12x04 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

Episode transcripts for the 2005 TV show "Doctor Who". (Ninth to Twelfth Doctor)*

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Time and Space traveling adventures of a Gallifreyan Time Lord only known as "the Doctor" and his companions.

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12x04 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

Post by bunniefuu »

Niagara Falls.

Is there a better demonstration of the sheer power of nature?

When I first saw this view, I was inspired to build my Niagara Generator, and now these waters power a city.

But there's so much more in nature that cannot be seen by the naked eye, forces invisible to us which animate the universe.

And they were hidden from our understanding until now.

Gentlemen, I, Nikola Tesla have invited you here to pull back the curtain.

Shall we begin?

- Observe, ladies and gentlemen.

- [CROWD GASPS]

I plan to harness these forces of nature on a scale never seen before.

A world wireless system.

A way for each of us to reach beyond our immediate sphere into every corner of the Earth.

[APPLAUSE]

I only require the small investment of 50,000.

50,000?

A small price to pay to transmit energy through the ether with no wires.

You mean flying around in the air?

Poppycock!

They're even more far-fetched than those Mars stories that we've all been hearing about.

I'm sure you gentlemen know better than to believe everything you read - in the Times.

- Thank you, Miss Skerritt, but I did in fact receive a feeble electrical signal, and I calculate it comes from Mars.

[CROWD MURMURS]

But that's not the focus of this project.

Mr Tesla, I'm not in the habit of investing in fairy tales.

Good day to you.

Mr Brady, sir, please!

My work is not a fairy tale.

I promise you, within about a year, my Wardenclyffe project will be as real and functioning as this very generator!

[CLANG, ELECTRICAL SPARKING]

Mr Tesla?

We have an emergency.

Oh, dear.

How did this happen?

I think an electric shock, miss.

What?

One of these machines must have k*lled him.

That's impossible.

All the apparatus here is perfectly safe.

Nonetheless, Mr Tesla will be happy to take a look.

After all, we can't have people thinking there's some deadly flaw in your designs.

Can we, sir?

Very well.

I work alone!

[CLANG]

Ah, Miss Skerritt!

I have solved the riddle!

Of course there is no flaw with my machinery.

- [HE LAUGHS]

- Parts are missing.

We have a thief at work!

Miss Skerritt?

Hello?

Anybody there?

[HIGH-PITCHED BURBLING]

Incredible.

- What is it?

- [HE GASPS]

I I have no idea.

[CLANG]

[SHE GASPS]

I thought the foreman went home.

Miss Skerritt, we need to leave now.

[SHE GASPS]

It's locked!

- [FOOTSTEPS CLANG]

- There!

Oh.

Hi!

I don't suppose you've seen anything weird around here?

Agh!

I'll take that as a yes.

Mind if I join you?

[SHE GASPS]

It's Mr Brady.

Why would a potential investor be sh**ting at us?

More urgently, who sh*t him?

Run!

- Who are you?

- Someone with a fast way out of here!

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS]

- [SHE GASPS]

- Here we go, perfect getaway vehicle!

Full speed, straight to New York.

What did I say?

Night train, right on schedule.

Did you find out what was causing this energy thing, then?

No, but I found these two.

Welcome aboard the Orient Express!

We travel in style.

This is Graham, Yaz and Ryan.

We were doing the sights when I picked up a funny energy reading.

Thought I'd check it out.

Ran into a tiny bit of trouble at the plant.

Nothing to worry about.

We've lost them.

So, here we are.

I'm The Doctor, by the way.

Why don't you tell me who you are and who's sh**ting at you?

Dorothy.

Dorothy Skerritt.

I am Nikola Tesla, and I assure you I have no idea.

Tesla!

I knew you looked familiar!

It's only Nikola Tesla!

- Who?

- Nicholas something.

Total genius!

I always wanted to meet you!

Shame you're a big, fat liar.

- Pardon?

- [ALL GASP]

YAZ: Doctor!

And we're off again!

Look out!

Go, go, go!

- RYAN: Who's that?

- I don't know!

[SHE GASPS, SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

Locked it!

Keep going!

Go!

- No way!

- Go on, Ryan!

You've got this!

Agh!

- [SHE GASPS]

- Now!

[SHE GRUNTS]

It's quiet.

Why has it gone quiet?

[CREAKING]

[IT GROWLS]

[SHE SCREAMS]

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

I'll take that!

[SHE PANTS]

Keep it moving, then.

Missing something?

Come on!

Argh!

It's rusted together.

Got you!

[LOW GROWL]

Silurian Blaster.

Nasty, deadly thing.

But here's the funny part, whatever was f*ring it wasn't Silurian.

So, Nikola Tesla, why is someone chasing you with an alien g*n?

You believe this is alien?

Not so fast, you big, fat liar.

Why do you keep saying that?

Is she always this impertinent?

- OTHERS: Yes.

- First thing I asked you, I said, "Have you seen anything weird?" And there's one important thing you've failed to mention.

See, I started this evening chasing an unusual energy reading.

I followed that signal, loud and clear, to the Niagara Generator.

So why am I still detecting it on board this train with you?

Whatever it is, hand it over.

This is one of the most miraculous things I've seen in my life.

It's a mystery I intend to solve.

And I have no intention of handing it to total strangers.

Strangers who just saved your life.

Whatever you found is putting you in danger.

Yeah.

Both of you.

You all right with that?

I agree with Mr Tesla.

If anyone can make sense of this, it's him.

Well, then, if you won't hand it over, you leave us no choice.

We're not letting you out of our sights until we've worked this out.

So, where's this lab, then?

Now, this is a bit of all right.

Gilded Age New York!

This is when the modern world begins!

New ideas, new technologies, new skyscrapers.

More people getting rich quick, and more poor people than ever before.

I always wanted to visit New York, see Times Square.

Yeah, bit early for that.

- Empire State Building?

- Not yet.

- Central Park?

- Yeah!

Now, that has been around for ages.

- [CHANTING]

- Can you hear yelling?

CROWD: No to the death current, no AC!

No to the death current, no AC!

No to the death current, no AC!

- Who are they?

- Protesters.

What are they protesting about?

- Me.

- WOMAN: There he is!

Do you have any idea what you're doing?

- Shame on you!

- He's dangerous!

- Go back to Mars!

- How many more people have to die before you admit your machines aren't safe?

My inventions never hurt anyone!

Isn't it true your last invention caused an earthquake?

Those were only mild tremors.

Why are you building weapons on Long Island?

Mr Tesla isn't building any kind of w*apon or going to answer any questions!

- Excuse me!

- Foreign lunatic!

You don't belong in America.

Yeah!

I'm an American citizen!

And you are trespassing in front of my lab.

Me?

A lunatic?

They wouldn't recognise genius if it hit them in the face.

Are you all right?

Oh.

Absolutely, yeah.

Their opinions do not affect me.

[CHANTING CONTINUES]

[DOOR SLAMS SHUT]

[DISTANT CLATTERING]

He'll just be a moment.

[CLATTERING]

Why don't you go on through?

Tesla's lab.

This is going to be something special!

I won't lie.

I was expecting more.

Well, let's have a look about.

Mm.

So, Tesla, is he something to do with the cars, then?

Yeah, well, they're named after him.

He's a famous inventor, ain't he, Doc?

Yeah?

And what did he invent?

Well, he invented the, erm - The whatchamacallit.

Tell 'em, Doc.

- [YAZ LAUGHS]

Nikola Tesla dreams up the 20th century before it happens.

Before you have X-rays, Tesla has shadowgraphs.

Before you have drones, Tesla has automatons.

Before Marconi gets the patent for radio, they have to take it from Tesla because he invents it first!

His work on alternating currents helps electrify the world.

He should have been the first billionaire by now, if he hadn't have torn up his contract.

Business isn't his strong point.

Doctor.

I believe you wanted to see this.

[FIZZING]

Is this what you found in the generator?

Giving off all that energy, but why?

- [SPHERE BUZZES]

- RYAN: Whoa!

You see how it moves independently?

I believe this is something I like to call "remote control".

Remote control?

You came up with that?

I believe this is operating on a similar principle.

If we could just work out its purpose I know what it is.

It's an Orb of Thassor.

But I've no idea what it's doing here.

The Thassor were one of the ancient races.

Amazing storytellers.

Inventors, explorers.

They built these orbs as a way to spread information, to send out among the stars as a way to share their legacy long after they were gone.

Why would someone try to k*ll us to get their hands on that?

I've no idea.

- [BUZZING STOPS]

- But maybe I can find out.

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

I think it's been repurposed.

But I can't work out what it's doing instead.

This is all wrong!

Something this elegant shouldn't be giving off this kind of noise.

Its energy readings are off the charts!

That instrument detects energy?

Is-is this your own design?

I made it!

Mainly out of spoons.

You're an inventor!

I have my moments.

I knew it!

So So you can understand how it feels, you know, when you have an idea and and to make it real.

I don't think there's any greater thrill!

I couldn't agree more.

You You spoke of aliens.

People, you know, laugh at the very idea!

But not you.

Well, apparently, I'm not like other people.

It can be difficult, you know, to feel no-one else sees the world the way you do.

It's like you're, er Out of place.

Yeah.

I I thought I thought things would be different.

You know, when I first arrived in America, I had four cents to my name, I was robbed on the journey, but still I thought, "This is the beginning!" Here I would prosper, my ideas would live!

Changing the world takes time.

You have to be patient.

I try.

But you saw them outside.

They They talk as if I was dangerous or mad, or So prove them wrong!

[DOOR OPENS]

Sir, this was just delivered, it's from Mr Morgan.

Excellent.

Mr Morgan is the investor behind my Wardenclyffe project.

With his help, we - He's pulling the funding.

- What?

I, er can't complete Wardenclyffe without it.

I'm never going to be able to prove it works.

- [FLASH BULB POPS]

- RYAN: Who's that?

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

That was Harold Green, one of Edison's men.

- As in Thomas Edison?

Light-bulb guy?

- All right.

We all know Edison.

It's Tesla you've never heard of.

- He's literally standing right there.

- Yeah, sorry, son.

Edison, Edison.

Of course it's Edison.

He's plagued me every step of my career!

Edison champions a rival form of electric current to Mr Tesla's AC.

Direct current, of course, he would champion something so slow and inefficient.

That man is a liar and a thief.

Are we saying Thomas Edison is after the Orb of Thassor?

Don't be daft, how's Edison's men going to get their hands on a Slymurian laser blaster?

Silurian.

Let's go and find out.

You three stay here and guard the Orb.

You two, with me.

Time we paid a visit to Mr Thomas Edison.

Ladies and gentlemen, AC is the most deadly force known to science.

For the public's safety, the Niagara Generator should be shut down.

And let me guess.

An Edison Generator built in its place.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Thomas Edison, we need to talk.

- As I was saying - We could talk here, but I think you'd prefer to go somewhere more private.

You want to make an appointment, speak to my secretary.

Alien weapons.

How are you getting your hands on them?

- [HE CHUCKLES]

- Alien weapons!

You have the wrong inventor, ma'am.

It's Nikola Tesla's been talking to Mars.

I keep my feet on the ground.

So you don't recognise this?

Let's take this inside.

GRAHAM: Whoa!

This is some set-up he's got.

See, this guy I've definitely heard of, he's got to be America's most famous inventor.

Yeah.

But not exactly a shrinking violet, is he?

I mean, he's plastered his name all over the shop!

Talk about tooting your own horn!

I have never seen anything like this in my life.

Is it your design?

Who has the patent?

This isn't a business opportunity, someone tried to sh**t us with it just before we caught an employee of yours spying on Nikola Tesla.

Someone's trying to steal from him, and he seems pretty sure it's you.

Does he, now?

Ma'am, I may keep an eye on my rivals, but I do not steal.

I have no need to.

There are a thousand patents in the Edison name.

You might have seen it on the building.

- That's not how Tesla sees it.

- He's sore about the past.

You know, I gave him a job when he first arrived in this country on the factory floor.

He ended up digging ditches for two bucks a day.

Tesla?!

Dapper dude who dresses for the opera?

How did he end up digging a ditch?

He heard me say I'd pay 50,000 to the man who could fix my generator.

He worked on that thing day and night for a year.

And he did it.

And you, being the upstanding businessman, paid every last cent, I presume.

I offered him a ten-buck raise.

He quit and chose to dig.

Man just didn't understand the American sense of humour.

I thought you'd have more stuff.

Sketches, blueprints, you know.

For all your inventions.

- All in here.

- [HE SIGHS]

Before anything else, I I build things here.

Tell me about this Wardenclyffe project.

Er Imagine if, er wherever you were, you were able to hear music or, er, the speech of a great leader, or, er conjure a map of what lay beyond.

That's what I propose with Wardenclyffe, all of human knowledge shared freely.

Now, that sounds like the future.

Yeah.

Yeah It will change the world.

Why can't anyone else see that?

There must be someone who'll invest in it.

Well, if there is, I can't find them, and, er, without the money, I have no power source, and without power [ORB BUZZES]

SCIENTIST: Sir, if you'll just permit me No!

No, the grounding coil goes in separately.

- I said don't touch!

- Sorry.

Really?

Go over there!

[IT GROWLS, CRACKLING]

[GASPING]

[LOUD CRACKLING]

[LOW GROWLING]

[METAL CLATTERS]

Something's wrong.

Oh, I should say.

We've done this dance for long enough.

Now, what have you done with my man, huh?

Oh, don't play dumb.

He was keeping tabs on that dog-and-pony show of Tesla's at Niagara.

Now he's gone quiet, the very day you show up pointing the finger.

Huh?

Trust me, Mr Edison, we're not the people you should be worried about.

He is.

Behind me!

Harold?

What's the matter with him?

That's not Harold Green.

No human readings.

What is that?

Not possession.

Psionic image cloaking?

Hologram?

What are you talking about?

- [IT GROWLS]

- No g*ns, Ryan!

Whatever you are, whatever you've come for, nobody else needs to get hurt.

- [IT GROWLS]

- Desk!

Run!

Oh, my God.

No time.

This way.

In here.

GRAHAM: Doc, look!

[DOOR CLOSES]

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

Oh, he's dead.

He's the real Harold Green.

Whatever's chasing us is projecting his image and using it to keep his true self hidden.

You'd better not be hiding anything.

People have d*ed.

My workers!

All those men work for me.

They had families.

I had dinner with this guy and his wife last week.

I have to tell her, tell the families.

- Now give me the g*n.

- Definitely not.

We're not sh**ting it!

We need to contain it, work out what it wants.

This is your chemical lab.

Perfect!

Ammonium nitrate, bit of green stuff.

Where's your zinc?

Zinc?

Have you lost your damn mi?

- Oh!

- Finally thinking like a scientist.

[ELECTRICITY BUZZES]

YAZ: What is that?

Power!

Waiting to be harnessed.

Your your Doctor was right.

The Orb is emitting huge amounts of energy.

It's pulsing, like a siren.

Or radar.

Radar?

Using energy waves to work out what's around you.

It's just a theory.

I've been working on a similar theory myself.

I call it my exploring ray.

But, anyway, the Orb is emitting distinct waves of energy.

It's It's like it's, ah, sensing its surroundings.

YAZ: Or scanning.

Which makes me wonder What is it looking for?

[IT HISSES]

There'll be more where that came from.

How about we try this again?

Who are you?

Show your true form.

[IT GROWLS]

What in God's name?

Yaz!

It's not Edison!

I mean, it was, but it turns out it's aliens, too.

They can look like anyone, so don't let anyone in!

Tell Tesla!

Tell Dorothy!

Lock every door!

I'm sorry.

Yaz?

Yaz, are you all right?

- You are dead.

- We know you want the Orb.

Let her go.

Exactly, you don't have to hurt her.

With your levels of technology, you must understand there is no need for v*olence.

DISTORTED: We did not come for the Orb.

We came for you.

No!

Welcome, Nikola Tesla.

[TARDIS THRUMS]

[SHE GASPS]

You're all right.

You've probably got questions.

They took them.

Where did they take them?

We know they've got cloaking tech, but if I rig a bypass Luckily, high-speed inventing is one of my specialisms.

First time here can be a lot.

It certainly is a lot.

But you take it in your stride.

Where do you even come from?

Yorkshire, England.

I was at home, you know, normal life, work, then, boom, The Doctor.

Changed my whole life.

I was the same before I met Mr Tesla.

I wanted my own career, something steady, then he showed me all these discoveries that could be made.

But it seemed like impossible things.

And now, something normal, steady Doesn't seem so important.

We'll get him back.

She's good at impossible, too.

Right, then.

[ORB BUZZES]

On you pop.

This is the most extraordinary thing.

Is it a single machine or some kind of, er mechanical factory?

GRAHAM: Oi!

You're in here strictly on the QT, right?

So get those dollar signs out of your eyes cos this little lot ain't for sale.

Copyright, her!

- That's a British accent, isn't it?

- Yes.

Now there's a country who's never understood business.

Please work.

Have you got something, Doc?

Of course!

That's why they left it behind.

It's been hacked.

It's not broadcasting any more, it's receiving.

You mean it's a bugging device.

Thought so.

Moment I saw it.

Exactly.

Repurposed from its original intent.

It's been scanning the Earth since it got here.

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

And it must have finally found what it's been looking for.

What is this place?

You stand in the Throne Ship of the Skithra.

High above your meagre city.

You can see your city.

But your city cannot see us.

We have been watching, hidden from human eyes while we searched.

This is an electrical condenser, from my generator.

We have gathered supplies.

Now you will work.

Work on what?

Our ship.

Our weapons.

Everything.

They're hiding their real faces behind projections, they could look like anything, be anywhere.

There's no trail!

If we're looking for a trail to follow, what if Tesla already found it?

DOROTHY: But he did.

The Mars signal.

I didn't believe him, not really.

But he records all his observations.

We have to go to Wardenclyffe.

Wow.

Now, this is a lab.

Mr Tesla started transferring all of his work to Wardenclyffe months ago.

He intercepted the Mars signal with this.

He calls it his Teslascope.

Here are all the readings he took.

They must have increased the cloaking when they realised he'd spotted them.

Hey!

Don't take your eyes off him, and don't let him touch anything!

We're on Long Island.

This box transported us halfway across New York.

Unbelievable.

Yeah, well, keep it to yourself, or people'll say you're as crazy as Tesla.

That, my friend, will never happen.

Yeah, still, bet you'd jump at the chance to have him back working - for you, wouldn't you?

- Yeah?

- Yeah!

- How'd you figure that?

Cos I had a supervisor like you at my old depot.

And men like you don't pay a bloke that much attention unless you think there's a pay-out coming.

It must be here somewhere.

Ah, I've found it!

The signal readout.

Now we're in business.

One of these must be good for getting out of here.

Got to find a way off the ship.

Well, we're hundreds of feet above New York.

What do you suggest we do, open a door?

I'd suggest we don't surrender to the giant alien scorpion.

You're right.

I'm sorry.

This is all my fault.

You shouldn't even be here.

Just cos you're a genius doesn't mean you have to figure everything out on your own.

We're in this together.

You have examined the equipment?

[HE CLEARS THROAT]

Yes, I have.

There are more secrets on this ship than I could discover in a lifetime.

Er It It is a scientist's dream.

Then your work shall begin.

You will prepare us for battle.

No, I won't.

[LOUD HISSING]

Your work would burn a path across the galaxies.

On Earth, you are nothing.

Perhaps I will achieve nothing, but if I achieve anything, it will be in the name of progress, and you are not my idea of progress.

[SHE ROARS]

k*ll the stowaway.

I knew I had one in my tool box.

Braxium Bouncer, Mark III.

Found it at a bazaar.

Bit wonky, but I can't take the TARDIS.

This should give us enough power to transport me, Yaz and Tesla back here.

But once I'm there, I can't jump back until it recharges itself.

Which, you know, I'm not worried about.

Definitely.

And you shouldn't be worried about it either.

Not in the least.

This is the price of refusal.

First, she dies, then everyone down there.

Stop.

She's my assistant, I need her.

[SHE HISSES]

She's not important.

THE DOCTOR: I'm going to have to disagree with that.

Ah.

Nice place you've got here.

Probably.

If you cleaned up a bit.

I mean, I'm messy, but this?

- [SHE GROWLS]

- Are you guys all right?

Better now you're here.

I'm The Doctor.

I don't believe we've met.

You address the Queen of the Skithra?

You trespass on my ship?

Oh, this is your ship?

Because it looks Venusian to me, and I'm pretty sure that's a Klendov warp drive.

Is there a single thing on this ship that you've built yourselves?

This one is clever.

She will assist Tesla.

I've had worse jobs.

Or she will die.


Stolen tech, stolen faces, and now all your stolen gear is breaking down.

And what do you do?

Steal someone else to fix it.

All this k*lling and looting!

Did it never occur to you to try thinking or building something instead?

[RASPING LAUGH]

Why would we build when all there is is ours to take?

Tesla Why Tesla?

Why send the sphere to track him, an inventor from 1900?

We required an engineer.

I was talking!

We required an engineer.

Tesla showed superior signs of intelligence.

He discovered our signal.

But how did you know that?

He signalled back.

You didn't think to mention that?

I didn't know it worked.

YAZ: Seriously?

The Skithra have always taken what we need.

And, Doctor I do not see a need for you.

Oh, is that a Dullirian resonator?

Oh, and this can power a starship for months.

You think Tesla's clever?

We make him look like the village idiot.

A smart, forward-thinking scorpion queen like yourself, I wouldn't go k*lling me and Yaz.

Cos Yaz [BEEPING]

can tell you what this is.

- It's a camera.

- Bingo.

[SKITHRA SCREECH]

- GRAHAM: Doctor!

- RYAN: Ah, Yaz.

- Mr Tesla!

- Miss Skerritt.

[TESLA DRAWS BREATH]

EDISON: Well, I'll be darned.

She actually got you back.

What is he doing here?

Tesla, quite a day we're all having.

It's not over yet.

Come on.

- This is my private laboratory.

- Yes.

You have no right to be he What is this?

- Wh Wh - [DOOR CREAKS AND SHUTS]

Where are you all going?

Fantastical!

I couldn't figure it out either.

The internal dimensions - transcends the external.

- Spot-on.

[BUZZING]

Listen up, Skithra queen, it's me, on behalf of Tesla.

Consider this your official eviction notice.

Get your ship away from Earth right now.

QUEEN SKITHRA: We will take the engineer, or this planet shall burn!

Surrender him and your lives may be spared.

You can't have him.

He's with us.

And we're not going anywhere.

Then we will k*ll all the teeming millions that infect this world, and you and your friends will die first.

This is the choice you must make.

Give us Tesla, or the planet, and all who live on it, shall die.

It cannot be me or the Earth.

You can't place this burden on me.

Mr Tesla!

[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]

[GUTTURAL HISS]

Find them.

I've spent my life wondering what might be out there.

But creatures who would destroy the whole planet just to get their hands on me?

Recognition at last.

[HE CHUCKLES]

You do realise it's k*lling Edison that they want you and not him.

[HE EXHALES]

This place, Wardenclyffe I was so close.

People would finally see what it can do.

What I can do.

Now no-one will ever know.

You must all go.

Let them take me.

That's not going to happen.

I have to surrender myself.

There is nothing else to be done.

This is beyond me.

No.

No?

Nikola Tesla, you're going to change the world.

But first, you're going to save it.

Now, tell me all about Wardenclyffe.

The tower works by harnessing the electric field of the Earth itself.

Here, my magnifying transformer pumps millions of volts into this tunnel.

The current races down through the Earth until it reaches the other side of the planet, and then bounces back.

Then it's channelled into the tower, wave after wave after wave, and up into the air!

My intention was to build a series of these towers transmitting energy throughout the ether, a world wireless system.

That's Wi-Fi.

Did Tesla have the idea for Wi-Fi?

But with enough power, it could be used to send a single bolt of lightning high up into the sky.

Ah, well, if we generate one large enough, it could strike the ship, like so!

Yes!

High-five!

Too early!

In a pig's eye.

You want to bet our lives on a contraption like this, huh?

Some fantastical idea no sane man would ever invest in?

At least I have ideas.

You have filled a factory full of men to do your thinking for you.

Half of your inventions were thought up by other people.

Anyone can have ideas.

I make them happen.

All those men, all those inventions, I turn them from a sketch into real things people can buy.

That's how you change the world.

You're too blind to see that my factory is the best idea either one of us ever had.

And you are too narrow-minded to grasp the genius of my work, and that is why you will never achieve real greatness.

You are not a man of vision.

You're a man of parts.

Oi!

AC/DC!

You two might be the greatest minds of the age, but is there any chance you can stop squabbling while we try and save the planet?

We need to move quickly.

We have to prepare the tower.

Here's what we're going to do You and me will finish the tower.

I can extend the TARDIS shields within the boundaries of Wardenclyffe.

That should keep us safe for now.

Edison, Yaz, I need you to get people off the streets.

- The Skithra are on their way.

- [SHE GROWLS AND HISSES]

Dorothy, Graham, Ryan, find anything we can use to defend Wardenclyffe.

And be fast.

For all we know, they've already found us.

YAZ: Please!

Please!

Everybody inside!

Please!

Please move inside.

Everybody inside.

Why is nobody listening to me?

Is it the accent?

Please, it's an emergency!

- Please can you go inside?

- That fool Tesla is still experimenting with his deadly tower!

We're as good as fried if we stay outside.

He's f*ring it up right now!

- Spread the word!

- [PANICKED SHOUTING]

- No-one is safe!

- [SCREAMING]

[IT HISSES]

[HE SIGHS]

"Mechanism for photographing thoughts"?

- No.

- No.

"Apparatus for producing ozone.

" "Prototype Death Ray"?

- Yes!

Yes!

No, no.

- Yeah?

Ah!

Where is Tesla?

Hey!

You stay away from him!

Get down, kid!

Where the hell did he go?

Quick, inside!

- When did you get that?

- Just be glad I did.

[ZAPPING, GROWLING]

EDISON: Oh, my dear Lord, what is that?

[IT SNARLS]

[IT ROARS]

Come on, run!

Run!

[g*nsh*t]

Are you sure this is right?

Tesla said it should be just Here!

This tunnel leads us back to Wardenclyffe.

OK!

Doctor?

We have company.

[SKITHRA SCREECH]

Shield's working, then.

Come on.

Come on!

Just in time.

We need to barricade the door now.

- Good God - There's too many of them.

Well, they may have superior numbers, but we have superior minds.

We just have to hold them off.

They're a hive species.

So if we take out the queen We take out all of 'em.

Yes!

She's still on the ship, and, hopefully, we're about to zap her with a lot of Wardenclyffe electricity!

- There's a but.

- Small detail.

Once we power up the tower, the TARDIS shields will drop, but it will be about 30 seconds before we can blast the ship.

There's not enough juice for both.

What?

What's going to keep them out, then?

We are.

Don't worry.

This ain't our first rodeo.

We've never been to a rodeo.

You're not helping, Ryan.

Ready?

[THE DOCTOR GASPS]

It's working.

THE DOCTOR: The tower's charging.

Nearly there.

Get ready out there.

Shields are about to drop.

Shields down.

A few more seconds.

GRAHAM: We ain't got a few seconds, Doc!

[RATTLING]

What?

Signal coming from the Skithra ship.

[SKITHRA SCREECH]

[SCREECHING FADES]

What are they doing?

Why aren't they attacking?

Oh, no.

What is it?

Come on.

Let's see what this thing can do.

Stay out of our lab!

Oh.

We can't blast the ship because the queen's no longer on it.

[HE GASPS]

This was not the plan.

Was this meant to be your fortress?

And you its defenders?

What was the plan?

To shiver in the dark until we went away?

[SHE SNARLS]

[HE GASPS]

Oh, you really are fragile creatures, aren't you?

It's a miracle your world has spun on so long undisturbed.

Now, tell me.

Where is he?

No?

Then which of you would like - the privilege of dying first?

- Stop!

If you want Tesla, you have to go through me.

Doctor, did you really think I'd let you hide away down here, hatching your little plans?

If I'd known we were going to have a royal visit, I'd have put the kettle on.

As queen, I grant myself the pleasure of k*lling you - [SHE INHALES SHARPLY]

- in person.

And what are you queen of, exactly?

A stolen ship and second-hand g*ns?

A queen of shreds and patches.

You're not a ruler, you're a parasite.

And what are you?

So clever, stealing onto my ship, taking what I claimed as mine.

But where has it got you?

No weapons.

No armour.

No escape.

Just the desperate hope you might change my mind.

No.

We're way past that.

I gave you your chance.

- A chance to be like you?

- A chance to evolve.

But you were too stupid to take it.

When you die, there'll be nothing left behind.

Just a trail of blood and other people's brilliance.

No-one will even know you existed.

[SHE HISSES]

It's important you understand, Doctor, that we would have only taken the engineer.

Now, because of you, I will take everything.

We will overrun this world and pick the bones clean.

Have you ever seen a dead planet?

I've seen more than you can possibly imagine.

And yet you still think I can be fooled by the same trick twice.

[SHE GASPS]

- Doctor!

- Stay back!

[SHE SNARLS]

A final w*apon for our collection.

And what were you planning to do with this?

Nothing.

I just wanted you to take it.

[SCREWDRIVER BUZZES]

[SHE ROARS]

Tesla, now!

That is it!

[SKITHRA ROAR]

There you go, kid.

Thank you.

I gotta hand it to you.

You did it.

Come work for me again.

You keep working on this thing, you'll be bankrupt within the year.

Perhaps.

But how could I stop now?

[HE CHUCKLES]

- You take good care of yourself.

- You too.

Was that more or less impossible than your usual day?

Yeah, about average.

You?

Slightly stranger.

Normal would be boring, wouldn't it?

Bye.

Now, this all changes, right?

The protests, the funding.

Tesla's tower's just saved the world!

That's gotta mean rich and famous.

No.

Nothing's changed.

A few years from now, Wardenclyffe is torn down.

Tesla keeps on inventing, but no money, no fame.

He dies penniless.

History leaves him behind.

But his vision of wireless energy, that does happen, a connected world, and that idea starts here, with him.

That's not right.

People should know.

Either way, it doesn't change what he's done.

Doctor You have to let me study that machine of yours.

It is by far the most magnificent invention I've ever seen in my life.

Never mind the TARDIS, you've got enough magnificent inventions of your own.

Yes.

Yes, you're right.

You're right, of course.

There's so much to be done.

Thank you.

Thank you, all.

Don't give up.

Whatever anyone says.

Well, let them talk.

The present is theirs.

I work for the future.

And the future is mine.

Shall we?
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