02x12 - Army of Ghosts
Posted: 07/03/06 19:47
EXT. SPACE
A sh*t of the Earth from space, as in 101 "Rose" and "The Christmas Invasion".
ROSE (voice-over): Planet Earth.
Zoom in to London.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): This is where I was born. And this is where I d*ed.
INT. BUS
Teenage Rose, bored and glum, is on a bus eating chips as it pulls up at a stop.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): For the first nineteen years of my life, nothing happened. Nothing at all.
The bus pulls away.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): Not ever.
Rose sighs and leans her forehead against the window, popping another chip in her mouth.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over, a smile in her tone): And then I met a man called the Doctor.
INT. HENRICKS, BASEMENT
The Ninth Doctor grabs Rose's hand.
THE DOCTOR: Run.
And they do.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor, the Tenth Doctor this time, is prancing around the consol, pressing buttons and pulling levers, full of energy and enthusiasm.
ROSE (voice-over): A man who could change his face. And he took me away from home in his magical machine.
The Doctor spins around with a triumphant "ha! ", arms wide with glee.
EXT. STREET
The Doctor and Rose run down an ordinary street, hand in hand, happy.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): He showed me the whole of time and space. I thought it would never end.
EXT. PREHISTORIC PLANET
The Doctor and Rose are now standing a short way away from the TARDIS on a rocky alien planet, looking out at the sunset.
THE DOCTOR: How long are you gonna stay with me?
Rose looks at him.
ROSE: Forever.
And they smile.
EXT. BAD WOLF BAY
A desolate beach.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): That's what I thought. But then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the w*r. And that's when it all ended.
Rose is standing on the beach, looking out to sea. A gentle breeze is blowing her hair.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): This is the story of how I d*ed.
OPENING CREDITS
EXT. PLAY PARK
The TARDIS materialises in a children's play area. Rose steps out holding a large red rucksack, which she slings onto her back. The Doctor follows, and they set off towards the flats on the Powell Estate with a spring in their step, obviously at peace with the world.
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, KITCHEN
Jackie is doing the washing up when she hears Rose calling from outside the front door.
ROSE: Mum, it's us! We're ba-ack!
Jackie, excited, hurries out...
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, LIVING ROOM
...to the front door, just as the Doctor and Rose enter the flat.
JACKIE (exasperated and pleased at the same time): Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone! You never use it!
ROSE (grinning): Shut up, come here!
They throw their arms around each other.
JACKIE: Oh, I love you!
ROSE: I love you!
JACKIE: I love you so much!
The Doctor squeezes past them, trying to sidle off, but Jackie's spots him.
JACKIE (CONT'D) (grabbing him): Oh no you don't. Come here!
She pulls him towards her and plants one on him, despite his weak protests.
JACKIE (CONT'D) (hugging him): Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine!
THE DOCTOR: Just... just... just put me down!
JACKIE: Yes, you are!
She kisses him again and then walks off, leaving the Doctor to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, looking for all the world like a little boy with an over-affectionate mother. They join Rose in the sitting room.
ROSE (taking off her back and dumping it in Jackie's arms): I've got loads of washing for ya! And, I got you this!
She shows Jackie an tiny ornate bottle with a wide grin.
ROSE (CONT'D): It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of um... (turns to the Doctor) what's it called?
The Doctor is flicking through magazines which are lying on the table.
THE DOCTOR: Bezoolium.
ROSE: Bezoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's gonna rain, when it's hot, it's gonna be sunny! You can use it to tell the weather!
JACKIE: I've got a surprise for you and all.
ROSE: Oh, I get her bezoolum, she doesn't even say "thanks".
JACKIE: Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time, he'll be here at ten past! Who do you think it is?
ROSE: I don't know.
JACKIE: Oh go on, guess!
ROSE: No, I hate guessing. Just tell me.
JACKIE (so pleased): It's your grandad. Grandad Prentice. He's on his way. Any minute!
Rose stares.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Right, cup of tea!
She disappears into the kitchen. Rose stares after her. The Doctor appears at her shoulder.
ROSE (stunned): She's gone mad.
THE DOCTOR (also staring after Jackie): Tell me something new.
ROSE: Grandad Prentice, that's her dad. But he d*ed like, ten years ago. Oh my God. She's lost it.(Addresses Jackie). Mum?
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, KITCHEN
Rose and the Doctor stand in the kitchen doorway.
ROSE (CONT'D): What you just said about grandad...
JACKIE: Any second now.
ROSE (gently): But... he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?
JACKIE (lightly): Course I do!
ROSE: ... Then how can he come back?
JACKIE: Why don't you ask him yourself? (Checks her watch). Ten past. Here he comes.
And right before their eyes, a figure steps out of nowhere in the middle of kitchen. It's featureless, like a shadow, but definitely humanoid. It stands beside Jackie.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Here we are, then!
The Doctor and Rose just stare, dumbstruck.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Dad... say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The Doctor and Rose burst out of a side-door of the block of flats at a run. They come to a halt, looking around.
THE DOCTOR (confused): They're everywhere!
Sure enough, the ghosts are everywhere, standing around just like ordinary people. No one seems to be remotely alarmed by their presence. A group of boys carry on with their ball game, just as normal. Rose turns.
ROSE: Doctor, look out!
A ghost walks right through the Doctor, causing him discomfort but no pain.
JACKIE (joining them): They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade.
THE DOCTOR: What do you mean, shift? Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?
JACKIE: Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?
THE DOCTOR (completely baffled): But no one's running or screaming or freaking out or...
JACKIE: Why should we? (Checks her watch). Here we go. Twelve minutes past.
Jackie smiles at Rose, biting her lip with antipation.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
In a gleaming white room, a scientist pulls a lever down. A light dims down, and a woman takes off a pair of sunglasses.
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts disappear. The Doctor glances around, looking even more confused than he did before. The three of them head back to the flats.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The lever is pulled down fully. The engines die. Yvonne steps out of her office, which is separated from the busy main office/rift chamber with a glass partition. She addresses the staff.
YVONNE: Ladies and gentlemen... I'd like to announce: we've just measured the ghost energy at five thousand gigawatts. Give yourselves a round of applause.
She puts her hands together, and the rest follow suit.
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, LIVING ROOM
The Doctor is sat on the floor in front of Jackie's television. Jackie is sitting on the sofa and Rose is perched on the arm. They're all watching a programme called "Ghostwatch".
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER: On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge.
Cut to footage of the ghosts milling around Westminster Bridge.
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (CONT'D): It's almost like a m*llitary display...
THE DOCTOR (brow furrowed): What the hell's going on?
He changes channel to what would appear to be a weather report, but instead of weather symbols, there are little pictures of ghosts on the map of the UK.
WEATHERMAN: And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts. From London, through the North and up into Scotland.
Turn over to the Trisha Goddard chat show. The caption at the bottom of the screen proclaims "I married a dead man! "
TRISHA: So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost.
Eileen is sat in front of the studio audience with a ghost hovering around by the other chair.
EILEEN (tearfully): He's my ghost and I love him, 24/7!
Encouraging round of applause from the audience. Change channel.
DEREK ACORAH: Well, no one needs me anymore!
Change channel. This time, it's a cheesy advert, a housewife in a flowery apron addresses the camera in her kitchen while a sad-looking animated ghost hovers around above the worktop.
HOUSEWIFE: My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered... Ectoshine!
With an expression of complete bewilderment, the Doctor turns over. Now we're on a French news channel.
FRENCH NEWSREADER: Et le President d'aujourd'hui, quelle est...
Cut to footage of the ghosts wandering around the Eiffel Tower. Change channel, an Indian news report. Ghosts are milling around the Taj Mahal. Change channel to an enthusiastic Japanese Newsreader. The Doctor puts his head in his hands.
JACKIE ; Oh, yes!
Cuts to footage of three excited Japanese girls, all screeching wildly and showing off their ghost tee-shirts.
THE DOCTOR (changing channel): It's all over the world.
An episode of Eastenders. Peggy Mitchell is behind the bar of the Vic, having a go at a ghost.
PEGGY: Listen to me, Denn Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me, get out!
The Doctor's had enough. He switches off the TV and turns to Jackie.
THE DOCTOR: When did it start?
JACKIE: Well first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down...
THE DOCTOR: No, I mean worldwide.
Rose smirks.
JACKIE: Oh! That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were, ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that, whole planet was panicking... no sign of you, thank you very much... then it sort of sank in. Took us time to realise that... we're lucky.
ROSE: What makes you think it's grandad?
JACKIE: Just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?
ROSE (gently): I wish I could, mum, but I can't.
JACKIE: You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart.
THE DOCTOR: The more you want it, the stronger it gets?
JACKIE: Sort of, yeah.
THE DOCTOR: Like a psychic link. Course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in.
JACKIE: You're spoiling it.
THE DOCTOR: I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory.
ROSE: But if they're not ghosts, what are they, then?
JACKIE: Yeah, but they're human! You can see them, they look human!
ROSE: She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people.
THE DOCTOR (thoughtfully): Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot.
And with that, he stands.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne approaches Adeola's desk.
YVONNE: So, what've we got? Any sign of that power loss?
ADEOLA (smiling): There's no problems. Must've been a glitch.
YVONNE (on her communication device): Rajesh?
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rajesh is in his office with his feet up on the desk, immersed in a book.
YVONNE: You got anything?
RAJESH (glumly): It's so busy down here, I'm on Sudoku book 509.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE: Well, we just had a great ghost shift.
RAJESH: I know.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (CONT'D): We had nothing.
He puts his book down and takes his glasses off, stands.
RAJESH: Did they tell you? (Adjusts controls on panel). RND came up with a new spectrometer yesterday. Barged in here, all full of themselves... (Walks across the large chamber, checking various instruments). Said they could detect the heat off a single protozoa through half a mile of steel.
YVONNE: And what did they find?
RAJESH: Nothing. It gave them nothing. Same as ever. The machines keep saying the sphere can't exist. But there it is.
He's looking up at an enormous sphere, suspended eerily in mid-air at one end of the chamber. It is bronze in colour, and there's a step ladder positioned just below it to provide easier access.
YVONNE: Anything we can do?
RAJESH: No, I'm all right. It's just... gets into your head, this thing. Like it's... staring at you.
YVONNE (small laugh): All right, we'll catch up later. Thanks, Raj.
RAJESH: Yeah.
He turns off his communication device, and then climbs up the ladder so he can reach out and place a hand on the bottom of the sphere, but it's as though there's an invisible barrier preventing him from doing so. He strains to break through it, but his hand is thrown aside. He gives up and climbs back down the ladder, defeated.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE (approaching Matt at his computer station): Matt? Send Rajesh something, would you? He's going mad down there. Not alcohol.
She returns to her office. A member of staff approaches Adeola and hands her a print of some kind. She smiles her thanks and places them in a file. She then glances over at Gareth, who is sitting at a computer across the room from her, and types into some kind of instant messaging program: "God i'm bored.". Gareth's computer bleeps as he recieves the message. He looks over at her, and they smile cheekily at each other. He types: "Me too yawn". "Fancy a coffee?". "Though u never ask :-)". Adeola grins. Gareth stands and approaches Yvonne, who is deep in conversation with two others.
GARETH: Yvonne?
Yvonne gives him her attention.
GARETH (CONT'D): I'm gonna double check the stats... just in case.
YVONNE: Sure.
He leaves. Adeola stands and approaches Yvonne.
ADEOLA: Yvonne, I'm gonna go and cross reference the levels with the sphere.
YVONNE: Okay, fine.
Adeola also leaves. Yvonne turns back to the others.
YVONNE (CONT'D): And they think we haven't noticed.
They laugh and go on their way.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
Gareth pulls Adeola down a deserted corridor, it looks as though it is being revamped. Plastic curtains section part of it off.
GARETH: Come on... it'll be all right down here. Just two minutes.
ADEOLA (uneasily): This is out of bounds.
GARETH: Yeah... and that's the point! It's completely safe. They're just building new offices.
ADEOLA: What about the workmen?
GARETH: They must be allocated somewhere else.
ADEOLA: It's not worth it for a snog.
GARETH (laughs): It is. (Tries to pull her through the curtains). Come on...!
But Adeola, although smiling, is reluctant. Gareth lets go of her hand with a "tssk! " and disappears through the curtains alone. Two workmen come and carry a ladder away. Adeola waves casually at them, trying to look as though she's supposed to be there. After a few moments...
ADEOLA (audible whisper): Gareth?
She presses up against the curtain.
ADEOLA (CONT'D) (laughingly): Now don't be daft, where've you gone? (No reply). Gareth? Look, I'm gonna head back, I'm seeing you tonight anyway... Gareth?
Tentatively, she walks through the curtains.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): I'm gonna go back to work.
No reply. She walks further within the curtains, pushing them aside.
ADEOLA (CONT'D) (nervously): This is it... I'm going... see ya...
When there's still no answer, she abandons all pretence. Her voice grows high in fear.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): Now stop it, Gareth! I'm not kidding, just stop it!
She spots a shadowy figure on the other side of a curtain.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): Sorry, I'm just looking for my friend... did anyone come down here?
The figure gives no reply. Adeola pulls the curtain aside, to reveal a Cyberman, who advances. She screams.
INT. TARDIS
Rose, holding a newspaper, strides into the TARDIS where the Doctor is as usual, wedged under the console.
ROSE: According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. (She peers down at him). Now don't tell me you're gonna sit back and do nothing.
The Doctor suddenly pops up from underneath the grilling, bopping insanely and accompanied by the tune of Ghostbusters. He's holding an odd looking device in one hand and wearing a rucksack.
THE DOCTOR: Who're you gonna call?
ROSE: Ghostbusters!
THE DOCTOR: I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
He leaves the TARDIS, Rose following him and giggling.
EXT. PLAY PARK
Jackie's waiting for them outside. He arranges three cone devices in a triangle shape.
THE DOCTOR (to Jackie): When's the next shift?
JACKIE (checks watch): Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?
THE DOCTOR: Triangulates their point of origin.
ROSE (thoughtfully): I don't suppose it's the Gelth?
THE DOCTOR: Nah.
Rose shakes her head as though this was the answer she was expecting.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper.
JACKIE (crossly): You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? (He ignores her). Just think of it, though... all the people we've lost, our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?
The Doctor pauses in his work, meeting her eyes for the first time.
THE DOCTOR: I think it's horrific.
Jackie looks mildly shocked.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (back to work): Rose, give us a hand.
He starts unwinding a cable, leading it though into the TARDIS, Rose following.
INT. TARDIS
He plugs it into the console. Jackie steps inside and closes the door behind her.
THE DOCTOR (explaining to Rose at break-neck speed): As soon as it becomes activated, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop...
He brandishes the sonic screwdriver under Rose's nose, who goes cross-eyed trying to focus on it.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Setting 15B, hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop.
ROSE: 15B, eight seconds.
THE DOCTOR: If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left.
ROSE: Hang on a minute, I know...
She leans over the console, pointing out a button.
ROSE (CONT'D): It's that one.
THE DOCTOR: Mm, close.
ROSE (points to another): That one?
THE DOCTOR: Nnnnow you've just k*lled us.
Rose giggles. Neither of them notice the way Jackie's looking at them.
ROSE: Eh... that one.
THE DOCTOR: Yeah! Now, what've we got? Two minutes to go?
He looks over at Jackie, who checks her watch.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne emerges from her office, addressing the staff.
YVONNE: Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make it a good one, people.
Adeola enters.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (as though addressing naughty school children): Come on, you two.
ADEOLA (primly): I'm sorry we're late.
YVONNE: Save it 'til later.
GARETH (entering): Sorry we're late.
YVONNE (addressing the room at large): And powering up.
The scientists pull the levers upwards, beginning the shift. Adeola and Gareth turn to their computers, ear pieces bleeping, faces unnaturally blank.
INT. TARDIS
Rose plunges the sonic screwdriver into a port on the console.
EXT. PLAY PARK
At the same moment, outside the doors, the Doctor presses the device he was holding earlier onto one of the cones. He proceeds to do the same to the other two, shouting through the open doors to Rose.
THE DOCTOR: What's the line doing?
INT. TARDIS
ROSE (yelling back): It's all right, it's holding!
JACKIE (who has been contemplating Rose): You even look like him?
ROSE: How d'you mean? (Smiles). I s'pose I do, yeah.
JACKIE: You've changed so much.
ROSE: For the better...
JACKIE (whispers): I s'pose.
ROSE (turning to her): Mum, I used to work in a shop.
JACKIE (defensively): I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?
ROSE: No, I didn't mean that.
JACKIE: I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?
ROSE (shocked): Don't talk like that!
JACKIE (seriously): No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?
ROSE (quietly): I don't know.
JACKIE: Do you think you'll ever settle down?
ROSE: The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling.
JACKIE: And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman... walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. She's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human...
The Doctor's voice breaks the moment.
ROSE (shouting to him): The scanner's working, it says "delta one six".
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor stands, facing the centre of the triangle.
THE DOCTOR: Come on you beauty!
He cackles, positively jiggling with anticipation.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists pull the levers even further, causing the light to brighten. Yvonne saunters forwards, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
YVONNE: And... we're into Ghost Shift.
COMPUTER: Online.
EXT. PLAY PARK
As the Doctor watches the triangle, a ghost materialises in its centre. As it does so, the cones are connected with blue electricity, which in turn connects over the top of the ghost, encompassing it in a kind of electric blue pyramid.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
As the light increases, we focus in on Adeola's expressionless eyes.
INT. TARDIS
Jackie and Rose watch the happenings outside the TARDIS on the monitor with amazement.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor puts on a pair of what looks like 3D spectacles and watches the ghost. He then bends down and adjusts a setting on his equipment, a green light blips, which seems to cause...
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
An alarm goes off at Torchwood, and Yvonne starts. She hurries over to Matt's computer, looking over his shoulder.
YVONNE: What've we got?
MATT: Something's interfering with the ghost field.
YVONNE: Location?
MATT: It's close... it's within the City.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor continues to adjust the knob. The ghost shudders and groans.
THE DOCTOR (laughs): Don't like that much, do you? (Under his breath). Who are you? Where are you coming from? Whoa!
He has just received what seems like an electric shock from the ghost, and he stumbles backwards.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (triumphantly): That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE (urgently): Close it down. Close it down!
The scientists obey and pull the levers down.
COMPUTER: Offline.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The ghost continues to shudder and jerk within the Doctor's triangle.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists finally push the levers into place and the ghost shift ends.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The ghost disappears. The Doctor immediately darts forward and begins gathering up his equipment.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne returns to Matt.
MATT: It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field, and that makes it easy to pinpoint.
From an image of the globe, he zooms in to the UK and then to London.
MATT (CONT'D): Almost there... South London. (Zooms in further). South East 15. (Brow furrowed). It's a council estate. The Powell Estate. SU15 7GO. It was a public area.
YVONNE: Can we patch into the CCTV network?
MATT (tapping on the keyboard): Doing it now.
EXT. PLAY PARK
A nearby security camera begins to turn slowly, too late to catch the Doctor disappearing inside the TARDIS with his equipment tucked under his arm.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne and Matt watch the CCTV footage on the computer screen.
MATT (CONT'D): Here we go. We've got a camera within fifty yards.
Their eyes widen as the TARDIS is brought slowly into frame. It's as though they've seen it before.
YVONNE (stunned): ... Oh my God.
MATT: Is it him?!
He zooms in closer.
YVONNE: It's him.
She gasps.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor dashes to the railing inside the TARDIS, throwing his coat over it.
THE DOCTOR (excitedly): I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence for one specific point! And I can track down the source. Allons-y!
He pulls down a lever. The TARDIS shudders and he and Rose fall backwards onto the chair. The rotor rises and falls.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
As Yvonne and Matt watch, the TARDIS dematerialises. Yvonne stands up, as though she cannot believe what she's just seen, but she knows what it means.
YVONNE (breathless): He's coming.
She laughs in disbelief and hurries from the room. Adeola glances darkly over to Gareth.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne is now running down a corridor.
YVONNE (into comm.): Rajesh. It's him!
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rajesh runs up the first few steps to the sphere, staring up at it.
RAJESH: Now we've got you.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor twiddles knobs on the console, nattering away to himself.
THE DOCTOR: I like that. "Allons-y". I should say "allons-y" more often. "Allons-y". Watch out, Rose Tyler! Allons-y! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Allonzo. Because then I could say, "allons-y, Allonzo! " Every time! You're staring at me.
Rose has been listening to the Doctor rattle off with a strange smile on her face.
ROSE (quietly, so she doesn't hear): My mum's still on board.
Sure enough, Jackie's sitting up in the gantries, legs dangling.
JACKIE: If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna k*ll you.
She folds her arms. The Doctor stares at her, horrified. Rose smirks.
INT. TORCHWOOD, STORAGE AREA
The TARDIS materialises in what would appear to be a storage area at Torchwood. Soldiers burst in through the doors, holding g*ns, shouting and getting into their positions.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor, Rose and Jackie observe this on the monitor.
THE DOCTOR: Oh, well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still! Cuts to the chase. Stay in here, look after Jackie.
He makes towards the doors.
ROSE (trailing after him): I'm not looking after my mum!
THE DOCTOR: Well, you brought her!
JACKIE (indignantly): I was kidnapped!
Rose pushes past the Doctor and blocks the doorway so he can't get past.
ROSE (warningly): Doctor, they've got g*ns.
THE DOCTOR: And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think?
He catches her round the waist and moves her smoothly out of the way.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): They can sh**t me dead, but the moral high-ground is mine.
And with that, he opens the door and steps through it.
INT. TORCHWOOD, STORAGE AREA
The Doctor raises his hands. The soldiers release the safety catches on their g*ns, every single one is pointed at the Doctor.
INT. TARDIS
Rose and Jackie watch through a cr*ck in the door, unseen. Yvonne hurries into the room, running towards the Doctor.
YVONNE (excitedly): Oh...! Oh, how marvellous. (Claps). Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day!
The soldiers follow suit, applauding him. The Doctor doesn't quite know what to make of this reception. He lowers his hands tentatively.
THE DOCTOR: Um. Thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm... the Doctor.
And that sets them all off clapping again.
YVONNE: Oh, I should say! Hurray!
THE DOCTOR: You... you've heard of me, then?
YVONNE: Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the TARDIS...!
Overcome, she starts the applause again. The Doctor, clearly enjoying this just a little bit, gestures for silence.
THE DOCTOR: And... and... and you are?
YVONNE: Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern isn't it, right?
The Doctor stares at her.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (her voice has suddenly adopted a slightly sinister quality): There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. (Smiles). So where is she?
THE DOCTOR: ... Yes! Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all.
He opens the TARDIS door just a tiny bit more, feeling around for Jackie. He pulls her out.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): But here she is: Rose Tyler.
Rose is left inside to listen to proceedings, not making a sound. The Doctor looks Jackie up and down.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that.
He mimes chatting. Jackie glares at him. Yvonne laughs.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years. But she'll do.
JACKIE: I'm 40!
THE DOCTOR: Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well. I say not bad... anyway! Lead on. But not too fast. Her ankle's going.
Yvonne turns to lead the way. The Doctor and Jackie follows.
JACKIE (hisses at the Doctor): I'll show you where my ankle's going.
Rose watches the party leave on the monitor.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne leads them through a doorway.
YVONNE: It was only a matter of time until you found us. And at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
She pushes open a doorway into a huge factory floor, full of alien artifacts and scientists working on them.
YVONNE: Welcome... to Torchwood.
THE DOCTOR (staring): That's a Jathar Sunglider.
YVONNE: Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago.
THE DOCTOR: What, did it crash?
YVONNE: No, we sh*t it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The w*apon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us! Now if you'd like to come with me.
Jackie shares an incredulous glance with the Doctor, while Yvonne leads them on.
YVONNE (CONT'D): The Torchwood Institute has a motto: "if it's alien, it's ours". Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down, and we use it. For the good of the British Empire.
JACKIE: For the good of the what?
YVONNE: The British Empire.
JACKIE: There isn't a British Empire.
YVONNE: Not yet. Ah, excuse me...
She takes a w*apon off a soldier.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Now, if you wouldn't mind... do you recognise this, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR: That's a particle g*n.
YVONNE: Good, isn't it?
Jackie tries to touch it, but Yvonne wrenches it from her grasp and ignores the interruption.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Took us eight years to get it to work....
THE DOCTOR: It's the twenty-first century. You can't have particle g*ns.
YVONNE: We must defend our border against the alien.
She hands the particle g*n back to the waiting soldier.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Thank you... Sebastian, isn't it?
SOLDIER: Yes, Ma'am.
YVONNE (smiles): Thank you, Sebastian. (Turns back to the Doctor and Jackie). I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. (Smiles smugly). I'm a people person.
Jackie rolls her eyes.
THE DOCTOR: Have you got anyone called Allonzo?
YVONNE: No, I don't think so. Is that important?
THE DOCTOR: I suppose not. What was your name?
He walks off to examine the other artifacts.
YVONNE: Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman.
The Doctor pulls a large device from a box.
YVONNE: Ah yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric.
The Doctor throws the Magnaclamp back in the box and brushes his hands together.
JACKIE: I could do with that to carry the shopping.
YVONNE (patronisingly): All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit. Not the general public's.
Jackie pulls a face. The Doctor looks through a magnifying glass.
THE DOCTOR: So, what about these ghosts?
YVONNE: As yes, the ghosts. They're er... what you might call a side effect.
THE DOCTOR: Of what?
YVONNE: All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me.
Just then, the TARDIS is driven in on the back of a truck.
JACKIE: Oi! Where're you taking that?
YVONNE: "If it's alien, it's ours."
THE DOCTOR: You'll never get inside it.
YVONNE: Hm! Et cetera.
She walks away. As the Doctor watches the TARDIS, Rose opens the door a cr*ck and peeks through it. The Doctor nods encouragingly and looks away.
INT. TARDIS
Rose closes the door and goes over to the Doctor's coat, which is slung over one of the supports. She rummages around in the pockets.
ROSE (to herself): Psychic paper... psychic paper...
She finds it and opens it, biting her lip as she anticipates what she can do with it.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Adeola looks across at Matt. She types him a message: "Hey Matt. Want to see something good?"
Matt looks up from his work in surprise, mouthing "what?". She types: "Come and see.". Matt's computer bleeps as he receives the message. Adeola stands. Matt, obviously reluctant and uneasy about doing so, follows.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne, the Doctor and Jackie stride down a corridor, flanked by armed soldiers.
THE DOCTOR: All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you.
YVONNE: But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown.
THE DOCTOR: 1879... that was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland.
YVONNE: That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf.
JACKIE: I think he makes half of it up.
YVONNE: Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great. And fighting the alien horde.
THE DOCTOR (conversationally): But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?
YVONNE (lightly): Oh yes.
They round a corner and find themselves outside a large black door.
YVONNE (CONT'D)
But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us. Starting with this.
Pressing her ID card against the digital lock, she opens the door. They walk into the chamber where the sphere is housed.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
YVONNE (impressively): Now, what do you make of that ?
Noticing their arrival, Rajesh straightens his jacket and approaches the Doctor, who is gazing open mouthed up at the sphere.
RAJESH: You must be the Doctor. Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir.
He holds out his hand, but the Doctor is too immersed in gazing up at the sphere to notice.
THE DOCTOR (vaguely): Yeah...
Rajesh lowers his hand sheepishly.
JACKIE: What is that thing?
YVONNE: We got no idea.
JACKIE: But what's wrong with it?
RAJESH: What makes you think there's something wrong with it?
JACKIE: I dunno... just feels weird.
The Doctor darts forwards and up the steps leading up to the sphere.
YVONNE: Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you wanna run and hide. Like it's forbidden.
RAJESH: We tried analysing it using every device imaginable.
The Doctor puts on his 3D specs, looking up at the sphere through them.
RAJESH (CONT'D): But, according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn't age. No heat. No radiation. And, has no atomic mass.
JACKIE: But I can see it!
RAJESH: Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off... nothing. It is... absent.
YVONNE: Well, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR: This is a Void Ship.
YVONNE: And what is that?
THE DOCTOR (folding away his specs, sounding worried): Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but... it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space. Travelling through the Void.
He sits down on the bottom step, Yvonne and Rajesh crowding him.
RAJESH: And what's "the Void"?
THE DOCTOR: The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in-between. Containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that, nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down. No life. No time. Without end. My people called it the Void, the Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell.
RAJESH: But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?
THE DOCTOR: To explore. To escape. You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang... end of the universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation.
YVONNE (smugly): You see, we were right. There is something inside it.
THE DOCTOR (looking at her): Oh yes.
She is caught by his tone.
RAJESH: So how do we get in there.
THE DOCTOR (suddenly standing): We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?
YVONNE: Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake.
THE DOCTOR: Show me.
He strides off. Yvonne exchanges a look with Rajesh, and follows. The Doctor exits and turns left.
YVONNE: No, Doctor.
He turns right.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
Adeola has led Matt into the curtained area.
MATT (slightly irritated): I don't get it. What is it? What am I supposed to be looking for?
ADEOLA (brightly): Just go to the left!
There is a red glow coming from within the area, but we cannot see what it is.
MATT: Yvonne's gonna be back any minute.
ADEOLA: Just go to the left.
MATT: What, you mean in here?!
Adeola nods. Matt pushes the curtain aside and walks towards the red glow, he doesn't come out again. Adeola walks away to the sound of a drill and Matt screaming.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
Rose tentatively steps outside the TARDIS doors and finds herself in a tucked away corner of the factory floor. She quickly dodges out of sight of two men talking; she tries to go the other way but two soldiers approach. She waits until they are gone, and then quickly grabs a discarded white lab coat, putting it on. She then walks confidently out into the open and no one gives her a second glance. She spots one man striding purposefully through a door and decides to follow him.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Adeola returns to her computer. Yvonne shows the Doctor the white expanse of wall from which the white light emits during ghost shift.
YVONNE: The sphere came through here. A hole in the world.
The Doctor runs his hand over the smooth white wall.
YVONNE: Not active at the moment. But when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breech opens up.
THE DOCTOR: How did you even find it?
YVONNE: Well, we were getting warning signs for years. A radar black-spot. So we built this place. Torchwood Tower. The breech was six hundred foot above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it.
THE DOCTOR (putting his 3D specs on): You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?
YVONNE: Enough.
She walks away. The Doctor removes his specs, and folds his arms, still contemplating the wall.
Jackie is looking out of the window in Yvonne's office.
JACKIE: Hold on a minute... we're in Canary Wharf! Must be! This building, it's Canary Wharf.
The view from the window would certainly suggest so.
YVONNE: Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood.
THE DOCTOR (joining them): So, you find the breech, probe it, the sphere comes through. Six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, "oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?" Nah, you think "let's make it bigger!
YVONNE: It's a massive source of energy. If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shift's in two minutes.
She leaves the office and enters the main area.
THE DOCTOR: Cancel it.
YVONNE: I don't think so.
THE DOCTOR (angrily): I'm warning you, cancel it.
YVONNE (turning to him): Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of Man.
THE DOCTOR: Let me show you.
He takes his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and stands on the other side of the glass partition between Yvonne's office and the main area.
THE DOCTOR: Sphere comes through.
He points his sonic screwdriver at the glass and activates it. The glass splinters and the cr*ck extends outwards, continuing to do so as the Doctor speaks.
THE DOCTOR: But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension, splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours. With the Human Race hoping and wishing and helping them along! But too many ghosts, and...
He place the lightest fingertip on the glass and the whole thing shatters, falling from the frame.
YVONNE: Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful. (Addresses staff). Positions! Ghost Shift in one minute.
THE DOCTOR (pursuing her): Ms Hartman, I am asking you, please, don't do it.
YVONNE: We have done this a thousand times.
THE DOCTOR (furiously): Then stop at a thousand!
YVONNE: We are in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breech, but equally they can close it.
They stare at each other for a few moments, a battle of wills, until:
THE DOCTOR (lightly): Okay.
He walks off into Yvonne's office to grab a chair.
YVONNE: Sorry?!
THE DOCTOR: Never mind! As you were.
YVONNE: What, is that it?
THE DOCTOR (settling down in the chair): No! Fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a cup of tea?
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in twenty seconds.
THE DOCTOR: Mm! Can't wait to see it!
YVONNE (suspiciously): You can't stop us, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR: No, absolutely not! (To Jackie): Pull up a chair, Rose! Come and watch the fireworks.
Jackie goes to stand behind the Doctor's chair.
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in ten seconds. Nine... eight...
Yvonne is uneasy. She stares at the Doctor. he raises his eyebrows at her, just daring her to go through with it.
ADEOLA: Seven... six... five... four... three... two...
Yvonne breaks.
YVONNE: Stop the shift. I said stop.
THE DOCTOR (gratefully): Thank you.
YVONNE: I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the program will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything.
THE DOCTOR: I'm glad to be of help.
YVONNE (to the room at large): And someone clear up this glass. (To the Doctor): They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess.
She disappears into her office. Adeola, Matt and Gareth exchange glances. Seeming to come to a silent agreement, they begin to type.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Rose walks down a corridor, still following the man from a distance. She breaks into a jog as he rounds a corner, hearing the sound of a door opening and closing. She peers cautiously around the corner and then approaches the door. She surmises it for a moment, and then kisses the psychic paper before pressing it against the lock as Yvonne did. The door slides open.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rose she walks slowly into the sphere chamber. Just as everyone before her, she seems hypnotised by it. Rajesh spots her and approaches her.
RAJESH: Can I help you?
ROSE (not looking away from the sphere): I was just...
RAJESH: Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?
ROSE: Sorry. Um... they sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just... checking the lines of communication, did they tell you anything?
RAJESH: Can I see your autorisation?
ROSE: ... Sure.
She hands him the psychic paper. He checks it.
RAJESH: That's lucky.
Rose smiles.
RAJESH (CONT'D): You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training.
Rose's smile fades.
RAJESH (CONT'D): This paper is blank. And you're a fake. (Into comm.). Seal the room. Call security.
The doors close.
RAJESH (CONT'D): Samuel? Can you check the door locks? She just walked right in.
Samuel turns, only it's not Samuel. It's Mickey.
MICKEY: Doing it now, sir.
Rose stares at him. He puts a finger to his lips and gives her the thumbs up, grinning.
RAJESH: Well. If you'd like to take a seat.
Rose nods, seemingly lost for words.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne is sitting at her desk with a laptop in front of her.
YVONNE: So these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the sphere?
Her eyes linger on the Doctor's feet which are crossed on the desk, but she decides to let it pass. He's thrown himself in a chair, looking completely relaxed.
THE DOCTOR: Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a canon ball.
RAJESH (through webcam): Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor. We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor.
The Doctor's face twitches. Yvonne turns the laptop around so the Doctor can see Rose and Rajesh on the screen. Rose is peering comically into the camera.
YVONNE: She one of yours?
THE DOCTOR (shaking his head): Never seen her before in my life.
YVONNE: Good! Then we can have her sh*t.
THE DOCTOR (sitting up): Oh all right then, it'll be worth a try. That's... that's Rose Tyler.
ROSE: Sorry. (Waves). Hello!
The Doctor waves back.
YVONNE: Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?
JACKIE: I'm her mother.
YVONNE: Oh, you travel with her mother?
JACKIE: He kidnapped me.
THE DOCTOR: Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother...
JACKIE: Charming.
THE DOCTOR: I've got a reputation to uphold!
The sound of the ghost shift engines starting up is heard. Yvonne stands and addresses the staff.
YVONNE: Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift.
They ignore her, staring straight ahead.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Who started the program? But... I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?!
She points to the lever which is rising upwards of its own accord.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Step away from the monitors, everyone.
No one does, they continue typing.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (panicking): Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now! Matt. Step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers!
Two scientists rush over to the levers and struggle to push them down.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Stop the levers!
THE DOCTOR (going to Adeola): What's she doing?
YVONNE (following him): Addy? Step away from the desk.
The Doctor stares at her and clicks his fingers in front of her face, but Adeola does not react.
YVONNE: Listen to me. Step away from the desk.
THE DOCTOR: She can't hear you. (Observes computer screen). They're overriding the system.
The Doctor, Jackie and Yvonne stare anxiously at the blank expanse of wall.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): We're going into Ghost Shift.
The light brightens.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (into comm.): Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled.
Mickey, who is checking the locks, glances over his shoulder.
RAJESH (CONT'D): What's going on? (No reply). Yvonne?
The whole chamber suddenly shudders; the disturbance has come from the sphere.
RAJESH (CONT'D): It can't be.
He, Rose and Mickey hurry over to it. Another crash from within.
RAJESH (CONT'D) (hushed): It's active!
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The Doctor is staring at Adeola's ear-piece.
THE DOCTOR: It's the ear-piece controlling them. I've seen this before.
He takes his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and stands behind her.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (sincerely): Sorry. I'm so sorry.
He holds the sonic screwdriver to the ear-piece, deactivating it. Adeola screams with pain and slumps over the desk, dead. Matt and Gareth do the same as though all the ear-pieces were connected.
YVONNE: What happened? What did you just do?
THE DOCTOR: They're dead.
JACKIE: You k*lled them.
THE DOCTOR (turning to the computer): Oh someone else did that long before I got here.
JACKIE: But you k*lled them!
THE DOCTOR (angrily): Jackie, I haven't got time for this.
YVONNE: What're those ear-pieces?
THE DOCTOR: Don't.
YVONNE: But they're standard comms. Devices, how does it control them?
THE DOCTOR (going to Matt's computer): Trust me, leave them alone.
YVONNE: But what are they?
She takes hold of one of Adeola's ear-pieces and pulls it, right out of her head. A trail of brain tissue is attached to it.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (revolted): Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain!
She drops it.
THE DOCTOR: What about the Ghost Shift?
YVONNE: Ninety percent there. It's still running. Can't you stop it?
THE DOCTOR: They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system.
YVONNE: Who's they?
The Doctor takes his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and holds it flat on the palm of his hand, turning slowly.
THE DOCTOR: It might be a remote transmitter but it's gotta be close by. I can trace it.
He darts off, evidently receiving some kind of signal from the sonic screwdriver.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Jackie, stay here!
Yvonne follows him, her laptop lies forgotten on the desk, Rajesh speaking into the webcam, the words "sphere activated" flash on the screen.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH: We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me?
The sphere is vibrating.
RAJESH (CONT'D) (frantic): Yvonne, for God's sake, the sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field, it exists!
He jumps and turns around to a crash behind him, the door closing.
RAJESH (CONT'D): The door's sealed. a*t*matic quarantine, we can't get out!
He rushes off. Rose and Mickey are left looking up at the sphere.
MICKEY: It's all right, babe. We b*at them before, we can b*at them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on.
The sphere continues to vibrate.
ROSE: The fight against what?
MICKEY: What d'you think?
They stumble as two violent crashes emit from the sphere, shaking the chamber.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
The Doctor walks down a corridor, letting his sonic screwdriver guide him. Yvonne follows. She stops two passing soldiers.
YVONNE: You two, you come with us.
SOLDIERS: Yes, ma'am.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists are trying and failing to push the levers down. Jackie squints as the light becomes brighter.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
The Doctor, Yvonne and the two soldiers have reached the curtained area.
THE DOCTOR: What's down here?
YVONNE: I don't... I dunno, I think it's building work. It's just renovations.
THE DOCTOR (starting forward): You should go back.
YVONNE: Think again.
She follows him, gesturing for the soldiers to do the same. The Doctor stops pushing the curtains aside as he sonic screwdriver bleeps. He stares at it.
YVONNE (CONT'D): What is it? What's down here?
THE DOCTOR (brow furrowed): Ear-pieces, ear-pods, this world is colliding with another. And I think I know which one.
All of a sudden, the shadows of Cybermen standing behind the curtains surround them, getting into position.
YVONNE (hushed tone): What are they?
THE DOCTOR: They came through first.
The Cybermen slit the curtains with their hands.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): The advance guard.
The Cybermen step through the curtains and begin to march towards them.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Cybermen.
The two soldiers fire their b*ll*ts at the Cybermen, with no effect whatsoever. The Doctor and Yvonne try to escape another way, but they are surrounded.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Another crash emits from the sphere.
MICKEY: We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. (Another crash). They found a way through to this world, but, so did we.
ROSE (staring at him): The Doctor said that was impossible.
MICKEY: Yeah, well it's not the first time he's been wrong.
ROSE: What's inside that sphere?
Another crash.
MICKEY: No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen... whatever it is...(grins). He's dead meat.
ROSE (smiles and nudges him): It's good to see you.
MICKEY (smiles back): Yeah. It's good to see you too.
Another crash.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The Cybermen lead Yvonne and the Doctor and Yvonne, who have their hands behind their head, back to the rift chamber.
THE DOCTOR: Get away from the machines, do what they say, don't fight them!
The Cybermen reveal their weapons and sh**t one of the scientists dead.
JACKIE (terrified): What are they?
CYBERMAN: We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent.
The Cyberman clamps a fist to its chest and the lever rises once more, beginning the Ghost Shift.
COMPUTER: Online.
THE DOCTOR (as the light brightens): Here come the ghosts.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
The ghosts step out of thin air, accompanied by the sound of Cybermen marching.
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts materialise.
INT. GHOSTSWATCH STUDIO
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER: It's extraordinary, there are more ghosts than we've ever seen before.
They materialise around Big Ben and the Taj Mahal.
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (CONT'D): And it's happening all over the world.
INT. PRESS CONFERENCE
POLICE COMMANDER (making official statement on TV): As far as we know, the increase in ghost activity is harmless.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Rows and rows of Cybermen march out of the light.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (into comm.): Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here!
The entire chamber is shaking accompanied by booms from the sphere.
RAJESH (CONT'D): I need...
The sphere stops vibrating. Rajesh joins Mickey and Rose. Mickey removes his lab coat and pulls of his ear piece.
MICKEY: Here we go.
Rajesh puts his glasses on. As they watch, smooth cracks appear in the sphere as it opens. Light spills from the gaps.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
JACKIE: These Zybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?
THE DOCTOR: Do you never listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot!
CYBERMAN: Achieving full transfer.
THE DOCTOR: They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen.
The Cybermen continue to march from the light, slowly becoming more defined.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Millions of them. Right across the world.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
The ghosts on the factory floor are shown in their true form, Cybermen.
EXT. POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts on the Powell Estate also become defined as Cybermen. The people who had previously not been giving them a second glance are suddenly running and screaming.
EXT. EIFFEL TOWER
The Cybermen materialise fully, causing panic.
EXT. TAJ MAHAL
Again, the appearance of the Cybermen causes panic.
INT. GHOSTWATCH STUDIO
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (standing): They're not ghosts! They're metal men...
A Cybermen walks right into the studio and strangles him.
INT. PRESS CONFERENCE
POLICE COMMANDER: I urge you, stay in your homes!
INT. HOUSE
A Cybermen breaks through the door of an ordinary house, the family are cowering at the bottom of the stairs. The little boy tries to make a break for it, but another Cyberman is blocking his way upstairs.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Hundreds of Cybermen stand in the light, ready for w*r.
YVONNE: They're invading the whole planet.
THE DOCTOR: It's not an invasion, it's too late for that. It's a victory.
They look round at the laptop as it starts bleeping.
COMPUTER: Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated.
The Doctor looks at it, brow furrowed.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
The light continues to spill from the sphere.
MICKEY: I know what's in there. And I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing.
He retrieves a w*apon that he had been hiding under a counter, and then positions himself in front of the sphere.
MICKEY (CONT'D): This is gonna blast them to Hell.
RAJESH: Samuel, what are you doing?!
MICKEY: The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth.
He cocks his g*n as the sphere parts further.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
THE DOCTOR (to a nearby Cybermen): What I don't understand is Cybermen don't have the technology to build the Void Ship, that's way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?
CYBERMAN: The sphere is not ours.
THE DOCTOR (stunned): ... What?
CYBERMAN: The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown.
THE DOCTOR: Then what's inside it...?
JACKIE (fearful): Rose is down there.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
The top part of a familiar looking alien emerges from the sphere...
MICKEY (thrown): That's not Cybermen...
Four Daleks glide smoothly from the sphere.
ROSE: Oh my God.
DALEK: Location: Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!
Mickey aims his g*n at them. Rose stares at them in wide eyed fear.
DALEK (CONT'D): Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!
To be continued...
A sh*t of the Earth from space, as in 101 "Rose" and "The Christmas Invasion".
ROSE (voice-over): Planet Earth.
Zoom in to London.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): This is where I was born. And this is where I d*ed.
INT. BUS
Teenage Rose, bored and glum, is on a bus eating chips as it pulls up at a stop.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): For the first nineteen years of my life, nothing happened. Nothing at all.
The bus pulls away.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): Not ever.
Rose sighs and leans her forehead against the window, popping another chip in her mouth.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over, a smile in her tone): And then I met a man called the Doctor.
INT. HENRICKS, BASEMENT
The Ninth Doctor grabs Rose's hand.
THE DOCTOR: Run.
And they do.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor, the Tenth Doctor this time, is prancing around the consol, pressing buttons and pulling levers, full of energy and enthusiasm.
ROSE (voice-over): A man who could change his face. And he took me away from home in his magical machine.
The Doctor spins around with a triumphant "ha! ", arms wide with glee.
EXT. STREET
The Doctor and Rose run down an ordinary street, hand in hand, happy.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): He showed me the whole of time and space. I thought it would never end.
EXT. PREHISTORIC PLANET
The Doctor and Rose are now standing a short way away from the TARDIS on a rocky alien planet, looking out at the sunset.
THE DOCTOR: How long are you gonna stay with me?
Rose looks at him.
ROSE: Forever.
And they smile.
EXT. BAD WOLF BAY
A desolate beach.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): That's what I thought. But then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the w*r. And that's when it all ended.
Rose is standing on the beach, looking out to sea. A gentle breeze is blowing her hair.
ROSE (CONT'D) (voice-over): This is the story of how I d*ed.
OPENING CREDITS
EXT. PLAY PARK
The TARDIS materialises in a children's play area. Rose steps out holding a large red rucksack, which she slings onto her back. The Doctor follows, and they set off towards the flats on the Powell Estate with a spring in their step, obviously at peace with the world.
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, KITCHEN
Jackie is doing the washing up when she hears Rose calling from outside the front door.
ROSE: Mum, it's us! We're ba-ack!
Jackie, excited, hurries out...
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, LIVING ROOM
...to the front door, just as the Doctor and Rose enter the flat.
JACKIE (exasperated and pleased at the same time): Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone! You never use it!
ROSE (grinning): Shut up, come here!
They throw their arms around each other.
JACKIE: Oh, I love you!
ROSE: I love you!
JACKIE: I love you so much!
The Doctor squeezes past them, trying to sidle off, but Jackie's spots him.
JACKIE (CONT'D) (grabbing him): Oh no you don't. Come here!
She pulls him towards her and plants one on him, despite his weak protests.
JACKIE (CONT'D) (hugging him): Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine!
THE DOCTOR: Just... just... just put me down!
JACKIE: Yes, you are!
She kisses him again and then walks off, leaving the Doctor to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, looking for all the world like a little boy with an over-affectionate mother. They join Rose in the sitting room.
ROSE (taking off her back and dumping it in Jackie's arms): I've got loads of washing for ya! And, I got you this!
She shows Jackie an tiny ornate bottle with a wide grin.
ROSE (CONT'D): It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of um... (turns to the Doctor) what's it called?
The Doctor is flicking through magazines which are lying on the table.
THE DOCTOR: Bezoolium.
ROSE: Bezoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's gonna rain, when it's hot, it's gonna be sunny! You can use it to tell the weather!
JACKIE: I've got a surprise for you and all.
ROSE: Oh, I get her bezoolum, she doesn't even say "thanks".
JACKIE: Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time, he'll be here at ten past! Who do you think it is?
ROSE: I don't know.
JACKIE: Oh go on, guess!
ROSE: No, I hate guessing. Just tell me.
JACKIE (so pleased): It's your grandad. Grandad Prentice. He's on his way. Any minute!
Rose stares.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Right, cup of tea!
She disappears into the kitchen. Rose stares after her. The Doctor appears at her shoulder.
ROSE (stunned): She's gone mad.
THE DOCTOR (also staring after Jackie): Tell me something new.
ROSE: Grandad Prentice, that's her dad. But he d*ed like, ten years ago. Oh my God. She's lost it.(Addresses Jackie). Mum?
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, KITCHEN
Rose and the Doctor stand in the kitchen doorway.
ROSE (CONT'D): What you just said about grandad...
JACKIE: Any second now.
ROSE (gently): But... he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?
JACKIE (lightly): Course I do!
ROSE: ... Then how can he come back?
JACKIE: Why don't you ask him yourself? (Checks her watch). Ten past. Here he comes.
And right before their eyes, a figure steps out of nowhere in the middle of kitchen. It's featureless, like a shadow, but definitely humanoid. It stands beside Jackie.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Here we are, then!
The Doctor and Rose just stare, dumbstruck.
JACKIE (CONT'D): Dad... say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The Doctor and Rose burst out of a side-door of the block of flats at a run. They come to a halt, looking around.
THE DOCTOR (confused): They're everywhere!
Sure enough, the ghosts are everywhere, standing around just like ordinary people. No one seems to be remotely alarmed by their presence. A group of boys carry on with their ball game, just as normal. Rose turns.
ROSE: Doctor, look out!
A ghost walks right through the Doctor, causing him discomfort but no pain.
JACKIE (joining them): They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade.
THE DOCTOR: What do you mean, shift? Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?
JACKIE: Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?
THE DOCTOR (completely baffled): But no one's running or screaming or freaking out or...
JACKIE: Why should we? (Checks her watch). Here we go. Twelve minutes past.
Jackie smiles at Rose, biting her lip with antipation.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
In a gleaming white room, a scientist pulls a lever down. A light dims down, and a woman takes off a pair of sunglasses.
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts disappear. The Doctor glances around, looking even more confused than he did before. The three of them head back to the flats.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The lever is pulled down fully. The engines die. Yvonne steps out of her office, which is separated from the busy main office/rift chamber with a glass partition. She addresses the staff.
YVONNE: Ladies and gentlemen... I'd like to announce: we've just measured the ghost energy at five thousand gigawatts. Give yourselves a round of applause.
She puts her hands together, and the rest follow suit.
INT. TYLER'S FLAT, LIVING ROOM
The Doctor is sat on the floor in front of Jackie's television. Jackie is sitting on the sofa and Rose is perched on the arm. They're all watching a programme called "Ghostwatch".
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER: On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge.
Cut to footage of the ghosts milling around Westminster Bridge.
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (CONT'D): It's almost like a m*llitary display...
THE DOCTOR (brow furrowed): What the hell's going on?
He changes channel to what would appear to be a weather report, but instead of weather symbols, there are little pictures of ghosts on the map of the UK.
WEATHERMAN: And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts. From London, through the North and up into Scotland.
Turn over to the Trisha Goddard chat show. The caption at the bottom of the screen proclaims "I married a dead man! "
TRISHA: So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost.
Eileen is sat in front of the studio audience with a ghost hovering around by the other chair.
EILEEN (tearfully): He's my ghost and I love him, 24/7!
Encouraging round of applause from the audience. Change channel.
DEREK ACORAH: Well, no one needs me anymore!
Change channel. This time, it's a cheesy advert, a housewife in a flowery apron addresses the camera in her kitchen while a sad-looking animated ghost hovers around above the worktop.
HOUSEWIFE: My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered... Ectoshine!
With an expression of complete bewilderment, the Doctor turns over. Now we're on a French news channel.
FRENCH NEWSREADER: Et le President d'aujourd'hui, quelle est...
Cut to footage of the ghosts wandering around the Eiffel Tower. Change channel, an Indian news report. Ghosts are milling around the Taj Mahal. Change channel to an enthusiastic Japanese Newsreader. The Doctor puts his head in his hands.
JACKIE ; Oh, yes!
Cuts to footage of three excited Japanese girls, all screeching wildly and showing off their ghost tee-shirts.
THE DOCTOR (changing channel): It's all over the world.
An episode of Eastenders. Peggy Mitchell is behind the bar of the Vic, having a go at a ghost.
PEGGY: Listen to me, Denn Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me, get out!
The Doctor's had enough. He switches off the TV and turns to Jackie.
THE DOCTOR: When did it start?
JACKIE: Well first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down...
THE DOCTOR: No, I mean worldwide.
Rose smirks.
JACKIE: Oh! That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were, ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that, whole planet was panicking... no sign of you, thank you very much... then it sort of sank in. Took us time to realise that... we're lucky.
ROSE: What makes you think it's grandad?
JACKIE: Just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?
ROSE (gently): I wish I could, mum, but I can't.
JACKIE: You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart.
THE DOCTOR: The more you want it, the stronger it gets?
JACKIE: Sort of, yeah.
THE DOCTOR: Like a psychic link. Course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in.
JACKIE: You're spoiling it.
THE DOCTOR: I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory.
ROSE: But if they're not ghosts, what are they, then?
JACKIE: Yeah, but they're human! You can see them, they look human!
ROSE: She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people.
THE DOCTOR (thoughtfully): Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot.
And with that, he stands.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne approaches Adeola's desk.
YVONNE: So, what've we got? Any sign of that power loss?
ADEOLA (smiling): There's no problems. Must've been a glitch.
YVONNE (on her communication device): Rajesh?
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rajesh is in his office with his feet up on the desk, immersed in a book.
YVONNE: You got anything?
RAJESH (glumly): It's so busy down here, I'm on Sudoku book 509.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE: Well, we just had a great ghost shift.
RAJESH: I know.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (CONT'D): We had nothing.
He puts his book down and takes his glasses off, stands.
RAJESH: Did they tell you? (Adjusts controls on panel). RND came up with a new spectrometer yesterday. Barged in here, all full of themselves... (Walks across the large chamber, checking various instruments). Said they could detect the heat off a single protozoa through half a mile of steel.
YVONNE: And what did they find?
RAJESH: Nothing. It gave them nothing. Same as ever. The machines keep saying the sphere can't exist. But there it is.
He's looking up at an enormous sphere, suspended eerily in mid-air at one end of the chamber. It is bronze in colour, and there's a step ladder positioned just below it to provide easier access.
YVONNE: Anything we can do?
RAJESH: No, I'm all right. It's just... gets into your head, this thing. Like it's... staring at you.
YVONNE (small laugh): All right, we'll catch up later. Thanks, Raj.
RAJESH: Yeah.
He turns off his communication device, and then climbs up the ladder so he can reach out and place a hand on the bottom of the sphere, but it's as though there's an invisible barrier preventing him from doing so. He strains to break through it, but his hand is thrown aside. He gives up and climbs back down the ladder, defeated.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE (approaching Matt at his computer station): Matt? Send Rajesh something, would you? He's going mad down there. Not alcohol.
She returns to her office. A member of staff approaches Adeola and hands her a print of some kind. She smiles her thanks and places them in a file. She then glances over at Gareth, who is sitting at a computer across the room from her, and types into some kind of instant messaging program: "God i'm bored.". Gareth's computer bleeps as he recieves the message. He looks over at her, and they smile cheekily at each other. He types: "Me too yawn". "Fancy a coffee?". "Though u never ask :-)". Adeola grins. Gareth stands and approaches Yvonne, who is deep in conversation with two others.
GARETH: Yvonne?
Yvonne gives him her attention.
GARETH (CONT'D): I'm gonna double check the stats... just in case.
YVONNE: Sure.
He leaves. Adeola stands and approaches Yvonne.
ADEOLA: Yvonne, I'm gonna go and cross reference the levels with the sphere.
YVONNE: Okay, fine.
Adeola also leaves. Yvonne turns back to the others.
YVONNE (CONT'D): And they think we haven't noticed.
They laugh and go on their way.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
Gareth pulls Adeola down a deserted corridor, it looks as though it is being revamped. Plastic curtains section part of it off.
GARETH: Come on... it'll be all right down here. Just two minutes.
ADEOLA (uneasily): This is out of bounds.
GARETH: Yeah... and that's the point! It's completely safe. They're just building new offices.
ADEOLA: What about the workmen?
GARETH: They must be allocated somewhere else.
ADEOLA: It's not worth it for a snog.
GARETH (laughs): It is. (Tries to pull her through the curtains). Come on...!
But Adeola, although smiling, is reluctant. Gareth lets go of her hand with a "tssk! " and disappears through the curtains alone. Two workmen come and carry a ladder away. Adeola waves casually at them, trying to look as though she's supposed to be there. After a few moments...
ADEOLA (audible whisper): Gareth?
She presses up against the curtain.
ADEOLA (CONT'D) (laughingly): Now don't be daft, where've you gone? (No reply). Gareth? Look, I'm gonna head back, I'm seeing you tonight anyway... Gareth?
Tentatively, she walks through the curtains.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): I'm gonna go back to work.
No reply. She walks further within the curtains, pushing them aside.
ADEOLA (CONT'D) (nervously): This is it... I'm going... see ya...
When there's still no answer, she abandons all pretence. Her voice grows high in fear.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): Now stop it, Gareth! I'm not kidding, just stop it!
She spots a shadowy figure on the other side of a curtain.
ADEOLA (CONT'D): Sorry, I'm just looking for my friend... did anyone come down here?
The figure gives no reply. Adeola pulls the curtain aside, to reveal a Cyberman, who advances. She screams.
INT. TARDIS
Rose, holding a newspaper, strides into the TARDIS where the Doctor is as usual, wedged under the console.
ROSE: According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. (She peers down at him). Now don't tell me you're gonna sit back and do nothing.
The Doctor suddenly pops up from underneath the grilling, bopping insanely and accompanied by the tune of Ghostbusters. He's holding an odd looking device in one hand and wearing a rucksack.
THE DOCTOR: Who're you gonna call?
ROSE: Ghostbusters!
THE DOCTOR: I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
He leaves the TARDIS, Rose following him and giggling.
EXT. PLAY PARK
Jackie's waiting for them outside. He arranges three cone devices in a triangle shape.
THE DOCTOR (to Jackie): When's the next shift?
JACKIE (checks watch): Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?
THE DOCTOR: Triangulates their point of origin.
ROSE (thoughtfully): I don't suppose it's the Gelth?
THE DOCTOR: Nah.
Rose shakes her head as though this was the answer she was expecting.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper.
JACKIE (crossly): You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? (He ignores her). Just think of it, though... all the people we've lost, our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?
The Doctor pauses in his work, meeting her eyes for the first time.
THE DOCTOR: I think it's horrific.
Jackie looks mildly shocked.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (back to work): Rose, give us a hand.
He starts unwinding a cable, leading it though into the TARDIS, Rose following.
INT. TARDIS
He plugs it into the console. Jackie steps inside and closes the door behind her.
THE DOCTOR (explaining to Rose at break-neck speed): As soon as it becomes activated, if that line goes into the red, press that button there. If it doesn't stop...
He brandishes the sonic screwdriver under Rose's nose, who goes cross-eyed trying to focus on it.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Setting 15B, hold it against the port, eight seconds and stop.
ROSE: 15B, eight seconds.
THE DOCTOR: If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left.
ROSE: Hang on a minute, I know...
She leans over the console, pointing out a button.
ROSE (CONT'D): It's that one.
THE DOCTOR: Mm, close.
ROSE (points to another): That one?
THE DOCTOR: Nnnnow you've just k*lled us.
Rose giggles. Neither of them notice the way Jackie's looking at them.
ROSE: Eh... that one.
THE DOCTOR: Yeah! Now, what've we got? Two minutes to go?
He looks over at Jackie, who checks her watch.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne emerges from her office, addressing the staff.
YVONNE: Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make it a good one, people.
Adeola enters.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (as though addressing naughty school children): Come on, you two.
ADEOLA (primly): I'm sorry we're late.
YVONNE: Save it 'til later.
GARETH (entering): Sorry we're late.
YVONNE (addressing the room at large): And powering up.
The scientists pull the levers upwards, beginning the shift. Adeola and Gareth turn to their computers, ear pieces bleeping, faces unnaturally blank.
INT. TARDIS
Rose plunges the sonic screwdriver into a port on the console.
EXT. PLAY PARK
At the same moment, outside the doors, the Doctor presses the device he was holding earlier onto one of the cones. He proceeds to do the same to the other two, shouting through the open doors to Rose.
THE DOCTOR: What's the line doing?
INT. TARDIS
ROSE (yelling back): It's all right, it's holding!
JACKIE (who has been contemplating Rose): You even look like him?
ROSE: How d'you mean? (Smiles). I s'pose I do, yeah.
JACKIE: You've changed so much.
ROSE: For the better...
JACKIE (whispers): I s'pose.
ROSE (turning to her): Mum, I used to work in a shop.
JACKIE (defensively): I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?
ROSE: No, I didn't mean that.
JACKIE: I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?
ROSE (shocked): Don't talk like that!
JACKIE (seriously): No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?
ROSE (quietly): I don't know.
JACKIE: Do you think you'll ever settle down?
ROSE: The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling.
JACKIE: And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman... walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. She's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human...
The Doctor's voice breaks the moment.
ROSE (shouting to him): The scanner's working, it says "delta one six".
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor stands, facing the centre of the triangle.
THE DOCTOR: Come on you beauty!
He cackles, positively jiggling with anticipation.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists pull the levers even further, causing the light to brighten. Yvonne saunters forwards, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
YVONNE: And... we're into Ghost Shift.
COMPUTER: Online.
EXT. PLAY PARK
As the Doctor watches the triangle, a ghost materialises in its centre. As it does so, the cones are connected with blue electricity, which in turn connects over the top of the ghost, encompassing it in a kind of electric blue pyramid.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
As the light increases, we focus in on Adeola's expressionless eyes.
INT. TARDIS
Jackie and Rose watch the happenings outside the TARDIS on the monitor with amazement.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor puts on a pair of what looks like 3D spectacles and watches the ghost. He then bends down and adjusts a setting on his equipment, a green light blips, which seems to cause...
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
An alarm goes off at Torchwood, and Yvonne starts. She hurries over to Matt's computer, looking over his shoulder.
YVONNE: What've we got?
MATT: Something's interfering with the ghost field.
YVONNE: Location?
MATT: It's close... it's within the City.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The Doctor continues to adjust the knob. The ghost shudders and groans.
THE DOCTOR (laughs): Don't like that much, do you? (Under his breath). Who are you? Where are you coming from? Whoa!
He has just received what seems like an electric shock from the ghost, and he stumbles backwards.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (triumphantly): That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
YVONNE (urgently): Close it down. Close it down!
The scientists obey and pull the levers down.
COMPUTER: Offline.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The ghost continues to shudder and jerk within the Doctor's triangle.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists finally push the levers into place and the ghost shift ends.
EXT. PLAY PARK
The ghost disappears. The Doctor immediately darts forward and begins gathering up his equipment.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne returns to Matt.
MATT: It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field, and that makes it easy to pinpoint.
From an image of the globe, he zooms in to the UK and then to London.
MATT (CONT'D): Almost there... South London. (Zooms in further). South East 15. (Brow furrowed). It's a council estate. The Powell Estate. SU15 7GO. It was a public area.
YVONNE: Can we patch into the CCTV network?
MATT (tapping on the keyboard): Doing it now.
EXT. PLAY PARK
A nearby security camera begins to turn slowly, too late to catch the Doctor disappearing inside the TARDIS with his equipment tucked under his arm.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne and Matt watch the CCTV footage on the computer screen.
MATT (CONT'D): Here we go. We've got a camera within fifty yards.
Their eyes widen as the TARDIS is brought slowly into frame. It's as though they've seen it before.
YVONNE (stunned): ... Oh my God.
MATT: Is it him?!
He zooms in closer.
YVONNE: It's him.
She gasps.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor dashes to the railing inside the TARDIS, throwing his coat over it.
THE DOCTOR (excitedly): I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence for one specific point! And I can track down the source. Allons-y!
He pulls down a lever. The TARDIS shudders and he and Rose fall backwards onto the chair. The rotor rises and falls.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
As Yvonne and Matt watch, the TARDIS dematerialises. Yvonne stands up, as though she cannot believe what she's just seen, but she knows what it means.
YVONNE (breathless): He's coming.
She laughs in disbelief and hurries from the room. Adeola glances darkly over to Gareth.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne is now running down a corridor.
YVONNE (into comm.): Rajesh. It's him!
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rajesh runs up the first few steps to the sphere, staring up at it.
RAJESH: Now we've got you.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor twiddles knobs on the console, nattering away to himself.
THE DOCTOR: I like that. "Allons-y". I should say "allons-y" more often. "Allons-y". Watch out, Rose Tyler! Allons-y! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Allonzo. Because then I could say, "allons-y, Allonzo! " Every time! You're staring at me.
Rose has been listening to the Doctor rattle off with a strange smile on her face.
ROSE (quietly, so she doesn't hear): My mum's still on board.
Sure enough, Jackie's sitting up in the gantries, legs dangling.
JACKIE: If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna k*ll you.
She folds her arms. The Doctor stares at her, horrified. Rose smirks.
INT. TORCHWOOD, STORAGE AREA
The TARDIS materialises in what would appear to be a storage area at Torchwood. Soldiers burst in through the doors, holding g*ns, shouting and getting into their positions.
INT. TARDIS
The Doctor, Rose and Jackie observe this on the monitor.
THE DOCTOR: Oh, well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still! Cuts to the chase. Stay in here, look after Jackie.
He makes towards the doors.
ROSE (trailing after him): I'm not looking after my mum!
THE DOCTOR: Well, you brought her!
JACKIE (indignantly): I was kidnapped!
Rose pushes past the Doctor and blocks the doorway so he can't get past.
ROSE (warningly): Doctor, they've got g*ns.
THE DOCTOR: And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think?
He catches her round the waist and moves her smoothly out of the way.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): They can sh**t me dead, but the moral high-ground is mine.
And with that, he opens the door and steps through it.
INT. TORCHWOOD, STORAGE AREA
The Doctor raises his hands. The soldiers release the safety catches on their g*ns, every single one is pointed at the Doctor.
INT. TARDIS
Rose and Jackie watch through a cr*ck in the door, unseen. Yvonne hurries into the room, running towards the Doctor.
YVONNE (excitedly): Oh...! Oh, how marvellous. (Claps). Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day!
The soldiers follow suit, applauding him. The Doctor doesn't quite know what to make of this reception. He lowers his hands tentatively.
THE DOCTOR: Um. Thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm... the Doctor.
And that sets them all off clapping again.
YVONNE: Oh, I should say! Hurray!
THE DOCTOR: You... you've heard of me, then?
YVONNE: Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the TARDIS...!
Overcome, she starts the applause again. The Doctor, clearly enjoying this just a little bit, gestures for silence.
THE DOCTOR: And... and... and you are?
YVONNE: Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern isn't it, right?
The Doctor stares at her.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (her voice has suddenly adopted a slightly sinister quality): There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. (Smiles). So where is she?
THE DOCTOR: ... Yes! Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all.
He opens the TARDIS door just a tiny bit more, feeling around for Jackie. He pulls her out.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): But here she is: Rose Tyler.
Rose is left inside to listen to proceedings, not making a sound. The Doctor looks Jackie up and down.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that.
He mimes chatting. Jackie glares at him. Yvonne laughs.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years. But she'll do.
JACKIE: I'm 40!
THE DOCTOR: Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well. I say not bad... anyway! Lead on. But not too fast. Her ankle's going.
Yvonne turns to lead the way. The Doctor and Jackie follows.
JACKIE (hisses at the Doctor): I'll show you where my ankle's going.
Rose watches the party leave on the monitor.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne leads them through a doorway.
YVONNE: It was only a matter of time until you found us. And at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
She pushes open a doorway into a huge factory floor, full of alien artifacts and scientists working on them.
YVONNE: Welcome... to Torchwood.
THE DOCTOR (staring): That's a Jathar Sunglider.
YVONNE: Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago.
THE DOCTOR: What, did it crash?
YVONNE: No, we sh*t it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The w*apon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us! Now if you'd like to come with me.
Jackie shares an incredulous glance with the Doctor, while Yvonne leads them on.
YVONNE (CONT'D): The Torchwood Institute has a motto: "if it's alien, it's ours". Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down, and we use it. For the good of the British Empire.
JACKIE: For the good of the what?
YVONNE: The British Empire.
JACKIE: There isn't a British Empire.
YVONNE: Not yet. Ah, excuse me...
She takes a w*apon off a soldier.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Now, if you wouldn't mind... do you recognise this, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR: That's a particle g*n.
YVONNE: Good, isn't it?
Jackie tries to touch it, but Yvonne wrenches it from her grasp and ignores the interruption.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Took us eight years to get it to work....
THE DOCTOR: It's the twenty-first century. You can't have particle g*ns.
YVONNE: We must defend our border against the alien.
She hands the particle g*n back to the waiting soldier.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Thank you... Sebastian, isn't it?
SOLDIER: Yes, Ma'am.
YVONNE (smiles): Thank you, Sebastian. (Turns back to the Doctor and Jackie). I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. (Smiles smugly). I'm a people person.
Jackie rolls her eyes.
THE DOCTOR: Have you got anyone called Allonzo?
YVONNE: No, I don't think so. Is that important?
THE DOCTOR: I suppose not. What was your name?
He walks off to examine the other artifacts.
YVONNE: Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman.
The Doctor pulls a large device from a box.
YVONNE: Ah yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric.
The Doctor throws the Magnaclamp back in the box and brushes his hands together.
JACKIE: I could do with that to carry the shopping.
YVONNE (patronisingly): All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit. Not the general public's.
Jackie pulls a face. The Doctor looks through a magnifying glass.
THE DOCTOR: So, what about these ghosts?
YVONNE: As yes, the ghosts. They're er... what you might call a side effect.
THE DOCTOR: Of what?
YVONNE: All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me.
Just then, the TARDIS is driven in on the back of a truck.
JACKIE: Oi! Where're you taking that?
YVONNE: "If it's alien, it's ours."
THE DOCTOR: You'll never get inside it.
YVONNE: Hm! Et cetera.
She walks away. As the Doctor watches the TARDIS, Rose opens the door a cr*ck and peeks through it. The Doctor nods encouragingly and looks away.
INT. TARDIS
Rose closes the door and goes over to the Doctor's coat, which is slung over one of the supports. She rummages around in the pockets.
ROSE (to herself): Psychic paper... psychic paper...
She finds it and opens it, biting her lip as she anticipates what she can do with it.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Adeola looks across at Matt. She types him a message: "Hey Matt. Want to see something good?"
Matt looks up from his work in surprise, mouthing "what?". She types: "Come and see.". Matt's computer bleeps as he receives the message. Adeola stands. Matt, obviously reluctant and uneasy about doing so, follows.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Yvonne, the Doctor and Jackie stride down a corridor, flanked by armed soldiers.
THE DOCTOR: All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you.
YVONNE: But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown.
THE DOCTOR: 1879... that was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland.
YVONNE: That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf.
JACKIE: I think he makes half of it up.
YVONNE: Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great. And fighting the alien horde.
THE DOCTOR (conversationally): But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?
YVONNE (lightly): Oh yes.
They round a corner and find themselves outside a large black door.
YVONNE (CONT'D)
But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is so much you can teach us. Starting with this.
Pressing her ID card against the digital lock, she opens the door. They walk into the chamber where the sphere is housed.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
YVONNE (impressively): Now, what do you make of that ?
Noticing their arrival, Rajesh straightens his jacket and approaches the Doctor, who is gazing open mouthed up at the sphere.
RAJESH: You must be the Doctor. Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir.
He holds out his hand, but the Doctor is too immersed in gazing up at the sphere to notice.
THE DOCTOR (vaguely): Yeah...
Rajesh lowers his hand sheepishly.
JACKIE: What is that thing?
YVONNE: We got no idea.
JACKIE: But what's wrong with it?
RAJESH: What makes you think there's something wrong with it?
JACKIE: I dunno... just feels weird.
The Doctor darts forwards and up the steps leading up to the sphere.
YVONNE: Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you wanna run and hide. Like it's forbidden.
RAJESH: We tried analysing it using every device imaginable.
The Doctor puts on his 3D specs, looking up at the sphere through them.
RAJESH (CONT'D): But, according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn't age. No heat. No radiation. And, has no atomic mass.
JACKIE: But I can see it!
RAJESH: Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off... nothing. It is... absent.
YVONNE: Well, Doctor?
THE DOCTOR: This is a Void Ship.
YVONNE: And what is that?
THE DOCTOR (folding away his specs, sounding worried): Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but... it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space. Travelling through the Void.
He sits down on the bottom step, Yvonne and Rajesh crowding him.
RAJESH: And what's "the Void"?
THE DOCTOR: The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in-between. Containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that, nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down. No life. No time. Without end. My people called it the Void, the Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell.
RAJESH: But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?
THE DOCTOR: To explore. To escape. You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang... end of the universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation.
YVONNE (smugly): You see, we were right. There is something inside it.
THE DOCTOR (looking at her): Oh yes.
She is caught by his tone.
RAJESH: So how do we get in there.
THE DOCTOR (suddenly standing): We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?
YVONNE: Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake.
THE DOCTOR: Show me.
He strides off. Yvonne exchanges a look with Rajesh, and follows. The Doctor exits and turns left.
YVONNE: No, Doctor.
He turns right.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
Adeola has led Matt into the curtained area.
MATT (slightly irritated): I don't get it. What is it? What am I supposed to be looking for?
ADEOLA (brightly): Just go to the left!
There is a red glow coming from within the area, but we cannot see what it is.
MATT: Yvonne's gonna be back any minute.
ADEOLA: Just go to the left.
MATT: What, you mean in here?!
Adeola nods. Matt pushes the curtain aside and walks towards the red glow, he doesn't come out again. Adeola walks away to the sound of a drill and Matt screaming.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
Rose tentatively steps outside the TARDIS doors and finds herself in a tucked away corner of the factory floor. She quickly dodges out of sight of two men talking; she tries to go the other way but two soldiers approach. She waits until they are gone, and then quickly grabs a discarded white lab coat, putting it on. She then walks confidently out into the open and no one gives her a second glance. She spots one man striding purposefully through a door and decides to follow him.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Adeola returns to her computer. Yvonne shows the Doctor the white expanse of wall from which the white light emits during ghost shift.
YVONNE: The sphere came through here. A hole in the world.
The Doctor runs his hand over the smooth white wall.
YVONNE: Not active at the moment. But when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breech opens up.
THE DOCTOR: How did you even find it?
YVONNE: Well, we were getting warning signs for years. A radar black-spot. So we built this place. Torchwood Tower. The breech was six hundred foot above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it.
THE DOCTOR (putting his 3D specs on): You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?
YVONNE: Enough.
She walks away. The Doctor removes his specs, and folds his arms, still contemplating the wall.
Jackie is looking out of the window in Yvonne's office.
JACKIE: Hold on a minute... we're in Canary Wharf! Must be! This building, it's Canary Wharf.
The view from the window would certainly suggest so.
YVONNE: Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood.
THE DOCTOR (joining them): So, you find the breech, probe it, the sphere comes through. Six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, "oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?" Nah, you think "let's make it bigger!
YVONNE: It's a massive source of energy. If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shift's in two minutes.
She leaves the office and enters the main area.
THE DOCTOR: Cancel it.
YVONNE: I don't think so.
THE DOCTOR (angrily): I'm warning you, cancel it.
YVONNE (turning to him): Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of Man.
THE DOCTOR: Let me show you.
He takes his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and stands on the other side of the glass partition between Yvonne's office and the main area.
THE DOCTOR: Sphere comes through.
He points his sonic screwdriver at the glass and activates it. The glass splinters and the cr*ck extends outwards, continuing to do so as the Doctor speaks.
THE DOCTOR: But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension, splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours. With the Human Race hoping and wishing and helping them along! But too many ghosts, and...
He place the lightest fingertip on the glass and the whole thing shatters, falling from the frame.
YVONNE: Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful. (Addresses staff). Positions! Ghost Shift in one minute.
THE DOCTOR (pursuing her): Ms Hartman, I am asking you, please, don't do it.
YVONNE: We have done this a thousand times.
THE DOCTOR (furiously): Then stop at a thousand!
YVONNE: We are in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breech, but equally they can close it.
They stare at each other for a few moments, a battle of wills, until:
THE DOCTOR (lightly): Okay.
He walks off into Yvonne's office to grab a chair.
YVONNE: Sorry?!
THE DOCTOR: Never mind! As you were.
YVONNE: What, is that it?
THE DOCTOR (settling down in the chair): No! Fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a cup of tea?
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in twenty seconds.
THE DOCTOR: Mm! Can't wait to see it!
YVONNE (suspiciously): You can't stop us, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR: No, absolutely not! (To Jackie): Pull up a chair, Rose! Come and watch the fireworks.
Jackie goes to stand behind the Doctor's chair.
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in ten seconds. Nine... eight...
Yvonne is uneasy. She stares at the Doctor. he raises his eyebrows at her, just daring her to go through with it.
ADEOLA: Seven... six... five... four... three... two...
Yvonne breaks.
YVONNE: Stop the shift. I said stop.
THE DOCTOR (gratefully): Thank you.
YVONNE: I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the program will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything.
THE DOCTOR: I'm glad to be of help.
YVONNE (to the room at large): And someone clear up this glass. (To the Doctor): They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess.
She disappears into her office. Adeola, Matt and Gareth exchange glances. Seeming to come to a silent agreement, they begin to type.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
Rose walks down a corridor, still following the man from a distance. She breaks into a jog as he rounds a corner, hearing the sound of a door opening and closing. She peers cautiously around the corner and then approaches the door. She surmises it for a moment, and then kisses the psychic paper before pressing it against the lock as Yvonne did. The door slides open.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Rose she walks slowly into the sphere chamber. Just as everyone before her, she seems hypnotised by it. Rajesh spots her and approaches her.
RAJESH: Can I help you?
ROSE (not looking away from the sphere): I was just...
RAJESH: Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?
ROSE: Sorry. Um... they sent me from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just... checking the lines of communication, did they tell you anything?
RAJESH: Can I see your autorisation?
ROSE: ... Sure.
She hands him the psychic paper. He checks it.
RAJESH: That's lucky.
Rose smiles.
RAJESH (CONT'D): You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training.
Rose's smile fades.
RAJESH (CONT'D): This paper is blank. And you're a fake. (Into comm.). Seal the room. Call security.
The doors close.
RAJESH (CONT'D): Samuel? Can you check the door locks? She just walked right in.
Samuel turns, only it's not Samuel. It's Mickey.
MICKEY: Doing it now, sir.
Rose stares at him. He puts a finger to his lips and gives her the thumbs up, grinning.
RAJESH: Well. If you'd like to take a seat.
Rose nods, seemingly lost for words.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Yvonne is sitting at her desk with a laptop in front of her.
YVONNE: So these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the sphere?
Her eyes linger on the Doctor's feet which are crossed on the desk, but she decides to let it pass. He's thrown himself in a chair, looking completely relaxed.
THE DOCTOR: Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a canon ball.
RAJESH (through webcam): Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor. We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor.
The Doctor's face twitches. Yvonne turns the laptop around so the Doctor can see Rose and Rajesh on the screen. Rose is peering comically into the camera.
YVONNE: She one of yours?
THE DOCTOR (shaking his head): Never seen her before in my life.
YVONNE: Good! Then we can have her sh*t.
THE DOCTOR (sitting up): Oh all right then, it'll be worth a try. That's... that's Rose Tyler.
ROSE: Sorry. (Waves). Hello!
The Doctor waves back.
YVONNE: Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?
JACKIE: I'm her mother.
YVONNE: Oh, you travel with her mother?
JACKIE: He kidnapped me.
THE DOCTOR: Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother...
JACKIE: Charming.
THE DOCTOR: I've got a reputation to uphold!
The sound of the ghost shift engines starting up is heard. Yvonne stands and addresses the staff.
YVONNE: Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift.
They ignore her, staring straight ahead.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Who started the program? But... I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?!
She points to the lever which is rising upwards of its own accord.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Step away from the monitors, everyone.
No one does, they continue typing.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (panicking): Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now! Matt. Step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers!
Two scientists rush over to the levers and struggle to push them down.
YVONNE (CONT'D): Stop the levers!
THE DOCTOR (going to Adeola): What's she doing?
YVONNE (following him): Addy? Step away from the desk.
The Doctor stares at her and clicks his fingers in front of her face, but Adeola does not react.
YVONNE: Listen to me. Step away from the desk.
THE DOCTOR: She can't hear you. (Observes computer screen). They're overriding the system.
The Doctor, Jackie and Yvonne stare anxiously at the blank expanse of wall.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): We're going into Ghost Shift.
The light brightens.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (into comm.): Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled.
Mickey, who is checking the locks, glances over his shoulder.
RAJESH (CONT'D): What's going on? (No reply). Yvonne?
The whole chamber suddenly shudders; the disturbance has come from the sphere.
RAJESH (CONT'D): It can't be.
He, Rose and Mickey hurry over to it. Another crash from within.
RAJESH (CONT'D) (hushed): It's active!
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The Doctor is staring at Adeola's ear-piece.
THE DOCTOR: It's the ear-piece controlling them. I've seen this before.
He takes his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and stands behind her.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D) (sincerely): Sorry. I'm so sorry.
He holds the sonic screwdriver to the ear-piece, deactivating it. Adeola screams with pain and slumps over the desk, dead. Matt and Gareth do the same as though all the ear-pieces were connected.
YVONNE: What happened? What did you just do?
THE DOCTOR: They're dead.
JACKIE: You k*lled them.
THE DOCTOR (turning to the computer): Oh someone else did that long before I got here.
JACKIE: But you k*lled them!
THE DOCTOR (angrily): Jackie, I haven't got time for this.
YVONNE: What're those ear-pieces?
THE DOCTOR: Don't.
YVONNE: But they're standard comms. Devices, how does it control them?
THE DOCTOR (going to Matt's computer): Trust me, leave them alone.
YVONNE: But what are they?
She takes hold of one of Adeola's ear-pieces and pulls it, right out of her head. A trail of brain tissue is attached to it.
YVONNE (CONT'D) (revolted): Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain!
She drops it.
THE DOCTOR: What about the Ghost Shift?
YVONNE: Ninety percent there. It's still running. Can't you stop it?
THE DOCTOR: They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system.
YVONNE: Who's they?
The Doctor takes his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and holds it flat on the palm of his hand, turning slowly.
THE DOCTOR: It might be a remote transmitter but it's gotta be close by. I can trace it.
He darts off, evidently receiving some kind of signal from the sonic screwdriver.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Jackie, stay here!
Yvonne follows him, her laptop lies forgotten on the desk, Rajesh speaking into the webcam, the words "sphere activated" flash on the screen.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH: We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me?
The sphere is vibrating.
RAJESH (CONT'D) (frantic): Yvonne, for God's sake, the sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field, it exists!
He jumps and turns around to a crash behind him, the door closing.
RAJESH (CONT'D): The door's sealed. a*t*matic quarantine, we can't get out!
He rushes off. Rose and Mickey are left looking up at the sphere.
MICKEY: It's all right, babe. We b*at them before, we can b*at them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on.
The sphere continues to vibrate.
ROSE: The fight against what?
MICKEY: What d'you think?
They stumble as two violent crashes emit from the sphere, shaking the chamber.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR
The Doctor walks down a corridor, letting his sonic screwdriver guide him. Yvonne follows. She stops two passing soldiers.
YVONNE: You two, you come with us.
SOLDIERS: Yes, ma'am.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The scientists are trying and failing to push the levers down. Jackie squints as the light becomes brighter.
INT. TORCHWOOD, CORRIDOR / NEW OFFICES
The Doctor, Yvonne and the two soldiers have reached the curtained area.
THE DOCTOR: What's down here?
YVONNE: I don't... I dunno, I think it's building work. It's just renovations.
THE DOCTOR (starting forward): You should go back.
YVONNE: Think again.
She follows him, gesturing for the soldiers to do the same. The Doctor stops pushing the curtains aside as he sonic screwdriver bleeps. He stares at it.
YVONNE (CONT'D): What is it? What's down here?
THE DOCTOR (brow furrowed): Ear-pieces, ear-pods, this world is colliding with another. And I think I know which one.
All of a sudden, the shadows of Cybermen standing behind the curtains surround them, getting into position.
YVONNE (hushed tone): What are they?
THE DOCTOR: They came through first.
The Cybermen slit the curtains with their hands.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): The advance guard.
The Cybermen step through the curtains and begin to march towards them.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Cybermen.
The two soldiers fire their b*ll*ts at the Cybermen, with no effect whatsoever. The Doctor and Yvonne try to escape another way, but they are surrounded.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
Another crash emits from the sphere.
MICKEY: We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. (Another crash). They found a way through to this world, but, so did we.
ROSE (staring at him): The Doctor said that was impossible.
MICKEY: Yeah, well it's not the first time he's been wrong.
ROSE: What's inside that sphere?
Another crash.
MICKEY: No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the Cybermen... whatever it is...(grins). He's dead meat.
ROSE (smiles and nudges him): It's good to see you.
MICKEY (smiles back): Yeah. It's good to see you too.
Another crash.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
The Cybermen lead Yvonne and the Doctor and Yvonne, who have their hands behind their head, back to the rift chamber.
THE DOCTOR: Get away from the machines, do what they say, don't fight them!
The Cybermen reveal their weapons and sh**t one of the scientists dead.
JACKIE (terrified): What are they?
CYBERMAN: We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent.
The Cyberman clamps a fist to its chest and the lever rises once more, beginning the Ghost Shift.
COMPUTER: Online.
THE DOCTOR (as the light brightens): Here come the ghosts.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
The ghosts step out of thin air, accompanied by the sound of Cybermen marching.
EXT. THE POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts materialise.
INT. GHOSTSWATCH STUDIO
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER: It's extraordinary, there are more ghosts than we've ever seen before.
They materialise around Big Ben and the Taj Mahal.
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (CONT'D): And it's happening all over the world.
INT. PRESS CONFERENCE
POLICE COMMANDER (making official statement on TV): As far as we know, the increase in ghost activity is harmless.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Rows and rows of Cybermen march out of the light.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
RAJESH (into comm.): Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here!
The entire chamber is shaking accompanied by booms from the sphere.
RAJESH (CONT'D): I need...
The sphere stops vibrating. Rajesh joins Mickey and Rose. Mickey removes his lab coat and pulls of his ear piece.
MICKEY: Here we go.
Rajesh puts his glasses on. As they watch, smooth cracks appear in the sphere as it opens. Light spills from the gaps.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
JACKIE: These Zybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?
THE DOCTOR: Do you never listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot!
CYBERMAN: Achieving full transfer.
THE DOCTOR: They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen.
The Cybermen continue to march from the light, slowly becoming more defined.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Millions of them. Right across the world.
INT. TORCHWOOD, FACTORY FLOOR
The ghosts on the factory floor are shown in their true form, Cybermen.
EXT. POWELL ESTATE
The ghosts on the Powell Estate also become defined as Cybermen. The people who had previously not been giving them a second glance are suddenly running and screaming.
EXT. EIFFEL TOWER
The Cybermen materialise fully, causing panic.
EXT. TAJ MAHAL
Again, the appearance of the Cybermen causes panic.
INT. GHOSTWATCH STUDIO
GHOSTWATCH PRESENTER (standing): They're not ghosts! They're metal men...
A Cybermen walks right into the studio and strangles him.
INT. PRESS CONFERENCE
POLICE COMMANDER: I urge you, stay in your homes!
INT. HOUSE
A Cybermen breaks through the door of an ordinary house, the family are cowering at the bottom of the stairs. The little boy tries to make a break for it, but another Cyberman is blocking his way upstairs.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
Hundreds of Cybermen stand in the light, ready for w*r.
YVONNE: They're invading the whole planet.
THE DOCTOR: It's not an invasion, it's too late for that. It's a victory.
They look round at the laptop as it starts bleeping.
COMPUTER: Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated.
The Doctor looks at it, brow furrowed.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
The light continues to spill from the sphere.
MICKEY: I know what's in there. And I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing.
He retrieves a w*apon that he had been hiding under a counter, and then positions himself in front of the sphere.
MICKEY (CONT'D): This is gonna blast them to Hell.
RAJESH: Samuel, what are you doing?!
MICKEY: The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth.
He cocks his g*n as the sphere parts further.
INT. TORCHWOOD, RIFT CHAMBER
THE DOCTOR (to a nearby Cybermen): What I don't understand is Cybermen don't have the technology to build the Void Ship, that's way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?
CYBERMAN: The sphere is not ours.
THE DOCTOR (stunned): ... What?
CYBERMAN: The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown.
THE DOCTOR: Then what's inside it...?
JACKIE (fearful): Rose is down there.
INT. TORCHWOOD, SPHERE CHAMBER
The top part of a familiar looking alien emerges from the sphere...
MICKEY (thrown): That's not Cybermen...
Four Daleks glide smoothly from the sphere.
ROSE: Oh my God.
DALEK: Location: Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!
Mickey aims his g*n at them. Rose stares at them in wide eyed fear.
DALEK (CONT'D): Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!
To be continued...