Doctor Who (1963) s23e12 Episode Script
The Trial of a Time Lord, Part Twelve (Terror of the Vervoids)
-What's happening? -Isn't that obvious? -Running into turbulence.
-Rather more than turbulence.
Don't talk in riddles, man.
Your colleague is aiming the Hyperion III into the eye of the Black Hole of Tartarus.
Bruchner must be stopped.
Get every Vervoid to the bridge area.
-Marsh gas? -A methane derivative.
Marsh gas? Where the devil has that come from? What is it you two know that I don't? Questions later.
Will smoke masks be any good? No, they'd be completely inadequate.
You're saying that none of us can go in there? -It'd be suicide! -Here, let me go.
No, it's my ship.
If there is a risk to be taken, I'll take it.
-No! -There's no need for heroics from either of you.
Come to the bridge.
If they make a hash of it in there, we're finished.
I doubt if that will happen, Commodore.
I am grateful to you both.
Now that the air is breathable, I'll resume command.
I am afraid that isn't going to be possible, Commodore.
What he is stating, in the usually devious human manner, is that we are taking over the ship.
A hijack? But you Mogarians are a peace-loving race.
Violence is repugnant to you.
No one will be harmed if they obey orders.
Rudge, I will personally see to it that you rot in jail! I should restrain that tongue of yours, Commodore.
The Mogarians may not believe in violence, but I don't share their qualms.
All my life, someone like you has been patronising me, treating me with contempt.
Well, I'd welcome the opportunity of settling the score.
Mr Rudge, take the hostages to the passenger lounge.
Surely you can contact the bridge now? Still not responding, Mr Doland.
I've just tried.
Hold on, Rudge.
If we are being hijacked, I think we deserve an explanation.
Any more unexpected moves, and it won't be an explanation you'll get.
We're being hijacked! If you don't want to get caught, come on! Quickly.
No, Doctor.
Over there, away from the door.
Then you won't be tempted to try anything stupid.
One moment, Commodore, I'll take the keys to the vault.
Blazes, you will.
Stay back.
Professor Lasky, reach into the Commodore's pocket and take out the keys.
Carefully! What do you want in the vault? For me, not a thing.
The Mogarians are after the consignment of precious metals.
Got this quaint notion it was plundered from their planet.
They're just recovering stolen property.
-That can't be your motive.
-It's greed! Not completely, pride as well.
After this voyage, I was being written off as a has-been and put out to grass.
So I decided to arrange a more comfortable retirement.
If you have any decency left, you'll get this man some medical treatment.
There's a first aid kit in the cabinet.
Rudge, this hijack is just a sideshow.
There's a much greater menace.
Not my problem, Doctor.
In less than an hour, we will rendezvous with our pick-up.
Here, let me.
After all, I am a Doctor.
Rudge, you're nothing but a squalid criminal.
If I am, where does that place you, Professor? The Hyperion III is no longer under the command of Commodore Travers.
All personnel must remain at their posts.
If there is any attempt to approach the lounge or the bridge, the hostages will be killed.
I'll put out a call for help.
Oh, great! Millions of miles from anywhere and we're completely isolated.
Can you organise a squad of guards? But you heard what the Mogarian said, they'll kill the hostages.
What makes you think they won't anyway? You're surely not naive enough to accept the word of a hijacker.
He's right, we can't just do nothing.
But if the guards go crashing in, they'll be signing four death warrants.
Not unless we can find a way of warning the hostages.
You don't believe that Rudge is behind these killings, do you? No.
No, he's just a weak man gone rogue.
So, whatever the outcome of this hijack, we're still at the mercy of a murderer.
Or murderers.
-What are you doing here? -We did not request refreshment.
Doctor.
The air duct.
What you're doing in there, don't you know dangerous it is? Shall I join you? There's going to be an attack on the lounge.
When you hear the fire alarm, dive for cover.
-No.
-What do you mean, ''No''? Too risky.
Attack the bridge.
-The bridge? -You heard.
Now get out of that air duct, quickly.
Okay.
It is not only we who kill animal-kind.
They kill each other.
They have no respect for any form of life.
We shall resume the hunt.
Oxygen's toxic to a Mogarian.
Yes, but how? I mean, who could have done this? Forget playing the detective.
Let's concentrate on the living.
Rudge has to be convinced that the hijack's a lost cause.
And that's going to take more than words.
Well, those face plates, they'll do the trick.
Mr Rudge, hold your fire, we're coming in.
The Mogarians are dead.
Leave him to the guards.
Get up on the bridge.
Now.
Once I get this ship back on course, I want some answers from you, Professor.
And that goes for you, too, Doctor.
I haven't been holding out on you, Commodore.
There's an audiotape that will explain everything.
-Then why haven't I heard it? -Because it's been stolen.
I would like carte blanche to search all the cabins.
-You've got it.
-Another request, I need a phaser.
A phaser? You? Exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures.
I don't buy that.
And why the public announcement about the tape? Everyone could hear.
Could they? I recognise that innocent tone.
What's going on? Mel, I entered this affair as a Judas goat.
I intend to re-adopt the role.
Now, if Professor Lasky had the tape, where do you think she'd hide it? -Lasky? -Mmm.
Her cabin, or her locker in the gym.
What are you? If you're looking for a certain tape, Doctor, I don't think you'll find it in there.
Does that mean you've hidden it somewhere else? Obviously, a denial isn't going to impress you.
May I know of what I am accused? Murder, amongst other things.
Murder? Am I supposed to treat this seriously? I have narrowed the suspects down to two, you and Professor Lasky.
Then I suggest you search the professor's cabin.
I already have.
You really are serious.
I'm never frivolous about murder.
So, this tape, it's important? -Crucial.
-I see.
Well, I know I'm innocent, and I can't believe the professor's guilty, but if it'll end this nonsense, then I know of another place where the professor keeps things.
If you've finished with my tracksuit I was just admiring thethe design.
Don't bother to lie, you're not very good at it.
No tape.
That's what you were hoping to find, wasn't it? I'm afraid the professor has the only key.
And you're not going to object if I force it open? Doctor.
Your tape.
Not that it'll do you much good.
I've wiped it.
Yes, I rather thought you might have done.
You still suspected me, yet you came down here? A reckless streak.
I'm prone to them.
It wasn't difficult to pinpoint you.
The first murder could only have been carried out by someone with access to this unit.
The second needed poison.
Even the abortive attempt on Mel's life could only have been committed by someone who could go unchallenged into the Isolation Room and get the anaesthetic.
All this could have applied to Lasky.
No, not the Mogarians.
She was a hostage when they were slaughtered.
And my motive? Could be jealousy, professional envy.
I'd say it was the more commonplace avarice.
Then you're not as astute as I thought, Doctor.
Those creatures, we call them Vervoids, represent vast economic power.
Provided you can get them back to Earth.
Oh, but I shall, no matter what the cost.
And robots can be dumped on a scrap heap.
Vervoids will run the factories and farms at practically no cost.
All they need is sunlight and water.
I take it you have someone willing to finance this exploitation.
A consortium with the vision to recognise the potential of the Vervoids.
Vision? You're talking about slave labour! The most enduring and spectacular empire, Rome, was built on slave labour.
Came to a pretty unpleasant end, though.
Which brings us neatly to you.
I took the precaution of disarming it.
I also took the precaution of taking the Commodore into my confidence.
Throw him in the brig.
Doland will soon be joining them.
No, no, I'm not your enemy.
Without me, you wouldn't exist.
I'm your friend.
You created these psychopaths.
Tell me how to get rid of them.
The Vervoids are not psychopaths.
Doctor, I heard them say they intended to wipe us out.
Something must have gone wrong, radically wrong.
A malfunction of the DNA.
Why is it none of you can see what's so glaringly obvious? Maybe we lack your divine insight.
-No divine insight, just logic.
-Logic? When you overheard the Vervoids, Mel, how did they describe us? Um, wait a second Animal-kind.
Not human beings, not Mogarians.
Animal-kind.
-I hope this is relevant.
-It is, he's making sense.
The Vervoids are plants.
At some stage, directly or indirectly, all animal-kind consumes plant life.
Without it, we'd perish.
I must have been blinded by professional vanity.
Bruchner saw it.
I should have, too.
Doctor, if you're right, then coexistence with the Vervoids is an impossibility.
It's a question of self-preservation, kill or be killed.
A conflict in which there can be no justice.
Equally, there's no choice, and that goes for you too, Doctor.
We need your undivided commitment.
And there you have it, the direct request.
I did not meddle.
I was presented with an appeal.
And not just from anybody, but from the man in whom authority was vested.
I accept your argument.
Nor, Valeyard, can you refute it.
Perhaps we should await the outcome of this adventure, my lady.
Doctor, do you wish to continue? There's not enough left to make a spoonful of herbicide.
The Vervoids must have got here first.
Any more ideas, Doctor? Why can't I rid myself of the feeling we're approaching this the wrong way round? Professor, do Vervoid chloroplasts function normally? A cytogeneticist now? You're a man of varied talents.
Don't prevaricate, Professor.
Yes, Vervoid chloroplasts trap sunlight as is normal with all plants.
Doctor, there's something out there.
-Is there another exit? -Not this side of the hold.
I'm going to talk to them.
-They won't listen! -Perhaps they will.
To me.
I wasn't going to exploit them like Doland, they'll know that.
They'll spare no one! -I have to try.
-Doctor! -You must know who I am.
-Yes, Professor Lasky, we do.
Then you must also be aware that I mean you no harm.
All animal-kind is our enemy, Professor, even you.
How could they? It's obscene.
Not to a Vervoid.
You can't justify it.
It's just It's a matter of perspective, Mel.
In your house in Pease Pottage, you had a large garden.
What did you do with the plants and weeds you uprooted? Put them on a compost heap.
They're obeying instinct.
Like migrating birds or salmon swimming relentlessly upstream to spawn even though they might die.
A compulsive following of the life cycle.
Come on, Mel.
It's useless, Commodore! They're everywhere! -We need your help, Commodore.
-Name it.
Like the Vervoids, we're being driven by blind instinct.
-Kill or be killed.
-We've been over that.
What if instead of bringing their lives to an abrupt end, we did the opposite, accelerated the Vervoid life cycle? How the blazes do we do that? -Vionesium.
-Vionesium? A rare metal found on the airless planet of Mogar.
-And worth a prince's ransom.
-Or a hijack.
You mean, there's a consignment on board? That's right, in the vault.
But how will this vionesium accelerate the Vervoid life cycle? It's a substance similar to magnesium.
Exposed to oxygenated air, it releases incredibly intense light and carbon dioxide.
Spring, summer, autumn, all condensed into a few moments.
Seasons which I may be a long time enjoying again if I go robbing my own vault.
Seasons you can forget if you don't.
We've seen what these creatures can do.
You've no alternative, Commodore.
You can't send for outside help, the ship's completely cut off.
The Doctor's the only hope you've got.
All right, Doctor, you can have the vionesium.
What's the drill? First, you must drive the Vervoids back to their lair.
Me? Plunge the ship into darkness.
They're never going to give up! Attention all passengers and crew, a major fault has developed in the generators.
To effect necessary repairs, the heating will be shut down and auxiliary lighting only will be in operation.
Are all the Vervoids here? There is still another to come.
This power fault could be a trick.
What can they gain? Animal-kind need the life-support system.
They must repair the generator to survive.
The vionesium, Mel! You can restore power, it's over.
Restore power.
-Till we meet again, Mel.
Doctor.
-Yes.
Don't say that.
I owe you my thanks, Doctor, but let's make this the sweet sorrow of a final parting, hmm? I shall remember that the next time we get a mayday call.
She means that too.
Memory like an elephant.
That's his idea of a compliment, comparing me to an elephant.
But so ludicrously appropriate, I find it amusing.
Well, at least if you're laughing, you can't be singing.
You ever heard his rendering of On with the Motley? Count your blessings.
Bye.
Did none of the unfortunate creatures survive, Doctor? No, my lady.
Had even a leaf survived and fallen on fertile soil, a Vervoid would have grown.
Every Vervoid was destroyed by your ingenious plan.
Yes.
Whether or not the Doctor has proved himself innocent of meddling is no longer the cardinal issue before this court.
He has proved himself guilty of a far greater crime.
You refer to Article Seven of Gallifreyan law? No, my lady, that cannot apply! Had a single Vervoid reached Earth, the human race would've been eliminated! Article Seven permits no exceptions.
The Doctor has destroyed a complete species.
The charge must now be genocide.
-Rather more than turbulence.
Don't talk in riddles, man.
Your colleague is aiming the Hyperion III into the eye of the Black Hole of Tartarus.
Bruchner must be stopped.
Get every Vervoid to the bridge area.
-Marsh gas? -A methane derivative.
Marsh gas? Where the devil has that come from? What is it you two know that I don't? Questions later.
Will smoke masks be any good? No, they'd be completely inadequate.
You're saying that none of us can go in there? -It'd be suicide! -Here, let me go.
No, it's my ship.
If there is a risk to be taken, I'll take it.
-No! -There's no need for heroics from either of you.
Come to the bridge.
If they make a hash of it in there, we're finished.
I doubt if that will happen, Commodore.
I am grateful to you both.
Now that the air is breathable, I'll resume command.
I am afraid that isn't going to be possible, Commodore.
What he is stating, in the usually devious human manner, is that we are taking over the ship.
A hijack? But you Mogarians are a peace-loving race.
Violence is repugnant to you.
No one will be harmed if they obey orders.
Rudge, I will personally see to it that you rot in jail! I should restrain that tongue of yours, Commodore.
The Mogarians may not believe in violence, but I don't share their qualms.
All my life, someone like you has been patronising me, treating me with contempt.
Well, I'd welcome the opportunity of settling the score.
Mr Rudge, take the hostages to the passenger lounge.
Surely you can contact the bridge now? Still not responding, Mr Doland.
I've just tried.
Hold on, Rudge.
If we are being hijacked, I think we deserve an explanation.
Any more unexpected moves, and it won't be an explanation you'll get.
We're being hijacked! If you don't want to get caught, come on! Quickly.
No, Doctor.
Over there, away from the door.
Then you won't be tempted to try anything stupid.
One moment, Commodore, I'll take the keys to the vault.
Blazes, you will.
Stay back.
Professor Lasky, reach into the Commodore's pocket and take out the keys.
Carefully! What do you want in the vault? For me, not a thing.
The Mogarians are after the consignment of precious metals.
Got this quaint notion it was plundered from their planet.
They're just recovering stolen property.
-That can't be your motive.
-It's greed! Not completely, pride as well.
After this voyage, I was being written off as a has-been and put out to grass.
So I decided to arrange a more comfortable retirement.
If you have any decency left, you'll get this man some medical treatment.
There's a first aid kit in the cabinet.
Rudge, this hijack is just a sideshow.
There's a much greater menace.
Not my problem, Doctor.
In less than an hour, we will rendezvous with our pick-up.
Here, let me.
After all, I am a Doctor.
Rudge, you're nothing but a squalid criminal.
If I am, where does that place you, Professor? The Hyperion III is no longer under the command of Commodore Travers.
All personnel must remain at their posts.
If there is any attempt to approach the lounge or the bridge, the hostages will be killed.
I'll put out a call for help.
Oh, great! Millions of miles from anywhere and we're completely isolated.
Can you organise a squad of guards? But you heard what the Mogarian said, they'll kill the hostages.
What makes you think they won't anyway? You're surely not naive enough to accept the word of a hijacker.
He's right, we can't just do nothing.
But if the guards go crashing in, they'll be signing four death warrants.
Not unless we can find a way of warning the hostages.
You don't believe that Rudge is behind these killings, do you? No.
No, he's just a weak man gone rogue.
So, whatever the outcome of this hijack, we're still at the mercy of a murderer.
Or murderers.
-What are you doing here? -We did not request refreshment.
Doctor.
The air duct.
What you're doing in there, don't you know dangerous it is? Shall I join you? There's going to be an attack on the lounge.
When you hear the fire alarm, dive for cover.
-No.
-What do you mean, ''No''? Too risky.
Attack the bridge.
-The bridge? -You heard.
Now get out of that air duct, quickly.
Okay.
It is not only we who kill animal-kind.
They kill each other.
They have no respect for any form of life.
We shall resume the hunt.
Oxygen's toxic to a Mogarian.
Yes, but how? I mean, who could have done this? Forget playing the detective.
Let's concentrate on the living.
Rudge has to be convinced that the hijack's a lost cause.
And that's going to take more than words.
Well, those face plates, they'll do the trick.
Mr Rudge, hold your fire, we're coming in.
The Mogarians are dead.
Leave him to the guards.
Get up on the bridge.
Now.
Once I get this ship back on course, I want some answers from you, Professor.
And that goes for you, too, Doctor.
I haven't been holding out on you, Commodore.
There's an audiotape that will explain everything.
-Then why haven't I heard it? -Because it's been stolen.
I would like carte blanche to search all the cabins.
-You've got it.
-Another request, I need a phaser.
A phaser? You? Exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures.
I don't buy that.
And why the public announcement about the tape? Everyone could hear.
Could they? I recognise that innocent tone.
What's going on? Mel, I entered this affair as a Judas goat.
I intend to re-adopt the role.
Now, if Professor Lasky had the tape, where do you think she'd hide it? -Lasky? -Mmm.
Her cabin, or her locker in the gym.
What are you? If you're looking for a certain tape, Doctor, I don't think you'll find it in there.
Does that mean you've hidden it somewhere else? Obviously, a denial isn't going to impress you.
May I know of what I am accused? Murder, amongst other things.
Murder? Am I supposed to treat this seriously? I have narrowed the suspects down to two, you and Professor Lasky.
Then I suggest you search the professor's cabin.
I already have.
You really are serious.
I'm never frivolous about murder.
So, this tape, it's important? -Crucial.
-I see.
Well, I know I'm innocent, and I can't believe the professor's guilty, but if it'll end this nonsense, then I know of another place where the professor keeps things.
If you've finished with my tracksuit I was just admiring thethe design.
Don't bother to lie, you're not very good at it.
No tape.
That's what you were hoping to find, wasn't it? I'm afraid the professor has the only key.
And you're not going to object if I force it open? Doctor.
Your tape.
Not that it'll do you much good.
I've wiped it.
Yes, I rather thought you might have done.
You still suspected me, yet you came down here? A reckless streak.
I'm prone to them.
It wasn't difficult to pinpoint you.
The first murder could only have been carried out by someone with access to this unit.
The second needed poison.
Even the abortive attempt on Mel's life could only have been committed by someone who could go unchallenged into the Isolation Room and get the anaesthetic.
All this could have applied to Lasky.
No, not the Mogarians.
She was a hostage when they were slaughtered.
And my motive? Could be jealousy, professional envy.
I'd say it was the more commonplace avarice.
Then you're not as astute as I thought, Doctor.
Those creatures, we call them Vervoids, represent vast economic power.
Provided you can get them back to Earth.
Oh, but I shall, no matter what the cost.
And robots can be dumped on a scrap heap.
Vervoids will run the factories and farms at practically no cost.
All they need is sunlight and water.
I take it you have someone willing to finance this exploitation.
A consortium with the vision to recognise the potential of the Vervoids.
Vision? You're talking about slave labour! The most enduring and spectacular empire, Rome, was built on slave labour.
Came to a pretty unpleasant end, though.
Which brings us neatly to you.
I took the precaution of disarming it.
I also took the precaution of taking the Commodore into my confidence.
Throw him in the brig.
Doland will soon be joining them.
No, no, I'm not your enemy.
Without me, you wouldn't exist.
I'm your friend.
You created these psychopaths.
Tell me how to get rid of them.
The Vervoids are not psychopaths.
Doctor, I heard them say they intended to wipe us out.
Something must have gone wrong, radically wrong.
A malfunction of the DNA.
Why is it none of you can see what's so glaringly obvious? Maybe we lack your divine insight.
-No divine insight, just logic.
-Logic? When you overheard the Vervoids, Mel, how did they describe us? Um, wait a second Animal-kind.
Not human beings, not Mogarians.
Animal-kind.
-I hope this is relevant.
-It is, he's making sense.
The Vervoids are plants.
At some stage, directly or indirectly, all animal-kind consumes plant life.
Without it, we'd perish.
I must have been blinded by professional vanity.
Bruchner saw it.
I should have, too.
Doctor, if you're right, then coexistence with the Vervoids is an impossibility.
It's a question of self-preservation, kill or be killed.
A conflict in which there can be no justice.
Equally, there's no choice, and that goes for you too, Doctor.
We need your undivided commitment.
And there you have it, the direct request.
I did not meddle.
I was presented with an appeal.
And not just from anybody, but from the man in whom authority was vested.
I accept your argument.
Nor, Valeyard, can you refute it.
Perhaps we should await the outcome of this adventure, my lady.
Doctor, do you wish to continue? There's not enough left to make a spoonful of herbicide.
The Vervoids must have got here first.
Any more ideas, Doctor? Why can't I rid myself of the feeling we're approaching this the wrong way round? Professor, do Vervoid chloroplasts function normally? A cytogeneticist now? You're a man of varied talents.
Don't prevaricate, Professor.
Yes, Vervoid chloroplasts trap sunlight as is normal with all plants.
Doctor, there's something out there.
-Is there another exit? -Not this side of the hold.
I'm going to talk to them.
-They won't listen! -Perhaps they will.
To me.
I wasn't going to exploit them like Doland, they'll know that.
They'll spare no one! -I have to try.
-Doctor! -You must know who I am.
-Yes, Professor Lasky, we do.
Then you must also be aware that I mean you no harm.
All animal-kind is our enemy, Professor, even you.
How could they? It's obscene.
Not to a Vervoid.
You can't justify it.
It's just It's a matter of perspective, Mel.
In your house in Pease Pottage, you had a large garden.
What did you do with the plants and weeds you uprooted? Put them on a compost heap.
They're obeying instinct.
Like migrating birds or salmon swimming relentlessly upstream to spawn even though they might die.
A compulsive following of the life cycle.
Come on, Mel.
It's useless, Commodore! They're everywhere! -We need your help, Commodore.
-Name it.
Like the Vervoids, we're being driven by blind instinct.
-Kill or be killed.
-We've been over that.
What if instead of bringing their lives to an abrupt end, we did the opposite, accelerated the Vervoid life cycle? How the blazes do we do that? -Vionesium.
-Vionesium? A rare metal found on the airless planet of Mogar.
-And worth a prince's ransom.
-Or a hijack.
You mean, there's a consignment on board? That's right, in the vault.
But how will this vionesium accelerate the Vervoid life cycle? It's a substance similar to magnesium.
Exposed to oxygenated air, it releases incredibly intense light and carbon dioxide.
Spring, summer, autumn, all condensed into a few moments.
Seasons which I may be a long time enjoying again if I go robbing my own vault.
Seasons you can forget if you don't.
We've seen what these creatures can do.
You've no alternative, Commodore.
You can't send for outside help, the ship's completely cut off.
The Doctor's the only hope you've got.
All right, Doctor, you can have the vionesium.
What's the drill? First, you must drive the Vervoids back to their lair.
Me? Plunge the ship into darkness.
They're never going to give up! Attention all passengers and crew, a major fault has developed in the generators.
To effect necessary repairs, the heating will be shut down and auxiliary lighting only will be in operation.
Are all the Vervoids here? There is still another to come.
This power fault could be a trick.
What can they gain? Animal-kind need the life-support system.
They must repair the generator to survive.
The vionesium, Mel! You can restore power, it's over.
Restore power.
-Till we meet again, Mel.
Doctor.
-Yes.
Don't say that.
I owe you my thanks, Doctor, but let's make this the sweet sorrow of a final parting, hmm? I shall remember that the next time we get a mayday call.
She means that too.
Memory like an elephant.
That's his idea of a compliment, comparing me to an elephant.
But so ludicrously appropriate, I find it amusing.
Well, at least if you're laughing, you can't be singing.
You ever heard his rendering of On with the Motley? Count your blessings.
Bye.
Did none of the unfortunate creatures survive, Doctor? No, my lady.
Had even a leaf survived and fallen on fertile soil, a Vervoid would have grown.
Every Vervoid was destroyed by your ingenious plan.
Yes.
Whether or not the Doctor has proved himself innocent of meddling is no longer the cardinal issue before this court.
He has proved himself guilty of a far greater crime.
You refer to Article Seven of Gallifreyan law? No, my lady, that cannot apply! Had a single Vervoid reached Earth, the human race would've been eliminated! Article Seven permits no exceptions.
The Doctor has destroyed a complete species.
The charge must now be genocide.