Sunday, 14 August 2022

A Matter of Memory





















[Dark Tower staircase]

(The Third Doctor and Sarah Jane are walking down.) 

Sarah-Jane Smith : 
I can't go on -- I feel as if something 
were pushing me back. 

The Established Dandy : 
Yes. Yes, I can feel it too, Sarah. 
It's the mind of Rassilon. 
We must be nearing the tomb. 

Now, you've got to fight it. 
You must keep Your Mind under control.
 
Sarah-Jane Smith : 
I can't, I feel as if something 
absolutely terrible 
were going to happen. 
The Established Dandy : 
Sit down here. Sit down. 
Rest for a moment. All right? 

Sarah-Jane Smith : 
Where are you going? 

The Established Dandy : 
I won't be a second. 
Sarah-Jane Smith : Well, don't be too long.

[Dark Tower corridor]

(The Third Doctor walks along to a corner, then turns to go back to Sarah. A man in army uniform walks round the corner.) 

Mike Yates' Ghost : 
Doctor. Doctor, this way. 

The Established Dandy : 
Mike? Mike Yates? 
How did you get here? 

Mike Yates' Ghost : 
Same way as you. 
Liz Shaw is here, too. 
The Established Dandy : 
Good heavens. 
(Liz comes round the corner.) 

The Established Dandy : 
Hello, Liz. Any more of you? 

Liz Shaws' Ghost :
 Someone you should know very well. 
Come and see for yourself. 

The Established Dandy : 
Huh, not that little fellow in 
the checked trousers and 
the black frock coat. 

Liz Shaws' Ghost : 
And more. There are Five of You now. 

The Established Dandy : 
Oh, good grief. 

Mike Yates' Ghost : 
And they're waiting for you. 

The Established Dandy : 
Yes, well, you wait here for a moment. 
I'll go and get Sarah. 

(Yates blocks his way.) 

Mike Yates' Ghost : 
I'll fetch her. 

The Established Dandy : 
No, I, er, I think I'll go, Mike. 
She's nervous enough as it is. 

Liz Shaws' Ghost : 
Let Mike go. Your other selves 
need you urgently. 

The Established Dandy :
.... No, I think I'll go, thanks. 

(The Doctor dodges round Yates.)
 
Mike Yates' Ghost : 
No, Doctor! 

Liz Shaws' Ghost :
 Stop him! 

The Established Dandy : 
How? You're phantoms, 
illusions of the mind! 

Liz Shaws' Ghost : 
Stop him!!!
(Liz and Yates disappear in a cloud of black smoke.)

[Dark Tower staircase]


Sarah-Jane Smith : 
What's happening? Doctor? 
Doctor! Oh, there you are. 

The Established Dandy : 
Sarah? 

Sarah-Jane Smith : 
Sarah? Of course I am. 
What are you talking about? 
Listen, why did you leave me for so long? 
And what was that scream? 

The Established Dandy : 
They were just phantoms from The Past. 

Sarah-Jane Smith :
 Yes, well, I'm in The Present and I'm Real. 

The Established Dandy : 
Yes. Yeah, you're real enough. 
Come on. 

(They head off in the other direction.)

[Dark Tower corridor]


Tegan : 
Do you feel weird, Doctor? 

Old Grandfather : 
Full of strange fears and 
terrible forebodings? 

Tegan : 
That's it. 

Old Grandfather : 
No, as a matter of fact, I don't. It's all illusion, child. 
We're close to the domain of Rassilon,
 whose mind is reaching out to attack us. 
Just ignore it, as I do. 

Tegan : 
How? 

Old Grandfather : 
Fear itself is largely an illusion. 
And at my age, there's little left to fear. 
Hmm. No, there's nothing here to harm us. 

(The Master comes down a staircase behind them and follows.)




[Dark Tower staircase]

(The Second Doctor and the Brigadier are coming up some stairs.) 

The Brig : 
I don't like it, Doctor. I feel rather unwell. 
Touch of nausea, I think. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
What you feel is Fear, Brigadier, 
projecting from the mind of Rassilon. 

The Brig : 
Fear? 

(A woman screams nearby.) 

WOMAN [OC]: 
Doctor, Help Me! 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
No. It may be A Trap. 
I'll go and see. You wait here. 

The Brig : 
Certainly not. 
I'm coming with you. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
Oh, very well, but don't get in the way. 

(Another scream.)

[Dark Tower corridor]


The Cosmic Hobo : 
Take this. 

(He gives the torch to the Brigadier. The scream is close by.) 

The Brig : 
What was that? 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
We'll go and see.
 
(The Brigadier hooks the torch on a nearby sconce and they walk up to the corner.) 

The Brig : 
Good grief! 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
Jamie! Zoe!

 Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
Stay back, Doctor. 



The Cosmic Hobo : 
Why, what's happening? 

Zoe Herriot's Ghost : 
Don't come any closer. 
There's a force field. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
A force field? We'll soon see about that.
 
Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
No, don't, Doctor. If the force field 
is disturbed, it'll destroy us. 

Zoe Herriot's Ghost : 
You must go back. 

The Brig : 
Well, Doctor, what are we going to do? 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
Get them out of it.
 
Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
No, no, please don't, Doctor. 

Zoe Herriot's Ghost : 
Oh, go back. Save Yourselves. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
I can't. I can't leave you there. 

Zoe Herriot's Ghost : 
You must. 

The Brig : 
We could find another way 
into the tomb area. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
But Zoe and Jamie would still be trapped. 

Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
The Brigadier's right -- 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
....or would they? Just a minute.... 
It's a Matter of Memory....
 
Zoe Herriot's Ghost : 
Stay away!
 
The Cosmic Hobo : 
Why? I can't harm you. 

Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
One step nearer and we're dead!
 
The Cosmic Hobo : 
You can't kill illusions. 

(The Second Doctor steps between Jamie and Zoe. Jamie's voice echoes.) 

Jamie McCrimmon's Ghost : 
No, Brigadier...! 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
You're not Real -- 
When you were returned 
to Your Own People, 
The Time Lords erased Your Memory 
of the period you spent with me --
....so How Do You Know 
Who We Are? Answer! 

(Zoe and Jamie scream and disappear in a cloud of black smoke.) 

The Brig : 
They're gone. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
Yes, yes, it's sad....

[Dark Tower staircase]


(They keep going upwards.) 

The Brig : 
I still don't like it, Doctor. 
I don't fully understand why we're here. 

The Cosmic Hobo : 
You want to get Home?
 
The Brig : 
Of course.
 
The Cosmic Hobo : 
That is why we are here. 
Have Faith, Brigadier --
Have I ever led you astray? 

The Brig : 
On many occasions. 


The Cosmic Hobo : 

Yes, well -- This will be The Exception. 

Come along.
























No comments:

Post a Comment