Doctor Who (2005–…): Season 1, Episode 9 - The Empty Child - full transcript

Rose and the Doctor find themselves in 1941 London when the TARDIS receives an emergency signal from another time-traveling vehicle. While the Doctor tries to determine where the object may...

What's the emergency? It's mauve.

Mauve?

Universally recognised colour
for danger. What happened to red?

That's just humans. By everyone
else's standards, red's camp.

Oh, the misunderstandings! All
those red alerts, all that dancing!

I've hacked into the computer,
slaved the TARDIS. Wherever it goes,
we go! And that's safe? Totally.

OK - reasonably.
Should have said "reasonably" there.

No! It's jumping time tracks,
getting away from us!
What exactly is this thing?

No idea. Then why are we chasing it?
It's mauve and dangerous, and 30
seconds from the centre of London.

D'you know how long you can
knock around space without
happening to bump into Earth?

Five days? Or is that just
when we're out of milk?



All the species in all the universe,
and it has to come out of a cow!

Must've come down
somewhere quite close,

within a mile. And it can't have
been more than a month ago.

A month? We were right behind it.

It was jumping time tracks.
We're bound to be a little bit out.
Do YOU wanna drive?

Yeah. How much is a little?

A bit. Is that exactly a bit? Ish.

What's the plan, then?
You gonna do a scan for alien tech?

Rose, it hit the middle of London
with a loud bang. I'm gonna ask.

"Dr John Smith,
Ministry of Asteroids."

It's psychic paper, it tells you. . .
whatever you want it to tell me.

Not very Spock, is it, just asking?

Door, music, people - what do you
think? I think you should do
a scan for alien tech.

Gimme some Spock for once!
Would it kill ya?



You sure about that T-shirt?

Too early to say.
I'm taking it out for a spin.

Mummy!

Mummy!

Come on, if you're coming!
It won't take a minute.

Mum-my!

Doctor?
Doctor, there's a kid up there!

# For nobody else

# Gave me the thrill

# With all your faults
I love you still

# It had to be you

# Wonderful you. . . #

Are you all right up there? Mum-my!

# . .It had to be you. #

Excuse me! Excuse me, could
I have everybody's attention?

Just for a mo. Be very quick. Hello!
Um. . .

might seem like a stupid question,
but has anything fallen
from the sky recently?

Mummy!

OK, hang on, don't move!

Sorry, have I said something funny?

It's just there's this thing
I need to find. Would've fallen
from the sky a couple of days ago.

Would've landed near here. . .

.with a very loud. . . Quickly
as you can, down to the shelters.

.bang.

Mummy?

Balloon!

.Oh!

Oh!

Doctor!

Doctor!

Doctor!

OK, maybe not this T-shirt.

Rose?

You know, one day. . .

.just one day, maybe,

I'm gonna meet somebody who gets
the whole "Don't wander off" thing.

900 years of phone-box travel, it's
the only thing left to surprise me!

How can you be ringing?

What's that about - ringing?
What am I supposed to do
with a ringing phone?

Don't answer it.

It's not for you.

And how do you know that?
Cos I do.

And I'm telling ya.

Don't answer it.

If you know so much, tell me this -
how can it be ringing?

It's not even a real phone,
it's not connected, it's not. . .

Hello?

This is the Doctor speaking.

How may I help you?

'Mummy?

'Mummy!'

Who is this?

Who's speaking?

'Are you my mummy?' Who is this?

'Mummy!'

How did you ring here? This isn't a
real phone, it's not wired up to. . .

'Mummy?'

Rose?

Rose, are you in there?

The planes are coming.
Can't you hear 'em?

Into the shelter.
None of your nonsense. Now move it!

Come on! Hurry up,
get in there. Come on.

Arthur? Arthur, will you 'urry up? !
Didn't you hear the siren?

Middle of dinner, every night.
Bloomin' Germans! Don't they eat?

I can hear the planes. Don't you eat?
Oh, keep your voice down,
it's an air raid!

Get in! Look, there's a war on.
I know there is! Don't push me.

Get those lights out.
Everyone down to the shelter.

Jack, you going down to the shelter?

Only I've got to go off
on some damn silly guard duty.

Barrage balloon, eh? Must've come
loose. Happens now and then.

Don't you RAF boys
use them for target practice?

Excellent bottom!

I say, old man,
there's a time and a place.

Look, um, should really be off.

Sorry, old man!
I gotta go meet a girl.

But you've got
an excellent bottom too!

Many kids out there?

Yes, Miss. . .Ah! Still carving.

Sit and wait.

Got the whole air raid!

Look at that. Bet it's off
the black market. That's enough!

Wa-a-ah!

OK, I've got you.

Who's got me?

Who's got me and, you know, how?

I'm programming your descent pattern.

Stay still and keep your hands
and feet inside the light field.

Descent pattern? Oh, and can
you switch off your cell phone?

No, seriously. It interferes
with my instruments.

You know no-one ever believes that?

Thank you, that's much better.

Oh, yeah, that's a real load off(!)
I'm hanging in the sky
in the middle of a German air raid,

with a Union Jack across my chest
but, hey, my mobile phone's off(!)

Be with you in a moment.

The mobile communication
device indicates non-contemporaneous
life form.

She's not from around here, no.

Ready for you. Hold tight! To what?

Fair point.

Wa-a-ah!

I've got you. You're fine,
you're just fine.

The tractor beam, it can
scramble your head just a little.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

Sorry.
There was "hello" twice there.

Dull but, you know, thorough.

Are you all right? I'm fine.

Why, you expecting me to faint?
You look a little dizzy.

What about you?
You're not even in focus. . . !

Oh, boll. . . !

It's got to be black market. You
couldn't get all this on coupons.

Ernie, how many times? We're guests
in this house! We will not make
comments of that kind.

Washing up! Oh, Nancy!

Haven't seen you at one of these
before. He told me about it.

Sleeping rough? Yes, Miss.

All right, then.

One slice each. And I want
to see everybody chewing properly.

- Thank you, Miss.
- Thanks, Miss.

Thank you, Miss!

Thanks, Miss!

It's all right,
everybody stay where they are!

Good here, innit? Who's got
the salt? Back in your seats.

He shouldn't be here either.

So, you lot,

what's the story? What do you mean?

You're homeless, right?
Living rough? Why do you wanna know?

You a copper?
Course I'm not a copper.

What's a copper gonna do with you
lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?

I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't
be in London. Should've been
evacuated to the country by now.

I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm.

So why'd you come back?
There was a man there. . . Yeah.

Same with Ernie. Two homes ago.

Shut up! It's better on the
streets anyway. It's better food.

Nancy always gets the best food
for us. So that's what you do, Nancy?

What is? Soon as the sirens go,
you find a big family meal,

everyone's down
in the air raid shelter,

and - bingo - feeding frenzy
for the homeless kids of London!
As long as the bombs don't get you.

Something wrong with that?
Wrong? It's brilliant.

I'm not sure if it's Marxism
in action or a West End musical.
Why did you follow me?

What d'you want?
I want to know how a phone that
isn't a phone gets a phone call.

You seem to be the one to ask.
I did you a favour. I told you not
to answer it. That's all I'm sayin'.

Great, thanks! And I wanna
find a blonde in a Union Jack.

I mean a specific one, I didn't just
wake up this morning with a craving.
Anybody seen a girl like that?

What've I done wrong?
You took two slices.

No blondes, no flags.
Anything else before you leave?
Yeah, there is, actually,

thanks for asking. Something
I'm looking for. Would've fallen
from the sky, but not a bomb.

Not the usual kind, anyway.
Wouldn't have exploded.
Probably just buried itself.

And it would've looked
something like. . .this.

Mummy? Are you in there, Mummy?

Mummy?

Who was the last in? Him. Nah, he
came round the back. Who came in the
front? Me. Did you close the door?

I don't. . . Did you close the door?

Mummy? Mummy?

Mum-my!

What's this? Never easy being the
only child left out in the cold.
I suppose you'd know!

I do actually, yes.

It's not exactly a child.

Mum-my!

Right, everybody out. Across
the back garden. . .Now! Go! Move!

Come on, baby, we've got to go.

It's just like a game, just like
chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!

Mummy? Mummy?
Please let me in, Mummy.

Please let me in, Mummy.

You all right? Please let me in.

You mustn't let him touch you.
What happens if he touches me?

He'll make you like HIM.
And what's he like? I've gotta go.
Nancy, what's he like.

He's empty.

It's him.

He can make phones ring. He can.

Just like with that police box,
you saw!

'Are you my Mummy?'

'Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy.'

'Mum-my! Mum-my! Mum-my!'

You stay here if you want to!

Mummy. . . ?

Let me in, please, Mummy.
Please let me in!

Your Mummy isn't here.

Are you my Mummy? No mummies here.

Nobody here but us chickens.
.Well, this chicken.

I'm scared.

Why are those other children
frightened of you?

Please let me in, Mummy.
I'm scared of the bombs.

OK.

I'm opening the door now.

Better now? You got lights in here?

Hello. Hello. Hello.

Let's not start that again.

OK.

So, um,
who are you supposed be, then?

Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron,
Royal Air Force, American volunteer.

Liar. This is psychic paper,
it tells me whatever you want it to.

How d'you know? Two things.
One, I have a friend that uses this
all the time, and, two. . .

you handed me a piece of paper
saying you're single and work out.

Tricky thing, psychic paper.
Yeah. Can't let your mind wander
when you're handing it over.

Oh, you "sort of"
have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith

but you consider yourself
to be footloose and fancy free.

What? Actually the word you use
is "available".

No way! And another one - "very".
Shall we try and get along
without the psychic papers?

That would be better, wouldn't it?

Nice spaceship. Gets me around.

Very. . .

Spock. Who?

Guessing you're not
a local boy, then?

A cell phone, a liquid-crystal watch
and fabrics that won't be around
for at least another two decades.

Guessing you're not a local girl.
Guessing right.

Burn your hands on the rope? Yeah.

We're parked in mid-air.
Can't anyone down there see us? No.

Can I have a look at your hands
for a moment? Why? Please?

You can stop acting now.

I know exactly who you are.

I can spot a Time Agent a mile away.

A Time Agent? Mmm, I've been
expecting one of you guys to show up.

Though not, I must say, by barrage
balloon! Often travel that way?

Sometimes I get swept off my feet.

B. . .by balloons!

What are you doing?
Try to keep still.

Nanogenes. Subatomic robots.
The air in here is full of them.

They just repaired three
layers of your skin.

Oh! Well, tell 'em, thanks.

Shall we get down to business?
Business?

Shall we have a drink on the balcony?

Bring up the glasses.

I know I'm standing on something. . .

OK, you have
an invisible space ship. . . Yeah.

.tethered up to Big Ben
for some reason!

First rule of active camouflage.

Park somewhere you'll remember.

Oooh!

How'd you follow me here? I'm good
at following. Got the nose for it!

People can't usually follow me.
My nose has special powers.

Yeah? Is that why it's so. . . What?

Nothin'. What?

Nothin'!

Do your ears have special powers
too? What are you trying to say?
Good night, Mister.

Nancy. . .there's something
chasing you and the other kids.

It looks like a boy
and it isn't a boy. And it started
about a month ago. Right?

The thing I'm looking for.
The thing that fell from the sky.
That's when it landed.

And you know what I'm talking about,
don't you? There was a bomb.

A bomb that wasn't a bomb.
Fell the other end of Limehouse
Green Station. Take me there.

Soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire.

You'd never get through. Try me!

Sure you want to know what's going
on in there? I really wanna know.

Then there's someone
you need to talk to first.
And who might that be?

The doctor.

It's getting late.
I should be getting back.

We're discussing business.

This isn't business,
this is champagne.

I try never to discuss business
with a clear head.

Are you travelling alone? Are you
authorised to negotiate with me?

What would we be negotiating?

I have something for the Time Agency.
Something they'd like to buy.

Are you empowered to make payment?

Well, I, I should talk to my. . .

companion. "Companion"? I should
really be getting back to him.

"Him"? Do you have the time?

OK, that was flash!

That was on the flash side.

So, when you say your "companion",

just how disappointed should I be?
OK. We're standing in mid-air,

on a spaceship,
during a German air raid.

Do you really think now's
a good time to be coming on to me?

Perhaps not.
Well, it was just a suggestion.

Do you like Glenn Miller?

"Moonlight Serenade"
by Glen Miller and His Orchestra.

It's 1941,

height of the London blitz, height
of the German bombing campaign.

And something else
has fallen on London -

a fully-equipped Chula warship,

the last one in existence.
Armed to the teeth.

And I know where it is,

because I parked it.

If the agency can name
the right price,

I can get it for you.

But in two hours,

a German bomb is going to fall on it
and destroy it forever.

That's your deadline.
That's the deal.

Now, shall we discuss payment?

You know what I think? What?

I think you were talking just there.

Two hours, the bomb falls.
There'll be nothing left
but dust and a crater.

Promises, promises!

Are you listening to any of this?

You used to be a Time Agent,
now you're some kind of freelancer.

A little harsh! I like to think
of myself as a criminal.

I'll bet you do.

So this companion of yours,
does he handle the business?

Well, I delegate
a lot of that, yeah.

Well, maybe we should go find him.
And how you gonna do that?

Easy - I'll do a scan for alien tech.

Finally - a professional!

The bomb's under that tarpaulin.
They put the fence up overnight.

See that building? The hospital?

What about it?

That's where the doctor is.

You should talk to him.
For now, I'm more interested
in getting in THERE.

Talk to the doctor first. Why?

Because then maybe
you won't wanna get inside.

Where you going?

There was a lot of food
in that house. I've got mouths
to feed. Should be safe enough now.

Can I ask you a question?

Who did you lose? What?

The way you look after all those
kids. It's cos you lost somebody,
isn't it?

You're doing all this
to make up for it.

My little brother.

Jamie.

One night I went out looking for
food. Same night that thing fell.

Told him not to follow me.
I told him it was dangerous.

But he just. . .

he just didn't like
being on his own. What happened?

In the middle of an air raid?
What d'you think happened?

Amazing! What is?

1941. Right now,
not very far from here,

the German war machine
is rolling up the map of Europe.

Country after country,
falling like dominoes.
Nothing can stop it, nothing.

Until one tiny, damp, little island

says, "No! No. . .not here."

A mouse in front of a lion.

You're amazing, the lot of you.

Dunno what you do to Hitler.
You frighten the hell out of me!

Off you go, then.
Do what you've got to do.

Save the world.

You'll find them everywhere.

In every bed, in every ward.
Hundreds of them.

Yes, I saw.

Why are they still wearing
gas masks? They're not. Who are you?

I'm. . . Are you the doctor?

Dr Constantine. And you are?

Nancy sent me. Nancy?

That means you must have been
asking about the bomb. Yes.

What do you know about it? Nothing.
Why I was asking. What do you know?

Only what it's done.
These people, they were all
caught up in the blast?

None of them were.

You're very sick.

Dying, I should think.
I just haven't been able
to find the time! Are you a doctor?

I have my moments.
Have you examined any of them yet?

No. Don't touch the flesh.

Which one? ANY one.

Conclusions? Massive head trauma,
mostly to the left side.

Partial collapse
of the chest cavity to the right.

Scarring on the back of the hand.

The gas mask seems to be fused to
the flesh but I can't see any burns.

Examine another one.

This isn't possible.
And examine another.

This isn't possible! No.
They've all got the same injuries.

Yes. Exactly the same! Yes.
Right down to the scar
on the back of the hand.

How did this happen? How did
it start? When that bomb dropped,
there was just ONE victim. Dead?

At first.
His injuries were truly dreadful.

By the following morning every doctor
and nurse who had treated him,

who had touched him,

had those exact same injuries.

By the morning after that
every patient on the same ward,
the exact same injuries.

Within a week, the entire hospital.

Physical injuries. . .as plague.

Can you explain that?

What would you say
was the cause of death?

The head trauma. No. Asphyxiation?

No. The collapse of the chest cavity.
No. All right. . .

what was the cause of death?

There wasn't one.

They're not dead.

It's all right, they're harmless.

They just sort of sit there.
There's no heartbeat,

no life signs of any kind.

They just. . .

don't die.

They're just left here? Nobody's
DOING anything? I try and make them
comfortable. What else is there?

Just you? You're the only one here?
Before this war began I was
a father and a grandfather.

Now I'm neither.
But I'm still a doctor.

Yeah. Know the feeling. I suspect
the plan is to blow up the hospital

and blame it on a German bomb.

Probably too late. I know.

There are isolated cases. . .

.isolated cases breaking out. . .
all over. . .London.

Stay back! Stay back!

Listen to me!

Top floor, Room 802.

That's where they took the first
victim, the one from the crash site.

And you must find Nancy again. Nancy?

It was her brother.
She knows more than she's saying.

She won't tell me,
but she m. . .

Mum-meee. . .

are... you...

my. . .mummy?

Her brother!

Hello? Hello?

Hello?

Good evening. Hope we're not
interrupting. Jack Harkness.
I've been hearing all about you.

He knows. I had to tell him.
.About us being Time Agents.

And it's a real pleasure
to meet you, Mr Spock.

Mr Spock? What was I supposed
to say? You don't have a name.

Don't you ever get tired
of "Doctor" Dr WHO? !
Nine centuries in, I'm coping.

Where have you been?
It's not a good time for a stroll!

Who's strollin'?
I went by barrage balloon.

Only way to see an air raid. What?

Listen, what's a Chula warship?

Chula?

Please, Mummy. Please let me in.

I'm scared of the bombs, Mummy.

Mummy?

Mummy!

This just isn't possible.
How did this happen?

What kind of Chula ship landed here?
What? He said it was a warship.

He stole it, parked it somewhere,
somewhere a bomb's gonna to fall on
it. Unless we make him an offer.

What kind of warship? Does it
matter? It's got nothing to do with
this. This started at the bomb site.

It's got everything to do with it.
What kind of warship? An ambulance!

Look, this is what chased you
through the time vortex.

It's space junk.
I wanted to kid you it was valuable.

It's empty. I made sure of it.
Nothing but a shell.

I threw it at you,
saw your time-travel vehicle -

love the retro look, by the way -

threw you the bait. . . Bait? I wanted
to sell it to you, then destroy it
before you found out it was junk.

You said it was a warship.
They have ambulances in wars.

It's a con. I was conning you.
That's what I am, I'm a con man!

Thought you were Time Agents.
You're not, are you?
Just a couple more freelancers.

I should've known, the way you guys
are blending with the local colour!

Flag Girl was bad enough,
but U-Boat Captain? !

Anyway, whatever's happening here
has got nothing to do with that ship.

What IS happening here, Doctor?

Human DNA is being rewritten.

By an idiot. What do you mean?

I don't know, some kind of virus
converting human beings
into these things. But why?

What's the point?

Mummy?

Where's my mummy?

Mum-my!

Are you my mummy?

Mummy! Mum-my! Mummy?

What's happening? I don't know.

Mummy?

It's me - Nancy!

Mummy! Mummy!
Don't let 'em touch you!
What happens if they touch us?

You're looking at it!

Are you my mummy?
It's Nancy, your sister.

You're dead, Jamie. You're dead.

Mum-my! Mum-my!

Mum-my! Mummy! Mum-my!

Believe me I'd nothing to do with it!

I'll tell you what's happening,
you forgot to set your alarm clock.
It's Volcano Day! Ooooh!

That door should hold it for a bit.
The door? ! The wall didn't stop it!

Halt! Don't move!
Go on ask me anything, I'm on fire!

You've got the moves, show me
your moves. The world doesn't end
cos The Doctor dances.

Stay back!

Mummy! Doctor!

Secure those gates! Just do it!

All that weapons tech
in the hands of a four-year-old
looking for his mummy

and nothing in the world
can stop it!

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