PART TEN (TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS)
Written by Pip and Jane Baker
Original air date: 08th November, 1986
Run time: 24:18
Cargo hold
Mel: Why is only low spectrum light allowed in the place?
Edwardes: Something to do with photosynthesis. Low spectrum light allows the plants to stay dormant.
Edwardes: Now, I'll go first. We don't want you breaking your neck. At least, not until...
Guard: What are you doing here? You were told not to come down...
Mel: Back there! Edwardes, he's dead! He just touched the fences.
Guard: Save your explanations for the Commodore, lady.
Guard 2: He's dead, all right.
Guard: Stay with him. I'll send help. Move.
Trial room
Valeyard: Another death, Doctor? But for the caprice of chance, the victim would have been your companion, Mel. Your culpability is beyond question.
Inquisitor: You could have prevented her from going into the cargo hold. Instead, you appear to encourage her.
The Doctor: When I viewed the Matrix earlier, that isn't what happened.
Valeyard: More futile grasping at straws. When the facts tell against you, you cry fraud.
Inquisitor: Do you wish to reconsider, Doctor?
The Doctor: No, madam. I am being manipulated, but the only way to discover why, and by whom, is to press on.
Outside the Isolation room
Doland: Just an accident. No cause for concern. The stewardess will take care of that.
Gymnasium
Lasky: Why aren't you wearing a pulsometer? The heart should be monitored while exercising.
The Doctor: Which heart would you suggest, madam? Unfortunately, that doesn't register a double pulse.
Lasky: A double pulse? What are you, a comedian?
The Doctor: No, more a sort of clown, actually. Would you care to hear my rendering of On With The Motley?
Rudge: Doctor, you're required on the bridge.
The Doctor: Ah! The Commodore wants a chat. Good, I shall enjoy that.
Rudge: I don't think you'll find enjoyment's on the agenda.
Bridge
Mel: I don't need anyone to speak up for me. I'm quite capable of defending myself.
Travers: How long have you known this woman?
The Doctor: Er, time is a comparative concept, Commodore.
Mel: Not now, Doctor. Just answer the question.
Travers: I should accept that advice and drop the sophistry. Can you vouch for her?
The Doctor: Completely. Utterly. What's all this about, Mel?
Mel: The Communication's officer's dead, and they think I did it.
Rudge: She was caught running from the scene. She can't deny that.
Mel: I haven't tried. I persuaded Edwardes to show me the Hydroponic Centre. It was booby-trapped.
The Doctor: Booby-trapped?
Mel: If it hadn't been for Edwardes, it would have been me who was k*lled.
Rudge: What? are you certain?
Travers: What is it?
Rudge: It's the medical team. They say they can't find Edwardes anywhere in the hold, sir.
Mel: But he must be there.
The Doctor: Or perhaps he wasn't dead. The weird atmosphere down there could lead to phantasmagoria.
Mel: Oh, come on, you know me. Am I prone to that sort of imagination?
The Doctor: Well.
Travers: I thought you'd left a man down there.
Guard: I did, sir.
Travers: Well, where is he? Rudge?
Rudge: They say there's no sign of him either, sir.
Mel: The guard's disappeared too? Well, now perhaps you'll accept that I'm not responsible. You've had me in custody!
The Doctor: The perfect alibi, Commodore.
Travers: Organise a search, Mister Rudge. I want those men found.
Rudge: Yes, sir.
Travers: Now, since you've put in an appearance, first a passenger, now my communications officer and a guard have gone missing. Two, if not all three, m*rder*d. You, standing there in your divine state of innocence, you can't tell me what's happening, can you?
Mel: I can. The answer's simple enough. You've got a k*ller on board.
Corridor
Mel: Look, Doctor, you can't just play a passive role. We were sent for, remember?
The Doctor: I'm cogitating.
Mel: About what?
The Doctor: Whether his job is to keep unwanted visitors out or...
Mel: Keep someone in.
The Doctor: Hmm. Intriguing, isn't it.
Mel: Does seem strange, I admit. An armed guard outside an Isolation Room.
Cargo hold
Bruchner: No matter how you and Professor Lasky rationalise the situation, we should never have proceeded to the point we've reached.
Doland: How you became a scientist, Bruchner, baffles me. You have the temperament of an overcautious rabbit. Did you leave the gates open?
Hydroponics centre
Bruchner: Doland, the pods!
Bruchner: Every one of them. Empty.
Doland: Some fool must have introduced high intensity light into the Centre.
Bruchner: We're confronted with a catastrophe and that's your reaction? Don't you realise what's been unleashed?
Outside the Isolation room
Rudge: Not again.
Janet: What's going on in there?
Rudge: Don't ask me, I'm only the Security officer.
Lounge
Mel: Where are they?
The Doctor: Where are who?
Mel: You know exactly what I mean. Where are the seeds? The ones you picked up in the wrecked cabin, or did you think I'd forgotten.
The Doctor: Uh huh.
Mel: Oh, come on.
The Doctor: What do you want them for?
Mel: Professor Lasky. She's an agronomist. I'm going to ask her.
The Doctor: Is she? An agronomist, huh? You'd better leave me to cope with this.
Mel: You?
The Doctor: Mmm. This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both.
The Doctor: Professor Lasky.
Lasky: Oh, it's you, the comedian. What do you want?
The Doctor: I understand that you're an agronomist.
Lasky: A thremmatologist, to be precise.
The Doctor: A thremmatologist? Then you're well qualified to tell me about these.
Lasky: Stewardess! Stewardess!
Janet: Something wrong, Professor?
Lasky: Fetch the Security officer.
Janet: Can I help?
Lasky: At once!
Janet: May I be told what's wrong, Professor?
Lasky: This man's a thief.
Janet: Mister Rudge to the passenger lounge, please.
Mel: Tact. Finesse. Now what have you landed us in?
Hydroponics Centre
Bruchner: What was that?
Doland: Nothing. Pull yourself together, Bruchner.
Bruchner: There's someone in the hold.
Doland: Bruchner, you're allowing hysteria to take...
Bruchner: I know what I saw. There was a movement.
Lounge
Lasky: That puts an entirely different complexion on the situation. Pity your friend the comedian wasn't as lucid.
The Doctor: I never had a chance to be...
Lasky: I can't understand why they were in cabin six, or why a mineralogist would steal them.
Mel: Are they special, Professor?
The Doctor: Yes, just what I was going to...
Lasky: Demeter seeds? Yes, they are. They represent a tremendous advance, a colossal leap.
The Doctor: Do they?
Mel: What did you call them? The Demeter seeds?
The Doctor: The name of a god...
Lasky: Food of the gods. Bruchner, my assistant, bit of a romantic, highly strung, he christened them.
The Doctor: That still doesn't explain...
Lasky: He wasn't just being pretentious. They'll increase potential yield threefold. And even more, they'll grow in desert sand.
Rudge: Er.
Lasky: What is it, man? Don't stand there hovering.
The Doctor: You sent for him.
Lasky: I did? Oh, yes. Not to worry.
Rudge: But I do worry, especially when serious allegations are made. You accused the Doctor of being a thief.
Lasky: Oh, that. A mistake. The fellow may be a fool, but he's not a criminal.
Bridge
Travers: Project our course through the sector ahead. Put us onto a straighter course. Reduce the diversion to a point naught three safety margin.
Officer: I estimate that brings our ETA forward by seventy two hours, sir.
Travers: Seventy two hours closer to getting expert investigators on board. Carry on.
Lounge
Mel: No, Doctor.
The Doctor: No.
Kimber: No, thank you.
Travers: No need for concern. Just a navigational adjustment. As you can see, it doesn't even require my presence on the bridge. Now, for your information, the change of course will bring our landfall forward by seventy two hours.
Travers: Switch on your translator.
Atza: Surely we are approaching the sector with the Black Hole of Tartarus.
Travers: That's correct.
Atza: If you are saving time, we must be going closer to the black hole.
Travers: There's no danger. The safety margin is more than adequate.
Ortezo: That is hardly a denial.
Enzu: Simply a bromide.
Travers: You sought reassurance, I've given it.
Ortezo: That word reassurance, bears sinister undertones for we Mogarians.
Travers: Indeed?
Ortezo: It is the word the Earthlings used when first they persuaded us to allow them to sink mines on Mogar.
Atza: A limited concession was all they requested, and now they are stripping our planet bare.
Enzu: Truth is a stranger to the Earthlings.
Travers: If you'll excuse me, politics do not come into my realm of influence.
The Doctor: Then they should.
Atza: Who are you? Another prospector?
The Doctor: Only of knowledge. I have visited your planet. It's very rich in natural resources.
Ortezo: Which will soon be exhausted if these Earthlings are not restrained. They are going through the universe like a plague of interplanetary locusts.
Trial room
Valeyard: Are we to be subjected to a dissertation on interplanetary politics now, Sagacity?
The Doctor: Is that all you think it was?
Valeyard: Mining rights, Mogarians versus Earthlings. What else would you call that?
The Doctor: You are so pathetically intent on incriminating me you haven't been watching what's going on!
Valeyard: My eyes never left the screen.
The Doctor: Well, you may have been selected to prosecute me, Valeyard, but I hope you'll never be chosen to defend me.
Valeyard: An occasion that will not arise, Doctor. Your lives are forfeit, as I have ably proven.
The Doctor: Something vital just happened in that scene, and the Valeyard perversely switched our attention to more trivial matters.
Valeyard: Then for pity's sake tell us what it was that happened and enjoy your moment of triumph.
The Doctor: Triumph? There's no cause for celebration. One of the occupants of that lounge is about to die.
Valeyard: Another m*rder?
The Doctor: Yes. And if you had been watching, you would know who was the intended victim.
Inquisitor: Gentlemen, is this case to be resolved with a battle of words or to be conducted via the Matrix?
Lounge
Travers: You've drawn a blank where Edwardes is concerned?
Rudge: Yes, sir. Perhaps we should search the passenger cabins.
Travers: No. The passengers are already uneasy. Do you want them to realise they're trapped with a k*ller on the loose?
The Doctor: You're very quiet, Mel. Not quite your style to go into a brown study.
Mel: Brown study? Is the vocabulary of all the Time Lords so antediluvian?
Travers: Are you trying to k*ll him?
The Doctor: I'm trying to save him!
Atza: He will die if you remove his helmet.
Rudge: Mogarians can't breathe oxygen. Surely you're aware of that?
The Doctor: He's not a Mogarian!
Mel: He's not?
Travers: Then who is he?
The Doctor: If you'll kindly allow me to remove his face plate? I fear this poor fellow is beyond help.
Janet: It's Grenville!
The Doctor: Grenville?
Rudge: The passenger from cabin six.
Travers: The man who's supposed to have been dumped in the pulveriser.
The Doctor: His name isn't Grenville. It's Hallett.
Travers: Send a stretcher party to the lounge.
Bridge
Officer: Yes, sir. I'll organise that immediately.
Lounge
Travers: Carry on, Mister Rudge.
Kimber: Poor Mister Hallett. I knew it was Hallett. I recognised him, remember?
The Doctor: You recognised him?
Kimber: Yes.
Rudge: But he denied it. He insisted his name was Grenville.
The Doctor: Well, he would.
Mel: Well, whether his name's Grenville or Hallett, why did he stage his own death in the pulveriser?
The Doctor: This gentleman's just given us the answer.
Kimber: I have?
The Doctor: Hallett had presumably been assigned to investigate something or somebody on this ship. Then he had the bad fortune to be recognised. A chance encounter that put his entire mission in jeopardy.
Rudge: Are you saying we had an undercover agent aboard and I wasn't informed?
The Doctor: Well, you may have been a suspect.
Rudge: Me?
The Doctor: Together with everyone else on this voyage.
Rudge: Is all this guesswork, or have you any more tricks up your sleeve?
The Doctor: No tricks, Mister Rudge. I knew Hallett, and admired him. But I assure you, until I removed that face plate I had no idea he was on board.
Rudge: All nice and lily white, Doctor, but it does leave one nasty little problem.
The Doctor: It does?
Rudge: How did you know the dead man wasn't a Mogarian?
Trial room
Valeyard: Yes, how did you know? Have you been editing the Matrix and denying the court all the evidence to which it is entitled?
Inquisitor: That would be a serious offence, Doctor.
The Doctor: At the risk of appearing impertinent, Sagacity, I would point out that you, the Valeyard, and everyone here present could have acquired the same knowledge.
Inquisitor: Perhaps we may hear your explanation.
The Doctor: With respect, you will not hear it from me.
Travers (on screen): Switch on your translator.
Atza (on screen): Surely we are approaching the sector with the Black Hole of Tartarus.
Travers (on screen): There's no danger. The safety margin is more than adequate.
Ortezo (on screen): That is hardly a denial.
Enzu (on screen): Simply a bromide.
The Doctor: As you saw, the bogus Mogarian did not switch on his translator.
Valeyard: Very astute of you, Doctor, but don't stop there. Let us assume the m*rder*d man was responsible for the mayday call. Perhaps you'll now direct your deductive gifts towards justifying his extraordinary behaviour.
Inquisitor: Yes, the investigator Hallett's methods were very unorthodox.
The Doctor: Agreed, and I am indebted to the prosecutor for putting his finger on the nub of my defence, the reason why I could no longer stay on the sidelines.
Lounge
Mel: Anyone there could have poisoned his drink.
The Doctor: Providing us with a plethora of suspects.
Mel: Us? Do I detect a commitment at last? Because of Hallett's death? You said you admired him.
The Doctor: I did. He was one of a rare breed. A maverick. Even the highly organised society of the thirtieth century has need of his kind. He'll be missed. And he left these seeds for me to find.
Mel: To lead you to where I've been telling you all along. The Hydroponic Centre.
Corridor
Bruchner: What are you doing away from your post? The Isolation room is under no circumstances to be left unguarded. If it happens again, I shall report you to the Commodore.
Cargo hold
Mel: Hallett must have sent that mayday call.
The Doctor: Yes, he wanted me here as a catalyst, and to divert attention away from his own activities.
Mel: You'd do that without being asked.
The Doctor: Hallett was an unorthodox man, but he was also a subtle man. So why did he resort to such blunderbuss tactics? Why use me as a Judas goat?
Mel: Well, he was running out of time. The mayday message said as much. Perative traitor be identified before landing Earth. I'd guess the incomplete word was imperative, wouldn't you?
The Doctor: Do you know, I've always envied you that.
Mel: I shall probably regret this, but go on, I'll buy it. Envied me what?
The Doctor: Your amazing ability for almost total recall.
Mel: Compliments. You are undergoing a change.
The Doctor: I could have been comparing you to an elephant. Well, figuratively speaking. They never forget.
Mel: Doctor, I realise you're trying to take my mind off poor Edwardes.
The Doctor: If you'd rather wait here...
Mel: No.
Hydroponics centre
Mel: What have you got there?
The Doctor: A leaf from Hallett's pocket.
Mel: I didn't see you take it.
The Doctor: Ah ha! Neither did anyone else. Another one of my tricks.
The Doctor: What do you make of these pods, Mel?
Mel: I'm not into agronomy. Ask the professor.
The Doctor: Ah. Thremmatology. The professor said she was a thremmatologist.
Mel: You're going to have to enlighten me. It's out of my range.
The Doctor: The science of breeding or propagating animals and plants under domestication.
Mel: I'm not much wiser.
The Doctor: Well, think, Mel. You've got a good brain. Think.
The Doctor: I wonder what came out of this?
Gymnasium
Bruchner: Will you end this charade, this pathetic pretence at normality. Can't you accept we're on the brink of disaster?
Doland: Bruchner, will you stop panicking? Our work must remain secret whatever the cost.
Bruchner: You're completely without conscience, Doland, I'm aware of that, but I expected the professor to grasp the enormity of our folly.
Doland: So you're suggesting that we jeopardise years of scientific research for the sake of some hypothetical danger?
Lasky: Exactly. We've no reason to believe the results of our experiments are other than benign.
Bruchner: Benign? Have you been in the Isolation Room lately?
Lasky: An unfortunate mishap that has no relevance to this situation. In any case, it's academic now.
Bruchner: I lack your lofty detachment.
Lasky: Do you also lack loyalty, Bruchner, to your colleagues. Before we left Mogar, we agreed that our discovery should be divulged to no one, no one, until we reached Earth. Unless you have concrete evidence to prove there is danger, I expect you to keep your word.
Bruchner: You simply don't understand, do you. The crime we are committing in the name of science will make us infamous!
Bruchner: That's assuming there's anyone left to pass judgement.
Outside cabin 8
Janet: Decided to get some rest, Mister Kimber?
Kimber: Yes, though I doubt if I'll sleep. At my age, one doesn't like to be reminded of mortality.
Janet: May I fetch you a warm drink? It might help.
Kimber: Thank you. That's very gracious.
Janet: It's the stewardess, sir.
Cabin 8
Janet: I've brought your warm drink, sir. Shall I leave it on the dressing table?
Corridor
The Doctor: What's a thremmatologist doing in an isolation room wearing a surgical mask?
Mel: Seeing as there's only one way to find out, you've got two problems.
The Doctor: Two?
Mel: Apart from getting rid of the guard, you're going to need a mask, and you can hardly ask the professor to lend you hers.
Mel: Did you hear that?
The Doctor: Quickly, the lounge! There are passengers trapped! On the double, man! There are lives at stake.
Isolation room
`
The Doctor
COLIN BAKER
Melanie
BONNIE LANGFORD
The Valeyard
MICHAEL JAYSTON
The Inquisitor
LYNDA BELLINGHAM
Professor Lasky
HONOR BLACKMAN
Commodore
MICHAEL CRAIG
Rudge
DENYS HAWTHORNE
Janet
YOLANDE PALFREY
Doland
MALCOLM TIERNEY
Bruchner
DAVID ALLISTER
Grenville / Hallett
TONY SCOGGO
Kimber
ARTHUR HEWLETT
Edwardes
SIMON SLATER
Atza
SAM HOWARD
Ortezo
LEON DAVIS
Guard/First Guard
HUGH BEVERTON
Duty Officer
MIKE MUNGARVAN
Second Guard
MARTIN WEEDON
Mutant / Ruth Baxter
BARBARA WARD
First Vervoid
PEPPI BORZA
Second Vervoid
BOB APPLEBY
Assistant Floor Manager
KAREN LITTLE
Costumes
ANDREW ROSE
Designer
DINAH WALKER
Incidental Music
MALCOLM CLARKE
Make-Up
SHAUNNA HARRISON
Producer
JOHN NATHAN-TURNER
Production Assistant
JANE WELLESLEY
Production Associate
JUNE COLLINS
JENNY DOE
Script Editor
ERIC SAWARD
Special Sounds
d*ck MILLS
Studio Lighting
DON BABBAGE
Studio Sound
BRIAN CLARK
Theme Arrangement
DOMINIC GLYNN
Title Music
RON GRAINER
Visual Effects
KEVIN MOLLOY
COLIN BAKER
Melanie
BONNIE LANGFORD
The Valeyard
MICHAEL JAYSTON
The Inquisitor
LYNDA BELLINGHAM
Professor Lasky
HONOR BLACKMAN
Commodore
MICHAEL CRAIG
Rudge
DENYS HAWTHORNE
Janet
YOLANDE PALFREY
Doland
MALCOLM TIERNEY
Bruchner
DAVID ALLISTER
Grenville / Hallett
TONY SCOGGO
Kimber
ARTHUR HEWLETT
Edwardes
SIMON SLATER
Atza
SAM HOWARD
Ortezo
LEON DAVIS
Guard/First Guard
HUGH BEVERTON
Duty Officer
MIKE MUNGARVAN
Second Guard
MARTIN WEEDON
Mutant / Ruth Baxter
BARBARA WARD
First Vervoid
PEPPI BORZA
Second Vervoid
BOB APPLEBY
Assistant Floor Manager
KAREN LITTLE
Costumes
ANDREW ROSE
Designer
DINAH WALKER
Incidental Music
MALCOLM CLARKE
Make-Up
SHAUNNA HARRISON
Producer
JOHN NATHAN-TURNER
Production Assistant
JANE WELLESLEY
Production Associate
JUNE COLLINS
JENNY DOE
Script Editor
ERIC SAWARD
Special Sounds
d*ck MILLS
Studio Lighting
DON BABBAGE
Studio Sound
BRIAN CLARK
Theme Arrangement
DOMINIC GLYNN
Title Music
RON GRAINER
Visual Effects
KEVIN MOLLOY