THE FACELESS ONES
by DAVID ELLIS and MALCOLM HULKE
first broadcast - 15th April 1967
[SCENE_BREAK]
1. MEDICAL CENTRE
(Steering and supporting the muffled figure between them, SPENCER and BLADE make their way across the Tarmac and into the main airport building. They guide their shambling charge along the corridors, up an escalator, across the main concourse and through a set of automatic glass doors marked Medical Centre. They lead their charge through the foyer and Blade unlocks a door to an inner room, which is furnished with couches and examination tables. They help the figure to sit on one of the low tables and BLADE takes off the cap and scarf, revealing the creature's head. There are no features, and except for the eyes nothing you could call a face. Nothing but a completely blank sphere, across which run pulsating veins...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
2. IMMIGRATION
(The COMMANDANT is doing his despairing best to get things sorted out.)
COMMANDANT: You're quite sure you've never met these men? They say they know you.
(POLLY, or rather the girl who looks so astonishingly like POLLY but maintains she is someone else, gives him a wide-eyed stare.)
"POLLY": But they can't know me. This is my first visit to England!
JAMIE: But Polly, it's us, me and the Doctor!
(The DOCTOR looks thoughtfully at the girl.)
DOCTOR: Would you mind telling us your name?
"POLLY": I am Michelle Leuppi from Zurich.
DOCTOR: You have a passport?
MICHELLE: Yes, of course. Here.
(She hands it over.)
MICHELLE: Have I done something wrong?
(The COMMANDANT leafs through the passport and hands it back.)
COMMANDANT: Oh no, I don't suppose there's anything for you to worry about, Miss. May I just ask what you're doing in England?
MICHELLE: I have come here to work. Look, here is my work permit.
(The COMMANDANT takes the document, studies it and then hands it back.)
COMMANDANT: Oh, yes, that's quite in order. Thank you. Excuse me.
DOCTOR: Where did you learn such excellent English?
MICHELLE: I had an English governess. Would you mind telling me what's happening?
COMMANDANT: Nothing that need concern you, miss, everything's perfectly in order. Now if you'd just like to go through there?
MICHELLE: Thank you.
(The girl goes through the barrier and begins walking away.)
JAMIE: Polly, wait!
(He tries to go through the barrier but the COMMANDANT bars his way.)
COMMANDANT: Just a minute young man.
JAMIE: But she's a friend of ours - and she saw the murder!
(The COMMANDANT snatches up the phone on the desk beside the barrier and begins to dial.)
COMMANDANT: You're going to wait here until the Superintendent of police arrives - now understand that?
DOCTOR: Ah, you're going to tell him about the dead body, very sensible.
COMMANDANT: No. I am going to tell him about you. (Into the phone.) Put me through to Superintendent Reynolds.
DOCTOR: (Whispering.) Jamie, I don't think we're very welcome here. When I say run, we run!
COMMANDANT: (Into phone.) Hello Super, Commandant. I've got a couple of illegal entrants here. Yes... Immigration Desk Number Five.
(The DOCTOR studies the situation for a moment. The COMMANDANT is talking into the phone, JENKINS is checking the last few arrivals through...)
DOCTOR: Run!
(Before anyone can stop them the Doctor and Jamie shoot past the barrier and run out of the reception area, disappearing into the crowds that throng the main concourse.)
JENKINS: Commandant!
(JENKINS is far too well trained to leave his post and go in pursuit of the Doctor and Jamie, and the COMMANDANT has no intention of chasing fugitives through his own airport. He speaks calmly into the phone.)
COMMANDANT: Situation changed. They've just made a run for it. I'll give you their description...
[SCENE_BREAK]
3. MEDICAL CENTRE
(In the medical centre, BLADE and SPENCER are going through a series of routine operations with the practised calm of those who have carried out the same tasks many times before. The blob-headed faceless creature, a sort of unfinished model of a human being, lies gasping painfully on one of the couches. On a parallel couch close by lies a body, covered with a sheet. Satisfied that all is ready, Blade pulls the sheet away. Beneath it lies MEADOWS, the Air Traffic Controller. A pretty-looking woman in a nurse's uniform comes through the doors. She is called NURSE PINTO but since she is connected with Chameleon Tours she is referred to as CHAMELEON-PINTO.)
BLADE: Quick! He's suffocating.
CHAMELEON-PINTO: (Dispassionately.) You were twenty minutes late.
(She goes to a store cupboard, unlocks it, and produces two devices that looks like large metallic arm-bands, one black and one white. The white one she hands to BLADE, the black to SPENCER. Moving with the same unhurried precision, Blade begins clamping the white band to MEADOWS's bare forearm, while SPENCER attaches the black band to the shapeless creature that lies gasping on the table. The CHAMELEON-PINTO meanwhile is wheeling a complex piece of apparatus to a position between the two tables. It looks somewhat like an X-ray machine, though its real function was very different. She begins connecting the apparatus to the black sheath on one side and the white one on the other with a network of fine electronic cables. BLADE looks down at the motionless human figure.)
BLADE: Who is he?
CHAMELEON-PINTO: Meadows - Air Traffic Control.
BLADE: Good! He may be useful to us.
(The nurse switches on the apparatus, which begins humming with power. The two figures on the tables are both affected, though very differently. The still figure of MEADOWS began jerking and twitching galvanically. But the shapeless gasping figure on the other table became calm and still. On the round blank head, the outline of features began to form. They are the features of MEADOWS...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
4. AIRPORT CONCOURSE
(With majestic dignity, two very large policemen stride through the busy airport concourse, cleaving through the sea of camera-laden Japanese tourists, Majorca-bound family parties and rucksack-bearing Australians and Scandinavians. They pass a photo-booth, noting idly the jeaned legs protruding beneath the drawn half-curtain. They are looking for a little man in strange clothes and a lad in a kilt... The policemen pass on. Inside the booth, BEN gives a sigh of relief... Proceeding on much the same assumptions that their prey wouldn't be in the concourse in full view, the policemen pass a bench on which sit two travellers their faces hidden behind newspapers. A more observant officer might have noted that one of the papers was in German, and held upside-down... This paper is lowered as the policemen passed on.)
JAMIE: They're still hunting for us, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes. We'll have to keep out of their way until we can prove our story.
JAMIE: A fine chance we have of doing that - with Polly kidding on she doesn't know us!
DOCTOR: I don't think Polly was kidding on. In fact I don't think that was Polly.
JAMIE: Of course, it was Polly! You saw her!
DOCTOR: You don't want to believe everything you see, Jamie.
(At the far end of the long concourse the two policemen have wheeled round and are on their way back. JAMIE, with a much-hunted man's awareness of the movement of enemies, has registered the change of direction.)
JAMIE: Doctor!
(They raise the spread newspapers until the two policemen have moved on.)
JAMIE: All clear, Doctor.
(But the DOCTOR isn't just hiding behind his paper, he is actually reading it.)
JAMIE: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Jamie! What was the name of that hangar?
JAMIE: Polly said... Chameleon something.
DOCTOR: Yes, Chameleon Tours.
(He folds the paper open and passes it to JAMIE.)
DOCTOR: An advertisement for Chameleon Youth Tours. "Budget Tours for young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty five."
JAMIE: What do they mean by budget?
DOCTOR: Inexpensive, cheap! This could be the bait. Do you know what a chameleon is, Jamie?
JAMIE: It's just a name, I suppose?
DOCTOR: It is the name of a small animal, a lizard that can change it's colour to merge with it's background. But it's a name that could equally be applied to people as well. People who change their personalities to suit their own ends. Budget Tours... young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Oh yes, there's something strange going on here.
BEN: Doctor! Jamie!
DOCTOR: Ben! Are you all right?
BEN: Yeah, I'm okay.
JAMIE: Well that's a relief.
BEN: What happened to you two and where's Polly?
DOCTOR: We can't talk here. We've got to find somewhere to hide. Something about passports.
BEN: I've got the very place. Come on.
[SCENE_BREAK]
5. MEDICAL CENTRE
(On one of the couches there now lies a creature that looks exactly like Air Traffic Controller MEADOWS. It wears MEADOWS's clothes, and it wears Meadows' face. On another couch the real Meadows lies motionless and drained. (The fake MEADOWS will be known as CHAMELEON-MEADOWS.) CHAMELEON-PINTO switches off the machine.)
BLADE: Is he all right?
CHAMELEON-PINTO: We'll see.
(She and BLADE take hold of the CHAMELEON-MEADOWS and sit him upright on the edge of the couch. Taking a pin from the front of her apron she jabs it into CHAMELEON-MEADOWS's hand. CHAMELEON-MEADOWS jumps. CHAMELEON-PINTO points to an optical chart on the opposite wall.)
CHAMELEON-PINTO: Read the first line!
(The creature blinks and the first line blurs and then comes clear. Inarticulate croaking sounds come from the creature's throat.)
CHAMELEON-PINTO: Vocal control.
(BLADE adjusts a dial set into the sheath on the CHAMELEON-MEADOWS arm.)
BLADE: Try that.
CHAMELEON-MEADOWS: H... X... O... A...
(At first the voice is blurred, but by the time all the letters on the chart have been read out the Chameleon is speaking in a firm, clear voice - MEADOWS's voice. CHAMELEON-PINTO steps back.)
CHAMELEON-PINTO: All complete.
(She takes a personnel file from a nearby shelf and hands it to BLADE. He opens it, studies it for a moment and then goes and stands over the CHAMELEON-MEADOWS.)
BLADE: Who are you?
CHAMELEON-MEADOWS: My name is George Meadows. I work at Air Traffic Control, Gatwick Airport.
BLADE: Where do you live?
CHAMELEON-MEADOWS: Number Ten, Sylvia Avenue.
(BLADE frowns.)
BLADE: Number Ten?
CHAMELEON-MEADOWS: Until last week, We lived at Number Thirty-Four. I've been too busy to tell the Personnel Department of the change.
(BLADE closes the file.)
BLADE: Excellent!
[SCENE_BREAK]
6. AIRPORT CONCOURSE
(Trying to look like typical travellers killing time before take-off, the DOCTOR, BEN & JAMIE stroll through the busy concourse. BEN is glancing all around, alert for policemen or security staff. His eyes fall on a little kiosk set into the side of the concourse. It is the usual sort of thing, the kind of set-up used by car-hire firms or travel agencies, a counter for the public with behind it a tiny office bright with posters and leaflets. Behind the counter a fair-haired girl is working on some papers.)
BEN: Look! There's Polly!
(BEN starts forwards, but the DOCTOR puts a hand on his arm.)
DOCTOR: Yes, look who she's working for!
(He points to the sign over the kiosk: Chameleon Tours.)
JAMIE: Chameleon Tours.
DOCTOR: Yes, leave this to me.
(He strolls over to the kiosk, and the others follow close behind him.)
DOCTOR: Polly.
MICHELLE: (Coldly.) Please go away.
DOCTOR: Now, something has happened to you, Polly. I want you to try to remember up to the time we left the hangar.
MICHELLE: I don't know what you're talking about.
DOCTOR: Now think, Polly. There were three of us in the hangar. You were showing us something. Now what was it?
MICHELLE: I tell you, I don't know what you're talking about.
DOCTOR: The hangar, Polly, The Chameleon Hangar. You said you'd seen the man who did it.
MICHELLE: I didn't see anything. I think you're mad. If I'd seen anyone shot, I'd have gone to the police...
(The girl stops talking, conscious that she has somehow betrayed herself.)
DOCTOR: Anyone shot?
MICHELLE: I... I mean murdered...
DOCTOR: I didn't say anyone was shot, or murdered, Polly.
(For the first time the girl shows some trace of emotion.)
MICHELLE: (Crying.) Look, please, will you just leave me alone.
(She turns back to her paperwork. BEN has been listening to all this in astonishment.)
BEN: What's happened to her, Doctor?
DOCTOR: I don't know. But I mean to find out. Come on, let's find that place where we can talk.
BEN: Right.
(They all walk off, the girl stares after them...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
7. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK, INNER ROOM
(There is a sectioned-off cubicle at the back of the Chameleon Tours kiosk, and BLADE sits there, watching the exchange on a monitor. When the DOCTOR and his friends move away...)
BLADE: Come in here.
(He speaks in a whisper, but on the monitor MICHELLE raises her head, hearing the words in her mind. She rises and comes into the cubicle.)
BLADE: I was going to brief you for this assignment, but there isn't any purpose, now.
MICHELLE: I have failed, then?
BLADE: Circumstances are against you. I'll make arrangements for you to leave on the next flight.
MICHELLE: Back to base?
BLADE: Yes.
MICHELLE: What about that man? He's very persistent.
(BLADE gives her one of his mirthless smiles.)
BLADE: Don't worry about him. We have ways of dealing with such people...
[SCENE_BREAK]
8. AIRPORT CONTROL ROOM
(The creature in the shape of George MEADOWS strolls casually into Air Traffic Control, taps a colleague on the shoulder and relieves him at the console. When JEAN follows him into the room a moment later, everything seems normal. The COMMANDANT has a visitor at his desk and they seem to be locked in argument. The visitor is a burly dark-suited man with a heavy moustache. In his quiet, conventional way he looks even more formidable than the COMMANDANT himself. The visitor is Detective Inspector CROSSLAND.)
CROSSLAND: Are you sure you haven't seen him, sir?
COMMANDANT: I'm quite sure! Oh Jean, this is Detective Inspector Crossland. Give him any help you can. If you'll excuse me?
CROSSLAND: Yes, of course, sir.
(As the COMMANDANT strides away, JEAN gives CROSSLAND a placating smile.)
JEAN: Well now Inspector, what can I do for you?
CROSSLAND: Well, I think I'll need a pass for a start.
JEAN: Well that's easily arranged.
(JEAN goes to her desk and begins filling out the necessary forms.)
JEAN: Anything else?
CROSSLAND: Yes, I was supposed to meet a colleague of mine here, a Detective Inspector Gascoigne.
JEAN: Yes?
CROSSLAND: Well, he was investigating a missing person off one of your charter flights. The funny thing is, he hasn't shown up!
(JEAN is filling out a pass.)
JEAN: Detective-Inspector Crossland...
(She reaches for a record form.)
JEAN: What shall I say your business is?
CROSSLAND: Investigation into Chameleon Youth Tours.
[SCENE_BREAK]
9. PHOTO MACHINE
(JAMIE is perched on an uncomfortably narrow bench inside a tiny curtained cubicle, staring into a circular glass screen. The bench wouldn't have been all that big for one, but with the DOCTOR on one side and BEN on the other, they are really jammed.)
JAMIE: What is this place?
BEN: It's a machine that takes your photograph.
JAMIE: Photograph?
BEN: Well, you see you've got...
DOCTOR: No Ben, not now. What puzzles me is this girl pretending to be Polly, yet... yet in a way, she is Polly.
BEN: Do you think she's been brainwashed?
DOCTOR: No, not in the time. Whatever happened to her happened to her in a few minutes. Look out!
(An elderly lady draws back the curtain and sees the DOCTOR, JAMIE & BEN all staring into the lens with fixed toothy grins. She gives them a shocked glare, re-draws the curtains and hurries away.)
DOCTOR: All right. Now Ben, Jamie, we've got to find out more about Chameleon Youth Tours, but the trouble is, we're not free to move around with the authorities looking for us.
BEN: Well, they're not looking for me.
DOCTOR: Well, that's true. You could investigate the hangar.
BEN: (Confidently.) Leave it to me. Now what about you?
DOCTOR: I'm going back to the Commandant and try and convince him that there's a murderer abroad.
(JAMIE looks from one to the other and decides that there was a better chance of action with BEN.)
JAMIE: Well I'll go with Ben.
DOCTOR: No, Jamie, I want you to find your way back to the Chameleon kiosk and keep an eye on Polly.
(They split up. While they are walking off and JAMIE gets himself settled we can hear the flight announcements and the crowds of a normal everyday busy International Airport.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
10. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(The girl who looks like POLLY is still shuffling paperwork at the Chameleon Tours desk. Another girl approaches, a round-faced, dark-haired girl who looks as if she might normally be a rather jolly, cheeky type. But at the moment she appears tired and worried, and her eyes look as if she's been crying. Her name is Samantha Briggs (SAMANTHA) Timidly she goes up to the counter.)
SAMANTHA: Oh! Err, are you in charge here?
(There is a faint nasal Liverpool twang to her voice. MICHELLE looks at the scruffy little figure.)
MICHELLE: Ah, yes. Can I help you?
SAMANTHA: Yes. I... I'm Samantha Briggs and I've come down from Liverpool.
MICHELLE: (Disinterested.) Oh, really?
SAMANTHA: It's about my brother, Brian Briggs -
MICHELLE: What about him?
SAMANTHA: He went on one of your tours, and now he's disappeared.
MICHELLE: I'm sorry, I don't follow.
SAMANTHA: Well, it's really very simple. I tried to get the telephone number of the hotel you sent him to, and the operator said there was no such place.
MICHELLE: Well, the operator must have been mistaken then.
(She turns away but SAMANTHA bangs the kiosk to get her attention back.)
SAMANTHA: So... I got in touch with the police and they said that Brian wasn't staying at any hotel in Rome.
MICHELLE: Well, um, perhaps he changed his mind and decided to go on a different tour then.
(SAMANTHA slaps a grubby picture postcard down on the counter.)
SAMANTHA: Well what about this then? A post-card from Brian, posted in Rome!
(The blonde girl picks up the postcard and studies it. On the front is a garish picture of the Fountain of Trevi, and the back bears a simple scrawled message of the "Wish You Were Here" variety.)
MICHELLE: Yes, that does seem odd, doesn't it. Erm, would you like me to make some enquiries, for you?
(There is a sharp edge to SAMANTHA's voice.)
SAMANTHA: Well, what do you think I've come all the way down from Liverpool for?
MICHELLE: Well - since you've put the matter with the police, why have you?
(SAMANTHA chokes back a sob.)
SAMANTHA: Police. They said that dozens of people go missing every week and they haven't got the men to go chasing after them all.
MICHELLE: I see. What did you say your brother's name was?
SAMANTHA: Brian Briggs. Would you like me to spell it for you?
MICHELLE: (Calm.) That won't be necessary, thank you. I'll see what I can find out, if you don't mind waiting.
(She turns and makes her way to the rear of the kiosk. SAMANTHA pulls a face at her retreating back.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
11. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK, INNER ROOM
(In the rear room, the girl sits at the monitor screen and touches a control on the console beneath. SPENCER's face appears.)
MICHELLE: Is Captain Blade there?
SPENCER: No.
MICHELLE: Well, I must speak with him - urgently. Enquiries about a missing passenger.
SPENCER: I'll tell him to contact you. He shouldn't be long.
(The screen goes dark.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
12. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(The girl reappears at the counter.)
MICHELLE: The gentleman I wanted to speak with wasn't available, they're trying to find him. Do you want to wait?
SAMANTHA: Well, I've got nothing else to do, have I? I'll be over there.
(Fuming, SAMANTHA marches to the nearest bench and sits down. She is dimly aware of someone else on the other end of the bench. She realises it is a pleasant-looking young man in a kilt and a roll-neck sweater. He is reading a newspaper. Fishing a handkerchief out of her pocket, SAMANTHA blows her nose hard, struggling to hold back tears of tiredness and depression.)
SAMANTHA: Oh blast!
(Beside her the young Scot lowers his paper.)
JAMIE: Is anything the matter?
(SAMANTHA gives him a tearful smile.)
SAMANTHA: Stuck up thing!
JAMIE: What?
SAMANTHA: Not you. That girl! She just couldn't care less.
JAMIE: About finding your brother.
SAMANTHA: Yes.
JAMIE: I couldn't help overhearing. Do you think something's happened to him.
SAMANTHA: Well, that's just it, I don't know. Oh, Brian can take care of himself all right, but still...
JAMIE: Aye, well I hope you're right.
SAMANTHA: What d'you mean?
JAMIE: I might just be able to help you. I can't tell you anything at the moment but later I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. I'm sure he'll know what's best.
(Abruptly the young man disappears behind his newspaper. SAMANTHA looks up and sees a policeman strolling past.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
13. AIRPORT CONTROL ROOM
(The COMMANDANT, back at his desk, is rapidly working his way through a pile of paperwork. JEAN appears at his elbow preparing to tell him that the man who is going to blow the COMMANDANT's tidy life away is here.)
JEAN: Excuse me, sir.
(The COMMANDANT mumbles a reply.)
JEAN: There's a gentleman to see you.
(There is a hint of amusement in her voice.)
COMMANDANT: Did he say what about?
JEAN: Well yes. It's about a dead body.
(A dreadful suspicion is dawning in the COMMANDANT's mind.)
COMMANDANT: Bring him in.
(JEAN goes to the door.)
JEAN: Would you come in, please?
DOCTOR: Thank you.
(A small shabby figure in a scruffy frock-coat walks into the room. Spotting the COMMANDANT, he hurries up to him with a beaming smile.)
DOCTOR: Ah, Commandant. How nice to see you again.
(The COMMANDANT shudders and picks up the phone.)
COMMANDANT: Airport Police please.
DOCTOR: At least hear what I have to say.
COMMANDANT: I've heard all I want to from you.
(The COMMANDANT listens to the phone for a moment and then snaps...)
COMMANDANT: What do you mean, they're engaged. This is the Commandant. Thank you.
DOCTOR: If you're going to speak to the police, then tell them that there's something happening in this airport that may endanger human lives.
COMMANDANT: (Into phone.) Hello police? Commandant. Would you send a couple of men down here at once please.
DOCTOR: Since I'm obviously about to be arrested may I make one last request? Listen to me for just one minute.
COMMANDANT: Not for one second. I've heard all I want to hear about burnt fibres, ray guns, disappearing people...
DOCTOR: But there was a dead body in the Chameleon Tours hangar!
JEAN: Did you say "Chameleon Tours"?
(The DOCTOR turns round, hoping he's found an ally.)
DOCTOR: Why, do you know something about it?
(JEAN looks at the COMMANDANT.)
JEAN: Well no, but the Inspector Crossland wanted to know...
COMMANDANT: All right, Jean. I'll handle this.
(He looks up relieved as two policemen hurry into the room.)
COMMANDANT: Ah, take this man away, put him under lock and key and keep him there!
(The DOCTOR backs away as the police close in. Suddenly his hand flashes into his pocket, reappearing with something round and black.)
DOCTOR: (Shouts.) One step nearer and I'll blow you all to smithereens!
(Convinced that they really are dealing with a dangerous madman the two policemen freeze. The DOCTOR backs away to the door, pausing when he reaches it.)
DOCTOR: Catch!
(...and lobs what he was holding at the COMMANDANT. The COMMANDANT, takes the catch automatically, and finds himself holding not a deadly grenade but a child's rubber ball. He looks at the door, but the DOCTOR has disappeared.)
COMMANDANT: All right, after him!
[SCENE_BREAK]
14. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK, INNER ROOM
(The girl who looks like POLLY is talking to BLADE on the monitor.)
BLADE: That's quite clear, is it? You know what to tell her?
MICHELLE: I do.
BLADE: As soon as you've got rid of the girl, close the kiosk and get on the next flight.
[SCENE_BREAK]
15. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(The girl leaves the rear cubicle, goes back to her counter and calls...)
MICHELLE: Miss Briggs.
(SAMANTHA hurries over from her bench.)
SAMANTHA: (Hopefully.) Yes. Have you found anything?
MICHELLE: Err, well yes, I have. But I'm afraid it doesn't help very much. Your brother definitely did get on our flight to Rome, but what he did when he got off the plane, I couldn't tell you.
(SAMANTHA isn't the girl to give up after all this time.)
SAMANTHA: Well, if you can't, who can?
MICHELLE: Miss Briggs, We're dealing with thousands of passengers every week. We can't keep track of every single one. If I were you, I'd go back to Liverpool. I'm sure your brother will turn up eventually. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to close this kiosk.
(She begins pulling down shutters enclosing the counter area.)
SAMANTHA: Thanks for nothing.
(She goes back to join JAMIE on their bench.)
SAMANTHA: There's something funny going on here.
JAMIE: Why?
SAMANTHA: My brother's vanished, and that lot just couldn't care less.
[SCENE_BREAK]
16. CHAMELEON TOURS' HANGAR
(BEN manages to cross the Tarmac undetected and slips cautiously inside the Chameleon Tours hangar. BEN stands in the shadows by the doorway, looking round. Suddenly he spots something new, a group of packing cases on the far side of the hangar. They are long and narrow. Coffin-shaped. He moves slowly towards them. The first lid he tries is fastened down tight. The second has not yet been fastened. BEN lifts it away, and finds himself staring down at POLLY. There is a white metal sheath on her arm. For one terrible moment he thinks she is dead. Then he realises that she is still alive - alive but somehow dormant. BEN dashes for the inner office...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
17. CHAMELEON TOURS' HANGAR, INNER OFFICE
(There is a telephone on the desk and BEN snatches it up.)
BEN: (Into phone.) Hello? What's the name of the man who's in charge of this airport? The Commandant? Right, well look, can you put me through to his office, please? All right, then Air Traffic Control but I want to speak to a friend of mine who should be with the Commandant, right now...
[SCENE_BREAK]
18. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(The DOCTOR, of course, left the COMMANDANT some little time ago and is now back at the Chameleon Tours kiosk. JAMIE jumps up eagerly as he comes into sight.)
JAMIE: Doctor, I'd like you to meet this young lady.
DOCTOR: What young lady? Where's Polly?
JAMIE: She's still inside.
(The DOCTOR gives SAMANTHA a preoccupied smile.)
DOCTOR: Ah, I shan't be a minute.
[SCENE_BREAK]
19. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK, INNER ROOM
(The kiosk is locked and shuttered but the DOCTOR's sonic screwdriver makes short work of the lock and he hurries inside.)
DOCTOR: Polly...
(It is empty. Rummaging through the drawers of the desk in the inner office he finds a pile of postcards from various foreign countries, and sheets of unused foreign stamps. The DOCTOR sits at the desk for a moment, thinking hard. There is a monitor set into the wall at eye-level. It is live, showing a general view of the crowds milling about on the concourse. There is a model aeroplane on a stand on the desk, and guided by some instinct the DOCTOR catches the tailed and pulls it gently. The model plane clicks round to a different angle and the picture on the monitor changes. Now it shows a woman in a nurse's uniform checking over equipment in a room that looks like part of some kind of medical centre. Pleased with his new toy, the Doctor clicks the plane into a new position. This time the monitor shows BEN, talking urgently into a phone. Fascinated, the Doctor leans forward. He can hear Ben's voice through some hidden speaker.)
BEN: (OOV.) But why wouldn't you listen to him? It's all true. I'm in the Chameleon Hangar now and I've just f...
(A figure appears behind BEN holding a small metallic device. He points it at the back of BEN's neck and suddenly BEN freezes.)
DOCTOR: Ben!
(Frantically he fiddles with the plane, trying to establish communication.)
DOCTOR: Ben, can you hear me?
(He twiddles one of the engines of the model plane.)
DOCTOR: Ben, can you hear me?
[SCENE_BREAK]
20. CHAMELEON TOURS' HANGAR, INNER ROOM
(Hurriedly grabbing the phone from BEN's hand and slamming it down, SPENCER slips the metal device in his pocket. Suddenly a voice comes from a speaker...)
DOCTOR: (OOV.) Ben, are you all right, can you hear me? Ben! Ben! Ben, can you hear me?
(SPENCER turns and dashes back into the inner room. He looks up and sees the DOCTOR on a monitor screen. BLADE hurries through from the outer office.)
BLADE: Who is he?
(SPENCER points to the monitor screen.)
SPENCER: A friend of that Doctor on the screen.
(As they watch, the DOCTOR jumps up and hurries away.)
BLADE: Did he see what happened in there?
SPENCER: He must have done.
BLADE: Then he'll be coming here. We'd better be prepared for him. First, dispose of the body.
(BEN is just returning to life as they hurry back into the office. Snatching out the freezer gun, SPENCER restores him to immobility. BLADE hurries to a corner of the hangar and comes back with a wheelchair. Putting down the pen device, SPENCER helps BLADE to lift BEN's frozen body into the chair.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
21. IMMIGRATION
(Detective Inspector CROSSLAND has reached JENKINS at Immigration Desk Number Five by now and is showing him a picture of an average-looking pleasant-faced young man.)
JENKINS: Who is he?
CROSSLAND: His name's Brian Briggs. Supposed to have come through here about a week ago, on holiday.
JENKINS: Thousands of people come through here a week.
CROSSLAND: Aye, well it was just a chance.
(Putting the picture away, CROSSLAND produces another one, a portrait of an older man.)
CROSSLAND: Do you remember that man?
(To CROSSLAND's surprise JENKINS replies instantly.)
JENKINS: Oh yes, I remember him. He had a pass. But I can't remember his name.
CROSSLAND: He's a colleague of mine, Detective Inspector Gascoigne. Now when did he come back?
JENKINS: I couldn't tell you. There are so many faces. There was a bit of bother this morning, he could have slipped through then.
CROSSLAND: What sort of bother?
JENKINS: Two people without passports, who told some sort of story about a body in a hangar.
CROSSLAND: What happened?
JENKINS: Ah, it was all a hoax. These two men they ran away. The airport police are still looking for them!
CROSSLAND: Can you describe them to me?
JENKINS: One was a scruffy-looking man, medium-height, wearing a frock-coat, the other was a Scots boy dressed in a kilt!
CROSSLAND: Oh, shouldn't be too hard to find.
[SCENE_BREAK]
22. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(JAMIE is getting worried. The DOCTOR has shot out of the kiosk locking it behind him, and told JAMIE to wait where he was, keeping an eye on the kiosk, until they came back. SAMANTHA looks at JAMIE's face and sees the worry.)
SAMANTHA: Hey, you think we should go after your friend? He's been gone about ten minutes now.
JAMIE: No, he said half a hour. Now, we'll do what he said.
SAMANTHA: Hey, he is a right weirdy, isn't he?
JAMIE: No! I wish I had his brains.
SAMANTHA: You're all right as you are.
(...and she moves a little closer on the bench. JAMIE looks a little alarmed. An efficient-looking young woman marches up to the kiosk, unlocks the door and takes down the shutters. She goes inside and switches on the lights.)
TANNOY: Chameleon Youth Tours announce the departure of their flight Number Four-One-Three to Zurich. Will all passengers please assemble in the departure lounge. Chameleon Youth Tours ann...
SAMANTHA: Hey, look, they've opened up that kiosk now.
JAMIE: Aye, and where's Polly?
TANNOY: ...Will all passengers please assemble in the departure lounge.
[SCENE_BREAK]
23. CHAMELEON TOURS' HANGAR, INNER OFFICE
(The DOCTOR has reached the Chameleon Tours hangar undetected and is busily searching the apparently deserted office. He finds nothing at all suspicious - until he glances at the desk and spots the metallic pen-like device with which BEN's assailant had frozen him. The DOCTOR reaches out and picks it up, examining it thoughtfully. He sits at the desk where BEN had been sitting when he was frozen. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction BEN's attacker had appeared from and found himself staring at a section of office wall covered by bookcases. The DOCTOR studies the wall for a moment.)
DOCTOR: Packing cases!
(He hurries out into the hangar.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
24. CHAMELEON TOURS' KIOSK
(By now a sizeable crowd of teenagers has assembled round the Chameleon Tours kiosk. ANN DAVIDSON, the young lady behind the desk speaks to them and starts passing out stamped postcards and ballpoint pens.)
ANN DAVIDSON: I'm quite sure the first thing you want to do when you get to Switzerland is write home to your parents... (Mock groans from her audience.) But in case you don't have time, Chameleon Tours have some postcards of Zurich ready for you to write here. When you've finished your postcards, give them back to me and we'll post them for you in Zurich.
(With a bit of good humoured muttering and grumbling the teenagers begins writing their cards. One of them comes to sit on the bench next to SAMANTHA and JAMIE. Before he can start writing, SAMANTHA leans forwards.)
SAMANTHA: Eh, do you mind?
PASSENGER: No, go ahead.
(She plucks the card from his fingers and shows it to JAMIE.)
SAMANTHA: Look! A postcard of Zurich, stamped with a Swiss stamp, all ready to post.
(She hands the postcard back with a dazzling smile.)
JAMIE: Well?
(SAMANTHA jabs him in the ribs.)
SAMANTHA: Oh, you're a right one, aren't you. Don't you see. This could explain the card I got from Brian. It was posted in Rome, but that doesn't mean to say that he posted it!
(JAMIE stands up.)
JAMIE: Oh I see. We'd better tell the Doctor about this! Er, how long's he been gone?
SAMANTHA: Err, about half a hour, now.
JAMIE: Right, I'll go and find him.
(SAMANTHA jumps up too.)
SAMANTHA: I'll come with you.
(They start to move away, but suddenly a burly man with a heavy moustache is blocking their way. He is looking at JAMIE.)
CROSSLAND: Just a minute, son. I want a word with you.
[SCENE_BREAK]
25. CHAMELEON TOURS' HANGAR
(Using a screwdriver as an improvised wrench, the DOCTOR is struggling to get the lid off one of the packing cases, unaware that his activities are being watched on a monitor by SPENCER in the secret room. He gets the lid off the case at last and finds himself looking at a body covered in a sheet. He pulls the sheet from the face and examines the features of a middle-aged man, who looks vaguely familiar. (It is, in fact, MEADOWS, whom the DOCTOR glimpsed briefly in Air Traffic Control.) Suddenly the DOCTOR hears a voice - a blurred distorted voice that sounds very like BEN.)
VOICE: (OOV.) Somebody, help me... please... I'm suffocating...
(The DOCTOR moves cautiously back towards the inner office. He moves into the office and the voice comes again.)
VOICE: (OOV.) Quickly, somebody help me please... I'm suffocating... Help me, please!
(The DOCTOR looks round puzzled. He heard the voice quite loudly, but there is no one there. Suddenly he spots a panel sliding shut, high in the wall. A panel that had covered a loudspeaker. As the panel shuts, another one slides open, revealing a nozzle. White vapour begins hissing from the nozzle, and the DOCTOR whirls round and dashes for the door. But it is already shutting in his face. He shoves at it, but it is locked fast. The DOCTOR turns back to the nozzle. Curious to the last, he holds out his hand to test the vapour. It is icy cold. As the DOCTOR snatches back his hand the room is already starting to spin around him. Shuddering convulsively, the DOCTOR slides to the ground...)
Plan: A: Polly; Q: Who has apparently forgotten the Doctor, Ben and Jamie? A: Chameleon Tours; Q: What company do the Doctor, Ben and Jamie investigate? Summary: With Polly having apparently forgotten them, the Doctor, Ben and Jamie decide to carry out their own investigation of Chameleon Tours.