Doctor Who (1963–1989): Season 20, Episode 6 - Snakedance: Part Two - full transcript

(DOCTOR WHO THEME)

(LAUGHING)

Look now!

(CONTINUES LAUGHING)

(SCREAMING)

We don't know nearly enough.

Without more information, we are simply
blundering around in the dark.

-The Tardis Databanks?
-No, no, no.

This is the Mara's homeworld.
The answers we need are out there!

I'll try the Director
of the Research Institute,

while you look for Tegan in the market.



(ELECTRONIC BUZZING)

-We'll meet back here.
-Right.

(CROWD CHATTERING)

Well, thank you anyway.

-Tegan!
-Come to see the fun?

-The fun?
-Yeah, she's still in there.

She screamed and screamed.

-You all right? Where have you been?
-I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be?

You're not wearing
the anti-dreaming device.

I took it off. It wasn't necessary.

-But Tegan, what about the Mara?
-Stop fussing. What Mara?

Look, there she is. Quick!
She mustn't see me.

(ALL MURMURING)

(GIGGLING) You should have seen
her face. It was so funny.



When she screamed,
you could see right down her throat.

Tegan, what's the matter with you?
What's been going on? Tegan, look at me!

Nyssa, help me. Help me.

I made it appear.

What?

You fool! Leave me alone.
Just leave me alone.

Tegan!

-Uh...
-Yes, Chela, what is it?

It could be the man
you were talking about.

-What man?
-The man from the cave.

Oh, that man! No, I can't possibly.
Tell him to go away.

Uh, hello.

-I know exactly what you want.
-Do you?

Yes, you've come to pester me
with some extravagant theory

you've dreamed up concerning the Mara,
and should I, the Director,

fail to take sufficient notice
of your colourful improbabilities,

it will be the end of civilisation
as we know it, at least.

-How am I doing so far, hmm?
-Look...

I'm sorry to disappoint you.
You should know you're hardly the first.

For some reason,
the study of the Sumaran era

has always attracted
more than its share of cranks.

(SCOFFS) Particularly when
a ceremony is due.

What ceremony?

Commemorating the destruction
of the Mara by the Federation.

Surprise me. Tell me you didn't know.

-When is it to be held?
-Tomorrow.

Impossible. It must be called off.
At least until my companion is found.

Oh, certainly.

-What?
-Yes, I'll cancel the whole thing.

At once.
And now, my assistant will show you out.

Look, the facts are these.

First of all, my companion
brought us here to this world

without ever having been here before.

Now, why should she do that, hmm?
Why here, why now?

Then I used hypnosis to establish
the presence of the Mara in her head.

You see, she has a recurring dream...

-A dream?
-...and in this dream...

What is it?

It proves nothing, merely that
he's acquainted with the legend.

-The legend of the Return?
-Yes.

-Don't encourage him.
-Well, tell me!

Look, all I want
is a little information.

What possible harm is there in that?

(SIGHS)

Tell me about the legend.

All right, all right. Humour him, Chela.

But remember, there are no actual facts

to impede the full flow
of the imagination.

The legend tells that
Mara was not destroyed

by the founders of the Federation,
but only banished.

Into the dark places of the inside.

-(STAMMERING) Yes.
-I'm so sorry. Do go on.

Anyway, according to the legend,
the Mara will return in a dream.

-What does it want?
-It returns to regain its power over men

when the minds meet again
in the Great Crystal.

-The Great Crystal?
-That's enough.

-How can minds meet?
-How indeed?

Wishy, mystical mumbo-jumbo.

-What about the Snakedances?
-It appeals to a certain type of mind.

Primitive, lazy, uneducated minds.
Even my assistant here isn't immune.

You'll find that the legend
becomes more and more vague

the closer it approaches anything
resembling any factual detail.

(INDISTINCT)

Hello?

Hello?

Now, take this as an example.
It dates from the middle Sumaran era,

and unusually, is mentioned
quite specifically in the legend.

Well, there can be no doubt,

the references to the six faces
of delusion.

Yeah, now count.
One, two, three, four, five.

You will observe there are five faces,
not six, as the legend would have it.

Now, my point is this.

I do find it quite extraordinarily
difficult to take seriously

a legend that cannot even
count accurately. (CHUCKLES)

Of course, artistically speaking
is an entirely different matter.

The piece is exquisite.
An undoubted masterpiece.

-What is it?
-Hmm? Headdress.

-Try it on.
-What?

-Try it on.
-Certainly not! Whatever for?

Please, I want to show you something.
Then I'll go and leave you in peace.

Hmm, very well.

Well?

Now, count the faces again.

Well, do as he says.

One, two, three, four, five.

And one makes six.

The sixth face of delusion
is the wearer's own.

That was probably the idea,
don't you think?

Get out! Go on, get out!

(DOOR SHUTS)

No, please.

MARA: Face me.

No. No, I mustn't. I can't.

MARA: Face me!

I'm so tired.

MARA: Then borrow my strength.

How is it possible?

On the Kinda world,
the Mara was repelled by mirrors.

On the Kinda world,
I was trapped in a circle of mirrors.

There is no circle here.

Why am I so confused?

You're divided against yourself.

A stranger in your own mind.

You are pathetic.

Look at me!

I can make up your mind.

No.

Why not?

What are you afraid of?

Just who do you think you are?

Doctor?

-Take this.
-What is it?

The Snakedancers use them
in their rituals.

They call them Little Mind's Eye.

Only in the legend, the Great Crystal
is named as the Great Mind's Eye.

-Indeed.
-Well, perhaps there's a connection.

Perhaps they're even made
of the same substance.

I don't know.
Ambril refused to let me run the tests.

-Why are you telling me this?
-I must go.

Do you believe in the legends?

No, of course not.

One more question.
Who are the Snakedancers?

(CLEARS THROAT)

Highly convincing, young lady.

A trick, of course. Voice projection.
The art of the ventriloquist, perhaps.

But in different registers.
Oh, very original, all in all.

(CHUCKLING)

Various possibilities present themselves

immediately,

should you be along the lines
of a partnership.

A booth, perhaps, and so forth.

And me outside, enticing the passerby,
talking them in,

relieving them at the door of some
small token of their sincere interest.

You inside in the half-dark,
talking away to yourself

and scaring them all half to death!

Highly satisfactory all round!
(CHUCKLES) What do you think?

-Nyssa!
-Doctor, I saw Tegan. I spoke to her.

-Where is she now?
-She ran away from me.

I lost her in the crowd.
But Doctor, look!

She was behaving very oddly.

-Was she marked?
-I don't...

-On her arm. The mark of the snake.
-I didn't look. I didn't notice.

It must be the Mara. Come on.

Uh, enough's enough.
I said I was impressed.

As impressed as I need to be.

I'm not a curious man.
I was once, a long time ago.

(CHUCKLES) I was a humble student
of life's mysteries,

a treader of the secret pathways,

a delver into the darker corners,
and so forth.

All rubbish, of course.

At the end of the day,
when the lights come up,

as in one form or another
they always do,

there's always somebody standing there
with their hand out, waiting to be paid.

I decided long ago
that person might as well be me.

Or, in present circumstances, us.

-(IN DEEP VOICE) Us.
-Yeah.

Who exactly are you?

You're not important. There is only one!

Only he matters
in what is to be done here.

-I'm not coming.
-Good.

I beg your pardon?

It's probably just as well.
You'd only spoil it.

Your behaviour this morning
in the caves was unforgivable.

-The poor man was quite disconcerted.
-Ooh!

You are taking advantage
of your position.

-Oh, please, you're going to be dreary.
-No, I am not going to be anything.

We are invited to dinner. I am going.

Are you just going to lie there
being bored?

Yes. Do you know, I rather suspect I am.
After all, what else is there to do?

(DOOR CLOSES)

Come on.

-Why are we here?
-Facts, Nyssa, facts.

There's something I noticed before.
I need to take another look.

-At what?
-The pictograms.

There's a ceremony
taking place tomorrow,

commemorating the supposed
destruction of the Mara.

So?

The Mara has waited a long time
for this return.

I think it plans to be spectacular.

Oh, Lon. Do come to the party.

(GRUNTS)

(SIGHS)

There! Now, look.
What do you make of that?

There, in the centre.
Could that represent the Great Crystal?

It could do.

And these lines from the centre,
energy of some sort?

-Mental energy.
-What?

Well, presumably. The lines go
to the heads of the figures.

Hmm. Minds meet in the Great Crystal.

But what are these?

Now, everything in this pictogram
tells us something

if we know how to read it,
so what are these?

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Who is it?

(CLEARS THROAT) Ah...

Excuse me for intruding, my lord.

-Your lackey...
-The showman!

-Oh, I'm flattered you remember me.
-Of course I remember you. Go away.

Ah, our previous encounter,
rather unfortunate.

Heat of the moment, press of the crowd,
various misunderstandings, so forth.

What do you want?

(STAMMERING)
I've been sent to fetch you.

(CHUCKLING) Have you indeed?

You are, uh, summoned.

Summoned? I'm summoned?

How extraordinary. By whom?

NYSSA: Doctor!

Hmm?

If the Great Crystal of the legend
ever really existed,

then logically, there is where
it would have fitted.

-In here, my lord.
-This is your booth.

I'm beginning to regret this.

I hope for your sake that
I'm not going to be disappointed.

-Please, my lord.
-Can I have your personal assurance?

She's inside.

So I should hope.

You, um, summoned me, apparently.

It's not something I'm accustomed to,
but here I am.

Well, what happens now?

Yes, after all.

Why not?

(SCREAMS)

-Obvious.
-What is?

The Great Crystal, the Great Mind's Eye.
That's the clue!

The lines do represent
a flow of mental energy,

but not going to the individual figures,
coming from them!

And meeting in the Great Crystal!

Just as a lens focuses
the rays of the sun,

the Great Mind's Eye gathered
all the individual thought energies

and concentrated them and amplified them
and redirected them there.

But it's blank. It's been scratched out.

DOCTOR: Now, according to the legend,

the Great Crystal is a source
of the Mara's power.

But where is it now?
What exactly were its properties?

Oh, if only we could take a look
at the Great Crystal itself.

Unless...

I wonder.

And then you see, my lady,
we draw a complete blank.

It's quite clear that the Manussans
of the pre-Sumaran era

were a highly civilised people.

Their technology, in some senses,
was considerably in advance of our own.

Then suddenly, almost overnight,
the Manussan civilisation

simply disappeared.

It was evidently subjected
to a cultural catastrophe

of unimaginable proportions.

-Shall we eat?
-Yes.

To such an extent

that when the Federation records begin
some 600 years later,

they speak of the Manussans
as a primitive people,

enthralled to the Mara,

sunk in barbarity,
degradation and cruelty.

(YAWNING)

All right, my lady?

Yes, yes, of course. Please do go on.

A shame your son could not be with us.

Yes, I'm sure he would have found it
almost illuminating.

(LAUGHING EVILLY)

MARA: Silence!

Follow me.

Come on, over there.

Now, sit down.

Doctor, I'm not at all clear
what we're supposed to be doing.

-Just think about it.
-What?

Sit down. Now, simple test.

The Great Crystal focuses thought
in some way.

Now, if this is
the same sort of crystal,

it should exhibit the same properties.

We must direct our thoughts at it
and observe what happens.

Now?

Yes.

-Come on, hurry up.
-(PANTING)

Where is she taking us?

-Come on.
-(STAMMERING) I don't...

Come on.

I'm sorry, Doctor.
I can't concentrate hard enough.

It doesn't matter.

-I feel so foolish.
-We'll try another way!

Where is the crystal?

Who has dared to remove
the Great Crystal?

-(LOUDLY) What are you doing?
-Hmm?

(LOUDLY) I'm adjusting the frequency.

I need to eliminate
all unnecessary outside noise

as an aid to concentration.

There! Right, let's try again.
You come and stand over here,

watch the crystal closely
and observe any changes.

-You ready?
-Yes.

Right.

(EXCLAIMS)

Oh!

Ah!

It can't be.

It's impossible.

(BLOWING)

You're not impressed.

Not overly, no.
Why, did you expect that I would be?

-Leave them alone.
-Toys for children.

Toys? You don't understand.

These are the real thing.
The genuine article.

They're worth money. A fortune!
(SNEEZES)

Now tell me about the Great Crystal.
That interests me.

It interests me very much indeed.

NYSSA: And then the light faded.

Well, of course, it's small.
Its power is obviously limited.

-But there was only a blue light.
-Ah, you're missing the point, Nyssa.

It's not what you saw,
but that you saw anything at all.

It proves the crystal has the quality
of transforming thought into energy.

-I see.
-And perhaps even into matter itself.

Just think of the power
the Great Crystal must have.

Whatever's in your thought,
whatever in your mind,

it can actually make it occur.

-And if the Mara's in Tegan's mind...
-Exactly.

The Mara needs the Great Crystal
in order to make itself reoccur.

-Uh, stay here.
-Where are you going?

To warn Ambril.
He knows where the Great Crystal is now.

He must be made to listen.

-Yes, I do know where it is.
-Where?

Or rather, to be more precise,
I know who knows where it is,

and how he may be persuaded to tell us.

A toast to the Federation.

-DOCTOR: I do assure you...
-The person of this charming lady...

-Where is the Great Mind's Eye?
-The what?

The Great Crystal from the snake
in the chamber.

-I beg your pardon, my lady.
-No, really, I love surprises.

-You know where it is?
-I certainly do.

Where?

Wherever it is,
I can assure you it's perfectly safe.

The Great Crystal is a source
of the Mara's power.

It needs that power
to make itself reoccur.

That's why it has returned.

I think we've heard enough.
Take him away.

Through the Great Crystal,
the Mara will reoccur

as a physical fact, here on Manussa!

-Only one thing remains to be decided.
-Yes.

Me?

Oh, I could assist, um,

in whatever capacity,
using my discretion.

(CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)

Uh, or...

Or I could simply forget, uh,
whichever and whatever you prefer.

He has served his purpose.

You are no longer necessary.

Look at me.

No. No, please. What are you doing?

-Look at me.
-No!

Look at me.

I'm not going to harm you.

Look at me.

(BOTH CHUCKLING MENACINGLY)

(IN DEEP VOICE) That's right.

Look at me.

Look at me.

(BOTH LAUGHING EVILLY)