The Time Tunnel s01e27 Episode Script

Merlin the Magician

Whats the trouble? Feedback- a bad one.
Theyre frozen in time.
If we dont get them moving within a few seconds, theylll be burned to death.
- Can you send them back to where they were? - We can try it.
- Reverse! - No! Ah, yes.
Just as I expected.
Toys.
Mere toys.
Yes, simple.
Predictably simple.
Such a to-do about a commonplace bit of magic.
Hear me, you travelers in time.
It is I, Merlin, mightiest of all wizards, who commands you.
At a sign from me, you will leave the limbo of time and appear in this place before me.
Yes.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Welcome home.
Yes.
Yes, youll do.
Youll do very nicely.
Permit me to introduce myself.
I am Merlin soon to be court wizard for the greatest monarch of them all- King Arthur of the Round Table.
Gentlemen without you, there will be serious trouble in Camelot.
Serious trouble.
Therefore, I must press you into service.
You may be killed.
I can make no guarantee, except that I shall try very hard to see that youre not.
When next we meet, you will remember nothing of this meeting but you will do whatever I ask.
Go.
We shall meet again.
- Polarity.
- Right.
We did it.
! Doug, look.
Were a long way back.
Could be Europe in the Middle Ages.
Maybe earlier.
Wed better keep out of sight until we find out a little more.
The Time Tunnel.
Vikings.
They may be back with reinforcements.
- Lets get as far away from here as we can.
- Stand.
! Put away your spear.
Drop it to the ground.
- After youve put away your sword.
- Youvve had your last warning.
Put that sword down, or Ill run you through.
Surrender or die.
You are not Vikings.
You look like nothing I have ever seen before.
- Where do you come from? - America.
America? Does such a land exist? Were beginning to wonder.
How did you come by this? We took it from two Viking warriors.
Then you are warriors in your own right.
We can use every stout arm we can find.
- We? - The land is being invaded by Vikings.
There are not enough men to oppose them.
Will you join us? - Well, why should we? - Either you are with us or against us.
- We want no part of your fight.
- Cowards! No! No, no, no, no, no.
Put that thing away, young Arthur.
Im here to help you.
Who are you, old man? One day, you will know me very well indeed.
Ive seen him somewhere before.
- Im sure of it.
- So have I.
But I wonder where.
Gentlemen, you will fight for this young man.
You will pledge your lives to his safety.
- Well fight alongside you against the Vikings.
- You lead, and welll follow.
My thanks to you both.
This way.
Wait- the old man.
Hes gone.
- Can you shift them? - Not yet.
- Were building power.
- Itlll take another 15 minutes at least.
Theres no telling what danger theyrre heading for.
Theres nothing we can do until wevve built enough power, General.
- Whats the time fix? - Sixth century.
Ive narrowed it down to 544 A.
D.
- Spatial fix? - The coast of Cornwall, in England.
Ill get full research data.
I hope we still need it.
Arthur.
- Youre leading us away from the castle.
Why? - We thought you came from there.
I did once.
Now its being held by Vikings.
I see.
And youve gathered an army to retake it.
- Not quite.
Ive just begun to raise men.
- How many do you have so far? Two.
You mean, were your army? So far, yes.
Well, theres nothing like starting at the bottom.
Hold! On your feet! Up! - Your name.
- I am Arthur Pendragon.
I thought so.
The young son of King Uther.
The man you murdered in cold blood.
I have sworn an oath of vengeance against you, Wogan.
So, young Arthur, we meet face to face and you threaten my life.
Just put a sword in my hand, and Ill have your head.
The young lamb who roars like a lion, huh? I promise you this, you and your warrior friend- before Im done, youlll beg for a merciful death.
Take him away! Whats the matter? Whatss going on? - Dougs dead.
- What? Its true, Imm afraid, General.
We saw one of the men run him through with a sword.
- His body was dragged away.
- Oh, no.
- And Tony? - Captured.
Now that theyre separated weve lost our fix on them completely.
Well, probe for it.
Get them back.
Whats the use, now that Dougss dead? Tonys still alive.
Snap out of it, Ann.
Find him! Yes, sir.
- Anything in the research that might help us? - No, I doubt it.
England in the sixth century was ruled by a number of feudal kings.
The country was constantly being raided and plundered by Viking hordes.
Im afraid we landed Tony and Doug right in the middle of one of those raids.
Probably cost them their lives.
Oh, now, Ray, I know how youre feeling right now.
I feel the same way myself.
Dont write off either Tony or Doug just yet.
- Weve got to find some way to save them.
- That would take a miracle.
Well, perhaps.
But its something of a miracle that theyrre back there in the first place.
I suppose it is.
Im getting a signal! Easy now.
Dont lose it.
Fire! Fire! Fire! Arthur, the once-and-future king.
There never was a real King Arthur.
Hes a myth, a fairy tale.
Perhaps.
Or could this be part of that miracle you said we needed? This is no time for romantic nonsense, General.
Ann, we have enough power now.
Switch Tony while we can.
o.
! I wanna be certain about Doug first.
Start a probe for him.
General, Id like nothing more.
But we just cant risk it.
Wedd lose Tony.
We know Doug is dead.
We saw him killed.
Now we can lose both of them.
If Dougs alive, we can save both of them.
Start the probe.
Better follow orders.
Yes, sir.
- No, wait! - I saw it! A reaction! Were getting something.
Refine it! He is alive.
He must be.
We wouldnt be getting that signal.
Find him! You again? I would appreciate a show of gratitude.
I rescued you from the battle last night and brought you here.
Brought me where? Youre in the castle of King Leodegran of Carmelide.
- I am his daughter.
- You must have a name.
Im called Guinevere.
The real Guinevere? I know of no other.
Im impressed.
You must rest.
Youve been sorely wounded in a battle.
You left before the battle began.
How did you find me? Uh, thats a professional secret.
Its enough that I did.
Dont try and move.
Anyhow, Im indebted to you.
Yes.
Yes.
You most certainly are.
Young lady, dont just stand there.
Get him some clothing.
Clothing? Now? Yes.
Theres no time to convalesce.
Theres much to do and precious little time to do it.
His wounds near mortal.
I saw it.
The slightest move could kill him.
Stuff and nonsense, girl.
Young man, sit up.
No! You mustnt try and move.
Sit up.
Theres no pain at all.
Nothing.
The wound- Its gone.
Of course its gone.
Now, get him some clothing.
Well, go, girl.
Go.
Who are you? Id have thought youdd have guessed by now.
My name is well known, even in your time.
What do you know about my time? I know everything about your time.
I know everything about you, and I know everything about your friend.
Oh, yes.
My name.
Its Merlin.
Wheres the other prisoner? Tell me.
Where? Now talk.
Where? Tell me! North dungeon.
Down the hall.
Right.
How did you escape? Youd better flee while you can.
Not without you.
How long have I been here? Since dawn.
- Come on, try to stand.
- No, I- I- I- No, I cant.
- I cant.
- Okay, rest a minute.
Put this on.
Do you know where we are? My fathers castle on the coast.
Is there somewhere we could hide? Hide? Yes, theres a place.
Its a secret room.
Give me a hand.
Ill show you.
Here.
A messenger has just arrived.
Vikings have taken prisoners to the castle on the coast.
- What prisoners? - There were two.
Both young men.
That would be Tony.
And the other would be Arthur.
- I must get to them.
- You cant go there.
Itss certain death.
- Well, I have to find some way to rescue them.
- But not that way.
You must have help, a plan.
Well, how about your father? He has fighting knights.
Barely enough to protect our castle.
Theyre no match for the Vikings.
- How far is the castle? - Several leagues to the south.
All right.
Ill go there, and Illl scout their stronghold.
Illll think of some kind of plan.
Then let me show you the way.
No, its much too dangerous.
I want you to stay here.
- How good is this fix on Doug? - Nearly perfect.
I dont understand.
We saw Doug wounded.
And now hes completely well.
Theres only one way to explain, it, Ann.
I know, General.
Another one of your miracles.
You can explain it any way you want, Ray.
Weve still got a fix.
Can you hold the fix on Doug while we establish one for Tony? Well, weve never done it before, but- - Well? - The fix on Doug is stable.
- I think I can hold it.
- Good.
When we stabilize the fix on Tony, well switch them both.
How do you feel now? Better.
Youre still weak.
You need more rest.
But youll escape.
I know it.
Youre Arthur Pendragon.
Yes.
The son of a dead king who ruled a small corner of this land.
They cant hide there indefinitely.
The pictures clear enough.
Is your fix stable? - Very.
- Power? - Adequate.
- All right.
- Switch them! Now! - o.
! Young lady, you will touch no controls until further notice.
- We never touched the controls.
How did he materialize? - Switch them at once! - Are you hurt? - No, no.
No, its all right.
Young lady, you must learn to obey orders.
Wait a minute.
What is this? Who are you? Howd you get in here? Oh, lets not waste time with unnecessary questions.
Ive a great deal to do and very little time to do it.
Quickly-your name.
Im General Kirk.
Imm in charge of the- Just a minute.
What the devils the meaning of this? My name is Merlin.
Merlin? King Arthurs magician? Ah, yes, the post Im destined to hold.
You see, General Kirk, I deal in history before the fact.
Certain things are written in the pages of prophecy.
Its my job to give them a little nudge towards fulfillment.
Well, were in very much the same business.
Certain things are written down in the pages of history.
Its myjob to see that theyrre not changed.
General, were losing our chance to shift them.
Ah, they must remain where they are.
You are forbidden to move them.
And how are you going to stop us? I am a powerful wizard.
I deal in magic.
We dont believe in magic.
This is the 20th century.
The 20th century? The very heyday of magic, and you, sir, do not believe? Very well.
I shall convince you.
Dr.
Swain! Dr.
Swain? - What have you done? Where have you sent him? - Where, my dear general? Why, nowhere at all.
Hes still with us.
Do let me demonstrate.
Ray! - Are you all right? Youre not hurt, are you? - Of course not.
- How did you do that? - Oh.
Magic, my dear fellow.
- Sheer magic.
- All right, all right.
You claim to be in a hurry.
For what? Why did you come here? To prevent you moving your travelers from our time just yet.
Youre asking me to let two men die out there? They wont die unless you waste too much of my time.
Even if you are a wizard, Doug and Tony arent.
They cantt help you.
On the contrary, young lady.
They must help.
Magic can only accomplish so much.
After that, it takes the energies of ordinary mortals dedicated to a cause.
We can shift them in spite of you.
My dear fellow, do let me give you a friendly word of warning.
Dont.
Seize them.
Guinevere.
- Why did you run off? - I told you not to come.
You dont know what yourre doing.
This areasss full of Viking scouting parties.
- All the more reason for you to be back at that castle.
- No.
I can show you a way to get to their castle, but we must hurry.
Weve got a fix on Doug and one on Tony.
Nowss the time to switch them.
I agree.
Go ahead, Ann.
Well, go on.
We were warned not to touch the controls.
- By that fake magician? - You sure he was fake, Ray? I believe so.
Ray, how do you explain all those things he did? Mass hypnosis.
Its not an unheard-of phenomenon.
- I wish I could be that certain.
- Well, I am.
Its the only scientific explanation.
Ann, you can use the controls.
If he isnt here, there isntt any way he can exert his influence on us.
Ray, Im not sure.
Well, Ann, I am.
Ill do it.
Oh, Ray.
! - Hes not- - No, no.
I think hes badly hurt.
Get some help, quickly.
Tony.
- So this is Wogan, the Viking butcher.
- Im honored.
I didnt think youdd recognize me.
Any Briton would recognize you and give his life to know you were lying dead.
Many have already given their lives.
But not you.
Oh, no.
Not you.
I have other plans for you.
Someday, when I am king of England I shall barter you off to some powerful young nobleman in exchange for his loyalty.
The king of this miserable land will have to be ready to make many bargains.
You, a king? I will be, and soon.
But first I must crush all the resistance of your countrymen.
But that wont be hard.
- Then I shall be ready to be crowned.
- Youll never wear it.
Well see.
Oh, please, make yourself comfortable.
Well talk again.
Dont try to escape.
Youll only regret it.
Doug.
It is you.
I thought I was dreaming.
Its no dream, Tony.
And now Im as helpless as you are.
What about him? Hes alive, I think.
Weve had a rough time.
Theyrre not through with us yet.
And theres no way to get out of here.
- At least not without help.
- You mean the Time Tunnel.
Forget it.
They would have switched us a long time ago if they had a fix on us.
No, I wasnt thinking about the Time Tunnel.
I was thinking about Merlin.
- Merlin? - Yes.
Remember the old man that was there when we first materialized? Hes no friend of ours.
He got us into this.
Yeah.
Is he good, or is he evil? The fierce young warrior no longer looks so fierce.
Wogan, what have you done with Guinevere? Shes safe enough.
Worry about yourself.
- You know her fathers men will come here to rescue her.
- A handful of pretty knights.
I hope they come soon.
My men are ready to greet them right now.
Too bad the three of you wont be here to witness the slaughter.
- Ill still fight you, Wogan.
- Imm weary of childrensss games.
Im weary of you.
Bowman! This one first.
Then the other two.
And make it quick.
- Wheres your Merlin now? - I dontt know.
I was sure he would appear.
Stop.
! - Youre a little late.
- I was detained.
Im afraid there is nothing to do but- I didnt want to put time into reverse.
Ive already violated every rule in the book, but it couldntt be helped.
There is still much to be done.
Its a miracle.
Itss as though nothing had happened.
Youll need all of your strength.
The battle is yet to be won.
If you can perform this kind of miracle, you dont need us.
Wrong.
Certain things must be done by men, not magic.
Winning a throne is one of them.
- Then well have to work fast.
Get us out of here.
- I cantt.
Ive already used too much magic.
I can only work one more miracle for some time to come and I intend to save that for a real emergency.
In short, gentlemen, the next step is entirely up to your collective ingenuity.
Youre from the future.
Use your knowledge.
- What did he mean by the future? - Well explain it when we can.
Is there any way to get through that bolted door? You cant break that down.
It would take 10 men to do it.
Then well need the power of 10 men.
There isnt much to work with, is there? You can say that again.
Look.
With that lid and that pot- Ive got a little bit of water in here.
- If we can find a way to anchor this down- - Right.
- What are these? - Thumbscrews.
- Its a torture device.
You place one on each thumb- - Never mind.
Theylll work.
- Itll be like a pressure cooker without a safety valve.
- Thatss right.
- Im sorry.
I dont understand.
- Dont try.
Get a couple of torches.
Check it and see if theres any leaks.
- I think its gonna be all right.
- Yeah.
All right, now start cooking.
Suppose you do open the door.
What then? We escape, of course.
- And Guinevere? - She goes with us.
No, thats not enough.
Wogan and his Vikings must be driven from our shores.
Wed do more to bring that about if we stayed with the castle.
There are only three of us.
What could we do against an army of Vikings? An army.
Guineveres father would send knights against the castle if we could only get to him.
We might have a chance.
Its almost ready.
- What will it do? - Youll find out in a minute.
Doug, when we do get out you go for King Leodegrans men.
Arthur and I will split up, see if we can find where theyre keeping Guinevere.
- Right.
But how do I get out of here? - I know a way.
Ill show you.
Lets get moving.
- Ann.
- Hmm? Oh, hows Ray? Well, hes better.
But he suffered a severe electrical shock.
Poor Ray.
I should never have let him touch those controls.
Hell be all right.
Doc gave him a sedative.
Hes resting quietly in the infirmary.
Now that weve lost all contact, what are we going to do? Ive ordered an emergency crew of electronic experts to go over all circuits.
But we cant touch the controls until theyvve reported it safe.
Well, what about Doug and Tony? Theyll have to hang on until we can reach them.
- Arthur! - Ive located a chamber.
- Where? - In the turret room, directly below the watchtower.
- Is it guarded? - Heavily.
- How do we get up there? - I have a secret way.
Follow me.
Thats the tower.
Bring the rest of the men up forward.
But keep them well under cover.
The signal will come when the moment to attack is right.
Attack? With what? Merlin.
I said attack with what? - King Leodegran gave me his men.
- A pitiful, shivering handful of knights.
- Every man he could spare.
- The Vikings will slaughter them.
Vikings have no fear of gentlemen fighters.
Vikings only fear other Vikings.
Sorry.
I dont have any.
I do.
What are you talking about? Vikings attacking Vikings.
An inspired thought.
Yes, Merlin, a truly inspired thought.
We shall storm the castle with Vikings.
- How? - You forget.
I have been saving a miracle.
Now is the time to spend it.
You are a Viking.
Vikings all! Im out of miracles, my son.
The rest is up to you.
Well done.
The chamber is directly below.
Ill warn her.
You stand guard.
- Who are you? - Theres no time for explanations.
just listen.
Friends are going to attack the castle and destroy the invaders.
Our job is to keep you alive until the battle is over.
When the attack begins, the guards outside your door are going to man the battlements.
- Someone will come in to get you.
Is that clear? - Yes, I understand.
Good.
Expect him.
- Is she all right? - Frightened, but well.
And beautiful.
- I should like to get to know her better one day.
- You will.
- How soon should I give the signal? - Now.
My plans are made.
I know this castle better than they do.
I shall make their defenses worthless.
Theres the signal.
Pass the word.
Welll attack the castle now.
To arms! The castles attacked! To arms! Come with me.
So your fathers men attack.
Good.
Well kill them all, beginning with you.
Vikings.
! Vikings.
! Were attacked by Vikings.
! To arms.
! Come on! Theyve checked out all the circuits, Ann.
Controls are safe to use now.
Lets get a fix on the boys and switch them fast.
That young man will rule all of England one day.
Oh, by the way, old King Leodegran was most grateful- for saving his daughter and for driving the Vikings from these shores.
- Hes giving Arthur a most handsome reward.
- What? Nothing less than the hand of his daughter, Guinevere, in marriage.
Oh,yes, and part of the dowry includes a very large, very valuable very handsome round table.
So, you see things do have a way of sort of working themselves out.
Oh, one more thing.
Arthurs already told me that you two are to be the very first knights of his round table.
The age of miracles has just begun.
Thats strange.
- Whats wrong? - I dontt know.
Ray, what do you make of that? - They look like interference waves.
- Thats what I thought.
- But we never use those frequencies.
- Ill have it checked out.
This interference- Is there any way it could affect Tony and Doug? - No, I dont believe so.
- This is Dr.
Swain.
Will you run an immediate check on channels 100 to infinity? Yes, its interference.
And make it quick.
How did he get here? Dr.
Ann MacGregor! Im here to take you with me! Who are you? Now, wait! You cant- General! Hold your fire! Take him to the infirmary! Ann- Ann is gone! But where? - General, weve got to find her! - Yes.
But how? I wish I knew.
I wish I knew where he came from.
You know, he looked as though he might have been a time traveler from the future.
- Look.
- What? Looks like one of our data cards.
- Ray, do you think our computer can handle this? - Lets try it.
I hope this doesnt jam the machine.

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