The Creature from the Pit

Part One

[Above the pit]

(It is nighttime in the jungle. A group carrying torches gather around a square hole that has been dug in the ground and lined with planks, like a well. On one side is a rope winch. Two of the group hold a man by his arms, and two women look down into the pit then raise their arms. A man produces an enormous horn, almost as big as himself, and blows, while the prisoner falls to his knees and clasps his hands, whimpering. Below ground, something growls. The younger woman nods, and the prisoner is pushed into the pit.)

[TARDIS]

(K9 is reading from Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, held up for him by the Doctor, while Romana drags in a large box of spare parts. K9 has a new voice, courtesy of David Brierley.)

K9: Peter gave himself for lost and shed big tears, but his sobs were overheard by some friendly sparrows who flew to him in great excitement and implored him to exert himself.
ROMANA: Doctor, I've been cleaning out number four hold. You've got the most awful lot of junk in there.
DOCTOR: Shush. Something terribly exciting's about to happen.
ROMANA: Oh, really? What?
DOCTOR: Mister McGregor.
ROMANA: Who?
DOCTOR: Mister McGregor. He's chasing Peter Rabbit. He's got a sieve. He's going to pop it on top of Peter!
ROMANA: Don't worry. He'll wriggle out, lose his jacket and hop into a watering can.
DOCTOR: Atchoo.
K9: Bless you.
DOCTOR: Junk? Did you say junk? I don't carry junk.
ROMANA: What do you call this lot, then?
DOCTOR: That's extremely valuable equipment.
ROMANA: An old ball of string?
DOCTOR: Give that to me. Come on, give it to me.
ROMANA: (reads label on bottom) To the Doctor. A souvenir with love and thanks for all his help with the Minotaur. Theseus and Ariadne.
DOCTOR: Yes. If I hadn't produced that ball of string to find a way out of the labyrinth, they were going to unravel my scarf, the wretches.
ROMANA: All right, but what can you possibly do with the old jawbone of an ass?
DOCTOR: Don't be a philistine.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: That jawbone's been about a bit, you know.

(He puts in into his coat inside pocket.)

ROMANA: All right, so what's this then?
DOCTOR: Well, that's just a bit of old junk.
K9: A mark three emergency transceiver, mistress.
ROMANA: You mean it's part of the TARDIS?
K9: Correct, mistress.
ROMANA: Then why isn't it plugged in, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Because is doesn't work.
K9: Incorrect, master. The transceiver is fully operative.
DOCTOR: Yes, but it's an awful nuisance.
ROMANA: You mean you kept getting calls from Gallifrey all the time. Would you do this, would you do that?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes. Such a bore.
ROMANA: That's what it's for.
DOCTOR: What, to bore?
ROMANA: No, to receive and send distress signals.
DOCTOR: I was never in distress.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: Well, not often. I mean, not what you'd call often. Go on, plug it in.

(Romana places the hemisphere where it belong. It lights up, makes a metallic tinkling sound, and the TARDIS promptly goes sideways, knocking them off their feet and the coat stand falls onto the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: Switch it off! Switch it off!

(Romana pulls it off the console and the TARDIS stabilises.)

DOCTOR: That's better. I told you that thing never worked properly.
K9: Inaccurate, master. The transceiver has never been used properly before.
DOCTOR: Well, there's a fault in it then, isn't there. That was no distress call. Was it? Was it?
K9: Insufficient data, master, but there is no fault in the equipment.
DOCTOR: Well, I'm delighted to hear it.
K9: But your last statement
DOCTOR: But shush. We've landed. I wonder where we are? Anyone know?

(The scanner shows lush vegetation and a geodesic structure close up.)

ROMANA: What is it?
DOCTOR: No idea. Let's find out, shall we? Not you, K9. You stay here. By the way, how did you know about Peter Rabbit?
ROMANA: Oh, Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddleduck

[Outside the TARDIS]

DOCTOR: That's odd.
ROMANA: It's so green.
DOCTOR: It's very odd.
ROMANA: What's odd?
DOCTOR: This is.
ROMANA: What is that thing?

(The Doctor taps it with a spoon.)

DOCTOR: It's an egg.
ROMANA: An egg?
DOCTOR: Yes. Well, part of a shell, anyway. Can't see the rest of it.
ROMANA: It's huge.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ROMANA: What kind of bird laid that?
DOCTOR: If it was a bird.
ROMANA: What do you think it was, then?
DOCTOR: Semi-metallic.
ROMANA: Metallic? You mean metal birds laying metal eggs?

(The Doctor touches it and pulls his hand back quickly.)

ROMANA: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's alive.
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: The shell.
ROMANA: Oh, don't be ridiculous.
DOCTOR: Listen. Can't you hear?
ROMANA: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's the same noise we heard in the TARDIS. There must be a transmitter here.
ROMANA: In an eggshell?
DOCTOR: Well, somewhere, somewhere. It stands to reason.
ROMANA: Stands to reason.
DOCTOR: Yes. Stands to reason. Stupid expression, stands to reason.

(Romana walks round the back of the section, which has ivy growing up it, while the Doctor gets out his stethoscope and listens to the shell.)

DOCTOR: Why doesn't it lie down to reason? Much easier to reason lying down. Relaxes the cerebellum.

(He notices a large barrel cactus that might not have been behind them before, then sits on the ground to continue his examination. The cactus rolls forward.)

DOCTOR: Yes! It's definitely the shell that's the transmitter. I wonder what it's transmitting, and to whom? Well, I suppose to whatever laid it. Hmm, that's not a very pleasant thought, is it, Doctor.

(Now two barrel cacti move forward.)

DOCTOR: Curious material. Almost looks as if it. Almost looks as if it were woven.

(Now there are four cacti inching forward. The Doctor looks away again and they rush on top of him.)

DOCTOR: Ow! That's sharp. Romana. Romana! Romana, would you come here a moment, please? Oh, hello.

(A figure is silhouetted against the light. He is holding a large sword-like thing.)

DOCTOR: Have you seen my assistant? Romana! Romana! Obviously not. All right, I won't bother you then.

(A second figure arrives.)

DOCTOR: Can you get these things off me?

(A third figure cracks a whip and the cacti roll away.)

DOCTOR: Did you get those things off me?
HUNTSMAN: Yes.
DOCTOR: Thank you very much.
HUNTSMAN: Kill him.
DOCTOR: What? And just as we're all getting on so well?
HUNTSMAN: Kill him.
DOCTOR: Look, I don't want to stand on protocol or anything like that, but couldn't you at least do the done thing and take me to your leader?

(The first swordsman is ready to swing when the older woman from the pit speaks.)

KARELA: Wait.

(The swordsman manages to miss.)

DOCTOR: Wait! Are you in charge here?
KARELA: I am.
DOCTOR: Thank you very much. You saved my life and I am a doctor. What are those things?
KARELA: Wolfweeds.
DOCTOR: Weeds? What, plant weeds?
KARELA: Of course. Specially grown in the Lady Adrasta's nurseries.
DOCTOR: Good lord. If I were you, I'd introduce her to geraniums before it's too late.
KARELA: What are you doing in the Place of Death?
DOCTOR: Oh, just pottering around. I have this insatiable curiosity, you see. Why do you call it the Place of Death?
KARELA: Because anyone found here is automatically condemned to death.
DOCTOR: Ah. Is that so? You know, I've always been fascinated by place names and I trust you'll make an exception in my case.
KARELA: Your commander says this is yours.

(She nods towards the TARDIS.)

DOCTOR: My commander?

(Karela points to Romana, who shrugs.)

DOCTOR: Oh, that commander. Hello, commander.
KARELA: What is it?
DOCTOR: It's tricky to explain.
KARELA: What does it do?
DOCTOR: Oh, it travels. We travel in it. Look, I'll show you. You'll like it. Come along, Romana.
KARELA: Secure him. Travels? How? It has no wheels.

(The Doctor's head and wrists are put into a portable stock.)

KARELA: I hope you're not lying, Doctor. The Lady Adrasta will want to question you.
DOCTOR: There was no need to go to all this trouble. All she had to do was make an appointment.
HUNTSMAN: Madam, the wolfweeds sense danger.
KARELA: We move out. Bring the woman.

(Karela steps onto her litter and is carried along, while Romana and the Doctor follow and the Huntsman brings up the rear. Someone is watching.)

[Jungle]

DOCTOR: What do you think is going on?
ROMANA: I don't know. At least we're still alive.
DOCTOR: You realise, of course, we're being followed.
ROMANA: What?
HUNTSMAN: No talking!
DOCTOR: Hmm? Nice place you've got here, old chap. Very green.
HUNTSMAN: Silence!
DOCTOR: Yes. Sorry.

(Shaggy, dirty, bearded faces watch from the foliage, then with a yell they leap out on the procession with large cudgels. The Doctor knocks a couple of them over with his stock, but Romana is captured. The primitives run off.)

DOCTOR: Romana? Romana? Where's Romana?
HUNTSMAN: Captured. Shall we go after the girl, madam? The wolfweeds can follow the tracks.
KARELA: And lead us into another ambush? No, Huntsman.
DOCTOR: Who were they?
KARELA: Bandits. These hills are full of them. No traveller's safe. Unless you want to get your throat cut, you'd better keep up with us.
DOCTOR: Well, what about Romana?
KARELA: Oh, pray that they kill her quickly. Come on.

[Bandit camp]

(We are in a large wooden framed building with lots of furs for a roof and walls. The table is littered with metal objects - rusty chain, pewter goblets and more. A grey-haired man picks up a small piece and acts like Fagin from Oliver Twist.)

TORVIN: Oh, look at that. Pure bronze. Beautiful, beautiful.

(He picks up a vase.)

TORVIN: Oh, lovely. Exquisite. Such shape, such form, such delightfully iron metal content.

(Romana is hustled in.)

TORVIN: Got anything, my lovely boys? What have you brought old Torvin?
EDU: Her.
TORVIN: Her? What use is she? I mean, she's not metal, is she?
EDU: She's one of Lady Adrasta's ladies in waiting. She has to be. Look at her clothes.

(Torvin takes a looted hunter's sword.)

TORVIN: What do her clothes matter to me? Cloth is easy enough to come by. Any metal on her?
EDU: No.
TORVIN: Oh, kill her, then. We've got enough mouths to feed.
EDU: Maybe we could ransom her?
TORVIN: Ransom? Use your brains. If she's one of Adrasta's ladies in waiting, Adrasta will hunt us down. Kill her.
EDU: She could be valuable.
TORVIN: Valuable? Oh no, she's not valuable. Yeah, unless she's got a metal leg or something. Kill her.
AINU: I say we don't kill her unless we vote on it.
EDU: He's right. You're not leader.
TORVIN: No, no, dear boy. Well, of course you must vote. So, vote. Yeah, well, I'm all for democracy.

[Entrance hall]

(Karela leads the Doctor into an altogether more solid building, with arched windows, tiled floor and woven rugs.)

KARELA: Wait there.

(The Doctor tries to follow her into the next room, but is barred by guards. He returns to his escort.)

DOCTOR: Do you mind? I've got a terrible itch. Itchy nose. No, no, no, no, no. My nose, not your nose. Come on, come over here. Come on. Put your finger up like that. Now, you scratch my nose. Ooo, other side. That is so good. Atchoo!

(He lunges forwards and knocks both men out with the wooden stock.)

DOCTOR: Sorry about that, fellows.

(The Doctor unbars the main door and is about to turn the handle when -)

ADRASTA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Ah.

(The younger woman comes out of the room, followed by Karela.)

DOCTOR: You know how it is when you get an itch.
ADRASTA: Perhaps I can be of help.

(She reaches for his nose with her long, sharp fingernails.)

DOCTOR: No, no, no, thank you. There's no itch any more.
ADRASTA: Do let me take that thing off.

(She removes the locking pin from the stock.)

ADRASTA: I so like my guests to feel comfortable.
DOCTOR: Yes, it was a bit incommodious.
ADRASTA: It doesn't seem to have incommoded you too much, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I suppose you could say the yoke's on him, if you were the sort of person who said that sort of thing, which fortunately I'm not. You must be the Lady Adrasta.
ADRASTA: And you're the fellow who was found in the Place of Death.
DOCTOR: Yes! Do you know, I'll tell you something fascinating about that.
ADRASTA: Anyone found there is put to death.
DOCTOR: Oh, you knew. Well, don't you think you could at least put up a notice?
ADRASTA: Tell me, what did you make of the object? Some of the finest brains on Chloris have devoted years to trying to unravel the problem.
DOCTOR: Do you mean the egg?
ADRASTA: Egg?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ADRASTA: Are you sure?
DOCTOR: Well
ADRASTA: Have you seen anything like it before?
DOCTOR: No, but I'm full of theories about it.

(Adrasta leads him into the room she came out of.)

[Throne room]

(Which contains a large gold throne on a dais.)

ADRASTA: What kind of creature laid it?
DOCTOR: Lady Adrasta, I'd like to talk to you about these things, but at the moment I'm much more concerned about Romana.
ADRASTA: Ah yes, Madam Karela told me. Your commander.
DOCTOR: No, no, she's not my commander. She's my companion.
ADRASTA: Of course. I couldn't see a man of your obvious talents in a subordinate position.
DOCTOR: You couldn't see a man of my obvious talents in a sub. Oh, no, of course. You're very kind.
ADRASTA: Yes, aren't I. And I'll send a troop of guards to find her. See to it.
KARELA: Immediately, my lady.

(Karela leaves.)

ADRASTA: Don't worry, Doctor. My wolfweeds will hunt down those animals that took Romana.
DOCTOR: Hmm, I wonder what they'll do to her?
ADRASTA: The wolfweeds?
DOCTOR: No, the bandits.
ADRASTA: Kill her quickly, if she's lucky.
DOCTOR: And if she's not?
ADRASTA: Slowly.

[Bandit camp]

(Romana is tied to a wooden pillar with her hands behind her back.)

TORVIN: Ready, boys?

(The bandits gather at the table and hold their hands over two bowls.)

TORVIN: One, two.

(They all drop brass strips into one of the two bowls. One bowl only has one strip in it.)

TORVIN: Everybody voted? We're all agreed, then. Good, my lovely boys, good. Kill her.
EDU: Now what will killing her achieve?
ROMANA: Go ahead.
TORVIN: What did you say?
ROMANA: I said, go ahead and kill me. Commit suicide. Listen to that hirsute moron.
TORVIN: Here, who are you calling hair suit?
ROMANA: You. Do you want to make something of it?
TORVIN: No, I just want to know what it means.
ROMANA: It means hairy.
EDU: What do you mean, my lady?
ROMANA: I should have thought that was obvious. Hairy, covered with hair.
EDU: No. What do you mean when you said we were committing suicide.
ROMANA: Well, if this Lady Adrasta, whoever she might be, is going to hunt you down for kidnapping me, what do you think she'll do if she finds out you've killed me?
EDU: She's right.
AINU: What do you mean, whoever Lady Adrasta might be? You're her lady in waiting, aren't you?
ROMANA: No.
AINU: Then who are you, milady?
ROMANA: That's the first intelligent question you've asked. I'm a traveller. I'm a Time Lord. And I am not used to being assaulted by a collection of hairy, grubby little men.
TORVIN: Well, she's no call to get personal.
ROMANA: I don't intend to get used to it, either. Sit down.
TORVIN: Kill her!
ROMANA: Untie me.

(Torvin fetches a large stone axe.)

TORVIN: Here, don't listen to her. She's only trying to trick you.

(Ainu unties Romana.)

ROMANA: Sit. Sit.

(All the bandits sit on the floor except Torvin, who finally wilts under Romana's imperious glare.)

ROMANA: That's better. Now, let's talk this over sensibly.

(Romana takes K9's dog whistle from her cleavage.)

TORVIN: Here, what's this?
ROMANA: See for yourself.
TORVIN: Here, do you know what this is?
AINU: Yeah, it's a piece of metal.
TORVIN: Yeah, I know what it is, but what is it?
ROMANA: You blow through it.

(Torvin hands it to Ainu, who blows through the ring on the end. Then Edu blows across the top of it. Finally Torvin puts it in his mouth and blows it properly.)

TORVIN: What is it?
ROMANA: It's a whistle.
TORVIN: A whistle?
ROMANA: Go on. Try blowing harder.
TORVIN: Oh.

[TARDIS]

K9: Coming, mistress. Coming.

[Throne room]

(The Doctor is examining a pentagonal decoration on the wall behind the throne dais.)

ADRASTA: Doctor, you said you had some theories about this eggshell?
DOCTOR: Yes. What is this thing?
ADRASTA: Later, Doctor. About the eggshell.
DOCTOR: Extraordinary texture. How long has it been there?
ADRASTA: We discovered it about fifteen years ago. The shell, Doctor.
DOCTOR: The shell?
ADRASTA: Yes. My huntsman heard you say that the shell was alive.
DOCTOR: Alive and screaming in pain.
ADRASTA: The shell? Then why can no one hear it?
DOCTOR: Because it can only be detected on very low frequency wavelengths.
ADRASTA: What's the shell screaming about?
DOCTOR: Ah. More to the point, for whom is it screaming? Its mummy? By the pyramids, imagine the size of its mummy.

(Adrasta snaps her fingers and two men step out from behind a curtain.)

ADRASTA: You heard?
TOLLUND: Yes, my lady.
DOCTOR: Who are these, the undertakers?
ADRASTA: Engineers. Doran and Tollund.
DOCTOR: Ah, how do you do?
TOLLUND: Our task is to discover the function of the object that you mistakenly called an eggshell.
DOCTOR: Why, what would you call it?
TOLLUND: Well, Engineer Doran, in his latest paper on the subject, has proved conclusively that it is part of an ancient building. Perhaps a temple.
DOCTOR: A temple. Ha!
ADRASTA: You're not convinced, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Convinced? Pooh.
ADRASTA: You still think it's a shell.
DOCTOR: Well, of course it is, of a sort.
TOLLUND: Well, I myself have calculated that a bird large enough to lay that egg would have to have a wingspan of at least a mile.
DOCTOR: Yes?
TOLLUND: Well, do you know many birds that large?
DOCTOR: No, but it isn't only birds that lay eggs, is it? Fishes do.
TOLLUND: Big fish.
DOCTOR: Oh, very big ones. Or a big reptile.
TOLLUND: Mmm, yes.
DOCTOR: Perhaps a gigantic frog.
DORAN: Really, Doctor. How do you account for the marks of intense heat on the exterior of the shell?
DOCTOR: Er, someone tried to fry the egg?
DORAN: My lady, this man is being facetious.
DOCTOR: He's quite right.
ADRASTA: Doran, I saw no mention in your paper that the shell was alive.
DORAN: It can't be, my lady. It's impossible. We detected nothing.
ADRASTA: But this man did.
DORAN: He's mistaken.
DOCTOR: Well, to be fair, I did have a couple of gadgets which he probably didn't, like a teaspoon and an open mind.
ADRASTA: You have failed me, Engineer Doran.

(A lady in waiting rings a bell. Doran sinks to his knees.)

ADRASTA: Take him.

(Two guards come to take him away.)

DORAN: My lady, I beg you. No, please, no!
DOCTOR: Where are they taking him?

(Tollund hides his head in his cowl.)

ADRASTA: Come and see.

(Tollund dashes behind the curtain.)

ADRASTA: Perhaps you will find it instructive.
DOCTOR: Yes, perhaps I will, and interesting too, I hope.
ADRASTA: Doctor, you know more about the shell than you're prepared to say. Perhaps a little demonstration will make you more cooperative. Bring him.
DOCTOR: Oh, how nice to meet a well-mannered guard.

[Bandit camp]

ROMANA: I'm afraid I really must be frank with you. As bandits go, you're a pretty duff bunch.
TORVIN: Oh, you hear that, boys? We impressed the lady.
ROMANA: I'm afraid not. Well, I really must be going.
TORVIN: Going? What makes you think that you can get out of here alive?

(K9 enters.)

ROMANA: My friend.
TORVIN: What's that?
ROMANA: It's a dog.
EDU: It's made of metal.
TORVIN: Metal. Must be worth a fortune.
ROMANA: K9, have you located the Doctor yet?
K9: Yes, mistress.
ROMANA: Good. Well, I really must be on my way. I do hope we don't meet again. I can't honestly say it's been a pleasure. Good day.
TORVIN: Leave your dog behind.
ROMANA: Certainly not.
TORVIN: Then you don't leave.

(Torvin raises his axe.)

ROMANA: K9.

(K9 stuns Torvin.)

ROMANA: It's all right, he's not dead, only stunned. He'll come to in a minute, with a very sore head. But then I expect you're used to that. K9.

[Above the pit]

DOCTOR: What's this?
ADRASTA: We call it the Pit.
DOCTOR: Ah. You have such a way with words.

(Adrasta nods, the horn is sounded.)

DORAN: No, no. Please, I beg you, please.
DOCTOR: Look, I don't know what you intend to do with Engineer Doran.
ADRASTA: Really?
DOCTOR: Well, I suggest you think again. After all, he may be a bit of an idiot, but at least he's a conscientious idiot, and even bad engineers are hard to come by on this side of the galaxy.

(The horn sounds again, and growling comes from below.)

DOCTOR: What's that?

(Doran is pushed down into the pit.)

[The Pit]

(Doran lands amongst bones. A green light shines on him from the side.)

DORAN: No! No! No! No!

[Above the Pit]

ADRASTA: Now, Doctor, are you prepared to be cooperative?
ROMANA [OC]: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Romana, no!
ROMANA: It's all right. I've got K9.
ADRASTA: Seize her!
ROMANA: K9.

(K9 stuns the guard, who topples into the Pit.)

ADRASTA: Attack! Attack!

(The huntsman sends in the wolfweeds. K9's laser sets one on fire.)

ROMANA: Good boy, K9.

(But K9 is quickly buried by the pack.)

ROMANA: K9?
ADRASTA: He's dead.
ROMANA: K9. K9.
ADRASTA: You must be Romana. Well, Doctor, now I have you both. Now you're bound to be cooperative.

(The Doctor goes over to Romana and taps the side of his nose, before returning to Adrasta.)

ADRASTA: Well, Doctor?

(The Doctor grabs the rope and lowers himself rapidly into the Pit.)

Part Two

[Above the Pit]

ROMANA: Doctor! Doctor!

(Romana looks down the 'well' to see the Doctor holding on to some stonework just below the wooden lining. He puts his finger to his lips.)

ADRASTA: Fool. Hold her.
ROMANA: We must save him.
ADRASTA: Impossible.
ROMANA: Someone could climb down to him.
ADRASTA: Into the Pit? To that creature?

[In the well]

ROMANA [OC]: Let me go down to him.
ADRASTA [OC]: You're too valuable.
ROMANA [OC]: Me? Why?

[Above the Pit]

ADRASTA: You were his assistant. You must know what he knew.
ROMANA: About what?
ADRASTA: The huge broken shell in the Place of Death. He knew something about it that none of my Engineers had ever discovered.
ROMANA: What? I don't know anything about it.
ADRASTA: Don't interrupt, dear. It's the only thing that's keeping you alive.
ROMANA: Well, you can't just leave the Doctor to die down there.
ADRASTA: If I were you, my dear, I would pray that he was dead already. Then he would at least be spared the stress of being eaten alive.

[In the well]

(The Doctor hammers a piton into the stonework.)

ADRASTA [OC]: Come away from the Pit, my dear. Believe me, there is no way he is going to climb out.
DOCTOR: Everest In Easy Stages.

(He takes the said book from his pocket.)

DOCTOR: It's in Tibetan!

(The Doctor gets a second book from his pocket. Teach Yourself Tibetan. )

DOCTOR: Pi-e pa-ha. Do not be afraid.

(Something growls down below.)

[Above the Pit]

ROMANA: Please. I beg you, save him.
ADRASTA: It's too late, my dear.
ROMANA: K9.

(The wolfweeds have left him covered in a thick cobweb.)

ROMANA: K9. Oh, K9, what have they done to you?
K9: Mistress. Mistress.
ROMANA: K9.
K9: Cannot move.

(Adrasta taps K9 with her knife.)

ADRASTA: It's metal! Bring it. And her. I have a use for her.

[In the well]

(With both books propped open, the Doctor is hammering pitons and belays into the stonework. His scarf is tied to the top one. Adrasta looks down.)

ADRASTA: Pity you were such a fool, Doctor. I could have used you, too.

(She kicks some soil over the edge which lands on the Doctor's face. He jerks, the top belay comes out and he falls to the bottom of the shaft.)

[The Pit]

(Where he lands amongst a collection of skeletons. He tries to take the pulse of one of them.)

DOCTOR: Dead, poor chap. Doran? Doran? Doran. Doran.

(The Doctor crawls off through more intact skeletons, obviously not scavenged by a carnivore. He lights a match and finds Doran, eyes wide open, staring up.)

DOCTOR: Doran.

(Something growls nearby.)

[Throne room]

ROMANA: What is that thing in the pit?
ADRASTA: We call it the Creature.
ROMANA: Ah, that's original. But what kind of creature is it?
ADRASTA: Hard to say, really.
ROMANA: Why is that?
ADRASTA: Our researchers divide into two categories. The ones who have got close enough to find out something about it.
ROMANA: Yes?
ADRASTA: And the ones who are still alive.
ROMANA: But you must know something about it.
ADRASTA: It kills people. What more is there to know?
ROMANA: Where does it come from? Is it a native of this planet?
ADRASTA: I'm sorry about your friend, my dear, believe me, but you saw for yourself, he hurled himself into the Pit. He wasn't pushed. No one forced him.
ROMANA: Why should he do that?
ADRASTA: Perhaps in order to save you.
ROMANA: Me? But how?
ADRASTA: Now he's gone, I have to keep you alive. You're the only one who knows about the shell.
ROMANA: Why are you so interested in that shell?
ADRASTA: There are some questions, my dear, it is better not to ask. You do know about the shell?
ROMANA: I was with the Doctor when he found it.
ADRASTA: Yes, Madam Karela told me, but you still haven't answered my question.
ROMANA: There are some questions it's

(Adrasta slaps Romana, hard.)

ADRASTA: Now, my dear, I'll ask you just once more. You do know about the shell?
ROMANA: Yes.
ADRASTA: Good. I'm sure we'll get along famously.

(K9 is carried in on a stretcher.)

ADRASTA: Ah, your curious tin animal.
ROMANA: What are you going to do with him?
ADRASTA: On our planet, my dear, metal of whatever sort is valuable. Far too valuable for mere toys. Guards, break up the tin dog. Smash it to pieces.
ROMANA: But you can't break up K9!
ADRASTA: Don't worry, my dear. We'll keep every piece of precious metal.

[The Pit]

(The Doctor lights another match and goes exploring the tunnels. The rocks are wet.)

DOCTOR: Yuk.

(He comes upon the sight of a huge pulsating green vegetable, and carefully backs away as it comes searching for him. The match goes out. He lights another, turns and nearly drops it as he looks into the eyes of another living person. The old man puts his fingers to his lips.)

[Throne room]

(A guard is using a hammer and chisel on K9.)

ROMANA: Please, stop him before he damages the circuitry.
ADRASTA: You'll cooperate to the full?
ROMANA: Yes.
ADRASTA: I want to know what the Doctor found out about the shell.
ROMANA: All right.
ADRASTA: And I want to know about your travelling machine.
ROMANA: The TARDIS.
ADRASTA: If that's what it's called.
ROMANA: All right, but if that maniac doesn't stop bashing K9 you won't learn anything.
ADRASTA: Is that a threat?
ROMANA: No, I'm simply telling you that everything you want to know is locked up in K9's memory banks. Damage them and you won't learn a thing.
ADRASTA: Stop it, you fool! So, the little metal animal knows everything. Well, well. That makes both the Doctor and you redundant, doesn't it.
ROMANA: Not really. You see, I'm the only one who can operate K9. Without me, he can't tell you what you want to know.

[The Pit]

(The Doctor hands a lit match to his new friend, played by the lovely Geoffrey Bayldon. He'd have made a great Doctor in the William Hartnell style.)

ORGANON: This way, quickly, before the monster comes back. Come on, come on.

[Organon's cave]

(Pit props hold up the roof. A candle burns in a trepanned skull.)

ORGANON: Ah, finally. Here we are. Make yourself at home. Well, comfortable, if you can.
DOCTOR: Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for saving me from that creature.
ORGANON: Oh, don't mention it, sir. As my dear mother always used to say. Born under the sign of Patus, middle cusp she was. If you can help anybody, like preventing them from being eaten by a monster, then do so. They might be grateful. So I did.
DOCTOR: Indeed you did, and I am grateful, and your mother was obviously a very fine woman. I'm the Doctor. Who are you?
ORGANON: Organon, sir.
DOCTOR: Organon?
ORGANON: Astrologer extraordinary. Seer to princes and emperors. The future foretold, the past explained, the present apologised for.
DOCTOR: What are you doing down here?
ORGANON: A small matter of a slight error in a prophecy.
DOCTOR: Ah. Well, I guess it could happen to anybody.
ORGANON: Why, are you in the business yourself, sir?
DOCTOR: What?
ORGANON: Seeing into the future?
DOCTOR: Oh, well.
ORGANON: Crystal ball man, are you? Or do you favour goat entrails?
DOCTOR: No, I tend to use a police box affair.
ORGANON: A police box affair?
DOCTOR: Yes. What about your prophecy? Did it by any chance concern the Lady Adrasta?
ORGANON: Oh, you've met her.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: A difficult woman. Very literal mind. I told her that she would have visitors from beyond the stars.
DOCTOR: Ooo, a bit rash, wasn't it?
ORGANON: Well, it seemed a safe enough bet at the time. It's a great attention-getter, you know. I do it very well.

(Organon stands and waves his arms about with his eyes shut.)

ORGANON: I see a creature coming to you from beyond the stars. I've done it in all the courts on the planet. It usually goes down very well.
DOCTOR: Yes, I can see it might. But the Lady Adrasta?
ORGANON: Oh, she grew very nasty. What sort of creature, she wanted to know. Well, I stalled a bit. You know, a little professional
DOCTOR: Vagueness.
ORGANON: Discretion.
DOCTOR: Ah.
ORGANON: And she threw me down here, with that thing. Where are you from?
DOCTOR: Me? Oh, from beyond the stars, you know.
ORGANON: Oh, so I was right!
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: And then Adrasta grew nasty with you and threw you down here as well?
DOCTOR: Me? No, no, no, no, no. I jumped.
ORGANON: Jumped?
DOCTOR: Yes. Do you think she's frightened of someone coming from beyond the stars?
ORGANON: I should say so. Was she frightened of you?
DOCTOR: No, no, no. I don't think it was me she was expecting. How long have you been down here?
ORGANON: Oh, I've lost count. Many moon flows. I've survived on scraps of food that the serfs throw down. I think they're intended for the Thing.

[Bandit camp]

(The bandits help Torvin to his feet.)

TORVIN: Leave me alone. Why didn't you kill that girl when you had the chance?
AINU: We didn't get the chance. That tin animal saw to that.
TORVIN: What, you let him walk out of here too? Oh, you realise what this means?
EDU: What?
TORVIN: Well, we'll have to get packed and move now.
EDU: Why?
TORVIN: Why? Use your brains. Because she can direct Adrasta's troopers here, that's why. Do you think that Adrasta will give up the chance of getting her hands on our loot? No, there must be nearly two bodyweights of perfect metal there. Bit rusty, bit bent here and there, but metal. No, I'll bet you that at this very moment Lady Adrasta is planning an expedition to wipe us out once and for all, and to lay her hands on my little nest egg.
AINU: Our little nest egg.
TORVIN: Well, of course, of course.
EDU: What we going to do?
TORVIN: Well, Adrasta's guards can't be in two places at once, can they?
EDU: What do you mean.
TORVIN: I mean, if they're ransacking our camp, they can't be looking after her palace at the same time, now can they?
EDU: You mean?
TORVIN: I mean that Adrasta's palace isn't going to be very heavily guarded, so?
EDU: So?
TORVIN: Who owns all the mineral wealth?
EDU: Adrasta.
TORVIN: Exactly. And if it isn't going to be properly guarded because her guards are going to be here looking for us, then
EDU: We ransack the palace?
TORVIN: Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do. Get your weapons, my lovely boys. We're going visiting.

[Organon's cave]

DOCTOR: Well, at least the creature hasn't attacked you yet.
ORGANON: Yes, I've managed to avoid it so far. I've been lucky.
DOCTOR: Yeah, and lucky to have lamps, too.
ORGANON: Yes, they were lying around. It used to be mines, you know, but they've been worked out. Metal is very scarce up there. Very precious.
DOCTOR: Inconvenient commodity to be short of.
ORGANON: Seems to suit the Lady Adrasta well enough, though.
DOCTOR: Really? Why do you say that?
ORGANON: She owns the only mine there is.
DOCTOR: The only mine?
ORGANON: Yes. This one. Well, that's the point, don't you see? Although it's been worked dry, all the metal on the planet came out of it and it all belongs to her.
DOCTOR: Ah. A monopoly of metal.
ORGANON: Yes, it's the source of her power.
DOCTOR: So a continued shortage suits her.
ORGANON: She depends on it.
DOCTOR: What? Do you know something? I think that's terribly interesting.
ORGANON: Oh! My horoscope said I'd be useful to somebody today. I thought perhaps it was going to be to that.

(The creature growls nearby.)

DOCTOR: How big is it?
ORGANON: Huge.
DOCTOR: Huge? How huge? Hundred feet?
ORGANON: Perhaps two.
DOCTOR: Huge. And that noise it makes.
ORGANON: Yes, I sometimes thing that it's singing.
DOCTOR: Singing, crying, growling.
ORGANON: Yes, who's to tell except another creature and there's only one like that, thank heaven.
DOCTOR: Are you sure of that?
ORGANON: Of course I'm sure. There's only that one on this planet.
DOCTOR: Why? You've been everywhere, have you?
ORGANON: Oh, yes. I've travelled. I'm one of the few who has. Most of the country is impenetrable forest or jungle.
DOCTOR: Very pretty, though. Very pretty.
ORGANON: It may be pretty to you, but it's the very devil to live in. No metal means no tools.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: No tools
BOTH: No cultivation.
ORGANON: Exactly. We're smothered by forest.

(The creature fills the entrance and green light pulses through the cave. It's pseudopod feels the air.)

[Throne room]

(Romana whispers as she removes the web from K9.)

ROMANA: K9? Can you hear me?
K9: Mistress.
ROMANA: Have you got enough power left to stun the guards?
K9: Affirmative, mistress, if I was mobile, but I cannot move at present.
ROMANA: I know.
ADRASTA: Well? We are waiting.
ROMANA: Yes, my lady. One moment.
ADRASTA: Remember, I want to see how that animal works.
ROMANA: You will, my lady. Just a few minor adjustments.
KARELA: (sotto) I don't like this, my lady. I don't trust the girl or that tin animal.
ADRASTA: Neither do I, Karela.
KARELA: (sotto) Kill her, my lady. Kill her now.
ADRASTA: Later. I have a use for her and for that machine. Romana, we are ready for the demonstration.
ROMANA: Yes, my lady. You ready, K9?
K9: Affirmative.

(Romana picks up K9 and points him towards Adrasta, Karela and the lady in waiting.)

ROMANA: I'd like you to examine this machine. Let me show you how it works. Please, don't be afraid.

(Adrasta and Karela move round so that K9 is facing the door and its guard.)

ROMANA: Now, K9.

(K9 fires one shot at the lintel and his second takes out the guard.)

ADRASTA: Stop her! Seize her!

(A guard runs in to be stunned too, but two others grab Romana and K9.)

ADRASTA: I want her alive. Tin dog, do that again and my guards cut your mistress's throat.

(A guard puts K9 in the corner, facing the wall.)

ADRASTA: Thank you, my dear. An invaluable demonstration.

[Organon's cave]

(The Creature has got Organon and the Doctor backed up against the far wall, as its pseudopod waves around trying to find them. Organon picks up his skull candle holder, holds it under the pseudopod and closes his eyes. The Creature backs away from the heat. The Doctor touches his wrist, making him jump.)

ORGANON: Oh! Oh, well, he didn't like that, did he.
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: I bet he won't come back here again in a hurry.
DOCTOR: It's gone.
ORGANON: Doctor, what sign were you born under? Aquatrio?
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Capris.
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Oh. Ariel?
DOCTOR: No.
ORGANON: Oh, if only I had my charts here, I could have told you your horoscope. I'm sure this was your lucky day.
DOCTOR: Did you examine that thing's skin?
ORGANON: No, thank you. I was trying to avoid it examining mine.
DOCTOR: It looked almost like a cerebral membrane.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: The membrane that protects the brain.
ORGANON: It's a huge brain.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ORGANON: What about the rest of it? The arms, the legs, the body?
DOCTOR: Let's find out, shall we?
ORGANON: You mean, go after it?
DOCTOR: Yes. Why not?

(The Doctor leaves with the candle.)

ORGANON: I can think of a dozen good reasons. You're mad! He's mad. It's all been too much for him. You wouldn't find me doing a crazy thing like that. Here! Wait for me!

[Tunnel]

DOCTOR: I thought you weren't going to come.
ORGANON: Shush. Where is it?
DOCTOR: Shush. Somewhere up ahead.

(They move on a little, then Organon grabs the Doctor's arm.)

DOCTOR: What is it?
ORGANON: What am I doing here?
DOCTOR: I don't know. I'll tell you something I'd rather know.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: What's that creature doing here? Pure brain a hundred foot across stuck at the bottom of a pit, oozing about and sitting on people. Not much of a life, is it.
ORGANON: Who can read such mysteries? Perhaps it was written in the stars?
DOCTOR: Hmm. Perhaps it was born among them.
ORGANON: What?
DOCTOR: Shush. Come on.

[Throne room]

(Romana has been tied to Karela's chair and a guard stands behind her.)

ADRASTA: What do you call this machine in which you travel?
K9: The TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.
ADRASTA: And you travel through space and time in it?
K9: Affirmative.
ADRASTA: Don't you see what this means, Karela? We can go anywhere, into any time and bring back anything we need.
KARELA: Metallic ores. The pure metal itself.
ADRASTA: The monopoly will remain mine. Yes, I think this TARDIS will be very useful.
KARELA: Do you know how to operate it?
ADRASTA: She does.
KARELA: Are you sure?
ADRASTA: We'll soon find out.
KARELA: It's a pity the Doctor is no longer with us.
ADRASTA: Yes. He could have been most helpful.
KARELA: I suppose he is dead?
ADRASTA: He must be. No one survives the Pit.
KARELA: He struck me as quite resourceful for a man.
ADRASTA: True. You think he might still be alive?
KARELA: We can find out. I can get into the Pit from here and with some guards I can see
ADRASTA: Not just guards. We'll take that tin thing as well.
K9: Correction. I am not made of tin.
ADRASTA: It's been listening to us.
KARELA: It's eerie. What do we need it for?
ADRASTA: To kill something.
KARELA: Who do you want to kill, my lady? You don't need a machine to do it. Just mention the name and I'll see to it myself.
ADRASTA: It's too big even for you to kill, Karela. It's huge, very huge, and it's time I was rid of it. The TARDIS has made it superfluous.

(While the Creature pulses in its lair, the curtain has been pulled aside to reveal a door. A guard unties Romana.)

KARELA: Remove the bars. Get the torches. We'll need them in the Pit.
ROMANA: That leads down to the Pit?
ADRASTA: There are two more doors, each barred and bolted so that nothing can get up.
KARELA: Bring the tin animal.
K9: Correction, madam. As I have already told you, I am not made of tin.
KARELA: If I say you're made of tin, you horrible little animal, you're made of tin.
K9: I cannot accept the input of incorrect data.
ROMANA: It's all right, K9.
ADRASTA: Guardmaster, you go first, with her.
GUARDMASTER: Right, my lady.

(The Guardmaster takes Romana through the doorway.)

ADRASTA: You next.

(A guard picks up K9 and leaves.)

ADRASTA: Then you, Karela. Followed by me.

(And two more guards.)

[Tunnel]

ORGANON: Not too fast.

[The mines]

(Adrasta's party descend a flight of stairs into an open area.)

KARELA: Which way now, my lady?
ADRASTA: That way. We're getting close. Better send some guards on ahead.
KARELA: Guardmaster, take two guards and scout on ahead.
GUARDMASTER: You and you, come with me.

[Tunnel]

ORGANON: Ahem. What do we do when we find the monster? Have you thought of that?
DOCTOR: Shush. I don't know.
ORGANON: You don't know? What do you mean, you don't know?
DOCTOR: I haven't made up my mind yet.
ORGANON: Well, haven't you got a plan?
DOCTOR: A plan? Oh yes, I've got a plan.
ORGANON: Well then?
DOCTOR: I just don't know how to apply it, that's all.

[Creature's lair]

ORGANON: Fine time to tell me.

(The Guardmaster's scouting party arrive in the green-lit cavern too. He fires his crossbow at the Creature.)

ORGANON: Don't.

(The Doctor hands the candle to Organon and walks forward.)

ORGANON: Doctor, come back.
DOCTOR: Hello there.

(A pseudopod eight feet tall moves towards the Doctor.)

DOCTOR: Steady, steady. You're standing on my scarf.

(And engulfs him.)

Part Three

[Creature's lair]

ORGANON: Doctor! Don't just stand there, help him! He's trapped!

[Outside the Creature's lair]

(But the Guardmaster and his guards scuttle out of the lair with Organon. The creature emits an energy wave and the entrance is blocked by a pentagon design very like the one hanging in Adrasta's throne room.)

GUARDMASTER: I've never seen anything like it.
ORGANON: I have. Anyway, the Doctor's behind there and we've got to get him out. It's as hard as rock.
GUARDMASTER: It'll take gunpowder to blast a hole in this. And even then

(Inside, we can hear the Guardmaster tapping at the door. The Doctor gets up, strikes a match and goes over to knock a reply.)

ORGANON: It's him. He's alive.
GUARDMASTER: How do you know it's him?
ORGANON: It's, er, part of my profession. Well, we've got to get through, so get on with it.
GUARDMASTER: You, go and inform the Lady Adrasta.
GUARD: Sir.
GUARDMASTER: You, give us a hand to smash a hole in this.
ORGANON: Maybe if we tried at the edge here.
GUARDMASTER: Right. Come on, down here.

(The Doctor wanders around the lair.)

[Palace wall]

(The bandits have arrived.)

AINU: There's only one guard at the side gate.
TORVIN: Good. What do we do about him?
AINU: Well, Edu's gone to have a chat with him.
TORVIN: What?

(Gurgling sound from around the corner.)

AINU: Lovely little talker is Edu. Come on.

[Tunnel]

(The guard meets up with the main party.)

KARELA: What is it?
GUARD: Message for my lady from the Guardmaster. The Creature has been found and
ROMANA: I'll take him. It's all right.

(Romana takes K9 from a guard.)

GUARD: And is within a sort of shell to protect itself.
ROMANA: I've got to check his circuitry. Don't worry, I'll take the responsibility. K9, are you recharged?
K9: Very nearly, mistress.
ROMANA: Be ready.
K9: I always am, mistress.
ADRASTA: You saw this with your own eyes?
GUARD: Yes, my lady. The Guardmaster is awaiting your orders.
KARELA: Guard, the prisoner must not communicate with the tin animal. What were you up to?
ROMANA: I told the guard. Checking K9's circuitry.
ADRASTA: Good.
KARELA: My lady.
ADRASTA: My dear, bad news I'm afraid about your friend the Doctor.
ROMANA: He's dead?
ADRASTA: Nobody can tell at the moment.
ROMANA: What do you mean?
ADRASTA: The guard says he's trapped in the Pit with the Creature.
ROMANA: Well, then we must get him out.
ADRASTA: How? My men can't break through the shell the creature has woven.
ROMANA: A shell?
ADRASTA: If we are to rescue the Doctor, we have to break through the shell. Could K9 do it? Has he enough power?
ROMANA: K9?
K9: Impossible to say until the molecular structure of the material is evaluated.
ADRASTA: I hope, for the Doctor's sake, you are strong enough. And strong enough to kill the Creature, too. Come on.
K9: Guard, lift me down.
(A guard puts K9 on the ground and he trundles off.
Meanwhile, up in Adrasta's palace, the guard on duty gets a knife in the back and Edu unbolts the door.)

[Creature's lair]

(The Doctor finds some shiny pieces of rock on the ground.)

DOCTOR: Pure cadmium. That didn't come from this mine.

(He puts it in his pocket.)

DOCTOR: A nugget of iron. Iron ore I could understand, but pure iron? I wonder where it came from?

(He pockets that, too. The Creature growls.)

DOCTOR: Hello. Friend. Friend. It's all right, it's all right. Look, you can see I'm not armed, eh? I won't hurt you. How could I hurt you? I mean, how? You've got beautiful skin. Extraordinary skin. Green veins. Chlorophyll? I wonder. Well, if it's chlorophyll you need, you've come to the right place. Chlorophyll? I wonder. No, don't get frightened. It's all right, it's all right. Shush. Shush.

(The Doctor gets close enough to touch the Creature gently.)

DOCTOR: There. There, that's not so bad now, is it. Good girl. Good boy. You're a problem, you know. You're aware of me, yet you haven't got any eyes. Haven't got a mouth. At least, not one that I can see. Come to think of it, you haven't even got a head. So how do we communicate, hmm? Telepathy?

(The Doctor puts his cheek against the Creature.)

DOCTOR: Hello? I am the Doctor. Friend. Friend.

(He takes hold of a pseudopod and blows into it like a speaking tube.)

DOCTOR: Hello. I am the Doctor. Friend. Friend. Nothing. Not a thing. How are we going to talk to each other, eh? Why can't we talk to each other? How do you communicate with your own kind?

(The Creature advances on him, backing him into the rock wall. The Doctor slides down to the ground.)

DOCTOR: Steady. Steady, friend. You don't know your own. Easy. Friend. Friend.

(The Creature etches a pentagon onto a nearby rock.)

DOCTOR: What's that? A picture? I've seen that somewhere before.

[Entrance hall]

(Whilst the pentagon in the throne room sparkles and flashes as the guard paces, Edu has got the main door open.)

EDU: All clear. Come on.

(Torvin pushes Ainu ahead. Ainu spots a metal pot on a side table. There is a brief wrestling match before a bandit puts it into a large sack.)

TORVIN: Shush.

[Throne room]

TORVIN: Guard?
GUARD: Who are you? Where have you come from? Stay there. Don't move.

(Torvin backs into the entrance hall.)

TORVIN: Look, I'm not armed.
GUARD: Are you alone? Intruder! Turn out the guard!

[Entrance hall]

(The guard rushes out of the throne room and is felled by Ainu's staff. Edu raises his knife to finish the job.)

TORVIN: Come on, my lovely boys. Let's see what Lady Adrasta has for us.

[Throne room]

TORVIN: Oh, even the door! The bolts, the hinges, all metal. Quick, my lovely boys, quick, before the guards get back. Bring everything. Oh ho, copper! Ooo, bronze. Iron!

(They stuff metal objects into large sacks. Then the pentagon lights up again.)

EDU: Hey, what's this?
TORVIN: I don't know. If it's metal, bring it.
EDU: Hey, it's warm!
TORVIN: I don't care if it's on fire. If it's metal, bring it.

(The pentagon goes dull again.)

EDU: It's burning! I've never seen metal like that before.
TORVIN: Ridiculous. Let me try. Here, it's not hot at all.
EDU: Huh?

(They both lift it down from the wall.)

TORVIN: Oh, it's metal, all right. It's not tin or silver.
AINU [OC]: Guards coming!
TORVIN: What? How many?
AINU: Too many for us.
TORVIN: We'd better get out of here. Quick, let's see where this leads to.
AINU: They're coming!
TORVIN: Quick, quick, all of you. Down here! Maybe it leads to Adrasta's treasure vaults.

(The bandits head off towards the mines and the Pit.)

[Creature's lair]

DOCTOR: So that's what you want. Easy, easy, shush. You do want it, don't you? What's it for? Is it a weapon? What is it? Come on. At least say something. Communicate. Give me a sign. I wish I knew how far I could trust you. Still, you haven't harmed me yet. Much. All right, I'll get it for you, but I want you to promise. That's a stupid thing to say. You can't even speak. How can you promise me anything? All right, be good. Stay here. Ah.

(The Doctor picks up mini-pentagons from the floor.)

DOCTOR: Bits of shell. Bits of eggshell. No, no, it's all right, it's all right, it's all right. All right, all right. Look, I'm not going to take them. I'm not going to take them. There you are. I can take a hint. I can take a hint, yeah. If we ever do find your mouth, wherever it is, you've got a lot of explaining to do, my friend. All right, all right, I said I can take a hint. I'm off, I'm off, I'm off. Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.

(The Doctor leaves, trailing his scarf behind him, with a piece of eggshell on the end of it.)

[Outside the Creature's lair]

ROMANA: Who are you?
ORGANON: Oh, don't bother about that now. My friend's trapped in there.
ROMANA: The Doctor?
ORGANON: Yes. Oh, I beg your pardon. Do you know him?
ROMANA: Yes, very well.
ORGANON: Ah. Nice fellow. Do you know the celestial circumstances of his birth?
ROMANA: The what?
ORGANON: When was he born?

(Adrasta and Karela enter.)

ROMANA: Oh, about seven hundred and fifty years ago, so he says.
ADRASTA: I thought you were dead. Why haven't you died?
ORGANON: I'm sorry, my lady. It was an oversight.
ADRASTA: Why didn't the Creature kill you?
ORGANON: A favourable conjunction of the stars, my lady.
ADRASTA: Well, we'll just have to see that they don't continue like that for much longer. Guardmaster?
GUARDMASTER: It's hopeless, my lady.
ADRASTA: What is, you fool?
GUARDMASTER: We can't get through. We've tried. My lady, it's hopeless.
ROMANA: The Doctor's behind there. We must at least try.
ADRASTA: Nothing is hopeless, Guardmaster, not if you value your commission.
GUARDMASTER: I stand corrected, my lady. Guards, come on.
ADRASTA: Don't worry, my dear. My men will try to do their best.

(Karela spots Organon trying to sneak away. A guard stops him.)

ROMANA: It's made of identical material to that broken shell we saw when we landed.
ADRASTA: Try the metal animal on it. Perhaps he can break through.
ROMANA: K9, do your best.
K9: That is what I am programmed to do, mistress.
ADRASTA: If you do get through, kill the Creature. Do you understand, Romana? Kill it.
ROMANA: I understand.
K9: I am programmed not to kill, except in self-defence.
ADRASTA: Oh, I think that can be arranged.
ROMANA: You ready, K9?
K9: If the guards will stand well back.

(K9 fires a steady beam at the shell, which glows red.)

[The mines]

TORVIN: What a haul. What a haul! I'm rich! I'm rich!
AINU: We're rich.
TORVIN: We're rich. Of course. Didn't I tell you, my beautiful boys? Didn't I tell you? Didn't I tell you we'd find it all in Adrasta's palace?
AINU: Yeah, you told us. Now shush. Let's get on.
TORVIN: Now, look at that. Look at that. Do you know what that is? (a candlestick) Zinc. I haven't seen a piece of zinc as big as that for oh, twenty years or more. Zinc.
AINU: Oh, come on, Torvin. The guards must be after us by now.
TORVIN: Beautiful, beautiful.

(The pentagon starts twinkling again.)

EDU: Hey, Torvin, look!
TORVIN: Don't drop it. Whatever you do, don't drop it.
EDU: Look at it.
TORVIN: I've never seen metal like that before. It's beautiful.
EDU: Torvin, are you, are you all right?

(Torvin is staring into the light of the pentagon.)

EDU: I, I feel

(Together, they pick it up and carry it down a tunnel.)

[Outside the Creature's lair]

K9: The material is too strong. I am in danger of depleting my power packs.
ROMANA: It's all right, K9.
ADRASTA: Why has the animal stopped?
ROMANA: Because if you want to kill the Creature, K9 must have some power left.
ADRASTA: But so far it's had no effect on the shell whatsoever!
K9: Incorrect. I weaken the shell, but the material is self-renewing.
ADRASTA: What do you mean? What does he mean?
ROMANA: He means that whenever the material is weakened, the atoms recombine, the molecules reconstitute themselves to form an even stronger material.
K9: Correct, mistress.
ADRASTA: So, all that ray has done, in fact, is to temper the original material.
ROMANA: That's about right, yes.
ADRASTA: My dear, your electric dog is infernally stupid. How in heaven's name are we supposed to break through the shell now? Men, redouble your efforts!
ROMANA: No, wait. We're not going to do it like that. We must think.

(The Doctor walks through the shell.)

DOCTOR: Hello, everybody.
ROMANA: Doctor, are you all right?
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm fine.
ROMANA: I was so worried about you.
DOCTOR: Oh, you shouldn't be worried. Time Lords have ninety lives.
ROMANA: How many have you got through, then?
DOCTOR: About a hundred and thirty.
ADRASTA: How did you do it?
DOCTOR: What?
ADRASTA: I demand you tell me how you broke through the shell.
DOCTOR: Ah. I asked the Creature very nicely. My pleasure, it said.
ADRASTA: Liar! The Creature can't talk without. (pause) Guardmaster, take a look!
KARELA: I'll go with him.
ORGANON: Your luck's still holding out.
DOCTOR: It is, rather, isn't it.
ORGANON: You must have been born under a particularly favourable conjunction of celestial circumstances.
DOCTOR: I was.
ORGANON: What sign were you born under?
DOCTOR: Crossed computers.
ORGANON: Crossed what?
DOCTOR: Computers. It's the symbol of the maternity service on Gallifrey.
ORGANON: Oh.
GUARDMASTER: It's all clear, my lady.
ADRASTA: No sign of the Creature?
GUARDMASTER: None.
ADRASTA: Why did it let you get away? Why didn't it kill you?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Why don't you ask it? Incidentally, how did you know with such certainty that creature couldn't talk, eh? What do you know about it? And why do you want it killed so badly, hmm?
ADRASTA: You ask too many questions, Doctor. Karela, take the girl, the tin animal and some men. You know what to do.
DOCTOR: No, no, please.
ADRASTA: Afraid for the Creature, Doctor?
DOCTOR: No, I'm afraid for them. Have you any idea what that creature can do?
ADRASTA: I know one thing, Doctor. It can't get out of this Pit by itself. Go on, Karela. Hold him, in case he tries to warn his creeping friend. Dog!
K9: Master?
DOCTOR: All right, K9.

[Creature's lair]

(While Edu and Torvin continue to carry the pentagon through the mine tunnels.)

K9: Mistress, blasting has proved too much for my power packs. If I am to conserve my energy, I shall need a rest.
ROMANA: All right, K9. I'll carry you.

[Outside the Creature's lair]

(The Doctor and Organon have a quiet discussion.)

DOCTOR: Call them back.
ADRASTA: Be silent.
DOCTOR: You could be sending them to their deaths, you know.

[Creature's lair]

(They enter the main cavern.)

KARELA: Ready, dog?
K9: I am ready.

[Outside the Creature's lair]

ORGANON: I take back what I said about this being your lucky day.
DOCTOR: Why?
ORGANON: I think, on second thoughts, it may be the monster's.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
ORGANON: I wonder what sign it was born under?
DOCTOR: What a pity you didn't bring your charts. You could have worked it out for yourself.
ORGANON: Oh!
DOCTOR: What is it?
ORGANON: Adrasta's evil eye is on me.
DOCTOR: Shush. Lady Adrasta, they've been gone a long time.
ADRASTA: How far away was the Creature when you saw it?
DOCTOR: Oh, a few hundred yards along the passageway there's a big cave. It was in there.
ADRASTA: We should have heard something by now.
DOCTOR: Hmm. Look, why don't I go?
ADRASTA: No! Ah, no. Organon.
ORGANON: My lady?
ADRASTA: You will go.
ORGANON: What, me?
ADRASTA: Yes, you. Go down to the passage, into the cave, and come back and tell us what you see.
ORGANON: Oh, why me?
DOCTOR: Maybe it isn't your lucky day.
ORGANON: I don't think that's at all funny.
ADRASTA: If you don't go, my friend, that guard standing behind you will cut your throat from ear to ear.
DOCTOR: Have you ever thought of taking up another line of work? I don't think astrology is your forte.

(Organon starts forward just as Karela and Romana return with K9.)

ORGANON: Oh, my lady.
ADRASTA: Well?
KARELA: Nothing, my lady. The cave's empty.
ADRASTA: Empty?
KARELA: The Creature's gone.
ADRASTA: How?

(Organon sneaks behind them. The Doctor gestures to Romana to do the same.)

KARELA: We discovered a passage at the back of the cave.
ADRASTA: Guard, hold her. And make sure the dog's pointing against the rock. Where does the passage lead?
KARELA: I don't know. I sent the guards down after it.
DOCTOR: You realise what this means, Adrasta? It means a great green blob several hundred feet long is loose somewhere in these passageways. An angry green blob. A green blob you tried to kill.
ADRASTA: Karela, take the girl, the tin animal and some guards, go down into the Pit, find the Creature and kill it!
DOCTOR: No, no, no. Adrasta, you're insane. You have some idea of what that creature can do. Can you imagine? At the moment it's reasonably friendly, but if K9 shoots it.
ADRASTA: What?
DOCTOR: It'll get very angry.
ADRASTA: Then, Doctor, you had better make sure that K9 manages to kill it.
DOCTOR: What, a creature that size? He's only a little dog, you know.
ADRASTA: Don't try to be clever, Doctor. K9 is quite capable of killing the Tythonian.
DOCTOR: The what?
ADRASTA: The Creature.
DOCTOR: I thought you said Tythonian.
ADRASTA: I meant the Creature.
DOCTOR: You've bitten off more than you can chew, haven't you.
ADRASTA: Doctor, I mean to have that Creature dead. Romana will make K9 kill it.
DOCTOR: No, no, she won't. She won't. She'll refuse, you know. Won't you, Romana?
ROMANA: Yes, I'll refuse.
ADRASTA: Then Karela will kill her. Point the dog against the rock!
DOCTOR: Did you hear that, Romana? Karela's going to kill you, and you with your hair all messed up.
ROMANA: Doctor, I can't do anything about my hair if I'm holding K9.
DOCTOR: Oh, so you are. I didn't notice. Here, let me help you.

(The Doctor produces a mirror from somewhere.)

DOCTOR: K9? Ready, fire!

(K9's reflected beam takes down the Guardmaster, then the guard behind Romana, and another hits the lintel over the passageway. Then she chases after Adrasta.)

DOCTOR: No, Romana, no!

(The Creature comes out of the passageway.)

ADRASTA: No! Get away from me! Ah!

(The Doctor holds Adrasta.)

DOCTOR: Frightening, isn't it?
ADRASTA: Don't let it get me. You mustn't let that thing get me! It'll kill me!
DOCTOR: What? An evil thing, killing. Why should it want to kill you? It didn't want to kill me, did you, old fellow? Do you know something? I believe he wants to kill you.
ADRASTA: Keep it away from me. It's, it's going to eat me.
DOCTOR: Oh, come on. You know it really doesn't eat people, don't you? But you know what it does eat and you haven't been letting it get any, have you. No, you just stuck it in a pit and threw people at it.
ORGANON: She did indeed.
DOCTOR: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if it wanted to kill you. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

(Adrasta gets behind the Doctor with her knife at his throat.)

ADRASTA: Now, Doctor, I mean to have that creature dead. Romana, train K9's ray on it. Now!
DOCTOR: Don't do it, Romana.
ADRASTA: Or the Doctor dies. Six seconds, Romana.

(Organon starts silently counting down, then Torvin and Edu carry in the glowing pentagon.)

ADRASTA: Get away from here! Get away! Or the Doctor dies.

(Now she is distracted and has turned away from him, the Doctor grabs her wrists and holds them as Torvin and Edu place the pentagon on the Creature.)

ADRASTA: No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
Part Four

[Outside the Creature's lair]

(Once stuck on the Creature, the pentagon stops glowing blue and turns green, and Torvin and Edu return to their senses.)

TORVIN: What's happening? What are we doing here?
EDU: I don't know. What is this thing?
TORVIN: Adrasta!

(The bandits flee. The Doctor drags Adrasta to a rock wall.)

DOCTOR: Keep her safe, Romana.

(Romana puts K9 down in front of Adrasta.)

ROMANA: If she moves, blast her.
K9: Affirmative, mistress.

(The Doctor puts his hand on the boss in the middle of the pentagon.)

DOCTOR: Hello.

(The Creature, or the Tythonion, who is called Erato, answers in the Doctor's voice.)

ERATO: Hello.
DOCTOR: What did you say?

[Throne room]

(The guard is recovering from his ordeal by lounging on Adrasta's throne when Karela runs in.)

KARELA: Guard! Quickly, summon the Huntsman. Move!

[Outside the Creature's lair]

ROMANA: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: I'm not sure.
ROMANA: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: I don't know.

(He puts his hand on the pentagon again.)

ERATO: Hello. I realise this must be a very frightening experience for you, but please, don't be alarmed.
ROMANA: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: I don't know. That wasn't me talking.
ROMANA: Doctor, what's happening?
DOCTOR: Look, I know this sounds odd. I didn't say that.
ROMANA: You didn't say what?
DOCTOR: What I just said.
ROMANA: I beg your pardon.
DOCTOR: Did you hear what I said just now?
ROMANA: About this being a frightening experience but don't be alarmed?
DOCTOR: Yes. I didn't say that.
ROMANA: You didn't?
DOCTOR: No. I was too busy being frightened and alarmed.
ORGANON: But if you didn't say it, who did?
DOCTOR: Let's find out, shall we?

(He puts his hand back on the boss.)

ERATO: Please allow me to explain. This is not the Doctor speaking. I am simply using his larynx. We Tythonions don't have them.
ROMANA: Ask its name.
ERATO: My name is Erato.
ROMANA: Where does it come from?
ERATO: I am from the planet Tythonus.
ROMANA: Then what are you doing here skulking about in a pit eating people?
DOCTOR: Oh, please! You put that very crudely.
ERATO: To skulk about in pits, as you so crudely put it, is not my normal habit. I most emphatically do not eat people. I live by ingesting chlorophyll and mineral salts. I would have you know that I am the Tythonian High Ambassador.
ORGANON: Really?
ERATO: I am. I was on a trading mission to this planet when I

(The Doctor removes his hand from the boss.)

DOCTOR: Of course! I should have guessed instantly. It's all the fault of that woman Adrasta.
ADRASTA: Yes, Doctor?

(Karela and the Huntsman have arrived with the wolfweeds, who have smothered K9 again.)

ADRASTA: You were just saying?
DOCTOR: I was just saying, lady Adrasta, that. K9, I thought you were meant to be guarding her.
K9: Apologies, master. I am immobile.
DOCTOR: Yes.
K9: I was overpowered by the wolfweeds.
ADRASTA: Doctor, order your dog to kill the Tythonian.
DOCTOR: No.
ADRASTA: If you do not, your friend Organon dies.
DOCTOR: Organon? Goodbye, old man. So sorry about this. Thanks for all the help.
ORGANON: Doctor.
DOCTOR: If my deductions are correct, the well-being of two planets is at stake. Erato must not die.
ADRASTA: Huntsman, set the wolfweeds on the Doctor.
DOCTOR: No, wait. That's all you've got on this planet, isn't it? Weeds, weeds, forest and weeds. You scratch about for food wherever you can, but you can't plough the land, can you? You can't do anything until you've mastered the forests and the weeds. And you can't do that without metal.
ADRASTA: Don't listen to him. It's just the ravings of a demented space tramp. Set the wolfweeds on him!
DOCTOR: Do that, and you will hurl this planet back into the dark ages. And for what? To satisfy the petty power cravings of that pathetic woman.
ADRASTA: Have a care, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Have a care yourself. Care for your people for a change.
ADRASTA: Kill him!

(The Huntsman moves towards the Doctor, then stops.)

HUNTSMAN: Let him speak.
ADRASTA: Huntsman, I order you.
HUNTSMAN: Let him speak.
DOCTOR: Now, if my deductions are correct.
ADRASTA: They're not.
DOCTOR: Erato came here fifteen years ago to propose a trading agreement. Tythonus is a planet rich in metallic ores and minerals. Am I not right, K9?
K9: Checking data banks. Affirmative, master.
DOCTOR: That was a good guess.
ADRASTA: Fools! You listen to the opinions of an electric dog?
DOCTOR: The Tythonions exist on ingesting chlorophyll. Large quantities of it, judging by their size. Now, there's a superabundance of planet life on Chloris, so
ROMANA: So Erato came here to offer you metal in return for chlorophyll. Of course!
DOCTOR: Right. But who was the first person he met?
ORGANON: The person who held the monopoly of metal here.
DOCTOR: Right. And did she put the welfare of her struggling people above her own petty power? No. She's tipped the ambassador into a pit and threw astrologers at him.
HUNTSMAN: Is this true, my lady?
ADRASTA: Not a word of it. It's a pack of lies.
DOCTOR: Let's see if Erato agrees with me, shall we?
ADRASTA: That won't prove anything! You just take hold of that thing and say exactly what you like. You expect intelligent people to fall for your childish tricks?
DOCTOR: Well, it's very simple. Why don't you come over here, take hold of the communicator and we'll hear the truth from your larynx.
ADRASTA: What? No. Don't talk such rubbish. Huntsman, I order you to kill the Doctor!
HUNTSMAN: My lady, I think we want to hear the truth of this. Go and speak with the Creature.
ADRASTA: No. I refuse. I utterly refuse.

(The Huntsman cracks his whip.)

HUNTSMAN: I think not, my lady.

(The wolfweeds roll towards her, and she backs away towards Erato.)

ADRASTA: No! Back! Back!
DOCTOR: Come on, just take hold of the communicator.

(The Doctor puts her hand on the boss. Erato uses her larynx.)

ERATO: Thank you, Doctor.

(Adrasta pulls away, but the Doctor firmly puts her hand back.)

ERATO: Your deductions are, of course, correct. We are running dangerously short of chlorophyll on Tythonus, and have more metal than we need. Reports reached us of this planet Chloris which had precisely the opposite problem, and we thought that a trading agreement would be mutually beneficial.
ADRASTA: It's lies, lies! It's all lies!

(The wolfweeds drive her back to Erato.)

ERATO: No, it is you who are lying. Unfortunately, I ran foul of this evil woman who tricked me into the Pit. If you will forgive me, I have a score to settle.
HUNTSMAN: Yes. So, I think, have we.

(One firm crack of the whip, and the wolfweeds engulf Adrasta. She goes down screaming. Erato surges forward and also rolls on top of the squirming pile. Karela and the guards leave. When it is done, only Adrasta is left with web over her.)

DOCTOR: She's dead.
HUNTSMAN: Yes. And with her die the dark ages for this planet.
DOCTOR: Erato.
ERATO: I'm sorry for all the unpleasantness, but thank you for the weeds.
DOCTOR: My pleasure.
ERATO: They are the first solid meal I've had in fifteen years. I wonder if you could arrange to have me hoisted out of the Pit?
DOCTOR: Yes, yes, of course. Huntsman? See to it. It is a bit claustrophobic down here.
HUNTSMAN: Thank you, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Don't say that.
HUNTSMAN: Why not?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Just don't say it. Not yet.

[Throne room]

ORGANON: He was going to let me die!
ROMANA: Of course he wasn't.
K9: All circuits now fully operational. Thank you, mistress.
ORGANON: Adrasta told him that he would have me put to death if he didn't order that dog thing to shoot Erato. And all he said was, goodbye old man, terribly sorry. Didn't he?
K9: Affirmative.
ORGANON: Well! What kind of a friend is that?
ROMANA: A very good one. Thanks to him this planet may now have a chance to prosper.
ORGANON: She was going to kill me!
ROMANA: Nonsense. He probably checked out your horoscope earlier.

(The Doctor enters.)

DOCTOR: I did, I did, and I discovered you're going to die of indigestion.

(Organon continues to nibble on a chicken leg.)

K9: Reporting, master.
DOCTOR: K9.
K9: I am prepared for all contingencies.
DOCTOR: Good dog. Good dog. Adrasta's engineers should have Erato out of the Pit by now.
ROMANA: All of him?
DOCTOR: Well, yes. Then we should know the truth.
ROMANA: What? You mean he hasn't been telling us the truth?
DOCTOR: Well, only as much as he wants us to know until he's set free.
ROMANA: Well then, do you think it's safe to let him out of the Pit if you think he's been lying to us?
DOCTOR: Why not?
ROMANA: Well, we don't want several hundred cubic feet of angry blob heaving itself round the country crushing people.
DOCTOR: He has no intention of crushing people.
ORGANON: Well, he crushed quite a few down the Pit.
DOCTOR: Nonsense. He just wanted to talk.
ORGANON: Talk?
DOCTOR: Yes, talk, talk. After Adrasta stole his communicator he was just trying any way he could to make contact.
ROMANA: But we don't know anything about him. We don't even know how he got here.
DOCTOR: Yes we do. In an egg.
ROMANA: In an egg?
DOCTOR: In an egg. When the shell's complete it's a blindingly simple space vehicle complete with photon drive.
ROMANA: Well, I didn't see a photon drive.
DOCTOR: Well, of course he's not going to leave it lying round where just anyone could take it. He protected it very carefully.
ROMANA: How?

(Organon puts a large astrological chart on the table.)

DOCTOR: It was concealed in the pieces he kept hidden in the Pit.
ROMANA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Yes?
ROMANA: That shell.
DOCTOR: Yes?
ROMANA: When we first landed, it was making a noise.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Could it have been a distress signal? Perhaps it was calling for help.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: But after fifteen years?
K9: Tythonions live for up to forty thousand years, mistress.
ROMANA: So fifteen years in the Pit for one of them would be no more than the wink of an eye.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Doctor, I'm sure there's some terrible danger.
ORGANON: Danger?
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: And Erato wants to be out of the Pit and free to escape in his craft before something dreadful happens.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: But Doctor, you've played right into his hands. You've let him go.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Can't you say anything but yes the whole time?
DOCTOR: Yes. After he's told us whatever it is.
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: And before he reaches his space vehicle to escape.
ROMANA: Yes?
DOCTOR: Do remind me to give him back his photon drive.

(The piece the Doctor dragged from the Pit on the end of his scarf.)

DOCTOR: Yes?
ROMANA: Yes.

[Entrance hall]

(Looking in through a small quarter circle window.)

ROMANA: You mean without that segment, Erato can't leave the planet?
DOCTOR: Exactly. Once he guarantees Chloris' safety, we'll let him have it back and then negotiate a proper trading agreement.
ROMANA: And Chloris gets all the metal it needs.
DOCTOR: Yes.
ROMANA: Oh, Doctor, I'm improving.

(Ainu the bandit has been listening carefully while the rest of the bandits gloat over their loot.)

TORVIN: Come on, Ainu.
AINU: Shush.
TORVIN: We're all rich once we get this metal out of here. Now come on, hurry.
AINU: Listen, old man. If that monster does bring us lots of metal, how much is this lot going to be worth?
TORVIN: Well, if it's metal, it's valuable. Now come on.
AINU: No, only because there's so little of it. Now look. In there, the Doctor, whoever he is, has got a piece of the monster's spacecraft. The monster can't leave Chloris without it. Now if we take that as well, we're made.
TORVIN: The guards are coming. Now, don't risk it all by being greedy for one more piece. Now, come on. This way.

(The bandits sneak past Karela, who is badly hidden behind a large urn on a table.)

[Throne room]

(The Huntsman enters carrying a large scroll.)

DOCTOR: Well?
HUNTSMAN: The Creature's been removed from the Pit.
DOCTOR: Where is it?
HUNTSMAN: It's waiting at the side door if you're ready to speak to it again.
DOCTOR: Yes, I'm ready to speak to it. I just hope I'm ready to hear what it has to say to me.
HUNTSMAN: Here are the astronomical readings you asked for, Organon.
ORGANON: Oh, thank you, thank you.
DOCTOR: Organon? Take this and guard it with your life. I don't want to take it anywhere near Erato until I want to give it to him. All right?
HUNTSMAN: This way, Doctor.

[Entrance hall]

(Erato's communicator is protruding through the doorway.)

DOCTOR: Romana, take the communicator. Right, Erato. Let's hear what you've got to tell us.

[Throne room]

ORGANON: Strange perturbations are in the sky. Oh, I wish I knew how to interpret them. Oh. Now that's very odd.

[Entrance hall]

DOCTOR: Well?
ERATO: What I have to tell you is no more pleasant for me than it will be for you, but it has passed beyond my
DOCTOR: Oh do get on with it.
ERATO: I'm afraid you have only twenty four hours to live.
ROMANA: What!
DOCTOR: Shush. Romana, the communicator.
ERATO: I came as an ambassador to buy chlorophyll, but Adrasta imprisoned me. However, she failed to prevent the other half of my ship from communicating that fact to my brothers on Tythonus. They will have taken that as an act of aggression and responded accordingly.
DOCTOR: Yes, but now I've set you free, you can contact them all and call it off, yes?
ERATO: No, Doctor. I'm afraid it's impossible.
HUNTSMAN: What's he talking about?
ERATO: Once the stars are set in their courses
DOCTOR: Oh please, no more astrological mumbo-jumbo.
ERATO: I assure you, I mean my words quite literally. The star I refer to is a neutron star.
DOCTOR: A neutron star.
HUNTSMAN: A neutron star?
K9: Neutron star. Collapsed star composed of super-compressed degenerate matter.
DOCTOR: I know what a neutron star is.
ERATO: And the course on which it is set will plunge it into the heart of Chloris' sun within twenty four hours.
HUNTSMAN: Is that bad, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Bad? Chloris' sun will explode and your whole solar system will be destroyed. Is that bad?

[Throne room]

ORGANON: Strange things are in the stars. Ah, now there's something I recognise. Oh dear. I don't like the look of that at all. Something terrible is going to happen!

(Organon gets hit over the head.)

[Entrance hall]

HUNTSMAN: But there must be something. Can't we contact Tythonus?
ERATO: The neutron star has been on its way for several years. Like most stars, it has no guidance system. There is no way of stopping it.
HUNTSMAN: But surely?
DOCTOR: Shush.
ERATO: If you will excuse me, I will leave now. I have no wish to witness this distressing finale.
DOCTOR: Ahem. But your machine is in pieces.
ERATO: No matter. It won't take long to spin up a new ship round the vital components.
DOCTOR: How long?
ERATO: I feel this is immaterial to
DOCTOR: How long!
ERATO: Twenty six ninods.
DOCTOR: One hour, seven seconds. And you spin out this vessel from the threads in your own body like you did in the Pit?
ERATO: The principle is the same.
DOCTOR: And can you produce aluminium?
ERATO: Of course.

[Jungle]

TORVIN: Come on, my boys. Come on, my rich boys. We're nearly at the camp now.

(Karela follows at a discreet distance.)

[Entrance]

(K9 is producing a large amount of tickertape.)

ERATO: This idea is madness, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Erato, a thin shell of aluminium wrapped around a neutron star will minimise its gravitational pull and we can yank it back out of the sun's field.
ERATO: And how do you propose to do this yanking, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Well, the TARDIS. We can exert short bursts of enormous gravitational pull on the star, slow it up while you weave your eggshell round it, and then let go.
ROMANA: And the thing will go spinning off harmlessly into deep space
DOCTOR: Right.
ERATO: Let me remind you, Doctor, that I came here to offer help to the planet of Chloris. They imprisoned me in a pit and starved me for fifteen years. I am disinclined to commit suicide on their behalf.
DOCTOR: Erato, you came here for your own good and offered the deal to the wrong person. Will you now condemn an entire planet of innocent people to death?
ERATO: You may be right, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I know I'm right. Well?
ERATO: I will help you.
DOCTOR: Good. Now this is what I
ERATO: A moment please, Doctor. What would you have done if I had decided to abandon you?
DOCTOR: Oh well, it's a hypothetical question, my dear old thing.
ERATO: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, I took the precaution of removing your photon drive. Be a good girl, Romana.

[Throne room]

ROMANA: Organon? Doctor.

[Bandit camp]

TORVIN: Here we are, my boys. Wealth beyond our wildest dreams. The purest, the most beautiful metal.
AINU: Yeah, I still say we should have picked up that shell.
TORVIN: Old brass plate, the shell. This is what we want. Metal, metal, metal. It'll make me the most, us the most powerful people on Chloris.
EDU: What if Ainu's right? What if that creature brings tons of metal to the planet? I say we go back and get that piece of shell.
TORVIN: Oh, buckets of iron at the end of the rainbow, planets full of tin. You believe in all that gobbledygook if you wish. I'll put my trust in this solid metal.
KARELA: There's another six inches to add to your collection, old man.

(Karela pulls her knife from Torvin's back, and he falls to his knees.)

TORVIN: Tempered steel. Is that really tempered steel?

(He falls to the floor.)

AINU: He's dead.
KARELA: Kill me and you condemn yourselves to poverty. Without that piece of shell, all this metal is just worthless scrap. I have that piece of shell hidden. I think that gives us an interesting basis for conversation, doesn't it?
EDU: If it's hidden, what's to stop us killing you and letting it stay hidden?
KARELA: If it stays hidden. But is that a chance you want to take? Particularly since the alternative I'm offering you is the certainty of wealth and power if you join with me in seizing hold of it. The monopoly will stay in our hands, and with it then control of the whole planet. Well?
DOCTOR: I'm so sorry to butt in and at such a delicate moment, but if you're seriously thinking of taking over Chloris I think there's something you should know. In a very few hours, all that'll be left of it will be a few trillion tons of deep-fried rubble. Now, does that influence your thinking?
KARELA: What are you talking about, Doctor? You two, kill him.
DOCTOR: Wait! I'm talking about a shell fragment. If Erato doesn't get his ship launched within the hour, Chloris' sun will explode. How does that appeal? Still want to be scrap iron merchants?
KARELA: You're bluffing, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Really? Look.

(The Huntsman takes Karela's knife.)

HUNTSMAN: Tell us where the fragment is.
KARELA: No.
HUNTSMAN: Tell us.
KARELA: It's no use threatening to kill me. I shan't tell you while I'm alive, and I certainly won't tell you when I'm dead. I don't believe your stupid story for a moment.
HUNTSMAN: And if it's true, you're condemning us all to death.
KARELA: That's a chance I'm prepared to take.
DOCTOR: For what? For this heap of scrap iron?
KARELA: Yes.
DOCTOR: Are you willing to sacrifice your life and the lives of everyone on this planet for wealth?
KARELA: Yes.
DOCTOR: I thought you'd say that. K9!
K9: Yes, master?
DOCTOR: Destroy it.

(K9 starts blasting the metal pieces.)

KARELA: No, no, no! You're destroying our metal!

(Only a pile of ash remains.)

DOCTOR: K9?
K9: Yes, master?
DOCTOR: Good dog.
K9: Thank you, master.
DOCTOR: Now, would you like to tell me where that fragment is hidden?

[TARDIS]

(It is K9's turn to be connected to the communicator, which is leaning against the console room wall.)

DOCTOR: Erato, can you hear me?
ERATO: I can hear you, Doctor. Preparing for takeoff.

(On the scanner, a spacecraft shaped like a dirigible lifts off.)

DOCTOR: Have we picked up the neutron star yet?
ROMANA: Yes, Doctor. On band six.
DOCTOR: Good.
ROMANA: Doctor, I've been calculating our chances of success.
DOCTOR: I don't want to hear them.
ROMANA: Very wise.
DOCTOR: Dematerialise now.

(The TARDIS materialises in space ahead of the neutron star, which promptly slows down. Erato's ship approaches.)

DOCTOR: This is going to be very nasty.
ROMANA: I know.
DOCTOR: You in position, Erato?
ERATO: I am ready, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Gravity tractor beam, activate!

(The whole TARDIS goes blurry.)

ROMANA: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Deactivate tractor beam.
ROMANA: We can't hold it for more than five seconds at a time.
ERATO: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, Erato?
ERATO: You must hold the star. I'm being dragged towards it.
DOCTOR: Hold tight, everybody.

(He switches the tractor beam on again.)

DOCTOR: That's got it. Erato, get weaving! We're winning, Romana, we're winning.
ROMANA: We're placing a terrible strain on the TARDIS.
DOCTOR: How much longer, Erato?
ERATO: You can turn off your gravity beam in five of your seconds.
DOCTOR: Good.
ERATO: Four, three, two, one.

(Bang! goes the console.)

ROMANA: Doctor, what happened?
DOCTOR: The control circuit. I can't turn off the beam!
ROMANA: What?
DOCTOR: We're pulling the star towards us.

(Another bang, and they get thrown sideways.)

ROMANA: We've got to dematerialise!

(The Doctor gropes for the control, and the TARDIS dematerialises just as the neutron star reaches that point in space.)

DOCTOR: Erato, we did it!
ERATO: I still it was impossible.
ROMANA: So do I, though I did calculate our changes of success at seventy four million three hundred and eighty four thousand three hundred and thirty eight to one against.
DOCTOR: What? Seventy four million three hundred and eighty four thousand three hundred and thirty eight? Well, that's extraordinary.
ROMANA: Why?
DOCTOR: Well, that's my lucky number.

[Throne room]

(Organon's head has been bandaged. He is gazing into a crystal ball.)

ORGANON: I see something tall, something dark.

(The TARDIS materialises by the door. The Huntsman walks in.)

HUNTSMAN: How in Chloris did that get here?
ORGANON: I don't know, but it's tall and dark and
DOCTOR: Handsome! Yes, yes, I know, Organon.
ORGANON: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Are you in charge here now?
HUNTSMAN: Yes.
DOCTOR: Good, good. Well, we've just dropped in to say goodbye and to give you this. It's from Erato.

(The Doctor hands over a large scroll. The Huntsman unrolls it, and Organon sneaks a look over his shoulder.)

HUNTSMAN: It's a draft contract for a trading agreement.

(The Doctor and Romana sneak back into the TARDIS.)

HUNTSMAN: Do you know what this is?
ORGANON: Yes.
HUNTSMAN: What?
ORGANON: It's a draft contract for a trading agreement.
HUNTSMAN: How on Chloris did you know that?
ORGANON: It was written in the stars.

(The TARDIS dematerialises.)

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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