Doctor Who (1963–1989): Season 17, Episode 12 - The Creature from the Pit: Part Four - full transcript

(DOCTOR WHO THEME)

Now, Doctor.
I mean to have that Creature dead.

Romana, train K9's ray on it.

-Now!
-Don't do it, Romana.

Or the Doctor dies. Six seconds, Romana.

(METALLIC TINKLING)

Get away from here. Get away!

Or the Doctor dies!

No! No! No!

No! No!

What's happening? What...
What are we doing here?



I don't know. What is this thing?

Adrasta!

Keep her safe, Romana.

-If she moves, blast her.
-Affirmative, mistress.

-Hello.
-(IN DOCTOR'S VOICE): Hello.

What did you say?

Guard! Quickly, summon the Huntsman.
Move!

-Are you all right?
-I'm not sure.

-What do you mean?
-I don't know.

CREATURE: Hello.

I realise this must be
a very frightening experience for you.

But please, don't be alarmed.

What are you talking about?

-I don't know. That wasn't me talking.
-Doctor, what's happening?



Look, I know this sounds odd,
I didn't say that.

-You didn't say what?
-What I just said.

-I beg your pardon?
-You know what I said just now.

About this being a frightening
experience but don't be alarmed?

Yes. I didn't say that.

-You didn't...
-No.

I was too busy being frightened
and alarmed.

But if you didn't say it, who did?

Let's find out, shall we?

Please allow me to explain.
This is not the Doctor speaking.

I am simply using his larynx.
We Tythonians don't have them.

-Ask its name.
-My name is Erato.

Where does it come from?

I am from the planet Tythonus.

Then what are you doing here
skulking about in a pit eating people?

Oh, please. You put that very crudely.

I most emphatically do not eat people.

I live by ingesting chlorophyll
and mineral salts.

I would have you know
that I am the Tythonian High Ambassador.

-Really?
-I am.

I was on a trading mission
to this planet when I...

(GASPS) Of course.
I should have guessed instantly.

It's all the fault
of that woman Adrasta.

Yes, Doctor? You were saying...

I was just saying, Lady Adrasta, that...

K9, I thought you were meant
to be guarding her?

-Apologies, master. I am immobile.
-DOCTOR: Yes.

I was overpowered by the wolfweeds.

Doctor, order your dog
to kill the Tythonian.

-No.
-If you do not,

your friend Organon dies.

Organon!

Goodbye, old man. So sorry about this,
thanks for all the help.

-Doctor...
-If my deductions are correct,

the well-being of two planets
is at stake.

Erato must not die.

Huntsman, set the wolfweeds
on the Doctor.

Now, wait. That's all you've got
on this planet, isn't it?

Weeds, weeds, forest and weeds!

You scratch about for food wherever you
can but can't plough the land, can you?

You can't do anything until you've
mastered the forests and the weeds.

And you can't do that without metal.

Don't listen to him.

It's just the ravings
of a demented space tramp.

Set the wolfweeds on him!

Do that and you will hurl this planet
back into the dark ages, and for what?

To satisfy the petty power cravings
of that pathetic woman.

-Have a care, Doctor.
-Have a care yourself.

Care for your people for a change.

Kill him!

Let him speak.

-Huntsman, I order you.
-Let him speak!

-Now, if my deductions are correct...
-They're not.

...Erato came here 1 5 years ago
to propose a trading agreement.

Tythonus is a planet rich
in metallic ores and minerals,

-am I not right, K9?
-Checking data banks.

-Affirmative, master.
-That was a good guess.

Fools! You listen to the opinions
of an electric dog?

Tythonians exist
on ingesting chlorophyll,

large quantities of it,
judging by their size.

Now, there's a superabundance
of plant life on Chloris, so...

So, Erato came here to offer you metal
in return for chlorophyll.

-Of course.
-Right.

But who was the first person he met?

The person who held the monopoly
of metal here.

Right.

And did she put the welfare
of her struggling people

above her own petty power? No.

She's tipped the ambassador into a pit
and thrown astrologers at him.

-Is this true, my lady?
-Not a word of it.

It's a pack of lies.

Let's see if Erato agrees with me,
shall we?

That won't prove anything!

You just take hold of that thing
and say exactly what you like.

You expect intelligent people to fall
for your childish tricks?

Well, it's very simple.

Why don't come over here,
take hold of the communicator

and we'll hear the truth
from your larynx.

What?

No. Don't talk such rubbish.

Huntsman, I order you
to kill the Doctor!

My lady, I think we want
to hear the truth of this.

-Go and speak with the Creature.
-No.

I refuse. I utterly refuse!

-I think not, my lady.
-No!

Back! Back!

Now, just take hold
of the communicator.

(IN ADRASTA'S VOICE) Thank you, Doctor.

(GASPS)

Your deductions are, of course, correct.

We are running dangerously short
of chlorophyll on Tythonus

and have more metal than we need.

Reports reached us
of this planet Chloris

which had precisely
the opposite problem.

And we thought that a trading agreement
would be mutually beneficial.

It's lies, lies. It's all lies!

(EXCLAIMS)

No, it is you who are lying.

Unfortunately, I ran foul of this
evil woman who tricked me into the Pit.

If you will forgive me,
I have a score to settle.

Yes, so, I think, have we.

(GASPS)

(SCREAMING)

-She's dead.
-Yes.

And with her
die the dark ages for this planet.

-Erato...
-I'm sorry for all the unpleasantness.

-But thank you for the weeds.
-My pleasure.

They are the first solid meal
I've had in 1 5 years.

I wonder if you could arrange to have me
hoisted out of the Pit?

Yes, yes, of course. Huntsman.

See to it.
It is a bit claustrophobic down here.

-Thank you, Doctor.
-Don't say that.

-Why not?
-I don't know.

just don't say it, not yet.

-He was going to let me die.
-Of course he wasn't.

All circuits now fully operational.
Thank you, mistress.

Adrasta told him that he would have me
put to death

if he didn't order that dog thing
to shoot Erato.

And all he said was, ''Goodbye, old man.
Terribly sorry.'' Didn't he?

-Affirmative.
-Well!

-What kind of a friend is that?
-A very good one.

Thanks to him this planet may now
have a chance to prosper.

She was going to kill me.

Nonsense, he probably checked out
your horoscope earlier.

I did, I did, and I discovered
you're going to die of indigestion.

-Reporting, master.
-K9.

-I am prepared for all contingencies.
-Good dog, good dog.

Adrasta's engineers should have Erato
out of the Pit by now.

-All of him?
-Well, yes.

Then we should know the truth.

What? You mean he hasn't been
telling us the truth?

Well, only as much as he wants us
to know until he's set free.

Well, then do you think it is safe
to let him out of the Pit

-if you think he's been lying to us?
-Why not?

Well, we don't want
several hundred cubic feet

of angry blob heaving itself
round the country crushing people.

He has no intention of crushing people.

Well, he crushed
quite a few down the Pit.

Nonsense, he just wanted to talk.

-Talk?
-Yes, talk, talk.

After Adrasta stole his communicator,

he was just trying any way he could
to make contact.

But we don't know anything about him.
We don't even know how he got here.

Yes we do.

-In an egg.
-In an egg?

In an egg.

When the shell's complete,
it's a blindingly simple space vehicle,

-complete with photon drive.
-Well, I didn't see a photon drive.

Well, of course he's not going
to leave it lying round

where just anyone could take it,
he protected it very carefully.

How?

It was concealed in the pieces
he kept hidden in the Pit.

-Doctor?
-Yes?

-That shell...
-Yes?

When we first landed,
it was making a noise.

-Yes.
-Could it have been a distress signal?

-Perhaps it was calling for help.
-Yes.

But after 1 5 years...

Tythonians live for
up to 40,000 years, mistress.

So, 1 5 years in the Pit for one of them

would be no more than
the wink of an eye.

Yes.

Doctor, I'm sure
there's some terrible danger.

-Danger?
-Yes.

And Erato wants to be out of the Pit
and free to escape in his craft

-before something dreadful happens.
-Yes.

But Doctor, you've played right
into his hands, you've let him go.

-Yes.
-Well, can't you say anything

-but yes the whole time?
-Yes.

-After he's told us whatever it is...
-Yes?

...and before he reaches
his space vehicle to escape...

Yes?

Do remind me to give him back
his photon drive.

-Yes?
-Yes.

You mean without that segment
Erato can't leave the planet?

Exactly.
Once he guarantees Chloris's safety,

we let him have it back and then
negotiate a proper trading agreement.

And Chloris gets all the metal it needs.

Yes.

Oh, Doctor, I'm improving.

-Come on, Ainu.
-Shh.

We're all rich
once we get this metal out of here.

-Now, come on, hurry.
-Listen, old man,

if that monster does bring us
lots of metal,

how much is this lot gonna be worth?

Well, if it's metal, it's valuable.
Now, come on.

No, only because there is
so little of it. Now, look.

In there, the Doctor, whoever he is,

has got a piece
of the monster's spacecraft.

The monster can't leave Chloris
without it.

Now, if we take that as well,
we're made.

(STAMMERS) The guards are coming.

Now, don't risk it all
by being greedy for one more bit.

Now, come on. This way.

Well?

The Creature's been removed
from the Pit.

-Where is it?
-It's waiting at the side door,

if you're ready to speak to it again.

Yes, I'm ready to speak to it.

I just hope I'm ready to hear
what it has to say to me.

Here are the astronomical readings
you asked for, Organon.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

-Organon.
-Hmm?

Take this and guard it with your life.

I don't want to take it anywhere
near Erato until I want to give to him.

All right?

HUNTSMAN: This way, Doctor.

Romana, take the communicator.

Right, Erato,
let's hear what you've got to tell us.

Strange perturbations are in the sky.

Oh, I wish I knew how to interpret them.

Oh!

Now, that's very odd.

Well?

ERATO (IN ROMANA'S VOICE):
What I have to tell you

is no more pleasant for me
than it will be for you.

-But it has passed beyond...
-Oh, get on with it.

I'm afraid you have
only 24 hours to live.

-What?
-Shh. Romana, the communicator.

I came as an ambassador to buy
chlorophyll but Adrasta imprisoned me.

However, she failed to prevent
the other half of my ship

from communicating that fact
to my brothers on Tythonus.

They will have taken that as an act
of aggression and responded accordingly.

Yes, but now I've set you free you can
contact them all and call it off. Yes?

-No, Doctor. I'm afraid it's impossible.
-What's he talking about?

Once the stars are set
in their courses...

DOCTOR: Oh, please.
No more astrological mumbo-jumbo.

I assure you I mean my words
quite literally.

The star I refer to is a neutron star.

-A neutron star?
-HUNTSMAN: A neutron star?

Neutron star, collapsed star, composed
of super-compressed degenerate matter.

I know what a neutron star is.

And the course on which it is set

will plunge it into the heart
of Chloris's sun within 24 hours.

-Is that bad, Doctor?
-Bad?

Chloris's sun will explode and your
whole solar system will be destroyed.

Is that bad?

Strange things are in the stars.

Hmm. Ah!

Now, there's something I recognise.

Oh, dear.

I don't like the look of that at all.

Something terrible is going to happen.

But there must be something.
Can't we contact Tythonus?

The neutron star has been on its way
for several years.

Like most stars,
it has no guidance system.

There is no way of stopping it.

-But surely...
-Shh, shh.

If you will excuse me, I will leave now.

I have no wish to witness
this distressing finale.

(CLEARING THROAT)
But your machine is in pieces.

No matter. It won't take long to spin up
a new ship round the vital components.

How long?

-I feel this is immaterial to...
-How long?

-Twenty-six ninods.
-One hour, seven seconds.

And you spin out this vessel
from the threads in your own body

-like you did in the Pit?
-The principle is the same.

-And can you produce aluminium?
-Of course.

Come along, boys. Come on, my rich boys.

We're nearly at the camp now.

-This idea is madness, Doctor.
-Erato,

a thin shell of aluminium wrapped
around a neutron star

will minimise its gravitational pull

and we can yank it back
out of the sun's field.

And how do you propose
to do this yanking, Doctor?

Well, the Tardis.

We can exert short bursts of enormous
gravitational pull on the star,

slow it up while you weave
your eggshell round it and then let go.

And the thing will go spinning off
harmlessly into deep space.

-Right.
-Let me remind you, Doctor,

that I came here to offer help
to the planet of Chloris.

They imprisoned me in a pit
and starved me for 1 5 years.

I'm disinclined to commit suicide
on their behalf.

Erato, you came here for your own good

and offered the deal
to the wrong person.

Will you now condemn an entire planet
of innocent people to death?

-You may be right, Doctor.
-I know I'm right. Well?

-I will help you.
-Good.

-Now, this is what...
-A moment, please, Doctor.

What would you have done
if I had decided to abandon you?

Oh, well, it's a hypothetical question,
my dear old thing.

What do you mean?

Well, I took the precaution
of removing your photon drive.

Be a good girl, Romana.

Organon.

Doctor.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Here we are, my boys.
Wealth beyond our wildest dreams.

The purest, the most beautiful metal.

Yeah, well, I still say
we should have picked up that shell.

Old brass plate, the shell.
This is what we want.

Metal, metal, metal.
It will make me the most...

Us the most powerful people on Chloris.

And what if Ainu's right?

What if that creature brings
tons of metal to the planet?

I say we go back
and get that piece of shell.

Oh, buckets of iron
at the end of the rainbow,

planets full of tin. You believe in all
that gobbeldygook if you wish.

I'll put my trust in this solid metal.

(TORVIN GROANS)

There's another six inches to add
to your collection, old man.

Tempered steel!

Is that really tempered steel?

He's dead.

Kill me and you condemn yourselves
to poverty.

Without that piece of shell,
all this metal is just worthless scrap.

I have that piece of shell hidden.

I think that gives us an interesting
basis for conversation, doesn't it?

If it's hidden, what's to stop us
killing you and letting it stay hidden?

If it stays hidden.
But is that a chance you want to take?

Particularly since the alternative
I'm offering you

is the certainty of wealth and power

if you join with me
in seizing hold of it.

The monopoly will stay in our hands,

and with it
the control of the whole planet.

-Well?
-I'm so sorry to butt in

and at such a delicate moment.

But if you're seriously thinking
of taking over Chloris,

I think there's something
you should know.

In a very few hours,
all that'll be left of it

will be a few trillion tons
of deep-fried rubble.

Now, does that influence your thinking?

What are you talking about, Doctor?
You two, kill him!

Wait!

I'm talking about a shell fragment.

If Erato doesn't get his ship launched
within the hour,

Chloris's sun will explode.
How does that appeal?

Still want to be scrap iron merchants?

-You're bluffing, Doctor.
-Really? Look.

-Tell us where the fragment is.
-No.

-Tell us.
-It's no use threatening to kill me,

I shan't tell you while I'm alive

and I certainly won't tell you
when I'm dead.

I don't believe your stupid story
for a moment.

And if it's true,
you're condemning us all to death.

-That's a chance I'm prepared to take.
-For what?

-For this heap of scrap iron? Hmm?
-Yes.

Are you willing to sacrifice your life

and the lives of everyone
on this planet for wealth?

-Yes.
-I thought you'd say that.

K9!

(BANDITS EXCLAIMING)

-Yes, master?
-Destroy it.

(BEEPING)

KARELA: No, no, no!
You're destroying our metal!

(BANDITS EXCLAIMING)

-K9?
-Yes, master.

-Good dog.
-Thank you, master.

Now, would you like to tell me
where that fragment is hidden? Hmm?

Erato, can you hear me?

ERATO (IN K9'S VOICE):
I can hear you, Doctor.

-Good boy, K9.
-Preparing for take-off.

Have we picked up the neutron star yet?

-Yes, Doctor, on band 6.
-Good.

Doctor, I've been calculating
our chances of success...

-I don't want to hear them.
-Very wise.

Dematerialise...

now!

(WHOOSHING)

(WHOOSHING)

-This is going to be very nasty.
-I know.

-You in position, Erato?
-I am ready, Doctor.

Gravity tractor beam... Activate!

-Doctor...
-Deactivate tractor beam!

We can't hold it for more
than five seconds at a time.

-Doctor.
-Yes, Erato?

You must hold the star,
I'm being dragged towards it.

Hold tight, everybody.

It's got it. Erato, get weaving.

We're winning, Romana, we're winning.

We're placing a terrible strain
on the Tardis.

How much longer, Erato?

You can turn off your gravity beam
in five of your seconds.

-Good.
-Four, three, two, one...

Doctor, what happened?

The control circuit!

-I can't turn off the beam.
-What?

We're pulling the star towards us.

(ROMANA GROANS)

We've got to dematerialise!

(WHOOSHING)

-Erato, we did it!
-I still say it was impossible.

So do I.

Though I did calculate our chances
of success at 74,384,338 to one against.

What? 74,384,338?

Well, that's extraordinary.

-Why?
-Well, that's my lucky number.

I see something tall...

Something dark...

(WHOOSHING)

-How in Chloris did that get here?
-I don't know.

-It's tall and dark and...
-Handsome.

-Yes, yes, I know, Organon.
-Doctor!

-Are you in charge here now?
-Yes.

Good, good. Well, we just dropped in
to say goodbye and to give you this.

It's from Erato.

It's a draft contract
for a trading agreement.

Do you know what this is?

-Yes.
-What?

It's a draft contract
for a trading agreement.

How on Chloris did you know that?

(WHOOSHING)

It was written in the stars.