Doctor Who s09e03 Episode Script

Under the Lake

Private journal of Captain Jonathan Moran, 21st November 2119.
We have located a craft of unknown origin on the lake floor.
Visual scans in situ revealed nothing, so we have brought the craft on board and myself and the crew will now investigate.
How did they miss this in the initial survey? Cass says it was buried, and the currents of the water must have shifted the rubble around.
A conversation needs to be had about who owns this spaceship.
Can we stop calling it a spaceship? We don't know what it is.
A case could be made that this is an asset, and my company has bought the rights to all assets What's this? Lunn, grab me a torch, will you? It was found on MOD property, even if that property is underwater.
What you bought is the oil under the ground Lunn! Where's the torch? - Can I go in? - What is the radiation count? - Pretty much background level.
- Anything more, it would have shown up on the initial survey 20 years ago.
If it's not safe, how come you can go in? "How long do you think it's been down here?" Well, there's next to no corrosion.
I've not seen technology like this Please don't say "on Earth".
on Earth before.
Maybe it's some kind of experimental craft that got left behind when they abandoned the site.
Wait, you think the Army would just lose a prototype weapon? You're new to the military, aren't you, son? Cass says he might be right.
It might have been here since the Cass! Come on! Move! Come on, we need to go now! Fire in the main hangar.
Safety protocols have been initiated.
All crew must evacuate immediately.
This safety message was brought to you by Vector Petroleum.
We can't just leave him! There was something in the spaceship, I saw it! - O'Donnell, he's dead.
Didn't you see? - The fire, are we safe out here? It's fine, the CO2 will put the fire out.
It was you! You were messing about with the controls on that ship! Moran.
But we just saw you He's Oh, my God.
He's a ghost.
What's wrong? You're not happy.
Why aren't you happy? Tell me.
Come on! We're on a roll! Monsters, things blowing up.
Oh, hey, can we go back to that place where the people with the long necks have been celebrating New Year for two centuries? I left my sunglasses there.
And most of my dignity.
Why have you brought us here? Here being? Underwater.
Some sort of a base.
The technology's 22nd century.
Maybe military, maybe scientific.
Is there a crew? Must be, somewhere, if there's oxygen.
I want another adventure.
Come on, you feel the same.
You're itching to save a planet, I know it.
Doctor, look at this.
Well.
Looks like you got your wish.
- Food fight? - I think there was more to it than that.
Whatever it was, it happened pretty recently.
Seven or eight hours ago.
No bodies, though.
And they took provisions.
OK, so something or someone forced the crew to abandon the base.
Maybe they went for a swim in the creepy flooded village outside Oh, yeah.
You see, this is more like it.
Oh, come on.
Don't leave me hanging.
Look.
Told you.
Crew.
Hello, sailors! Right, I did not expect that.
Hands up who expected that.
Wait, wait I don't think they're going to hurt us.
I think that they're just curious.
Are you sure? Well, I mean, define "sure".
Look at you lovely chaps.
What's happened to you, then? Come on.
- What are they? - I haven't a clue.
Isn't that exciting? Where did they go? - What is it, some kind of submarine? - No, it's alien.
That's weird.
The Tardis hasn't translated it.
Hey, look, they're back.
Hello! Did you want to show us this? It's very nice.
Wait, are they saying something? OK they now appear to be arming themselves.
Yes, I spotted that, too.
Was it something she said? She does that.
She once had an argument with Gandhi! I'm starting to see why the crew did a runner.
Run! In here! Quick! What are YOU? Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here? This is Clara, and I'm the Doctor.
You're from UNIT.
Well, if that's what it says.
I'm Pritchard, this is Bennett.
O'Donnell! Are you really the Doctor? I'm a huge fan! I mean, you know Nice work.
Tim Lunn, I sign for Cass.
Tell me, what about those things out there, what are they? - Why are they trying to kill us? - Well, they're - They're ghosts.
- They're not ghosts.
Cass is saying Thank you, but I actually don't need your help.
I can speak sign.
Go ahead.
No, no, actually, I I can't.
It's been deleted for semaphore.
Someone get me a selection of flags.
One of the ghosts is our previous commanding officer.
The other moley guy, we don't know what he is.
- He's from the planet Tivoli.
- See? I told you he was an alien! Didn't I say that? Weird thing is, they're not violent.
They're too cowardly.
They wouldn't say boo to a goose.
They're more likely to give the goose their car keys and bank details.
When did they first appear? Oh, did you see that spaceship in the hangar? Yeah, we found that on the lake bed and we'd just got it on board and one of the engines started up and then Moran got Moran was killed.
Then they appeared and pretty much straightaway started trying to kill us.
So we grabbed what we could and we were looking for somewhere to hide and that's when we realised the ghosts couldn't come in here.
- What is this place? - It's a Faraday cage.
Completely impenetrable to radio waves and, apparently, whatever those things are out there.
So, who's in charge now? I need to know who to ignore.
That would be me.
Her.
Actually, that would be me.
I represent Vector Petroleum.
- We've obtained the mining rights to the oil.
- The oil? - Where are we? - This used to be a military training site.
There was a dam overlooking it, but the dam burst and the valley was submerged.
Then, 20 years ago, we discovered a massive oil reservoir underneath it.
'Good morning.
Entering day mode.
' OK, it's morning.
We can go outside now.
Thank God for that.
At last, we can get out of here.
Morning? Yeah, we're too far below the surface for daylight, so we have to demarcate artificial days and nights.
I'd like to have a further look at that spaceship, but what about those things that aren't ghosts? It's all right.
They only come out at night.
Weird how that is not comforting.
If whatever they are - They're ghosts! - They're not ghosts! have been trying to kill you, why haven't you abandoned the base? That was my call.
We have 1 trillion worth of mining equipment here.
We're not just going to abandon it What? If it all goes pear-shaped, it's not THEM that lose a bonus.
It's OK.
I understand.
You're an idiot.
Come to mention it, why is there a Faraday cage on the base? It's the mining equipment.
It runs on nuclear fission.
The Faraday cage has been lined with lead to act as a shelter in the event of a radiation leak.
So we're fighting an unknown homicidal force that has taken the form of your commanding officer and a cowardly alien, underwater, in a nuclear reactor.
Anything else I should know? Someone got a peanut allergy, or something? It all started with this ship.
This is where the answer will be.
What's happened to the stuff you've removed? This is for long-haul flights.
There should be a suspended-animation chamber for the pilot right here.
Plus, one of the power cells is missing.
- A power cell? - Yeah.
You can see the casing is empty.
- It's not safe out here! - What's the matter? She won't let me look inside the spaceship.
She says it's not safe.
I'm saying it's not safe out here.
- I imagine they're pretty valuable.
- What? I mean, powerful.
Those power cells.
I imagine they're pretty powerful.
They can zap a vessel from one side of the galaxy to the other, so take a wild stab in the dark.
- And the missing one must still be out there.
- Yes, well, otherwise Sorry, why is this man still talking to me? We haven't removed anything.
There hasn't been time.
So what have we got? Moran dies, and then those things appear.
They can walk through walls.
They only come out at night and they're sort of see-through.
Doctor, wait, you're not saying They're ghosts! Yeah ghosts You said there was no such thing.
You actually pooh-poohed the ghost theory.
Yes, well well, there was no such thing as socks or smartphones and badgers until there suddenly were.
Besides, what else could they be? They're not holograms, they're not Flesh Avatars! They're not Autons.
They're not digital copies bouncing around the Nethersphere.
No, these people are literally, actually dead.
This is It's amazing! I've never actually met a proper ghost! Moran was our friend.
The cards.
Oh! Oh, right you are.
Oh, come here.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
I'll do all I can to solve the death of your friend slash family member slash pet.
But don't you see what this means? Death! It was the one thing that unified every single living creature in the universe, and now it's gone! How can you just sit there?! Don't you want to go out there right now, wrestle them to the ground and ask them questions until your throat falls out? What's death like? Does it hurt? Do you still get hungry? Do you miss being alive? Why can you only handle metal objects? Oh, I didn't know I'd noticed that.
OK So, they'll try to kill you, blah, blah, blah.
What does that matter? You come back! A bit murder-y, sure, but even so! Calm, Doctor Calm You were like this when you met Shirley Bassey.
OK.
Question one.
What is a ghost? Question two.
What do they want? Whoa.
Whoa, what's happening? Good evening.
Entering night mode.
That's not right.
We're switching back into night mode again.
This can't happen! No, no, no! What's doing that? Doctor? The Tardis Cloister Bell! Doctor, what's wrong? It must be the ghosts.
That's why she was upset when we got here.
Why? I don't understand.
It's just what I was saying.
You live and you die that's it.
The ghosts are aberrations.
A splinter of time in the skin.
They're unnatural.
- She wants to get away from them.
- So, what do we do? Put the handbrake on.
Where do you think you're going? Out there, where the action is.
Look - What? - Oh this is my own fault.
I like adventures as much as the next man.
If the next man is a man who likes adventures.
Even so, don't don't go native.
What do you mean? I'm not.
Look, there's a whole dimension in here, but there's only room for one ME.
Wait wait a second.
You just raved about ghosts like a kid who had too much sherbet.
Do you know what you need? You need a hobby! I really don't.
Or, even better, another relationship! Come on, you lot, you're bananas about relationships.
You're always writing songs about them or going to war or getting tattooed Doctor, I'm fine.
I just felt that I had to say something.
I know.
And I appreciated it.
Because I've got a duty of care.
Which you take very seriously, I know.
- So can I stop now? - Please.
Please do.
Attention, all crew.
The Drum has switched to night mode early so grab provisions and make your way to the Faraday cage.
That you, Bennett? I went out looking for that missing power cell.
OK, contractually, it's a grey area, but I reckon we can argue everything non-indigenous is an asset and therefore Bennett? We're meant to be in day mode! You shouldn't be here.
What? What? What what are you saying? No, Moran! Don't! Pritchard, you are unaccounted for.
Contact the bridge or get to the Faraday cage immediately.
Pritchard, contact the bridge or get to the Faraday cage! I'd love to work for UNIT, Earth's first line of defence, and all.
I'm probably not suited, though.
Not much of a fighter.
More of a bleeder.
Pritchard! Where you have you been? Everyone's been looking for you.
What's with the wet suit? Yeah, where have you been? O'Donnell, it's OK.
Pritchard's in here! Pritchard, you moron.
Grab your stuff, we're locking down early.
In case I can't get this back into day mode.
Is he all right? Man overboard.
Man overboard! We need a rescue team in the water now! Bennett, wait! It's Pritchard.
He's a ghost.
He's another ghost.
Come on, come on.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on Good morning.
Entering day mode.
No! No, Moran! Don't! They're working out how to use the base against us altering the time settings so they can go about uninhibited, opening the airlocks They're learning.
And now there's three of them.
Cass, what do we do? We abandon the base.
Topside can send down a whole team of marines or ghost-busters - or whatever.
- Wait, wait I can't force you to leave, so you can stay and do the whole cabin-in-the-woods thing and get killed or drowned, if you want.
But my first priority is to protect my crew.
But we're coming back, aren't we? Yes, we're coming back.
Tell them we're abandoning the base on my orders.
Topside, Topside, this is Lance Corporal Alice O'Donnell from Drum Control.
Over.
Drum Control, this is Topside.
We have received your message.
Submarine on its way.
Over.
Repeat, Topside.
Over.
We've received your request for a rescue sub.
It's two minutes away.
Over.
Topside, who did you speak to and when was this request made? Over.
Drum Control, it was in Morse code and arrived maybe half an hour ago.
Said it was urgent, comms were down, two crew members critically ill, full paramedic team requested.
Over.
Topside, this is the Doctor, UNIT security visa 7-1-0-Apple-0-0.
You may be familiar with my work.
Call back the sub.
- Doctor, why? - Call it back! We have a hazardous and undefined contagion on board.
This base is now under quarantine.
What did you do that for? None of us sent the message, did we? So that means the ghosts sent it, which means they want that crew down here.
- Why would they do that? - I don't know, but I'm pretty certain it's not so they can all form a boy band.
OK.
We solve this on our own.
The ghosts can only come out at night so they change the base's time settings.
Why? What's different at night? It's mainly atmospheric.
The lights are dim, the noise from the engines is muffled.
No, something something else.
The diagnostic sweep.
When the systems are checked, that stops at night to save power.
What systems, specifically? Life support, the locks.
They're electromagnetic.
They have to be secured in case of flooding, so throughout the day, they're checked, one by one, every few seconds.
The answer is in there somewhere, I can smell it.
Doctor, what do we do? O'Donnell.
Excellent work, returning the base to day mode.
Shut up.
It was nothing You really think so? - Now put it back into night mode.
- What?! We know nothing.
We don't know what they want.
That's what's getting us killed.
Well, I won't run.
Not any more.
So, O'Donnell, kindly put the base back into night mode.
We want to know what these ghosts are after? We ask them.
We're going to do the impossible.
We're going to capture a ghost.
Good evening.
Entering night mode.
H-Hey, how's it going? Bennett's got them moving, and Clara's in position.
Clara, Bennett is going to run across the top of the T-junction to your right in about ten seconds.
Draw the ghosts towards you.
Turn right, and then take second left.
Hey, ghosts.
Down here! Lunn, they're coming your way.
Clara's going to duck down to her left.
You've got to keep the ghosts going on the same route they're on now.
Then, after about 50 yards on your left, there is a flood door.
O'Donnell will close the door once you're through.
I I can hear them.
Lunn, don't let them see where you go.
Hey! Yeah, this way.
We've got a problem! They've separated.
- What? - Moran and the mole guy are going after Clara.
Clara, look out.
Two ghosts are still on your case.
Right behind you.
I'm beginning to think we should have let the ghosts in on the plan.
Clara, there's a flood door at the end of the corridor, around the corner to your right.
We'll close it from here.
Listen to me.
You've got to get through that door before Moran and the other ghost see you.
- Doctor - Now, O'Donnell, fast as you can! Guys, I'm nearly at my door.
Now, Lunn, quickly.
It saw me.
Oh, God.
It saw me.
It's coming through.
It's coming through the door.
We don't have a camera in there.
No, no, Lunn.
Lunn, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Lunn, what's happening? Lunn, can you hear me? Lunn? Lunn? Can you hear me? Lunn, Lunn? Lunn, Lunn! What's happening? Lunn? - Lunn? Can you hear me? - I'm OK.
Cass, he's alive.
It didn't hurt me.
I'm OK.
What? What's wrong with you? Why didn't it hurt you? Bennett, you're on again.
Bennett, where are you? There.
Oh, God, look.
Bennett, can you hear me? There are two ghosts just around the corner from you.
Yes, thanks, I'd noticed! The Faraday cage is across the intersection and down the corridor to your right.
This last bit is down to you.
OK, so, the good news is, they aren't split up any more.
Cue Clara! We need to talk.
Sorry, chaps.
Just a hologram.
You play a little bit too rough.
I'm fine, by the way, in case any of you were worried.
Cass, are you seeing this? Sonic glasses Wi-Fi locked in.
On screen B2.
She says she can't see them properly.
The glass is too thick and they're too far away.
- Open the door.
- What? Doctor, you can't go in there, they will kill you! They don't have any weapons or access to any of the controls.
They can't hurt me, so open the door.
Cold Isn't it? Take away your weapons and you're not so scary, are you? Is that better, Cass? She says they're saying the same thing, the same phrase, over and over.
They're saying "The dark "The score" No, "the sword" The for sale? No, "the forsaken.
The temple.
" - What? - Yes, she's sure.
"The dark, the sword, the forsaken, the temple.
" Just that.
Over and over.
Dark, sword, forsaken, temple.
What does that mean? What are you telling me, big man? Bennett! I need maps.
I think I just worked out what our friend here is telling us.
- They're coordinates.
- How can they be coordinates? The dark space.
So, whoever's following the coordinates knows they're going to another planet.
The sword Orion's sword.
The sword, the three stars, although one isn't actually a star but the Orion Nebula, hanging down from Orion's belt.
But if viewed from back here, the Earth becomes the fourth bit of the sword.
So, narrowed it down to a planet now.
Getting closer! The forsaken.
The forsaken or abandoned or empty town.
See, it's a location, beaming out to someone or something across the universe, over and over.
And every time they kill one of us It strengthens the signal.
Another ghost, another transmitter.
Which is why they sent for that rescue sub.
Get more people down here, kill them, make even more ghosts to beam out the coordinates.
But why are they beaming out the coordinates? Is it a distress call? It could be.
Or a warning.
Might even be a call to arms.
It could mean, "Come here, they're vulnerable, help yourself.
" Wait a minute, though.
Wait a minuet.
You know what this means? It means that they're not a natural phenomenon.
It means that someone is deliberately getting people killed, hijacking their souls and turning them into transmitters.
What do the coordinates lead TO, though? - To us? To the ghosts? What? - Ah! What the coordinates are for that is part of the answer to the other question you're all thinking.
Really? Come on.
None of you? Surely just being around me makes you cleverer by osmosis? What is the other question? The temple.
The fourth part of the directions.
What's the temple? Finally.
It's like pulling teeth.
This is the flooded military town.
Shops, houses, town square, - and this - A church? Whatever the coordinates are for, it's in that church.
Find that and you're a hop, skip and a jump to stopping them.
Wait, you're not suggesting that? But we're safe now.
The ghosts are in the cage, we can get out of here.
No-one has to stay.
In fact, I would prefer it if you went.
You'll all get in the way and ask ridiculous questions.
But You know, YOU have chosen to protect and serve.
YOU have given yourself to science and the pursuit of knowledge.
None of you have chosen anonymous or selfish lives.
Go, and a part of you will always wonder, "What would have happened if I'd stayed? "How could I have helped? What would I have learned?" I want you to go.
But you should know what it is that you're leaving.
Cass says we should go, but everything that happens here is her responsibility now, so she's going to stay.
So I guess I should too.
Well, count me in.
Who wants to live forever, anyway? Sorry have you gone insane? We can go home.
They're ghosts, though.
How can they be ghosts? Well, at least if I die, you know I really will come back and haunt you all.
OK, the sub is approaching the town square.
- Which way is the church? - North-north-west, 150 yards.
That's it.
Starboard two degrees.
What are we looking for, exactly? Something that has the power to raise the dead and turn them into transmitters.
I expect we'll know it when we see it.
Wait, I've found the church.
That's it, keep going.
Wait! What's that? Move closer.
It's the suspended-animation chamber from the spaceship.
So the pilot could be in there.
There's SOMETHING inside there.
But it's deadlock sealed, I can't open it.
It should be the pilot, it should be.
So why do I think it isn't? More questions.
Everything I solve, just more questions.
I have to go back to the beginning.
We arrive, we see the ghosts.
They don't kill us.
They lead us here, they show us the spaceship.
THEN they try to kill us.
Not translated by the Tardis.
Why? Lunn, translate for me.
Whenever I step outside, you are the smartest person in the room.
So, tell me, what's weird about this? I know that it's all bonkers but, you know, when YOU think about it, one thing keeps snagging in your mind.
What is it? The markings on the inside of the spaceship.
The markings on the inside of the spaceship.
Yes! Why? - I don't think they're just words.
- They're not.
They're magnets.
Magnets? How? Well, a localised and manufactured electromagnetic field, to be precise.
The dark.
The sword.
The forsaken.
The temple.
When we heard the coordinates for the first time, did anyone expect them not to be that? No, exactly.
Me neither.
It's like we already knew, somehow.
Like the words were already in us.
So that writing IS the coordinates? Everything we see or experience shapes us in some way.
But these words actually rewrite the synaptic connections in your brain.
They literally change the way you are wired.
Clara, why don't I have a radio in the Tardis? You took it apart and used the pieces to make a clockwork squirrel.
AND because whatever song I heard first thing in the morning, I was stuck with.
Two weeks of Mysterious Girl by Peter Andre.
I was begging for the brush of Death's merciful hand.
Don't you see? These words are an earworm.
A song you can't stop humming, even after you die.
OK, so the spaceship lands here.
The pilot leaves the writing on the wall so whoever sees it, when they die, they become a beacon of the coordinates, while he/she/it snoozes in the suspended-animation chamber Waiting for his/her/its mates to pick the message up.
My God.
Every time I think it couldn't get more extraordinary, it surprises me.
It's impossible.
I hate it.
It's evil.
It's astonishing.
I want to kiss it to death.
Attention, all crew.
Evacuate base immediately.
Emergency protocols have been initiated.
This safety message was brought to you by Vector Petroleum - fuel for our futures.
- Oh, no.
The ghosts tampering with the day-night settings has caused a computer malfunction.
Its its first priority is to keep the reactor cool, so it's opening the hull doors and it's flooding the base.
Cass says, close the internal flood doors.
That'll contain the water in the central corridor.
- Where's the Tardis? - On the other side.
We need to get there.
It's our only way out.
OK.
We've got 30 seconds before the flood doors close.
Come on! Doctor! I'll get you and the others out.
Sit tight, I'll come back for you.
Just come over here in the Tardis now.
The Tardis won't go there, it won't go near the ghosts.
You can't just leave us! Listen to me.
I'm going back in time to when this spaceship landed.
If I can understand why this is happening, I can stop them killing anyone else.
I can save you.
You trust me, don't you, Clara? Wait, you're going to go back in time? - How do you do that? - Extremely well.
You're sure they're not going to hurt us? They can't get out of the Faraday cage.
Back to before the flood.
And you're sure the Doctor won't just leave us here? Guys, look, this is how we roll.
He's going to go away, come back and we'll have to listen to how he did it.
Is it Moran or Pritchard or the mole guy? - How how did they get out? - No, I don't think it's any of them.
I think it's a new ghost.
What does that mean? It means that something happened in the past, it means that somebody else must have Oh, no.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
Another ghost has appeared.
What does it mean? I have to die.
This is the town before it flooded.
I need to know how you create these creatures with nothing but words.
He's opened the Faraday cage, let the other ghosts out.
This isn't about saving me.
I'm a dead man walking.
So, who's next?
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