THE STEEL SKY

Written by

PAUL ERICKSON & LESLEY SCOTT

Original Air Date: 5 March, 1966
05:15pm-05:40pm

1: INT. ARK. JUNGLE

(In a thick jungle, Birds sing in the trees as a Lizard basks on a rock. A Toucan swoops down and disturbs its repose. A few feet away, a creature of a different kind stands and watches. Humanoid in stance, it is covered with a scaly reptilian skin. Its legs are short, its head is covered with a thatch of fair hair and when it turns, it can be seen to only have one eye that swivels round in its socket as it surveys the landscape. The creature walks off into the trees.
Thick mists hang in the air and a snake slides down the branches of one tree. With the usual roaring sound of its engines, the TARDIS materialises among the foliage. DODO steps out almost immediately, dressed in a strange semblance of a crusader knights’ outfit. Looking round eagerly, she suddenly sneezes. STEVEN steps out of the TARDIS with a scowl and spots the girl. He follows her.)

STEVEN: Just where do you think you’re going?

DODO: (Cheekily.) Out.

STEVEN: Out?

DODO: Yes, I thought I’d get some fresh air. Somebody opened the door and...

STEVEN: (Interrupting.) But nobody said you could go out.

DODO: (Walking away.) Do they have to then?

STEVEN: Well, of course they...

(He steps after her but she is going further into the trees.)

STEVEN: Look, Dodo, you don’t know what you might have found out here. No gravity, poisoned atmosphere, all sorts of things. Look, stop prancing around over there! What happens if you get lost?

DODO: (Shouting back.) I catch a bus back!

STEVEN: A bus?

(He runs after her.)

STEVEN: Look, what are you talking about? I mean, just where do you think you are?

DODO: Ah! Bet you thought you’d caught me, didn’t you? Bet you thought I didn’t know. Well, I do.

(She walks off again.)

STEVEN: You do?

DODO: (Walking off.) ‘Course I do!

STEVEN: (Looking round.) What, this place? I mean...you recognise it? Wha...what with all these strange animals and flowers and things?

(DODO is looking up at a Toucan in the trees. STEVEN catches up with her.)

STEVEN: Well, you can’t have been here before.

DODO: Yes I have. It’s just outside London. I came here once with the school. It’s called Whipsnade.

(She steps away once more. STEVEN is incredulous.)

STEVEN: “Just outside London”? Look, wait a minute! (He catches up once again.) I mean...ha...it can’t be!

DODO: Yes it is. (Points.) I bet if you go down that path there, you’ll come to the American Bison and the Tea Bar.

STEVEN: (Pauses, then.) Look...we...we don’t even know that we’re on Earth!

DODO: (Amused.) Earth? Earth? Well, it couldn’t be anywhere else now, could it? Hey, look Steven, that proves it. That’s a Chameleon.

(The Chameleon sits on a nearby branch.)

STEVEN: What this?

DODO: Mm hmm.

(DODO points to another nearby lizard.)

DODO: And here’s a Monitor.

(She points now to an insect clinging to a leaf.)

DODO: Look, that’s a Locust. There, what did I tell you?

STEVEN: Look, how do you know all this?

DODO: I learnt it at school. There’s nothing you can tell me about nature, simply nothing.

(There is a strange cry of an animal from nearby. DODO wheels round in alarm and turns to STEVEN.)

STEVEN: Having second thoughts?

DODO: No! I just don’t remember Whipsnade being so rowdy, that’s all.

(She walks off again and past the TARDIS as the DOCTOR steps out.)

DOCTOR: Improbable as it may seem, dear boy, I think the child, er, Dorethea...

DODO: (Interrupting.) Dodo!

DOCTOR: ...er, oh yes, of course, my dear...Dodo is right.

STEVEN: What, do you mean...it is Earth?

DOCTOR: Well, I can’t tell you just yet. All I can say is that it’s more likely to be Earth than anywhere else and it’s very strange indeed. You know, I’ve been taking a look at my instruments in there...and it’s really very strange. Hmm! (Laughs.)

(The two walk back into the TARDIS. The scaly arm of the humanoid lizard parts one of the bushes, the better to see the travellers...)

2: INT. ARK. CONTROL DECK

(In a brightly lit control deck, a trial is in progress. A large monitor screen dominates the deck. Behind it, and to either side can be seen a huge curved roof. Directly beneath the screen is a raised dais - the COMMANDER’S - at which the man himself sits behind a desk. He is elderly but dressed in a robe that ends above the knee and is made up of draped strips of material and an ornate collar. Other humans watch and participate in the trial. Although the other humans are of both sexes and a range of ages - even children - they are also dressed in the robes and wear sandals on their feet. Also here are more of the humanoid lizards, all identical in look except that the head of hair that each has are of different shades. One of them sits at a machine at the foot of the COMMANDERS desk, out of which comes a piece of paper with “VERDICT...20 - 0 = GUILTY” printed upon it. The lizard passes it up to the COMMANDER. He reads it and holds up his arm in signal to the of the lizards, who then leads forward a young man - the accused.)

COMMANDER: Prisoner - you’ve been found guilty of extreme carelessness in carrying out your duties. By leaving open a wide valve in the heat exchange unit, you could have caused an expl*si*n that would have been fatal...not only to the human race, but also to our friends, the Monoids.

(The COMMANDER bows his head to one of the lizards, who bows back.)

COMMANDER: As your commander, galactic law gives me wide powers in such cases. The safety of our people must be preserved at all costs. In these grave circumstances, the lightest sentence I can pass is one of miniaturisation.

(The young man bows his head.)

COMMANDER: Prepare the Minifier. Sentence will be carried out immediately. The prisoner will be retained at micro-cell size, to be re-constituted in its, approximately seven hundred years time, when it can no longer be a danger to us.

(A young woman, MELLIUM, steps forward and looks sadly at the young man. The COMMANDER turns and smiles at a somber looking man who is stood next to a MONOID.)

COMMANDER: Does the prosecution accept this sentence?

(The man ZENTOS, turns to the MONOID and uses sign language to communicate with it. The MONOID nods its head in agreement.)

ZENTOS: (To the COMMANDER.) We do.

COMMANDER: Has the defence anything further to say on the prisoners behalf?

(The defence representative, MANYAK, bows and walks over to the young man. MELLIUM rushes up to the COMMANDER, pleading.)

MELLIUM: Father, anyone can make mistakes. He’s not likely to do it again.

COMMANDER: My child, we are the Guardians of the human race. You know our responsibilities cannot be taken lightly. (He speaks with horror in his voice.) Under galactic law, the only alternative punishment...would be...expulsion.

MANYAK: Sir, the prisoner accepts the verdict...and thanks you for your clemency in not imposing a harsher sentence.

COMMANDER: Very well - proceed.

(MELLIUM leaves her father and walks over to the young man.)

MELLIUM: (Sadly.) Goodbye.

(The young man is escorted by two MONOIDS into a booth. He crouches on the floor as a MONOID presses a switch and, as a buzzing sound increases in pitch, the young man shrinks smaller and smaller to the point where he cannot be seen with a naked eye. One of the guardian humans enters the booth and lifts a small tray
- containing the miniaturised convict - off the floor. He walks away with it. The prosecution MONOID signs to ZENTOS who then turns to the COMMANDER.)

ZENTOS: My learned friend wishes to thank you, sir, on behalf of the Monoids, for the care you take of us all.

(The COMMANDER smiles with delight. MELLIUM turns away sadly as ZENTOS watches her intently.)

3: INT. ARK. JUNGLE

(The DOCTOR and STEVEN have joined DODO back in the jungle.)

DODO: (Points.) Look Doctor!

(An Elephant walks out of the trees towards them.)

DODO: Hey, look at him then!

(The travellers approach the Elephant, patting it. As DODO feeds it, the DOCTOR and STEVEN step away.)

STEVEN: Well?

DOCTOR: Well, it’s just as I said: it’s all very very strange. That is an Indian Elephant. (Laughs.)

STEVEN: Yes, I know. What difference does that make? What does it prove?

DOCTOR: Well, that’s what I’m trying to find out, dear boy.

DODO: (Stepping forward.) Flowers from America, Birds from Africa, a Snake from Brazil and now an Elephant from India.

DOCTOR: Exactly, my dear.

STEVEN: A jungle incorporating things from all over the world.

DOCTOR: (Thoughtfully.) Yes, you’re quite right, my boy. (He parts some branches.) Yes, and top of everything else, it’s a jungle without a sky.

(Through the branches, the travellers see that above them is not a blue sky, but a curved metal roof - the same roof that was seen from the control deck.)

DODO: Hey, look at that then!

STEVEN: No sky?

DOCTOR: No sun, no clouds, merely a metal roof radiating some kind of light.

STEVEN: It’s extraordinary.

(The DOCTOR jumps gently on the spot.)

DOCTOR: Yes, and, plus something else...

DODO: What’s that?

DOCTOR: (He stoops and pats the ground.) The earth, this...this ground we’re standing on. It appears to be trembling, mm, mm.

(His two young companions join him.)

DODO: It is more Elephants coming?

STEVEN: An earthquake building up?

DOCTOR: No, it’s...it’s too regular for that. No, it’s more...it’s more of a mechanical vibration, hmm, yes.

STEVEN: Look...

DOCTOR: (Getting up.) Extraordinary!

STEVEN: In what circumstances do you get all these things together? I mean, animals a...and vegetable life from different continents?

DODO: With a metal roof and all this shaking?

DOCTOR: There’s only one thing that strikes me: this could be some kind of indoor nature park.

STEVEN: Yes, but on this scale?

DOCTOR: Yes, yes, improbable dear boy, but possible, definitely possible.

DODO: But are we on Earth or...or...

DOCTOR: Mmm?

(DODO cannot finish her sentence as she sneezes again.)

DOCTOR: Oh, bless you my dear.

DODO: Oh, thanks.

DOCTOR: You, er, have a handkerchief, I hope?

DODO: ‘Course I have.

DOCTOR: Well then, use it, my child! We must do something about that cold of yours. That reminds me, why...why are you dressed in these stupid clothes, hmm? Have you been fruitling about in my wardrobe? Is that what it is? What do you think you’re playing at, crusades?

DODO: I’m not playing at anything. Is it all right to wear, or do I have to ask permission for that as well?

DOCTOR: Yes, you do my dear. Now you take care of them. ‘Cos you never know when we might use them. Now I suggest we take a last look round and, er, we’ll get you off to bed.

DODO: Arw, you’re not going to send me home, are you?

DOCTOR: Home? (Laughs.) What an idea, hmm? I couldn’t send you home even if I wanted to.

(He walks off.)

DODO: (To STEVEN.) Oh, that’s all right then. I think I’m beginning to enjoy this space travel or whatever it is.

(She walks off. STEVEN smiles and walks off, not seeing the MONOID that has been watching them. It watches them go, then moves off.)

4: INT. ARK. CONTROL DECK

(The MONOID walks onto the control deck. A transporter trolley driven by another MONOID passes it and children play nearby as it goes up to ZENTOS and signals to him. After a short signed conversation, ZENTOS goes over to where the COMMANDER is examining a large plan with MELLIUM.)

ZENTOS: Commander?

COMMANDER: Yes, Zentos?

ZENTOS: A strange report from the jungle. The Monoids acquaint us of intruders.

COMMANDER: Intruders? But how can that be? How could they have entered it?

ZENTOS: I’ve no idea. I’ll try and trace them.

(ZENTOS walks over to a control desk in the middle of the room which is covered with controls and small monitors.)

MELLIUM: (To the COMMANDER.) But surely it’s impossible for anyone to be in the jungle that we don’t know about? Well where will they have come from?

COMMANDER: I don’t know. Perhaps when we see them.

(An image of the jungle appears on the large screen. All the Guardians and MONOIDS turn and look up at it. The monitor camera passes across the trees and then stops as it catches sight of the DOCTOR and STEVEN.)

ZENTOS: Here they are.

COMMANDER: They look like human beings. But they can’t be. We accounted for everyone.

ZENTOS: Shall we not arrest them and bring them here and question them?

MELLIUM: Father look!

(The TARDIS is now shown on the screen.)

MELLIUM: It seems to be their spaceship. It is an unusual design.

(The COMMANDER takes ZENTOS to one side.)

COMMANDER: Are we sure this is nothing to do with the Monoids?

ZENTOS: Quite sure. It was they who reported it.

COMMANDER: Good, then you’re right - they must be questioned.

(ZENTOS starts to walk away.)

COMMANDER: (Smiling.) But Zentos...not arrested - invited.

(ZENTOS walks away as MELLIUM and the occupants of the control deck continue to watch the screen.)

5: INT. ARK. JUNGLE

DODO: Doctor, Steven, get a look at these fab pictures!

(The DOCTOR and STEVEN walk over to her.)

DOCTOR: Ah...fab, mm! My dear child, if you’re going to be with us for any length of time, you’ll have to do something about that English of yours.

DODO: What’s wrong with it?

DOCTOR: Well, it’s terrible child! Oh, it’s most irritating! Hmm!

(The DOCTOR moves over to a rock that DODO has found and looks at the pictures painted upon it.)

DOCTOR: Oh, look at that now. Isn’t that extraordinary? Ah, very interesting. It looks like a Zebra with two heads.

STEVEN: Yes, well that could be the imagination of the artist.

DOCTOR: Hmm, perhaps...and perhaps not. What then, mm? Hmm! Yes, we’ve already estab...er...established this place as illogical. Why shouldn’t there be animals with two heads, hmm?

STEVEN: No reason at all, except that the more we see of it, the less like Earth it becomes.

(An alarm suddenly blares across the jungle.)

DODO: What’s that? Do you think somebody’s seen us.

STEVEN: There’s only one way to find out.

DOCTOR: Yes!

(STEVEN runs a short way to find out the cause of the alarm...but stops in his tracks as he sees two MONOIDS examining the TARDIS. He runs back to his companions.)

STEVEN: You were right. It is an alarm. They’ve found the TARDIS. I can’t say I like the look of them.

DODO: What’s that?

(The alarm stops.)

STEVEN: They’re coming this way, searching for us.

DODO: There’s a kind of cave there.

STEVEN: Go on, you go ahead.

DOCTOR: Yes, yes.

(DODO moves off.)

DOCTOR: What do they look like, dear boy?

STEVEN: Terrifying! Is this is Earth, it’s no longer inhabited by human beings.

DOCTOR: Shh! You’ll frighten the child! Come on!

6: INT. ARK. CAVE

(The DOCTOR and STEVEN join DODO in the small cave. The DOCTOR signals to DODO to be quiet.)

DODO: (Loud whisper.) What are they? Some ...

DOCTOR: Now don’t worry child, you’re quite safe with us.

DODO: Yeah, but supposing they have two hea...?

(She cannot complete the sentence as she feels another sneeze coming on. STEVEN rushes over as covers her mouth as the MONOIDS are heard outside the cave.
After a tense moment, the travellers hear them moving off.)

STEVEN: (Quietly, to DODO.) Bless you. Remind me never to take you out again when you’ve got a cold. for us.

DOCTOR: Now, let’s try and get back to the TARDIS. Take care, this might be dangerous.

(They start to move out. DODO sneezes.)

STEVEN: (Harshly.) Keep quiet!

(DODO turns her back on STEVEN as if upset.)

STEVEN: What’s the matter? Are you crying?

DODO: No, me nose is running!

DOCTOR: Just do as he says child! This may be very difficult.

(They move out of the cave.)

7: INT. ARK. JUNGLE

(STEVEN leads the way. He suddenly stops.)

STEVEN: Doctor!

(The DOCTOR joins him.)

DOCTOR: Why yes, of course! Yes, ha ha! I know where I am now, yes indeed! (Laughs.)

(Through the trees, on the horizon and below the metal roof, can be seen a series of buildings - the control deck and the inhabitation of the Guardians and the Monoids.)

STEVEN: It looks like some sort of city, factory?

DOCTOR: No, no dear boy, all this is a spaceship, hmm!

STEVEN: (Incredulous.) A spaceship?

DOCTOR: Yes, exactly! (Laughs.)

DODO: (Nervously.) Hey Doctor?

DOCTOR: Mmm?

DODO: If this is a spaceship...what are they?

(She points to the immediate jungle...from where MONOIDS rise out of various places of hiding. They are surrounded.)

8: INT. ARK. CONTROL DECK

(A report prints out of the machine next to the COMMANDER’S desk as the travellers explain their origins.)

COMMANDER: You travel in that black box?

STEVEN: Yes.

COMMANDER: (Intrigued.) Well, how are you able to make your spaceship enter ours?

STEVEN: It isn’t just a spaceship. It can travel anywhere in time or space.

ZENTOS: (Suspiciously.) Why have you chosen to come here?

STEVEN: Well, we didn’t. It has a mind of its own.

COMMANDER: (Laughs.) I don’t understand. Experiments to pass through the fourth dimension were undertaken in the twenty-seventh segment of time.
They were unsuccessful. How can anything so crude...

STEVEN: Look, I told you before - the Doctor’s the one who will tell you anything you want to know.

(The COMMANDER signals an instruction to a MONOID as STEVEN watches.)

STEVEN: May I ask a question also?

ZENTOS: (Grabbing STEVEN’S arm.) No!

COMMANDER: Why not? We’re all friends here.

(After a second, ZENTOS lets go of STEVEN.)

STEVEN: Look, is this really a spaceship? This city and all that surrounds it?

COMMANDER: Yes indeed!

(The COMMANDER walks over to the control desk and points out the whereabouts of the control deck on an illuminated plan of the ark.)

COMMANDER: Here we are.

STEVEN: That’s the biggest we’ve ever seen. Look, who are you...and these creatures that serve you?

COMMANDER: Like you, we come from the Earth.

(The COMMANDER looks over to where a MONOID is signing to ZENTOS.)

COMMANDER: The origin of the Monoids is obscure. They came to Earth many years ago, apparently from their own planet which was dying. They offered us their invaluable services...for being allowed to come on this joint voyage.

STEVEN: And where you are going?

COMMANDER: Er, to Refusis II. The Earth also is dying. We have left it for the last time.

STEVEN: The last time?

COMMANDER: Yes, in a short time it will burn and be swallowed in the pull of the Sun.

(MANYAK operates a control and an image of the Earth appears on one of the monitor screens built into the instrumentation deck.)

STEVEN: Then we must have journeyed forward...millions of years!

ZENTOS: (Stepping forward.) You yourself, I take it, are human?

STEVEN: Why yes, of course.

COMMANDER: Why do you doubt him?

ZENTOS: They could be Refusians sent here to intercept us, to sabotage our mission.

STEVEN: Refusians, from the planet you’re headed for?

COMMANDER: Explain.

(Guardians step forward. ZENTOS raises his voice to stoke the crowd.)

ZENTOS: We only know them as intelligence’s that inhabit that planet. They might have a way of assuming human bodies, of using them to pass, to mingle amongst us!

(The DOCTOR and DODO step through the crowd.)

DOCTOR: (Smiling.) Oh, rubbish, rubbish! With all our imperfections, I can assure you sir, if you were to cut my skin, I would bleed, the same as you would.

STEVEN: He’s right.

(DODO sneezes.)

DOCTOR: There you see, complete with chills.

ZENTOS: Chills?

DOCTOR: A virus fever which used to be quite common to the human being.

(The COMMANDER laughs.)

COMMANDER: And cured so long ago, we’ve forgotten what it was like! Fascinating! Ah ha! It’s like history coming to life. Tell me Doctor, if you cannot direct your spacecraft, your journeys must take you to some strange places.

(Whilst the COMMANDER has been saying this, ZENTOS signals to a MONOID who signals back and walks off. MELLIUM, having witnessed this, walks up to ZENTOS.)

MELLIUM: What were you telling him?

ZENTOS: I wish to know more of the travellers spacecraft.

MELLIUM: You do not trust the travellers?

ZENTOS: I know nothing of them. Your father trusts them.

MELLIUM: He knows no more than you. He simply has faith.

ZENTOS: So have I...in my own eyes and ears, and machines tell fewer lies than men.

(The two rejoin the COMMANDER and the time travellers as they finish their conversation.)

DOCTOR: ...including the Daleks.

COMMANDER: Nero, the Trojan wars, the Daleks! (To MELLIUM.) But all that happened in the first segment of time.

DOCTOR: Segment? Er, to use your phrase sir, what “segment” are we in now?

COMMANDER: The fifty-seventh.

DOCTOR: Good gracious! We must have jumped at least...ten million years, hmm!

STEVEN: When do you expect your journey to end?

COMMANDER: Not for a long time. Neither I, nor my daughter Mellium, nor Zentos, will ever see the planet. That pleasure is reserved for our children’s children, many years hence.

STEVEN: How long from now?

COMMANDER: Using your measurement of time, er, seven hundred years.

DOCTOR: Seven hundred years, but why travel that far? Surely...

COMMANDER: (Interrupting.) Only Refusis has the same conditions that we had on Earth. Atmosphere, water, the right temperature.

STEVEN: Has anyone ever been there?

COMMANDER: No, our knowledge is based purely on audio-space research.

STEVEN: Hmm, no wonder you had to bring everything. At least two of each, you suppose.

DODO: Like the ark?

COMMANDER: the ark?

DODO: Yeah, Noah’s ark. You know, two-by-two. (She tuts as the COMMANDER still looks incomprehensible.) The flood!

COMMANDER: I’m afraid I don’t know.

(The DOCTOR laughs.)

COMMANDER: But we do have the Earth’s full population - human and animal.

DOCTOR: Yes but where sir? I can only see but a few people, hmm?

COMMANDER: We are the Guardians.

(The COMMANDER steps up to his control desk and switches on a monitor.)

COMMANDER: The rest have been reduced to micro-cell...size.

(An image appears of a room containing computer units and cabinets containing drawer upon drawer of shrunken humans.)

9: INT. ARK. STORAGE CHAMBER

(A MONOID works in the room as the COMMANDER describes its function.)

COMMANDER: (OOV.) They are stored in trays and will re-emerge normally when we land. Each cabinet contains a million people. Oh yes! (He gives a short laugh.) There are many things aboard our ship which would interest a traveller.

10: INT. ARK. CONTROL DECK

(He turns to his daughter.)

COMMANDER: Mellium, why don’t you show the young people the statue?

MELLIUM: Would you like to see it?

DODO: It depends, what...

STEVEN: (Quickly.) Yes, of course we would. Come on Dodo.

MELLIUM: This way.

(She leads them to one side of the control deck leaving the DOCTOR with the COMMANDER.)

COMMANDER: While I am sure that you would be more interested in the technicalities of our control deck.

DOCTOR: Oh yes, indeed!

(The COMMANDER takes the DOCTOR over to the control desk and its instrument panels.)

COMMANDER: Then I’ll leave you with our chief controller, Manyak. He will explain everything.

DOCTOR: Thank you.

(The COMMANDER steps away as a slight noise echoes through the room. ZENTOS watches suspiciously.)

DOCTOR: Now tell me, that, er, noise we heard just now, was that a flight adjustment?

MANYAK: No sir, refuelling ...

(On the other side of the control deck, MELLIUM shows STEVEN and DODO a giant pair of carved feet which stand on a huge plinth. In front of it is a transporter, driven by a MONOID, carrying building materials.)

MELLIUM: Here it is - h*m* Sapiens. Started on Earth, due to be completed just before the landing on Refusis.

STEVEN: What? Seven hundred years to sculpt one statue?

MELLIUM: Yes, we’re constructing it by hand using the ancient methods. It’s for our children and our children’s children, so that they can watch it grow gradually as time goes by.

(DODO has climbed some scaffolding blocks and is touching the feet.)

DODO: What is it made of? You can’t scratch it, can you?

STEVEN: (Rushing forward.) Dodo! (To MELLIUM.) You’ll have to watch her, she’ll have the whole thing down.

(He pulls DODO to the ground with a look.)

MELLIUM: It’s a substance called Gragarium rock. It’ll last for ever.

(MELLIUM climbs to the plinth and takes from a guardian the plan that she and her father were looking at earlier. She passes it down to STEVEN.)

MELLIUM: Here’s the finished design.

(STEVEN opens up the plan. It shows a front and side view of the finished statue. A human holding the ark in his right hand.)

DODO: Hey, that’s gear!

(An alarm echoes across the control deck.)

DODO: What’s that? All that carry on?

(A loading bay door, near to the statue, opens. A transporter is driven through it and onto the deck. A MONOID lies still on the back of the transporter.
Other MONOIDS follow. ZENTOS sees what it is carrying and walks over to the COMMANDER who is holding his hand to his head, as if in pain.)

ZENTOS: Commander, the strange disease, the fever is spreading among the Monoids!

COMMANDER: I can hardly hear you Zentos. It’s so hot. What’s happened to the temperature?

(He stumbles to the floor next to the control desk.)

ZENTOS: Commander?

(The DOCTOR starts to look over the sick MONOID. ZENTOS starts to get frantic.)

ZENTOS: The Commander too - he has the strange fever! The fever brought by the strangers!

MELLIUM: What is it? What’s wrong?

ZENTOS: Stay away from them Mellium - and from your father.

(She ignores him and rushes over to the old man.)

MELLIUM: But what is it?

COMMANDER: (Weakly.) I don’t know. I’m not sure, but Zentos is right. Stay away.

(The DOCTOR walks round to the COMMANDER.)

ZENTOS: Don’t touch him!

DOCTOR: We may be able to help.

DODO: (Reassuringly, to MELLIUM.) It’s nothing to worry about. His temperatures a bit high, that’s all. It’s just a fever. It can only be a cold.

(The DOCTOR looks perturbed. He takes STEVEN to one side, not seeing that ZENTOS is listening intently.)

DOCTOR: Do you realise what this means, dear boy?

STEVEN: What’s all the fuss about? The man’s caught Dodo’s cold, that’s all.

DOCTOR: All? All? These people, this generation, have never experienced the common cold - for the simple reason it was wiped out many generations ago before they were born. They have no resistance to it.

STEVEN: What’ll happen?

DOCTOR: I don’t quite know, I don’t know. But it might be fatal and we shall be to blame. Yes, it’s all our fault and I should have foreseen it!

(ZENTOS has had enough. He rushes over to the other Guardians and starts shouting...)

ZENTOS: Do you hear that? Did I not try and warn the Commander? I told you these people were evil.

DODO: But it wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know?

MANYAK: (Over at the transporter.) The sick Monoid - he’s d*ad!

(The time travellers rush over to see.)

ZENTOS: Seize them!

(The travellers are grabbed. ZENTOS rushes up to the COMMANDER’S dais and addresses the crowd.)

ZENTOS: (Shouts.) All of you listen! The success of all we stand for, everything aboard this spaceship is suddenly endangered by the strange fever, a fever brought by these strangers in our midst!

DOCTOR: But I...

ZENTOS: (Shouts.) I invoke the special galactic law against them. Hold them, take them into custody and later, they will be made to suffer for the crime that they have committed!

STEVEN: Look, listen to us!

ZENTOS: Take them away!

(The travellers are dragged away. ZENTOS steps down and goes over to where MELLIUM is tending to her near-unconscious father.)

MELLIUM: What about my father?

ZENTOS: (Quietly.) He may well die - but then again, so might all of us. In which case, it was pointless leaving.

(He turns and looks at the giant monitor screen on which is shown the Earth as it travels on to its doom...)
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "03x26 - The Steel Sky"}