THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN

BY: JOHNNY BYRNE

Part Three

First Air Date: 14 February 1981
Running time: 23:49

KASSIA: They are to be closely watched, and no contact with anyone without my express authority.

NEMAN: Yes, Consul.

KASSIA: My husband and his friends have betrayed the Keeper. A full confession to satisfy the Traken people and then. You understand? These services will not be overlooked, Neman.

KATURA: Where could she be?

LUVIC: Here she comes now. Kassia. Kassia, where are the strangers?

KASSIA: Closely guarded.

KATURA: And the Keeper?

KASSIA: It is our duty to propose a new successor. Tremas has forfeited his right.

KATURA: Seron is d*ad.

LUVIC: Then it's got to be one of us.

KATURA: Well, we shall have to decide the issue formally.

KASSIA: But later.

DOCTOR: Well, quite a little home from home.

TREMAS: It's the penal wing, Doctor. We haven't had much use for these cells for some time now.

DOCTOR: Not till we came along, that is.

ADRIC: Can you open it?

DOCTOR: Some sort of electron lock. Still, sonic screwdriver should do it.

ADRIC: What's the matter?

DOCTOR: Seems a bit far along. Be a good chap, will you, and nip outside and unlock it for me. I'm not a magician, you know.

DOCTOR: Lovely day.

KASSIA: All is as you predicted, Melkur. Seron is d*ad, Tremas is in disgrace. He cannot become Keeper now. You've saved him.

MELKUR: And he may continue to live if you continue to obey.

KASSIA: What? Can there be more to be done?

MELKUR: Oh yes, my servant. Much more. The Doctor, he is a great and cunning enemy. While he lives, the cause of Melkur is in doubt.

KASSIA: The Doctor and his young friend.

MELKUR: With them you must finish the job you have g*n. And one more thing. You have interfered with the succession. Order must be restored.

KASSIA: A successor is to be chosen.

MELKUR: Will this successor serve us as you do?

KASSIA: I do not know.

MELKUR: But we must know, Kassia. These things must be ensured. I can think of no better Keeper than yourself.

KASSIA: No!

KASSIA (on screen): No, release me!

MELKUR: Not until the work is done, Kassia.

DOCTOR: The Keeper's not d*ad yet, so we still have a little time.

TREMAS: Not much, Doctor. Seron's m*rder proves the Keeper's power is at an end. His death can't be far off.

DOCTOR: Whatever happens, Melkur must not be allowed to make contact with the Source.

TREMAS: How could he, Doctor? The bioelectronics only permit a Traken to succeed to the Keepership.

DOCTOR: Exactly.

TREMAS: Kassia.

KASSIA: Melkur, I implore you. Answer me!

KASSIA: Ah, spying, eh? My Fosters will deal with you.

NYSSA: Your Fosters?

KASSIA: Yes, mine, bought and paid for.

NYSSA: But you haven't bought my father or Adric and the Doctor.

KASSIA: No need. They're under lock and key.

NYSSA: He's no criminal! Nor are the strangers. This Melkur has made you mad.

KASSIA: Don't interfere with what you don't understand. Now go home! This will all come to good in time.

KASSIA: Consuls of Traken. Recent events have proved that a great evil thr*at our Traken Union. It is our clear duty to unite and strive to defeat it. Are we agreed?

KATURA: Yes, Kassia. We're all proud of our liberal tradition, but this superstitious mania, this cult of Melkur, is growing.

KASSIA: Fostered by my husband and the strangers.

LUVIC: It must be stopped.

KASSIA: It will, Consuls, but only if we demonstrate our intention to oppose it. And to do that, we need a Keeper Nominate who will not shirk what must be done.

KATURA: That's certainly true, but I'm far too old and, Luvic.

LUVIC: Oh, I do not have such greatness in me.

KATURA: So there's no great dilemma about the choice.

NYSSA: Proctor Neman, please take me to my father.

NEMAN: I'm sorry, lady, that is impossible.

NYSSA: My father is still a Consul of Traken. I demand to see him.

NEMAN: Your father and the strangers are condemned criminals. No one may see them.

NYSSA: By whose orders?

NEMAN: Consul Kassia. Forgive me, I have my instructions.

KATURA: So be it. Consul Kassia, we appoint you Keeper Nominate. Do you accept or reject?

KASSIA: I accept.

KATURA: Well, that's that.

LUVIC: First, the matter of Tremas and the strangers. Kassia?

KASSIA: The strangers must die. Tremas will be of use.

LUVIC: Yes, his contribution to the state has been outstanding.

KASSIA: Their deaths will serve to deter others.

KATURA: Yes. Sadly we must show that our intentions are firm.

LUVIC: Sadly.

NEMAN: I cannot accept payment. The honour of the Traken Union is at stake. There is a limit to the power of money, Lady Nyssa.

NYSSA: I think this is powerful enough.

NEMAN: I see.

NYSSA: Please do as I ask. I will use it if I must.

NEMAN: You will die for this, lady.

NYSSA: I know what I am doing. Now, the key to the cell, please. Down there.

DOCTOR: Lovely day. Huh. They're not a very talkative lot, your Fosters, Tremas.

TREMAS: I suspect Kassia's bribed them. She daren't risk losing us now.

DOCTOR: Why? Why should she, anyway? Ah, a friendly face.

NYSSA: Doctor.

DOCTOR: Nyssa. Nyssa, the lock.

DOCTOR: Ah.

DOCTOR: New technology dates so quickly these days.

TREMAS: Well done, daughter.

DOCTOR: Which way, Nyssa? This way or that?

NYSSA: Follow me, Doctor.

DOCTOR: Right.

NYSSA: The ion bonder. I stepped up the ion rate. They'll sleep for quite a bit yet.

DOCTOR: What? I must remember never to fall out with your daughter, Tremas. May I look at that? Yes, very clever. No self-respecting fugitive should be without one.

DOCTOR: Now.

TREMAS: Where to, Doctor?

DOCTOR: Back to the TARDIS. Much the safest place if we can get there.

NYSSA: We must hurry.

TREMAS: The grove. We can't use the sanctum entrance, they've taken my ring.

ADRIC: And the main gate's guarded all the time.

DOCTOR: It's the only way in. Just stay calm, eh? I'll think of something.

DOCTOR: Come on, back.

LUVIC: A painful duty, Consul Kassia.

KATURA: Not really our way, this judicial blood-letting. Still, if it must be, it must.

KASSIA: The prisoners?

NEMAN: Oh, we were att*cked. The Lady Nyssa.

KASSIA: Search the court. They can't be far away. Now find them! Or you, Neman, will wish you had never been born.

NEMAN: Yes, Consul.

KASSIA: No, wait. Have the court sealed. Double the guard on the sanctum and the grove and search everywhere, including the residential quarter.

NEMAN: Yes, yes.

DOCTOR: Come on.

DOCTOR: Ah, good morning, or afternoon, or is it evening? It's very difficult to keep track of time around here.

FOSTER: Up against the wall.

DOCTOR: Ah.

NYSSA: Doctor, the ion bonder.

DOCTOR: Oh yes.

FOSTER: That's enough. k*ll them!

DOCTOR: Tremas, we've got to get out of these corridors and lie low somewhere.

NYSSA: We're close to our quarters, father.

TREMAS: Too risky.

ADRIC: Not if they've already searched there.

DOCTOR: Good thinking, Adric. Come on, Tremas, lead on.

TREMAS: Come on.

MELKUR: I'm disappointed, Kassia. You have failed me.

KASSIA: We will find them. The court is sealed. They cannot escape.

MELKUR: I warned you about the Doctor but you chose to ignore me. Now you suffer!

MELKUR: Rise, Consul. Were you not necessary to our purpose, you would die.

KASSIA (on screen): Tell me what I should do, Melkur.

MELKUR: First, the Doctor. It is clear now he must be destroyed.

KASSIA (on screen): I shall not rest till it is done.

MELKUR: Time presses, Consul. The power of the Keeper is almost ours. Only the Doctor can destroy all that we have planned. He must be found. Must, you hear?

DOCTOR: Well, the new regime seems to be making rather a mess of things. Tremas. Tremas.

TREMAS: Huh?

DOCTOR: Blueprints. Master plans. Do you happen to keep them here?

TREMAS: What plans in particular?

DOCTOR: Well, the master plans to the Source manipulator, of course.

TREMAS: Yes, in the atmosphere safe. The secrecy of the Source manipulator is a sacred trust.

DOCTOR: Tremas, we must stop Kassia becoming the Keeper, and for that we need the master plans.

TREMAS: But I swore an oath, Doctor.

DOCTOR: Well of course you swore an oath! Now you have to choose. Your personal honour against the safety of the whole of Traken.

NYSSA: Yes, father.

TREMAS: I can't, Doctor.

DOCTOR: Well, that's fine. That's fine, Tremas. I mean, when this thing has taken over the entire Source you'll have the consolation of knowing that you kept your honour intact.

TREMAS: The original design of the Source manipulator. The means that gave power to our Keepers.

DOCTOR: Good.

NEMAN: Consul, there's no sign of them. Some of my men made contact, but they got away.

KASSIA: Oh, where could they be?

NEMAN: Well, they were last seen headed towards the grove.

KASSIA: Yes, obviously trying to get to the Doctor's craft. Very well, we'll help them. Call off the search.

NEMAN: Call it off, Consul?

KASSIA: Have the Fosters withdrawn. All of them.

NEMAN: Including those covering the entrance to the grove?

KASSIA: Especially those. I want it left clear.

NEMAN: May I ask what you have in mind, Consul?

KASSIA: Same as before, Neman. The death of the prisoners.

DOCTOR: Now, Nyssa, you stand on guard. It's magnificent. Magnificent. It's a pity about that poor chap having to sit for thousands of years in a chair, but it is magnificent.

TREMAS: It's a small price to pay for harmony throughout the Union, Doctor. Thousands of years of peace and prosperity for all our people.

DOCTOR: Yes, I can see there's something in that. Adric, put your mind to that.

ADRIC: Er

TREMAS: That could be the crucial circuit.

DOCTOR: Agreed, yes. I wonder, could it be tripped?

ADRIC: Well, I wouldn't like to be around if it was.

TREMAS: What are you thinking, Doctor?

DOCTOR: Oh, dangerous thoughts, Tremas. Dangerous thoughts. Look, Adric. Warp crossover connected there, shutdown element there and

ADRIC: Disaster.

DOCTOR: Well, only if the servo blew.

ADRIC: You aren't serious, are you?

DOCTOR: Well, it could be done. Tricky, and I hope not necessary. Yes. Thank you, Tremas. Put that away safely, will you? Nyssa, how are the fun and games over there?

NYSSA: No movement, nothing.

DOCTOR: Good. Let's get back to the TARDIS. Off you go. Come on. Off you go.

LUVIC: The signs are unmistakable, Katura.

KATURA: Yes, Consul. It's happening at last. Foster, find Consul Kassia. Bring her here immediately. Tell her, tell her the Keeper is dying.

DOCTOR: Well?

NYSSA: No Fosters anywhere.

ADRIC: But they can't have given up the search.

TREMAS: It's not like Kassia to give up so easily. I don't like it.

DOCTOR: Neither do I. Still, what can't be cured must be endured.

ADRIC: That's the silliest thing you ever said.

DOCTOR: Yes, yes, don't listen to me. I never do. Come on. Come on.

LUVIC: The texts say it is an agonising death, Katura.

KATURA: Yes. For his sake and ours, may it be swift. With the Source out of control, nature, they say, reverts to destructive chaos. I dread that anything should go wrong, Luvic.

LUVIC: Yes, yes. Kassia must be here the instant the moment comes.

KATURA: Then let her hurry. Time runs out.

ADRIC: I don't like it, Doctor.

DOCTOR: No, it is very quiet. Wait, wait. Come on, quickly.

DOCTOR: Now remember, we come to the statue presently. No funny business. Off you go.

ADRIC: Wait.

DOCTOR: What is it?

ADRIC: Listen.

DOCTOR: What? Imagination. Come on.

DOCTOR: Well, Neman. Neman, you've made a splendid recovery.

NEMAN: Unfortunately for you, yes. Now stand still!

TREMAS: Neman, I'm Tremas, your Consul. What's happened to you people?

NEMAN: Enough, Consul. There is nothing to be said. As far as you are concerned, our instructions are clear.

DOCTOR: Well, clarity is the soul of knowing what the other chap's going to do. What are you going to do?

NEMAN: By order of the Keeper Nominate, you are all sentenced to death.

DOCTOR: What?

NEMAN: Sentence to be carried out immediately. Fosters.

NEMAN: f*re! f*re!

TREMAS: The Keeper, Doctor. The Keeper's dying!

DOCTOR: Yes, and Kassia will be the next Keeper unless we make the Sanctum.

TREMAS: He dies, Doctor. The Keeper dies!

NYSSA: Father!

LUVIC: Quick, Kassia. Quickly!

KASSIA: Yes, Melkur, the time has come.

MELKUR: Do what must be done. I am impatient, Kassia.

KASSIA: Keeper of Traken, your work is done. Go swiftly in gratitude for all you have accomplished. She who will succeed is present. Relinquish the Source and die.

KATURA: He is gone!

TREMAS: The Keeper is d*ad.

LUVIC: The Source. Has it survived?

KATURA: All will be well, Consul. All will be as it should be.

KASSIA: Consuls, you are witness to my acceptance. Instruct the Source that transition may be completed.

DOCTOR: Come on.

MELKUR: Doctor. So you survive after all.

DOCTOR: Oh yes, yes, we're still here. Don't write us off yet, will you.

MELKUR: Look into my eyes, all of you. There is nothing more than you can do, Doctor, so look, and you will die swiftly.

MELKUR: A merciful death. Refuse and you will regret it.

DOCTOR (on screen): Oh, no. We know what you're up to, Melkur, and we'll stop you. That's a promise.

MELKUR: But it's too late, Doctor. The Source is mine! And soon, very soon, you will feel its power.

MELKUR: Now this Traken web of harmony is broken. I am free!

KATURA: By this act, Kassia, you are physically confirmed as Keeper. Prepare for access to the Source.

KATURA: May you bring peace and blessing for all your time, Keeper.

DOCTOR: Consul, don't do it!

KATURA: You again!

LUVIC: Fosters, these traitors have no business here.

DOCTOR: Consul Kassia has betrayed you all. Don't complete the transition.

KASSIA: Do your duty, Katura. Complete transition!

DOCTOR: Don't listen to her, Consul.

KASSIA: Complete transition!

TREMAS: No, Katura!

KATURA: Transition complete. You now have access to the Source, Keeper.

LUVIC: The Keeper!

TREMAS: We warned you, Consuls.

DOCTOR: (to Adric) It's our only chance. Secure the TARDIS. Take Nyssa with you and wait.

DOCTOR: It's too late, Tremas. Far too late.
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "18x23 - The Keeper of Traken - part 3"}