THE HORNS OF NIMON

BY: ANTHONY READ

Part Four

Original Air Date: 12 January 1980
Running time: 26:45

DOCTOR: Seth, well done!

SETH: Is he d*ad?

DOCTOR: No, just knocked out. Right, now let's see what the damage is. Oh, I don't like the look of that. Sorry, Romana.

ROMANA: Doctor, I. Doctor? Doctor, where are you?

NIMON 3: You.

NIMON 3: Stop! Pursue her.

SETH: Is it very bad?

DOCTOR: It's very bad. I might just be able to fix it if I can cannibalise one of the other circuits.

SETH: Is there anything I can do?

DOCTOR: No, no. You've done enough. It's K9 I need now.

DOCTOR: Oh, my gravitic anomoliser.

SETH: Will it help?

DOCTOR: It might help. You see, it's an entirely different system but it just might be compatible.

TEKA: Will it work?

DOCTOR: Well, if it's compatible it'll work better than the original. On the other hand, if it's not compatible

SETH: What?

DOCTOR: There'll be a bang so big you won't even hear it.

TEKA: Oh, Doctor, look!

SOLDEED (OOV.): Bwhahahahahaha!

DOCTOR: He'll warn the Nimon. Quick, after him!

SETH: Come on!

SETH: Down there, come on.

ROMANA: Who are you?

SEZOM: I am Sezom.

ROMANA: You just saved my life. Are they d*ad?

SEZOM: Alas, no, but they will be unconscious for a while. Who are you? Why are you here?

ROMANA: I'm Romana. I'm here by accident. Where are we?

SEZOM: This is Crinoth, what's left of it.

ROMANA: Why, what happened?

SEZOM: The Nimons happened. They have destroyed everything, everyone. Everyone but me.

ROMANA: Are you all right? You look awful.

SEZOM: My time is almost up.

ROMANA: Here, sit down.

SEZOM: Thank you.

ROMANA: There, how's that?

SEZOM: Better. You're very kind.

ROMANA: You did just save my life.

SEZOM: But I have caused the deaths of so many others. The total destruction of our planet and all its people. I am to blame.

ROMANA: Why? What did you do?

SEZOM: I allowed the Nimons to come here. I worked for them, became their creature. They promised us technology, peace, prosperity. It

ROMANA: Go on.

SEZOM: It seemed so easy. Such a small price.

ROMANA: Did you have to provide them with some sort of tribute?

SEZOM: How did you know that?

ROMANA: I've seen something similar.

SEZOM: There was only one of them to start with. I never knew what was to come. I swear, I never knew what was to come. It seemed such a small price to pay.

ROMANA: It always does.

SETH: You stay here. I'll check.

SETH: Yes, come on. It's this way. Teka. Teka?

SETH: Teka!

TEKA: Seth? Seth!

DOCTOR: Ah.

SORAK: So you have power, do you? Power that even Soldeed cannot understand.

SEZOM: They're like a plague of locusts. They seem harmless enough

ROMANA: Till they start to swarm.

SEZOM: Yes, from planet to planet, sucking each one dry then moving on to another and another and another. Their numbers are multiplying.

ROMANA: I've got to get back to Skonnos.

SEZOM: Where's Skonnos?

ROMANA: It's their next victim planet. I've just come from there.

SEZOM: Then you must get back and warn them.

ROMANA: It could be easier said than done. Can you help me get back to the capsule.

SEZOM: I will try.

SETH: Teka! Where are you?

DOCTOR: Welcome back, Romana.

DOCTOR: Oh, my prophetic soul!

NIMON 6: This is Crinoth.

NIMON 7: We have not moved. Stay.

K9: What is this place?

SORAK: It's. You can speak.

K9: Affirmative. What is this place?

SORAK: It's Soldeed's laboratory.

K9: What am I doing here?

SORAK: Soldeed brought you here.

K9: Kindly remove me from this surface.

SORAK: First, give me a demonstration of your power.

K9: That was merely a warning. Kindly remove me from this surface.

SORAK: Wait a minute!

NIMON 7: Something has gone wrong on Skonnos.

NIMON 8: The way is blocked?

NIMON 9: Prepare the final contingency plan.

NIMON 8: That is too dangerous. There are too many of us still on this planet. If it explodes too soon

NIMON 9: We have no choice. The great journey of life must continue.

ROMANA: What do they mean, final contingency plan?

SEZOM: There is no energy left here. They rely on the power plant on the next planet to pull them through.

ROMANA: So if anything goes wrong there

SEZOM: The only way they can escape is to convert the matter of this planet itself into energy.

ROMANA: Can they do that?

SEZOM: Yes, but it's a chain reaction. Once it starts, there's no way of stopping it, and the whole planet will explode.

ROMANA: After they've gone, presumably. Poor Crinoth.

SEZOM: I wonder what's gone wrong on Skonnos?

ROMANA: Don't worry about that. If I know anything about the one who caused it, he'll find a way of undoing it.

SEZOM: Then you'll be able to get back and warn them?

ROMANA: Well, first I have to get back to the capsule. How are we going to deal with the Nimons?

SEZOM: I have my staff.

ROMANA: Can you k*ll them with that?

SEZOM: No, I can only stun them.

ROMANA: And they let you keep it?

SEZOM: It couldn't do them any harm when they gave it to me, but they overlooked the fact that I might be clever enough to modify it.)

SEZOM: I discovered that Jasonite increased the power considerably.

ROMANA: Jasonite?

SEZOM: It's a type of rock which carries a powerful electromagnetic charge. I've been experimenting with possible uses for it for years.)

SEZOM: I even tried to get the Nimons to help, but they weren't interested.

ROMANA: Can I have this?

SEZOM: Yes, of course.

ROMANA: How are we going to get past them?

SEZOM: Subterfuge.

SEZOM: Wait.

SEZOM: Right.

SEZOM: Alarm! Alarm! Crinoth is being inv*de!

SEZOM: The complex is in danger!

SEZOM: Well done. Now quickly, into the capsule.

ROMANA: Sezom!

SEZOM: I, I'm done for.

ROMANA: Come with me.

SEZOM: No, it's too late for me.

ROMANA: Listen. More Nimons.

SEZOM: Hurry then, hurry.

ROMANA: I can't leave you!

SEZOM: Get into the capsule. It's your only chance. Give me my staff. I'll try to hold them off as long as I can. Hurry now.

ROMANA: Thank you, Sezom.

SEZOM: Go! Go and warn Skonnos and the rest of the universe!

ROMANA: Come on, Doctor. Come on!

NIMON: Leave those controls.

DOCTOR: Ah, hello there. I was just

NIMON: Stand aside.

NIMON 2: k*ll him. But not yet. We need to know who he is and what he is doing here.

DOCTOR: Well, really, I was just standing admiring the view.

NIMON 2: Silence. Later you will be questioned, tortured and k*lled.

DOCTOR: Well I hope you get it in the right order.

ROMANA: Come on, Doctor! Come on!

NIMON 6: There is an alien creature inside the capsule.

NIMON 7: Very well, prepare to blast it open.

NIMON: He has reversed the flow of the tunnel.

DOCTOR: Yes, you see, well, that's what I was trying to explain. When I

NIMON 2: Silence, Skonnon. Did you imagine you could you could prevent the great journey of life?

DOCTOR: No, but what I thought was

NIMON 2: Switch it back.

DOCTOR: Thank you.

ROMANA: Doctor, I don't know what you think you're playing at, but. Oh! Help.

NIMON 2: Another of the creature. k*ll her!

SETH: Doctor, I've lost Teka.

ROMANA: Seth, catch!

SETH: What?

ROMANA: Jam it between the prongs.

SETH: Ah.

ROMANA: Now sh**t it!

SETH: What?

ROMANA: sh**t!

SETH: What's going on?

DOCTOR: Thank you, Seth.

ROMANA: The invasion's started from Crinoth. Doctor, switch it back.

DOCTOR: I'll do better than that. I'll lock it off for good. Romana?

ROMANA: Yes.

DOCTOR: I think we're going to be all right.

ROMANA: Doctor!

DOCTOR: K9!

K9: Master.

DOCTOR: Well, you took your time getting here. Never mind, now you're here you can make yourself useful.

SETH: What is it?

DOCTOR: What do you mean, what is it? It's my dog.

SETH: Oh.

DOCTOR: He's called K9. K9? I want to modify the controls. I want to divert the space-time tunnel and send the Nimons back into the middle of nowhere. What do you think?

K9: Affirmative, master.

DOCTOR: Good, good.

SETH: What about Teka?

DOCTOR: Well, if the Nimons got her, she'll be in the larder.

SETH: Larder?

ROMANA: The room with the nuclear furnace.

DOCTOR: I'll meet you both there. Go on, off you go.

ROMANA: Right. Come on, Seth.

DOCTOR: K9, this is going to be a bit sticky.

SETH: Teka!

SOLDEED: You, you meddlesome hussy. Do not touch the sacrifices!

ROMANA: It's all over, Soldeed. You're finished.

SOLDEED: No, the Nimon will fulfil his great promise! The Nimon be praised!

ROMANA: The Nimon be praised? How many Nimons have you seen today?

SOLDEED: Don't dare blaspheme the Nimon.

ROMANA: How many!

SOLDEED: Skonnos will

ROMANA: How many Nimons?

SOLDEED: Three. I have seen three.

ROMANA: Well, I've just seen a whole lot more rampaging down the corridor. Face it, Soldeed, you're being inv*de.

SOLDEED: He said he was the only one. The last survivor of his race.

ROMANA: He told you what you wanted to hear, promised you what you wanted to have.

SOLDEED: So this is the great journey of life?

ROMANA: They're parasitic nomads who've been feeding off your selfishness and gullibility.

SOLDEED: My dreams of conquest. You have brought this calamity upon me!

ROMANA: You've brought it on yourself!

SOLDEED: You will die for your interference!

ROMANA: Stop him!

SOLDEED: You fools. You are all doomed. Doomed.

SETH: Teka!

ROMANA: Get the others out of here.

SETH: But they're d*ad!

DOCTOR: No, they're not, they're just paralysed. K9, get them out quickly.

K9: Master.

ROMANA: The controls, they're jammed. It's gone critical. It's turned into a b*mb and there's nothing we can do about it.

TEKA: I knew you'd save me, Seth. I knew it.

DOCTOR: Well, you're not saved yet. Come on, let's get out of here before the whole place explodes. Come on!

DOCTOR: Halt. Shush.

TEKA: You defeated the Nimon, Seth.

SETH: Not entirely.

TEKA: I knew you would. Now you'll get us out of this maze, won't you?

SETH: Doctor, how are we going to get out of this place if no one else has ever managed it before?

DOCTOR: Ah, but they didn't have a brilliant tracker dog like K9, did they. He can follow the scent all the way to the exit. Come on, K9. Come on.

NIMON: Pursue them!

DOCTOR: What is it, K9?

K9: Configuration has changed. It will be necessary for me to compute a suitable route as we proceed.

DOCTOR: What? Come on, K9. You can do it.

NIMON: Pursue them!

MAN: There he is.

SORAK: What is going on here?

MAN: We don't know.

K9: This is the exit, master.

DOCTOR: What? But it can't be. Try pointing the staff.

SETH: Nothing.

DOCTOR: In the name of the Second Skonnon Empire!

SETH: Nothing.

TEKA: We're trapped.

DOCTOR: K9, what do you make of that wall in front of you?

K9: Question not understood.

DOCTOR: There! There in front of you.

K9: That is the exit, master.

DOCTOR: No, no, the wall.

ROMANA: Come on, Doctor. Hurry up.

DOCTOR: Shush. Just a minute. K9, is that a wall in front of us?

K9: Negative, master.

DOCTOR: Then off you go, then.

DOCTOR: Ah, a very clever illusion. Quick, everybody through. Quick! Quick!

SORAK: This is not possible! Where is Soldeed?

SETH: Soldeed's d*ad.

TEKA: And the Nimons are finished. Seth defeated them. I knew he would. He's the hero of Aneth.

SETH: Teka, please.

ROMANA: Get away, everybody. Get away!

DOCTOR: Everybody take cover. The whole place is about to explode!

ROMANA: Oh, no, not again.

DOCTOR: Well, I never finished the modifications to the conceptual geometer.

ROMANA: Immobilised again?

DOCTOR: Yes, well, what could possibly go wrong out here?

ROMANA: You said that once before, remember?

DOCTOR: I've said it hundreds of times before.

ROMANA: And how may times have you been right?

DOCTOR: Oh, four or three.

ROMANA: What do you think Skonnos will be like with Sorak in charge?

DOCTOR: Oh, not much better. Nasty race of people. Still, they're too busy fending for themselves to bother anyone else now.

ROMANA: Doctor?

DOCTOR: Hmm?

ROMANA: Look.

DOCTOR: Crinoth.

ROMANA: And the end of the Nimons.

DOCTOR: Good job, too.

ROMANA: I hope Seth and Teka and the others get back to Aneth safely.

DOCTOR: I should hope so. I made Sorak give them a ship.

ROMANA: Look, there they are.

DOCTOR: Poor old Seth.

ROMANA: Poor old Seth?

DOCTOR: Yes. Well, just imagine the legends Teka's going to build up around him. He'll have to spend the rest of his life trying to live up to them. It's terrible.

ROMANA: I suppose that's how legends are made.

DOCTOR: Yes. I'm glad this time I reminded them to paint their ship white. The last time anything like this happened, I completely forgot. Caused quite a hoo-ha.

ROMANA: What are you talking about?

DOCTOR: Hmm? Oh, other times, other places. Well, come on, old girl. There's quite few millennia left in you yet.

ROMANA: Thank you, Doctor.

DOCTOR: Not you, the TARDIS.
{"type": "series", "show": "Doctor Who", "episode": "17x20 - The Horns of Nimon - part 4"}