Spearhead from Space

[UNIT Tracking station]

(On Earth, a bored, sweaty, uniformed radar operative sees a line of dots appear on his screen. He grabs the internal telephone.) TECHNICIAN: Duty Officer, please. Urgent. (A woman in the same uniform enters.) OFFICER: What is it? TECHNICIAN: I've got something on here, ma'am. Something strange. OFFICER: Are you sure it's not just interference? Something to do with the heat wave? TECHNICIAN: No, ma'am. There's something on there. OFFICER: Scan closer. Still very high. TECHNICIAN: Coming down fast though, ma'am, and heading this way. OFFICER: They must be meteorites. TECHNICIAN: But they're flying in formation. (Vapour trails in formation are formed in the atmosphere. In Oxley Woods, a poacher is concealing a snare trap when he looks up to see a group of very artificial objects whistling down towards him. He dives for cover. Boom.) TECHNICIAN: They've come down. OFFICER: Where? TECHNICIAN: Sector five. Epping. OFFICER: Bearing? TECHNICIAN: Just working it out. You know, I still think it was a formation, ma'am. There was a shape. (The poacher uses a stick to prod at the smoking area where the object landed. He reveals a pulsating light under the layer of steaming hot soil, so he covers it over again.) OFFICER: Control have reported that meteorite storm to UNIT HQ. TECHNICIAN: So Control didn't think they were meteorites either? OFFICER: What else could they be? Don't let your imagination run away with you. TECHNICIAN: I suppose they must have been meteorites. Mustn't they? (The Tardis materialises in Oxley Woods. The door opens and a grey-haired figure falls face down into the heather.)

[Brigadier's office]

(A woman with her red hair in a tight bun is chauffeured through an underground area, past a checkpoint. The office is at the end of a corridor with vent ducting along it.) BRIGADIER: Yes, ask her to come in. (He greets the woman at the door.) BRIGADIER: Ah, good. Miss Shaw, I'm Lethbridge-Stewart. Do come in and sit down, will you? LIZ: Was all that nonsense out there really necessary? Identity passes? Guards? I was even searched. BRIGADIER: Security. Rather amusing, don't you think? No, you don't. LIZ: I have an important research programme going ahead at Cambridge. BRIGADIER: Yes, I know. An expert in meteorites, degrees in medicine, physics and a dozen other subjects. Just the sort of all-rounder I've been looking for. LIZ: How I feel doesn't matter? BRIGADIER: We need your help, Miss Shaw. LIZ: I'm just not interested in security work. BRIGADIER: Security? LIZ: Producing invisible ink. That sort of thing. BRIGADIER: We're not exactly spies here at UNIT. LIZ: Then what do you do, exactly? BRIGADIER: We deal with the odd, the unexplained, anything on Earth, or even beyond. LIZ: Alien invaders? Little blue men with three heads? BRIGADIER: Ten tons of alien material drift through space and land on this planet every day. LIZ: And do no harm to anyone. BRIGADIER: Early this morning a shower of about fifty meteorites landed in Essex. LIZ: Landed? Most meteorites don't even reach the Earth's surface. They usually burn up in the atmosphere. BRIGADIER: These didn't. These particular meteorites came down through a funnel of thin, super-heated air about twenty miles in diameter, for which no one has an explanation. LIZ: There must be an explanation, a natural one. BRIGADIER: I hope so. We didn't find one last time. LIZ: Last time? BRIGADIER: Six months ago, a smaller shower of meteorites, about five or six, landed in the same area. LIZ: No, that's impossible. The odds against two lots of meteorites landing in exactly the same place must be incredible. BRIGADIER: They are, Miss Shaw. They are.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

(A UNIT officer is with a doctor as a man is carried in on a stretcher.) HENDERSON: You've no idea who he is? MUNRO: Not a clue. We found him unconscious beside a police box, of all things. HENDERSON: In the middle of the woods? MUNRO: Yes. We thought he was dead at first. HENDERSON: I see. Well, I'd better go and have a look at him.

[Brigadier's office]

BRIGADIER: Figures from the Institute of Space Studies, Baltimore. Do you realise that in our section of the galaxy, there are over five hundred planets capable of supporting life? LIZ: Why is Earth any more likely to be attacked now than during the last fifty thousand years? BRIGADIER: In the last decade, we've been sending probes deeper and deeper into space. We've drawn attention to ourselves, Miss Shaw. LIZ: Aren't you being a bit alarmist? BRIGADIER: Since UNIT was formed, there've been two attempts to invade this planet. LIZ: Really? BRIGADIER: We were lucky enough to be able to stop them. There was a policy decision not to inform the public. LIZ: Do you seriously expect me to believe that? BRIGADIER: It's not my habit to tell lies, Miss Shaw. LIZ: I'm sorry, but it is a fantastic story. BRIGADIER: We were very lucky on both occasions. We had help from a scientist with a great experience of other life forms. LIZ: Really? Who was this genius? BRIGADIER: Well, it's all rather difficult to explain. We used to call him the Doctor. (A phone buzzes.) BRIGADIER: Yes?

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

(Captain Munro is reporting in using the public pay phone.) MUNRO: Munro here, sir. I'm in the Ashbridge Cottage Hospital.

[Brigadier's office]

BRIGADIER: What the dickens are you doing there? Have you found any of those meteorites?

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

MUNRO: No, sir. All we've found is an unconscious civvy. BRIGADIER [OC]: Well? MUNRO: He was lying beside a police box, sir. Abandoned, by the look of it, right in the middle of Oxley Wood.

[Brigadier's office]

BRIGADIER: A police box? Munro, this man you found. MUNRO [OC]: He's here at the hospital, sir, undergoing treatment. BRIGADIER [OC]: Has he said anything? MUNRO [OC]: No, sir. Not a syllable. He's out to the wide. BRIGADIER: Listen, Munro. I want an armed guard put on that police box at once. Nobody is to be allowed near it, do you understand? Nobody.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

MUNRO: A guard, sir? Very well, sir. Oh, do you want the police told, sir, about the police box? They may want it back.

[Brigadier's office]

BRIGADIER: On no account. I'm coming down there immediately. In the meantime, carry on with the search.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital ward]

(A nurse puts an x-ray on a light box for Doctor Henderson to see.) NURSE: Ready, sir. HENDERSON: Thank you, nurse. Is this somebody's idea of a joke? NURSE: Sir? HENDERSON: Look at that. NURSE: His heart, sir. HENDERSON: If that is his heart, nurse, what is this. NURSE: I, I don't know, sir. HENDERSON: Someone in the x-ray department having a game. You stay with the patient. I'll find out who the fool is.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital corridor]

(Henderson pushes past Mullins the welsh porter vacuuming the carpet. His bleeper goes off as he gets near an internal telephone so he picks up the handset and dials zero.) HENDERSON: Henderson here. (He signals Mullins to turn off the vacuum cleaner.) HENDERSON: Doctor Henderson here. You're calling me? LOMAX [OC]: (scottish) Look here, Henderson, what's the idea of playing stupid tricks? HENDERSON: Me playing tricks? Who is that? LOMAX [OC]: Doctor Lomax, path lab. You just sent up a blood sample for cross matching. HENDERSON: Yes, that's right. Just routine. LOMAX [OC]: Listen, Henderson, I will not tolerate stupid practical jokes. It wasn't human blood and you know it. HENDERSON: What do you mean, not human blood? I took it from the patient myself. LOMAX [OC]: It is not a human blood type. The platelet stickiness shows that. Henderson, are you there? Hello? HENDERSON: Doctor Lomax, I took that blood sample from an adult male patient. Now you tell me it's not human blood. I don't know if that makes me a doctor or a vet, but it's still my job to look after him. (Henderson puts the phone down and leaves.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

(Mullins goes to the public pay phone.) MULLINS: Oh, hello. Is that the Daily Chronicle? It is? Well, look, my name's Mullins. I'm a porter at the Cottage Hospital in Ashbridge. I understand you pay for stories. You do? Well, look, there's something very funny happening up here.

[Oxley Wood]

(The poacher has returned with a shovel and sack. The ground has stopped smoking now, and he digs up the pulsing, beeping one foot diameter object. He puts it in the sack then hears voices and goes into some nearby bushes.) FORBES [OC]: Keep on your track. (UNIT soldiers are scanning the ground with detectors.) FORBES: Move over. Keep in a straight line. (The poacher returns to his sack and leaves.) FORBES [OC]: Have you got something there?

[Ashbridge cottage hospital ward]

(The patient is restless. He hangs over the side of his bed, looking underneath it.) NURSE: What are you doing? DOCTOR: Shoes. Must find my shoes. NURSE: Oh no, you can't get up. Come on. DOCTOR: Unhand me, madam. HENDERSON: What's happening? NURSE: He tried to get out of bed. HENDERSON: What? NURSE: He's unconscious again now. (And we still haven't properly seen his face.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

(The Brigadier and Liz arrive in his staff car with a pennant fluttering from the bonnet. There is a press scrum in the reception area.) WAGSTAFFE: Why can't we see him? MUNRO: He's under medical care. WAGSTAFFE: Is that the real reason? Well, what are you chaps doing here? MUNRO: I'm sorry. I can't answer questions. REPORTER: Why not? Is it a security order? WAGSTAFFE: Has it anything to do with those meteorites? MUNRO: I'm sorry. There's simply nothing I can tell you. (A man with a very impassive face is watching proceedings as the Brigadier and Liz enter.) MULLINS: Look, stand back there now. Stand back. Let him through! WAGSTAFFE: Michael Wagstaffe, defence correspondent on the Daily Post. REPORTER: Can you tell us anything, sir? BRIGADIER: What about? WAGSTAFFE: Er, what's UNIT doing here, sir? Is it true there's a man from space in there? BRIGADIER: Nonsense. I don't know where you get these stories. REPORTER: We heard there's something odd about him. BRIGADIER: I know nothing about a man from space. WAGSTAFFE: Then why are you here, sir? BRIGADIER: Training exercise. MULLINS: Stand back, now. Let him through. Stand back now. REPORTER: Has your visit any connection with the meteorites that fell last night? Is that why you've cordoned off the wood? WAGSTAFFE: Did the man who was brought in here find one of the meteorites? REPORTER: Was he injured by them? WAGSTAFFE: Are these meteorites dangerous? BRIGADIER: I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later when WAGSTAFFE: Has he found it and hidden it away, perhaps? BRIGADIER: If there's a story, you'll be given it later. At the moment, I have no comment to make. MULLINS: All right, come on, stand back now, boys. No, boys, I can't let you go in there. It's more than my job's worth. Right now, clear away now. WAGSTAFFE: I think I've put my finger on it. That chap's found one of those meteorites and won't tell them where it is.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital corridor]

BRIGADIER: How did that lot get onto this? MUNRO: No idea, sir. They just appeared like swallows in the spring. BRIGADIER: Have you put a guard on that police box? MUNRO: Yes, sir. Two men with orders to keep strangers well away. BRIGADIER: Oh, Munro, see that they're issued with live ammunition, will you? MUNRO: Live ammunition? But sir BRIGADIER: That's an order, Captain. MUNRO: I'll see to it, sir. BRIGADIER: Good. MUNRO: Along here, sir. BRIGADIER: Thank you.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital ward]

(We see our time traveller's new face as he sleeps peacefully. Welcome Jon Pertwee to the show.) MUNRO: Oh, Doctor Henderson, this is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and, er? LIZ: Elizabeth Shaw. BRIGADIER: Well, how's your patient, doctor? Can we see him? HENDERSON: Well, you can see him, certainly. He's not making much sense yet. BRIGADIER: What, still unconscious, eh? HENDERSON: Most of the time. He has brief moments of consciousness and then slips back again. LIZ: Well, what's actually wrong with him? HENDERSON: I can't say. Never had a patient quite like him before. LIZ: How do you mean? HENDERSON: Well, his whole cardiovascular system is quite unlike anything I've ever seen. And I'm told his blood can't be identified. BRIGADIER: Splendid. That sounds like the Doctor. (The Brigadier goes over to the bed and rolls the man to see his face.) LIZ: Do you know him? BRIGADIER: What? No, I thought I might do, but he's a complete stranger. I've never seen him before in my life. (The Doctor wakes.) DOCTOR: Lethbridge-Stewart? My dear fellow, how nice to see you again. MUNRO: He knows you, sir. BRIGADIER: But he can't do. Look here. Can you hear me? Who are you? DOCTOR: Don't you recognise me? BRIGADIER: I'm positive we've never met before. DOCTOR: Oh, dear. Oh, I can't have changed that much, surely? Oh, I must see what they've done to me. Can I borrow, can I borrow a mirror, please? (Liz hands over a compact mirror.) DOCTOR: Thank you. Oh, no! Oh, no. Well, that's not me at all. No wonder you didn't recognise me. Oh, that face. That hair. Oh, I don't know, though. I think it's rather distinctive, actually. Don't you think? No, you don't. Oh, anyway, I'm tired. All this exercise and exertion. It's been too much. Have to get some sleep now. BRIGADIER: Now, just a minute. Wake up, man. Listen to me. HENDERSON: I think that's quite enough for the moment. His mind's obviously disturbed. Anyway, I'm afraid he's out again. BRIGADIER: Extraordinary business. Munro, I want this man brought to London HQ. When will he be fit to travel? HENDERSON: Difficult to say. BRIGADIER: I see. Well, as soon as possible, Munro. In the meantime, carry on the search for these meteorites. MUNRO: Very good, sir. BRIGADIER: Is there another way out of here? I want to avoid the press if possible. HENDERSON: This way. BRIGADIER: Thank you. (Henderson, the Brigadier and Liz leave. The Doctor opens his eyes.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital]

(A car is heard driving away.) WAGSTAFFE: Lethbridge-Stewart. He must have nipped out the back way. REPORTER: So he's not going to tell us anything. WAGSTAFFE: You know, there's a story here, Jimmy. They're trying to cover something. REPORTER: Porter, when can we see Doctor Henderson? MULLINS: Hey, look now, it's no good asking me. You'll just have to wait, so there. WAGSTAFFE: I'm going to ring the office. (But the phone is occupied by the impassive man.) WAGSTAFFE: Who is this chap, anyway? He's been hanging around for ages. REPORTER: I don't know. I've never seen him before. WAGSTAFFE: Did he tell you which paper he was on? MULLINS: Oh, him? No, he didn't tell me anything. He came in with the rest of you. I thought he was one of you lot. WAGSTAFFE: Excuse me, sir. Are you going to be much longer? You see, we've got some stories to phone through and we'd like to use the phone if possible. (The man becomes alert, realises the receiver is still on its cradle and leaves.)

[Oxley Wood]

(The poacher is approaching the alert UNIT soldiers.) SEELEY: Don't point that thing at me, mister. FORBES: Where do you think you're going? SEELEY: Home. I belong these parts. FORBES: How did you get into this wood? It's restricted. SEELEY: You fancy buying a rabbit or two? FORBES: Oh, you're a poacher, are you? SEELEY: Ain't nothing so tasty as fresh rabbit. A bit of salt and a few onions. FORBES: Didn't you see the patrols on the road? SEELEY: Ah, but I reckon they never seen me. FORBES: All right, dad, get on your way, but don't come back until this wood it's de-restricted. You understand? SEELEY: You soldiers looking for them thunderballs, eh? FORBES: That's our business. SEELEY: Reckon if I know where to find one of them things, it'd be worth a tidy old bit, eh? FORBES: You know where one landed? SEELEY: I didn't say that, did I, son? I'm just asking. FORBES: Yeah, well, don't ask. Go on, push off.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital ward]

DOCTOR: My shoes? Where are my shoes? I must find my shoes. (The nurse is taking his pulse and tries to pull him back onto the bed.) DOCTOR: I must find my shoes. NURSE: Why? You don't need them. You're not going anywhere. DOCTOR: You don't understand, madam. It's most important. HENDERSON: How is he, nurse? NURSE: His pulse seems to have settled down, sir. Ten a minute. HENDERSON: Yes, well, the trouble is, we don't know what's normal for him, do we? Hello! How are you feeling? DOCTOR: Shoes. HENDERSON: I beg your pardon? DOCTOR: Shoes. NURSE: They seem to be worrying him, sir. I think he believes they've been stolen. HENDERSON: Well, if he wants them, he might as well. Where are they, nurse? NURSE: In his locker. (Henderson takes a pair of black shiny shoes from the bedside locker.) HENDERSON: Ah! Are these what you're looking for? (The Doctor grabs them and rolls over, clutching the shoes to his chest.) HENDERSON: I wonder if the brain's damaged? NURSE: He does seem to be behaving very erratically. HENDERSON: Fetch the sphyg, would you, nurse? I'll take his blood pressure again while I'm here. (Henderson sits at a table to make his notes. The Doctor shakes his shoes and a key falls out. He puts the shoes under his pillow and lies down again.) HENDERSON: Thank you, nurse. (Footsteps have entered, it is not the nurse. One man karate-chops Henderson and the other puts tape over the Doctor's mouth. They knock him out, put him into a wheelchair and head off down the corridors.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital corridor]

(A short while later, Henderson staggers along to be met by Munro.) MUNRO: Doctor? What's wrong? What's happened?

[Outside the hospital]

(The impassive man stands by an ambulance. The two men are about to back the Doctor into it when he grabs the wheels and heads off down the driveway. The three men get into the ambulance and drive off just as Munro and a soldier come out of the main entrance.) MUNRO: Shoot the tyres!

[Oxley Wood]

(Gunshots are heard.) FORBES: Here, something's happening.

[Outside the hospital]

MUNRO: Come on. This way. (Running down the driveway.) MUNRO: Sergeant Harris! Cut across to the main gate. Stop the ambulance! Shoot at the tyres! The rest of you go round the back! (The Doctor sends his wheelchair down a crazy-paving path. The soldiers guarding the Tardis cock their weapons. In the hospital grounds, just past the pergola, the wheelchair is on its side and a figure is under a blanket.) MUNRO: There he is! (But under the blanket is a pillow.) MUNRO: He got away. Start searching.

[Oxley Wood]

(A rustling in the shrubs. It is the Doctor in his hospital gown, still with his mouth taped.) FORBES: Who's there? (The second soldier shoots the Doctor.) FORBES: Who told you to fire, you stupid (The Doctor is once again face down in the heather.)

Episode Two

[Oxley Wood]

MUNRO [OC]: Stop! Stop firing, you fool. (Munro pushes his way through the shrubs and checks the Doctor's pulse.) MUNRO: What happened? FORBES: Gave us no warning, sir. MUNRO: How could he with his mouth taped? FORBES: Is he dead, sir?

[Ashbridge cottage hospital ward]

HENDERSON: No. BRIGADIER: Unconscious? HENDERSON: Yes, he's more unconscious than anyone I've ever seen. Have a look at this EEG. BRIGADIER: EEG? HENDERSON: This machine registers the electrical activity of the brain. Normally the line fluctuates considerably, even when the patient is unconscious. MUNRO: Not a lot going on, is there? HENDERSON: Nothing whatsoever. Completely passive. BRIGADIER: Perhaps that bullet did more damage than you suspected? HENDERSON: No, that only caused a slight burn on the scalp. It couldn't possibly account for this condition. BRIGADIER: Then what is the cause? Could it be shock? HENDERSON: Could be, but I doubt it. No, he's is such a deep coma that I'd say it is BRIGADIER: Is what? HENDERSON: Self-induced. BRIGADIER: Is that possible? HENDERSON: For you or for me, no. But we're dealing here with a completely alien physiology. All I can do is guess. BRIGADIER: Well, is it safe to move him? HENDERSON: I honestly don't know, but I'd advise against it. BRIGADIER: Oh, very well. You'll keep me informed of any change in his condition? HENDERSON: Yes, of course. BRIGADIER: Thank you. HENDERSON: Oh, by the way. BRIGADIER: Yes? HENDERSON: We found this in his hand when he was brought in. We had to prise his fingers open. He was really hanging on to it. (Henderson holds up the key to the Tardis.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital gardens]

BRIGADIER: The police box is on its way back to headquarters, so you can double the guard here. MUNRO: Very good, sir. BRIGADIER: Where's this meteorite your chaps found? MUNRO: Here we are, sir. (Munro lifts an ammunition box onto a classic balustrade by the path.) MUNRO: It's all we could find, sir. It must have broken up when it hit the ground. (It is a transparent section of the cover of one of the objects.) BRIGADIER: It's light, very light. MUNRO: Some sort of plastic, sir? BRIGADIER: Yes, possibly. I'll take it back with me. Have it taken to my car, will you? MUNRO: Yes, sir. Hawkins. (With the order passed on to a soldier, Munro and the Brigadier walk on.) BRIGADIER: Keep a twenty four hour guard. It's possible these people might try again. MUNRO: Right, sir. BRIGADIER: What puzzles me is why they should want to abduct the Doctor. MUNRO: Could he be tied up with them in any way, sir? BRIGADIER: Yes, it's possible. Anyone get a good look at them? MUNRO: I've got a picture of one of them, sir. He was here earlier posing as a reporter. (Munro takes out a picture of the Brigadier when he arrived at the hospital, with the impassive man behind him.) BRIGADIER: How did you get this? MUNRO: I made a check on all the press men, sir. One of the photographers took this shot when you arrived with Miss Shaw, and two of the nurses saw this man leading the raiding party. BRIGADIER: What about the others? MUNRO: I only got a glimpse of them, sir. There was something odd about their faces.

[Plastics factory]

(Sections of plastic doll are being made in moulds then pulled out and thrown into bins. Later they have hair and eyes added. A platinum blonde woman leads a man through the factory floor then out past the conveyer belt taking the finished dolls to the packing room. Her face is shiny, as if she is very hot and needs to apply some powder.) RANSOME: There are a lot of changes. And you're new, aren't new? (The woman leads him upstairs, past a door labelled 'Out of Bounds, Security Sector') RANSOME: That's my workshop, or rather, it was. What the devil's been going on here? (The impassive man follows them quietly.)

[Office]

HIBBERT: (Into phone.) Yes, send him in. (Ransome enters.) HIBBERT: John, come in. We weren't expecting you. RANSOME: Weren't you? What's all this about? (Ransome puts a letter on Hibbert's desk.) HIBBERT: The letter explains everything. RANSOME: It explains nothing! Look. When I invented this doll, you promised me full backing. You sent me to the States to interest the Americans in joint production. You said, that if it all worked out, you'd make me a partner. Well, here it all is. Agreements ready to sign, advance orders, the lot. And what do I find on the mat when I get home? A letter giving me the push. Look, we worked on this project together. Well, you helped me finish the designs. Now you've put the chop on it just like that. For heaven's sake, George, you owe me some sort of explanation. HIBBERT: It's er, it's the new policy. We've, er, got a new policy. RANSOME: What's happened to this place? Most of the staff gone, security notices everywhere. HIBBERT: We're developing a new process. It's all very secret. We've, er, changed everything. RANSOME: I'll say you have. The whole layout of the factory floor is different. And my workshop, what's in there now? HIBBERT: Stay away from there, John. RANSOME: But what about my equipment? HIBBERT: We'll, we'll send it to you. RANSOME: Just like that? HIBBERT: I don't think you should have come here, John. You must go away at once. It's not safe. RANSOME: What's the matter? You keeping saying we. We've got a new policy. Well, who is we? (The impassive man enters as Hibbert rubs the back of his neck.) HIBBERT: There's no point in going on with this, Mister Ransome. Goodbye. RANSOME: Look, if there's anything wrong, perhaps I can help you? HIBBERT: (impassive) There's nothing wrong. My letter explained everything. Goodbye. (Ransome takes his letter and leaves, staring the impassive man right in the eyes on his way out. On the landing he stops outside the door to his old lab, then notices the impassive man watching him and goes down the stairs.)

[UNIT laboratory]

(Liz Shaw is rigging some pipes up to chemical equipment.) BRIGADIER: Am I interrupting? LIZ: Yes. BRIGADIER: Getting on all right? LIZ: Fine, just fine. BRIGADIER: Sorry about the makeshift conditions here, but we had to set this lab up for you in rather a hurry. LIZ: Fine, fine. BRIGADIER: Found out what it's made of? LIZ: No, but it isn't a meteorite. BRIGADIER: You've established that much? LIZ: Meteorites are the debris from comets. This has been manufactured. (She places the shard in a beaker of solution.) BRIGADIER: And it comes from space? LIZ: There are some faint traces of heat fusion. It's possible. BRIGADIER: Still sceptical? LIZ: Of course. I deal with facts, not science fiction ideas. BRIGADIER: Miss Shaw, I'm not a fool. I don't chase shadows. What you don't understand is that there might, there is a remote possibility that outside your cosy little world other things could exist. LIZ: No need to get tetchy. BRIGADIER: Well, sometimes you can be very aggravating. LIZ: Me? What about you? You really believe in a man who's helped to save the world twice? With the power to transform his physical appearance? BRIGADIER: I'm not sure yet. It may not be the same man. LIZ: An alien who travels through time and space in a police box?

[Office]

HIBBERT: It's all becoming difficult! (The impassive man finally speaks.) CHANNING: All you have to do is to continue running the factory as though nothing had changed. That is your sole concern, Hibbert. Do you understand? HIBBERT: I understand. CHANNING: Good. Two energy units are still missing. HIBBERT: Do you think the stranger at the hospital has found one of them? CHANNING: It's possible but it is dangerous to go near him again. HIBBERT: Then what can you do? CHANNING: The units may have embedded themselves in soft ground. That would account for the fact that their signals are no longer being received. HIBBERT: How will you locate them then? CHANNING: They will increase their pulsation signals. HIBBERT: You talk about these energy units as though they were living things. CHANNING: All energy is a form of life.

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Outside his thatched, timber-framed cottage, Seeley the poacher drags a large chest from an outhouse. He opens it to reveal a pulsing, beeping globe. Out in the woods a figure dressed in a boiler suit turns. It has the head of a shop front dummy. Then it moves off.) MEG [OC]: Sam, you in yet? (Seeley quickly puts the globe in the outhouse and shuts the door as a woman comes out of the cottage.) MEG: What are you doing out there? Why didn't you answer me? SEELEY: Never heard you come in. MEG: What you doing with that old box? SEELEY: Nothing. MEG: Sam Seeley, you've not been thieving again, have you? Cos if you have SEELEY: Oh, that's nice, isn't it, eh? Accusing your own husband. (Meg opens the chest.) SEELEY: Satisfied? Now go and get me some grub, woman. I'm hungry. MEG: You watch your tongue. And don't think I'm going to have that dirty old box in my house. (Meg goes back to the cottage. Once she is inside, Seeley opens the outhouse door. Meg comes back outside again.) SEELEY: What are you staring at, woman? (Meg goes back indoors and Seeley puts the globe back in the chest. The mannequin in the woods stops.)

[UNIT laboratory]

(The Tardis has been delivered.) LIZ: Now, all you have to do is to borrow a key from the police. BRIGADIER: I've got the key here. Henderson found it in the Doctor's hand. (A buzzer sounds. The Brigadier goes to the intercom.) BRIGADIER: Yes? SOLDIER [OC]: Major General Scobie to see you, sir. BRIGADIER: Scobie? Well, what on Earth? All right, show him up. (to Liz) He's our liaison with the regular army. Got to keep in with him. LIZ: You don't expect me to salute him, I hope? BRIGADIER: You could bring yourself to be a little less astringent, Miss Shaw. LIZ: I didn't ask to come here, remember? (Scobie is escorted in.) SCOBIE: Ah, thank you, thank you. Sorry to interrupt, Stewart. BRIGADIER: Worry not, sir. It's always a pleasure to see you. SCOBIE: This meteorite operation. Any further? BRIGADIER: Not much, I'm afraid. We found the fragments of one though, sir. Miss Shaw is studying them. SCOBIE: Ah. BRIGADIER: Oh, Miss Shaw, General Scobie. LIZ: How do you do. SCOBIE: Ah, how do you do. Lucky fellow, Stewart, having a pretty face around the place. BRIGADIER: She's not just a pretty face, sir. SCOBIE: Oh, no, no. Newspapers seem to have gone wild over this business. Dear chap, what are you doing with a police box? BRIGADIER: Well, sir LIZ: Camouflage, General. It's not really a police box. It's a spaceship.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital car park]

(Forbes is looking at a vintage red motor car in a Reserved for Doctors parking space when Munro drives up in a Land Rover.) MUNRO: Where did that old crate come from? FORBES: It belongs to some hospital bigwig, sir. Just arrived. Made me promise to keep an eye on it. MUNRO: Never mind that. Hop in, Corporal. Hurry, man! Section three have turned up one of these meteorites.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital corridor]

(The Doctor, still in hospital gown and socks, sneaks out of the ward.) HENDERSON [OC]: Good journey down, sir? BEAVIS [OC]: Terrible! You know, there's no room for a decent car on the roads these days. (The Doctor enters a room labelled 'Doctors Only.' It appears to be a changing room, with lots of clothes on hangers and in lockers. Through another door is a grand Victorian marble sunken bath with cast iron shower unit designed like a crown. BEAVIS: What are all those toy soldiers playing at? HENDERSON: They found the patient, sir. BEAVIS: Shot him, eh? HENDERSON: Yes.

[Ashbridge cottage hospital bathroom]

(Someone is taking a shower, and singing.) HENDERSON: Yes, it was rather unfortunate. (It is the Doctor, with a prominent tan line above his buttocks, and wearing a shower cap. He keeps his back to the hospital doctors.) BEAVIS: I left my car down at the main entrance. They won't go crashing about with guns or anything like that, will they? (Doctor Beavis removes his red silk lined cape and washes his hands.) HENDERSON: No, sir, I'm sure it'll be all right. Perhaps you'd care to come to my office and have a look at the patient's records before you examine him. BEAVIS: Good idea. I could do with a cup of tea, too. HENDERSON: Yes. (The doctors leave. The Doctor grabs a towel and starts looking for clothes. He grabs a pair of black trousers from a hanger in the changing room. Meanwhile, in the woods, the soldiers dig up a globe. The mannequin turns and marches off through the bracken. The Doctor has donned a frilly shirt, floppy bow tie and Beavis' cape. He tries on a flat cap but decided that Beavis' fedora is a better look for him.)

[Ashbridge cottage hospital corridor]

(The Doctor steps out of the room.) HENDERSON [OC]: An error in that report. (The Doctor goes back inside.) HENDERSON: These anomalies are completely inexplicable. BEAVIS: Let's go and see this, er, this freak. I shan't believe it until I see it with me own eyes. HENDERSON: I assure you, sir, that everything I've told you (They go round the corner to the ward and Doctor comes out of the room.) BEAVIS [OC]: All right. Where is he? Where is he? HENDERSON [OC]: Through here. (The Doctor leaves in the opposite direction.) HENDERSON: Nurse! BEAVIS: Is this some sort of prank? Where is this patient? HENDERSON: That's what I'd like to know, sir. Nurse! (Outside, the Doctor looks at the assortment of Doctor's cars parked up in front of the entrance. The little MG is locked so he climbs into Beavis' stately roadster and fiddles with the controls. The horn works. He gets the engine started, eventually finds reverse and NF3226 is driven away.)

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: Oh well, at least he won't get very far. LIZ: You mean, before your men shoot him again? BRIGADIER: I don't find that funny. Without this machine, the Doctor's stuck. He can't leave Earth. LIZ: You were about to open it? BRIGADIER: Yes. LIZ: I think you should. There might be a policeman locked inside. (The Brigadier puts the key in the lock but it won't turn.) BRIGADIER: That's odd. LIZ: Wrong key.

[Oxley Wood]

(Forbes and another soldier bring the ammo box containing the globe to Munro's Land Rover. He opens the box.) MUNRO: Weird looking thing. FORBES: Yes, sir. MUNRO: Get it into the vehicle and back to the UNIT labs right away.

[Land Rover]

(Forbes is driving along when a figure steps out into the road.) FORBES: Watch out! (He swerves, crashing into a defenceless tree. The mannequin walks over to where Forbes has left his blood on the windscreen then goes to the back and picks up the ammo box.)

[Control room]

(Mannequins in boiler suits stand along one wall. A strange coffin-sized tank on a pedestal contains what looks like a giant ganglion. Channing answers the intercom on a very sophisticated panel with lots of dials and meters.) CHANNING: Yes? HIBBERT [OC]: Hibbert. (Channing turns a dial and Hibbert enters.) HIBBERT: General Scobie will be here soon. CHANNING: I know. I'm almost finished.

[UNIT HQ]

(The Doctor drives into the underground garage to be stopped by security.) DOCTOR: All right, all right, I suppose you want to see my pass? Yes, well, I haven't got one. And I'm not going to tell you my name, either. Now you just tell Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that I want to see him. Well, don't just stand there arguing with me, man! Get on with it!

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: The Doctor? SECURITY [OC]: Yes, sir. He says you know him. BRIGADIER: Show him up at once. How the devil did he find this place? LIZ: Your mystery man with the police box? BRIGADIER: Yes. (The Doctor enters.) DOCTOR: Ah, there you are, my dear fellow. I expect you're wondering how I found you here? BRIGADIER: Yes. (The Doctor shows off a wrist watch which is beeping.) DOCTOR: Fortunately I had this with me, you see. It homes on the Tardis. Oh, there she is. How nice of you to look after her for me. Do you happen to have got the key, by the way? BRIGADIER: I do, but it won't work. DOCTOR: Ah ha! But it will for me. BRIGADIER: Not so fast. I have a lot of questions to ask you. DOCTOR: My dear Brigadier, it's no earthly good asking me a lot of questions. I've lost my memory, you see? BRIGADIER: How do I know that you're not am imposter? DOCTOR: Ah, but you don't, you don't. Only I know that. What do you think of my new face, by the way? I wasn't too sure about it myself to begin with. But it sort of grows on you. Very flexible, you know. Could be useful on the planet Delphon, where they communicate with their eyebrows. Well, that's strange. How on Earth did I remember that? BRIGADIER: All right, all right, if I accept that you are the Doctor, there are still a lot of things. Oh, by the way, this is Miss Shaw. (The Doctor wiggles his eyebrows.) DOCTOR: That's Delphon for how do you do. Delighted, Miss Shaw, delighted. LIZ: What are you a doctor of, by the way? DOCTOR: Practically everything, my dear. BRIGADIER: From what we can gather, you arrived last night in the middle of a shower of meteorites. DOCTOR: Did I really? How terribly exciting. BRIGADIER: Well, objects from space, at any rate. You must realise that I can't let you go until I'm sure there's no connection. DOCTOR: I've no recollection of last night. That's most unfair. How could I possible what on earth are these? LIZ: Those are bits of what the Brigadier thought might be a meteorite. DOCTOR: Plastic? LIZ: It's not thermo-plastic and neither is it thermo-setting. And there are no polymer chains. DOCTOR: That's interesting. I wonder what was inside. LIZ: Inside? DOCTOR: Yes, well, you can tell from the shape this was a hollow sphere. I should think the space inside was about three thousand cubic centimetres, wouldn't you? BRIGADIER: Do I gather you're going to help us, Doctor? DOCTOR: If I do, will you give me the key to the Tardis? BRIGADIER: Possibly. DOCTOR: Then go away and let Miss Shaw and I get on with our work, there's a good fellow. Look, do I really have to call you Miss Shaw? LIZ: No, Liz, just Liz. DOCTOR: Liz. That's much better. How many of these things actually came down? BRIGADIER: About fifty, as near as we can estimate. DOCTOR: And you found only fragments, no whole ones? BRIGADIER: One, yes. But there was an accident. It disappeared. DOCTOR: Then the answer to your question's obvious, isn't it? By the time your search party arrived, the rest of these things had been collected. Collected and taken somewhere. The question is, where? (Ransome is carefully negotiating the barbed wire on top of the back wall of the factory.)

[Office]

(General Scobie is standing next to a life-sized dummy with his features.) HIBBERT: I must explain this is only a rough approximation, General. SCOBIE: Yes, it does seem to need a few finishing touches. CHANNING: That is why we asked you here, General. Our measuring techniques are very accurate but the equipment isn't transportable. SCOBIE: I see. Well, I hope it turns out all right. CHANNING: It will, I assure you, General. If you'll come this way. (Ransome pries open a back door to the factory, picks up a large crowbar and heads up a metal staircase. It brings him out at a door between his old workshop and Hibbert's office. He starts crowbarring the workshop door.)

[Control room]

(Ransome enters, puts the crowbar down and gazes at the strange equipment in his old room. As he goes over to the tank in the middle, one of the mannequins walks up behind him. Ransome turns, his eyes popping out of his head.)

Episode Three

[Control room]

(The fingers of the mannequin's right hand drop to reveal a weapon. Ransome dodges behind the tank then runs for the exit. The mannequin fires but misses, then chases Ransome out of the building. Ransome runs down the fire escape and hides in a small lean-to as Scobie, Hibbert and Channing walk past.)

[Factory yard]

SCOBIE: It seems awfully deserted. HIBBERT: We're turning over to automation, General. It means we can keep staff down to a minimum. SCOBIE: Splendid. Don't get machines going on strike, eh? (Channing lags behind, and looks up at the mannequin at the top of the fire escape. It drops its gun arm and head and backs into the building. Ransome comes out of hiding and leaves.)

[Factory entrance]

HIBBERT: Your car is waiting for you, General. SCOBIE: Well, goodbye, Mister Channing. I hope the replica turns out well. It's been a most interesting afternoon. CHANNING: Goodbye, sir. HIBBERT: It was very good of you to come down here, General. I know how busy you must be. SCOBIE: My pleasure, gentlemen. Oh, by the way, any chance of seeing the model you're making of me, before it's sent to Madame Tussauds? CHANNING: Yes, we'll arrange that. (Ransome climbs over the factory wall and runs away, terrified.)

[Control room]

HIBBERT: How did you know it was Ransome? CHANNING: I saw him. And he was detected. That is his brain print. HIBBERT: What will you do? CHANNING: Send an Auton. HIBBERT: But it will kill him! CHANNING: It is necessary, Hibbert. He saw the security area and all this. Think! Think. Then you see that it is necessary. HIBBERT: Yes, necessary. How will it find him? (Channing looks at a mannequin and it walks towards him.)

[Oxley Wood]

(A UNIT soldier standing by a Land Rover when Ransome comes running through the woods.) RANSOME: Please, please help me! (Ransome collapses.)

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Seeley is chopping wood.) MEG: Just seen more of them soldiers coming through the village. SEELEY: Still looking for them thunderbolts, I bet. MEG: They're saying they found one. That's how that poor fellow got killed. SEELEY: Killed? Who got killed? MEG: The soldier who was driving. They reckon his neck was broke clean through. SEELEY: Accident or something? MEG: According to the army. SEELEY: Well then. MEG: Well, drove right off the road, he did. Something must've made him do that. SEELEY: I've never known a woman as fanciful as you, Meg. MEG: Then why are the soldiers still here, then? Constable Wilkes said that poor boy's face was terrible to look at. Something must have frightened him dreadful afore he died.

[UNIT field HQ]

(In a tent with some packing cases, Munro tries to get Ransome to drink some tea.) MUNRO: Come on, come on. Try and drink some. (Ransome doesn't swallow.) RANSOME: No eyes, no hair, just stares. MUNRO: What? RANSOME: Men. Creatures! Made in the factory! MUNRO: Sergeant, I want this man sent to HQ right away.

[UNIT laboratory]

(The test equipment is getting more sophisticated.) LIZ: Are you getting a reading? DOCTOR: No. LIZ: Well, that's it. I can't think of anything else we can try. DOCTOR: Well, don't worry, m'dear. We've done our best. LIZ: I can't understand it. We've tried a dozen different methods of analysis and haven't identified a single element. DOCTOR: Yes, what results can you expect with this primitive equipment? LIZ: Primitive? We've got lasers, spectrographs, micron probes. DOCTOR: Yes, yes, yes, yes, I know all that. But what we really need is a lateral molecular rectifier. LIZ: What on Earth's that? DOCTOR: Not on Earth, unfortunately. But I think I have one in the Tardis. LIZ: In there? DOCTOR: Yes. I'm sure I have one somewhere. But I'm sure I used one some time in the past, or was it the future? LIZ: Doctor, you really do have scientific equipment in there? DOCTOR: My dear Liz, I have an entire laboratory. LIZ: Yes, yes, I'm sure you have. DOCTOR: No, no, no, it's true. Well, you think that the Tardis isn't big enough, don't you? That's because you keep looking at it simply as a police box. LIZ: Well, it is only a police box. DOCTOR: Oh no, not once you get inside it, it isn't. You see, Liz, the Tardis is dimensionally transcendental. LIZ: Oh. I see. DOCTOR: Yes, it would take far too long to try and explain that to you. The important thing is that we've got to get this material analysed. LIZ: And you could do that with your equipment? DOCTOR: Child's play. The only trouble is Lethbridge-Stewart has taken away the key and I can't get inside. LIZ: Well, I suppose it is your property. DOCTOR: Yes. Of course, there is always the possibility that you might be able to persuade him to part with it.

[UNIT field HQ]

(Munro is reporting in on the field telephone.) MUNRO: We've drawn a very tight cordon round the area, sir, so if anybody has taken it, they're not going to get far. Right, sir, I will. SEELEY: Here, what are you doing? SERGEANT: Civilian here, sir. Wants to know how much reward for finding a thunderball. MUNRO: What's your name? SEELEY: Seeley, sir. Sam Seeley. MUNRO: And where do you live, Mister Seeley? SEELEY: Local, sir. Brook cottage. MUNRO: All right. So, you've got something to tell us about these meteorites? SEELEY: Me, sir? MUNRO: You asked if there was a reward for finding one. SEELEY: Ah, that's right. MUNRO: So you know where to find one? SEELEY: I never said that, sir. MUNRO: Then why are you interested in a reward? SEELEY: Well, well, in case I might happen come across one like. MUNRO: Where you out the day those meteorites landed? SEELEY: Meteorites? Don't know about that. Thunderballs I calls them. MUNRO: So you were out? SEELEY: I might have been. Then again, I might not. MUNRO: Did you see any of them land? Mister Seeley, I want the truth!

[Control room]

CHANNING: The Autons have lost Ransome. He is beyond their range. HIBBERT: Suppose he goes to UNIT? CHANNING: Do you think they will believe him? HIBBERT: They might come here. CHANNING: Then you will deal with them. Soon it will be the final phase of the plan. HIBBERT: But there's still one energy unit missing. CHANNING: The swarm leader. We will find it. HIBBERT: What about Ransome? Is he safe now? CHANNING: Unless he returns to the area. If he does, the Autons will track him down and destroy him.

[Brigadier's office]

RANSOME: The face was smooth, shiny. It was plastic! Made in the factory. BRIGADIER: Why do you say that? RANSOME: Well, just before this thing came after me, I passed a whole line of them. They were all exactly the same. BRIGADIER: It's quite a story, Mister Ransome. (Liz knocks and enters.) BRIGADIER: Yes? LIZ: Can I have a word with you, Brigadier? BRIGADIER: Not now, I'm busy. LIZ: This is rather important. You see, the Doctor thinks BRIGADIER: Miss Shaw, your work in this laboratory is part of one big exercise. You'll have to be patient. You say this, er, creature was armed? RANSOME: It took off its hand. (Liz sees the Tardis key on the Brigadier's desk.) RANSOME: And there was a sort of tube, and the whole of the arm appeared to be hollow. Well, you should see the hole it blasted in the wall! (Behind the Brigadier's back, Liz takes the key and leaves.) BRIGADIER: Then there was an explosion? RANSOME: Yes, I suppose so. Not loud, but it was more like a sort of whoosh that a rocket makes. BRIGADIER: And this didn't attract anybody's attention? RANSOME: Well, I didn't see a living soul in that part of the factory. They seem to have sacked all the workers. It's completely automated now. BRIGADIER: How long have you been away in America, Mister Ransome? RANSOME: Er, six months. BRIGADIER: None of this was in evidence before you left? New production lines, changing over to automation, not steps that occur overnight, are they? RANSOME: I agree with you, sir, but it's happened! BRIGADIER: The key.

[UNIT laboratory]

(Liz give the key to the Doctor.) DOCTOR: I'm afraid he's going to be awfully cross with you. LIZ: Well, if you're quick, he mightn't even miss it. (The Doctor opens the Tardis door.) LIZ: It didn't turn when the Brigadier tried to open it. DOCTOR: Well, that's because the lock has a metabolism detector. (The Doctor enters the Tardis. The Brigadier enters the lab.) BRIGADIER: Miss Shaw, where's that key? You've given it to him. LIZ: He needed some equipment. BRIGADIER: Equipment? I had no idea you could be so gullible. That's an excuse. We shan't see him again. LIZ: Oh, what do you mean? BRIGADIER: Listen. (The Tardis dematerialisation sequence starts, but it is stuttering.) BRIGADIER: He's going. (There is the sound of a small explosion inside the Tardis, some smoke comes out and the noise grinds to a halt. The Doctor emerges, coughing.) DOCTOR: Just testing. I wanted to see if the controls LIZ: Doctor, you tricked me. DOCTOR: Yes. The temptation was too strong, my dear. It's just that I couldn't bear the thought of being tied to one planet and one time. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. BRIGADIER: It won't? Give me the key, Doctor. DOCTOR: Must I? The Tardis no longer works, as you saw. BRIGADIER: Well, will you give me your word not to try to escape again? DOCTOR: I couldn't escape now if I wanted to. They've trapped me here! LIZ: Who have? DOCTOR: That mean, despicable, underhanded lot! They've changed the dematerialisation code. BRIGADIER: The what? DOCTOR: The dematerial. It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand anyway. BRIGADIER: There's a great deal that I don't understand. But one thing I did understand, Doctor, was that you promised your help. DOCTOR: Yes, well, I've tried to help you the best way I can, but I need more evidence. I need more to go on. BRIGADIER: Well, I think I may be able to help you.

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

MEG: Sam? (Sam's not there, so Meg goes to the outhouse and drags the chest out.)

[Brigadier's office]

BRIGADIER: What made you go back to the factory? RANSOME: I wanted to try to talk to George on his own. And I wanted to get a look at that security area. BRIGADIER: Do you think he's afraid of something? RANSOME: I don't know, but this other man who came in BRIGADIER: Did you find out who the other man was? RANSOME: Yes, his name's Channing. Now, he seemed to have some sort of mental hold over George, almost as if he was hypnotised. DOCTOR: You know, Brigadier, I think perhaps a visit to that plastics factory would be in order, don't you?

[UNIT field HQ]

SEELEY: If I don't get home soon, I'm going to be in terrible trouble with the missus. Let me go, sir. MUNRO: Don't worry, Mister Seeley, we'll let your wife know where you are. Now, about the meteorites? SEELEY: Look, sir, it's a mistake. I haven't seen nothing. MUNRO: If you tell us where it is, you can go home. SEELEY: Worth a bit of money, I reckon. MUNRO: So you do know where there is one? SEELEY: I might. MUNRO: Seeley, I'm not going to bargain with you. You tell me everything you know, and tell me quick. (Back at the cottage, Meg unlocks the chest and uncovers the beeping globe.)

[Control room]

CHANNING: It's less than two miles away. HIBBERT: Aren't you going to arrange to collect it? CHANNING: That is being done. (An Auton in the bracket turns and moves.) HIBBERT: Suppose it stops signalling again? CHANNING: We're nearly there. Through the trees, across the road. The swarm leader is held in that small building!

[UNIT field HQ]

MUNRO: In a trunk? SEELEY: Couldn't think of no other place to hide it. MUNRO: Don't you realise these things might be dangerous? (A car door slams outside. The Brigadier, the Doctor and Liz enter. Ransome follows.) MUNRO: This man, sir. He's found one of the meteorites. BRIGADIER: Where is it? MUNRO: At his house, sir. I was about to take a party and collect it. BRIGADIER: Right. We'll go in my car. You know the way, Munro? MUNRO: Yes, sir. BRIGADIER: Oh, Mister Ransome, would you mind staying here? DOCTOR: Brigadier, I think we'll come with you, if you don't mind. BRIGADIER: Good. Might be as well. MUNRO: Sergeant, put Seeley in the truck and keep an eye on him.

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Meg covers up the globe again and locks the chest. A dog starts barking.) MEG: Oh, be quiet, Barney. Stop that row. (She gets the chest back into the outhouse just as the dog yelps and goes quiet. Then glass breaks and furniture is being smashed.) MEG: Barney, what are you at?

[Seeley's cottage]

(Meg goes into the parlour and hears the sounds coming from the next room.) MEG: Sam, is that you? Sam, what do you reckon you're playing at? (There is a figure in a boiler suit standing there.) MEG: Who are you? What do you want? (The Auton turns to face her. Meg screams.) MEG: You get away! My husband's about, you know!

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Meg runs past the outhouse to a lean to, gets a double-barrelled shot gun and loads it. The Auton approaches.) MEG: You saw me load it. Get out of here or I'll blow a hole in you. Get back! I'm not joking! Get back! (She fires both barrels but they just leave a stain on the boiler suit. The Auton advances.) MEG: No. Oh, get back. No! Oh!

[Control room]

CHANNING: The signal is muffled. Search! We must find it! We must find it.

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Meg is lying on the ground. The Auton is inside, ripping the picturesque little cottage apart. Finally it comes out and goes to the outhouse.)

[Seeley's cottage]

(Everything is quiet until someone knocks at the door.) BRIGADIER [OC]: Mrs Seeley? Mrs Seeley? (The Brigadier, Munro, Liz and the Doctor pick their way over broken furniture and china.) BRIGADIER: Check the rest (There is a noise outside.)

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(The Brigadier and Munro rush out to see the Auton with the open chest. They shoot at it.) BRIGADIER: Get a platoon out here, fast!

[Control room]

CHANNING: Recall! Recall! HIBBERT: What's happening? Channing? CHANNING: UNIT. Too many. Recall! (The Doctor and Liz run out of the cottage to see the Auton flee, while the Brigadier takes a final shot at it.) CHANNING: Recall! HIBBERT: Channing? CHANNING: There were too many. HIBBERT: What? CHANNING: The swarm leader has been taken by UNIT soldiers. HIBBERT: How do you know that? CHANNING: I know. HIBBERT: Why didn't the Auton destroy them? CHANNING: Because I recalled it. It is too soon for a major battle. We must delay UNIT. (A beeping sound from the control unit.) CHANNING: Ransome has returned to the area. We shall also deal with him.

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

(Liz is tending to Meg, while the Doctor examines the globe.) BRIGADIER: How is she? LIZ: All right as far as I can tell. I think we ought to get her to hospital though. BRIGADIER: Right. I'll lay on an ambulance. (The Brigadier leaves.) DOCTOR: You know, this really is most interesting. We must examine it in the laboratory. LIZ: What do you make of it? DOCTOR: Well, I was right about the shape, wasn't I? The signal must have been muffled by the metal of that trunk. It's most interesting. LIZ: Suppose it explodes like the other one? DOCTOR: There's no reason why it should as long as we treat it gently. Unless, of course LIZ: Unless what? DOCTOR: It has a built-in destruct impulse. In that case, we'll just have to risk it. LIZ: Doctor, suppose that thing comes back for it? (That thing is currently cutting its way through the canvas at the field HQ. The Auton enters and points its weapon at Ransome.)

[Control room]

CHANNING: Destroy! Total destruction! (The Auton fires. Ransome is blasted backwards off the bench he was lying on. Then his body explodes in a cloud of red gas which expands then contracts back on itself, leaving nothing behind. The Auton leaves.)

[Outside Seeley's cottage]

MUNRO: The creature got away into the woods, sir. BRIGADIER: Munro, I want a cordon round that plastics factory. MUNRO: Very good, sir. BRIGADIER: That creature, robot, or whatever it was, obviously came from there. Mister Ransome described something very like it. DOCTOR: Yes, and until we know a bit more about these things, I think we should move very cautiously.

[UNIT field HQ]

SERGEANT: But he couldn't just have walked out, sir. I've had a guard on the front of the tent all the time. BRIGADIER: Never mind about the front, what about the back? That's how he got away. MUNRO: He must have cut his way out. DOCTOR: No, he didn't cut his way out, but somebody cut their way in. This canvas has been ripped from the outside. BRIGADIER: So they took him from under our very noses. DOCTOR: If Mister Ransome is anywhere, he'll be at that plastics factory. So I suggest that we go there immediately.

[Office]

(The Brigadier, Liz and the Doctor are escorted through the empty factory by the silent woman. While they wait outside Hibbert's office the Brigadier turns to see Channing staring at him through the shaped glass of another office door. The multiple eyes effect is slightly unnerving. A little later, inside.) HIBBERT: What an extraordinary story! What made him say such a thing? BRIGADIER: We have to check on it, Mister Hibbert, however extraordinary it may be. HIBBERT: I'd like to hear him tell this story in front of me. LIZ: He was coming with us but, unfortunately, he disappeared. HIBBERT: Ah, he was a brilliant young man in many ways. LIZ: Then why did you dismiss him? HIBBERT: Oh, he had some wild scheme for making electronic dolls. The design was quite impractical. He was very unpleasant when I turned him down. BRIGADIER: So you feel he told this story just to cause you trouble? HIBBERT: I'm afraid so. It must have been praying on his mind. DOCTOR: What exactly are you making here? HIBBERT: Er, plastic dolls of course, but our new line is display mannequins for shops. We send them all over the country. DOCTOR: And can these mannequins actually move? HIBBERT: Well, they're flexible, of course. That's why we've captured the market. But I can assure you, they can't move on their own. BRIGADIER: So Ransome may have been simply making trouble? HIBBERT: I can't think of another explanation. DOCTOR: Yes, well, I've think we've seen all we can possibly see here. I'm sorry if we've been a nuisance. HIBBERT: Not at all. I'll see you out.

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: It was the man who led the raid on the hospital. I recognised him from his photograph. LIZ: And what will you do now? (The Doctor has the globe hooked up to what looks like an EEG machine.) BRIGADIER: I've put a call through to General Scobie. If I can get his authority, I'll surround the place and raid it. DOCTOR: Here, come over here, you two. Look at this. LIZ: Have you got something? DOCTOR: Yes. BRIGADIER: What does that thing do? DOCTOR: It measures mental activity. It's fascinating, isn't it? LIZ: You mean there's some form of intelligence inside that globe? DOCTOR: Yes. You know, it's as I suspected. This globe is only a container. I wonder whether we can communicate with it? (The intercom buzzes.) BRIGADIER: Yes? MUNRO [OC]: Your call to General Scobie, sir. BRIGADIER: Good.

[Scobie's house]

SCOBIE: What's that, Stewart? Auto Plastics? Yes, I was there about two hours. Why?

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: I wondered if you'd noticed anything irregular, sir? We've had some rather strange reports about that factory.

[Scobie's house]

SCOBIE: Nothing at all. No, perfectly normal. Yes, pleasant couple of fellows, I thought. Right. I see. Well, that sounds pretty serious. Yes, I'll come and see you straight away. I'll give you all the support you need. (There is a knock at the door.) SCOBIE: Well, goodbye, Stewart. (Scobie opens the front door to - himself! His shiny-faced duplicate enters and advances as Scobie backs away.) SCOBIE: No! No!

Episode Four

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: What are you actually trying to do, Doctor? DOCTOR: Well, it appears that in there we have what one might loosely call a brain. Fifty megacycles, Liz. If we can establish the frequency on which it operates (Bang, flash.) DOCTOR: Oh, dear. LIZ: We overloaded the circuit, I think. BRIGADIER: Doctor, you were saying that this is some kind of brain. DOCTOR: Yeah, or part of a brain. An intelligence. Yes, that's probably nearer the mark. BRIGADIER: Sending signals somewhere. Where to? DOCTOR: Well, the rest of itself, surely? LIZ: The other globes that came down? DOCTOR: Mmm hmm. LIZ: They're all part of one entity. Let's say a collective intelligence. BRIGADIER: Can it see us? DOCTOR: My dear fellow, it's not sentient. LIZ: No, our measurements prove there's no physical substance inside it. BRIGADIER: But, if it is has no physical form DOCTOR: No, once here it can presumably create a suitable shell for itself. Otherwise there'd be no point in coming. LIZ: The plastics factory. DOCTOR: Yes. (The intercom buzzes.) BRIGADIER: Yes? MUNRO [OC]: General Scobie calling, sir. BRIGADIER: Put him on. As soon as I get his authority, we'll move in.

[Office]

SCOBIE 2: Stewart? About that Auto Plastic factory. Yes, but it's off limits, I'm afraid. They've got some important work on hand. It mustn't be interfered with.

[UNIT laboratory]

BRIGADIER: Sir, if you'll just. Oh, he's hung up. LIZ: What are you going to do now? BRIGADIER: There's not much I can do, except go over his head. Yes, I'll get on to the Home Secretary and if I don't get him to revoke that order, I'll go to UNIT headquarters in Geneva. DOCTOR: That's going to take time. BRIGADIER: The old fool. Just because he feels flattered they made a facsimile of him. DOCTOR: Facsimile? Of General Scobie? BRIGADIER: A plastic replica, yes. Apparently, they make these things for Madame Tussauds. It's one of their sidelines. DOCTOR: Oh my goodness. The waxworks.

[Madame Tussauds display room]

(We are treated to the display of famous US Presidents - Kennedy, Nixon, Washington, Lincoln and a few others I'm not sure of. Eisenhower probably. The Doctor and Liz are with other visitors.) DOCTOR: Well, I think this is the right room. Liz? LIZ: What? DOCTOR: Do you recognise any of these people? LIZ: Yes, of course. I think all that group are top civil servants. Hey, that's odd. They're all Government types. There are no astronauts, famous personalities. You know, people like that. DOCTOR: Yes. Oh, excuse me? ATTENDANT: Yes, sir? DOCTOR: I understand these figures aren't made of wax. Is that right? ATTENDANT: Yes, that's right, sir. These are plastic. It's an entirely new process. DOCTOR: Are they supplying any more or is the tableau complete now? ATTENDANT: Oh, they're coming in with them all the time, sir. They brought that fellow in just this morning. LIZ: General Scobie! DOCTOR: Well that was quick. When did he visit the factory? LIZ: Yesterday afternoon. (The Doctor makes a close examination of the figure.) LIZ: What are you doing, Doctor? Doctor, what are you doing? DOCTOR: Shush. Liz, if you were making a model of someone, would you put a wristwatch on it. LIZ: I might do, if it had to look really authentic. DOCTOR: Yes. Would you go to the trouble of winding it up and keeping it at the correct time? I think you and I had better have a word with Lethbridge-Stewart.

[Brigadier's office]

MUNRO: I'm afraid not. He's been out all day. Trying to see the Home Secretary, I gather.

[Madame Tussauds office]

(The Doctor is using a pay phone.) DOCTOR: Well, when he comes in, tell him that I'll call again later, will you? Goodbye. LIZ: Now what will we do? DOCTOR: Well, there's only one thing we can do. Wait. LIZ: Wait for what? DOCTOR: Closing time.

[Control room]

HIBBERT: What will it look like when it's ready? CHANNING: I cannot tell you, yet. HIBBERT: But you must know what it looks like. You made it. CHANNING: I made nothing. I merely provided an environment tank in which the energy units can create the perfect life form. HIBBERT: I don't understand. CHANNING: Of course you don't. How can you? HIBBERT: You talk as though you were not CHANNING: Don't struggle against me, Hibbert. Trust me. We must work together. HIBBERT: Yes, of course. CHANNING: Good. The swarm leader has to be brought here. HIBBERT: But UNIT have taken it. How can we? CHANNING: You forget we have General Scobie. HIBBERT: He's just a copy, Channing. If he's detected CHANNING: You have only seen the Autons. Crude weapons with a single offensive function. The facsimiles like Scobie's are perfect reproductions, even down to brain cells and memory traces. We shall activate them all tonight. You will see then how effective they are.

[UNIT laboratory]

SCOBIE 2: Odd looking object. MUNRO: May I ask, sir, what you intend doing with it? SCOBIE 2: The government is sending it to the Royal Geophysical Laboratory. MUNRO: With respect, sir, I think the Brigadier ought to be informed first. I have no authority to part with it. SCOBIE 2: You can tell Brigadier Stewart I ordered you to hand it over. MUNRO: My orders must come through UNIT, sir. SCOBIE: Captain Munro, you may be attached to UNIT but you're still in the army. Will you give me the globe? Or shall I take it and arrest you for mutiny? MUNRO: You leave me no alternative, sir.

[Madame Tussauds display room]

(The attendant turns off all the lights and leaves. The Doctor and Liz sneak out from behind a curtain near Gandhi and the British political figures.) LIZ: I don't like this. DOCTOR: Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of. They're only dummies. I think. It's funny how their eyes seem to follow you, isn't it? LIZ: Hilarious. (The Doctor moves away from Liz.) LIZ: Doctor? Doctor? Doctor? DOCTOR: Hmm? LIZ: Oh! I thought I heard something. DOCTOR: No, it's only your imagination. LIZ: Are they plastic? DOCTOR: Yes, yes, I'm sure they are. LIZ: But when you talked about the watch, you meant that this is the real General Scobie. DOCTOR: Yes, and his plastic facsimile is walking around somewhere. Now just LIZ: Someone's coming. DOCTOR: Quick! Back behind the curtain. (The Doctor and Liz hide. Channing and Hibbert enter.) HIBBERT: What's wrong? CHANNING: There is an alien life form somewhere near. I can sense it. HIBBERT: There's only you and me here, and the facsimiles, and Scobie. CHANNING: Scobie. Yes. Open the door. HIBBERT: What do you have to do to activate them? CHANNING: Nothing. They know it is time. (The anonymous civil servants and military walk out of the room.) HIBBERT: Where are they going? CHANNING: To take their places. It is time for them to begin work. (Channing and Hibbert follow the facsimiles out and close the door. The Doctor and Liz come out of hiding. Only Scobie is left of the entire tableau.) HIBBERT: What are you doing here? You shouldn't DOCTOR: Shush. HIBBERT: Channing will DOCTOR: Shush, shush, shush! If you tell Channing that we're here, the Autons will kill us, as I think they killed your friend Ransome. HIBBERT: Ransome? I had to dismiss him, because Channing said DOCTOR: Channing is controlling your mind. You must resist him. Channing is your enemy. The enemy of the entire human race! HIBBERT: Channing is my partner. New policy DOCTOR: Now listen to me, Hibbert. You've got to get away from Channing. Get away and think. Now, come to UNIT. I can help you. CHANNING [OC]: Hibbert! (The Doctor and Liz freeze against a curtain as Channing enters.) CHANNING: What are you doing? HIBBERT: I was just checking. CHANNING: There is nothing to check. We are finished here.

[Brigadier's office]

DOCTOR: It's the facsimiles, Brigadier. They're moving. They've just left the waxworks. LIZ: You've got to act quickly, Brigadier, or else it'll be too late. By tomorrow DOCTOR: By tomorrow, they will have taken over the key positions in the entire country. Now you've got to move against that factory now!

[Control room]

(The globe is delivered.) SCOBIE 2: If they move against you, I shall be ready for them. CHANNING: Humans are not predictable. It is growing difficult to maintain control over Hibbert. SCOBIE 2: Hibbert is no longer necessary. CHANNING: No. We need no one now. (Channing takes the globe and goes to a piece of equipment with a steel duct. He reverently places the globe under the opening. In the tank, the creature starts pulsing. Channing adjusts a few controls and the whole place pulses in time with the globe until all its energy has been transferred. The neuron in the tank swings back and forth.) CHANNING: At dawn, we will activate the Autons. SCOBIE 2: Good. CHANNING: Just a few more hours, then. Just a few more hours.

[UNIT laboratory]

(The Doctor is building a contraption which involves an awful lot of wires of many colours.) LIZ: It's nearly half past five. Can't we take a break? I can hardly keep me eyes open. DOCTOR: And a red. Here it is. Hold onto those for a moment, will you? (Liz takes a bunch of wires from the Doctor.) LIZ: Just think. The rest of the world is fast asleep. (Apart from the milk man on his round. Across the road from Lilley and Skinner, in John Sanders display window, five shop front dummies start to move. A policeman talking to a workman in his hut hears the sound of breaking glass and runs round the corner to be confronted by them. He is killed. A woman screams. More dummies start to move, breaking out and walking down the street, killing anyone they meet including the unsuspecting bus queue.)

[UNIT laboratory]

(The Brigadier is on the telephone.) BRIGADIER: Are you sure? Well, get on to the police, man! Try the army! Well, keep trying! DOCTOR: It's started, hasn't it? BRIGADIER: Yes, all over the country. Window dummies coming alive, attacking police stations, barracks, communication centres. LIZ: The radio's dead as well. DOCTOR: Now look, you two, we haven't got much time. LIZ: Well now the globe has gone, we can't be sure if this is really going to work. DOCTOR: Well, of course it's going to work. BRIGADIER: What will work? DOCTOR: Well, I'm trying to devise a weapon that we can use against them. Well, it's not very efficient, I know, but it's the best that I can do. And then you've got to take me to the security area of that factory. BRIGADIER: Well, how can I? I can't even contact my support platoons. DOCTOR: Well, how many men can you raise? BRIGADIER: Just my headquarters staff. DOCTOR: Well then, that'll have to do, won't it?

[Control room]

(Hibbert is circling the tank with a metal bar.) DOCTOR [OC]: Channing is controlling your mind. You must resist him. Channing is your enemy, enemy, enemy, enemy, enemy. (Hibbert tries to prise the top off the tank but fails, so he hits its control panel instead. It shorts out, then green liquid starts to spurt from a hole.) CHANNING: Stop! HIBBERT: No, Channing. You can't stop me now. CHANNING: You should not have left the factory, Hibbert. (Hibbert forces himself not to look at Channing.) HIBBERT: Channing! I can think when I'm away from you. I know what's been happening. I know what I've done. You've been controlling my mind! The Doctor was right! CHANNING: You have spoken to him? HIBBERT: Who are you? What are you? CHANNING: We are the Nestenes. HIBBERT: Nestenes? CHANNING: We have been colonising other planets for a thousand million years. Now we have come to colonise Earth. HIBBERT: Colonise it? Then what is going to happen to man? You'll destroy us. CHANNING: You will be spared, Hibbert. You have helped us. HIBBERT: I helped you? (The worlds smallest military convoy leaves UNIT HQ - one Land Rover 90 with the Brigadier and Munro, and the old jalopy with the Doctor and Liz.) CHANNING: There's nothing you can do, Hibbert. HIBBERT: If I destroy this, I destroy all of you! (Hibbert starts hitting the tank with his metal bar. An Auton drops it's fingers and shoots him.) CHANNING: Destroy. Total destruction! (The Auton fires again. Hibbert's body vanishes.)

[Factory rear entrance]

(The Doctor puts a small piece of explosive in the lock and lights the fuse.) DOCTOR: Will you stand well back, please? (The lock blows out and the door swings open. There must have been three troops in the back of the Landy because they follow the Brigadier and Munro into the factory grounds.)

[Control room]

COMPUTER: In Section D. Attention! Attention! Intruders in Section D!

[Factory yard]

(Halfway up the fire escape.) LIZ: Someone sent our support troops after all. (It is Scobie 2 with a squad of regular army.) SCOBIE 2: Brigadier Stewart!

[Control room]

SCOBIE 2 [on monitor]: You and your men are under arrest!

[Factory yard]

BRIGADIER: This isn't General Scobie! Now, listen to me. SCOBIE 2: Order your men to lay down their arms, Brigadier, or they will be made

[Control room]

SCOBIE 2 [on monitor]: To do so.

[Factory yard]

DOCTOR: Perhaps I can settle this argument? I mean, as to whether this really is General Scobie. (The Doctor plugs one end of a cable into his contraption, which Liz is carrying, and walks down the fire escape holding the other end, which is a small reflecting dish with an antenna.) DOCTOR: General Scobie, would you be kind enough to say a few words into the microphone? SCOBIE 2: What sort of foolery is this? DOCTOR: Switch on, Liz! (Scobie 2 collapses with a cry.) MUNRO: You've killed him! DOCTOR: I don't think so. You see, he was never really alive. (The Doctor rolls Scobie 2's body over to reveal that the face is now a blank. In Tussauds, the real man comes back to consciousness and sways, startling the visitors.) BRIGADIER: It may be difficult to grasp but that's the situation we've got to deal with. You will place your men under my orders, is that clear? ARMY: Very good, sir. (The Doctor and Liz walk away.) LIZ: Doctor, where are we going? DOCTOR: If we're quick, my dear, we can save everybody a lot of trouble.

[Factory]

(The Doctor and Liz hide as a patrolling Auton approaches. As it draws near - ) DOCTOR: Now! (The Auton collapses.) DOCTOR: Well, there we are, my dear Liz. Who said we got the wrong frequency?

[Factory yard]

(Five Autons come out of the factory.) BRIGADIER: Take cover! Fire! (A pointless gun battle starts, with the army having no effect on the Autons.) BRIGADIER: Fall back! (A soldier is killed.)

[Control room]

(Liz crouches out of sight by the door as the Doctor strolls over to Channing.) CHANNING: You're too late. DOCTOR: On this planet, there is a saying that it is never too late. Good gracious! What on earth is this thing? CHANNING: A lifeform perfectly adapted for survival and conquest on this planet. DOCTOR: Is that what you look like on your own planet? CHANNING: No. We have no individual identity. DOCTOR: So this thing is a sort of collective brain, nervous system? CHANNING: Humanly speaking, yes. DOCTOR: Oh, but I'm not human. So, if you live as a group, you can be destroyed as a group, surely? CHANNING: You cannot destroy us. DOCTOR: I destroyed your facsimile of Scobie, therefore I can destroy all of you. CHANNING: No one has the power to destroy us, not even you. We are indestructible. (The army continues to lose the battle. One soldier foolishly takes cover behind a tank of transformer oil, clearly labelled Danger. Boom!) DOCTOR: So you see, Mister Channing, with this device I can eliminate you. CHANNING: No one can destroy the Nestenes! (Channing turns a dial on the tank to maximum and runs away. The lid of the tank lifts and steam pours out.) DOCTOR: Oh no! Switch on, Liz! Liz, switch on! LIZ: I have! DOCTOR: It's not working! (The Doctor starts fiddling with the tank controls.) DOCTOR: Liz, come on. Liz, come on, quick! Well, what's wrong with it? LIZ: Doctor, I'm trying. (While Liz checks all the connections, a green octopus-like tentacle comes out of the tank and wraps itself around the Doctor's neck. Liz looks round the corner to see him struggling with it as another tentacle wraps around a leg. Five of them are coming out of the tank now. As the Doctor's eyes start to pop out of his head, she plugs the cable back in and tries again.) LIZ: Now! (The Doctor manages to keep his end of the device vaguely pointing towards the tank. A few seconds later the neuron explodes and outside the Autons collapse. The tentacles writhe in their death throes then lie still. The Doctor untangles himself.) DOCTOR: You can switch off, I think, now, Liz. LIZ: Channing. (Channing is just another Auton now.)

[UNIT laboratory]

LIZ: Basically, it's the same as an ECT machine. Electric convulsion therapy. DOCTOR: Only much more powerful, of course. BRIGADIER: Well, it worked. Doctor? These Nestenes, will they try again? DOCTOR: Possibly. They're telepathic, so they certainly know what happened. BRIGADIER: If they do decide to launch a second attack, I hope we can count on your help again? DOCTOR: Yes, well, before we go into all that, Brigadier, I think we must discuss terms. BRIGADIER: Terms? DOCTOR: Yes. After all, you do want to take advantage of my services again, don't you? BRIGADIER: I think you'll find the salary is quite adequate. DOCTOR: Money? My dear chap, I don't want money. I've got no use for the stuff. BRIGADIER: Then what do you want? DOCTOR: Well, facilities to repair the Tardis, laboratory, equipment, help from Miss Shaw here. BRIGADIER: Very well. Anything you need. Within reason, of course. Is that all? DOCTOR: My goodness, no. Don't you realise that when I was stranded on this little planet of yours, I had nothing but these clothes that I Oh, my goodness! LIZ: What is it, Doctor? DOCTOR: Well, I've just realised. I don't even own these. I borrowed them from the hospital. And there's that car, too. Yes, you know, I took to that car. It had character. BRIGADIER: No, Doctor. That car must be returned to its owner. DOCTOR: Must it? Yes, yes, I suppose it must. Still, there's no reason why you couldn't find me something similar, is there? I mean, it could persuade me to stay, you know. BRIGADIER: Oh, very well. DOCTOR: Good. When can we go and choose it? BRIGADIER: Not yet. I must arrange for a full set of papers first. By the way, I've just realised. I don't even know your name. DOCTOR: Smith. Doctor John Smith.