Doctor Who (1963) s09e09 Episode Script

Mayday.
Mayday.
SS Pevensey Castle, we're being attacked.
Give your position, please.
Give your position! -What is it? -It's a mayday, sir.
SS Pevensey Castle, they say they're being attacked.
We're abandoning ship! We're abandoning ship! Our position is That's it over there.
There you are, Jo.
That's the Master's permanent residence from now on.
Well, let's hope he's still there.
Okay.
I'll be back in a couple of hours to take you over to the mainland.
Right.
-Yes? Main gate.
Two visitors for the prisoner, sir, from UNIT.
Passes all in order, sir.
Right, send them up.
Well, I suppose we could always come back later.
Oh, yes, of course.
You'll be the chappy from UNIT.
My name's Josephine Grant.
How do you do? And this is the Doctor.
Colonel Trenchard.
Delighted to meet you.
Pleasant trip? -Yes, thank you.
-You're late, you know? Yes, we were held up.
Mmm, thought you might have sunk without trace.
Sunk? -Happens all the time recently.
What does? Ships vanishing.
Makes you think, doesn't it? It does indeed.
-Now then, passes? Well, look, we've been through all that We don't take any chances here.
Let's see them.
Oh.
Ah, yes, from UNIT.
That's right, yes.
Yes Ah, jolly good.
Well, you'll be wanting to see the prisoner? That was the general idea.
He's an interesting chap, you know.
You'll enjoy talking to him.
If ever I get the opportunity.
Has he given you any trouble as yet? Not a bit.
You've got to be joking! He must have tried to escape? You've seen our security precautions.
Anyway, we're on an island.
Has he tried to hypnotise any of the guards, by any chance? Not at all.
All our men are completely immune to hypnotism.
-How can you be so sure? -Prove it to you.
Trenchard here.
Send that new man, Wilson, in to see the prisoner.
Now then, come over here and take a look into this screen.
My word, he's putting on weight! Poor chap, he can't get the exercise.
Now then, watch.
Mr Trenchard sent me, sir, to see if you wanted your book changed? Well, that's very kind of him, but, um, I haven't quite finished yet.
Right you are, sir.
Just a minute.
-You're new here, aren't you? -Arrived yesterday, sir.
Wait.
Do you know who I am? You're the prisoner.
I am the Master.
Come here.
I am the Master and you will obey me! You understand? You will obey me! You'll let us know when you've finished with the book, sir? You see? Yes, very impressive.
Perhaps we could see him now, yes? Certainly, this way.
After you, my dear.
Visitors for you.
Why, Doctor! And Miss Grant! What a very pleasant surprise! Yes.
Well, how are you? Well, as you see, very well.
Trying to keep fit.
Yes, well, I'll leave you all together.
Give the guard a shout when you want to leave.
Thank you, Colonel.
He's quite a decent sort, really.
Used to be the governor of a colony once, so he tells me.
Very small colony, wasn't it? In fact, I believe they claimed independence soon after he arrived.
He seems to be looking after you very well.
Oh, yes, I've got everything I want, except of course my freedom.
You can consider yourself lucky.
Quite a few people were in favour of having you executed.
My dear Doctor, don't think I'm not grateful.
I've had a chance to think about things while I've been in here.
Have you now? I wish that something like this had happened a long time ago.
Well, surely you don't like being locked up? No, but it's given me a chance to reconsider my life.
Am I to take it that you're a changed man? Is that so very incredible? After all, I do have a great deal of which to repent.
You're telling us! In that case, perhaps you'd like to tell me the whereabouts of your Tardis? So that you could use it in order to escape from this planet, Doctor? No, so that I can make absolutely certain that you can't.
No, I'm sorry.
That is too much to ask.
Ask a silly question Come on, Jo.
I think we'd better be going.
Is there anything that I can do for you at all? There is one thing.
Please come in now and then to have a chat.
Oh, Trenchard's a very nice man, but his conversation is somewhat limited.
-Goodbye.
-Goodbye, Miss Grant.
And goodbye, Doctor.
I sincerely hope we meet again very soon.
Goodbye.
-Doctor? -Mmm? You felt sorry for him, didn't you? You wanted to come down here and see that he was all right.
Well, he used to be a friend of mine once.
A very good friend.
In fact, you might almost say we were at school together.
How long's he going to be here? Forever, I should think.
Ah, ready for off, then? I'd better stamp your passes.
What, again? Gotta be checked in and out, old man.
It's the rule.
Well, we don't look after him too badly, do we? No indeed.
But I advise you to be careful.
He's a very dangerous man, you know.
Ah, don't worry.
I keep my eye on him.
There you are, my dear.
Come along, now then.
Thank you.
I'll get one of my chaps to run you down to the quayside.
Thank you.
There we are then.
Fooled them nicely, didn't we? I hope so.
What about that hypnotism wheeze, eh? That took them in! Don't underestimate the Doctor.
Do you really believe that he came here to see me? Why else? -Vanishing ships, of course.
-Oh, I don't think so.
No, he didn't seem particularly interested when I mentioned it.
You did what? Oh, just chatting.
No harm done, surely? Let's hope not.
By the way, what about those admiralty charts I asked for? They will be here this afternoon.
Ah, splendid.
There is one more thing Yes? I wonder, do you think I could have another television set for the bedroom? Yes, yes, I'm sure that's possible.
Colour, of course.
Of course! Well, if you'll excuse me? Ah, it's true.
Three ships vanished.
Summat queer going on for all their trying to hush it up.
Well, who's trying to hush it up? Well, them over at the naval base, the secret research establishment.
You seem to know a great deal about all this.
Well, I'm in the lifeboat crew, aren't I? We went out to look for survivors.
Only found the one lifeboat, capsized.
The bottom was all charred in a sort of pattern.
Well, where's this boat now? Ah, the navy took it.
Told us to keep our mouths shut.
Well, where's this naval base, then? Over beyond the headland.
Right, well, perhaps you'd like to take me there straightaway? Mr Trenchard paid me to bring you out here and take you back.
You want to go over to the naval base, then you make your own arrangements.
Yes, well, you're probably perfectly right.
Look, I wonder whether you'd like to go and see what's happening to my young friend? She said she was going to go and buy some picture postcards.
I don't mind.
I'd go myself, only my bad leg's playing me up a bit.
-The Crimea, you know.
-I see.
Crimea? Oh, Gallipoli? El Alamein? Does it really matter? I reckon not.
And I regret to inform your lordships that our investigations have failed to reveal any clue as to the cause of the sinkings, full stop.
The charred ship's lifeboat will be sent to our laboratory at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, for investigation and analysis.
Meanwhile, we are keeping careful watch -Yes, sir? -Come and look at this! What on earth? Perhaps he's lost, sir.
This place is supposed to be top secret! People treating it like Brighton Beach! Get me the Master at Arms.
Captain Hart here.
I don't know whether you've noticed, but there happens to be a stray civilian chugging into the base! Get on to it, will you? Sir, he's making straight for the lifeboat! Oi! You! Good afternoon! I wonder whether I could see your commanding officer? Thank you, Miss.
Look after it for me, won't you? Don't worry.
I'll bring it back just as soon as I've found the Doctor.
What are you watching? It seems to be a rather interesting extra-terrestrial life form.
Only puppets, you know.
For children.
Oh.
-Well, here's the chart you wanted.
-Oh, good! That's right.
Thank you.
Now You know, Trenchard, a man of your efficiency is really wasted in a job like this.
Huh, bit of a comedown in a way, I suppose, but, er Never mind.
Once our plan succeeds, people will really begin to realise your true worth.
Ah.
Er, what are you doing? I've just been plotting the sightings of the three sinkings.
There, there and there.
And it's interesting that right in the middle of them, there's this abandoned sea fort.
-Not abandoned any more, old chap.
-Really? Hart's people are going to use it as a sonar testing station.
Contractors are working on the place now.
Hmm.
-How much to see you? -A fiver.
-Right.
-Full house.
Kings on twos.
Oh, that's marvellous, innit? Just marvellous! Come on, it's not your life savings, it's only a couple of quid.
I'll give you a chance to get your own back.
-Ah, forget it.
-What's the matter with you? I don't know.
Being stuck out here, I suppose.
It's not so bad.
Are you sure you don't want another game? Do you know, there's something funny about this place.
Share the joke.
-Well, the place is deserted, right? -So? -Just the two of us on maintenance.
-Right.
Yet I keep getting the feeling I'm being watched.
If you are from UNIT, then where are your credentials? I never carry the things.
A lot of bureaucratic nonsense.
If you wish to see my pass, then ask Miss Grant.
Why didn't you arrange for an official visit through normal channels? Well, I just dropped in purely on impulse, old chap.
As soon as I heard about that charred lifeboat, I had to see it.
-Oh, why? -You've inspected the boat yourself? -Well, of course I have.
-Then you must have noticed the linear nature of those scorch marks.
Excuse me, my dear, may I? Thank you.
Now then, sit down.
Now, the marks are a very definite shape, a linear shape, like this.
Now, how do you account for that? -A freak effect if the ship caught fire.
-Yes, but it didn't catch fire.
If it had, the smoke and flames would have been seen, wouldn't they? All right then, how do you account for them? A concentrated beam of heat, applied from underneath the boat whilst it was still in the water.
Deliberately to sink a lifeboat? Yes, to make sure there were no survivors.
What are these markers here? Those are the last known positions of the missing vessels, so far as we can estimate.
Captain Hart's office? Yes.
Yes, I see.
Hold on.
There's a young lady here with two UNIT passes.
She wants to know if there's anyone here called the Doctor? Come on, you can't lose anything at draughts.
There's a jinx on this place.
Nothing but trouble since we started repairing the foundations.
Forget it, it's not your problem.
Black or white? What's that noise? It's a mermaid.
She can't resist us! Shut up! There's someone moving about upstairs.
It's the wind.
Fat lot of use you are.
What are you doing there? Going to send up a distress signal? You never know.
Hickman! Hickman? Hickman? Where are you? Yes, well, these passes appear to be in order.
You may go.
Go? My dear chap, I don't want to go.
I want to visit this fort here.
That fort is being converted for use as a testing station.
There's nobody there but a couple of maintenance workmen.
Nevertheless, it is right in the centre of all the trouble, isn't it? Now if some of your naval bods could get me out there, Captain? Doctor, I have no authority to provide naval vessels for your pleasure jaunts! Look, don't you realise how important this is? I realise only too well.
Three ships have been sunk and may lives have been lost.
-Now, if you don't mind? -Doctor, I think he wants us to go.
I suggest that you take your theories along to your own people at UNIT and put the whole thing on an official level! If Horatio Nelson had been in charge of this operation, I hardly think that he would have waited for official instructions.
Yes, a pretty impulsive fellow, if one can believe the history books.
History books? Captain Hart, Horatio Nelson was a personal friend of mine.
Come on, Jo.
Good grief.
Poor chap's as mad as a hatter.
How do we get onto the fort? Up that ladder.
Now hold tight, Jo.
We're coming alongside now.
I still say you should have taken Mr Robbins' boat back.
We will, Jo, we will.
We'll take his motor bicycle back at the same time.
Still, now we're here, let's take a look around, shall we? Well, somebody's here all right.
-Well, where are they, then? -This is a big fort, Jo.
They must be in some other part of it.
Come on, we'll find them.
There's supposed to be two workmen.
They can't just have vanished.
Well, they have, haven't they? Look, Doctor, it's getting dark.
-Let's get out of here.
-There's plenty of time.
-It must have been the petrol tank! -It wouldn't just blow up by itself.
Doctor, do you realise we're stranded here! Don't worry, Jo.
There must be a radio on this fort somewhere.
We'll just have to get a message back to shore.
Come on.
Look! What is it? He's dead, poor chap.
Doctor, let's get out of here, please! -All right.
Let's find that radio first.
-Shh, listen! It's coming towards us!