It’s Not Just You

“This is Why Clowns are Good —

because they show that The Image is 

not A Fact, but it’s a reflex of some kind.

And when You Think everything is just that way, 

The Trickster comes in and it all blows apart, and 

You get The Becoming Thing again.”

HINDLE: 
Silence! I need time to think. 
TODD: 
What will Sanders say? 
HINDLE: 
Silence! 
TODD: Doctor, tell him. 
HINDLE: Sanders will not return. 
TODD: I hope for your sake he does. 
HINDLE: Why should he? The others didn't. 
I wish to announce the strategy for the defence of The Dome, implementation immediate. 
We will raze to the ground and sterilise an area of forest some fifty miles radius. 
Objective, the creation of a cordon sanitaire around the dome. Method of implementation, fire and acid. Acid and fire. 
TODD: This is insane. There is no danger. 
DOCTOR: And then? 
HINDLE: And then we will wait for rescue. 
The mother ship. 
TODD: Mother ship doesn't return for six seasons. 
HINDLE: We'll be patient. 
TODD: Doctor, tell him. 
DOCTOR: What are you defending the dome against? 
HINDLE: 

Against Out There. 

The Trees, Plants. 

DOCTOR: 

....Oh, I see. 

HINDLE: 

(suddenly Hopeful 

of Connection)

Yes? 

DOCTOR: 

.....well, perhaps if We could define 

the exact nature of The Threat 

posed by The Trees -- 

HINDLE: 

I've Told You! 

Seeds, spores and things. 
Everywhere. Getting hold,

rooting, thrusting, branching, 

blocking-out The Light. 

DOCTOR: 

Yes, but I-

HINDLE: 

Don't You see!? 

DOCTOR: 

-- Nearly, nearly, nearly....

I thought that The Kinda -

HINDLE: 

No, The Kinda are 

not Important. 

They're just 

The Servants. 

DOCTOR: 

-- Of...? 

HINDLE: 

Of The Plants. 

The Plants Feed Them. 

Did you know that? 

In return, That's Why. 

That's Why.

 
DOCTOR: 

Why Do You Think 

The Plants are Hostile? 

(The Kinda raise their weapons 

and move forward.) 

HINDLE: 

Because They are. 

[Forest]
(Todd stops by some shrubs.) 
TODD: 
Doctor, there's something following us. 
DOCTOR: 
Nonsense. 
(He walks on, then a twig snaps.) 
DOCTOR: 
There's something 

FOLLOWING Us....!!

TODD: 
Come out from there, 

whatever you are. 

(Someone holds out a figure like the jack-in-the-box. Todd goes to there and the person leaps out from the other side of the shrubs. It wears a mask just like the one in the dome, and holds the doll, then ducks out of sight again.) 

DOCTOR: 
Look. 
(A group of Kinda arrive.) 

TODD: 
So many of Them. They normally only 

associate in groups of three or four. 

(The masked figure jumps out again 

between them and The Kinda.) 

TODD: 
Doctor. 
DOCTOR: 
Culturally non-hostile, didn't you say? 

(The figure removes his mask. 
He's The Trickster or Village Jester. 
He tries to step forward, but mimes 
that his right foot is stuck to the ground. When he pulls it free, he jumps forward to land at the Doctor's feet. The Doctor helps him up, smiling. The Trickster moves his hand in front of his face, changing his expression from neutral to scowl and back again.) 
DOCTOR: 
Yes, we take the point, don't we. 
TODD: 
Yes, the clown stroke jester's a familiar figure, anthropologically speaking. 
He diffuses a potential source of conflict through mockery and ridicule, don't you. 
(Trickster nods while his marotte shakes its head. Then he points at the Doctor.) 
TODD: 
Your turn. 
DOCTOR: 
Er, well, I don't really see what I could, er. 
Wait a minute. 
(The Doctor holds up his coin, puts his hands behind his back then brings them back for the Trickster to choose. Both hands turn out empty. The Doctor produces the coin from the Trickster's ear. The Kinda applaud.) 
DOCTOR: 
It's all quite simple, really. 
Just a, just a matter of practice. 
Your turn.