Doctor Who (1963–1989): Season 8, Episode 11 - The Claws of Axos: Episode One - full transcript
When a mysterious object lands near the Nuton power complex, UNIT investigate and encounter the Axons, a group of aliens who offer the mineral axonite, which can duplicate matter, as a gift.
(DOCTOR WHO THEME)
25mps...
One million miles... Mass variable.
If that's its course,
we've discovered a comet. Run another check.
(PINGS)
It's altered its course!
- It can't have.
- Oh, yes, it can, mate!
Say goodbye to your comet. Whatever that is,
it's on a collision course with Earth!
(WAILING)
Nothing!
- Nothing at all.
- No.
Brigadier,
as head of this committee of inquiry,
I must reiterate Defence Ministry ruling...
Mr Chinn, we're not in the Ministry of Defence.
- Personnel must be properly screened...
- (BOTH) ..and scrupulously filed.
As a basic security precaution, I insist upon
a file for this Doctor...erm, what's-his-name.
I'm sorry.
I am personally responsible for the Doctor.
Typical! That's the kind of high-handed attitude
one's come to expect from the UN.
Now, this Doctor,
I gather he's not a British subject.
Then who is he and where does he come from?
Good morning... Oh. Good morning.
Washington want the Master dealt with?
- (AMERICAN ACCENT) Something like that.
- And you're going to do it?
Yeah!
- No, no. That was Errol Flynn.
- Who?
Oh...forget it.
My dear Mr Chinn, if I could leave, I would,
if only to get away from people like you!
- Doctor...
- And your petty obsessions!
- ''England for the English''!
- I have a duty to my country!
- Not to the world?
- Good morning.
Oh, I'm sorry. Has the conference started?
No, not yet.
This is Bill Filer from Washington HQ.
- What is it?
- No idea, sir.
There's no point in discussing the Master.
He's left Earth by now.
We can't be certain of that, Doctor.
Master? Who is the Master?
I have our report here, Brigadier.
It's classified, I'm afraid, sir.
- Then I insist upon staying.
- You have no clearance.
- I've been guaranteed full access...
- Not by us, sir.
- This doesn't concern Washington.
- I'm sorry, sir. You are a security risk.
- Yes, well, um...
- (ALARM BELL RINGS)
500 miles and closing.
Velocity 20mps, decreasing...
- Hawaii tracking...
- What's the picture?
- We're running ICBM checks, sir.
- ICBM? What's going on here?
A UFO appears to be heading for Earth, Mr Chinn.
Shouldn't you be in touch with your ministry?
Telephone. Quickly, man. Quick!
- Yates? Show Mr Chinn the direct line.
- Direct line?
- In there.
- Oh, yes. This way, sir.
(RADAR OPERATOR)
Course changing, two-zero-seven...
- (RADAR PINGS)
- Two-zero-six...
- Well, Doctor, what is it?
- I've no idea.
Two-zero-five...
Variable mass. That's interesting.
Orbital flight path...now.
- Is it going to hit us?
- UFO entering atmosphere...now.
- Compute target area.
- Check.
(MOUTHS SILENTLY, COMPUTER WHIRRS)
Yes. South-east coast, I should imagine.
(MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY)
- Brigadier!
- South Atlantic, moving north.
Bearing now zero-two-zero.
The Minister wants you linked up
to strike force. I have full authority.
- Yates?
- All taken care of, sir.
Oh, good.
(RADAR PINGS)
(ON RADIO ) Flight path Green One cleared.
Yes, good.
Ah, get me station command, will you?
Yes, sir.
Chinn here - MOD. You know
I'm coordinating this operation, don't you?
Well, be ready to destroy this thing
the moment I give the word.
Oh, you are ready. Good. Well, stand by, then.
- All set to destroy it? Whatever it is.
- Just a precaution, Doctor.
I see. Shoot first and think afterwards, is that it?
Major nuclear powers
deny missile launching - confirmed.
Estimated target area England, south-east coast.
There's a Met Office report.
Freak weather conditions across the area.
- Explain.
- Sudden snowstorms, dense fog.
(MUTTERS TO HIMSELF)
UFO over airline flight path Green One.
All civil aircraft scattered.
(ON RADIO ) ETA 60 seconds.
Repeat, 60 seconds.
Airborne interceptors closing.
Missile strike now!
Commit now! Yes, Commander, now!
(ENGINES ROAR)
- Perfect sitting target!
- Hardly seems sporting, does it?
(CONTROLLER) Contact lostI
- It's gone, sir!
- Destroyed?
No, you don't understand. It's disappeared,
and the missiles haven't reached it yet.
Don't you think you'd better abort?
What goes up must come down again.
The warheads! Abort, man! Abort!
Abort mission! Destruct! Destruct!
(BEEPS RAPIDLY)
- Well?
- Still no trace of the UFO.
- It can't have disappeared.
- (WOMAN) Total radar contact loss.
Well, Doctor? Where's it gone?
Gone?
It hasn't gone anywhere, Brigadier.
It's just arriving!
(MUTTERS)
(ROAR OF ENGINES)
(WAILS)
Whooa!
(MUTTERS ANGRILY)
We have to assume the thing is hostile.
It's landed by the national power complex.
Britain's power supply is menaced.
Under the Emergency Powers Act...
All right, Mr Chinn. Yates,
all available personnel to the assembly area.
- I'm treating this as a national emergency.
- Yes, yes. So am I. Doctor?
From now on,
consider yourself under my orders.
Er, Brigadier...
- Where do you want me?
- Mr Filer, this is an internal matter.
If you don't leave immediately,
I shall have you arrested.
- Mr Chinn...
- No, no, no. It's all right, Brigadier.
Well, goodbye, Mr Chinn.
Take care.
(MUTTERS) Ooh-arr? Ooh-arr?
Ooh-arr?
Ooh-arr?
(FAINT PULSATING HUM)
(MUTTERS INCOHERENTLY)
(HISSING)
(SHOUTS IN TERROR)
Agh! Agh!
..UFO objective confirmed
as area north sector national power complex.
All vehicles - repeat -
all vehicles RV this area. Out.
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(MONOTONE VOICE) Analysis pattern
reveals locomotor facility normal,
sensory receptors acute, intelligence atypical.
This specimen is valueless.
Absorb, process and eject.
(PULSATING HUM)
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(SIREN WAILS)
(GASPS)
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
- Sir George, this is Lethbridge Stewart.
- This is Winser, head of research.
I hope you're not contemplating an attack
so close to the labs.
This complex provides power for Britain.
An attack would be disastrous.
An attack? By whom, Sir George? We have
no idea. We must take these precautions.
- I've arranged for full artillery support.
- Artillery?
But your missiles couldn't find their target.
Sir George, Professor Winser,
the Doctor is our scientific advisor.
I gather from these primitive instruments
that the device has buried itself
deep underground,
so there's not much that anybody can do...
..even if it is a bomb.
- But you don't think it is?
- Perhaps I could check the readings?
Yes, please do.
Doctor, look!
(PULSATING BEAT)
You know, I would have said
that that was a heartbeat.
Intelligent, aggressive, possibly dangerous.
Hold for further investigation.
Brigadier, something's coming through.
Well, let's hear it.
(MONOTONE VOICE) Axos calling Earth.
Fuel systems exhausted. Request
immediate assistance. Immediate assistance.
Axos calling Earth,
Axos calling Earth... (BECOMES FAINT)
More of a cry for help than a threat.
Brigadier, we can't wait any longer. We must
attack before they have time to reorganise.
Before annihilating it, why don't we take a look?
- (WINSER) I agree.
- Jo, I'm sorry. Not this time.
Captain Yates, stay here and act as liaison.
Watch Miss Grant.
Benton, check the perimeter guard.
(HISSING)
Axos calling Earth. Request
immediate assistance. Axos calling Earth.
Right, gentlemen.
Shall we go in?
(HISSING)
It's no good going on at me, Jo.
The Brigadier made it clear... What is it?
We've found a body by the north perimeter.
A car too - a big Yankee job.
- You'd better show me.
- Miss, you shouldn't go.
All right. I'll stay here.
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(HISSING)
Attention. Subject non-typical.
Investigate. Investigate.
Analysis pattern indicates extraterrestrial.
Investigate.
(CROAKS) Brigadier... Brigadier...
Brigadier...
(HISSING)
Are you all right, Doctor?
Yes, I suppose so. I must say,
this place is full of surprises, isn't it?
Let's see what else we can find.
Help!
Help!
- Help! Help!
- Bill? Bill, is that you?
Brigadier! Brigadier!
(INAUDIBLE)
Well, gentlemen. There's your enemy.
Our worlds...are uncountable...
light years...away...
..on the far rim...of the galaxy.
Our planetary system has been crippled
by solar flare activity.
Axos is all that remains of our culture.
As you can see, our science,
unlike yours, has taken an organic path.
This...ship...?
This ship was not...
built for our journey...it was grown.
- What?
- Yes, grown from a single cell.
Now its nutrient is all but exhausted,
we would like to stay...
- (COUGHS) Well...
- Until our energy cycles are replenished.
In return, according to your custom,
we offer a gift, a payment.
Axonite!
Bill? Bill, where are you?
Axonite is the source
of all our growth technology.
Axonite can absorb, convert, transmit
and programme all forms of energy.
Even radiation?
- Why, then, were you crippled by solar flare?
- It was already too late.
Perhaps you could explain
just what it is, what it does.
- My report, you understand?
- Axonite is the ''chameleon'' of the elements.
It is a thinking molecule.
It uses the energy it absorbs
to copy and re-create and restructure
any given substance.
- And yet you still ran out of fuel?
- And the principle of Axonite?
It would be simpler to demonstrate Axonite.
What's your name?
Filer...
Bill Filer. Who are you? What do you want?
I'm your fellow captive, Filer. I am the Master.
A painless lasonic injection...of Axonite.
This is one of your food animals?
- (SIR GEORGE) No, no, it isn't.
- My apologies.
Assuming it were, you can see the possibilities
for alleviating the world's food problems.
The process is, of course, reversible.
- It's...incredible!
- Unlimited food.
- And unlimited power.
- We must have it!
Bill?
(SCREAMS)
25mps...
One million miles... Mass variable.
If that's its course,
we've discovered a comet. Run another check.
(PINGS)
It's altered its course!
- It can't have.
- Oh, yes, it can, mate!
Say goodbye to your comet. Whatever that is,
it's on a collision course with Earth!
(WAILING)
Nothing!
- Nothing at all.
- No.
Brigadier,
as head of this committee of inquiry,
I must reiterate Defence Ministry ruling...
Mr Chinn, we're not in the Ministry of Defence.
- Personnel must be properly screened...
- (BOTH) ..and scrupulously filed.
As a basic security precaution, I insist upon
a file for this Doctor...erm, what's-his-name.
I'm sorry.
I am personally responsible for the Doctor.
Typical! That's the kind of high-handed attitude
one's come to expect from the UN.
Now, this Doctor,
I gather he's not a British subject.
Then who is he and where does he come from?
Good morning... Oh. Good morning.
Washington want the Master dealt with?
- (AMERICAN ACCENT) Something like that.
- And you're going to do it?
Yeah!
- No, no. That was Errol Flynn.
- Who?
Oh...forget it.
My dear Mr Chinn, if I could leave, I would,
if only to get away from people like you!
- Doctor...
- And your petty obsessions!
- ''England for the English''!
- I have a duty to my country!
- Not to the world?
- Good morning.
Oh, I'm sorry. Has the conference started?
No, not yet.
This is Bill Filer from Washington HQ.
- What is it?
- No idea, sir.
There's no point in discussing the Master.
He's left Earth by now.
We can't be certain of that, Doctor.
Master? Who is the Master?
I have our report here, Brigadier.
It's classified, I'm afraid, sir.
- Then I insist upon staying.
- You have no clearance.
- I've been guaranteed full access...
- Not by us, sir.
- This doesn't concern Washington.
- I'm sorry, sir. You are a security risk.
- Yes, well, um...
- (ALARM BELL RINGS)
500 miles and closing.
Velocity 20mps, decreasing...
- Hawaii tracking...
- What's the picture?
- We're running ICBM checks, sir.
- ICBM? What's going on here?
A UFO appears to be heading for Earth, Mr Chinn.
Shouldn't you be in touch with your ministry?
Telephone. Quickly, man. Quick!
- Yates? Show Mr Chinn the direct line.
- Direct line?
- In there.
- Oh, yes. This way, sir.
(RADAR OPERATOR)
Course changing, two-zero-seven...
- (RADAR PINGS)
- Two-zero-six...
- Well, Doctor, what is it?
- I've no idea.
Two-zero-five...
Variable mass. That's interesting.
Orbital flight path...now.
- Is it going to hit us?
- UFO entering atmosphere...now.
- Compute target area.
- Check.
(MOUTHS SILENTLY, COMPUTER WHIRRS)
Yes. South-east coast, I should imagine.
(MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY)
- Brigadier!
- South Atlantic, moving north.
Bearing now zero-two-zero.
The Minister wants you linked up
to strike force. I have full authority.
- Yates?
- All taken care of, sir.
Oh, good.
(RADAR PINGS)
(ON RADIO ) Flight path Green One cleared.
Yes, good.
Ah, get me station command, will you?
Yes, sir.
Chinn here - MOD. You know
I'm coordinating this operation, don't you?
Well, be ready to destroy this thing
the moment I give the word.
Oh, you are ready. Good. Well, stand by, then.
- All set to destroy it? Whatever it is.
- Just a precaution, Doctor.
I see. Shoot first and think afterwards, is that it?
Major nuclear powers
deny missile launching - confirmed.
Estimated target area England, south-east coast.
There's a Met Office report.
Freak weather conditions across the area.
- Explain.
- Sudden snowstorms, dense fog.
(MUTTERS TO HIMSELF)
UFO over airline flight path Green One.
All civil aircraft scattered.
(ON RADIO ) ETA 60 seconds.
Repeat, 60 seconds.
Airborne interceptors closing.
Missile strike now!
Commit now! Yes, Commander, now!
(ENGINES ROAR)
- Perfect sitting target!
- Hardly seems sporting, does it?
(CONTROLLER) Contact lostI
- It's gone, sir!
- Destroyed?
No, you don't understand. It's disappeared,
and the missiles haven't reached it yet.
Don't you think you'd better abort?
What goes up must come down again.
The warheads! Abort, man! Abort!
Abort mission! Destruct! Destruct!
(BEEPS RAPIDLY)
- Well?
- Still no trace of the UFO.
- It can't have disappeared.
- (WOMAN) Total radar contact loss.
Well, Doctor? Where's it gone?
Gone?
It hasn't gone anywhere, Brigadier.
It's just arriving!
(MUTTERS)
(ROAR OF ENGINES)
(WAILS)
Whooa!
(MUTTERS ANGRILY)
We have to assume the thing is hostile.
It's landed by the national power complex.
Britain's power supply is menaced.
Under the Emergency Powers Act...
All right, Mr Chinn. Yates,
all available personnel to the assembly area.
- I'm treating this as a national emergency.
- Yes, yes. So am I. Doctor?
From now on,
consider yourself under my orders.
Er, Brigadier...
- Where do you want me?
- Mr Filer, this is an internal matter.
If you don't leave immediately,
I shall have you arrested.
- Mr Chinn...
- No, no, no. It's all right, Brigadier.
Well, goodbye, Mr Chinn.
Take care.
(MUTTERS) Ooh-arr? Ooh-arr?
Ooh-arr?
Ooh-arr?
(FAINT PULSATING HUM)
(MUTTERS INCOHERENTLY)
(HISSING)
(SHOUTS IN TERROR)
Agh! Agh!
..UFO objective confirmed
as area north sector national power complex.
All vehicles - repeat -
all vehicles RV this area. Out.
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(MONOTONE VOICE) Analysis pattern
reveals locomotor facility normal,
sensory receptors acute, intelligence atypical.
This specimen is valueless.
Absorb, process and eject.
(PULSATING HUM)
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(SIREN WAILS)
(GASPS)
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
- Sir George, this is Lethbridge Stewart.
- This is Winser, head of research.
I hope you're not contemplating an attack
so close to the labs.
This complex provides power for Britain.
An attack would be disastrous.
An attack? By whom, Sir George? We have
no idea. We must take these precautions.
- I've arranged for full artillery support.
- Artillery?
But your missiles couldn't find their target.
Sir George, Professor Winser,
the Doctor is our scientific advisor.
I gather from these primitive instruments
that the device has buried itself
deep underground,
so there's not much that anybody can do...
..even if it is a bomb.
- But you don't think it is?
- Perhaps I could check the readings?
Yes, please do.
Doctor, look!
(PULSATING BEAT)
You know, I would have said
that that was a heartbeat.
Intelligent, aggressive, possibly dangerous.
Hold for further investigation.
Brigadier, something's coming through.
Well, let's hear it.
(MONOTONE VOICE) Axos calling Earth.
Fuel systems exhausted. Request
immediate assistance. Immediate assistance.
Axos calling Earth,
Axos calling Earth... (BECOMES FAINT)
More of a cry for help than a threat.
Brigadier, we can't wait any longer. We must
attack before they have time to reorganise.
Before annihilating it, why don't we take a look?
- (WINSER) I agree.
- Jo, I'm sorry. Not this time.
Captain Yates, stay here and act as liaison.
Watch Miss Grant.
Benton, check the perimeter guard.
(HISSING)
Axos calling Earth. Request
immediate assistance. Axos calling Earth.
Right, gentlemen.
Shall we go in?
(HISSING)
It's no good going on at me, Jo.
The Brigadier made it clear... What is it?
We've found a body by the north perimeter.
A car too - a big Yankee job.
- You'd better show me.
- Miss, you shouldn't go.
All right. I'll stay here.
(HIGH-PITCHED TRILLING)
(HISSING)
Attention. Subject non-typical.
Investigate. Investigate.
Analysis pattern indicates extraterrestrial.
Investigate.
(CROAKS) Brigadier... Brigadier...
Brigadier...
(HISSING)
Are you all right, Doctor?
Yes, I suppose so. I must say,
this place is full of surprises, isn't it?
Let's see what else we can find.
Help!
Help!
- Help! Help!
- Bill? Bill, is that you?
Brigadier! Brigadier!
(INAUDIBLE)
Well, gentlemen. There's your enemy.
Our worlds...are uncountable...
light years...away...
..on the far rim...of the galaxy.
Our planetary system has been crippled
by solar flare activity.
Axos is all that remains of our culture.
As you can see, our science,
unlike yours, has taken an organic path.
This...ship...?
This ship was not...
built for our journey...it was grown.
- What?
- Yes, grown from a single cell.
Now its nutrient is all but exhausted,
we would like to stay...
- (COUGHS) Well...
- Until our energy cycles are replenished.
In return, according to your custom,
we offer a gift, a payment.
Axonite!
Bill? Bill, where are you?
Axonite is the source
of all our growth technology.
Axonite can absorb, convert, transmit
and programme all forms of energy.
Even radiation?
- Why, then, were you crippled by solar flare?
- It was already too late.
Perhaps you could explain
just what it is, what it does.
- My report, you understand?
- Axonite is the ''chameleon'' of the elements.
It is a thinking molecule.
It uses the energy it absorbs
to copy and re-create and restructure
any given substance.
- And yet you still ran out of fuel?
- And the principle of Axonite?
It would be simpler to demonstrate Axonite.
What's your name?
Filer...
Bill Filer. Who are you? What do you want?
I'm your fellow captive, Filer. I am the Master.
A painless lasonic injection...of Axonite.
This is one of your food animals?
- (SIR GEORGE) No, no, it isn't.
- My apologies.
Assuming it were, you can see the possibilities
for alleviating the world's food problems.
The process is, of course, reversible.
- It's...incredible!
- Unlimited food.
- And unlimited power.
- We must have it!
Bill?
(SCREAMS)