TERROR of the ZYGONS

By ROBERT BANKS-STEWART

EPISODE 1

First transmitted : 30 October 1975
Running time : 21:41

1. North Sea Oil Rig (Exterior)

(An oil rig sits silently in the North Sea. The water around is still. All is calm.)

2. North Sea Oil Rig (Interior)

(A jolly looking Scottish RADIO OPERATOR sits at a radio and talks into a microphone.)

RADIO OP: Hey, listen Willie! With tomorrow's supply, can you no send over some haggis?

(A strange buzzing/ringing sound comes up. The RADIO OPERATOR looks around nervously. There is a crackle and the radio link stops.)

RADIO OP: Hello Willie? Can you hear me, over? This is Charlie Rag burning control. Are you receiving? I say again Charlie Ragtie burning control. Can you read me, over?

(The lights suddenly go out. The room shakes. A crushing sound can be heard outside.)

3. North Sea Oil Rig (Exterior)

(One of the giant stone legs holding up the rig cracks in half and the large building starts to fall.)

4. North Sea Oil Rig (Interior)

RADIO OP: (In panic) Mayday! Mayday!

5. North Sea Oil Rig (Exterior)

(The building is nearly gone. The ringing screams in the background.)

6. North Sea Oil Rig (Interior)

RADIO OP: Mayday! Mayday!

7. North Sea Oil Rig (Exterior)

(There is an expl*si*n and the oil rig collapses into the waves. Nothing is left of it.)

8. Edge of Forest

(The DOCTOR, SARAH and HARRY march through the edge of a forest after being summoned to earth by the BRIGADIER. The DOCTOR is wearing a tartan scarf. (HARRY is wearing his other one.) SARAH has on a large black hat. No one says anything but the DOCTOR stops and raises his hand.)

DOCTOR: Halt!

(He looks around.)

DOCTOR: Forward!

(They walk on. The DOCTOR looks down at a small device he is carrying. It is guiding him to where he wants to go.)

DOCTOR: There we are!

(The DOCTOR points happily to a road a few minutes walk away. One car passes. He holds up his device.)

DOCTOR: Follow me.

(They run off. The DOCTOR takes the lead.)

SARAH: (Shouting) Hold on!

9. By the road

(Another car comes up. Inside, a man sees the DOCTOR waving from the side of the road and stops next to them.)

SARAH: Hi!

DOCTOR: Good morning.

(A serious looking, oldish man sits in the large car. He is the DUKE OF FORGILL.)

DUKE: Are you wanting a lift?

10. Another road

(A line of UNIT soldiers march down a road in a neat line. There is the sound of engines and a green car passes them.)

11. Outside Inn

(The car drives up to an inn. Inside is RSM BENTON and another soldier. They hear the sound of bagpipes coming from nearby.)

BENTON: Hey, listen to that! It's young Angus at it again!

(The other soldier grins.)

BENTON: Okay. Take her in.

12. Inside Inn

(The BRIGADIER sits in a chair inside the old building. Around the room are lots of pictures and models. On one wall is a moose head.
Another man, HUCKLE, stands next to the BRIGADIER.)

HUCKLE: Three rigs destroyed in a month. Two of them ours, General.BRIGADIER: It's the Brigadier actually.

HUCKLE: Well Brigadier, my company has lost millions.

BRIGADIER: The government is equally concerned, I can assure you Mr Huckle, though more especially about the loss of life.

HUCKLE: (Gets up) If this keeps up, pretty soon there won't be a man willing to work out there. Do we have to put up with this hullabaloo? (Meaning the bagpipes.)

BRIGADIER: I'm afraid we've rather opposed ourselves on the landlord. If he wants to play his pipes, there's not much I can do about it.

(The BRIGADIER sees BENTON standing by the door.)

BRIGADIER: Ah, Benton. Any news of the Doctor yet?

BENTON: No Sir. Nothing yet.

(The BRIGADIER looks at his watch.)

BRIGADIER: He ought to have materialized by now.

(He gets up and goes to an old cash register.)

BRIGADIER: Mr Benton.

BENTON: Sir?

BRIGADIER: Is this thing still working?

BENTON: As far as I know, Sir, yes.

BRIGADIER: You get on well with the landlord, don't you.

BENTON: Well, yes Sir. I suppose I do.

BRIGADIER: Well, tell him to play the pipes when we're out of here.BENTON: Alright Sir.

(BENTON looks out of the window and sees a car coming up.)

BENTON: Oh, there's the Doctor now, Sir.

(The BRIGADIER peers out of the window and sees him.)

BRIGADIER: Good lord!

13. Outside Inn

(The DOCTOR steps out of the car and holds the door open for SARAH and HARRY.)

14. Inside Inn

BRIGADIER: Mr Huckle? Who's the man in the driving seat?

HUCKLE: Him? Oh that's the Duke of Forgill. The local big sh*t. He doesn't make things easy. He owns just about everything in this part of Scotland, except for the shore bays, and, frankly, he doesn't like us not one little bit!

(The door to the room opens and the tartan-dressed DOCTOR walks straight in.)

BRIGADIER: Oh, welcome back, Doctor.

DOCTOR: I want to know one thing, Brigadier.

(He points at the BRIGADIER's kilt.)

DOCTOR: What's that?

BRIGADIER: That, Doctor, is a kilt.

(SARAH chuckles.)

DOCTOR: Suits you very well.

BRIGADIER: Oh, do you think so?

DOCTOR: Yes.

SARAH: Um...um...this is his grace the Duke of Forgill. He very kindly gave us a lift.

DUKE: I had to pass here on the way to the oil base.

HUCKLE: To see me.

(The DUKE strides forward.)

DUKE: To see you, Mr Hickle.

HUCKLE: Huckle.

DUKE: To complain yet again about your rough necks trespassing and poaching on my property.

HUCKLE: My men have been warned, Sir. If anyone is caught, they will be dismissed immediately.

DUKE: Let me give you a final warning. If I catch them on my land again, they'll be sh*t. And that's not an idle thr*at, Mr Hickle.

HUCKLE: I'll be expecting you, Brigadier.BRIGADIER: Yes, Mr Huckle.

(HUCKLE leaves.)

DUKE: I trust the army isn't going to help these people. Is that why you were sent here?

BRIGADIER: No Sir. We're a military investigation team.

DUKE: Investigating what?

BRIGADIER: I'm afraid out mission is a sensitive matter, Sir.

DUKE: Official secrets and all that twaddle, eh? Well I won't pry, though my family have served this country for seven centuries, but that doesn't seem to count these days, does it. Good day to you.

(The DUKE leaves the room.)

BRIGADIER: What an odd man. Rather medieval in his ideas.

DOCTOR: A man in conviction.

HARRY: All the same, he did save us a long walk, Sarah.

SARAH: Anyway, it's nice to see you again, Brigadier.

BRIGADIER: And you, Miss Smith.

SARAH: Though I didn't expect to see you in a kilt!

BRIGADIER: My dear Miss Smith, as you remember, my name is Lethbridge-Stewart. The clan Stewart.

SARAH: Oh sorry! I thought you were doing a Doctor! (Laughs.)

BRIGADIER: What an absurd idea.

DOCTOR: Brigadier, why have you called me back? I hope you've got a very good reason.

15. The shore of a beach

(A man is washed up onto the shore. He is wearing a rubber ring and appears to be d*ad.)

16. Inside Inn

BRIGADIER: All three rigs were in this area.

(He points to a map of Scotland where the accidents are labelled.)

BRIGADIER: Therefore it seems...

(The DOCTOR bangs on the table.)

DOCTOR: Brigadier, Brigadier! Have you brought me two hundred and seventy million miles just to sort out a trouble at sea?

BRIGADIER: Three serious disasters, Doctor.

DOCTOR: When I left the psionic beam with you, Brigadier, I said it was only to be used in an emergency!

BRIGADIER: This is an emergency.

DOCTOR: Oil an emergency? Ha! It's about time the people who run this planet of yours realised that to be dependent on a mineral slime just doesn't make sense! Now, the energizing of hydrogen...BRIGADIER: Doctor, the destruction of these rigs is a complete mystery. Do you want more men to die?

DOCTOR: No.

(He puts his hat on his head and leans backward.)

DOCTOR: Very well. When do we start?

BRIGADIER: The oil company - we're paying them a visit this afternoon.

(HUCKLE searches through a filing cabinet and takes out a red folder. He looks at it, making sure it's the right one and closes the drawer.)

HUCKLE: Here's the preliminary medical report on the condition of the bodies.

(HUCKLE hands the folder to HARRY who opens it up.)

HUCKLE: They died the same way as the others - exposure and drowning.

HARRY: Yes, so I heard, Mr Huckle.

(HARRY flicks through the papers.)

HARRY: There's quite a few crush injuries.

HUCKLE: The rig collapsed.

HARRY: (To BRIGADIER) I think I'd better take a look at these, Sir.

BRIGADIER: Yes, good idea, Sullivan. You go across to the sick bay and we'll meet you back at the headquarters.

HARRY: Aye Aye, Sir.

SARAH: (To HARRY) I'll come with you as far as the village. I could talk to some of the local people and see what I can find out, okay. See you later!

HARRY: Bye Doctor.

(HARRY and SARAH go. The DOCTOR stares into space. The BRIGADIER looks at him strangely, then goes over to a model of an oil rig.
He holds one of its giant white legs.)

BRIGADIER: You know these things always reminded me of three legged spiders in Wellington boots.

HUCKLE: Correction - concrete boots. Thousands of tons of it. Those babies were meant to be unsinkable.

DOCTOR: (Getting up) Yes, and so was the Bismarck, and we all know that story.

HUCKLE: We spent a fortune proving the Waverley field geologically sound. Everything is constantly checked for s*ab - winds, tides, the constant moving of the sea bed.DOCTOR: You say these radio blackouts have happened before?

HUCKLE: Each time a rig has disappeared.

DOCTOR: No low range craft in the area, nothing suspicious?

HUCKLE: Difficult to be sure. It was at night. The radio picked up some strange sound, but as far as we know, the sea was calm and empty.

DOCTOR: Maybe calm, but never empty.

17. In the Inn, later in the day

(The landlord of the inn, ANGUS MCRANNALD, washes a table. SARAH is talking to him.)

MCRANNALD: That's right. I'm Angus Ferguson McRannald. My family's been in these parts for generations.

SARAH: Really? Well, they tell me in the village, Mr McRannald, that besides being the best piper for miles around, you also have second sight.

MCRANNALD: Well, I am the seventh son of the seventh son. Well, do you know, the fellow who was with you, The Doctor, he looks likes a man who may see around a few corners himself.

SARAH: Quite a few.

(SARAH sees on the wall the large moose head.)

SARAH: Aw. That's a fine looking head.

MCRANNALD: Aye. Beyond the 12 pointer. Brought down by the Duke of Forgill himself. Gave it to the me this last week.

SARAH: He's a strange man, this Duke, isn't he?

MCRANNALD: Would you think so, miss? You know, I would give it a favour to remember he is a McRannald - my chief.

SARAH: No, no, of course. It's just, after he picked us up in his car, he never spoke a word. All the way to the village!

MCRANNALD: Ah well. It's true he's not the Duke I remember. He has been a different man since the oil companies came.

SARAH: You seem to blame everything on the oil companies.

MCRANNALD: Aw well, his servants have left to go and work with them. I've said Forgill Castle is a cold, empty house these days.
Wouldn't a care to set foot in it myself. Now that's a fact.

18. Zygon Spaceship

(Two orange-coloured hands twist dials on the side of a green control panel. The ZYGON's veins show up brightly, its fingers are dark red and covered in small lumps. The sounds of SARAH and MCRANNALD can be heard, and they can be seen in a monitor.)

SARAH: The local people say you had a vision of disaster for the oil company.

MCRANNALD: Do they now? They seem to have done a fair bit of watching in the late twenty year!

SARAH: Is it true?

MCRANNALD: I'm no saying, but only bad luck comes to them who step over Tulloch Moor.

SARAH: Really, why?

MCRANNALD: Tulloch Moor's a strange murky sort of place. When the mist comes down, it's like the steam from a witch's cauldron.
Nobody in these parts will cross the moor after dark.

(The face of an orange creature watches the screen. Its eyes are black.)

19. Inside Inn

SARAH: Ah, Mr McRannald, that's just superstition, surely?

MCRANNALD: Call it that, if you like.

SARAH: Well, has anything ever happened to anyone up there?

MCRANNALD: Aye aye. There was a man, a foreigner, from far away. Stayed at this very inn. He went out in the moor. Never seen again.

SARAH: Ooh. He left without paying his bill did he?

(MCRANNALD stares at her.)

SARAH: When did this happen, anyway?

MCRANNALD: 19 hundred and 22. Then there was the case of the Jameson boys, although that was a wee while ago.

SARAH: Okay...

(She sits in a chair next to MCRANNALD.)

SARAH: What happened to them?

MCRANNALD: It was, let me see, 1870. They were out cutting peat and the mist came down. Donald just disappeared. They found the other brother, Robert, two days later, wondering about off his head. His eyes, his eyes were terrible to see. For the rest of his life he never spoke again. Take my word for it, dear, there are ancient mysteries here. Evil spirits haunt Tulloch Moor.

(SARAH gets up.)

SARAH: Maybe, but I'm certain of one thing, Mr McRannald: evil spirits don't destroy oil rigs.

(ANGUS MCRANNALD watches as SARAH leaves the room.)

20. Shore of beach

(The man in the rubber ring slowly gets up and steps out of the ring. He stumbles into the muddy beach. He falls over and picks himself up.)

21. Cliff

(Another, larger, man walks across the beach. He is holding a g*n. He has a ginger beard and hair, and he is wearing a kilt.)

22. Road

(A little way off, a green car drives up to the bottom of the cliff. HARRY steps out of the car and notices someone stumbling around on the cliff, as if drunk. HARRY jumps forward and starts running towards the stranger. The ginger-haired man watches through the long grass. HARRY reaches the man, who is breathing heavily. He is the RADIO OPERATOR from the destroyed rig.)

RADIO OP: The rig! I was on the rig!

HARRY: Yes, it's alright, old chap. Don't worry. I'll have you in a hospital in no time.

RADIO OP: It's too late. I didn't have a chance.

HARRY: What do you mean? What happened?

RADIO OP: It suddenly came at us...smashed the rig to pieces.

HARRY: What did?

(The man with the g*n bends down and focuses his g*n on the RADIO OPERATOR. He pulls the trigger and fires. There is the sound of a g*n sh*t and the OPERATOR falls over - d*ad. HARRY quickly gets up, but there is another g*n sh*t. He clutches his head and falls down. There is a large mark of blood on his forehead.)

23. Inside Inn

(The DOCTOR is fiddling at an object when SARAH comes in. The sound of ANGUS MCRENNALD's bagpipes are playing.)

SARAH: Hi!

(The DOCTOR doesn't reply. He starts to push a metal square into a wire.)

SARAH: What's that?

(There is still no answer.)

SARAH: If you're interested, the Brig's on the quayside, watching wreckage being brought ashore.

DOCTOR: Hum.

SARAH: Hmm. Thought that would interest you. He's being very secretive. If you ask me, he is wasting his time. Oh yes, might as well forget about security in Tulloch. The landlord here's got second sight...

(The bagpipe playing suddenly stops. SARAH seems shocked.)

DOCTOR: Know what he was playing? Flowers of the Forest. A lament for the d*ad.

(SARAH smiles awkwardly.)

SARAH: What is that thing you're fiddling with?

DOCTOR: It's part of the radio probe system. Used to stop the localised jamming.

SARAH: Well, what if that gets jammed too?

(The DOCTOR looks at her. SARAH laughs and picks up the phone which has started ringing.)

SARAH: (In a Scottish accent) Hallo. Fox Inn.

(Her expression changes.)

SARAH: Harry's been sh*t!

24. Zygon Spaceship

(The ZYGON's hand turns a mushroom-shaped button. It talks to another ZYGON in a whisper.)

ZYGON: Strength?

ZYGON 2: Tiastelic reading 703.

ZYGON: Increase the sonic quarter by three marks.

ZYGON 2: Increased three marks. Contact firm.

ZYGON: Check direction at pass.

ZYGON 2: Pass correct to within one earth mile. Closing.

25. Loch Ness

(A giant, silvery, scaly creature sits quietly at the bottom of Loch Ness. The sound of ringing starts.)

26. Radio Room

(HUCKLE talks to the radio operator at Ben Nevis Oil Rig.)

HUCKLE: Say again. Over.

OPERATOR: (OOV) I'm bringing in control to 3, Ben Nevis 3. Over.

HUCKLE: Got you, Ben Nevis, loud and clear.

27. Ben Nevis Oil Rig

HUCKLE: (OOV) How are things out there, over.

OPERATOR: Everything fine. Any news of your investigation? Over.

HUCKLE: (OOV) Nothing much. The Brigadier...

(The radio link crackles and stops. The strange ringing sound starts.)

OPERATOR: Hello? Hello? I'm bringing in control. This is number 3 rig. Are you receiving me? I say again, are you receiving me? Over!

28. Radio Room

HUCKLE: No not again! Ben Nevis, Ben Nevis! Are you there? Are you there? Over!

29. Sickbay

(HARRY lies motionless in a bed. He is watched by the DOCTOR and SISTER LAMONT.)

DOCTOR: Has he said anything?

SISTER LAMONT: No.

DOCTOR: What? Nothing at all?

SISTER LAMONT: No, he's still in shock. The b*llet grazed his skull.

(The DOCTOR takes his hat off and leans close to HARRY.)

DOCTOR: Harry. Harry! Can you hear me, Harry? It's The Doctor! Can you hear me?

(The BRIGADIER and SARAH enter the room.)

SARAH: Is he all right?

DOCTOR: No he's not. He has got a scalp wound. He needs time.

BRIGADIER: Yes, but time is the last thing we have, Doctor. Another rig has just been destroyed.

DOCTOR: What?

BRIGADIER: The Ben Nevis Rig. 15 miles west of the Prince Charlie. 40 men on board completely vanished.

DOCTOR: Same pattern?

BRIGADIER: Exactly the same. First of all radio blackouts and then that extraordinary sound. Now Mr Huckle's going mad.

DOCTOR: I'll come back with you.

SARAH: I'll stay with Harry. Then I can call you if there's any improvement.

DOCTOR: Good girl.

SARAH: (To HARRY) Harry! Harry! It's me, Sarah!

SISTER LAMONT: I think you should let him rest. He is under sedation, you know.

SARAH: Oh yes. Yes of course.

(SISTER LAMONT leaves. SARAH stares at HARRY.)

30. Outside hospital

(A car drives up and BENTON climbs out. The DOCTOR looks in the back of the car, where there is a large, square stone with two holes in it.)

DOCTOR: What's that?

BRIGADIER: Part of the wreckage from the Prince Charlie. It's been curiously marked. Look.

(The BRIGADIER pushes a stick he is holding into the holes.)

DOCTOR: Mr Benton? Nip into the sickbay, will you, and fetch some plaster of Paris.

BENTON: Plaster of...

DOCTOR: Paris. They'll have some to spare.

BENTON: Okay, Doctor.

DOCTOR: How very curious.

(He examines the holes.)

31. Inside Inn (A few hours later)

(The plaster of Paris has hardened inside the two strange holes.)

HUCKLE: Doctor, do you mind telling me exactly what you are doing?

DOCTOR: A little experiment in orthodontology.

HUCKLE: Orthodontology?

DOCTOR: Teeth. Teeth. The scientific study of teeth.

(He pulls the mould out of the stone. It is shaped like two giant, sharp teeth.)

DOCTOR: It's the cast of a tooth, wouldn't you say?

HUCKLE: Teeth? Doctor, you can't be serious.

DOCTOR: Teeth are very serious things, Mr Huckle.

HUCKLE: Look. Lets get things straight. Are you trying to tell me that the rigs were chewed up by a set of giant molars?

DOCTOR: Yes. A set of giant molars that can chew through steel as easy as paper.

BRIGADIER: Do you suggest we're dealing with some kind of sea monster?

32. Zygon Spaceship

(The ZYGON listens to the DOCTOR speaking on the monitor screen.)

DOCTOR: (From screen.) Yes. A monster of frightening size and power.

ZYGON: This one they call the Doctor is a thr*at to us. Already he has found out too much. He must be destroyed.

33. Sickbay

(SARAH watches the unconscious HARRY in the bed. Suddenly he seems to wake and he clutches his forehead.)

HARRY: Sarah?

SARAH: Yes.

HARRY: (mumbles.)SARAH: It's alright, Harry.

HARRY: There's a man...

SARAH: What is it?

HARRY: There's a man on the reef...

SARAH: What are you trying to say?

(Sister Lamont enters.)

SARAH: Sister Lamont. I didn't hear you coming.

SISTER LAMONT: Doctor Sullivan, how are you feeling?

SARAH: Harry. What did you find out? Did Munro tell you anything?

HARRY: Munro?

SARAH: The man on the beach. The man who was sh*t.

HARRY: The rig...the rig...was shaking...

SARAH: Yes?

HARRY: The rig was...falling...shaking...

SARAH: And then what, Harry? Keep trying. I'm going to phone the Doctor.

SISTER LAMONT: (To HARRY.) It's alright, Doctor Sullivan. You're quite safe. Your worries are over now. You're going to be very well looked after.

(She leaves.)

34 . Inside Inn

(The DOCTOR is on the telephone to SARAH.)

DOCTOR: (To BRIGADIER.) She says he's recovering. (To SARAH.) Good. Good. Has he said anything?

35. Room outside Sickbay

SARAH: Well, he's starting to speak. I think there was something he wants to tell us.

36. Sickbay

(HARRY is alone in the sickbay. He starts speaking to himself.)

HARRY: The rig...the rig was smashed to pieces...nothing left...Munro in the water.

(The strange ringing sound starts up.)

HARRY: Struggling, cold, exposed...No! No! No!

(HARRY looks really scared and starts leaning backwards. Something is there...)

37. Inside Inn

DOCTOR: No, no. I'll be right over.

38. Room outside Sickbay

DOCTOR: (OOV, from telephone.) ...and Sarah, better keep his recovery dark for the moment.

SARAH: Why, do you think he is in danger from something? AHHHHAHHH!!!

(She screams and drops the telephone. A huge orange creature is reaching out to her - the ZYGON!)
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "13x01 - Terror of the Zygons - part 1"}