THE SEEDS OF DOOM
BY ROBERT BANKS STEWART
PART SIX
6:45pm - 7:10pm
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: Laser, quick. Let him have it. Fire!
[SCENE_BREAK]
HENDERSON: The Major!
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: And another. Fire!
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: The other door. Come on!
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: Hit it square in the chest. Fire! Fire! Fire!
BERESFORD: Come on, out.
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: We've got to find Chase before he has another attack of megalomania. Krynoid on the outside, a madman lurking inside, not a happy situation.
SARAH: Do you think he's counting on the Krynoid sparing him, if, well, if he sacrifices us?
HENDERSON: Well, Major Beresford did do his best, even if it was like using a peashooter
DOCTOR: Shush, shush, shush. I think we've been wrong about Chase up till now.
HENDERSON: What are you on about?
DOCTOR: Will you just shut up a minute, please? You said Chase went outside and actually took photographs of the Krynoid, and came in apparently unharmed. Unharmed?
SARAH: You mean he's actually infected?
DOCTOR: Or possessed.
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: Come on, quick, come on!
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: You and Henderson take that corridor. Sarah and I will go this way.
[SCENE_BREAK]
CHASE: Filth.
[SCENE_BREAK]
SARAH: (quietly) Doctor, maybe he's not in the house.
DOCTOR: I doubt that.
HENDERSON: Doctor, there's creeper breaking through into the corridor.
DOCTOR: Where's Scorby?
HENDERSON: He's back in the main lab.
DOCTOR: Come on, let's join him there.
[SCENE_BREAK]
THACKERAY: What happened?
BERESFORD: We've had to pull back. The laser's hopeless against it.
THACKERAY: And you haven't made contact with the Doctor?
BERESFORD: No, not yet, but I'm going to try and get through with a couple of men.
[SCENE_BREAK]
SCORBY: It's like we're under siege.
HENDERSON: Here, do your best. I'll go and see if I can get some more timber.
DOCTOR: Yes, you go and do that.
SCORBY: It's trying its luck on the east wing now. I still say we make a break for it.
DOCTOR: Oh Scorby, just think about what we're up against. Everything that grows in the ground is your enemy. You wouldn't get far.
SCORBY: So what are we supposed to do? Wait here until the Krynoid reduces this place to rubble?
SARAH: Don't be so negative. Major Beresford's going to come up with something.
SCORBY: Oh yeah. That laser gun was useless, wasn't it. Look, I've never relied on anybody, just myself. I've always got myself out of trouble. Africa, the Middle East, you name it. I've not been a mercenary for nothing. I'm a survivor, right?
DOCTOR: Hmm? Scorby, bullets and bombs aren't the answer to everything.
SCORBY: What are we going to do?
SARAH: Oh, just shut up, will you? We're all in the same boat.
SCORBY: And where's your precious Beresford? I suppose he's dropped everything and run, has he?
DOCTOR: No more than you would, Scorby.
SARAH: (looking out of the window.) It's coming back this way, Doctor. Any hope yet?
DOCTOR: Oh yes. Chase didn't do any irreparable damage. I think I can fix this.
SARAH: Well done.
SCORBY: Oh yeah. Well done Doctor. Why are you bothering? It's obvious your army friends have scarpered. I'd have done the same if I'd been out there. We're as dead as mutton, you realise? RIP. It's ridiculous, isn't it.
DOCTOR: Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Scorby. It'll become a habit.
DOCTOR: No, Scorby, don't! Don't go, Scorby, you won't make it!
SARAH: What's that?
DOCTOR: Probably the plants have got into the humidity system.
SARAH: Well, that means the water could boil up and blow suddenly.
DOCTOR: It's possible.
SARAH: Oh, great. That's all we need. A scalding shower.
DOCTOR: Ah. Henderson. Sergeant Henderson?
SARAH: He's not back yet.
DOCTOR: You go and get him.
SARAH: Right.
DOCTOR: Tell him I need Beresford's wavelength.
[SCENE_BREAK]
SARAH: Sergeant? Sergeant? Sergeant?
[SCENE_BREAK]
SARAH: Sergeant? Sergeant?
CHASE: The sergeant's no longer with us. He's in the garden. He's part of the garden.
SARAH: That's very clever of you.
CHASE: Don't humour me, Miss Smith. We're helping the plant world, the sergeant and I. In different ways, of course. I've become part of a life that I've always admired for its beauty, colours, sensitivity. I have the Krynoid to thank, as it thanks me for its opportunity to exist here on Earth. Soon the Krynoids will dominate everywhere, and your foul species will disappear.
SARAH: And you'll all flower happily ever after.
CHASE: You and your kind are nothing but parasites. You're dependant upon us for the air you breathe and the food you eat. We have only one use for you.
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: This is Scorpio section. I say again, this is Scorpio section. Are you receiving me? Over.
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: Hello, Beresford, this is the Doctor. I can hear you. Over.
BERESFORD (OOV.): Great. What's your situation, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Desperate. We're trapped. What action are you taking against the Krynoid?
BERESFORD (OOV.): The laser had no effect. Frankly, we're stuck for an answer.
DOCTOR: Listen, Beresford. By my reckoning you've got about before the Krynoid reaches the point of primary germination.
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: What's he mean?
THACKERAY: Give me that. Doctor, Thackeray here. What do you mean by primary germination?
DOCTOR (OOV.): I mean the Krynoid is about to eject hundreds of embryo pods. The whole planet will be doomed.
THACKERAY: How can we stop it?
DOCTOR (OOV.): There's only one way, Sir Colin. A low level attack by aircraft with high explosives.
THACKERAY: But that'll mean destroying the house too. What about you and the others?
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: Never mind us. Order that attack, it's your only chance. Out.
[SCENE_BREAK]
RAF (OOV.): I'll be with you in figures three minutes. Over.
BERESFORD: Roger, Red Leader. Out.
BERESFORD: Well, the planes are on their way. Three minutes.
THACKERAY: Is there no way we can get them out?
BERESFORD: Not a chance.
[SCENE_BREAK]
DOCTOR: Quick, Sarah, the button. The button!
SARAH: I can't
DOCTOR: Sarah, I tried to save him. He was trying to pull me in.
[SCENE_BREAK]
BERESFORD: That was a sighting run. Scorpio section to Red Leader. Over.
RAF (OOV.): Red Leader section. We see your target. We're turning to attack now. Over.
BERESFORD: Understood. Good luck. Out.
THACKERAY: Still no sign of the Doctor.
BERESFORD: Afraid not.
RAF (OOV.): ... again. Let's turn it into chop suey.
[SCENE_BREAK]
SARAH: Where do we go? We've a Krynoid outside, steam inside, bombs overhead.
DOCTOR: Steam. Steam!
DOCTOR: Stand by that door, Sarah.
SARAH: Right.
DOCTOR: When I say. Come on, come on.
DOCTOR: Now!
DOCTOR: Come on!
[SCENE_BREAK]
THACKERAY: Well, Doctor, do you think we've heard the last of the Krynoid?
DOCTOR: Sir Colin, the Intergalactic Floral Society, of which quite naturally I'm the President, finds Krynoids a difficult subject to study. Their researchers tend to disappear.
SARAH: Hmm, I can imagine. A case of one veg and no meat.
THACKERAY: Very neat, Miss Smith.
SARAH: Sorry about that.
THACKERAY: And talking of societies, Doctor, the Royal Horticultural Society's got wind of this affair. They'd rather like you to address one of their meetings.
DOCTOR: Really? When?
THACKERAY: I think they suggested the fifteenth.
DOCTOR: Fifteenth, fifteenth. No, impossible. I'm fully booked for the next two centuries, but any time after that.
THACKERAY: Doctor, I don't know when you're being serious.
SARAH: I know just how you feel, Sir Colin.
DOCTOR: Have you ever heard of Cassiopeia?
SARAH: Animal, vegetable or mineral?
DOCTOR: It's a good place for a holiday. We need a break. Come on.
SARAH: Oh, great!
DOCTOR: Sir Colin, do you fancy a little excursion?
THACKERAY: I'd be delighted, but my wife's expecting me home for tea.
[SCENE_BREAK]
SARAH: Ah, this isn't Cassiopeia.
DOCTOR: It's Antarctica.
SARAH: We're back where we started!
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: We won't get a suntan here.
DOCTOR: No.
SARAH: You forgot to cancel the coordinate programme, didn't you.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SARAH: Shall we try again?
DOCTOR: Yes. Just a minute.
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: Have we been here before, or
BOTH: Are we yet to come?
Plan: A: Chase; Q: Who is under Krynoid control? A: The Doctor; Q: Who suspects possession of Chase? A: the bigger picture; Q: What did the Doctor consider when he ordered the mansion bombed? Summary: Chase is obviously under Krynoid control. The Doctor suspects possession but, with the mountainous Krynoid nearing maturity and whacking the mansion to pieces, he concerns himself with the bigger picture and orders the mansion - with Sarah and him still inside - to be bombed.