by MERVYN HAISMAN

and HENRY LINCOLN

first broadcast - February 3 1968

(To those with arachnophobia, don’t worry, there are none of those triggers in this story.)

1. TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM

(The DOCTOR and VICTORIA cling to the base of the TARDIS console, the DOCTOR with his other arm around her, as the TARDIS shakes, leaning dangerously, thr*at to throw them out the open doors. VICTORIA shouts in fear.)

DOCTOR: Jamie! Jamie! The doors! We’ve- w-w-we’ve got to close the doors! Can you do it?

(He shouts in fear. JAMIE has grabbed onto a roundel in the wall furthest from the doors.)

JAMIE: I- I’ll try, Doctor, but I’ll have to get to a better position!

(JAMIE inches his way across the wall, while the other two cling on precariously, shouting with fear.)

DOCTOR: That’s it, Victoria. Hold on, whatever you do, hold on!

VICTORIA: I’m slipping!

DOCTOR: No, no you’re not, I’ve got hold of you!

(As he helps her back up, she lifts her head to look out the doors and her face fills with horror. She cries out and turns away.)

DOCTOR: Don’t look out there, concentrate on holding on!

VICTORIA: I can’t! I can’t!

DOCTOR: Yes you can, that’s the style.

(JAMIE has made it to the middle of the far wall.)

JAMIE: Right, Doctor . . . I’m going to try and fall to the control panel!

DOCTOR: All right, but watch the TARDIS doesn’t lurch again!

(As the DOCTOR and VICTORIA continue shouting, JAMIE lets go of the wall and stumbles backward. He twists around and falls onto the console.)

JAMIE: Made it!

DOCTOR: Well done!

JAMIE: So far, so good.

DOCTOR: You know the switch?

JAMIE: Aye, I’ve found it.

(JAMIE edges around the console, struggling to hold on.)

JAMIE: I’m nearly . . . there . . . .

(JAMIE reaches around the front, but loses his grip and falls with a grunt. He grabs onto the DOCTOR to keep from being sucked into space.)

VICTORIA: Jamie!

(JAMIE frantically grabs at the DOCTOR’s coat.)

JAMIE: Doctor I’m slipping!

(They all shout in distress, the DOCTOR and VICTORIA staring at the void outside.)

JAMIE: Hold on!

DOCTOR: It’s all right!

(The doors hum as they close and the console room straightens.)

DOCTOR: They’re closing! 

(Everyone sighs and gasps with relief and they begin to sit up. The DOCTOR heartily pats JAMIE’s back.)

DOCTOR: Oh well done Jamie, you did it! Oh, that was a near thing, wasn’t it? Are you all right, Victoria?

VICTORIA: (Holding her head.) Oh, what happened? Are we safe now?

(The DOCTOR grunts as he stands up.)

DOCTOR: (Clears throat.) Oh yes, I think so. (Walks around console.) Salamander started the TARDIS without first closing the doors. (Raises arms.) He was sucked out!

(JAMIE helps VICTORIA up as he stands.)

JAMIE: Aye, and I nearly joined him!

DOCTOR: Well, I’m very glad you didn’t.

(JAMIE and VICTORIA trudge toward the DOCTOR, exhausted. He still has a bandage on his cheek.)

DOCTOR: He’s not in a very enviable position, you know, at the moment, floating around in time and space. (Claps and rubs hands.) Now then . . . where shall we go?

JAMIE: Oh, let’s just get our breath back first before we start tearing off anywhere. (Gestures toward controls.) Anyway, as you know the TARDIS has a mind of its own. You know you can’t control it.

(The DOCTOR looks at him and smiles mischievously, folding his hands.)

DOCTOR: Can’t control it?

JAMIE: No.

DOCTOR: (Grinning.) We’ll see about that. We’ll see about that!

(He flips switches on the central console and the Time Rotor starts its up and down movement.)

VICTORIA: (Wearily.) Here we go again!

JAMIE: I wonder where it’ll be this time.

DOCTOR: (Happily.) Yes, I wonder.

2. MANSION DISPLAY ROOM

(In a dim, candle-lit museum, a Yeti stands motionless, a huge mound of fur with a patch of empty black fur for a face. An old man examines it, brow furrowed with concern. He sports spectacles, a black fedora, and a bushy moustache and beard. Beneath all the age and hair, he is PROFESSOR TRAVERS, much older than when we saw him in Tibet. The Yeti doesn’t move, and neither does TRAVERS, even when the door opens.)

ANNE: [OOV.] Mr. Silverstein?

SILVERSTEIN: [OOV.] Yes, er- who are you?

ANNE: [OOV.] Anne Travers. Is my father here?

SILVERSTEIN: [OOV.] Yes, he’s here, er . . . .

(SILVERSTEIN closes the door after them.)

SILVERSTEIN: [OOV.] Come and see him, and take him away! He’s a fool, an old fool!

(TRAVERS and the Yeti stand in the center of the room. A baby giraffe stands by the fireplace, a suit of armor stands at the entrance to a hall, and the head of an Asian elephant is mounted on the wall, its trunk dangling over a table covered in assorted candelabras, cups, and swords.)

ANNE: [OOV.] Father?

(ANNE TRAVERS approaches TRAVERS and walks in front of him, wearing a cape and her dark hair in a simple pixie cut. Her kind smile never fades.)

ANNE: Father.

(SILVERSTEIN, a short man with large glasses and a scowl stands behind them. TRAVERS stares at the Yeti a moment longer before looking at ANNE. He seems surprised she’s there.)

TRAVERS: Anne. Er . . . what are you doing here?

(His gaze shifts back to the Yeti.)

ANNE: Looking for you. 

TRAVERS: Uh . . . ?

ANNE: You’re supposed to be meeting me!

(He keeps staring, but tears his eyes away, finally beginning to look present.)

TRAVERS: Was I?

(SILVERSTEIN walks away, frustrated and impatient.)

ANNE: At the airport. 

TRAVERS: Mm . . . . (Looks at the Yeti.)

ANNE: Father, what is the matter? You sent me a cable saying you’re in grave trouble, and I have flown half way around the world-.

TRAVERS: (Interrupts.) Trouble! Yes, a great deal of trouble. 

(SILVERSTEIN comes back.)

TRAVERS: (Pointing.) And it’s that thing!

ANNE: The Yeti?

TRAVERS: (Grunts.) You’re a stupid old fool, Julius Silverstein.

SILVERSTEIN: (Chuckles.) Me the fool? You would like me to be the fool and give you back my Yeti, huh?

TRAVERS: Well you must, man, don’t you understand? It’s dangerous!

SILVERSTEIN: Huh! 

(He turns away for a moment, then addresses ANNE.)

SILVERSTEIN: (Pointing.) For 30 years it stands here in my museum, and now he tells me it is dangerous!

TRAVERS: (Growls.) I wish I’d never brought it back from Tibet.

ANNE: Father, what has happened?

TRAVERS: Well he won’t listen to me, the silly old goat won’t listen to me! I’ve told him! Warned him! Dammit, he knows it’s a robot!

ANNE: Oh, but father, the Yeti isn’t dangerous - it can’t work unless it has a control unit.

TRAVERS: (Eyes wide.) But I’ve done it, Anne! I have reactivated a control unit.

ANNE: Oh! Oh, but Father, this is wonderful news!

TRAVERS: (Mumbles.) Is it? Yes, I- I suppose it would be, except for one thing . . . .

ANNE: What?

TRAVERS: The sphere - it’s gone! It’s disappeared! Look, you must let me have the Yeti back, Julius! Y-.

(He cuts himself off, breathing heavily and shakes his head in frustration.)

TRAVERS: (Upset.) Oh make him understand, Anne!

SILVERSTEIN: Oh, I understand - I buy the Yeti off you thirty years ago, and now it is valuable. Yes? You try to scare me, take your Yeti back. 

(TRAVERS looks furious at the misconception.)

SILVERSTEIN: Why? Money! You want to rob me!

TRAVERS: All right then, I’ll buy the thing back if that’s what you want!

SILVERSTEIN: (Shaking his head.) Oh no! No, no, no, no, aha . . . . (Smiles.) It’s priceless. The only one in the world - and it is mine!

TRAVERS: You fool!

SILVERSTEIN: Thief!

TRAVERS: I’m not a thief!

SILVERSTEIN: Swindler!

TRAVERS: Stubborn old goat!

ANNE: Father!

SILVERSTEIN: Take him away - out of my house! (Walks away.)

ANNE: (Still smiling.) Father, look, perhaps you’ve made a mistake. You put the sphere away somewhere in your laboratory and forgotten it. You’ve done it before, you know.

TRAVERS: No, I’ve- I’ve looked everywhere.

ANNE: Well let’s go home and look again, shall we? You know what you’re like.

TRAVERS: (Mumbles.) But suppose-.

ANNE: (Interrupts.) Let’s go and have a quiet dinner and you can tell me all about it. Then we’ll go home and we’ll look for the sphere.

TRAVERS: Mm . . . . Well all right. But I warned you, Julius, I warned you!

SILVERSTEIN: (Approaches angrily.) Get out! Take him away! Nobody destroys Julius Silverstein’s collection!

TRAVERS: Ha!

SILVERSTEIN: Nobody!

ANNE: Come on, father! (Leads him away.)

SILVERSTEIN: (Follows.) No! The Yeti’s mine! You can’t scare me with your mad stories! Go on! Out, out!

(As he shouts, a very familiar sound to strike fear into any Whovian starts up; a rhythmic beeping. The accompanying silver control sphere appears unnoticed in the window.)

3. MANSION DISPLAY HALL intercut with DISPLAY ROOM

(SILVERSTEIN enters a hall, lined with suits of armor and fancy chairs, lit by candelabras on pedestals. SILVERSTEIN blows out the nearest candles and walks toward the next candelabra.)

(The sphere continues to beep in the window. The Yeti is unguarded.)

(SILVERSTEIN blows out two more candles and the room goes dark. His face is lit as he walks to the final stand of five candles. He blows them out, spinning the stand to reach all of them.)  

(The sphere propels itself through the window.)

(SILVERSTEIN looks around anxiously in the dark, hearing the window crash. He walks back down the hall and stops halfway, eyes wide with fear.)

SILVERSTEIN: Travers . . . Travers, is that you? I-I am not frightened by your stupid tricks! (Continues down the hall.) Travers? I know it’s you, I’m not a fool!

(SILVERSTEIN walks into the display room, past the young giraffe. The sphere beeps incessantly, but he doesn’t notice. He takes off his glasses, looking up at the broken window. Behind SILVERSTEIN’s back, large, round, glowing eyes appear in the Yeti’s head and fur comes over its featureless face almost like a beak. The Yeti turns toward SILVERSTEIN. He turns and spots it. His face contorts in terror as the creature towers above him, its giant arm raised. The monster strikes down as he screams.)

4. TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM

JAMIE: (Pointing at a bulb on the console.) I tell you it did, it was flashing!

(The DOCTOR is holding a paper plate and a sandwich triangle on the other side of the console. JAMIE has the other triangle of the sandwich and has already eaten half of it.)

DOCTOR: (Waving his hand, still holding the sandwich.) Now Jamie, if that light had come on, we’d have landed, wouldn’t we?

JAMIE: (Walking around the console.) I’m not arguing about that.

DOCTOR: But we’re still travelling, aren’t we? So how could it have done?

(He takes a bite of the sandwich and chews while JAMIE speaks.)

JAMIE: Look, I don’t know. (Pointing emphatically.) All I know is - that thing came on. Now I’m not taken to seeing things - at least I don’t think I am.

(The DOCTOR just chuckles as JAMIE takes a bite of his sandwich. VICTORIA runs in with a new dress and twirls.)

VICTORIA: Hey! Do you like it?

(The dress is short, the sleeves are long and flare at the end, and tassels hang around her neck.)

DOCTOR: What?

VICTORIA: I found it in the chest. I think it looks very sophisticated, don’t you? (Poses.)

DOCTOR: (Encouraging.) Oh yes, very sophisticated, Victoria. (Elbows JAMIE.) Come on, Jamie, don’t you?

JAMIE: (Dismissively.) Yeah, aye. (Immediately turns to the DOCTOR.) Now look, I’m not daft you know, Doctor.

(VICTORIA looks disappointed until she notices something and slowly approaches the console.)

VICTORIA: Wh- . . . Doctor?

DOCTOR: What?

VICTORIA: Why is that light flashing?

(The small bulb is flashing.)

JAMIE: (Proudly.) Aha! (Leans against the console.)

DOCTOR: I see.

(He puts his plate with the sandwich down on the console and walks around it to VICTORIA.)

DOCTOR: Are you two playing some sort of game, hm? (Points at both of them.)

(The DOCTOR no longer has his bandage. The smile drops off his face when he sees the light flashing. He immediately looks up at the scanner. JAMIE approaches, finishing his sandwich.)

JAMIE: (Points.) There you are - told you so!

DOCTOR: Well, th- then we are landing, aren’t we?

(The groaning noise of the TARDIS materialisation is heard. The DOCTOR walks around VICTORIA.)

VICTORIA: Let’s hope it’s somewhere pleasant.

JAMIE: (Points and claps.) Hey, it might even be Scotland.

DOCTOR: (Waves at JAMIE.) Now shush! (Spins around.) The scanner, that will tell us.

(They all look up at the scanner, which shows only a formation of stars.)

VICTORIA: Where are we?

JAMIE: Nothing but stars. What’s it mean?

DOCTOR: I don’t know. Something strange has happened. We’re suspended in space.

5. SPACE

(The TARDIS is slowly enveloped by a white, web-like substance. As it spreads, the flashing light on the roof is slowly obscured.)

6. TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM

(The DOCTOR flips some switches. Where the bandage was, a small cut is still on his cheek.)

DOCTOR: Gravity?

JAMIE: On.

DOCTOR: Power?

VICTORIA: On.

DOCTOR: Control?

JAMIE: Yeah, on.

DOCTOR: Flight?

VICTORIA: (Points.) Th-th-that’s on too.

DOCTOR: There you are, you see. I was right, it is all working.

JAMIE: You mean we’ve landed, yet we haven’t landed?

VICTORIA: (Urgent.) Doctor!

DOCTOR: (Waving.) Just a minute, Victoria. If the time lock has slipped . . . .

VICTORIA: Doctor, look at the scanner!

(He spins around and clears his throat. They all look as the view from the scanner is slowly obscured by a mass of pulsating, white, web-like substance.)

JAMIE: (Crosses arms.) What is that stuff, Doctor?

DOCTOR: I don’t know . . . . But something or someone is holding us here.

7. SPACE

(The TARDIS is suspended in space, enveloped in a thick layer of white webbing.)

8. OPERATIONS ROOM

(CORPORAL LANE, a middle-aged, light-haired soldier dressed in full battle-gear, is sitting at a radio desk in the corner of the room, talking into a telephone receiver.)

LANE: Hello? Hello . . . ? Hello!

(The door slides open and another soldier, also in the uniform of a Corporal, enters the room and approaches Corporal LANE.)

CORPORAL: Do you know where the Captain is?

LANE: Yeah, he’s upstairs, being chatted up by that TV bloke.

9. COMMON ROOM

(HAROLD CHORLEY sits at a table, dressed in civilian clothes and thick-rimmed black glasses, holding a small microphone by his mouth, which is wired to a tape recorder.)

CHORLEY: (Into microphone.) And finally, Captain Knight, could you tell us your own feelings about Colonel Pemberton?

(He shoves the microphone under the nose of CAPTAIN KNIGHT, a dark-haired officer in his mid-thirties, who has his hands folded on the table.)

KNIGHT: Well, he was certainly a brave soldier, there’s no doubt about that. He gave his life for his country, and I was proud to serve under him.

(CHORLEY has his chin in his hand, looking uninterested.)

KNIGHT: (Slightly annoyed.) Is that all right?

CHORLEY: (Smiling.) Oh, super, sterling stuff! (Turns off tape recorder.) You talk in pure quotes, old boy.

KNIGHT: Not just quotes, Mr Chorley. I meant what I said.

(CHORLEY wraps the wires around the microphone, preparing to put his equipment away. A knock comes at the door, then the CORPORAL walks in and salutes.)

CORPORAL: Professor Travers is here, sir.

(TRAVERS bustles in past the soldier.)

TRAVERS: What the devil’s going on? Why have I been brought here like this?

(He slams his bag on the desk and growls at the nearest person, who happens to be Captain KNIGHT.)

TRAVERS: Who are you?

KNIGHT: Knight.

TRAVERS: Never heard of you. Who?

KNIGHT: Captain Knight. OK, Corporal.

(TRAVERS grumbles. The CORPORAL salutes and leaves.)

KNIGHT: Look, it’s no good shouting at me, Professor. I didn’t ask for you.

TRAVERS: Huh, well, who did, then?

KNIGHT: Your daughter.

TRAVERS: Anne? (Growls.) She’s like a mother - always interfering in things she knows nothing about.

KNIGHT: I understood that you’d sent for her to come back from America and help you.

TRAVERS: (Grumbles.) Well, what do you want me for, anyway?

KNIGHT: I don’t- I consider this to be a military matter. Others disagree.

TRAVERS: You haven’t had much success so far, have you?

(KNIGHT leaves, exasperated.)

TRAVERS: (Chuckles.) Army. (Grunts.) What the devil do they know about it? Hmph . . . . (Notices CHORLEY.) Who are you?

(CHORLEY looks up from writing notes and pushes his chair back as he stands.)

CHORLEY: Harold Chorley, London Television.

TRAVERS: Who? What?

CHORLEY: Harold Chorley, London Television

TRAVERS: (Over CHORLEY.) Television? Never watch it. You an actor or something?

CHORLEY: (Laughs.) Journalist, actually. The Government, in its infinite wisdom, decided only to allow one correspondent down here. The Press chose me. 

(TRAVERS walks away while he’s talking.)

TRAVERS: Oh, yeah?

CHORLEY: (Into microphone.) Tell me, Professor, will you be in charge of the scientific section, or will your daughter?

(He points the microphone at TRAVERS, who looks up from a book he has taken from a small collection on some shelving.)

TRAVERS: Mind your own business!

(He flips through the book a moment longer and puts it back as CHORLEY talks into the microphone.)

CHORLEY: And how long do you think it’s going to take you to come up with the answer, eh? One week? 

(TRAVERS looks at him angrily.)

CHORLEY: Three perhaps?

TRAVERS: (Approaches.) How the hell should I know? (Points at the microphone.) Is that thing working?

CHORLEY: Of course.

(TRAVERS grunts and takes it from CHORLEY.)

TRAVERS: (Into microphone.) More than likely we won’t be able to defeat this menace. (Sniffs.) London, in fact the whole of England, could be completely wiped out! (Shoves the microphone at CHORLEY.) There, d’you get that?

(TRAVERS storms out, leaving CHORLEY lost for words.)

10. TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM

(The DOCTOR and VICTORIA are sitting against the base of the central console. The DOCTOR has a box-shaped electronic device on his lap with a large lever and cables leading off it. JAMIE walks in carrying a small, cylindrical component and hands it down to the DOCTOR.)

JAMIE: That’s the only one I could find.

DOCTOR: Oh . . . . (Studies it.) Oh yes, that’ll do, Jamie, I think . . . just get that in there . . . .

(He twists the component into a slot on his device and closes the flap, then picks it up to look it over one more time.)

DOCTOR: And that’ll be excellent. (Hands it up to JAMIE.) There we are, that should work! (Clears throat.)

(JAMIE studies it with a confused expression.)

JAMIE: What’s it do?

DOCTOR: Oh, nothing.

JAMIE: Oh no!

DOCTOR: (Chuckles.) Well, nothing yet. But it will do once we start moving again.

(JAMIE groans and purposefully drops the device as he walks away. The DOCTOR shouts as he catches it. He makes sure it’s okay and stands up with VICTORIA.)

VICTORIA: Oh, do you think we ever will? We’ve been here so long . . . .

DOCTOR: Yes, of course we will, Victoria. You see, whatever’s holding us must let go sometime.

(JAMIE points from the other side of the console.)

JAMIE: Doctor! The scanner, it’s clearing!

(The DOCTOR and VICTORIA look.)

11. SPACE

(The thick web covering the TARDIS slowly starts to dissipate.)

12. TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM

(The scanner shows a clear view of the stars.)

VICTORIA: The scanner’s cleared!

DOCTOR: (Breathing rapidly.) Right . . . now Jamie, give me a hand while there’s still time.

(The DOCTOR runs to JAMIE and hands him the end of a cord connected to the device.)

DOCTOR: Plug this in. 

JAMIE: Yes.

DOCTOR: Plug it in there, that’s right. 

(JAMIE plugs it in and the DOCTOR sets his device on the console. He opens the flap, revealing two rows of dials, and messes with them as he speaks.)

DOCTOR: Now listen, both of you - as soon as we land, whatever you do, don’t let go! Hold on.

(He closes the flap and sets his hands on a lever.)

VICTORIA: What’s going to happen?

(The DOCTOR looks up at the scanner and slowly pushes the lever up.)

VICTORIA: We’re landing . . . .

(VICTORIA holds tight to the console and JAMIE searches for something to hold onto and ends up holding onto the DOCTOR’s shoulder.)

DOCTOR: There . . . now . . . . (Grabs the large lever on the device.) Hold tight.

(The DOCTOR watches the scanner as he finds a handhold on the console. He pulls the lever dramatically, but nothing happens for a moment. They all immediately let go of the console to cover their ears as a piercing electronic noise surrounds them. The DOCTOR and JAMIE slowly uncover their ears while the noise still rings.)

DOCTOR: Oh, it’s not so bad as I thought . . . .

(The TARDIS jolts and the noise ramps up, throwing the crew to the floor, shouting. The DOCTOR gets up, covering his ears.)

DOCTOR: Is everyone all right?

(The noise quickly fades away.)

JAMIE: (Picks himself up.) Aye, what did you do?

(VICTORIA pushes herself up and they all watch the scanner.)

DOCTOR: (Moving around the console.) Well, I- I’ve managed to move us on a bit. Not very far, perhaps half a mile from where we were expected to land. For the moment, we have eluded our captor. (Points.) Look at the scanner, both of you.

(The scanner shows that the TARDIS has landed in a long, round, dark tunnel made of bricks. VICTORIA walks around the console to join the DOCTOR.)

VICTORIA: Well, where are we?

DOCTOR: (Beginning to smile.) I really don’t know, Victoria. (Places his hand on her back.) Shall we go out and have a look?

VICTORIA: Now is it safe?

DOCTOR: (Mischievously.) Oh, I shouldn’t think so for a moment! Jamie . . . I think we’re going to need torches.

13. TUNNEL

(The TARDIS stands by a gate, forcing them to go the other direction down the tunnel. The DOCTOR steps out and shines his torch through the gate. VICTORIA steps out cautiously and JAMIE shines his torch down the tunnel. The DOCTOR turns to JAMIE and VICTORIA.)

DOCTOR: Some sort of grille.

JAMIE: Aw, don’t say you’ve landed us in a prison!

(The DOCTOR walks slowly past VICTORIA and they move cautiously forward.)

DOCTOR: It could be the dungeons of a castle.

VICTORIA: It’s so dark!

DOCTOR: Ah. (Points aside.) Steps. Come along, be careful.

(He takes VICTORIA’s hand and leads them down a flight of stairs. Their shadows move smoothly along the wall.)

DOCTOR: Yes, there seems to be a large wall - tiled walls . . . curved ceiling. Hm, come on!

(The DOCTOR leads the way into a larger room.)

14. PLATFORM, COVENT GARDEN

(The TARDIS trio walk across a platform beside a deep trench. JAMIE moves ahead and shines his torch down.)

JAMIE: The floor seems to end here. Hey, it’s a . . . sort of trench, look!

(JAMIE shines his flashlight along the trench and the DOCTOR watches. The trench runs into another tunnel.)

VICTORIA: Hey Doctor, come and look at this.

DOCTOR: What have you found, Victoria? Hm?

(The DOCTOR and JAMIE approach VICTORIA and shine their torches on a f*re extinguisher mounted to the wall.)

VICTORIA: See for yourself.

(The DOCTOR looks confused, then searches the wall with his torch until he finds a panel of words near the ceiling.)

DOCTOR: Covent . . . Garden. (Laughing deeply.) Oh yes, of course! (Looks around.) It’s an underground station - we’re standing on the platform!

VICTORIA: Underground station?

(JAMIE looks at the trench, confused.)

DOCTOR: Mmm, trains, underground trains. 

(JAMIE looks at the DOCTOR, still confused.)

DOCTOR: Little after your time, I think, Victoria.

(The DOCTOR and JAMIE shine their torches around.)

VICTORIA: Is it always as dark as this?

DOCTOR: No no no, it’s probably the middle of the night. (Walks toward the staircase.) Come along, let’s go up top. There’ll be lots of lights up there. 

(JAMIE and VICTORIA follow.)

DOCTOR: Funny, isn’t it?

JAMIE: What?

DOCTOR: How we keep landing on your Earth!

(The three exit the platform.)

15. STATION

(JAMIE and VICTORIA emerge from the staircase to see the station exit, which is barred by a gate.)

VICTORIA: Oh, the Doctor was wrong.

JAMIE: Aye, it’s not the middle of the night, it’s broad daylight!

(The DOCTOR emerges last, holding his side.)

DOCTOR: (Breathing heavily.) Just let me . . . just let me get my breath back, whoo! Those stairs . . . oh!

JAMIE: Looks like we’re locked in, though.

DOCTOR: (Breathing heavily.) Huh, well that’s strange.

VICTORIA: Doctor.

DOCTOR: (Breathing heavily.) Yes?

VICTORIA: Listen . . . .

(There is absolute silence.)

JAMIE: I can’t hear anything.

DOCTOR: Oh, it . . . it is quiet, I see what you mean. Middle of London, there should be some noise.

JAMIE: Hey, Doctor. (Points.) There’s an old man over there. Let’s ask him.

DOCTOR: (Whispers.) Yes, go on.

(JAMIE walks over to the gate, outside which an old man is sitting, motionless, with his back to the station.)

JAMIE: (Whispers.) Excuse me . . . . (Louder.) Excuse me.

(JAMIE reaches through the gate to tap the old man on the shoulder. The man slumps limply to the ground. He is covered with cobwebs. JAMIE notices the sign beside the man, bearing the headline “Londoners flee! Menace spreads.”)

16. PLATFORM, COVENT GARDEN

(The travellers emerge onto the platform, with a “way out” sign pointing their direction beside the f*re extinguisher, a cable drum, and two brooms. The DOCTOR is comforting VICTORIA, holding her hand.)

DOCTOR: It’s all right, it’s all right. Hm?

VICTORIA: Oh but Doctor, did you see his face? (Touching her face.) It was sort of covered with cobwebs!

(The DOCTOR shines his torch and looks down the tunnel.)

JAMIE: Hey, it’s nothing to be so scared of.

DOCTOR: Yes, yes. Now come along.

(The DOCTOR makes toward the tunnel.)

VICTORIA: Oh no, don’t let’s go into the tunnel, please!

DOCTOR: But we’ve got to get above ground, Victoria. 

(She shakes her head.)

DOCTOR: Now let’s try the next station.

JAMIE: Aye, come on.

(JAMIE jumps down from the platform, landing with a foot on either side of one of the rails. The DOCTOR reaches to stop him too late.)

DOCTOR: (Frantically.) No Jamie! No! 

(VICTORIA cries out in fear. JAMIE looks around, startled.)

DOCTOR: (Frantically.) Don’t move! Don’t touch the rails! Whatever you do, stand still!

JAMIE: (Over the DOCTOR.) What’s the matter?

DOCTOR: (Breathing heavily.) Stand still! Don’t move.

(The DOCTOR crouches down, producing a small meter from his pocket. He lies down on the platform and holds the meter over the rails.)

DOCTOR: Keep quite still, Jamie.

(He sighs with relief and lifts his head.)

DOCTOR: It’s all right, you can relax. The electricity’s off. (Stands.)

(JAMIE climbs back onto the platform.)

JAMIE: (Annoyed.) What was all that about?

DOCTOR: (Pointing.) If there had been a current running through these rails, you’d have been fried!

JAMIE: Eh?

DOCTOR: (Waving his hand in a circle.) Electrified. Brunched! Burnt up! Now come along - it’s safe now, I think, but we’d better be careful. Follow me.

(He leads the way into the tunnel, VICTORIA following, then JAMIE.)

17. TUNNEL

(The light of the torches and dark shadows appear along the walls before the DOCTOR appears, followed by his companions. Their footsteps echo and the rails creak in the silence. The DOCTOR bends down to run his fingertips along a rail. JAMIE and VICTORIA bend down beside him.)

VICTORIA: What are you doing, Doctor?

(He points the torch at his hands.)

DOCTOR: Just confirming something - yes, just as I thought. There haven’t been any trains here for some time.

JAMIE: (Spots something ahead.) Hey, what’s that over there?

(They quickly approach and examine the object.)

DOCTOR: It’s a power cable. I wonder what it’s doing down here?

(The travellers look up as a row of overhead lights suddenly comes on all along the tunnel. VICTORIA gasps lightly.)

DOCTOR: In there, quick!

(They quickly hide in an alcove along the tunnel. The DOCTOR cautiously peers out as someone approaches and ducks back inside. Three soldiers march down the tunnel; one in front with a g*n, the other two holding either side of a cable drum stringing cable along the tunnel. The one in front swings his g*n over his shoulder, bends down, and picks up another cable drum. They walk past the alcove. VICTORIA’s head appears, watching them go, then JAMIE’s appears above hers, and the DOCTOR’s above his.)

DOCTOR: Soldiers? I wonder what they’re doing down here?

JAMIE: (Whispers.) Let’s go and ask them.

DOCTOR: No no, I- I think we’d better tread carefully. (Steps out.) Let’s go and find out what’s going on first.

(The DOCTOR quietly follows the soldiers. VICTORIA follows nervously and JAMIE takes up the rear. The DOCTOR stops to look at the cable.)

VICTORIA: (Whispers.) What do you want us to do, Doctor?

DOCTOR: (Pointing at both of them.) You follow the soldiers - but keep out of sight. I’m going to see where this cable goes to. (Looks at watch.) Meet back here in a few minutes.

JAMIE: (Whispers.) Right.

(The DOCTOR turns back the way they came, keeping his torch on the cable as he trots down the tunnel.)

18. TUNNEL

(The three soldiers - STAFF SERGEANT ARNOLD, a man in his 40’s with a grey moustache, CORPORAL BLAKE, a tall young man, and CRAFTSMAN WEAMS, a shorter young man - continue to unwind the cable drum. Craftsman WEAMS stops and looks around nervously while Staff Sergeant ARNOLD goes ahead.)

BLAKE: (Whispers.) What’s the matter?

WEAMS: (Whispers.) Thought I heard something.

(ARNOLD turns to them and leans toward WEAMS. His speech is always mumbled so that it is sometimes hardly intelligible.)

ARNOLD: (Chuckles.) Getting a bit jumpy, aren’t you, Weams?

WEAMS: It’s no wonder, is it, Staff?

BLAKE: Shall we connect the new drum now, Staff?

ARNOLD: Yeah, all right Corp.

(They bend down and put down their heavy cable drums.)

BLAKE: Good thing we fixed these lights, eh?

WEAMS: You can say that again.

19. TUNNEL

(VICTORIA and JAMIE creep quietly through the tunnel. JAMIE holds up his hand and pauses to listen.)

JAMIE: (Whispers.) Can’t hear anything.

VICTORIA: (Whispers.) Are they still there?

JAMIE: (Whispers.) No, I think they must be moving. Come on!

(He waves VICTORIA forward and they continue. VICTORIA runs into a cobweb and she lets out a startled gasp,which carries down the otherwise silent tunnel, waving her hands to get the webbing off her face.)

20. TUNNEL

(The soldiers hear VICTORIA’s gasp and look down the tunnel nervously.)

WEAMS: Told you I heard something, didn’t I, Staff?

ARNOLD: Yeah . . . . Come on!

(He leads his men back down the tunnel as they reach for their g*n.)

21. TUNNEL

(VICTORIA waves the spider web off her face and it floats to the ground, sticking on her hands.)

VICTORIA: I’m sorry!

JAMIE: (Whispers harshly.) It’s only a cobweb!

(JAMIE helps her wave it off her hands.)

VICTORIA: Oh, do you think they heard?

JAMIE: (Whispers.) Hope not. Come on.

(JAMIE takes VICTORIA’s shoulder and helps her get started. He leads the way again as they continue cautiously. They pass another alcove, in which Staff Sergeant ARNOLD is hiding. He steps out, behind them, pointing a r*fle at them.)

ARNOLD: Well, well, well, would you believe it?

(VICTORIA gasps as she and JAMIE spin around. JAMIE holds her shoulders protectively.)

ARNOLD: The babes in the wood.

(VICTORIA’s face is filled with fear.)

22. PLATFORM, CHARING CROSS

(The DOCTOR is bent over, following the cable with his torch. He picks up the cable and runs it through his hand as he follows it. He notices the cable leads up onto another platform. He jogs over and jumps onto the platform of Charing Cross station. He runs to examine the pile of expl*sives at the end of the cable. He immediately stops to hear the familiar high-pitched bleeping sound of a Yeti Control Sphere. He looks around for the source of the sound. He peers around a post and his eyes widen in horror. He runs and jumps into the trench, ducking under the edge of the platform as the giant form of a newly remodeled Yeti appears above him.)

23. OPERATIONS ROOM

(Corporal LANE is sitting hunched over the radio, while Captain KNIGHT stands leaning against a table, writing on a clipboard in his hand. LANE raises a telephone to his ear.)

LANE: Oh, it’s no good, I can’t raise them, sir.

KNIGHT: (Looks up.) Truck was due there twenty minutes ago. (Continues writing.)

LANE: Oh, well I wouldn’t worry, sir, we’ve never had any trouble at Holborn before. They’re probably on their way back by now. (Puts phone down.)

KNIGHT: Yeah, perhaps you’re right, Corporal Lane. (Puts clipboard down.) Keep trying Holborn. (Walks to the door.)

LANE: Sir.

(The door opens just before KNIGHT reaches it and ANNE TRAVERS enters, carrying a piece of equipment.)

KNIGHT: Oh, hello!

ANNE: This blast recorder’s working now, Captain. (Walks past him.)

KNIGHT: (Following her.) Fine. Let me give you a hand.

(She puts the blast recorder on a table and begins to mess with it.)

ANNE: It’s quite all right, I can manage.

KNIGHT: No, no, I insist. Come on.

(HAROLD CHORLEY, the reporter, blusters in.)

CHORLEY: Ah, now look here, Knight, I really must protest.

KNIGHT: (Annoyed.) What’s the matter now, Mr. Chorley?

CHORLEY: Professor Travers! He’s being obstructive and secretive. Now I was led to believe that when I came here, I was gonna be given full facilities.

(Seeing KNIGHT isn’t going to be helpful, he gestures to ANNE.)

CHORLEY: Look, perhaps you can help, Miss Travers . . . .

ANNE: (Brushing him off.) I really am very busy, Mr. Chorley.

(She finds something to do with the blast recorder.)

CHORLEY: But so am I!

KNIGHT: There’s not time for talking, Chorley. 

(KNIGHT takes CHORLEY by the shoulders and leads him toward the door.)

KNIGHT: Travers is busy.

CHORLEY: But . . . I didn’t reali- I thought-

KNIGHT: Now don’t worry, I’ll see that you’re not left in the dark.

(ANNE smiles to herself as KNIGHT ushers CHORLEY out of the room.)

24. PLATFORM, CHARING CROSS

(The DOCTOR lies in the trench against the platform. His eyes widen in fear when he hears a second bleeping noise, differently pitched to the first. He looks up, wishing to get a look, but doesn’t move. The first Yeti approaches the second and points at the pile of expl*sives. The DOCTOR listens nervously, wondering what the strange hissing sound is. The creatures aim small g*n w*apon at the pile of crates, and to the accompaniment of the sweeping, rushing noise, smother the crates with mist and a thick, white, web-like substance. The DOCTOR risks a look over the edge. His eyebrows raise and he quickly ducks down, concerned.)

25. COMMON ROOM HALL

(Staff Sergeant ARNOLD and the cable-laying party arrive at the base with JAMIE and VICTORIA in tow. Through a doorway is a steep, metal, spiral staircase.)

ARNOLD: (To JAMIE and VICTORIA.) All right, you two, stand over there. Keep an eye on them, Blake, will you?

(JAMIE and VICTORIA stand by the wall as Craftsman WEAMS and Corporal BLAKE enter with the cable drum and another soldier enters briskly from the spiral staircase. ARNOLD stops him.)

ARNOLD: Hey, you there. Give the Craftsman a hand.

SOLDIER: ‘Ere, but Staff, I’m on this other job.

ARNOLD: Don’t argue, lad, just get on with it. I want that in the Operations Room upstairs.

(The SOLDIER takes Corporal BLAKE’s end of the cable drum and he and WEAMS follow ARNOLD, leaving BLAKE to guard JAMIE and VICTORIA.)

26. OPERATIONS ROOM

(ANNE is screwing something into the blast recorder and Corporal LANE is working on something on the table behind her. Captain KNIGHT creeps in with a smile and leans against the table behind ANNE, rubbing his hands with a cloth.)

KNIGHT: How’s it going?

ANNE: (Annoyed, but polite.) Just fine.

(KNIGHT smiles at LANE, who smiles back.)

KNIGHT: (Crosses arms.) What’s a girl like you doing in a job like this?

ANNE: Well, when I was a little girl, I thought I’d like to be a scientist. (Heavily sarcastic.) So I became a scientist.

(KNIGHT swaggers over.)

KNIGHT: Just like that?

(ANNE smiles patronizingly at him.)

ANNE: Just like that.

(Staff Sergeant ARNOLD enters the room, approaches KNIGHT, and salutes.)

ARNOLD: Sir.

KNIGHT: Been a long time, Staff. Everything all right?

ARNOLD: Yes, all right sir. Weams is just struggling up with the cable now. 

(He walks toward the door, through which Craftsman WEAMS and the SOLDIER carry the cable drum between them.)

ARNOLD: Come on, you two, chop chop!

WEAMS: In here, mate, come on.

(ARNOLD returns to KNIGHT.)

KNIGHT: Any trouble at Charing Cross?

ARNOLD: No trouble, sir. 

(WEAMS and the SOLDIER finish setting up the drum on the floor.)

ARNOLD: All right, lad, you can buzz off now.

(The soldier stands and salutes before leaving.)

ARNOLD: (Smiling.) By the way, I brought you back a little present, sir.

KNIGHT: Oh?

ARNOLD: Found a couple of youngsters loose in the tunnel.

KNIGHT: What the devil were they doing down there?

ARNOLD: I dunno, sir. I thought perhaps you’d better chat ‘em up, so I brought them back here.

KNIGHT: Dahh . . . . Put them in the Common Room, Staff. I can’t talk to them now! I don’t want to waste any more time on this demolition job.

ARNOLD: Sir. (Turns to leave.) 

ANNE: (Quickly.) Staff Sergeant.

ARNOLD: Yes, miss?

ANNE: You’re sure there’re only two of them down there?

ARNOLD: Yes miss, why?

ANNE: Well, I don’t like the idea of the tunnel being blown up if there’s anybody else down there.

ARNOLD: Mm, I see what you mean, miss.

KNIGHT: Make sure there’s nobody else down there. Have a word with them, Staff. I want that tunnel blown as soon as possible.

27. COMMON ROOM HALL

(Corporal BLAKE stands guard over JAMIE and VICTORIA. JAMIE looks at his watch.)

JAMIE: How much longer are we going to be kept here?

BLAKE: What’s the matter then - don’t you like it here?

VICTORIA: No, I don’t.

(JAMIE sighs impatiently.)

VICTORIA: Where are we, anyway?

(Staff Sergeant ARNOLD enters.)

ARNOLD: All right, Blake, I’ll take over now.

BLAKE: Righto, Staff.

(BLAKE puts his g*n over his shoulder and leaves. ARNOLD opens a door.)

ARNOLD: You two, in here.

28. COMMON ROOM

(JAMIE and VICTORIA head through the door to the Common Room, where there is a dart target on the wall. Staff Sergeant ARNOLD follows and closes the door.)

JAMIE: D’you mind telling us where we are?

ARNOLD: Oh, this place has been here a long time. It were a transit camp in the Second World w*r.

JAMIE: What d’you do down here?

ARNOLD: Now, now, everybody knows what’s happening. And you know very well you shouldn’t have come down here. By the way - you were on your own, weren’t you?

VICTORIA: Well-

JAMIE: (Interrupts.) Oh yes.

(ARNOLD is suspicious of the misdirection.)

29. PLATFORM, CHARING CROSS

(The Yeti complete their task and lumber off, leaving the crates covered in smoldering web. The DOCTOR peeks over the edge to watch them go, then sits up and climbs onto the platform.)

30. COMMON ROOM

(JAMIE and VICTORIA are sitting at the table while Staff Sergeant ARNOLD sits on the table.)

ARNOLD: You’re quite sure there was nobody with you?

JAMIE: (Wearily.) Look, how many more times.

ARNOLD: Well, that’s all right then.

(Captain KNIGHT enters the room and ARNOLD stands.)

KNIGHT: Clear to f*re, Staff?

ARNOLD: Yes sir, they were on their own apparently.

KNIGHT: Right.

(KNIGHT leaves and closes the door.)

JAMIE: What was all that about?

(ARNOLD hesitates before sitting on the table again.)

ARNOLD: Suppose there’s no harm in telling you. You know, you two are very lucky. We’re going to blow up the tunnel.

(JAMIE and VICTORIA stand, horrified.)

JAMIE: What!

ARNOLD: That’s what we were laying the cable for.

(JAMIE and VICTORIA look at each other.)

VICTORIA: The Doctor!

31. OPERATIONS ROOM

(Craftsman WEAMS, Corporal LANE, and ANNE sit around waiting. Captain KNIGHT enters and they all stand.)

KNIGHT: It’s all right, they were on their own. OK Weams, no sense in wasting any more time. Off you go.

WEAMS: Right, sir.

(WEAMS flips two switches on the blast recorder, then pushes a button.)

32. PLATFORM, CHARING CROSS

(The DOCTOR crouches beside the pile of expl*sives, examining the thick covering of webbing thoughtfully. The web glows with a brilliant white light and the sound of an expl*si*n fills the platform. The DOCTOR is thrown from the platform with a scream . . . .)
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "05x23 - The Web of Fear - part 1"}