LOGOPOLIS

BY: CHRISTOPHER H. BIDMEAD

Part Three

First Air Date: 14 March 1981
Running time: 24:32

ADRIC: It's your codes that are doing this.

MONITOR: This is unheard of.

TEGAN: Well, how do we get him out of this?

MONITOR: A fault in the computation?

ADRIC: There must be something you can do to put him right.

MONITOR: Take the machine to the Central Register.

NYSSA: What are you going to do with it?

MONITOR: The Central Register, quickly. There may still be time. The honour of Logopolis is at stake.

DOCTOR: Must dematerialise. Dematerialise. Nothing working. Nothing.

TEGAN: Will he be all right, Monitor?

MONITOR: If we can trace the error in time.

MASTER: At last, Doctor. At last I've cut you down to size.

NYSSA: Hold on, Doctor. The Monitor is going to help you.

TEGAN: What's he doing?

MONITOR: The fault is in the dimensioning routine. We can trace it, if there's time.

ADRIC: Can I help?

MONITOR: Perhaps you can.

MONITOR: This is the machine code of the section that contains the error. I must check the external registers. Read it to me as we go. It is a copy of an Earth machine, so I'm afraid we have to make do with their clumsy symbols.

ADRIC: The Doctor taught me to read Earth numbering.

TEGAN: Where are you off to? There's work to be done.

ADRIC: We're doing it.

ADRIC: A zero. Zero A. Four A. Nine two. Two C.

ADRIC: A zero. Three zero.

MONITOR: I'm sorry, I thought we had found something. It's somewhere in the subroutine. Somewhere.

ADRIC: Monitor, I still don't see why you need all these people. Why can't it all be done on machinery?

MONITOR: For many uses machinery is unsurpassed, but Logopolis is not interested in such uses. Block transfer computation cannot be done with computers.

ADRIC: Why not?

MONITOR: Our manipulation of numbers directly changes the physical world. There is no other mathematics like ours.

ADRIC: You mean the computations themselves would affect a computer?

MONITOR: Of course. Change its nature, cause it to malfunction. Only the living brain is immune.

ADRIC: But you had a computer out there. You were using it.

MONITOR: To record the code, yes. To prepare new algorithms, yes. But we must not use it to run our programme. Now, we had reached zero four, zero seven, A zero, three zero, three eight. There are no errors in the registers. We must search the streets.

NYSSA: Sonic projectors.

TEGAN: What are they for?

NYSSA: They must be creating a temporary zone of stasis around the TARDIS, but I don't really understand their science.

TEGAN: That goes double for me.

ADRIC: Fourth block begins. A three. F eight.

MONITOR: E eight.

ADRIC: Sorry. E eight.

MONITOR: It is difficult, I know, but accuracy is of a vital importance.

ADRIC: Three three.

TEGAN: You can tell they're exploited.

NYSSA: These people are scientists.

TEGAN: So?

NYSSA: I've seen that look of dedication on my father's face.

TEGAN: Well, it doesn't seem to be doing any good, does it.

NYSSA: At least the dimensions are s*ab.

ADRIC: Eight nine. Nine A. E seven.

MONITOR: E nine.

ADRIC: Sorry. E nine. Two three. Wait! Wait. Did you say E nine? Look, it says E seven there.

MONITOR: You're right. And the next three numbers are wrong. This way.

TEGAN: The TARDIS isn't much use to anybody that size, s*ab or not.

NYSSA: It gives us time.

TEGAN: Time to do what? We don't even know if he's alive in there.

DOCTOR: They've arrested the dimension spiral. Things are looking up.

MONITOR: This is the street. The error should be somewhere here.

MONITOR: Sabotage.

ADRIC: m*rder.

MONITOR: Interfering with the working of Logopolis. The most dangerous crime in the universe.

DOCTOR: An error in the dimension subroutine. Somewhere here. I will not be beaten. I simply will not be beaten. But I could certainly do with a little more help from outside.

MONITOR: We must return to the Central Register, quickly.

ADRIC: The Monitor's done it. He's found the error.

MONITOR: The Doctor must reprogram block four of the dimensioning routine.

ADRIC: Those numbers are the ones that have to be changed.

TEGAN: If I show this to him, will he know what to do?

ADRIC: Yes.

TEGAN: Leave it to me.

NYSSA: Adric?

ADRIC: The Master's out here somewhere.

NYSSA: I came here to find the Master.

ADRIC: No.

NYSSA: I must know what's happened to my father.

ADRIC: This could be very dangerous.

NYSSA: I'm coming with you.

DOCTOR: The cheeseboard is the world, and the pieces the phenomena of the universe, as my old friend Huxley used to say. Cheese board? Chess board. And the opponent makes no allowances for mistakes nor makes the smallest concession to ignorance.

DOCTOR: I'm an ignorant old Doctor, and I've made a mistake. There's only one direction help can come from now. I'll just have to sit here and wait.

DOCTOR: Ah yes! Something along those lines.

ADRIC: The mark of the Master.

NYSSA: He must have added his own voice to the numbers and corrupted the Doctor's code.

ADRIC: And he's still here, somewhere. I saw him. He's been following us.

NYSSA: The Master?

ADRIC: I think so.

ADRIC: Come on.

TEGAN: I hope he's seen it.

MONITOR: I'm sure he has. And with those figures, he will be able to restore the TARDIS. It won't take long.

TEGAN: Well, while he's sorting that out, perhaps you wouldn't mind explaining something to me.

TEGAN: Back home in Brisbane, we call that a sweatshop.

ADRIC: This street.

MASTER (OOV.): Nyssa. Nyssa. Nyssa.

MASTER (OOV.): Nyssa, my dear.

NYSSA: Father.

TEGAN: They don't smile, they don't talk to anybody.

MONITOR: Their language is the language of numbers. And they have no need to smile.

TEGAN: No need to smile?

MONITOR: We are a people driven not by individual need but by mathematical necessity. The language of the numbers is as much as we need. Now, it is important that we do not disturb them.

TEGAN: But if they don't talk to each other. You've done it!

MONITOR: Yes, there does seem to be some positive development.

NYSSA: But what is this mission of yours, father? You're so changed by it. You look younger, but so cold.

MASTER: Logopolis is a cold place. A cold, high place overlooking the universe. It holds a single great secret, Nyssa, which you and I must discover together.

NYSSA: And the Doctor. The Doctor can help us.

MASTER: Oh yes, the Doctor can certainly help us. You must return to him.

NYSSA: Father, I don't want to be parted from you.

MASTER: No need to, my dear. Here, wear this.

MASTER: It will keep us in mind of one another. Remember to tell no one that you've seen me, yet.

DOCTOR: Monitor?

MONITOR: My dear Doctor.

DOCTOR: I can't thank you enough.

MONITOR: There is no need.

DOCTOR: You too, Tegan. You too. Where are the others?

TEGAN: Adric and Nyssa went to look for the Master.

DOCTOR: What? They should know better than that. There've been enough unnecessary deaths as it is.

TEGAN: What deaths?

MONITOR: The m*rder of innocent Logopolitans.

DOCTOR: And the m*rder of innocent Earth people.

TEGAN: Earth people?

DOCTOR: Yes.

TEGAN: Aunty Vanessa?

DOCTOR: Yes. I'm so sorry, Tegan. I'm so sorry.

DOCTOR: The Master's already at work on Logopolis. I'm going to stop him if it's the last thing I do.

ADRIC: Nyssa!

NYSSA: Did you find him?

ADRIC: No. We'd better go back to the Doctor.

NYSSA: Ow!

ADRIC: Where did you get that?

NYSSA: It's too small for me.

ADRIC: What is it?

NYSSA: It's a present. I've been trying to get it off.

ADRIC: Who from?

NYSSA: I hope you haven't broken it.

ADRIC: Nyssa?

DOCTOR: Adric, Nyssa. Come on.

ADRIC + NYSSA: Doctor!

DOCTOR: I don't want you two chasing after the Master independently. You, Adric, should know how dangerous he is.

NYSSA: That's the man who brought me from Traken.

DOCTOR: Yes.

NYSSA: He said he was a friend of yours.

ADRIC: But he's the man on the bridge.

DOCTOR: Yes.

ADRIC: You said to be prepared for the worst.

DOCTOR: Indeed I did, and I am prepared for the worst.

ADRIC: Why are you prepared for the worst, Doctor?

DOCTOR: Because he's here.

MASTER: Please remain where you are. I have it in my power to bring Logopolis to a complete halt.

DOCTOR: There's much more to this block transfer computation than we thought.

ADRIC: Yes, that's how they built a replica of the Pharos Project.

DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, but why? Why build a replica of the Pharos Project? Central Register.

NYSSA: Listen.

ADRIC: I don't

NYSSA: Shush.

ADRIC: (quietly) I can't hear anything.

DOCTOR: Quite.

NYSSA: Logopolis has stopped.

DOCTOR: And I was vain enough to think it was me he was after. Logopolis is his target.

MONITOR: Turn that machine off. You have no idea what you're doing.

MASTER: Merely emitting a sound-cancelling wave, Monitor. Logopolis is now temporarily suspended. The silence gives us an opportunity to discuss its future.

MONITOR: There will be no future. You are eroding structure, generating entropy.

MASTER: An absurd assertion. I know the power of this device down to the last decibel.

MONITOR: But you do not know Logopolis!

MASTER: But I shall, shan't I, when you've told me of the secret work you're doing here.

MONITOR: I cannot tell you.

MASTER: Why have you created a copy of the Pharos Project? Hmm. The time has come for you to share your secret with me.

MONITOR: No! No one must know. That has been our firm decision.

MASTER: Very well, we'll wait until you change it. Patience is a particular virtue of mine.

NYSSA: Father!

DOCTOR: That's not your father. Tremas is d*ad, m*rder by him, the Master.

MASTER: Nyssa.

NYSSA: You k*lled my father?

MASTER: But his body remains useful. Without it I could not have conquered Logopolis.

DOCTOR: This is not conquest, it's devastation.

MASTER: It's nothing more than a blanket of silence.

DOCTOR: Which is k*lling the Logopolitans and turning them to dust.

MASTER: You expect me to believe that?

DOCTOR: Yes!

MONITOR: You're destroying everything. It may already be too late.

MASTER: You exaggerate, Monitor. Logopolis is not the universe.

MONITOR: But it is! Logopolis is the keystone. If you destroy Logopolis, you unravel the whole causal nexus.

MASTER: Causal nexus? You insult my intelligence.

DOCTOR: You're interfering with the law of cause and effect.

ADRIC: Nyssa! Nyssa, let go.

MASTER: That is a demonstration of the causal nexus.

TEGAN: You revolting man!

MASTER: The electro-muscular constrictor gives me complete control over that hand. Please replace the screen.

TEGAN: I wouldn't take orders from you if you were the last man in the universe.

MASTER: Very well, one of your young friends will eliminate the other.

DOCTOR: Don't you understand? Logopolis is crucial to the whole of creation. This could mean the end of the universe.

MASTER: I've never been persuaded by hyperbole, Doctor.

DOCTOR: Then come into the streets and see what's happening.

MASTER: No need for that. I can demonstrate the continued functioning of Logopolis from here. This device only creates temporary silence and can be switched off.

MONITOR: You will hear nothing. Local disruption of structure is now irreversible. Logopolis is d*ad.

MASTER: They've done this deliberately. You've done this deliberately to deprive me of my prize!

MONITOR: Nothing is solid now. Entropy has taken over.

TEGAN: What's he done?

ADRIC: Everything began to waste away when he interfered. But why?

DOCTOR: The numbers were supporting the whole system.

MASTER: I don't believe it. My biomechanism's untouched.

MONITOR: The degradation is random.

MASTER: No, Monitor. This is some crude defence mechanism. A device to delude me. Come, Nyssa.

NYSSA: No. No.

MASTER: I will wring the truth out of it.

DOCTOR: The entropy you released is eroding your systems, too.

MASTER: Entropy? Absurd. The power is weak. Some freak interference. Increase the power.

MONITOR: More power would simply speed the collapse.

DOCTOR: Don't.

MONITOR: From this point, the unravelling will spread out until the whole universe is reduced to nothing.

MASTER: So it's true.

MONITOR: Yes, Doctor, you were right. Our numbers were holding the fabric of the universe together.

NYSSA: But how? Surely in a closed system like the universe, entropy is bound to increase?

MONITOR: Certainly. The universe long ago passed the point of total collapse.

DOCTOR: Passed the point?

MONITOR: If it had remained closed. But we have the means to postpone the time.

MASTER: So that's why you adapted the Pharos Project.

MONITOR: Yes. We opened the system by creating voids into other universes.

ADRIC: The Charged Vacuum Emboitments!

DOCTOR: We passed through one of your voids, Monitor.

MONITOR: It all depended on our continued endeavours. A temporary solution while the advanced research unit worked on a more permanent plan. But nothing will come of that now. Our labours wasted. The voids will be closing.

TEGAN: There must be something we can do?

TEGAN: This'll teach you to meddle in things you don't understand.

MONITOR: We are beyond recriminations now. Beyond everything.

DOCTOR: Not quite.

DOCTOR: We must pool our resources.

NYSSA: The creature that k*lled my father

DOCTOR: I can't choose the company I keep!

MASTER: An alliance with you, Doctor?

DOCTOR: In the circumstances, yes.

MASTER: If we do cooperate, there'll be no question of you ever returning to Gallifrey.

DOCTOR: If we don't cooperate, there'll be no question of Gallifrey.

TEGAN: Doctor, what are you doing?

DOCTOR: Please. Shush. As Time Lords, you and I have special responsibilities.

MASTER: Together, then.

NYSSA: But Doctor!

DOCTOR: I've never chosen my own company. Nyssa, it was you who contacted me and begged me to help you find your father. Tegan, it's your own curiosity that got you into this. And Adric, a stowaway.

TEGAN: The TARDIS!

NYSSA: It's followed us from the Central Register.

ADRIC: But how can it get here when there's no one in it?

DOCTOR: Did I say there was no one in it?

NYSSA: It must be the man who brought be to Logopolis.

DOCTOR: I don't want any further argument. One, two, three of you into the TARDIS, quickly. Go on.

ADRIC: Look, we want to help you.

DOCTOR: It's impossible. My friend in there will look after you. I'm collaborating with the Master. Now go on. Battle stations.

NYSSA: The man's a m*rder!

ADRIC: Come on, Nyssa. He means it.

MASTER: Together?

DOCTOR: One last hope.
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "18x27 - Logopolis - part 3"}