor? Lop Nor, five units. Yes, well there we are. Axonite consignments on their way to every major capital and scientific establishment in the world.
AXON MAN: Excellent.
CHINN: Thank you.

(The Axon man gets a private message.)

AXOS [OC]: De-personalise. Locate and enter main reactor. Establish link to transmit power.
CHINN: Yes, well, that just about wraps it up. Aren't you going to wait for confirmation of arrivals?
AXON MAN: I must leave now.
CHINN: Is something wrong? Are you all right?

[Medical bay]

BRIGADIER: You're sure of all this?
FILER: Look, I may have been sick, Brigadier, but I am not crazy. Now, the Axonite killed Winser, then the Axons turn up, clobbered me and took Jo and the Doc off.
BRIGADIER: And the Doctor said that Axonite could become a danger to the whole world?
FILER: Sure. Something about draining all energy.
BRIGADIER: Right, I'm going to have a word with Chinn, not to mention our Axon friends.
FILER: Hey, hey! Wait for me!
BRIGADIER [OC]: Lay there and rest!
FILER: Yeah, sure. Will one of you Florence Nightingales kindly get my clothes?

[Nuton complex]

(The Axon man is already starting to change into root creature when the Brigadier spots it walking along a corridor.)

BRIGADIER: Hey! You there! Stop!

(Fully mutated it walks along the glass high-walk between two buildings and goes outside. The Brigadier spots it coming up on a soldier, who turns and fires his rifle at it. The bullets make some holes in it but that is all. The soldier turns and runs. The Axon creature extends one of its tentacles, touches his back and he explodes. Then it carries on to the main research reactor, where two UNIT soldiers open fire on it before meeting their fate. The Brigadier sees it enter the reactor building.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

YATES: Right, Benton, get your skates on.
BENTON: Right, sir.
BRIGADIER: Where's Hardiman?
YATES: He's up in the control box, sir.
BRIGADIER: Right, come on. Sir George!
HARDIMAN: May I ask why your men have brought an obsolete police box into my research laboratory?
BRIGADIER: I've no idea. Oh, that's part of the Doctor's equipment.
HARDIMAN: Is it? Well, I
BRIGADIER: Sir George, I must ask you to check the main reactor. I'm sorry, this is really rather urgent.

[Laboratory control box]

HARDIMAN: Very well. Yes, the readings are slightly up. What is all this?
BRIGADIER: Our Axon friend has just walked straight into the furnace of the main reactor.
HARDIMAN: What?

[TARDIS]

(The Master has tidied up all the wiring and is trying to get the old girl started.)

MASTER: Oh, hopeless! Overweight, under-powered old museum piece!

(A feeble dematerialisation sound starts up but the time rotor stays still.)

MASTER: Ah, no proper stabiliser. Oh well, let's try again.

(This time there is a small explosion.)

MASTER: You may as well try to fly a second hand gas stove!

(He hits the console, and turns on a monitor in one of the wall roundels, showing the Light Accelerator.)

MASTER: Yes if I use that trigger mechanism, it might. Worth a try.

[Laboratory control box]

HARDIMAN: If the Axon walked into the reactor, he's simply committed suicide.
BRIGADIER: Yes.
YATES: Sir, look. The TARDIS door.
BRIGADIER: The Master!

(The Master goes inside the accelerator and examines the mechanism.)

BRIGADIER: Right, not a sound. Benton, get some more men. Yates, with me. Sir George, you stay here.
HARDIMAN: Who is that?
BRIGADIER: Please!

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The Master is concentrating on trying to take the upper section of the accelerator out, and does not spot the Brigadier and Yates flanking him until they reach the doorway.)

BRIGADIER: Stay right where you are!
HARDIMAN [OC]: Brigadier, a massive power surge on the main reactor.

(The Master runs towards the TARDIS.)

YATES: Stop there!
BRIGADIER: Touch that thing just once and we'll blast you into pieces!

(The Master throws his laser gun to Yates.)

BRIGADIER: Benton!

(The Master holds out his hands and Benton handcuffs him.)

BRIGADIER: What are you doing here? What are you after?
MASTER: That police box.
BRIGADIER: You wanted to steal the TARDIS? Why?
MASTER: Well, my own TARDIS is held by Axos and I needed a space vehicle to get away from this planet before it's too late.
BRIGADIER: Why bring it here?
MASTER: Well, I knew the Doctor would soon return to his TARDIS and I very much wanted to meet him just once more. Where is he, by the way?
BRIGADIER: The Doctor and Miss Grant have disappeared.
HARDIMAN: Brigadier, the power build up has spread to the whole complex. The reactors could go critical at any moment. The whole place could go up.
MASTER: I'm afraid that your reactors have been taken over by the Axons.
BRIGADIER: You know these creatures. Is there anything we can do? Anything at all?
MASTER: Nothing, but there may be something that I can do.
BRIGADIER: What?
MASTER: If, and only if you guarantee my freedom, Brigadier.
BRIGADIER: Out of the question.
MASTER: Oh well, in that case.
HARDIMAN: Brigadier, if this place goes up, thousands of lives will go with it. It only wants a chain reaction for the whole place to become a gigantic nuclear bomb.
MASTER: Yes, there is that possibility.
HARDIMAN: Brigadier, for heaven's sake!
BRIGADIER: Very well.
MASTER: My absolute and unconditional freedom?
BRIGADIER: Yes. Now get moving!
MASTER: Thank you. If you please, Sergeant.
BRIGADIER: Hurry, Benton!
HARDIMAN: What can we do?
MASTER: I'd like you to give me a link from the TARDIS to the accelerator so that I can get straight through to the main reactor. Now what I propose to do is this. Stack up as much power as the TARDIS will take, then channel it back through the accelerator and boost it, so that instead of the gradual power build-up that Axos expects, it'll get the whole lot in one devastating surge.
HARDIMAN: What else can we do?
MASTER: Oh, nothing very much. Oh, I suppose you can take the normal precautions against nuclear blast, like, er, sticky tape on the windows and that sort of thing.

(Filer bursts in with a gun.)

FILER: Now, hold it! Right there!
BRIGADIER: Filer, no! He's helping us. We need him.
FILER: Helping? Are you crazy, Brigadier?
BRIGADIER: Probably, but we've got no choice.
FILER: Yeah, but
BRIGADIER: Filer!
MASTER: Thank you.
HARDIMAN: Where are you going?
MASTER: Back into this contraption.
HARDIMAN: Why?
MASTER: Well, theoretically it should be able to store all the power generated around it, like it solar cell battery.
HARDIMAN: Are you trying to tell me you can absorb the total output of this complex in a police box?
MASTER: Yes.

[Axos main chamber]

AXOS [OC]: Forty percent time field capability. Forty five percent. Fifty percent time field capability. Fifty five percent. Sixty percent time field capability. Prepare to enter time field. Repeat, prepare to enter time field. Seventy percent. Seventy five. Seventy percent. Sixty five percent. Sixty percent. Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!
DOCTOR: They're not getting the power through!
AXOS [OC]: Locate power failure source. Investigate possible cell damage. Evaluate, trace and restore all absorption channels. Emergency! Emergency!

(The Doctor starts to sneak out of the room.)

AXOS [OC]: Attention! Attention! Time Lord escaping. Seal off control centre and all adjacent areas. Close all exit tracts. Surround, neutralise and retrieve when emergency is over.

(The Doctor fights his way through the dangling tendrils and flailing claws of the passageway walls.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(A simple single cable is hooked up from the TARDIS to a laboratory console.)

HARDIMAN: Surely it can't take any more?

[TARDIS]

HARDIMAN [on scanner]: I don't want to risk the cables.
MASTER: Risk the cables, man. Risk everything! you've got to!

[Axos cell]

DOCTOR: Jo!
JO: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Let's get out of here while that creature's disorientated. Come on! That's it, come on!
JO: What's happening?
DOCTOR: Hang on to me. Come on!

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

MASTER: Now, when I pull this handle, the enormous amount of power stored in the TARDIS will be channeled straight into Axos.
FILER: What about Jo and the Doc?
MASTER: They won't stand a chance. They will die with Axos.
BRIGADIER: No!
MASTER: Either we destroy Axos or Axos destroys the world. Which is it to be, Brigadier?

(The Brigadier turns away and the Master pulls the handle. The Doctor and Jo are still trying to find a way out of Axos.)

Episode Four

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

HARDIMAN: Well over maximum now.

[TARDIS]

(The Master operates the console.)

MASTER: Now then, you old antique, keep working!

[Axos]

(The Doctor and Jo continue to fight their way through flailing tendrils and claws. Images of both humanoid and creature Axons appear and disappear.)

JO: I can't! I can't! I can't!

(The floor is wobbling like a jelly.)

JO: I can't! I can't! I can't!

(The Doctor slaps her.)

DOCTOR: Jo! Stop it! Be quiet! Stop it!
JO: What's that screaming?
DOCTOR: The whole thing's electro-convulsing. The power's creating an electrical storm in its brain and we're going right through the centre of the trauma! Come on! Hang on!

(They go through a membrane door and the effect is even more extreme here. Jo screams.)

DOCTOR: Jo! Try and stop it!
JO: I can't! I can't!
DOCTOR: Try and stop it! Don't let it get a grip on your brain! Don't let it get to your brain!. Listen to me! Answer me! What are three sevens?
JO: Twenty one.
DOCTOR: Twenty one. Keep answering. Three sevens times four?
JO: Eighty four.
DOCTOR: Minus thirty five? Think, Jo! Think, Jo!

(Humanoid Axons stagger past them.)

JO: Forty nine.
DOCTOR: Twice that? Twice!
JO: Ninety eight.
DOCTOR: Plus ten?

(They move on through the insane spaceship.)

JO: A hundred and eight.
DOCTOR: Divide by nine.
JO: Twelve.
DOCTOR: Divide by four.
JO: Three.
DOCTOR: Three sevens!
JO: Twenty one.
DOCTOR: Yes! Quick!

(The main entrance opens and the Doctor and Jo run out onto the shingle. They head in the direction of the power station.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

MASTER: Well, gentlemen? Your congratulations?

(Nothing.)

MASTER: I see.
BRIGADIER: Wait!
MASTER: Why? You promised me my freedom. I've earned it.
BRIGADIER: We don't know yet what you've achieved.
MASTER: My dear Brigadier, I promised to help you, not sort out all your problems.
BRIGADIER: Captain?
YATES: Sir. Parker, McDougall.

(The two UNIT soldiers stand guard in front of the TARDIS door.)

HARDIMAN: Something's gone wrong. They must have reversed the power flow. They're feeding it back at us.

[Axos main chamber]

AXOS [OC]: Source identified as light accelerator. Concentrate power reversal on this sector. Total destruction essential. Repeat. Total destruction essential.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(Hardiman makes a complex-wide broadcast.)

HARDIMAN: All personnel, your attention please. Evacuate accelerator sector. Shut off all power in your area and proceed to blast wall shelters immediately. That is all. Brigadier, I want everybody out of here.
BRIGADIER: Right. Captain Yates, everyone up to the control box.
YATES: Right, Benton, let's go.
BENTON: Move!
BRIGADIER: What are you going to do?
HARDIMAN: I'm going to disconnect the cables.
BRIGADIER: Right, where do we start?
HARDIMAN: No, no, no, Brigadier. This establishment is my responsibility. Yours is with your men.
BRIGADIER: Yes, but surely
HARDIMAN: I don't any help. I'll be with you in a minute.
BRIGADIER: Very well.

(Hardiman dons heat resistant gauntlets and helmet and opens up the accelerator chamber, then sets to work with a large spanner.)

[Laboratory control box]

BRIGADIER: How's he doing?
MASTER: Well, he'll have to take out the trigger mechanism before he can disconnect the final cable.
BRIGADIER: How much time has he got?
MASTER: Who knows.
BRIGADIER: He's done it!

(The Brigadier spoke too soon. The second cable isn't completely disconnected before the feedback causes an explosion which throws Hardiman out and over the safety railing.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

BRIGADIER: Hardiman! Captain Yates, get some men down here.
YATES: Yes, sir.

(Filer stops the Master from getting into the TARDIS so he dashes for the nearest door.)

DOCTOR: Going somewhere?

[Nuton Complex office]

DOCTOR: The claws of Axos are already deeply embedded in the Earth's carcass! Soon it'll activate its nutrition cycle and the feast'll be begin. The Axonite'll cease to be dormant and it'll continue to grow, gentlemen, until every living thing is consumed.
BRIGADIER: Unless we can find a way of stopping it.
DOCTOR: I don't think you can stop it.
JO: Well, there must be something we can do, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, we can but try, Jo. Can you commandeer the computer banks? I want to make some very complex calculations.
TECHNICIAN: Of course.
DOCTOR: Good, thank you.
TECHNICIAN: I'll have them cleared immediately.

(The Technician leaves.)

DOCTOR: Brigadier, can you set up a constant watch on that spacedome?
BRIGADIER: Right. Captain Yates?
YATES: Sir?

(The Brigadier and Yates move away to confer.)

FILER: What about the Master?
DOCTOR: I'm going to ask you to hand your prisoner over to me for a while.
FILER: Well now, hold on a minute.
DOCTOR: Look, Bill, I think I can defeat Axos but I must have the Master's help.
JO: But you know you can't trust him. He'll kill you the first chance he gets.
DOCTOR: Oh, don't worry, Jo. I'll keep him in good order all right, with this.

(The Master's own laser gun.)

BRIGADIER: I shall be setting up HQ in the lab. I want you and Benton in R/T contact the whole time.
YATES: Yes, sir.
BRIGADIER: Right, get going.
YATES: Right, sir. Sergeant Benton.
BENTON: Sir.

[Laboratory control box]

(Out on Dungeness, Yates sets up a camera to watch the spaceship entrance, connected to a large dish. Then he gets into the back of the Land Rover to report.)

YATES [OC]: Trap One to Greyhound. Over.
BRIGADIER: Go ahead, Trap One. Over.
YATES [OC]: Eyes down. Look in. Over.
BRIGADIER: Roger.

(The Brigadier switches on a monitor.)

BRIGADIER: Receiving your signal. Maintain surveillance. Over.
YATES [OC]: Roger. Wilco. Out.

(Chinn enters, eating a chicken drumstick.)

CHINN: That thing working? Get me the Ministry, will you?
BRIGADIER: Ah, Mister Chinn. Now where have you been hiding yourself? Canteen?
CHINN: As it so happens I've been doing your job!
BRIGADIER: Oh yes?
CHINN: Trying to do something about the situation.
BRIGADIER: Which particular situation?
CHINN: Axonite, Brigadier, Axonite. Do you realise that Britain's going to get the blame for all this?
BRIGADIER: Britain or you, Mister Chinn?
CHINN: Well, if you won't get the Ministry (looks around) Where's Hardiman?
BRIGADIER: Dead.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(The Master and the Doctor are working in the accelerator chamber.)

JO: You look like a disappointed bloodhound.
FILER: All bloodhounds look disappointed. It's an occupational hazard.
JO: Why Bill? You've got your man.
FILER: Oh, sure. Bill Filer of the New York Mounted Police. I don't like it, Jo.
JO: Well, all we can do is wait.
FILER: I don't mean the hanging around, I'm used to that. I've just got this feeling that something's going on.
JO: Come on, Bill. Surely you don't think there's a
FILER: I don't think anything. It's a funny time to go collecting junk, that's all. Real eager beavers.
JO: But they've got to be. They're working against time.
FILER: Then why pack off all the technicians? Why can't they help? Why've they got to go it alone, huh? Why?

[TARDIS]

(The Master carries part of the light accelerator, the Doctor holds the laser gun.)

MASTER: Well, Doctor? I'm still waiting to hear this marvellous scheme of yours.
DOCTOR: Actually, there isn't one.
MASTER: Well, then why?
DOCTOR: Because if you mend the TARDIS, we can both escape.
MASTER: Both? Tell me, Doctor, are you suggesting an alliance?
DOCTOR: Why not? I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a heap of dust on second rate planet to a third rate star. Do you?
MASTER: Do you mean to say that you are actually prepared to abandon your beloved Earth to the Axon's tender mercies?
DOCTOR: Certainly. After all, we are both Time Lords.
MASTER: Maybe. Look, why should I help you?
DOCTOR: Because if you don't I shall hand you over to UNIT and you'll become a prisoner on a doomed planet.
MASTER: Yes, well, you'll be doomed along with me.
DOCTOR: Exactly. We either escape together or we die together.
MASTER: Oh, very generous! But look, why not just hand me over to UNIT and make your escape by yourself? Well?
DOCTOR: Because the Time Lords have put a block on my knowledge of dematerialisation theory, that's why!
MASTER: Oh, I see.
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, we haven't got much time. What's your decision?
MASTER: All right, I accept.
DOCTOR: Good. Well, you're the mechanic. What's the answer?
MASTER: The answer, Doctor is this.

(The Master takes a small component from the part of the light accelerator he brought in with him.)

DOCTOR: The trigger mechanism from the light accelerator.
MASTER: Yes.
DOCTOR: Yes, of course.
MASTER: Now this will compensate for the deficiencies in your dematerialisation circuit. With a little ingenuity, I may be able to join one to the other, but it'll take time.
DOCTOR: Well, it'd better not take too much time. Right, you get on with the repairs, I'll go and work out some course coordinates.
MASTER: Very well.

(The Doctor starts to leave, then goes to the console and removes a unit from under a small panel.)

DOCTOR: Just in case you were thinking of leaving without me.

[Axos main chamber]

AXOS [OC]: Data indicates distribution complete. Activate nutrition cycle one. Initiate recall one. Activate nutrition cycle two. Initiate recall two. Activate nutrition cycle three.

(The spaceship rises out of the shingle.)

[Laboratory control box]

YATES [OC]: It's surfacing, sir! The whole thing!
BRIGADIER: Pull out, Yates. Back to the complex.
YATES: Yes, sir.

[Dungeness]

(Yates disconnects the camera from the open top Land Rover and Benton drives them away. He crashes through a closed wooden gate then through one blockage formed by two Axon creatures, then diverts around a group of five of them. There are more along the track. One uses its tentacles to fell a tree across it then they go hand to hand with Yates while trying to get at Benton behind the windscreen. Reversing then driving forward again, Benton manages to get the creatures off back of the vehicle but there is still one on the bonnet as they career across open ground towards the complex. Yates gets a grenade and pulls the pin.)

YATES: Jump!

(The two men get out and scramble away before the Land Rover and Axon go Boom!)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

DOCTOR: Ah, thank you, Jo.
JO: Doctor, what are those figures?
DOCTOR: Oh, they're just some course coordinates, that's all.
FILER: What do you want course coordinates for, Doc? You're not thinking of leaving us, are you?

(The Doctor gives the printout to the Master at the TARDIS' door.)

DOCTOR: Here you are. Everything ready?
MASTER: Just the check.
DOCTOR: Good. Yes, as a matter of fact, we are.
FILER: Not if I can help it!
DOCTOR: Drop that, Filer!
JO: Doctor! Doctor!

(The Doctor shoots Filer with the laser gun, low voltage so he just drops the pistol.)

DOCTOR: Sorry, Jo. Ah, Brigadier, just in time to say goodbye!
JO: No, you can't!
DOCTOR: I'm sorry, Jo, we must.
FILER: We?
DOCTOR: Yes. After all, we are both Time Lords. Goodbye, Brigadier, Mister Chinn. Goodbye, Bill. Goodbye, Jo. I shall miss you.
JO: No!

[TARDIS]

MASTER: Very neat, Doctor. You know, I must say I never thought that you'd go through with it.
DOCTOR: If we're going, let's go.

(But the TARDIS won't start. The Doctor puts the circuit back where he took it from and tries again. This time the rotor starts to go up and down.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

JO: No, Doctor, you can't! Please! Doctor!
YATES: This is it. We're being over-run.

(The TARDIS dematerialises.)

BRIGADIER: Get the men inside! Get that blast door locked!
FILER: Come on, Jo!
BRIGADIER: Take positions back from the door!

(To the sound of weapons fire outside, UNIT troops rush in and everyone takes cover either behind the control console or the accelerator chamber.)

[TARDIS]

MASTER: But you can't rematerialise yet! We're not even in space time!
DOCTOR: This is as far as we're going for the moment.

(The TARDIS materialises.)

MASTER: But where are we?
DOCTOR: Oh, you'll recognise it when you see it. Right, outside. Come on, out!

[Axos main chamber]

(The blue TARDIS is parked opposite a plain white one.)

MASTER: But you must be mad! Why have you brought us here?
DOCTOR: Well, you want your TARDIS back, don't you? We can't beat Axos. We may as well join it.
AXOS [OC]: Why have you returned?
DOCTOR: That's simple. Because you are winning. And we have a proposition. You may have conquered this tiny speck in space but you've yet to conquer time.
AXOS [OC]: Well?
DOCTOR: We are prepared to give you this power on one condition. That we join forces against the High Council of the Time Lords.
AXOS [OC]: How can we do this?
DOCTOR: By linking our drive systems. In this way, Axos will become a TARDIS and the TARDIS will become a part of Axos.
AXOS [OC]: And you?
MASTER: No. My part is finished. All I'm interested in is the return of my TARDIS. Well, I will leave you to your new alliance.

(The Master is prevented from reaching his TARDIS by a forcefield.)

MASTER: I insist on my freedom!
AXOS [OC]: When the link is complete, then you can have your freedom.

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

(Something is burning through the blast door.)

BRIGADIER: Grenades. Wait for it. Wait for it.

(Then everything goes quiet.)

JO: What's happened, Bill? Why has it suddenly stopped?
CHINN: Don't you think we ought to negotiate?

(Blue energy surges through the hole in the door to the accelerator chamber.)

BRIGADIER: What happened?
TECHNICIAN: They've energised the light accelerator. Good grief!

(The dial is moving up to light x 4.)

BRIGADIER: Well, is there anything we can do?
TECHNICIAN: Not without the trigger mechanism. The particles will just go on and on accelerating.
FILER: Then what?
TECHNICIAN: Bang.
YATES: The blast wall, sir!

(The hole is now man-sized.)

[TARDIS]

(The Doctor is connecting an Axon tendril to console.)

MASTER: Tell me, Doctor, isn't that a rather primitive way to make a link?
DOCTOR: Look, will you stop pestering me!
MASTER: All right. I'll check the course circuits.

(The monitor shows a dot moving in a figure of eight.)

MASTER: You've got it set in a time loop!
DOCTOR: That's right, yes.
AXOS [OC]: Attention! Attention! Nutrition cycle incomplete. Disconnect all systems.

[Axos main chamber]

MASTER: Stop him! Don't you understand? He's committing suicide and he's taking us all with him! He's doing this for Earth, not for you. He's putting you all in a time loop and you'll never get out of it! Never!

(The Master enters his own TARDIS.)

[TARDIS]

DOCTOR: Come on! Come on, you must take the load! You must!

(The Axon creatures burst into the lab. Benton and Yates roll grenades at them, but to no effect. The UNIT soldiers start firing, then Jo screams. One soldier is pushed over the railing, another zapped by a tendril. The whole situation looks hopeless, then the spaceship dematerialises, taking the creatures with it. The Doctor is held against the console by them instead.)

AXOS [OC]: Your sacrifice was in vain, Time Lord. You are joined to us forever in this loop of time. Our fate is yours.
DOCTOR: Not if I can break through this time loop!

(The Doctor inches his hand to a control and activates it. The TARDIS materialises in space.)

[Light Acceleration laboratory]

TECHNICIAN: Light accelerator's still building! It's going to go!
BRIGADIER: Right, everybody outside! Evacuate the whole area. Go on!
JO: Bill!
BRIGADIER: Go on! Come on!

(Everybody leaves, then the TARDIS materialises in the lab. Outside, the Brigadier drives Jo and Chinn away in Chinn's limousine while UNIT get into their Land Rover and drive off. The Doctor enters the lab to see the dial at light x 5 and climbing. The ceiling starts to come down so he gets back into the TARDIS.)

[Dungeness]

(The vehicles park up and everyone gets out to see what will happen to the complex.)

BRIGADIER: Get down!
JO: What about the Doctor? Supposing he comes back?

(The Doctor gets the TARDIS started again. The research laboratory goes Boom! but the genuine nuclear power station is untouched, thank goodness. The group drive back.)

[Nuton complex]

(The Brigadier and Jo are staring at the pile of twisted metal girders when the TARDIS materialises.)

DOCTOR: Well! This is a fine welcome, I must say!

[Nuton Complex office]

(The blast has blown the wall away but the potted plant looks healthy enough.)

DOCTOR: Well, it's perfectly simple, Brigadier. A time loop is, er. Well, it's a time loop. One passes continually through the same points in time. Passes through the same. Yes. Well, the Axons said they wanted time travel and now they've got it.
FILER: What about the Master?
DOCTOR: Well, I sincerely hope he's with them.
FILER: Hope?
DOCTOR: Well, I can't be absolutely sure. I was pretty busy at the time. But I'm ninety percent certain though.
FILER: How much?
DOCTOR: Well, pretty certain. Well, I suppose he could have got away. Just.
BRIGADIER: This time loop thing. How did you get out of it?
DOCTOR: I simply boosted the circuits and broke free.
BRIGADIER: And you came back of your own accord?
DOCTOR: Well, I
JO: Doctor?
DOCTOR: No. No, I'm afraid not. No, obviously the Time Lords have programmed the TARDIS always to return to Earth. It seems that I'm some kind of a galactic yo-yo!

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.