E-Space is a Swamp

 

 

MONITOR:

From this point, the unravelling will spread out

until The Whole Universe is reduced to nothing.

 

The MASTER:

….so it's True.

 

(The Master walks away.)

 

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.

 

Tom : 

….PASSED The Point?!

 

MONITOR:

….if it had remained closed.

But we had 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:

Charged Vacuum Emboitments!

 

Tom: 

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.

 

 

Tom : 

I take it you don't get many strangers here.

 

IVO: 

Strangers?

 

Tom : 

Yes, visitors. Foreign devils. 

You know, people you don't know.

 

IVO: 

Everyone here is known.

 

ROMANA: 

Well, what about people from 

The Next Village, or The Nearest Town?

 

IVO: 

There is only The Village and 

The Tower, nowhere else.

 

DOCTOR: 

Who lives in this Tower of your?

 

IVO: 

Why do you ask what everyone must know? 

Are you sent to test me? 

I am Ivo, Head Man of This Village 

like My Father before me 

and His Father before him. 

The Lords know I'm loyal.

 

DOCTOR: 

Please, don't shout. 

Splendid, I'm sure -- 

So you serve The Lords, but 

what do The Lords do for you?

 

IVO: 

They protect us from The Wasting.

 

 

DOCTOR: 

Surely you realise something here must be wrong?

 

ZARGO: 

Wrong?

 

Tom : 

Yes.

 

CAMILLA: 

What is, is.

 

Tom : 

No. What is, is wrong. 

Look, societies develop in varying ways. 

Yours just seems to be sinking back

into some sort of Primitivism,

wouldn't you say so?

 

ROMANA: 

Oh, yes — In terms of applied socioenergetics, 

it's losing its grip on level two development.

 

DOCTOR: 

On level two?

 

ROMANA: 

A Society that evolve backwards 

must be subject to some even MORE 

powerful force restraining it.

 

Tom: 

An even more powerful force?

 

ZARGO: 

How very mysterious.

 

Tom: 

Well, mysterious or not, those rebels seem 

to think The Power emanates from you.

 

CAMILLA: 

They flatter us.

 

ZARGO:

In any Society there is bound

to be a division between 

The Rulers and The Ruled.

 

Tom: 

A Division? 

Yawning chasm, I'd say. Wouldn't you?

 

ROMANA: 

No, I'd say a sociopathetic abscess.

 

Tom: 

Oh, I wish I'd thought of that. 

That's a good diagnosis. 

Yes, I've never seen such a State of Decay.

SHARKEY

(The Doctor tries Camilla's throne, then Zargo's.) 

DOCTOR: 

Oh yes, this is much more comfortable. 

What were those Hydrax officers called? 

ROMANA: 

Captain Miles Sharkey, 

Navigation Officer Lauren MacMillan, 

Science Officer Anthony O'Connor. 

DOCTOR: 

That's very good. 

Have you ever heard of the Brothers Grimm? 

ROMANA: 

This is no time for fairy tales. 

DOCTOR: 

They also discovered the Law of Consonantal Shift. 

How language changes over the years. 

ROMANA: 

You mean the hard sounds softening, 

B's becoming V's and so on?

DOCTOR: 

Hmm. 

ROMANA: 

Camilla, Aukon and Zargo. 

Wait a minute. 

Sharkey, 

Zharkey, 

Zarkey, 

Zar, 

Zargo. 

The same name passed down through generations. 

The Edge of The World

The Edge of The World Party was filmed on 

Sept. 11th 2001

Remember, Remember The 11th of September

Thermite, Treason and Plot

"It's not The Girl, Peter, it's The Building! Something Terrible is about to enter Our World, and This Building is obviously The Door. 

The architect's name was Ivo Shandor. 

I found it in Tobin's Spirit Guide. 

He was also a Doctor. 

Performed a lot of unnecessary surgery. 

And then in 1920, he founded a Secret Society...."

A Collapsing MicroUniverse of Continually Reducing Options Offers The Promise of Exponential Growth Increases in Certainty of Outcomes

Tom : 

I take it you don't get 

many Strangers here.

IVO: 

Strangers?

DOCTOR: 

Yes, Visitors. 

Foreign Devils. You know, 

people you don't know.

IVO: 

Everyone here is known.

ROMANA: 

Well, what about people 

from the next village, 

or the nearest town?

IVO: 

There is only The Village 

and The Tower, nowhere else.

DOCTOR: 

Who lives in this Tower of your?

IVO: 

Why do you ask what everyone must know? 

Are you sent to test me? 

I am Ivo, HeadMan of This Village 

like My Father before me 

and His Father before him. 

The Lords know I'm loyal.

DOCTOR: 

Please, don't shout. Splendid, I'm sure. 

So you Serve The Lords, but 

What Do The Lords Do for You?

IVO: 

They Protect Us from The Wasting.

DOCTOR: 

Did you say The Wasting?

IVO: 

I have work to do.

ROMANA: 

Come on, Doctor. This is silly.

(Ivo starts tidying up the chairs.)

DOCTOR: 

Oh, come on, Ivo. 

These Lords of yours, how long 

have they ruled over you?

IVO: 

Forever.

DOCTOR: 

Really. As long as that? 

Well, that's a long time.

(The Doctor and Romana leave. Ivo shuts the door behind them, goes to a box on the wall and takes out a walkie-talkie.)

IVO: Kalmar. Kalmar, can you hear me? (burble) Two strangers, here, in the village. (burble burble) That's right, strangers. They were asking about scientists.

KALMAR: We have a generator. It gives us power for air, light and heat, and the communicators.

TARAK: But no weapons, eh, Kalmar.

KALMAR: When we have rediscovered basic scientific principles, we shall be able to make weapons of our own. But it takes time.

TARAK: How many of us have lived and died because everything takes time.

ROMANA: How long have things been like this?

KALMAR: Forever. The Lords rule in the Tower, the peasants toil in the fields. Nothing has changed in a thousand years.

TARAK: But it will change when we overthrow the Lords.

DOCTOR: What? Isn't that a bit dangerous? I mean, a chap in the village told me the Lords protected you from the Wasting.

KALMAR: You know about the Wasting?

DOCTOR: Well, only by hearsay. What is the Wasting?

TARAK: The Wasting?

DOCTOR: Yes.

TARAK: The Wasting is --

(Kalmar stops him.)

TARAK: 

The Wasting.

DOCTOR: Ah.

Tom : 

Listen. I'm going to have to 

go to The Rebels for Help. 

But 'Will they HELP...?' I ask myself.

K9: 

Probability of indigenous dissident group 

rendering effective assistance, very low.

Tom :

Shush. I'm thinking --

I've got to make a very impressive entrance. 

Something that'll win them over entirely.... 

Got it! Right, K9, we need 

a slight spatial movement 

and no temporary displacement. 

Very tricky, these short hops.....

K9: 

Information, Master.

Tom : 

What? What is it?

K9: 

The relative smallness of E-Space 

should render fractional increments more stable.

Tom : 

But of course! Good boy, K9!

[Outside The TARDIS]

Tom :

There she blows. 

ADRIC: 

We found it. 

Tom :

Yes, well, that's one of the advantages of living 

in a rapidly shrinking micro-universe. 

ROMANA: 

What are the others? 

(The Doctor enters the TARDIS.) 

Tom :

Other what? 

ROMANA: 

Other advantages? 

Tom : 

Ah, well, it's difficult to say. 

[Outside the gate]

PACKARD: 

The Ship's moved!

 

(It is within sight of The Gate now.) 

RORVIK: 

Contracting continuum. 

PACKARD: Gobbledygook. 

RORVIK: Oh, you never learn anything, do you. There's only one thing for it. Right, everybody. The MZ. 

(The bridge crew re-enter the gate. Aldo holds Royce back.) 

ALDO: I'm not going near that thing. That's a dangerous weapon, that it. 

ROYCE: No, Rorvik knows what he's doing. He's seen us right up to now. Hasn't he? 

(There is the sound of the MZ powering up. The two men run for it. KaBOOM! and smoke and bits of masonry come flying out of the gate, followed by Rorvik and his crew.) 

RORVIK: Don't give up, lads. We'll go for the back blast. 

[Tardis]

ADRIC: Why don't we just dematerialise and go? 

DOCTOR + ROMANA: No. 

ROMANA: We can't just dematerialise and leave them. There are slaves on that ship. 

(The rumble of the warp motors knocks them off their feet. The spaceship lifts off.) 

ROMANA: What's happening? 

DOCTOR: Shush. Mass attraction. There's something moving out there. It's shaking the entire gateway. 

(The spaceship turns.) 

ADRIC: Look! 

ROMANA: What's he doing? He can't take off with his warp motors in that state. 

DOCTOR: Back blast. 

ROMANA: What? 

DOCTOR: Back blast. He's going to use the jets to try and smash through the mirrors. 

ROMANA: He's mad. The back blast backlash will bounce back and destroy everything. 

DOCTOR: Yes. 

ROMANA: It's bound to accelerate the collapse of space around here. 

DOCTOR: Yes. 

ADRIC: But surely that would flip you back into N-space if you dematerialised at the right moment? 

DOCTOR: Shush. 

ROMANA: We cannot even think of that with those slaves on board. We've got to do something. 

DOCTOR: I'm not hopeful. 

ROMANA: Neither am I. 

ADRIC: Wait a minute. There is that damaged area. 

DOCTOR: Yes. What damaged area? 

ROMANA: Of course. 

DOCTOR: What? 

ROMANA: By the warp motors. 

DOCTOR: Yes? 

ROMANA: The main cable insulation is exposed. We might be able to short out his power. 

DOCTOR: No. 

(The Doctor goes to the console and flicks a lever.) 

DOCTOR: Right. Stop! If I'm not back for whatever reason in thirteen and a half minutes, I want you to dematerialise. 

ADRIC: Without you? 

ROMANA: I am not letting you go alone. 

DOCTOR: That's an order. It's about time you started accepting orders. 

ROMANA: It is long past time, but how do you think you're going to find the cable? 

DOCTOR: With my eyes. 

ROMANA: Adric and I have seen it. 

DOCTOR: Good. Come on. 

ADRIC: I'm coming too. 

ROMANA: You are not. It's long past time you learnt to obey orders. Now stay here, and if we are not back for whatever reason in thirteen and a half minutes, I want you to dematerialise. Do you understand? 

DOCTOR: I like that. I think you're improving. 

ROMANA: It's a matter of complete indifference to me. 

DOCTOR: Indifference? Thirteen and a half minutes. 

ADRIC: I'm sure you will. 

[Bridge]

RORVIK: Steady now. I want a landing that wouldn't ripple the skin on a custard. 

(The spaceship touches down with its engines pointing at the Tardis, which is very close by.) 

RORVIK: Good lads. Who's got control of the overload power? 

MAN [OC]: I think it's me. 

RORVIK: You think? Listen, everyone. This isn't the MZ we're messing around with here, it's a full blown back blast. I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your eye on the controls. 

PACKARD: Back blast activated, and building. 

RORVIK: How long till full power? 

PACKARD: It's hard to tell with the motors in this state. About ten minutes. 

RORVIK: Revivals. Break out the cargo. 

PACKARD: What, now? 

RORVIK: Well, if this works, we'll need to see where we're going. 

PACKARD: You can't do a proper revival in ten minutes! 

RORVIK: We'll revive them all. One of them might come through. Well, try it. Let's do something round here for a change. 

[Cargo hold]

ROYCE: Don't switch the light on. 

ALDO: Why not? 

ROYCE: Well, it's bad for them. 

ALDO: What, you think this is going to do them any good? 

(They wheel out the first Tharil.) 

ALDO: I don't know. Ten minutes to plug them all up. Rush, rush, rush. 

SAGAN: Ready? 

ROYCE: Yes, sir. Just as the Captain ordered. Meet the sardines. 

SAGAN: Prepare for revival. Switch on now. Well, what's the matter? 

ALDO: Er, I feel I'm coming over a bit nauseous, sir. I'll be all right with a breath of air. 

(Aldo leaves, and Royce tries to follow.) 

SAGAN: And where do you think you're going? 

ROYCE: Oh, I'll just go and make sure he's all right, sir. I'll be back in a minute. 

[Spaceship]

(Aldo has hidden in a store room, and brewed a couple of mugs of drink.) 

ALDO: Psst. 

(Royce enters and takes a mug. There is a scream from the cargo hold.) 

ALDO: I can't stand a lot of that. 

ROYCE: Funny you signed on with Rorvik. 

ALDO: Light duties is what he said. 

(Another, louder, scream.) 

ROYCE: It'll all end in tears, mark my words. 

(A third scream.) 

[Cargo hold]

(Rorvik and Lane enter.) 

SAGAN: Sorry, sir. It's no good. 

RORVIK: No good? What kind of report's that? 

SAGAN: Three tries, three rejects. 

LANE: Could be the power fluctuation where we had the damage. I'll go and look. 

RORVIK: Since when do you give yourself orders on my ship? I'll check the cable, you get back to the bridge. Well, break out some more. 

(Biroc and the other Tharil, who is apparently called Lazlo, are hiding by the main hatch when Rorvik leaves the spaceship. Lazlo enters.) 

[Outer skin breach]

ROMANA: The clipboard marks the spot. I'll stand guard. 

(The Doctor climbs through the hole and up a ladder. When he's out of sight, Romana enters and heads for a staircase. The Doctor reaches the top of the ladder.) 

RORVIK: Is this what you're looking for, Doctor? 

(Rorvik drops the clipboard.) 

DOCTOR: Look here, Rorvik. You've got to stop this back blast. You'll kill us all. 

RORVIK: So you say, Doctor. I say it's the only way out of here. 

(Rorvik stands on the Doctor's fingers.) 

DOCTOR: You can't blast through those mirrors. You must realise by now it just throws the energy straight back. 

RORVIK: They've got to break. Everything breaks eventually. 

(He kicks the Doctor back down the ladder, comes after him and starts to strangle him with his own scarf. Romana arrives and tries hitting Rorvik with the clipboard.) 

DOCTOR: Never mind the clipboard, short the cables. 

(The Doctor gives Romana the manacles.) 

DOCTOR: Drain the main power line. Earth it to the ladder. 

ROMANA: I know. I've done it. 

(Rorvik lets the Doctor go and heads for the ladder to undo the damage.) 

DOCTOR: Biroc? What are you doing here? 

BIROC: Nothing. 

DOCTOR: It's all right for you. 

BIROC: And for you, too. Do nothing. 

DOCTOR: Do nothing? 

ROMANA: Of course, Doctor. Don't you see? 

DOCTOR: Yes, that's right. Do nothing, if it's the right sort of nothing. 

(They join hands with Biroc and fade away. Rorvik has removed the manacles from the cable.) 

RORVIK: Run, Doctor. Scurry off back to your blue box. You're like all the rest. Lizards when there's a man's work to be done. I'm sick of your kind. Faint-hearted, do-nothing, lily-livered deadweights. This is the end for all of you! I'm finally getting something done! Bwahahahaha! 

[Cargo hold]

(Sagan rolls his latest failure off the gurney. Then Lazlo enters.) 

SAGAN: Here, where did you spring from? I haven't done you. Never mind, you're just what we need. 

(Sagan pulls his blaster, but Lazlo easily overpowers him and brings an exposed piece of cable towards his chest.) 

SAGAN: Just a minute! Argh! 

(Lazlo goes to the nearest Tharil and holds his paw out over his forehead. The Tharil wakes. He repeats the operation.) 

[Outside the Tardis]

DOCTOR: We've made it. Quick, quick, inside. What's the matter? 

ROMANA: I'm not coming with you. 

DOCTOR: Inside. That's an order. 

ROMANA: No more orders, Doctor. Goodbye. 

DOCTOR: What? What a moment to choose. 

ROMANA: But it is, isn't it? A moment to choose. I've got to be my own Romana. 

BIROC: And we need a Time Lord. 

ROMANA: Goodbye, Doctor. 

Tom : 

No, no, no. Wait, wait. There's something else. 

K9. He'll be all right with you behind the mirrors. 

ROMANA: 

I'll take care of him. 

Tom : 

I'll miss you. You were the noblest Romana of them all. 

(The Doctor enters the TARDIS. Romana carries K9 away, with Biroc. 

They return to The Gate and go through The Mirror. 

The TARDIS dematerialises, glowing red 

in the building back blast from the spaceship. 

The Gate explodes, then the spaceship goes boom and bursts into flames.) 

[Monochrome land]

(The TARDIS briefly appears in mid air by Powis Castle. 

Romana, Biroc and K9 watch from the terraced gardens.) 

ROMANA: 

The TARDIS. Gone. 

K9: 

TARDIS preserved in concept, Mistress. 

This unit contains all necessary schedules 

for duplication of The TARDIS, Mistress.

 

ROMANA: 

Exactly, K9. Biroc will help us use The Gateway 

to travel anywhere in E-space, 

and We can give him 

Time technology.

 

BIROC: 

You shall be Our Time Lord, and We will travel far. 

Our People are enslaved on many planets. 

ROMANA: 

And You and I, K9, are going to help Biroc free them. 

That's something we've got to do, don't you think?

K9: 

Affirmative, Mistress. 

(Time-shifted images of Tharils leave the smoking remains 

of the spaceship and enter The Gateway.) 

[TARDIS]

ADRIC: 

The Picture's fading.

 

Tom : 

Yes. 

ADRIC: 

It's gone. Nothing there. 

Tom : 

So it has. Nothing. 

Well, that's something. 

ADRIC: 

How can nothing be something? 

Tom :

Well, if the E-space image translator doesn't work, 

I'm hoping we're in N-Space.

 

ADRIC: 

Back in Your Own Universe....

Tom :

Yes. 

ADRIC: 

Can you be sure?

 

Tom : 

Did I say 'sure'? 

ADRIC: 

No. 

Tom :

Yes -- One Good, Solid Hope's 

worth a cartload of Certainties. 

ADRIC: 

Will Romana be alright? 

Tom :

Alright? She'll be superb.

POWER

HABRIS: 

Lord Aukon himself is here.

(Aukon enters and inspects the line.)

AUKON: 

Interesting -

(He goes back to Adric.)

Lord AUKON : 

A mind that shields itself.

 One who pretends to be a dull and stupid peasant, 

but who is different.

ADRIC: 

Who, me?

Lord AUKON : 

You. 

You. 

Come with me.

ADRIC: 

Why?

Lord AUKON : 

Spirit too, I see. 

Excellent.

ADRIC: 

Come with you? 

What's in it for me?

Lord AUKON: 

Wealth.

Power.

Dominion over This World.... 

....and over Many Others. 

EXT. BALCONY - GOETH'S VILLA - NIGHT
 Distant music, Brahms' lullaby, from the Rosner Brothers way down by the women's barracks calming the inhabitants. Up here on the balcony, Schindler and Goeth, the latter so drunk he can barely stand up, stare out over Goeth's dark kingdom.

 SCHINDLER 
They don't fear us because we have the power to kill, they fear us because we have the power to kill arbitrarily. 

A man commits a crime, he should know better.

We have him killed, we feel pretty good about it.

Or we kill him ourselves and we feel even better. 

 
That's not Power, though, that's Justice. 

That's different than Power. 

 
Power is when we have every justification to kill -- and we don't. 

That's Power.

That's what The Emperors had. 

A man stole something, he's brought in before the emperor, he throws himself down on the floor, he begs for mercy, he knows he's going to die... 

And The Emperor pardons him. 

This worthless man. 

He lets him go. 

That's Power. 

That's Power.
 It seems almost as though this temptation toward restraint, this image Schindler has brush-stroked of the merciful emperor, holds some appeal to Goeth. 

Perhaps, as he stares out over his camp, he imagines himself in the role, wondering what the power Schindler describes might feel like.

 Eventually, he glances over drunkenly, and almost smiles.

 SCHINDLER 
Amon the Good.

 EXT. STABLES - PLASZOW - DAY

 A stable boy works to ready Goeth's horse before he arrives.

 He sticks a bridle into its mouth, throws a riding blanket onto its back, drags out the saddle Schindler bought Goeth.

 Before he can finish, though, Goeth is there. The boy tries to hide his panic; he knows others have been shot for less.
 STABLE BOY 
I'm sorry, sir, I'm almost done.

 GOETH 
Oh, that's all right.

 As Goeth waits, patiently it seems, whistling to himself, the stable boy tries to mask his confusion.
 EXT. PLASZOW - DAY
 Goeth gallops around his great domain holding himself high in the saddle. But everywhere he looks, it seems, he's confronted with stoop-shouldered sloth. He forces himself to smile benevolently.
 INT. GOETH'S VILLA - DAY
 Goeth comes into his bedroom sweating from his ride. A worker with a pail and cloth appears in the bathroom doorway.
 MORE TO THE FLOOR --

 WORKER 
I have to report, sir, I've been unable to remove the stains from your bathtub.

 Goeth steps past him to take a look. The worker is almost shaking, he's so terrified of the violent reprisal he expects to receive.
 GOETH 
What are you using?

 WORKER 
Soap, sir.

 GOETH 
(incredulous) 

Soap? Not lye?

 The worker hasn't a defense for himself. 

Goeth's hand drifts down as if by instinct to the gun in his holster. 

He stares at the worker. 

He so wants to shoot him he can hardly stand it, right here, right in the bathroom, put some more stains on the porcelain. 

He takes a deep breath to calm himself.

 Then gestures grandly.
 
 GOETH 

Go ahead, go on, leave. 

I pardon you.
 The worker hurries out with his pail and cloth. Goeth just stands there for several moments -- trying to feel the power of emperors he's supposed to be feeling. 

But he doesn't feel it. 

All he feels is stupid.

 EXT. GOETH'S VILLA - MOMENTS LATER - DAY

 The worker hurries across the dying lawn outside the villa.

 He dares a glance back, and at that moment, a hand with a gun appears out the bathroom window and fires.

(Habris enters.)

HABRIS: 

My Lord, it is time.

ZARGO: 

How dare you interrupt us!

HABRIS: 

Aukon has seen The Sign. 
The Arising is at hand.

CAMILLA: 

The Arising? Leave us.

(Habris leaves.)

ZARGO: 

We must go to him.

CAMILLA: 

We shall resume this later. 

If you need anything, there are guards outside the door. 

Many guards.

The Great 1 :

You took the one, last 
PERFECT Crystal of POWER. 

I searched all Time, and all Space for it....!!!

I MUST have it! 

The Established Dandy : 

No! No, never. 

GREAT ONE [OC]: 

You are PROUD, Little Man. 

I see that I shall have to teach you to have respect! 

Round you go, Doctor. 

DOCTOR: 

No. No! 

No, I will not! 

(Against his will, the Doctor turns left, stepping high, as the Great One laughs.) 

DOCTOR: 

No! No, I will not! No! 

(The Doctor has turned right round and back to where he started.) 

GREAT ONE [OC]: 

Is that FEAR I can feel in your mind...? 

You are not ACCUSTOMED to feeling FRIGHTENED, are you, Doctor? 

You are very WISE to be afraid of ME...!!!. 

Go now. You must hurry back and fetch the crystal. 

I MUST have it, don't you understand? 

I must have it! I must! 

I must! I must! 

Go now. Go! 

Go! Go NOW! 

K'ANPO: 

We are all apt to surrender ourselves to domination. 

Even the strongest of us. 

DOCTOR: 

...Do you mean me? 

K'ANPO: 

Not all spiders sit on the back. 

SARAH: 

Oh, I don't understand. You're not saying they've taken over The Doctor, are you? 

DOCTOR: 

Oh no, Sarah, no. 

No, he's talking about my GREED. 

SARAH: 

Greed? You? 

DOCTOR: 

Yes, my Greed for KNOWLEDGE , for INFORMATION. 

He's saying that all this is basically My Fault. 

If I hadn't taken the crystal in the first place.....

I know who you are now!

K'ANPO: 

You were always a little slow on the uptake, my boy. 

GREAT ONE [OC]: 

Stop! Have you brought the crystal to me? 

DOCTOR: 

Well if I had not, why should I have returned? 

GREAT ONE [OC]: 

Very well. Very well, advance. 

(The Doctor walks around a corner and sees the universes biggest spider.) 

DOCTOR: 

I've brought you the crystal. 

Now why don't you just take it and leave the humans in peace, both here and on Earth? 

GREAT ONE: 

You think I care for the puny plans of my subjects? Earth? 

One paltry planet among millions? 

Give me the crystal. 

I thirst for it! 

I ache for it! 

DOCTOR: 

Well, why is it so important to you? 

GREAT ONE: 

You see this web of crystal above my head? 

It reproduces the pattern of my brain. 

One perfect crystal and it will be complete. 

That is the perfect crystal I need. 

DOCTOR: 

And then? 

GREAT ONE: 

My every thought will resonate within the web, and grow in power until, until, until....!!!

DOCTOR: 

But you've built a positive feedback circuit. You're trying to increase your mental powers to infinity. 

GREAT ONE: 

Exactly! 

I shall be the ruler of the entire universe! 

DOCTOR: 

Now listen to me. Listen. 

I haven't got much time left. 

What you're trying to do is impossible. 

If you complete that circuit, the energy will build up and up until it cannot be contained. 

You will destroy yourself. 

GREAT ONE:

 You waste the little time remaining to you. 

Even now the cave of crystal is destroying the cells of your body. 

I will grant you one last favour. 

You may watch the completion of my triumph before you die! 

(The crystal flies out of the Doctor's hand and becomes the keystone of the web lattice.) 

GREAT ONE: 

I am complete! 

Now I am total power! 

All praise to the Great One! 

DOCTOR: 

Stop. Stop! 

Don't you see what's happened to you? 

GREAT ONE: 

All praise to the Great One! 

All praise to me! Bow down before me, planets! 

Bow down, stars! 

Bow down, all galaxies and worship the Great One! 

The me! The Great, all-powerful me! 

Argh! 

(The giant spider starts to glow red.) 

GREAT ONE: 

I hurt! Help me! 

I am burning! My brain is on fire! 

(The Doctor runs out of the cave.) 

GREAT ONE: 

Help me!

DOCTOR: 

Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer. 

ROSE:

 If it all goes through her, she must be a genius. 

DOCTOR: 

Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head'd blow up. 

The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets. 

ROSE: 

So, what about all these people round the edge? 

DOCTOR: 

They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. 

Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. 

Now that's what I call power. 

EDITOR: 

I started without you. 

This is fascinating. 

Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. 

Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two, you don't exist. 

Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. 

How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint? 

ROSE: 

Suki. Suki! Hello? 

Can you hear me? Suki? 

What have you done to her? 

DOCTOR: 

I think she's dead. 

ROSE: 

She's working. 

DOCTOR: 

They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going, like puppets. 

EDITOR: 

Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you? 

DOCTOR: 

It doesn't matter, because we're off. 

Nice to meet you. Come on. 

(Suki grabs Rose's arm. Two other zombies grab the Doctor.) 

EDITOR: Tell me who you are. 

DOCTOR: Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I. 

EDITOR: Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise. 

DOCTOR: And who's that? 

EDITOR: 

It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live. 

(Growl, snarl.) 

EDITOR: 

Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client. 

(Who we finally see is a giant lump hanging from the ceiling, with a very nasty set of teeth in a mouth on the end of a pseudopod.) 

ROSE: What is that? 

DOCTOR: You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five? 

EDITOR: That thing, as you put it, is in charge of the human race. For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by it's broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. I call him Max. 

(Down on Floor 139 Adam avoids Cathica as she goes to take another look at the schematic that the Doctor called up. Then she goes to the lift and punches in the code for Floor 500. 

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose have been placed in hefty sets of manacles.) 

EDITOR: Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote. 

ROSE: So all the people on Earth are like, slaves. 

EDITOR: Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved? 

DOCTOR: Yes. 

EDITOR: Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes? 

DOCTOR: Yes. 

EDITOR: You're no fun. 

DOCTOR: Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am. 

EDITOR: Oh, he's tough, isn't he. But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit. 

ROSE: You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed. 

EDITOR: From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it. 

(Cathica arrives on Floor 500. Adam goes to the broadcast room on 139.) 

EDITOR: Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual, when of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing. 

(The Doctor and Rose spot Cathica behind the Editor's back.) 

ROSE: What about you? You're not a Jagrabelly 

DOCTOR: Jagrafess. 

ROSE: Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human. 

EDITOR: Yeah, well, simply being human doesn't pay very well. 

ROSE: But you couldn't have done this all on your own. 

EDITOR: No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself. 

DOCTOR: No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life span? 

EDITOR: Three thousand years. 

DOCTOR: That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system.

[Adam's home]

(Adam settles in the broadcast chair and opens his portal, then phones home.) 

ADAM [OC]: It's me again. Don't wipe this message. It's just going to sound like white noise, but save it because I can

[Newsroom]

ADAM: Translate it, okay? Three, two, one and spike. 

(Information beams into Adam.)

[Floor 500]

EDITOR: But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you? 

(The Editor snaps his fingers and energy surges through the manacles. Back in the now, the little dog watches energy encircling the telephone answering machine.) 

DOCTOR: Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering. 

EDITOR: Tell me who you are! 

DOCTOR: I just said! 

EDITOR: Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly 

(He stops. The Jagrafess growls.) 

EDITOR: Time Lord. 

DOCTOR: What? 

EDITOR: Oh, yes. The last of the Time Lords in his travelling machine. Oh, with his little human girl from long ago 

DOCTOR: You don't know what you're talking about. 

EDITOR: Time travel.

[Newsroom]

(Adam screams as information is sucked out of his brain.) 

ADAM: Help!

[Floor 500]

DOCTOR: Someone's been telling you lies. 

EDITOR: Young master Adam Mitchell? 

(The Editor calls up the holo-monitor showing Adam in the broadcast chair.) 

ROSE: Oh, my God. His head! 

DOCTOR: What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything. 

EDITOR: And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in your T A R D I S. Tardis. 

DOCTOR: Well, you'll never get your hands on it. I'll die first. 

EDITOR: Die all you like. I don't need you. I've got the key. 

(The Tardis key rises from Adam's pocket.) 

DOCTOR: You and your boyfriends! 

EDITOR: Today, we are the headlines. We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing. 

DOCTOR: And no one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold. 

(The Jagrafess snarls, and Cathica leaves.)