Doctor Who (1963–1989): Season 21, Episode 7 - Frontios: Part One - full transcript

In the far flung future, the TARDIS is forced to crash land on the planet Frontios, where the Doctor finds some of the last surviving Human beings cowering from a meteorite bombardment.

Sincro: wyxchari

The answer's buried here
somewhere. The Captain will find it.

Get out everybody! Come
on, move! Captain Revere!

Block and tackle! Quickly!

I want no mention of this to anyone.
Did you hear me?! Not to anyone!

The Doctor's alright. He gets like
this sometimes. Nothing to worry about.

Well I suppose it's none of my business
if... I think he must be coming.

Not hat people are you? Either of you?

What?

Wear them much I mean.
I only do when I go out.

It's... er... silly to have this
thing, getting in everyone's way.



I don't believe it.

There's so much to do aboard this ship and all
you're worried about is tidying away the hat stand!

Well, I have to start somewhere.

Doctor? Something's
happening to the controls.

Oh, we must be on the outer limits.

The TARDIS has drifted too far into the future.
We'll just slip into hover mode for a while.

We're in the Veruna
System, wherever that is.

I had no idea we were so far out. Veruna
- that's irony for you.

What is?

Veruna is where one of the last surviving groups
of mankind took shelter when the great... er...

Yes, I suppose you've got all that
to look forward to haven't you?

In the great what, Doctor?!

All civilizations have
their ups and downs...

'Fleeing from the imminence of a
catastrophic collision with the sun,



a group of refugees from
the DOOMED planet Earth...'

Yes, that's enough, Turlough.

You mean, some of the last
surviving humans are on this planet?

Yes.

Can we land? Can we visit them?

Laws of time.

Since when has that ever stopped you?

We mustn't interfere. Colony's too
new; one generation at the most.

The future hangs in the balance.

Now, I've got another one of these somewhere.
Put them side by side. We'll have a pair.

There is enough distrust already
of the long path back to knowledge.

An enquiry into Captain
Revere's death is vital.

I've said, there's no
requirement for an investigation!

'Distillation vessel exploded
here in the Research Room.'

And that's your childish reason for
closing down the whole of the Research Room?

Captain Revere was quite specific.

The research centre was to be closed
down in the event of his... dying.

I've nothing else to say on the matter!

You're throwing away 40
years work. Don't you care?

Simply obeying orders.

Look, we lost all our technology
when our ship crashed here.

Now, don't you think our struggle has been
hard enough without this added foolishness?!

The only foolishness that I
know is to disobey an order!

Right, that's enough of that Cockerill.

What, you're abandoning
the communication scan too?

Everything.

Forty years and nothing's come through on
that set. I don't think it's any great loss.

Nobody asked for your opinion on the
matter! Get back to corridor duties!

On whose authority?

Plantagenet himself!

Oh the boy's distraught!

Are you suggesting the son of
Captain Revere is unfit to rule?

Look, as Chief Science Officer...

Oh, don't go waving your title at me.

From now on, this research centre
is under military jurisdiction!

But the research into the bombardment,
now you must see the urgency of that!

The attacks are coming almost daily.

There will be no more talk about this
in front of our people, Mr. Range.

The desertion rate is
already unacceptable.

Now, with or without your permission,
this research room will be sealed!

I can't believe it.

It would be interesting to go down,
wouldn't it. Um... Doctor, we were just...

Impossible. Time's up.

What happens to them, Doctor?

Knowledge has its limits. Ours
reaches this far, and no further.

Stabilizers are failing.
Have to get out ___.

It's a meteorite storm!

The TARDIS should be able
to resist this sort of thing.

Console's jammed!

We're being dragged towards the planet!

How?

Gravitational pull?!?

Doctor, do something!

Don't panic!

My least favourite sort of weather.

Come along.

This way.

In here... over here.

It's alright, it's alright.

We shall need the emergency supplies.

Leave it to me.

Oh, thank-you sir.

I'll need some antiseptic and bandages.

Antiseptic?

Yes. How else am I to
clean this wound hmm?

Look, um, I'm the Chief
Science Officer. Who are you...?

It would help if we could
see what we're doing.

Phosphor lamps?!

These are a terrible fire hazard
in this sort of container, you know?

You'd better hold it
steady then, hadn't you.

How does it work?

Well...it's electron excitation.
If you give them a shake...

... they get a bit brighter.

Aaaa... Stop that would you?!
Is this the best you can do?

Yes, I'm afraid it is.

I'll need some proper
lighting. Turlough, the TARDIS.

I'll need the... portable
mu-field activator...

Doctor, you did say that we weren't...

... and five of the
argon discharge globes.

Oh, and all the medical supplies!

Anything else?

Yes, you'd better
give him a hand, Tegan.

Righto, Doctor.

Here, this is my daughter
Norna, and you are...

Time for the social niceties
later. Better get started, hmm?

Yes, well, you'll want
soap and water first.

Yes... good idea.

This door's locked.

No it isn't. This could be serious.

It's very good of you to
help us, Mister...er...

I'm not helping
- officially.

And if anyone happens to ask whether I made any
material difference to the welfare of this planet,

you can tell them I came
and went like a summer cloud.

Oh, they're curious to know who you are.

Perhaps you could ask them to move,
they're rather blocking the air.

It's interesting, how often
do you have meteorite showers?

Intermittently, although the attacks have
become more frequent over the last few weeks.

Yes... the attacks?

Oh yes, we're at war!

Really? With whom?

Well, that is yet to be determined
- as you can see, we're helpless.

Not if I have anything to do with it.

How do you do? I'm the Doctor.

Oh, hello. My name is Range.
I'm the Chief Science Officer.

Hello... You've been keeping us
unnecessarily in the dark, Mr. Range.

You didn't tell me you had
a hydrazine steam generator.

There's a development, sir,
that I am not happy with.

Development? Yes?

An arrival, simultaneous to the last bombardment
- three persons of undetermined origin.

So, it's come at last.

Yes. This could be the
beginning of the invasion.

It's very interesting.

It used to generate a basic form of energy
but, er... we no longer have any fuel.

This planet is without wood,
or any combustible material.

What about the colony ship?
Must've been brimming with gadgetry.

Systems that could re-build a civilization
for us. Failure proof technology.

What happened to it all?

It failed. And nothing
survived the crash.

Doctor! Doctor! Something's
happened to the TARDIS!

The interior door's jammed!

It's as if some tremendous
force-field's pulled it out of shape.

It couldn't be the impact
of landing, could it?

The TARDIS? No, no, no. Probably
just some spatial anomaly.

You're getting carried
away again, Turlough.

One thing at a time. Where's
the... mu-field activator.

I'm trying to tell
you! It's behind the...

It's behind the interior door.
Yes of course... excitation.

You told me not to do that.

Oh, it's risky, but then so
is operating in this gloom.

You ever tried putting a higher
voltage across these things?

Doctor! The TARDIS!

Yes, there must be something on this planet
capable of sustaining a steady voltage.

How can you work
- do research, without electricity?

Well, we used to use an acid
jar, charged by wind power.

Acid jar?

A sort of
- large battery.

That's a thought
- with some sort of interrupter to raise the voltage.

Well, it's in the research room
- but I'll need some help carrying it.

Okay, come on.

We seem to have lost our news value.

There's a counter-attraction, look!

Food is rationed on Frontios. That's
why the colony ship is guarded.

We'll have to be careful,
the ship's out of bounds.

It sounds dangerous.

Do you mind?

No, it isn't that. It's just
that I wouldn't want us to get...

Quick, hide!

Stand steady, sir. They look to you.

Norna? You're needed
in the hospital, surely?

I've come to ask for
more bandages and water.

You think we have unlimited supplies?

You have supplies, what's the use in hoarding them?
Leader Plantagenet, the wounded need your help.

Make sure this woman is allowed
access to the medical supplies room.

Yes sir.

Come on.

Orderly? Where you
responsible for this noise?

No sir.

Somebody is.

It's huge!

It brought thousands of
people from Earth, remember.

Thousands?

Well the crash killed most of them, and
then there was an outburst of disease.

Someone's coming!

Well, Captain Revere assumed that the
barrage was some sort of softening-up process

'heralding an invasion,' he said.

Hmm, someone else thinks
this is their territory.

Well, Frontios was quite
deserted when we arrived.

Oh, so you did nothing
to provoke an attack?

No! The few who survived the crash had
no time for anything but bare survival.

We worked to raise food.

Dangerous, surely, out in the
fields, with the risk of bombardment?

No, there was no bombardment then.

No, we had ten years of clear skies to
stock the wreck of the colony ship with food.

And then it began. Yes, the first missile
fell, oh, a little over thirty years ago.

Thirty years?! Your unknown invaders
are certainly taking their time.

Unknown no longer, perhaps. Could it be
that one of them calls himself... the Doctor?

They sealed the room.

Now what?

We go back?

No. There's another way in. This way.

Look, I'm not really
here at all, officially.

And as soon as I've helped Mr.
Range with the arrangements,

I... I'll be on my way.

You feel free to come
and go as you please?

Going yes, coming no
- we were forced down.

I see
- you landed during the bombardment and yet you appear... unharmed.

I'm sorry. We didn't
know there was a war on.

At first we thought it was
some sort of meteorite storm.

And what do you think now?

I think your shelters are totally inadequate and
your warning system does nothing but create panic.

I did not ask...!

Your population's already falling below the
critical value required for guaranteed growth

and you're regularly losing new lives!
I think... and you did ask what I think

I think your colony of Earth people
is in grave danger of extinction.

Be quiet, they can here us
walking on the hull of the ship.

Who are you to give me advice?!
I am the son of Captain Revere.

The people of Frontios will not be cowed
by these muling words of defeat, Doctor.

We may lack the outward appurtenances of
might, but we carry our strength within us!

We will win the war with the invisible
aggressors whose missiles batter on our planet,

and we will win the greater battle
- the struggle for the future... of our race!

Absolutely. I wish you
all the luck in the world.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to give
you anything much in the way of help.

We're under no illusions about that Doctor. We
can see for ourselves the results of your... help.

But the Doctor has helped
- he's been caring for the sick,

and he's going to arrange for some
proper light by adapting the...

The hydrazine engine!
This invader has interfered

with the great gift my father
bestowed upon the people of Frontios.

I'm sorry, I was working out a way
of getting some decent light in here.

We people of Frontios are vulnerable,

Doctor... desperate... frightened
even. But we are not... fools.

They're coming.

Check the solar-drive panels.
They've got to be hiding somewhere.

Smells lethal!

It is.

So please don't spill it.

Guard the hatch. I'll inform the leader.

Be careful.

Turlough...

I got it, but only just.

How are we gonna get it past them?

I'll think of something.

Are you sure this is going to work?

Have you got a better idea?

Warnsman.

Sir?

I don't like the look of this sky.

No sir.

Keep good watch.

Very good, sir.

No craft the size of yours is
capable of traversing the universe.

If I had a spare millennium, I'd
bring you up to date on time mechanics.

Unfortunately, we have this lighting problem, and
a ward full of people needing medical attention.

Another bombardment.

Again?

Yes, there's darkening of the sky.

Oh, it's alright, the Warnsman will
sound his klaxon at the first sign.

You came with two accomplices!

They have been seen on the colony ship!
Aided by your... treacherous daughter.

Hey, you're not allowed up there!

LOOK OUT!

Paranoia! Your minds are being eaten away
by this daily disaster we call Frontios.

Can't you see, this
man is here to help us!

I SAY TREACHERY, Mr.
Range! Are you guilty too?

You know, we can sort all this out in no
time at all if everyone just stays calm.

Now please, come and see the TARDIS!

As an invasion weapon, it's about as
offensive as a chicken vol-au-vent.

The bombardment's started again.

We'd better get him back
to the medical shelter.

Come on.

Its, uh... its lack of armaments can
be a positive embarrassment at times.

Just a minute... get back!

Don't be alarmed, we haven't
heard from the Warnsman yet.

Oh. Well this way.

Oh dear. What have we here?

It's the Warnsman.

Take him to the medical shelter.

Now what's this?

The battery
- for the lighting.

Brilliant! Ah, take
it inside, hurry along.

Now, where's the mu-field activator?

We told you, Doctor, we couldn't get
any further than the console room.

Doctor! Can't we continue
this conversation undercover.

Yes, indeed. The TARDIS.

This bombardment... it could be a tactical
diversion, on the part of the Doctor.

No, I think not, Brazen. But he has
some connection with these attacks.

Careful.

Gently with that now,
gently, over there.

A swift exit, I think. We've
had enough of this planet.

You hurt?

It's getting lighter.

The attack's nearly over. Let's get out of here. Come on
- the TARDIS.

The TARDIS
- what's happened?!

It's gone.

The TARDIS has been destroyed...