Part One

[Antarctica]

(In the most inhospitable place on Earth, two men are using small pickaxes to gather samples at the base of a glacier face.)

MOBERLEY: Come on, Charles. We've got enough samples, surely.
WINLETT: This isn't ice. This is something else. Have a look.

(He lifts a round object of about six inches diameter out of the snow.)

MOBERLEY: What is it?
WINLETT: I don't know. Let's get it back to camp.

[Research Lab]

(The remaining ice and snow is being carefully removed from the object.)

MOBERLEY: Ah. Animal, vegetable, or mineral?
STEVENSON: Vegetable.
WINLETT: Yes, that's what we thought.
STEVENSON: The cutaneous creasing is unmistakable. When it's properly thawed out I can confirm it with a cytology test.
WINLETT: The skin looks as hard as iron.
STEVENSON: Yes, it is a bit of a cannonball. How deep in the permafrost was it?
WINLETT: I guess about the ninth layer.
MOBERLEY: That means it's been there for oh, twenty thousand years? Well, what do you make of it, John?
STEVENSON: Nothing at all yet.
MOBERLEY Oh, and I thought you were meant to be a botanist.
STEVENSON: I've not seen anything remotely like it.
WINLETT: It looks tropical to me, like a gourd.
MOBERLEY: Oh rubbish, Charles. If it's from the late Pleistocene period, it can't be tropical. It's a few million years since this part of Antarctica was rainforest.
WINLETT: That's the accepted theory. Discoveries like this have destroyed accepted theories before now. Isn't that right, John?

(Stevenson touches the object with his bare fingers.)

WINLETT: John?
STEVENSON: Hmm? Sorry.
MOBERLEY: Is something wrong?
STEVENSON: Don't you feel it?
MOBERLEY: Feel what?
STEVENSON: I don't know. There's something odd. Something. You don't feel it?
MOBERLEY: That must be that rice pudding you had for lunch.
STEVENSON: I'm not joking. It's alive. That's it, it's alive.
MOBERLEY: Are you serious?
STEVENSON: Yes.
WINLETT: How can you tell?
STEVENSON: I don't know, but I'm certain that this is a living organism.
MOBERLEY: Yes, well, I think we should have some coffee.
WINLETT: Coffee and a game of three-handed crib. Good idea. Come on.
STEVENSON: I'll transmit pictures to London. They might have some idea.
WINLETT: John, come on.

[Dunbar's office]

(In London, at the World Ecology Bureau, a bureaucrat has a visitor in his rather cramped office.)

DUNBAR: Sir Colin insists that I show you these photographs which have just been received from my expedition.

(The Doctor is sitting on Dunbar's desk, playing with his yoyo.)

DUNBAR: Personally, I don't think you can help us.
DOCTOR: Don't you. Well.

(Dunbar gives him the file.)

DOCTOR: Do sit down, Mister Dunbar.

(With the Doctor blocking the way to his own chair, Dunbar sits in the guest seat.)

DUNBAR: These pictures have baffled all the experts. The only reasonable explanation seems to be that the pod is from some extinct species of plant.

(The Doctor sits in Dunbar's chair with his feet on the desk.)

DOCTOR: Have you considered an alternative explanation?
DUNBAR: Name one.
DOCTOR: Well, that it might have originated in outer space.
DUNBAR: My dear Doctor, if you've seen anything like that before, you must have a very powerful telescope.
DOCTOR: Mister Dunbar, how long is it since there was vegetation in Antarctica?
DUNBAR: I thought you were the expert in these matters. Well, as a matter of fact, that's one of the things our expedition is trying to discover. It was found fairly deep in the permafrost, say twenty thirty thousand years under the ice.
DOCTOR: Shush. It might still be ticking.
DUNBAR: What?
DOCTOR: A time-bomb, Mister Dunbar, a time-bomb. Are you in contact with the expedition?
DUNBAR: My superior, Sir Colin Thackeray has a daily video link. Ten minutes of satellite time.
DOCTOR: Good. Tell them to keep a constant guard upon the pod, and not to touch it till I arrive.
DUNBAR: You're leaving immediately?
DOCTOR: Why not? I've got my toothbrush. Remember, no touch pod. Could be dangerous. (The Doctor leaves, brandishing his toothbrush. Dunbar picks up the telephone.)
DUNBAR: Sir Colin? Dunbar here. That chap you called in from UNIT. Is he quite sane?

[Research Lab]

(Stevenson is measuring the pod's diameter.)

STEVENSON: Incredible. Charles?
WINLETT [OC]: Yes?
STEVENSON: Come in here a minute.

(Winlett enters.)

WINLETT: What's up?
STEVENSON: It's growing.
WINLETT: Eh?
STEVENSON: It's grown five centimetres since this morning.
WINLETT: Are you sure?
STEVENSON: Check it yourself if you don't believe me.
WINLETT: But it doesn't seem possible.
STEVENSON: I knew there was still life there. I said so, didn't I?
WINLETT: But it's just a pod. I mean, no root system. How can it grow without feeding?
STEVENSON: Sunlight, Charles. Ultra-violet radiation.
WINLETT: But plants need nitrogen.
STEVENSON: I believe this is fundamentally different. We may be cultivating something that's going to shatter all our ideas about plant growth.
WINLETT: Yes, well, don't get carried away, John. Remember what London said.
STEVENSON: What do you mean?
WINLETT: About leaving this thing alone.
STEVENSON: Until this Doctor character arrives, why should we? It's our pod.
WINLETT: John, we're working for the World Ecology Bureau.
STEVENSON: Oh, he's probably some old crank that Thackeray's dug up out of retirement. He'll have no more idea about the pod than we have.
WINLETT: We'll soon find out. He's due in tomorrow.
STEVENSON: And who needs him. It's our discovery. The less said about it the better.

[Greenhouse]

(The mansion is played by Athelhampton House, Dorset. The butler shows Dunbar into a part of Harrison Chase's mansion which is given over to the cultivation of tropical plants. The master of the house wears black leather gloves at all times.)

HARGREAVES: Mister Dunbar of the World Ecology Bureau, sir.

(Hargreaves leaves.)

CHASE: I don't think I've had the pleasure. And what is your Bureau doing about bonsai?
DUNBAR: Bonsai, Mister Chase?
CHASE: Mutilation and torture, Mister Dunbar. The hideous, grotesque Japanese practice of miniaturising shrubs and trees. What is your Bureau doing about that?
DUNBAR: Well, I
CHASE: No answer. You are concerned about the fate of the blue whale, and the natterjack toad, but the loveliest, most defenceless part of creation, the great kingdom of plant life receives no protection at all.
DUNBAR: We try to conserve all the endangered species.
CHASE: I'm delighted to hear that, Mister Dunbar. Of course you know of my concern, my mission, to protect the plant life of Mother Earth?
DUNBAR: I do, Mister Chase. Which is why I've come to show you something. A totally new kind of plant.
CHASE: Hybrids. A crime against nature
DUNBAR: No, not a hybrid. It's a mysterious, unidentified pod recently discovered by one of our expeditions.

(Dunbar hands Chase the photographs.)

CHASE: Where was this found?
DUNBAR: There's a theory that it's floated through space from some other biosphere. The really important thing is, it may be still viable and able to germinate.
CHASE: Mister Dunbar, I asked you where this pod was found.
DUNBAR: In the Antarctic. Now, in our violent and uncertain world, Mister Chase, anything could happen. Such a valuable specimen could easily disappear for a price.
CHASE: Where in the Antarctic? I should want to know the precise location.

(Dunbar gives Chase an envelope. Chase then goes over to an intercom system.)

CHASE: Hargreaves?
HARGREAVES [OC]: Yes, sir?
CHASE: You and Mister Scorby please.
HARGREAVES [OC]: Certainly, sir.

(Chase opens the envelope.)

DUNBAR: X marks the spot.
CHASE: Forethought and initiative, Mister Dunbar. Two excellent attributes. We shall meet again very soon to discuss your remuneration.
DUNBAR: You're very kind.

(There is a knock on the door.)

CHASE: Come.

(Hargreaves and Scorby enter. Everyone say Hi to John Challis, before he became Boycie in Only Fools.)

HARGREAVES: Yes, sir?
CHASE: Hargreaves, show Mister Dunbar out.
HARGREAVES: This way, Mister Dunbar.

(Hargreaves and Dunbar leave.)

SCORBY: You wanted to see me, Mister Chase?
CHASE: Yes, Scorby. I'm sending you on a little errand, and I want you to take Mister Keeler with you.

[Research Lab]

(Winlett is sitting near the pod, but has dozed off. He wakes again and takes a sip of his drink, puts the mug down and closes his eyes again. The pod opens and closes briefly, then opens fully. A tendril comes out and grabs Winlett's arm. He gets up and tries to get to the door, but he collapses.)

WINLETT: Derek!

[Living area]

(Stevenson gets off his bunk.)

STEVENSON: Was that Charles?
MOBERLEY: What? What's happening?

[Research Lab]

(They go along the corridor to the lab module.)

STEVENSON: Charles?

(He touches Winlett and he rolls onto his back, showing us his eyes staring out from a leaf-green face.)

[Dunbar's office]

THACKERAY: This telex from Stevenson. What do you make of it?
DUNBAR: (reads) Pod carries infection. Winlett seriously ill. Medicaid needed urgently. Could have been more informative, Sir Colin.
THACKERAY: He probably doesn't know any more. I have ordered Medical Team to go to the base, but I understand weather conditions are bad. It's bound to take at least a day or two.
DUNBAR: The people from UNIT should be arriving now. Perhaps they can help.

[Outside Antarctic Research]

(A helicopter lands.)

MOBERLEY: Hello! So you made it. Welcome to the loneliest spot on Earth. You must be the Doctor.

(The Doctor is in his usual clothes, while Sarah is in furs.)

DOCTOR: Yes.
MOBERLEY: We were expecting someone much older.
DOCTOR: I'm only seven hundred and forty nine. I used to be even younger.

(The helicopter leaves.)

MOBERLEY: Derek Moberley.
SARAH: Sarah Jane Smith, the young Doctor's assistant.
DOCTOR: How many of you live here?
MOBERLEY: Anything up to a dozen, but of course we're down to three at the moment. Let's get inside.
SARAH: Yes.
DOCTOR: Where are the others?
MOBERLEY: Out at South Bend, not sixty miles away, measuring the ice cap. If they're getting this kind of weather they're welcome to it. Come on.

[Passageway]

SARAH: How do you stand it?
MOBERLEY: Oh, sometimes it gets quite warm. Ten degrees below freezing.
SARAH: Crikey, I feel as though I've got frostbite already.
MOBERLEY: I'll get you something hot to drink in a tick. Er, are you okay dressed like that? You don't seem to notice the cold.
DOCTOR: I haven't come ten thousand miles to discuss the weather, Mister Moberley. Can I see the sick man?
MOBERLEY: Yes, of course. Down this way.

[Sickbay]

(Winlett is very green now, and twitching under the sheet.)

STEVENSON: He seems to be conscious, but he hasn't spoken a word since last night.
DOCTOR: What's his body temperature?
STEVENSON: Well, that's the amazing thing. I've been trying to keep him warm but it's dropping hourly.
DOCTOR: And the pulse rate?
STEVENSON: His body temperature is forty six, his pulse rate is eighteen a minute. I'm no medical expert, but on those figures he should be dead, shouldn't he?
DOCTOR: I wonder.

(The Doctor pulls back the sheet. Winlett's body is covered in green tendrils.)

STEVENSON: Good grief! It wasn't like that an hour ago.
DOCTOR: Then it's accelerating. How long before a medical team arrives?
STEVENSON: Well, it's difficult to say in these conditions. Hopefully tomorrow.
DOCTOR: I don't think that's going to be soon enough, Mister Stevenson.

[Living area]

(Sarah is breathing on her fingers to bring them back to life. Moberley brings her a mug.)

MOBERLEY: There, that ought to warm you up.
SARAH: Thanks.
MOBERLEY: Better?
SARAH: Mmm. So, you say you just found this pod lying there empty.
MOBERLEY: Yes, and Charles in that state. Now does that make any kind of sense to you?

(A blue light on the wall flashes and beeps.)

MOBERLEY: Would you excuse me?
SARAH: Yes.
MOBERLEY: Radio.
SARAH: Oh, sure.

[Sickbay]

STEVENSON: Have you any idea what it can be, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's why I came here.
STEVENSON: I thought you came here to see the pod.
DOCTOR: Exactly. Before anything happened. Unfortunately, it already has. Where's the lab?
STEVENSON: I'll show you.

[Research Lab]

(Moberley is on the radio.)

MOBERLEY: Okay, Mike, but try to get something moving. His condition's pretty desperate. Over.
MIKE [OC]: Understood. Out.

(Stevenson and the Doctor enter.)

MOBERLEY: Bad news, John. That was Mike Wilson at South Bend. The medical team's turned back.
STEVENSON: What about Charles? Did you tell them how bad he is?
MOBERLEY: They were in white-out conditions and their Snow Cat's fallen into a crevasse. But Mike is in touch with the Royal Marine Survival Team. They might be able to help. They'll try again as soon as the weather lifts.
STEVENSON: That'll be too late. He's dying, isn't he, Doctor?
DOCTOR: No.
STEVENSON: I thought you said in the sickbay
DOCTOR: It's more serious than death, Mister Stevenson. He's changing form.
STEVENSON: Changing form?
DOCTOR: Yes. We need a blood test.
MOBERLEY: I'm a zoologist. I could prepare a specimen slide if it'll help?
DOCTOR: Yes, it would help, thank you.
MOBERLEY: Right.

(Moberley leaves.)

DOCTOR: Pod.
STEVENSON: It's over here.
DOCTOR: Why did it open? Why?
STEVENSON: Well, that, that could be my fault. It was frozen stiff when we took it out of the ice. I was certain there was still life there. I put in under a lamp and it started to expand.
DOCTOR: Mister Stevenson, what you have done could result in the total destruction of all life on this planet.

[Sickbay]

(Moberley draws a syringe of red blood from Winlett.)

MOBERLEY: Charles? We're trying our best, Charles. Help's on its way.

[Antarctica]

(At the base of the glacier, the Doctor is digging in the snow.)

SARAH: Doctor? Doctor, what are we looking for?
DOCTOR: Are you sure this is the place, Stevenson?
STEVENSON: Yes, and if you told us what you were doing, perhaps we could help.
DOCTOR: Yes, just as I thought.
SARAH: Another pod!
STEVENSON: How did you? Will there be any more?
DOCTOR: No. They travel in pairs, like policeman.
SARAH: What are we going to do with it, buy it a truncheon?
DOCTOR: No. Take it into custody and keep it in the freezer.

[Research Lab]

STEVENSON: Well, that ought to keep it cool.
SARAH: Who sold you that, an Eskimo?
STEVENSON: I know a freezer seems superfluous out here, but we do need it to keep snow samples in until they're analysed.
MOBERLEY: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Hmm?

(Moberley is using a microscope.)

MOBERLEY: Take a look at this blood sample.
DOCTOR: How's Winlett?
MOBERLEY: Winlett? He's barely recognisable. It's as if he's turning into some sort of a hideous monster.
DOCTOR: That's exactly what is happening, Moberley.
MOBERLEY: Yes, but there must be an answer.
DOCTOR: If you can just increase the magnification. Ah! Yes. Take a look at that.
MOBERLEY: These aren't blood platelets.
DOCTOR: Do you recognise them?

(Stevenson looks down the microscope.)

STEVENSON: Schizophytes.
DOCTOR: Exactly.
STEVENSON: I don't believe it. It's not possible.
SARAH: Would someone mind explaining what these schizophytes are, please?
STEVENSON: The smallest known living organisms. Plant bacteria.
SARAH: Plant bacteria in someone's bloodstream?
DOCTOR: Interesting, isn't it? A human being whose blood is turning into vegetable soup.
SARAH: Listen.
MOBERLEY: That's very low by the sound of it.
STEVENSON: It's the medical aircraft. Quick, Derek, get the landing strip lights on.
MOBERLEY: They won't see anything in this blizzard.

[Living area]

SARAH: Should we come out and help you?
MOBERLEY: No, John and I know our way around out there. It's easy to get lost.
SARAH: Okay.
MOBERLEY: You ready?
STEVENSON: Ready.
MOBERLEY: Right.

(Stevenson and Moberley leave.)

SARAH: Will they be able to help that man?
DOCTOR: I don't know, Sarah. He's halfway towards becoming a Krynoid.
SARAH: Krynoid?
DOCTOR: Yes. A progression of the pod.
SARAH: So you recognised it.
DOCTOR: Yes, I was fairly certain when I saw the photographs. Now I'm sure.
SARAH: Well, what is a Krynoid? I mean, what does it do?
DOCTOR: I suppose you could call it a galactic weed, except it's deadlier than any weed you know.
SARAH: In what way?
DOCTOR: Well, on most planets, the animals eat the vegetation, hmm?
SARAH: Mmm hmm.
DOCTOR: On planets where the Krynoid gets established, the vegetation eats the animals.
SARAH: But that's terrifying.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: Well, how did it get through space?
DOCTOR: An obvious question. I wish I knew the answer. Possibly their planet of origin is turbulent from time to time, any internal explosions could cause surface matter to go shooting into space.
SARAH: So what do we do about Winlett?
DOCTOR: I'm thinking Sarah, I'm thinking.

[Passageway]

(Moberley and Stevenson help two more men into the Research station.)

MOBERLEY: Down this way here.

[Living area]

MOBERLEY: Right, into the chair. There you are.
SARAH: Let me take that.

(Sarah takes a rucksack.)

STEVENSON: Come on, sit yourselves down.
SARAH: Come on, sit down over here.
STEVENSON: Brandy, Derek?
MOBERLEY: Right.
DOCTOR: Is this the medical team?
STEVENSON: They were flying a private plane.
MOBERLEY: They just got themselves lost. Here, brandy.
SCORBY: Thanks.
KEELER: Sorry to be such a nuisance.
SCORBY: We were nearly out of fuel when we saw your lights.
SARAH: You were very lucky. Lights are few and far between out here.
DOCTOR: I'd like to take another look at the patient.
STEVENSON: What, now?
DOCTOR: Now. Yes, come on.
STEVENSON: You just relax and thaw out.
SCORBY: Right, thanks.

(The Doctor, Sarah, Moberley and Stevenson leave.)

KEELER: Do you think they swallowed it? If they start asking too many questions
SCORBY: Why worry, Keeler? What can they do?

[Sickbay]

(Winlett is no longer human apart from an eye, nose and mouth.)

SARAH: That's horrible. Horrible.
DOCTOR: The process is almost complete.
MOBERLEY: We can do nothing except just watch it happen.
DOCTOR: There is something you can do, but it's drastic.
STEVENSON: Well, what?
DOCTOR: Amputate the arm.
MOBERLEY: What good would that do? Can't you see the infection's all over his body?
DOCTOR: Yes, but the arm's the source of the infection. It might stop it spreading.
MOBERLEY: You say might. What you mean is, you don't know.
DOCTOR: Well of course I don't know! But it'd give you a breathing space while you try and find an antidote. That's a chance worth taking, isn't it?
MOBERLEY: And who's going to perform this operation?
DOCTOR: Oh you are, Moberley. You're the only one who can.
MOBERLEY: But I'm not a surgeon. What about you? You're a doctor.
DOCTOR: You must help yourselves.
SARAH: He's not a doctor of medicine. Stevenson's a botanist, you're a zoologist. Ask yourself who's most qualified among us.
MOBERLEY: But I can't operate on Winlett. It's absurd!
SARAH: Oh, at least you could try. You studied physiology, you know how to handle a scalpel.
MOBERLEY: To dissect dead specimens, yes, but Charles is a human being.
SARAH: He won't be much longer if you don't operate! Look, have you got a medical kit?
STEVENSON: We've a full medical kit in the lab.
SARAH: Well? Well, what about it? You're his last chance.
STEVENSON: Derek, we'll help you in every way we can.
MOBERLEY: I'll do my best.
DOCTOR: You're a good man, Moberley. Come on, let's get started.
SARAH: Right.
DOCTOR: Hot towels.

(They all leave. Winlett sits up.)

[Research Lab]

MOBERLEY: I'll take these down to the sickbay and start setting up.
DOCTOR: You'll need more lights in there.
STEVENSON: I can fix that.
DOCTOR: Winlett's still got a chance.

[Passageway]

MOBERLEY: Charles.

(Winlett is leaning against the wall. Moberley puts down the tray and goes to him. Winlett grabs him around the neck.)

Part Two

(Leaving Moberley for dead, Green Winlett heads out into the blizzard.)

[Living area]

(Scorby takes a case from underneath a bunk, and opens it to reveal a rifle and bullets inside.)

SCORBY: You'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Keep watch.
KEELER: What're you doing, Scorby?
SCORBY: I don't like guns in the wrong hands.

(Scorby starts to dismantle the firing mechanism of the rifle.)

KEELER: There's no need for that. They're not going to try and shoot us.
SCORBY: I'd rather not give them the chance. I said keep watch.
KEELER: I wish you'd stop behaving like some cheap gangster. All we've come here for is to confirm that this pod is something unusual, that's all.
SCORBY: You don't think we're going to fly back empty-handed, do you?
KEELER: But, we can't. Scorby! We'd never get away with it.
SCORBY: Are you a betting man, Keeler?
KEELER: Now just a minute. This is the first you've said. I want to know exactly what it is you're planning.
SCORBY: All right, Keeler. Tomorrow, we did a nice big hole in the snow. Big enough for, say, five bodies. We fill it up, we take the pod, we fly home. No witnesses, nothing. Just another lost expedition.
KEELER: You're mad. You're mad. You're mad. I'm not doing that. Oh, no.
SCORBY: You'll do it, Keeler. You'll do exactly as you're told. Otherwise we'll just make the hole a little bigger.

(Click. Scorby was pointing the empty rifle at Keeler's head.)

[Research lab]

(Sarah comes along the corridor and shuts the outer door, then goes around the corner to discover Moberley.)

DOCTOR: Ready, Stevenson.
STEVENSON: I'm sure

(Sarah enters.)

SARAH: I think Moberley's dead.
STEVENSON: What?
SARAH: This way.

[Sickbay]

(The Doctor looks at the body outside then enters to look at the empty bed. Stevenson follows.)

STEVENSON: Did you see his face? Where's he gone?
DOCTOR: He left after killing Moberley.
STEVENSON: I don't believe it. You mean to say Charles did that?
DOCTOR: Not Charles, the alien.
STEVENSON: Alien?
DOCTOR: Not of this world, Stevenson. I told you he was changing form. Already his mind's been taken over. Very soon his entire body will alter.
SARAH: Into a Krynoid.
DOCTOR: Yes. There'll be a transition period, a grotesque parody of the human form. By now, Winlett himself no longer exists and we must destroy what he's become.

[Living area]

KEELER: Scorby, someone's coming.

(Scorby puts the rifle case back under the bunk. Stevenson and Sarah enter to get their outdoor clothes.)

SARAH: You okay?
SCORBY: Yeah, a lot better, thanks. What's the trouble?
STEVENSON: We're going out.
SCORBY: You're joking. In this weather?
STEVENSON: Yes, Mister Scorby, in this weather.

(Stevenson gets the rifle from its case.)

DOCTOR: Come on, Stevenson. We don't have much time.
STEVENSON: Ready, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I hope that's the answer. Stay warm.

(Sarah, Stevenson and the Doctor leave.)

KEELER: What the devil's going on?
SCORBY: What do you think I am, a mind reader? Anyway, come on. Now's our chance.
KEELER: What do you mean? What do you mean? What do you mean? Do what?
SCORBY: To find the pod.

[Library]

(In Chase's mansion, an old English room with lots of oak panelling and a long case clock ticking in the background. Botanical paintings hang on the walls.)

DUNBAR: I tell you something has happened out there. We've had a telex message saying an infection has broken out.
CHASE: Infection? What sort of infection?
DUNBAR: Apparently a virus conveyed by the pod. Now, if you get that pod, you'll probably have to take precautions.
CHASE: If? There's no question of if. I have sent my most efficient man.
DUNBAR: To Antarctica?
CHASE: Yes. It will be easier to acquire the pod there rather than wait for its arrival in England and the resultant publicity. By that time it will be better protected than the Crown Jewels.
DUNBAR: You're going well outside the law, Mister Chase.
CHASE: I understand policemen are few and far between in the Antarctic.
DUNBAR: Look, if there are any repercussions, have I your word you'll preserve my anonymity.
CHASE: Don't worry, I always take care of my employees. It wouldn't do if a public servant of your standing were found betraying trust and selling secrets, would it.
DUNBAR: No. On the other hand, I took up a career hoping to reach the top, but I've seen time-serving nonentities promoted over my head.
CHASE: Yes, it must be most galling. The only alternative is to seek other forms of reward, which you have most sensibly done. I think you will find this is the amount we agreed for your, er, help.

(Chase opens a briefcase on a side table. It is full of banknotes.)

DUNBAR: Yes, it's most generous.
CHASE: A fair exchange, Dunbar. You want money, and I want that pod.

[Antarctica]

(The thing that was Winlett has arrived at a building. A little later, the Doctor and Co look down on it from a ridge.)

DOCTOR: What's that down there?
STEVENSON: It's our generator plant.
SARAH: Why so far from base?
STEVENSON: Safety measure. It's a new fuel cell system being tested out here for the first time.
DOCTOR: Let's take a look.

[Research lab]

(Scorby is ransacking a cupboard and making a lot of mess.)

SCORBY: You're supposed to be the botanist. Where would you keep this pod?
KEELER: I don't know. I suppose it must be here somewhere. Careful, that valuable.
SCORBY: So what? There'll be nobody left to use it after we're finished.

(And drops the equipment on the floor. The radio crackles into life. )

RADIO [OC]: This is South Bend calling Camp Five. Come in, Camp Five. Over.
KEELER: Scorby, what do we do?
RADIO [OC]: This is South Bend calling Camp Five. Come in, Camp Five. Over.

(Scorby picks up the handset.)

SCORBY: Camp Five receiving you. Over.
RADIO [OC]: Is that you, Derek?
SCORBY: Er, yes. Come in, South Bend.
RADIO [OC]: The weather's clearing this end. The marines'll get the medic through as soon as possible.
SCORBY: Have they left yet?
RADIO [OC]: They're leaving right now.
SCORBY: Look, cancel them, will you? We don't need them any more. Everything's under control here.
RADIO [OC]: Hello? Is that you, Derek? Hello? Hello, Derek, is that you? Derek?

(Scorby pulls the aerial out of the back of the transceiver.)

[Outside the Generator plant]

DOCTOR: It left the place in a blizzard. It'll try to find shelter somewhere.
STEVENSON: I don't think this has been disturbed.
DOCTOR: It's as well to make sure.

(Stevenson unbolts the door.)

[Research lab]

KEELER: Hey, Scorby, I think I've found it. Look.

(Keeler has found the tray with the opened pod case on it.)

KEELER: Now, that's the pod in Dunbar's photograph, but
SCORBY: Somebody's cut it open.
KEELER: No, no, no, no, no. No, this wasn't cut. This must have germinated.
SCORBY: What do you mean, germinated?
KEELER: I mean that this pod has opened as part of its natural cycle to release a shoot or something.
SCORBY: Yeah, but its the actual plant that Chase wants, right?
KEELER: Right.
SCORBY: Well, we'd better find it, then, hadn't we, and quick.

[Generator plant]

STEVENSON: No, I'm afraid Winlett must have collapsed somewhere.
DOCTOR: Don't you ever listen, Stevenson? Winlett, Winlett, Winlett. Winlett as a man no longer exists.
SARAH: All right then, he's a plant or a vegetable or whatever he is now. He's going to have even less resistance to cold, isn't he?
STEVENSON: You know, I find this very hard to take. You're telling me that these things are inimical to the whole of animal creation?
DOCTOR: Inimicable? They're lethal.
STEVENSON: How do you know?
DOCTOR: Never mind how I know, Stevenson, just take it from me. On any planet where the Krynoid gets established, all animal life is extinguished.
SARAH: There's no danger now, is there? I mean, we've got the second pod in the freezer, and Winlett
DOCTOR: Winlett?
SARAH: The Krynoid is very likely frozen stiff under the snow somewhere.
DOCTOR: I hope you're right.
SARAH: So do I.

(They head back to base. The Krynoid watches them go.)

[Sickbay]

(Scorby uncovers Moberley's corpse lying on the bed.)

KEELER: Good grief! Look at that mark, Scorby. What could have caused that? That's the man who
SCORBY: Yeah, I know.

(The Krynoid bursts into the Generator plant.)

[Outside Antarctic Research]

STEVENSON: I'll be with you in a moment. I want to check something.

[Passageway]

SCORBY [OC]: In here, Doctor!

[Sickbay]

(The figure on the bed is covered over again.)

DOCTOR: Whatever you do, don't touch him. Don't touch him.
SCORBY: Get your hands up. Turn around, Doctor.

(Scorby is behind the door, holding a pistol. The Doctor does a full 360 turn.)

SCORBY: Facing this way.
DOCTOR: Have we annoyed you or something?
SCORBY: Shut up. Okay, start talking.
DOCTOR: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had perfect pitch.
SCORBY: What happened to him?
DOCTOR: Who, Wolfgang Amadeus? Oh, him. Oh, he died.
KEELER: How?
SCORBY: We gathered that.
DOCTOR: It happened because of a pod.
KEELER: The pod?
SCORBY: Look, Doctor, there's already one corpse in here. I can easily double that number.
SARAH: Look, he's telling you the
SCORBY: Stay where you are.
DOCTOR: There's been an accident. One of the men was infected.
KEELER: By the pod?
SARAH: He went mad.
DOCTOR: Yes, you could say he's not quite himself.
SCORBY: Where is he now?
SARAH: We don't know. Somewhere out there.
KEELER: Oh, you mean you have a homicidal maniac on the loose?
DOCTOR: Oh, much more dangerous than that, and he's desperate for food and warmth. There's only one place he can find food and warmth.
SCORBY: You mean this camp.
DOCTOR: It's a comforting thought, isn't it. I think we should lock all the doors and windows.
KEELER: What are we going to do, Scorby?
SCORBY: Easy. I think it's time we got some real answers. But not in here. Why don't we make ourselves a little more comfortable? Come on, move.

[Living area]

(Keeler ties the Doctor and Sarah to chairs.)

SCORBY: Okay, that'll do. Watch the door. Now then, Doctor, let's have the truth. Where's the plant that came out of the pod?
DOCTOR: That grew in the bed that was part of the garden close to the house that Jack
SARAH: Jack built.
SCORBY: I'm not a patient man, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Well, your candour does you credit. However, you're too late.
SCORBY: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Odd things have been happening. Odd and dangerous. I don't thing you'd understand.
SCORBY: Try me.
DOCTOR: All right. At its simplest, the man who went mad is no longer a man in any sense you'd recognise.
KEELER: Well, if he's not a man, what is he?
DOCTOR: An alien lifeform.
SCORBY: I said I wanted some straight answers, Doctor.
STEVENSON [OC]: Doctor?
KEELER: Scorby! Somebody's coming.
STEVENSON [OC]: Doctor? Miss Smith? Where are you?
SCORBY: In here.

(Stevenson enters.)

SCORBY: Come and join the party.

(Stevenson raises the rifle.)

STEVENSON: Drop that gun. I said, drop that gun!

(Click. The rifle does not fire.)

SCORBY: Not very friendly, are we.

(Scorby pulls the rifle out of Stevenson's hands and sends him sprawling at the Doctor's feet.)

STEVENSON: What's happening?
DOCTOR: For some reason, these two want to get their hands on the pod.
STEVENSON: (sotto) The pod's still safe? They haven't taken it out

(The Doctor nudges Stevenson with his knee.)

SCORBY: What did you say? Taken it out? Taken it out of where?
KEELER: They've got a second pod.
SCORBY: Then we're not going back empty handed, are we? Where is it?
DOCTOR: Oh, don't be a bigger fool than you already are. Don't you understand anything? It's dangerous.
SCORBY: I asked you a question, Doctor. Where is the pod?

(The Doctor gazes levelly at the gun barrel, so Scorby puts it to Stevenson's head instead. )

SCORBY: Where is it? Stubborn pair, aren't you.

(Sarah's turn to be threatened.)

SCORBY: This time I'm not joking.
DOCTOR: It's in the freezer.
SCORBY: That's better. You show me.

(Scorby grabs Stevenson and offers a second gun to Keeler.)

SCORBY: Okay, watch these two.
KEELER: No, no, no, I don't want it.
SCORBY: I said, watch them!

(Keeler takes the gun.)

SCORBY: Come on, move.

(Stevenson and Scorby leave.)

DOCTOR: Don't worry, you're all right with us. We won't hurt you.

[Research lab]

(Stevenson takes the second pod out of the freezer.)

SCORBY: Bring it here. Are there any more?
STEVENSON: No, this is unique now. Priceless, as you are no doubt aware.
SCORBY: So what's to stop this breaking open like the other one?
STEVENSON: It's quite safe at this temperature.
SCORBY: Well, it's going on a little journey. You must have something here to keep it cool.
STEVENSON: We have thermal containers.
SCORBY: Get one. There's something I don't quite understand. Where does the power come from to keep this place going?
STEVENSON: We have a new fuel cell system half a mile from here.
SCORBY: This alien creature could be hiding there.
STEVENSON: No, we checked that an hour ago.

[Living area]

DOCTOR: I'd give your arm a rest, if I were you.
SARAH: Yes, we're not likely to run away.
DOCTOR: You don't like violence, do you, Keeler? Not like your friend. What are you, a scientist? Botanist, perhaps. Is that it? Were you sent here to identify the pod? Surely you understand the implications of what I'm saying?
KEELER: We know what we're doing.
DOCTOR: I wish I could believe you.
KEELER: Shut up, shut up!
SARAH: You remember what happened to Winlett. Well, things are getting out of control and you don't know how to handle it. If you release us, then we can fight it together.

(Stevenson and Scorby enter.)

KEELER: Oh, for God's sake let's get out of here quickly before that monster thing comes back.

(Scorby gives Keeler the insulated box and takes the gun.)

SCORBY: Stop panicking. Tie him up. Tim him up.
KEELER: Rope. Excuse me.

(Keeler ties Stevenson's hands behind his back, then his feet. Meanwhile, the Krynoid is on the move.)

SCORBY: You can say your goodbyes now, Doctor.
KEELER: You're not going to shoot them in cold blood?
SCORBY: Why not? No, I've got a better idea. Come here, miss.

(Scorby pulls Sarah to her feet.)

DOCTOR: Where are you taking her?
SCORBY: Sit down! Come on, move.

(Scorby hustles Sarah out of the door.)

DOCTOR: Scorby! Scorby! Scorby!

[Outside Antarctic Research]

SCORBY: Take us to the power plant.
SARAH: I don't know what you mean.
SCORBY: Come on, don't try to be funny. You checked it an hour ago. Now, come on, move.

(Keeler follows with the container and a rucksack.)

[Living area]

(The Doctor and Stevenson are back to back, trying to untie their ropes.)

STEVENSON: It's hopeless.
DOCTOR: Nothing's hopeless. All we have to do is think.

[Generator plant]

(Scorby fixes a device to part of the generator while Keeler ties Sarah to a pipe.)

KEELER: What's that thing, Scorby?
SCORBY: This power system provides energy for the whole camp. There are wires running from here to every building. So we don't need to dig a hole after all. We just obliterate them. A real fireworks display.
SARAH: That's murder. Cold-blooded murder.

[Living area]

(Ankles tied together, the Doctor hops over to where some hurricane lamps are hanging from the ceiling. He uses his head to unhook one and let it smash onto the floor. Then he kneels down by the broken glass.)

DOCTOR: Come on, quick, get over here. And keep still. I don't want to sever a blood vessel. Okay?
STEVENSON: Right.

[Generator plant]

KEELER: It is, it's murder. It is cold-blooded murder!
SCORBY: Look, you do exactly as you're told or you go up with it, Arnold.

(Keeler goes back to Sarah.)

SARAH: He doesn't have to kill us. You've got the pod.
SCORBY: There, that should do it. That bomb will set off a fault in the system that'll blow the whole camp to smithereens, leaving no trace whatsoever. It's ingenious, don't you think?
KEELER: No! No! I can't let you do it.

(Keeler tries to fight Scorby, but gets caught in a neck lock.)

SCORBY: It's too lake, Keeler. I've started the countdown. Now, let's get out.

(Keeler leaves.)

SCORBY: You shouldn't have long to wait. Ten minutes at the outside.

[Living area]

(The Doctor and Stevenson are free.)

DOCTOR: Contact the main base on the radio.
STEVENSON: Right.
DOCTOR: See if they can intercept that aeroplane.
STEVENSON: What about the Krynoid?
DOCTOR: We'll just have to take a chance on that.

(The Doctor leaves.)

[Outside Antarctic Research]

DOCTOR: Sarah!

(An aeroplane motor starts up.)

[Research lab]

STEVENSON: Hello, main base. Hello, main base. Can you hear me? Over.

(The Krynoid bursts in and attacks Stevenson. The Doctor sees the aeroplane take off.)

[Generator plant]

(There is less than a minute on the timer as the Doctor runs across the wastes. The Krynoid is also heading for the plant. The Doctor bursts in.)

SARAH: Doctor! Quick, quick.
DOCTOR: What's the hurry?
SARAH: There's a time bomb over there. We've only got seconds. Where's Stevenson?
DOCTOR: I'll have to try and warn him.

(Twenty seconds. Sarah is finally free.)

DOCTOR: There.

(The Krynoid enters. They lure it to the far side of the plant then double back and out of the door, fastening it behind them. The Doctor and Sarah run as the creature scrabbles at the door. Two, one, kaBOOM! A series of secondary explosion run to the Research base, blowing that to matchwood, too.)

Part Three

[Antarctica]

(Antarctica is here played by Buckland Quarry. Sarah wakes to the sound of a caterpillar-tracked vehicle approaching. One man in an orange parka gets out, followed by two in whites.)

CHESTER: Come on.

(The group go over to Sarah.)

CHESTER: Are you all right? Look, we're from South Bend. These marines got me through. We heard the explosion. What happened?
SARAH: The Doctor. Where's the Doctor?
CHESTER: It's all right, I'm a doctor. Doctor Chester. Look, we're going to take care of you. Don't worry.
SARAH: No, no, you don't understand. He's trying to reach the camp. We've got to find him. Doctor!
CHESTER: Look, hang about. Take it easy.
SARAH: Doctor!

(Sarah leads the men off. Then she spots something.)

SARAH: Doctor!

(The Doctor is lying face down, half covered in snow.)

SARAH: Help me!

(They roll him over.)

SARAH: He's alive.
DOCTOR: Good morning.

[Plant lab]

(Scorby and Keeler enter the room that leads into the one with the plants. There is a desk, and filing cabinets here.)

SCORBY: Must be in the greenhouse. Mister Chase? Mission accomplished.

(Chase comes in from tending his plants.)

CHASE: Well? Open it.

(Scorby obeys. Keeler is keeping well back.)

CHASE: Astounding. I can scarcely believe it.
SCORBY: I wouldn't touch it.
CHASE: Why not?
SCORBY: Well, there was this other pod, and one of the expedition apparently got infected by it.
CHASE: Yes, so I heard. What happened exactly?
KEELER: It was all very strange. He went mad and killed somebody.
SCORBY: Yeah, they told us the pod took him over in some way.
CHASE: Oh. What became of this other pod?
SCORBY: It was destroyed. We had to blow the whole place to smithereens plus everyone in it.
CHASE: What a pity. I could have had two pods.

(A knock at the door.)

CHASE: Come.
HARGREAVES: Mister Dunbar, sir.
CHASE: Ah, come in, Dunbar. It's all right. These are the two men who brought back the pod.

(Hargreaves leaves.)

CHASE: They know of your contribution to the enterprise.
DUNBAR: I had no idea you'd go to such terrible lengths to get it.
CHASE: The destruction of the others was necessary.
DUNBAR: Necessary?
CHASE: There it is. Look at it. Like me, I imagine you couldn't wait to see it with your own eyes.
DUNBAR: Unlike you, I can hardly bear to look at it, considering the cost.
CHASE: Since you mention cost, Dunbar, you've already been well paid for your part, so keep a stiff upper lip, forget your qualms. The object has been achieved. We can all relax.
DUNBAR: Not quite.
CHASE: No?
DUNBAR: They weren't all wiped out. That's what I came to warn you about. The Doctor and his assistant are still alive.
SCORBY: That's not possible.
DUNBAR: The Doctor's meeting Sir Colin and me in two hours time.

[Dunbar's office]

THACKERAY: But why should people go to such lengths to get their hands on the pod?
DOCTOR: Greed. Greed. The most dangerous impulse in the universe. Do you realise that on this planet the pod is unique? I use the word with precision. Unique. And to some people, its uniqueness makes it valuable at any cost.
DUNBAR: You make these two mystery men sound like fanatics.
DOCTOR: Fanatics? Tell him. You tell him. You tell him!
SARAH: These two mystery men had everything planned. They had an aeroplane, guns, even a bomb. It was organised down to the last detail. Now, if that isn't fanaticism, well, what is?
DUNBAR: Surely you're exaggerating.
SARAH: Exaggerate? Now look, I was there. We were nearly killed!
DOCTOR: Be calm. Be calm. Listen, both of you. Are you both listening to me? I think they were dangerous, but they were stooges. I believe they were working for someone else.
SARAH: And if that's true, that someone else must be a complete madman.
DOCTOR: What's more to the point is how they knew of the pod's existence. The discovery had been reported only to your department, correct?
THACKERAY: That's correct. But Doctor, I trust you're not suggesting that information was leaked from this bureau?
DOCTOR: Why not? Why shouldn't it be?
DUNBAR: Doctor, how can you suggest such a thing?
THACKERAY: In any case, what would be the gain?
DOCTOR: Oh, money.
DUNBAR: Money?
DOCTOR: Yes, money. Hired thieves and murderers don't usually work for love.
DUNBAR: Since you seem to have it all sewn up, Doctor, perhaps you can tell us where the pod is now?
DOCTOR: I'll make a guess. Right here, in this country. Action! Action, that's what we need. If we don't find that pod before it germinates, it'll be the end of everything. Everything, you understand? Even your pension!
THACKERAY: Very well, Doctor. You've made your point. All the facilities of this bureau will be placed at your disposal.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
THACKERAY: All right, Dunbar?
DUNBAR: I'll organise anything you require, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good. Then organise us to the Botanic Institute, now.

[Outside the World Ecology Bureau]

(The Doctor and Sarah leave the building - played by the BBC television centre - and are met by a chauffeur.)

CHAUFFEUR: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Yes.
CHAUFFEUR: This car was ordered for you, sir.
DOCTOR: Good. Let's go.

[Dunbar's office]

(Now he's alone, Dunbar is making a telephone call.)

DUNBAR: It's all right, Mister Chase. They're being taken care of. But I must warn you about that pod.

[Muddy lane]

(The limousine stops in the middle of a muddy, potholed lane. We're back at the quarry, folks.)

DOCTOR: What's going on? Where are we?

(The chauffeur turns around with a gun in his hand.)

CHAUFFEUR: We're in a nice deserted place, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Who do you work for?
CHAUFFEUR: Both of you, out. This side.

(The chauffeur gets out first. The Doctor opens his door.)

DOCTOR: Now just a minute.

(The Doctor's window is wound down and he grabs the man through the empty space, pulling him against the door then pushing him away onto the ground.)

DOCTOR: Sarah, come on.

(They run before the chauffeur can pick himself and his gun up out of the mud and try to take a few shots at them, and scramble down a steep slope.)

DOCTOR: Come on.

(The Doctor and Sarah hide amongst the piles of sand.)

SARAH: Hey, down here. Down here, cloth-eyes. Are you blind?

(The chauffeur runs down the slope and onto a pile of sand below the big hopper to look around. The Doctor distracts him by throwing a stone onto a corrugated roof, then pounces. He punches the man's lights out and they return to the limo.)

DOCTOR: You try the boot.
SARAH: Right, give us the key.

(The Doctor searches the glove compartment. Sarah finds a framed print of a fritillaria in the boot.)

SARAH: Hey, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes?
SARAH: Here.
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: Look.

(He reads the artist's signature.)

DOCTOR: Amelia Ducat.
SARAH: That's interesting.
DOCTOR: Is it? Why?
SARAH: Well, Amelia Ducat (French pronunciation) is only one of the world's leading flower artists.

[Amelia's studio]

(A quaint cottage with china dogs and plates on display on a dado rail. The artist herself is a silver-haired old lady.)

AMELIA: Oh, yes, a perfect example. Fritillaria meleagris.
DOCTOR: Is that the common snakes-head fritillary?
AMELIA: And why are you asking me?
DOCTOR: No, I mean did you paint it, Miss Ducat. (pronounced Duket.)
AMELIA: The name is Ducat (Du-cah) actually. Yes, of course I painted it. I camped out on the Chilterns night after night to catch it at sunrise.
DOCTOR: We're trying to trace the owner.
AMELIA: Isn't it yours?
DOCTOR: No. We found it in a car boot.
AMELIA: A car boot?
DOCTOR: A Daimler car boot.
AMELIA: The car is immaterial.
SARAH: The driver wasn't. He tried to kill us.
DOCTOR: Can you remember who bought this particular painting?
AMELIA: Well, nobody. I haven't finished it yet.
SARAH: No, hang about, not that one. This one, Miss Ducat.
DOCTOR: Common snakes-head fritillary.
AMELIA: Oh, that one. Oh, dear me. It was a long time ago. Now what was his name? Something like face? Mace? Lace?
SARAH: Pace?
DOCTOR: Base?
AMELIA: That's right. Chase! Of course. Harrison Chase the millionaire. Good lord. He never paid me!

[Chase's plant lab]

KEELER: No, the x-rays don't show any signs of activity, so
CHASE: We mustn't give up, Keeler. I'm certain we're on the verge of a breakthrough.
KEELER: Yes, but if we. (sighs) Mister Chase, please listen. Something weird happened in Antarctica. A man came into contact with the other pod, and according to the Doctor, he turned into an alien. Now I don't know what he meant exactly, but I believe it did happen, so please let's stop this experiment now.
CHASE: No, Keeler. Dunbar's explained everything to me. Provided we take the proper precautions, there is no danger. Now, inject the pod with fixed nitrogen.

(A telephone rings. Chase signals Keeler to answer it.)

KEELER: Special Projects lab. Yes. Yes, he's here. Urgent call from Dunbar. Your chauffeur's in hospital.

[Outside Chase's mansion]

(The Doctor drives the Daimler up to an arched gateway in a stone wall.)

SARAH: I hope this works.
DOCTOR: It's worth the risk to find that pod.

(The Doctor swaps his hat for the chauffeur's cap.)

DOCTOR: How do I look?

(A car horn summons the watchman from his mediaeval looking stone hut to open a door in the gates and look out. Then he opens the gates themselves and the Doctor drives though. Sarah is hiding. The Doctor stops the car part way along the drive.)

DOCTOR: So far, so good.
SARAH: Leave the car here?
DOCTOR: Yes.

(They walk through the ground until they get a view of the mansion proper.)

SARAH: We're here.
DOCTOR: What's the best way in, do you think?
SARAH: The front.
DOCTOR: Not this time.
SARAH: The back?
DOCTOR: The back. Quick, hide.

(Two black-clad guards with automatic weapons come strolling around a flowerbed.)

DOCTOR: Let's brazen it out.

(The Doctor and Sarah walk across the lawn.)

GUARD: Hey, you! Halt, or I'll fire!
DOCTOR: Just act natural.
SARAH: I am.

(They start to run just before the guard opens fire, and dash through a side gate to an inner garden with a cloverleaf pond, through to another walled garden.)

SARAH: Act natural, he says.

(They are stopped in the arboretum by Scorby.)

SCORBY: Hold it.
DOCTOR: Get our hands up.
SCORBY: Hello, Doctor. How nice of you to come. Over here! I've got them!

(The two guards come running.)

DOCTOR: That's right, grab us. We're very dangerous.
SCORBY: You're full of good ideas, Doctor.

[Library]

(The Doctor and Sarah are brought in at gunpoint.)

SCORBY: Some visitors, Mister Chase.
CHASE: So, the meddling Doctor. You lead a charmed life. You arrive without a chauffeur, not even a touch of frostbite.
DOCTOR: How do you do. Have you met Miss Smith? She's my best friend.
CHASE: Is she? And still beautifully intact, I see.
SARAH: I try my best, under the circumstances.
DOCTOR: And this is Mister Scorby. I don't know his first name. And these two gentlemen
CHASE: Yes, thank you, Doctor, we are acquainted.
DOCTOR: How nice. Hand over the pod.
CHASE: After all the inconvenience I've been put to? Oh no, Doctor. Perhaps you didn't know, but in this house is assembled the greatest collection of rare plants in the world. When the pod flowers, I shall achieve the crowning glory of my life's work.
DOCTOR: Take care. I notice a little greenfly here and there.
CHASE: Your envy is understandable, Doctor. However, as I propose to have you both executed
SARAH: Why? We haven't harmed you.
DOCTOR: Be reasonable, Sarah. What choice has he got? We keep interfering.
CHASE: Exactly, Doctor. However, before you die you will be granted a unique privilege. The last things you will ever see will be my beautiful plants. Please come this way.
SARAH: (sotto) Look, what are you playing
SCORBY: Come on, on your way.

[Plant lab]

CHASE [OC]: And the west wing was completed by Sir Bothwell Chase just before his execution in 1587.

(They enter.)

CHASE: This plant laboratory is unique, Doctor. It makes the Botanical Institute look like a potting shed.
DOCTOR: Are we near the end? I do so hate guided tours.
CHASE: Here we treat our green friends as patients. If they're puny, we build them up. If they're sick, we give them succour.
SARAH: I've heard of flower power, but that is ridiculous.
CHASE: You've heard of the theory that irregular light patterns can affect the senses of so-called mindless things?
DOCTOR: Oh yes, like Scorby here.
SCORBY: Enjoy yourself while you can, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Where's Keeler?
CHASE: He's engaged in important and isolated research.
DOCTOR: On the pod?
CHASE: What else?

[Keeler's lab]

(Keeler is watching the pod through a magnifying glass.)

HARGREAVES: Your coffee, sir. Two lumps, isn't it?
KEELER: It's happening.
HARGREAVES: What is?
KEELER: There's a floccose path forming on the pericarp.
HARGREAVES: There's a what, sir?
KEELER: It's alive! It's growing! Go and fetch Mister Chase. Tell him it's urgent.
HARGREAVES: Hurry up, Hargreaves!

[Greenhouse]

(The Doctor is admiring a palm tree.)

SCORBY: All right, that's enough.
GUARD: Come on, move.

(They go down some steps.)

SCORBY: Okay, hold it there.

(Chase is adjusting tones on his big sound mixer table.)

CHASE: The hymn of the plants. I composed it myself. People say that you should talk to plants. I believe that. Just as I believe they also like music.
SARAH: Got to get out of here.
DOCTOR: (mutters)
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: I said, the music's terrible!
SCORBY: Shut up.

(Chase turns the volume down.)

CHASE: Now I shall play you my requiem. My Floriana Requiem, dedicated to Linnaeus.

(More excruciating tones.)

CHASE: You know, Doctor, I could play all day in my green cathedral.
HARGREAVES: Mister Chase.
DOCTOR: Oh, go away. Can't you see Mister Chase is busy?
HARGREAVES: It's Mister Keeler. Something's happening to that pod!

(Chase stops his noise.)

CHASE: Why are you shouting, Hargreaves?
HARGREAVES: Would you go to the annex, please?
CHASE: Yes, right. Take these people away. I imagine they won't mind a few minutes delay before they die.
SCORBY: All right, move.

[Keeler's lab]

CHASE: What is it?
KEELER: I thought you should see this.
CHASE: Have you injected fixed nitrogen?
KEELER: Fifteen grams. Careful. I shouldn't get too close.
CHASE: There can't be any danger yet.
KEELER: Don't forget it's alien.
CHASE: More nitrogen.
KEELER: No, I don't think that would be wise, Mister Chase.
CHASE: I make the decisions. Inject another fifteen grams.

[Grounds]

DOCTOR: Where are you taking us, Scorby?
SCORBY: I shouldn't worry, Doctor. It's strictly a one way journey.

(The Doctor dodges through one of a series of small archways. Sarah grabs Scorby's gun arm.)

SARAH: Now, Doctor!

(The Doctor kicks the gun out of Scorby's hand then punches him, grabs his head and twists it. There's a cracking sound.)

DOCTOR: Come along, Sarah.
SARAH: But

(Scorby isn't dead. He gets up clutching his throat. Sarah pauses to close a decorative iron gate after they run through it.)

DOCTOR: We've got to warn Sir Colin.
SARAH: Right. Let's get out and phone him.
DOCTOR: Got a two P piece?
SARAH: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Good. You're going to phone him. I must get another look at that pod. Let's get you over the wall first.

(Scorby picks up his gun.)

SCORBY: Guards!

(Three guards arrive.)

SCORBY: They got away. We've got to find them. You two that way.

(The Doctor and Sarah run up onto a terrace above a formal garden, running along the main wall.)

SCORBY [OC]: You men there cover sector nine!

(The Doctor looks down the tall ivy covered wall. Meanwhile, the searchers meet at a statue of Queen Victoria.)

SCORBY: Spread out, you idiots.

(The Doctor has found some rope and he ties it around Sarah's waist.)

DOCTOR: Come on.
SARAH: Listen, you be careful of Chase. If he catches you.
DOCTOR: Shush.

[Keeler's lab]

(The lines between the pod's sections are even bigger. Keeler is cowering in a corner.)

CHASE: Remarkable. It almost grows before my eyes. Where's your enthusiasm, Keeler? Don't you realise we face a moment of history?

[Grounds]

(The Doctor lowers Sarah down the inner curtain wall and she unties herself. The Doctor hides the rope in a nearby clipped yew and heads back to the house. A twig breaks and Sarah freezes. A guard grabs her from behind.)

GUARD: One word out of you and you're a dead little girl, understand? So near yet so far.

(The guard whistles and another comes out of the trees.)

GUARD: You didn't think you'd get away with it, did you? Come on.

(The Doctor makes his way through the mansion. Scorby meets the guards by the building.)

GUARD: Found her in the woods. She must have got over the wall.
SCORBY: And the other one?
GUARD: No sign of him.
SCORBY: Where's the Doctor? Mister Chase isn't going to be very pleased with you. Come on. Keep looking!

(Scorby takes Sarah into the mansion.)

[Keeler's lab]

(The Doctor clambers through an attic and out onto the roof, where he can peer down through the skylight into Keeler's lab.)

KEELER: It's like waiting for a time bomb to explode.

(Scorby enters with Sarah.)

CHASE: What's been happening? I thought you had them both safely locked up.
SCORBY: They got away somehow. The Doctor's still free but he won't get far.
CHASE: Oh, so that's what all that noise was about. Where is he?
SARAH: I don't know. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you.
CHASE: What a very uncooperative young lady. However, I've just had an idea. You can help me with my experiment. Remove her coat. Sit down. Miss Smith will be our subject, like so.

(Chase takes Sarah's bare arm and holds it on the table next to the pod.)

SARAH: No!
CHASE: Fetch some clamps, Keeler.
KEELER: You can't! It's inhuman!
CHASE: I don't care. I must know what happens when a Krynoid touches human flesh.

(As the Doctor stares down into the room, the pod begins to open.)

Part Four

[Keeler's lab]

(The Doctor jumps down through the skylight. Chase lets go of Sarah's arm as the Doctor knocks out Scorby, smashing a chair over his back then picking up the gun.)

CHASE: What do you do for an encore, Doctor?
DOCTOR: I win.

(The Doctor grabs Sarah and they run from the room, locking the door behind them. Chase hammers on it.)

CHASE: Open this door! Guards! Guards!

(Scorby gets out of the fireplace.)

CHASE: Why am I surrounded by idiots! Guards!

(The Krynoid tendril is flailing around, looking for something to latch on to. It finds Keeler.)

KEELER: Argh! My arm! My arm!
CHASE: Keeler! It's happened.

(A guard runs in.)

GUARD: What's up?
SCORBY: The Doctor and the girl. Come on!

(Scorby and the guard leave.)

[Gardens]

DOCTOR: Get in there and hide. I'll be as quick as I can.
SARAH: You can't tackle them single-handed.
DOCTOR: Why not? I've got a pistol.
SARAH: But you'd never use it.
DOCTOR: True, but they don't know that, do they.

(Sarah backs into a small stone archway.)

[Keeler's lab]

(Keeler's skin is already green. He starts to undress.)

CHASE: Amazing.
KEELER: My whole body's changing. Look at my arm. Get me to a hospital, please.
CHASE: Don't be ridiculous. We'll look after you here.
KEELER: Do something. You must do something.
CHASE: It's incredible. Absolutely unique.
KEELER: For pity's sake, help me.

(Scorby follows the Doctor through the mansion. Meanwhile, Hargreaves the butler enters and sees all the broken glass.)

HARGREAVES: What's all this? Oh sir, I hear Mister Keeler
CHASE: Mister Keeler is not very well.
HARGREAVES: Mister Keeler!
CHASE: We must get him over to the cottage where we can look after him properly.
HARGREAVES: What happened, sir?
CHASE: Don't ask questions, just do it.

[Courtyard]

(As the guards run past Sarah's hiding place, Hargreaves and Chase half-carry Keeler out of the main house.)

CHASE: Bear up, Keeler.

[Keeler's lab]

DOCTOR: Nobody move.

(He puts the gun down and goes over to the empty pod. Scorby enters behind him.)

SCORBY: How predictable. The criminal returns to the scene of the crime.
DOCTOR: I see the pod's burst. Was anyone in the way?
SCORBY: Yeah, Keeler. Very clumsy of him. Where's the girl?
DOCTOR: You're working for a madman, Scorby, you know that?
SCORBY: He pays well. And when it comes to money, Mister Chase and I are of the same religion.
DOCTOR: Franklin Adams, 1881 to 1960. American humourist.
SCORBY: The quotes are over, Doctor. Miss Smith'll never get out of this place alive, and neither will you.

(Scorby puts the Doctor's gun in his pocket.)

SCORBY: Now, this way. And this time don't try anything.
DOCTOR: You know
SCORBY: Not anything!

(Hargreaves unlocks a small white-washed thatched cottage and they carry Keeler inside.)

[Compost room]

(Scorby pushes the Doctor into a containing a lot of dustbins.)

SCORBY: Turn around.
DOCTOR: Can't we talk this over, Scorby?
SCORBY: You're getting a bit unsteady on your feet, Doctor.

(As he pushes him into the dustbins, knocking the breath out of him.)

DOCTOR: You're pushing your luck, Scorby.
SCORBY: Take a seat, Doctor.

(Scorby goes over to a machine with a hopper and conveyer belt leading to a large toothed crusher made of giant cogwheels.)

SCORBY: You see our little machine, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Looks as if it's got possibilities.
SCORBY: Oh yes, it has. Distinct possibilities. Did you know we made our own compost?
DOCTOR: Quite right. Always put back in the soil what you take out.
SCORBY: Just what Mister Chase says. He never wastes anything that can be used to fertilise his plants. Anything.
DOCTOR: That's very commendable.

(Scorby takes a machine gun from a guard and turns on the machine. The two crushing cogs turn.)

SCORBY: It's got a very healthy appetite, Doctor. Tie him up.

[Cottage]

(Night has fallen. Sarah comes out of her hiding place. Tied down to the cottage bed, Keeler is now mostly plant.)

KEELER: What's happening? What have you done?
CHASE: It's for your own good. You mustn't move.
KEELER: You can't keep me here. I need medical attention! Look at me.
CHASE: The rate of increase is astonishing. Remarkable, Keeler. Protein absorption from the animal, of course.
KEELER: What animal?
CHASE: Your own body. We shall have to give you some food soon.
KEELER: Chase, stop behaving like a maniac and get me to hospital.
CHASE: Don't be ridiculous. That would ruin everything. Together, we could be on the verge of a great scientific discovery. We must observe the process carefully.
KEELER: Hargreaves, don't listen to him. This is murder.
HARGREAVES: I'm sure Mister Chase is right, sir. And it's for your own good.
CHASE: You're changing into a plant, Keeler. You're privileged. Think of it, a marvellous new species of plant. I shall need some equipment to monitor this experiment.

(Chase and Hargreaves leave.)

KEELER: Chase!

[Outside the cottage]

(Sarah sees the two men come out.)

HARGREAVES: He might be right, sir. It could be dangerous.
CHASE: Everything will be all right, Hargreaves, just as long as we keep him in there.
HARGREAVES: Very good, sir.

[Plant lab]

SCORBY: Ah, there you are, Mister Chase. We've got the Doctor. I've locked him in the compost room.
CHASE: Good. No sign of the girl?
SCORBY: No, not yet. We've got all the exits covered. She won't get far.

(The telephone rings. Hargreaves puts down a microscope and goes to answer it.)

HARGREAVES: General laboratory. What? Oh, hold on. It's for you, sir. Says it's urgent. Main gate.

(Chase takes the telephone.)

CHASE: Chase. Amelia Ducat? Why'd you let her past the main gate?

[Gatehouse]

WATCHMAN: Sorry, sir. Miss Ducat insists on seeing you. Says you owe her money. Well that's what she says, sir.

[Plant lab]

CHASE: Well get rid of her. I'm in the middle of some very important work and I can see no one. Is that clear?

[Gatehouse]

WATCHMAN: I've told her all about that, Mister Chase, but she's very, er, persistent. She's mentioned something about lawyers, sir.

[Plant lab]

CHASE: Lawyers? (covers the handset) Man's a fool. Why am I surrounded by idiots?
SCORBY: Wouldn't it be better to see her, Mister Chase, and avoid any fuss?
CHASE: It might, and it might not. (into telephone) Have someone bring her up to the library.

[Cottage]

(Sarah sneaks in, and hears noises upstairs. She climbs the stairs to the bedroom.)

KEELER: Don't be frightened. You should be glad. After all, it might have been you.
SARAH: Keeler? What have they done to you?
KEELER: Disgusting, isn't it. Aren't you scared?
SARAH: No, I'm not scared. Why are they keeping you here?
KEELER: Chase. Chase owns me body and soul. Body. This must be how Winlett changed. You saw him at the base, didn't you. What was it like? You've got to tell me.
SARAH: I'm going to find the Doctor. He knows more about this than anyone else. Now, do you know where he is?
KEELER: I might. Let me loose and we'll go together.
SARAH: I can't.
KEELER: I won't harm you.
SARAH: You mightn't mean to, but you would.
KEELER: You're as bad as Chase and the others. You want me to die! You want me to die! You want me to die!

(Sarah hides in a cupboard and Hargreaves enters with a plate of food.)

HARGREAVES: Mister Keeler, try not to distress yourself. Mister Chase ordered this meal for you, sir.

[Library]

(Amelia is sitting by a roaring log fire, puffing on a cigarillo, when Chase enters.)

CHASE: Good evening, Miss Ducat.
AMELIA: Good evening, Mister Chase. I'm sorry to have insisted on seeing you at this hour.
CHASE: Not at all. It's a great pleasure, indeed an honour, to see you again.
AMELIA: I was visiting Lady Chandley nearby. Painting a rare hibiscus in her conservatory.
CHASE: Ah yes, the Venezuelan gobbo. I have several of the species.
AMELIA: Of course, your collection of plants is unrivalled. Even the short safari from the gate is simply packed with interest.
CHASE: What a shame you should come in the autumn. In high summer, ah.
AMELIA: Even so, I think I could set up my easel here to good purpose.
CHASE: At any other time I'd be very happy for you to do so, but just at the moment I have some very pressing business.
AMELIA: What a pity. Never mind. The real reason for my coming won't take up much of your time.
CHASE: Yes, it seems I neglected to pay you for a painting I had from you.
AMELIA: Yes.
CHASE: I offer you my humblest apologies.
AMELIA: Seven hundred and fifty guineas.
CHASE: Guineas?
AMELIA: Plus inflation. Shall we say a round thousand?
CHASE: Pounds.
AMELIA: Done.
CHASE: I'll write you a cheque now.
AMELIA: Magnificent house you have here, Mister Chase.
CHASE: Yes, it is rather fine, isn't it. Most of it was built during the Wars of the Roses. Charmingly named, but rather a bloodthirsty period in history, I always think.

(Scorby enters.)

SCORBY: Do you want to start the (pause as he sees Amelia) recycling experiment, Mister Chase?
CHASE: No. I want to see it. I'll be right there.

(Chase tears the cheque out of his book and hands it to Amelia.)

CHASE: I apologise for the delay.
AMELIA: Thank you.
CHASE: Mister Scorby will see you out.
AMELIA: What is this recycling experiment? Sounds interesting.
CHASE: Yes, I'm afraid it's something we're keeping rather quiet about just for the moment. Within these grounds there are several private projects going on.
AMELIA: Oh.
SCORBY: This way, madam.
AMELIA: Goodbye.

(In the cottage Hargreaves leaves Keeler after he has been fed. Sarah comes out of the cupboard and leaves too.)

[Compost room]

(The giant cogwheels are still turning when Chase enters.)

CHASE: So sorry to have kept you waiting.
DOCTOR: Not at all, not at all.
CHASE: I do hope you haven't been bored.
DOCTOR: Oh no, I've been watching your little toy. It's most efficient.
CHASE: Yes, isn't it. The problem is keeping it stocked up.

(Chase turns the machine off.)

DOCTOR: Yes, at the moment it's working on an empty stomach.
CHASE: The next time it starts, we must give it something to bite on. You've noticed how lush the grounds are?
DOCTOR: Oh, yes.
CHASE: This is the secret. We put everything into the grinder. Every scrap of food and garden waste, lots of other things. Provided they're organic.
DOCTOR: I'm sure you're noted for your tidiness. How is Keeler?
CHASE: Dear Arnold. A brilliant researcher and a dedicated botanist. And now, properly nurtured, he can be of inestimable value to science.
DOCTOR: Nurtured. You don't mean to say you've been feeding him?

[Corridor]

(Sarah hides behind a suit of armour as Scorby shows Amelia through a door.)

AMELIA: It is a fascinating house. The mixture of styles is charming. This corridor must be early sixteenth century, is it not?
SCORBY: I'm sorry, history isn't my strong point. Would you mind coming this way, please?

(Scorby walks off round a corner and a guard meets him.)

GUARD: We've covered the south and west sections. There's no sign of the girl.
SCORBY: Yes, all right, thank you. (to Amelia) Sorry, we're just doing a bit of a security exercise. Would you excuse me a moment? A word in your ear.

(Scorby leads the guard away. Back around the corner...)

SARAH: Psst! Miss Ducat! Please.
AMELIA: My dear child, are you all right?
SARAH: That man Scorby mustn't see me. I'm trying to find the Doctor.
AMELIA: What's happening?
SARAH: Will you tell Sir Colin Thackeray at the World Ecology Bureau that we've found the pod but we're trapped here. Please?

(Scorby appears.)

SCORBY: Were you talking to someone?
AMELIA: Talking?
SCORBY: I thought I heard voices.
AMELIA: That must have been me. I'm always talking to myself. It's old age, you know. Happens to us all. Er, this is the way out, is it not?
SCORBY: Er, yeah, just go straight

[Compost room]

(The Doctor has been tied up by a guard and put on the conveyor belt feet first.)

CHASE: Right, get out.

(The guard leaves.)

CHASE: I shall set the machine on automatic control, which means it will start up again in a few minutes time. Your death will be agonising, Doctor, but mercifully quick.
DOCTOR: What can I say?
CHASE: Blood and bone contain the most valuable nitrogen elements. Just think. After shredding, your remains will pass automatically through my compost acceleration chamber and within twenty five minutes you will be pumped into the garden to become part of nature's grand design.
DOCTOR: I still can't think of anything to say.

[Country lane]

(Amelia walks up to a parked car. One man gets out and opens the door for her.)

AMELIA: Very kind. There we are.
THACKERAY: Well, what happened?
AMELIA: You were quite right, Sir Colin. The girl and the Doctor have run into trouble.
THACKERAY: And did Chase suspect anything?
AMELIA: I think not. The debt for my picture was a splendid excuse.
DUNBAR: You saw the Doctor?
AMELIA: No, but I saw Miss Smith. They've found the pod but they're both trapped in the house.
THACKERAY: So Chase is behind this, after all.
AMELIA: Well, it would seem so. What are you going to do to help them?
THACKERAY: We'd better alert the Doctor's friends at UNIT. This is getting too big for us.
DUNBAR: No, wait. Let me go in alone.
THACKERAY: You'll never get past the gate.
DUNBAR: Yes, I will. They know me already.
THACKERAY: What do you mean?
DUNBAR: I've made a terrible mistake, Sir Colin. It's my duty to try and save the situation.
THACKERAY: I don't understand.
DUNBAR: Give me half an hour. If I'm not back by then, return to London and contact UNIT.

[Cottage]

(Hargreaves enters with another plate of protein.)

HARGREAVES: Now, Mister Keeler

(But Keeler is now fully Krynoid. Hargreaves drops the plate and flees. The plant breaks the ropes and gets out of the bed.)

[Compost room]

(The conveyor is starting to move the Doctor towards the grinders when Sarah enters.)

SARAH: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Quick, Sarah, the button!

(But she starts at the wrong end of the control box, and speeds things up instead.)

DOCTOR: Not that button, the other one!

(She stops the conveyer and the back of the hopper opens as she leaps in to untie the Doctor.)

SARAH: Are you all right?
DOCTOR: Oh, Sarah.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: It would have been such a waste!

[Library]

DUNBAR: I warned you not to go too far. You must abandon the experiment, destroy that abomination.
CHASE: The search for knowledge knows no boundaries. This is the most valuable study in plant biology ever made. Nothing will stop me now. I will cultivate the Krynoid.

(Hargreaves bursts in.)

HARGREAVES: Mister Chase! Mister Chase, that thing in the cottage, it's a monster! It's breaking loose.
CHASE: What?
HARGREAVES: The ropes, they're not going to hold it.
DUNBAR: You mean that horror could be roaming around?
HARGREAVES: It could be in the grounds by now.
DUNBAR: I'm going for help. If that thing's free it will kill us all.
CHASE: I would prefer it if you kept your mouth shut.
DUNBAR: No, it's all gone far enough. I'm going for help.
CHASE: You won't get past the guards.

(Dunbar produces a gun.)

DUNBAR: We'll see.

(Dunbar leaves.)

CHASE: Scorby! Get Dunbar!

[Cottage]

(As Scorby chases Dunbar through the various courtyards and outbuildings of the estate, the Doctor and Sarah go to the bedroom.)

SARAH: It's gone!
DOCTOR: Yes, but where?

(Downstairs, the Doctor takes a sword from over the fireplace before they leave.)

[Grounds]

(In amongst the shrubs, Dunbar nearly runs into the Krynoid, now thick as a tree. He tries shooting at it to no avail, then falls over. The Doctor and Sarah hear the shots. Sarah picks up a stout branch. Scorby and the guards are also closing in. Then Dunbar screams. The Doctor and Sarah arrive on the scene to see the alien plant towering over Dunbar's body. The Doctor tries stabbing at it with the sword as Sarah screams. It advances on them.)

Part Five

[Grounds]

(Scorby and the guards arrive, and start shooting, distracting the Krynoid away from the Doctor and Sarah.)

SARAH: Run!
DOCTOR: Come on, don't waste your bullets!

(Scorby and the guards follow them.)

[Cottage]

DOCTOR: Block the door.
SCORBY: Yeah, come on.

(They push a two seater settee in front of the door.)

DOCTOR: Quietly!
SCORBY: How do you do it, Doctor? You should be compost by now.
DOCTOR: We'll all be compost if we don't keep away from that Krynoid.
SCORBY: Krynoid? Is that what that thing is?
SARAH: Yes. It used to be called Keeler. Remember Keeler, your friend? Now do you see what we're up against?
SCORBY: That's Keeler?
DOCTOR: Yes.

(Scorby's walkie-talkie beeps. He answers it.)

SCORBY: Yeah.
CHASE [OC]: Scorby, what was that firing?
SCORBY: That Krynoid thing, Mister Chase. It's got us trapped in the cottage.

[Plant lab]

CHASE: You idiots. Listen to me. Whatever happens, it must not be harmed. Is that clear?

[Cottage]

SCORBY: Mister Chase, you don't understand. It's eight foot high and its already killed Dunbar.

[Plant lab]

CHASE: I don't care who it's killed. People are replaceable, Scorby. The Krynoid is unique. It must not be damaged in any way. That's an order.

[Cottage]

SCORBY: Mister Chase, I am not getting through to you
DOCTOR: Give it to me. Chase, try and understand one thing. The Krynoid is an uncontrollable carnivore that's getting bigger and more powerful by the minute. Now (beep) Chase? Chase! Arrogant fool.

(The Doctor goes to the window.)

SARAH: Where is it now?
DOCTOR: I don't know.
SARAH: What are we going to do?
SCORBY: Is it going to keep on growing? How big's it going to get?
DOCTOR: Oh, about the size of Saint Paul's Cathedral. After that, it'll multiply itself a thousand-fold until it takes over your entire planet.

(A tentacle smashes through a rear window.)

SCORBY: Get back! Stay back!

(Scorby dashes up the stairs, shooting. Sarah uses an axe from the log basket but is pushed away by the tentacle. The Doctor jabs with his sword and it eventually withdraws.)

DOCTOR: You don't scare us, Keeler. You hear? You don't scare us! (to Scorby) Do you think he believed us?
KRYNOID [OC]: The human was Keeler. Now us. Now belongs.
SARAH: It speaks!
DOCTOR: It can think.
KRYNOID [OC]: You, Doctor. Come out now. Join us.
SCORBY: You seem to have been singled out for special attention, Doctor.
SARAH: It's afraid he'll find a way to destroy it.
DOCTOR: Yes. It does seem to sense my knowledge of alien species, particularly the Krynoid.
KRYNOID [OC]: Send the Doctor to us. Your lives will then be spared.
SCORBY: You'd better think of something pretty quickly, hadn't you, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, Scorby, take no notice of it. I've heard that one before.
SCORBY: It sounds a pretty fair deal to me. How about it, Doctor? You'd lay down your life for others, wouldn't you?
SARAH: Not to save your skin. Not after what you did to us.
SCORBY: This is different.
SARAH: Why is it different?
SCORBY: He'd be sacrificing himself for you, for all of us.
SARAH: What, because you're involved, it's your life
DOCTOR: Excuse me! Would you mind if I said something?
SARAH: And you'd better listen, because nobody else knows how to fight that creature.
KRYNOID [OC]: Hear this, humans. You have till daybreak to deliver the Doctor.
SCORBY: Why wait? Why not now?
DOCTOR: Scorby, if I die, you die.
SCORBY: I'll take a chance on that.
DOCTOR: There is no chance! By daybreak the Krynoid'll be large enough to crush this entire cottage to rubble. If I could get outside there'd be some hope for all of us.
SCORBY: Why don't I just throw you out?
DOCTOR: It would make no difference! We need a bomb. Scorby, could you make a bomb? Could you make a fire bomb of some kind?
SCORBY: What for?
DOCTOR: To distract the Krynoid while we all slip away.
SCORBY: Molotoff cocktail?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's a good idea.
SCORBY: Okay, leave it to me. You keep watch.

(Scorby goes upstairs and the Doctor stands guard by the broken window.)

[Thackeray's office]

(At the World Ecology Bureau in London, Thackeray is hanging on the phone while Amelia Ducat smokes another of her cigarillos.)

THACKERAY: Come on, come on. Not exactly rushing themselves, are they.
AMELIA: Perhaps we should have gone back into the grounds?
THACKERAY: Too dangerous. I wonder what has happened to Dunbar?
AMELIA: Mmm. Of course, there were these armed men running about.
THACKERAY: Must have been quite terrifying.
AMELIA: Not a bit. I enjoyed it. I like a little excitement. Besides, I have some wartime experience, you know. Oh yes. I was a sergeant in the ATS. Manned an ack-ack gun at Folkestone.
THACKERAY: Indeed. (into phone) Yes, yes. This is Sir Colin Thackeray. I am aware that the Brigadier is in Geneva. I must speak to a senior officer. This is a matter of national security. Yes, national security.
AMELIA: Invent a codeword. They love that. What about Operation Nuthouse?
THACKERAY: What, Major Beresford? Well, right, get him down here fast! Thank you!

(Thackeray puts the phone down.)

AMELIA: Bravo.
THACKERAY: What a nit-wit.
AMELIA: That's the stuff to give 'em. After all, our taxes pay for these wretched civil servants and you can never get hold of them when you want them, can you.
THACKERAY: I'm a civil servant, Miss Ducat.
AMELIA: Then you know exactly what I mean, of course.
THACKERAY: Of course. Well now, I think it's time you ran along and got some sleep.
AMELIA: Oh, I'm not sleepy.
THACKERAY: Thank you very much for all you've done.
AMELIA: Not at all. I do hope you'll be able to get some help to the Doctor and that dear child, that little girl
THACKERAY: Yes.
AMELIA: Before it's too late.
THACKERAY: We'll do our best. Yes, thank you.
AMELIA: Consider me available for any future assignments, Sir Colin.
THACKERAY: Oh, yes, yes, I will, yes.
AMELIA: Au revoir.
THACKERAY: Thank you very much.

[Plant lab]

(Morning, and Chase is getting a camera ready.)

CHASE: Botanical history, Hargreaves. These'll be the first pictures ever taken of an alien organism.
HARGREAVES: That thing, sir. You will be careful, won't you?
CHASE: Why? I have nothing to fear from the Krynoid.

[Cottage]

DOCTOR: Scorby, can I rely on you?
SCORBY: For the moment, Doctor.

(Scorby finishes putting a wick into a partly filled milk bottle.)

SCORBY: I'll check the position of the Krynoid.

(Scorby goes upstairs. The Doctor gestures the guards to move the settee from the door.)

DOCTOR: Clear this door. Quietly!

(Chase walks along a tall hedge then sees the Krynoid towering over the cottage.)

SCORBY: Stand by.

(He lights the wick then throws the bottle out of the bedroom window at the Krynoid. The Doctor runs out of the front door.)

[Grounds]

CHASE: The fools.

(The Krynoid lumbers after the Doctor.)

[Cottage]

SARAH: Okay, it worked. It's gone after him.
SCORBY: Okay, let's go.

(Scorby, Sarah and the guards leave. The Doctor sprints to the driveway where he left the Daimler, climbs in and drives away.)

[Greenhouse and plant lab]

SCORBY: Chase! Any sign?
SARAH: No.
SCORBY: Hargreaves, come here. Where's Chase?
HARGREAVES: Mister Chase has gone out to take some photographs.
SCORBY: Photographs? What's he playing at? Well, listen. I've posted lookouts but they're not going to stay very long. Get over to the workshop, help get some timber. We've got to board up all these ground floor windows.
HARGREAVES: If you say so.
SARAH: Well, I heard the car move off, so the Doctor must have got away.
SCORBY: He's no fool, your friend. He's escaped, we're still trapped.
SARAH: But he went to get help. You know he went to get help. You were there.
SCORBY: Sure.
SARAH: Listen. The Doctor's not just concerned about saving his own skin. He's risked his life before for others. Unlike you, he has principles.
SCORBY: Oh, yeah? Well you listen to me. Now there's just the two of us, so you've got to rely on me. So don't push your luck, because if you do, I'll start again exactly where I left off. Understood?
SARAH: You're as mad as Chase, Scorby. Other people don't matter. All these guards, all these guns, it's just a big game to you, isn't it? Gives you a sense of power. You're not complete unless you've got a gun in your hand.

[Grounds]

(Chase finds a good view of the Krynoid by an ivy covered tree, and starts taking his picture. The plant moves closer, and he has to angle the camera ever higher until he realises just how close it has got.)

CHASE: No. No, not me. I want to help. Keeler, you know me. I want to help you.

(The bulk of the Krynoid blocks out the light.)

[Thackeray's office]

(The Doctor parks the Daimler in a No Parking space and runs inside the WEB.)

BERESFORD: Sir Colin, you do understand that without clear evidence I will not mount a raid on someone's private property.
THACKERAY: I agree. Without further evidence, we're stuck.

(The Doctor bursts in with a piece of paper in his hand, followed by a official.)

MAN: You cannot go in. Sir Colin is in conference.
DOCTOR: Out, out, out.
MAN: Really!

(The Doctor slams the door in his face.)

DOCTOR: What have you decided, Major Beresford?
BERESFORD: Doctor, I've been telling Sir Colin that without the proper authority I will not mount a raid on someone's private property.
DOCTOR: Waffle! Waffle, waffle, waffle! Where's the Brigadier?

(The telephone beeps and the Doctor answers it.)

DOCTOR: He's busy.
THACKERAY: He's in Geneva.
BERESFORD: I'm deputising.
DOCTOR: And you can't act without authority.
BERESFORD: Look, I'm in a very difficult position. What exactly is going on down there?
DOCTOR: Revolution's going on down there.
THACKERAY: Revolution. Come now, Doctor. Are you choosing your words with care?
DOCTOR: Somehow the Krynoid can channel its power to other plants. All the vegetation on this planet is about to turn hostile.
THACKERAY: You mean like aggressive rhubarb?
DOCTOR: Yes, aggressive rhubarb.
BERESFORD: What about homicidal gooseberries?
THACKERAY: You are joking, of course, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No, I'm not joking. Read this report. I just snatched it from your secretary. Go on, read it. Aloud.
THACKERAY: Gardener aged fifty five found strangled in rose arbour. Agricultural worker found strangled in kale field.

(The Doctor snatches the paper and gives it to Beresford.)

DOCTOR: You.
BERESFORD: Thirty two year old woman strangled in a garden maze.
DOCTOR: This bit.
BERESFORD: And all within a mile of Chase's estate.
THACKERAY: Well, that's it, then.
DOCTOR: Shall we get started, gentlemen?

[Plant lab]

(The telephone rings. Sarah runs in from the greenhouse to answer it.)

SARAH: Oh, Doctor. You all right? So, what's happening?

[Thackeray's office]

DOCTOR: Things are moving at last. Sir Colin's seen the light and Major Beresford's getting a laser gun team together. That should stop the Krynoid. I'm on my way back with a Sergeant Henderson.

[Plant lab]

SARAH: Well, make it soon. The Krynoid's still lurking around outside the house somewhere. Scorby? Oh, don't worry, we're great friends. Well, uneasy allies.

(A vine clambers up the roof and rips out the telephone line.)

SARAH: Doctor? Doctor? Hello? Doctor!

(Vines smash through the windows of the lab.)

[Grounds]

(Chase is lying on his back on the grass.)

CHASE: Yes. Yes. The plants must win. It will be a new world, silent and beautiful.

[Plant lab]

(Scorby enters with some planks of wood.)

SCORBY: What's the matter with you? What are you doing down there?
SARAH: I was talking to the Doctor, the line went dead and those vines smashed the panes.
SCORBY: Oh, come on.
SARAH: No, look, they are getting thicker.
SCORBY: Yeah, you're right. They're only plants.
SARAH: So how did the glass break?
SCORBY: How am I supposed to know? Maybe it was the ghost of Sir Bothwell Chase. He's supposed to haunt this place.
SARAH: Why can't you believe me?
SCORBY: Because it doesn't make sense, that's why.

(More breaking glass.)

SARAH: It's the Krynoid. It's controlling them.
SCORBY: How can it?
SARAH: I don't know. The Doctor will, and he's on his way back. Yes, that surprises you, doesn't it, even more than the Krynoid. But it's true. Have a little faith, Scorby.

(Hargreaves enters.)

HARGREAVES: Scorby, all the guards have left. I think they've made a run for it.
SCORBY: Typical. Just like a bunch of women.
HARGREAVES: And I heard screams from the west garden but I didn't go out.
SARAH: Let's take a look.
SCORBY: Look, we'd better stay put.
SARAH: He just said he heard a scream. Obviously someone is in trouble.
SCORBY: Well, what can we do with that thing roaming about out there?
SARAH: What was that you just said about women?

[Grounds]

(Sarah and Scorby find a man wrapped in a plant.)

SCORBY: He's been strangled by the vine.
SARAH: Oh come on, Doctor. Where are you?
CHASE: I've taken some fascinating photographs. Quite fascinating.
SCORBY: Look, we're in real trouble. These plants are taking over.
CHASE: And why not? It's their world. We're merely parasites. I must get these photographs developed.

(Chase leaves.)

SCORBY: He's out of his head. He's really gone.
SARAH: He must have been gone for years, if you ask me.

[Greenhouse]

(Chase is sitting cross-legged on a metal walkway amongst the tropical lushness, with his 'music' playing in the background.)

CHASE: Listen to me, my beautiful friends. Listen to me. A new era dawns upon the Earth. You will be restored to your position of dominance.

[Plant lab]

(Hargreaves closes the door to the greenhouse just before Scorby and Sarah enter.)

SCORBY: Hargreaves, where's Chase now?
HARGREAVES: He's in there. I believe he's talking to his plants.
SCORBY: I don't care about that. Get out of the way.

[Greenhouse]

SCORBY: Chase!
CHASE: We shall have perfection. The world will be as it should have been from the beginning, a green paradise.

(Scorby turns off the 'music' and goes over to Chase.)

SCORBY: Chase, listen to me.
CHASE: A harmony of root, stem, leaf, flower.
SCORBY: Chase!
SARAH: It's no good. He can't hear you.
SCORBY: What's the matter with him?
HARGREAVES: He's not himself.
SARAH: He's in some sort of a trance.
SCORBY: Chase, you've got to listen to me. If we don't do something, we're going to be trapped here. Those precious plants of yours are starting to kill people.
CHASE: The time has come. Animals have ruled this planet for millions of years. Now it is our turn.
SCORBY: What do you mean, your turn? You're one of us, Chase.
SARAH: He's not. At least, not in his mind. You hate us, don't you?
CHASE: Of course. Animals are the enemy.
SARAH: You want to see us all die.
CHASE: It is only a matter of time.
SCORBY: Come on, Hargreaves, we've got to lock him away.
HARGREAVES: Scorby, he's ill! Leave him alone.
SARAH: Scorby, they're moving. The plants, they're moving!

(Greenery starts to spread over the walkway behind them. Meanwhile, a UNIT sergeant opens the main gates and the Daimler drives through. Back in the greenhouse, Sarah, Hargreaves and Scorby are being smothered by plants while Chase sits and smiles.)

CHASE: Don't resist us, Scorby. You must die. All plant eaters must die.

[Outside the greenhouse]

(The cries of the trapped people can be heard as the Doctor and Sergeant run along outside the building with two large bottles of liquid and spraying equipment.)

DOCTOR: Come on, Sergeant.
HENDERSON: How do we get in? It's all boarded up.
DOCTOR: Break in.

(They come to a small wooden door.)

DOCTOR: One, two, three.

[Greenhouse]

DOCTOR: Sergeant!

(The Doctor starts spraying the foliage covering Sarah and it stops moving.)

CHASE: Stop it! Stop it, murderers! Stop it.

(Chase struggles with Henderson, who easily pushes him away.)

CHASE: You'll pay for this, animal fiends!

(Chase leaves. The Doctor pulls dead foliage off Sarah and helps her to her feet.)

DOCTOR: Come on.

(Scorby gets out too.)

HENDERSON: This one's dead, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's get out of here.

(They leave Hargreaves in the plants.)

[Plant lab]

DOCTOR: The doors.

(They shut the doors and pull filing cabinets across in front of them.)

HENDERSON: How do you feel?
SARAH: I feel like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards.
SCORBY: What is that stuff?
HENDERSON: Latest military defoliant. Still on the secret list. Pity we've used it all.
DOCTOR: Come on, we've got to get every plant out of this place and dump it outside.
HENDERSON: What for, Doctor?
DOCTOR: They're the eyes and ears of the Krynoid.
SCORBY: We'd better keep an eye open for that lunatic Chase.
DOCTOR: Good idea.

[Outside the greenhouse]

(They all start moving the ferns, ficus and other pot plants outside, then Chase shuts the door behind them.)

SARAH: Look!

(The Krynoid towers over the mansion. Scorby struggles with the door.)

SCORBY: Out of the way. It's locked!

(Scorby and Henderson hammer on the door.)

DOCTOR: Chase!
Part Six

[Grounds]

(Major Beresford leads a squad into the area.)

BERESFORD: Laser, quick. Let him have it. Fire!

[Outside the greenhouse]

(Our heroes see the flash of coherent light against the Krynoid's 'head'.)

HENDERSON: The Major!

[Grounds]

BERESFORD: And another. Fire!

[Outside the greenhouse]

(The Krynoid staggers and moves away.)

DOCTOR: The other door. Come on!

(They run around the side of the courtyard, behind the Krynoid, and get in through a small door. Chase hears it slam shut.)

[Grounds]

BERESFORD: Hit it square in the chest. Fire! Fire! Fire!

(The Krynoid staggers.)

BERESFORD: Come on, out.

(The laser squad retreats.)

[Plant lab]

(The greenhouse plants are up against the connecting door.)

DOCTOR: We've got to find Chase before he has another attack of megalomania. Krynoid on the outside, a madman lurking inside, not a happy situation.
SARAH: Do you think he's counting on the Krynoid sparing him, if, well, if he sacrifices us?
HENDERSON: Well, Major Beresford did do his best, even if it was like using a peashooter
DOCTOR: Shush, shush, shush. I think we've been wrong about Chase up till now.
HENDERSON: What are you on about?
DOCTOR: Will you just shut up a minute, please? You said Chase went outside and actually took photographs of the Krynoid, and came in apparently unharmed. Unharmed?
SARAH: You mean he's actually infected?
DOCTOR: Or possessed.

[Grounds]

(UNIT are still beating a hasty retreat.)

BERESFORD: Come on, quick, come on!

[Corridor]

DOCTOR: You and Henderson take that corridor. Sarah and I will go this way.

(They all leave. Chase steps out of hiding and goes into )

[Plant lab]

(Where he looks at the defoliant tanks on the bench.)

CHASE: Filth.

(Then he goes to the music sound system which is on the filing cabinets in front of the greenhouse doors and smashes it.)

[Corridor]

SARAH: (sotto) Doctor, maybe he's not in the house.
DOCTOR: I doubt that.

(He opens a door to be confronted by a wall of foliage. He closes it again as Henderson comes up.)

HENDERSON: Doctor, there's creeper breaking through into the corridor.
DOCTOR: Where's Scorby?
HENDERSON: He's back in the main lab.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's join him there.

[Main gate]

THACKERAY: What happened?
BERESFORD: We've had to pull back. The laser's hopeless against it.
THACKERAY: And you haven't made contact with the Doctor?
BERESFORD: No, not yet, but I'm going to try and get through with a couple of men.

[Plant lab]

(The Krynoid pushes a tentacle through a window and flails around inside briefly.)

SCORBY: It's like we're under siege.

(A corner of the ceiling is pushed in. Henderson gives his rifle to the Doctor.)

HENDERSON: Here, do your best. I'll go and see if I can get some more timber.
DOCTOR: Yes, you go and do that.

(The Doctor gives the rifle to Scorby. In the compost room, Chase hears Henderson ripping out planks nearby, and picks up a large spanner. He goes and hits the soldier over the head then drags him away. The Krynoid is pushing in a corner of the building. Scorby finishes nailing a plank over the broken window.)

SCORBY: It's trying its luck on the east wing now. I still say we make a break for it.
DOCTOR: Oh Scorby, just think about what we're up against. Everything that grows in the ground is your enemy. You wouldn't get far.
SCORBY: So what are we supposed to do? Wait here until the Krynoid reduces this place to rubble?
SARAH: Don't be so negative. Major Beresford's going to come up with something.
SCORBY: Oh yeah. That laser gun was useless, wasn't it. Look, I've never relied on anybody, just myself. I've always got myself out of trouble. Africa, the Middle East, you name it. I've not been a mercenary for nothing. I'm a survivor, right?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Scorby, bullets and bombs aren't the answer to everything.

(The room shakes and more ceiling plaster comes down.)

SCORBY: What are we going to do?
SARAH: Oh, just shut up, will you? We're all in the same boat.
SCORBY: And where's your precious Beresford? I suppose he's dropped everything and run, has he?
DOCTOR: No more than you would, Scorby.

(Chase has tied up the unconscious Henderson and loaded him into the compost machine. He switches it on.)

SARAH: (looking out of the window.) It's coming back this way, Doctor. Any hope yet?

(The Doctor is repairing the sound system.)

DOCTOR: Oh yes. Chase didn't do any irreparable damage. I think I can fix this.
SARAH: Well done.
SCORBY: Oh yeah. Well done Doctor. Why are you bothering? It's obvious your army friends have scarpered. I'd have done the same if I'd been out there. We're as dead as mutton, you realise? RIP. It's ridiculous, isn't it.
DOCTOR: Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Scorby. It'll become a habit.

(The room shakes again. Scorby runs to a small outside door and moves the filing cabinet aside to open it.)

DOCTOR: No, Scorby, don't! Don't go, Scorby, you won't make it!

(Scorby plunges into the vegetation beyond the door. Sarah and the Doctor push the door shut. Scorby makes it through and runs out into the grounds, where he stumbles into a dew pond. The pondweed rises up and pulls him under. Meanwhile, Beresford and his men make their way to an old stone terrace, where they have a clear view of the Krynoid which is now so big it is practically smothering the old house.)

(A loud drumming noise starts up.)

SARAH: What's that?
DOCTOR: Probably the plants have got into the humidity system.
SARAH: Well, that means the water could boil up and blow suddenly.
DOCTOR: It's possible.
SARAH: Oh, great. That's all we need. A scalding shower.
DOCTOR: Ah. Henderson. Sergeant Henderson?
SARAH: He's not back yet.
DOCTOR: You go and get him.
SARAH: Right.
DOCTOR: Tell him I need Beresford's wavelength.

[Corridor]

(Sarah finds the planks lying on the floor.)

SARAH: Sergeant? Sergeant? Sergeant?

[Compost room]

SARAH: Sergeant? Sergeant?

(Chase closes the door behind her.)

CHASE: The sergeant's no longer with us. He's in the garden. He's part of the garden.
SARAH: That's very clever of you.
CHASE: Don't humour me, Miss Smith. We're helping the plant world, the sergeant and I. In different ways, of course. I've become part of a life that I've always admired for its beauty, colours, sensitivity. I have the Krynoid to thank, as it thanks me for its opportunity to exist here on Earth. Soon the Krynoids will dominate everywhere, and your foul species will disappear.
SARAH: And you'll all flower happily ever after.
CHASE: You and your kind are nothing but parasites. You're dependant upon us for the air you breathe and the food you eat. We have only one use for you.

[Grounds]

(Beresford speaks into his R/T.)

BERESFORD: This is Scorpio section. I say again, this is Scorpio section. Are you receiving me? Over.

[Plant lab]

DOCTOR: Hello, Beresford, this is the Doctor. I can hear you. Over.
BERESFORD [OC]: Great. What's your situation, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Desperate. We're trapped. What action are you taking against the Krynoid?
BERESFORD [OC]: The laser had no effect. Frankly, we're stuck for an answer.
DOCTOR: Listen, Beresford. By my reckoning you've got about before the Krynoid reaches the point of primary germination.

[Grounds]

BERESFORD: What's he mean?
THACKERAY: Give me that. Doctor, Thackeray here. What do you mean by primary germination?
DOCTOR [OC]: I mean the Krynoid is about to eject hundreds of embryo pods. The whole planet will be doomed.
THACKERAY: How can we stop it?
DOCTOR [OC]: There's only one way, Sir Colin. A low level attack by aircraft with high explosives.
THACKERAY: But that'll mean destroying the house too. What about you and the others?

[Plant lab]

DOCTOR: Never mind us. Order that attack, it's your only chance. Out.

(The Doctor goes in search of Sarah.)

[Grounds]

RAF [OC]: I'll be with you in figures three minutes. Over.
BERESFORD: Roger, Red Leader. Out.

(Beresford goes to Thackeray.)

BERESFORD: Well, the planes are on their way. Three minutes.
THACKERAY: Is there no way we can get them out?
BERESFORD: Not a chance.

[Compost room]

(As a flight of five jets head towards their target, Chase is trussing up an unconscious Sarah in the compost machine. Then he switches it on and stand backs to watch. Sarah wakes up and the Doctor bursts in. Chase briefly struggles with him but is easily pushed away. The Doctor switches off the machine and jumps into the hopper to untie Sarah. He lifts her out as Chase switches the machine on again. Chase grabs the Doctor and is pulled inside the hopper as he wrestles with him.)

DOCTOR: Quick, Sarah, the button. The button!
SARAH: I can't

(The Doctor climbs out of the hopper but Chase hands on to one arm. Sarah still has her hands tied behind her as she hops up and down trying to reach the control panel. Finally, Chase's gloves hands slide off the Doctor's sleeve and he goes into the shredder with a scream. The Doctor unties Sarah properly.)

DOCTOR: Sarah, I tried to save him. He was trying to pull me in.

(Sarah sobs and they leave the grisly room.)

[Grounds]

(Two jets fly overhead at low level.)

BERESFORD: That was a sighting run. Scorpio section to Red Leader. Over.
RAF [OC]: Red Leader section. We see your target. We're turning to attack now. Over.
BERESFORD: Understood. Good luck. Out.
THACKERAY: Still no sign of the Doctor.
BERESFORD: Afraid not.
RAF [OC]: (unintelligible) again. Let's turn it into chop suey.

[Corridor]

(Another door to the outside is blocked by foliage.)

SARAH: Where do we go? We've a Krynoid outside, steam inside, bombs overhead.
DOCTOR: Steam. Steam!

(The Doctor goes to a set of pipes in the wall and starts to undo one of them.)

DOCTOR: Stand by that door, Sarah.
SARAH: Right.
DOCTOR: When I say. Come on, come on.

(He unfastens a pipe, puts his hat over the end as he turns it towards the doorway, then)

DOCTOR: Now!

(Sarah opens the door, the Doctor takes his hat off the pipe and hot steam gushes at the plants outside. They stop moving.)

DOCTOR: Come on!

[Grounds]

(The Doctor and Sarah fight their way through the unhappy foliage to an area of felled trees. They take cover behind a large log as the RAF begin their attack run. The first strike takes out part of the house, the second hits the Krynoid. So does the third, and lumps of green fly everywhere, then the whole building explodes. Historic property and alien plant burn up in the intense fire.)

[Thackeray's office]

THACKERAY: Well, Doctor, do you think we've heard the last of the Krynoid?
DOCTOR: Sir Colin, the Intergalactic Floral Society, of which quite naturally I'm the President, finds Krynoids a difficult subject to study. Their researchers tend to disappear.
SARAH: Hmm, I can imagine. A case of one veg and no meat.
THACKERAY: Very neat, Miss Smith.
SARAH: Sorry about that.
THACKERAY: And talking of societies, Doctor, the Royal Horticultural Society's got wind of this affair. They'd rather like you to address one of their meetings.
DOCTOR: Really? When?
THACKERAY: I think they suggested the fifteenth.
DOCTOR: Fifteenth, fifteenth. No, impossible. I'm fully booked for the next two centuries, but any time after that.
THACKERAY: Doctor, I don't know when you're being serious.
SARAH: I know just how you feel, Sir Colin.
DOCTOR: Have you ever heard of Cassiopeia?
SARAH: Animal, vegetable or mineral?
DOCTOR: It's a good place for a holiday. We need a break. Come on.
SARAH: Oh, great!
DOCTOR: Sir Colin, do you fancy a little excursion?
THACKERAY: I'd be delighted, but my wife's expecting me home for tea.

[Antarctica]

(The TARDIS materialises in a white landscape. Sarah runs out in swimming costume and carrying a beach ball then suddenly stops.)

SARAH: Ah, this isn't Cassiopeia.
DOCTOR: It's Antarctica.
SARAH: We're back where we started!
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: We won't get a suntan here.
DOCTOR: No.
SARAH: You forgot to cancel the coordinate programme, didn't you.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: Shall we try again?
DOCTOR: Yes. Just a minute.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: Have we been here before, or
BOTH: Are we yet to come?

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.