PLANET OF THE DALEKS
BY: TERRY NATION
5:50pm - 6:15pm
[SCENE_BREAK]
1: EXT. JUNGLE
(The DALEK is now fully revealed. The DOCTOR finishes spraying it and passes his canister back to CODAL. He then gives the still casing a shake...)
DOCTOR: Motive power - nil...
(...waves a finger in front of the eye-stalk...)
DOCTOR: Total loss of vision...
(...looks round the midriff of the creature...)
DOCTOR: Sensor plates not functioning...
(...and gives the gun stick a few pushes.)
DOCTOR: ...and weaponry deactivated.
TARON: You seem to know a good deal about Daleks?
DOCTOR: Yes, well I've had cause to.
(He taps the DALEK.)
DOCTOR: This one's something new. I've never come across Daleks that have mastered invisibility before.
VABER: They haven't mastered it - not completely.
CODAL: As far as we can tell, they can only stay invisible for very short periods.
TARON: Even so, it gives them quite an advantage.
DOCTOR: Yes, a terrifying advantage. Have you any idea how they do it?
TARON: Codal's our scientist.
CODAL: They discovered it by studying the Spiridons. It's an anti-reflecting lightwave. Their problem is that to create the energy required, they have to generate fantastic power, so they can't sustain it for very long.
DOCTOR: I see.
CODAL: I'd like to investigate a bit further.
(He puts his hands on the slats beneath the dome.)
CODAL: Let's lift off the top so that...
DOCTOR: No, don't do that! No, most Daleks have an automatic distress call. Even when they're deactivated, the transmitter may keep functioning.
(TARON looks at CODAL who removes his hands.)
TARON: Thank you...Doctor.
(The two men smile an understanding at each other.)
TARON: Let's go.
(The DOCTOR nods and lets TARON lead the way off through the jungle.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
2: EXT. JUNGLE. SPACECRAFT LANDSITE SITE
(In the Thal ship...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
3: INT. SPACECRAFT
(JO comes to on the floor of the cabin. She struggles up, gasping. Catching sight of her arm, she gasps and covers it from her own sight with her jacket. Weakened, she gets to her feet. She spots the log recorder and slumps into a chair. She starts to record...)
JO: My hand and...my hand my arm are...infected by...by something I can't describe. It's spreading rapidly...and my hand is...already...quite numb.
[SCENE_BREAK]
4: EXT. JUNGLE
(The group cautiously make their way through the undergrowth with TARON still in the lead followed by CODAL, the DOCTOR and VABER bringing up the rear. TARON halts.)
TARON: You wait here, Doctor. Codal and I will scout ahead. We won't be long.
(TARON and the young scientist move off. The DOCTOR sits on a rock.)
DOCTOR: Taron seems very cautious?
VABER: Too cautious. Things would be different if Miro was still alive.
DOCTOR: Oh? Who is Miro.
VABER: Expedition commander. He was killed when we landed.
DOCTOR: Oh, I'm sorry. And Taron, who's he?
VABER: (Sneering.) Spacecraft doctor - next in seniority so he took command. And a fine mess he's making of it.
DOCTOR: Oh, do you think so? I thought he seemed to be doing rather well.
VABER: Do you? Three more dead? Nothing achieved? Nothing even planned. He'll go on being cautious until we're all killed.
DOCTOR: Well, what do you think he should do?
VABER: Oh, we've got explosives - and weapons. We could attack the Dalek laboratory and wipe them all out.
DOCTOR: How many Daleks are there - do you know?
VABER: Well, as far as I know, there's not more than twelve - just a scientific group, here to try and learn the technique of invisibility. One determined attack and we could destroy them all!
(VABER sits on another rock.)
DOCTOR: Tell me about these creatures that live here - the Spiridons? Are they invisible at all times?
VABER: As far as I know.
DOCTOR: They working with the Daleks?
(Both men fail to spot a tentacle-like object moving towards VABER through some long grass next to him.)
VABER: I imagine they've been, er, token subjugated - the usual Dalek technique of rule by terror.
DOCTOR: Mass exterminations followed by absolute suppression of the survivors - I know.
VABER: I hate all this waiting round. I wish he'd get back and we could get started.
(The tentacle slithers nearer...)
[SCENE_BREAK]
5: EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE JUNGLE
(Further off, TARON and CODAL scout further. TARON suddenly crouches behind the cover of some bushes and CODAL, without asking, does the same. They watch through a gap in the undergrowth as three DALEKS glide past and off into the trees.)
TARON: (Quietly.) Probably going out to recover the one we found.
CODAL: (Quietly.) That's a pity.
(TARON looks in another direction to the one just taken by the three DALEKS.)
TARON: (Whispers.) Let's check out the area in that direction, then get back to the others.
CODAL: (Quietly.) Yeah.
(They move off.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
6: EXT. JUNGLE
(The tentacle has made further progress through the undergrowth towards VABER. Meanwhile, DOCTOR'S attention has been caught by two of the plants next to him whose bulbs follow movement. He waves his hand in front of one of them and watches it as VABER checks his gun.)
DOCTOR: Fascinating.
VABER: The eye-plants?
DOCTOR: Mmm.
VABER: They've come in very useful.
DOCTOR: Oh, how?
(The DOCTOR makes the other plant move.)
VABER: They get very agitated whenever an invisible Spiridon comes near them. It's given us a...well, a kind of early-warning system.
(The DOCTOR is intent of looking at the eye-plants. Suddenly, he hears VABER cry out. He looks up and sees that the tentacle has moved with incredible swiftness and has wrapped itself round the body of the young Thal, pulling him to the ground.)
DOCTOR: Vaber!
(The DOCTOR tries pulling the tentacle off but it hangs onto its victim like a boa constrictor.)
VABER: Get my knife!
(The DOCTOR reaches into a holder on VABER'S belt.)
DOCTOR: Right, hang on! Just hang on!
(He takes the knife out.)
DOCTOR: I got it!
(VABER'S hand is clutching onto the tentacle where the DOCTOR needs to cut it.)
DOCTOR: Quickly - your hand. Let go! Let it go! Let it go.)
(The DOCTOR cuts into the tentacle. An animal scream of pain screeches out but VABER is freed as TARON and CODAL run up.)
TARON: What happened?
DOCTOR: Oh, it's alright. Nothing much. Just some sort of tentacle trying to make a breakfast of our friend here.
(VABER staggers to his feet.)
TARON: Vaber?
VABER: (Gasping.) Alright...
TARON: Are you sure?
VABER: (Snaps.) I said I'm alright!
(VABER holds up his hand for his knife which the DOCTOR still holds.)
VABER: (Gratefully.) Thanks, Doctor.
DOCTOR: My pleasure. Made an interesting little object lesson.
VABER: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, just that it shows the...the need for continued caution, I think?
VABER: (Riled.) You think I don't know that? I have been here rather longer than you have. The danger's not going to scare me into doing nothing!
(He looks pointedly at TARON.)
TARON: Vaber...
DOCTOR: There's a considerable difference between courage and reckless stupidity, you know!
VABER: If I have to die, I want it to be for a better reason than providing nourishment for a flesh-eating tentacle!
CODAL: The eye-plants are moving.
(The bulbs of the plants that the DOCTOR was investigating swing round.)
TARON: (Whispers urgently.) It's a Spiridon patrol! Quick - over there!
(The four rush off.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
7: EXT. JUNGLE. SPACECRAFT LANDSITE SITE
(JO, her jacket still slung over her infected arm, staggers out of the Thal ship. Very weak, she tries a few steps but falls into the soil, dropping the TARDIS log as she does so. She looks up as she hears the hoarse breathing of the invisible creature that investigated the ship. She manages to get to her feet and makes it back into the ship as some of the bushes start to move.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
8: INT. SPACECRAFT
(Inside, JO soon collapses again, much weakened now.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
9: EXT. JUNGLE. SPACECRAFT LANDSITE SITE
(The bushes move more, and then the door to the Thal ship and the structure moves slightly as the Spiridon steps onto the threshold of the ship and towards a recumbent JO.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
10: EXT. JUNGLE
(Bushes are also moving near to where the DOCTOR is crouched down with the Thals.)
TARON: (Whispers urgently.) They're coming closer!
DOCTOR: Unless they change direction, they're bound to find us.
VABER: Why wait? We're well armed - let's attack now!
TARON: Don't be stupid. There could be dozens of them.
(The movement of the bushes gets nearer and nearer.)
CODAL: I'll try and lead them off.
(Without waiting for a response from the others, he suddenly gets up and rushes off in a direction away from his companions. Within seconds, the bushes behind him start to thrash about as the Spiridons follow.)
TARON: Codal's given us a chance. Let's not waste it!
(They move off.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
11: EXT. ANOTHER PART OF THE JUNGLE
(CODAL comes to a rest. Almost immediately, his arms pinion straight behind him as the invisible pursuers catch him. He clutches onto his gun but his arm is held straight and he cannot fire. Nearby, a stick of wood rises into the air, hovers over CODAL'S head and then comes crashing down.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
12: EXT. JUNGLE. SPACECRAFT LANDSITE SITE
(The DOCTOR, TARON and VABER have made it back to the Thal ship. The DOCTOR spots the TARDIS log on the ground and picks it up.)
TARON: There's our ship. Your friend's inside.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
(VABER suddenly spots movement...)
VABER: Wait - something moving, other side of the clearing.
TARON: Where?
(He looks briefly in the direction indicated.)
TARON: Quick - get through there!
(They dash through some bushes and hide. A second later, two DALEKS glide into the clearing and see the Thal ship.)
FIRST DALEK: Primitive spacecraft of type originating on Skaro. Report discovery to command centre.
SECOND DALEK: Dalek patrol two calling command centre - we have located Thal spacecraft. Indicate course of action.
(The DOCTOR and the Thals continue to watch through the shrubbery...)
SECOND DALEK: Command centre orders the craft is to be destroyed.
FIRST DALEK: Position to fire.
(The two DALEKS glide closer.)
DOCTOR: (To TARON.) But Jo Grant's inside your ship - I've gotta do something!
TARON: There's nothing you can do.
(Meanwhile...)
FIRST DALEK: Aim...
(The DOCTOR bursts from the bushes and stands between the DALEKS and the ship.)
DOCTOR: No...wait! Wait...somebody's still in there.
FIRST DALEK: Save for interrogation. Disable.
(The DALEKS fire. As the air turns negative, the DOCTOR cries out in pain and clutches his legs. He falls to the ground, crawling like a baby.)
FIRST DALEK: Proceed as ordered.
DOCTOR: (Shouts.) No! No!
FIRST DALEK: Fire.
(The DALEKS fire and explosions and smoke pour out of the Thal ship.)
FIRST DALEK: Repeat - full power.
(They fire again at the small craft. The helpless DOCTOR looks on sadly.)
DOCTOR: Jo...
(The two DALEKS, their task completed, hover over the DOCTOR.)
FIRST DALEK: Stand...or we will exterminate you now.
(The DOCTOR painfully stumbles to his feet as the Thals watch.)
VABER: We've got to help him.
TARON: There's nothing we can do - nothing.
(The DOCTOR, his face creased with pain, is upright.)
FIRST DALEK: Walk!
(The DOCTOR manages a few steps. He casts one look back at the ship.)
FIRST DALEK: (Angrily.) Walk!
(They move off. The two remaining Thals get disconsolately to their feet.)
TARON: Let's get away from here.
[SCENE_BREAK]
13: INT. DALEK CITY. UPPER LEVEL CORRIDOR
(The DOCTOR, his legs much recovered, walks along one of the corridors of the Thal city followed by his two captors. They turn a corner and come to a halt in front of a lift door.)
FIRST DALEK: Wait.
(One of the DALEKS presses a sensor and the lift door opens.)
FIRST DALEK: Walk.
[SCENE_BREAK]
14: INT. DALEK CITY. UPPER LEVEL CORRIDOR
(The DOCTOR and the first DALEK alone enter the lift. This DALEK turns and presses another sensor inside. The door closes and the lift starts to descend past several floors as the DOCTOR looks at the DALEK in an awkward silence. The lift comes to a halt and the DALEK presses the sensor to open the door again.)
FIRST DALEK: Walk!
[SCENE_BREAK]
15: INT. DALEK CITY. LOWER LEVEL CORRIDOR
(The DOCTOR walks out of the lift into a similar looking but darker corridor. They turn a corner and another DALEK is stood outside a door.)
FIRST DALEK: Halt!
(The DALEK presses a sensor next to the door and it opens to reveal a small cell.)
FIRST DALEK: Enter.
[SCENE_BREAK]
16: INT. DALEK CITY. CELL
(The DOCTOR walks in. CODAL, his weapons belt taken from him, is sat on one of two stools but the DOCTOR at first fails to spot him.)
CODAL: Doctor!
(He gets up to greet the DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: Codal? So, they captured you too, did they?
CODAL: Where are the others - Taron and Vaber?
DOCTOR: Well, they're alright as far as I know. How are you?
CODAL: Mmm, I'm fine. Splitting headache, but...I'll survive.
DOCTOR: That's good.
(The two men sit.)
CODAL: (Nervously.) Why didn't they kill us straight away, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Ah, I expect they're saving us for interrogation. They'll want to know what we're doing on this planet. You know, what you did back there, leading the searchers away from us, was very courageous.
CODAL: I just didn't give myself time to think. If I had, I certainly wouldn't have taken the risk.
DOCTOR: Oh, I don't know. I think you're doing yourself rather an injustice there. If you hadn't acted the way you did, we'd have all been captured. They give medals for that sort of bravery.
CODAL: Bravery? I've been terrified ever since I landed on this planet. It's different for Taron and Vaber - they're professionals. They've seen action before.
DOCTOR: And do you think they're any the less brave because of that?
CODAL: They know how to deal with fear. They're used to living close to death. I'm not - I'm a scientist, not an adventurer.
DOCTOR: Well, forgive me if I'm wrong, but...aren't you a volunteer?
CODAL: Yes.
DOCTOR: Then you must have known what you were getting into?
CODAL: No. None of us did. We're not a warlike people, Doctor. We've only just developed space-flight. No one had attempted a voyage of this length before, but every man and woman from my division volunteered - over six hundred of them. You see, I didn't even have the courage to be the odd man out.
(The DOCTOR laughs.)
CODAL: What are you laughing at?
DOCTOR: Ah, you, my friend. You may be a very brilliant scientist but you have very little understanding of people, particularly yourself. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know?
CODAL: What is it then?
DOCTOR: It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway - just as you did.
CODAL: I'm not convinced...but thanks anyway.
(They smile. The DOCTOR claps his hands.)
DOCTOR: Right, well after that little tutorial on bravery, let's see if we can find a way of getting out of here.
CODAL: (Amazed.) Escape?
DOCTOR: Yes, escape. Well, let's take a look in our pockets and see if we can come up with something that might prove useful. Come on. Turn 'em out.
(The two men start to rifle through their own pockets. The first thing the DOCTOR takes out is a familiar looking object...)
DOCTOR: Hmm, sonic screwdriver...
CODAL: Battery...
(They drop their findings on the floor.)
DOCTOR: Fancy hankie...
(The next thing the DOCTOR takes out is the TARDIS log. He switches it on.)
JO: (OOV: On log.) Shortly after entering the TARDIS, the Doctor fell into a...deep coma.
(He switches it off.)
CODAL: Wasn't that the girl we met - your assistant?
DOCTOR: (Quietly.) Yes, that's right. She'd gone to fetch help for me. The Daleks...
CODAL: Took her prisoner?
DOCTOR: No, they murdered her.
(CODAL falls silent. The DOCTOR sadly switches the recorder back on and listens to JO'S voice.)
JO: (OOV: On log.) ...his respiration was very shallow...and his skin icy to the touch.
[SCENE_BREAK]
17: INT. CAVE
(But JO is not dead. She lies unconscious under a blanket of a fur, coloured several gaudy shades of purple, in a cave filled with reed like bushes that is almost out in the jungle. Above her, the invisible creature breathes hoarsely. Two primitive bowls hover over her, pouring a brown liquid from one bowl to the other. The furs start to be pulled off JO. This brings her round and she woozily sits up in alarm. Her entire forearm is now covered with the fungus. The invisible creature speaks in a breathless voice...)
WESTER: Don't be afraid. I want to help you.
(JO watches as the two bowls continue mixing.)
JO: What are you doing?
(The bowl that ends up being the receptacle for the liquid hovers over to her arm. She flinches it back.)
WESTER: You've been infected by the fungoids. This will clear it.
(The bowl turns and pours its liquid over the infection. JO looks round.)
JO: Where are we?
WESTER: A cave near the city. I found you unconscious in a spacecraft and brought you here. It was fortunate I found you in time. The machine was destroyed shortly after by the Daleks.
JO: Daleks! Daleks here?!
WESTER: You did not know?
JO: Who are you? Why did you help me? There's so much I want to ask you...and I...I don't know where to s...where to begin.
(JO starts to look sleepy.)
WESTER: All in good time. You must rest while the potion is taking effect. When you're feeling better, I'll tell you everything...I can.
(JO falls back with her eyes closed and starts to sleep.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
18: INT. DALEK CITY. CELL
(The DOCTOR runs his sonic screwdriver over the edge of the cell door.)
DOCTOR: No, that's hopeless. If there's one thing the Daleks are very good at making, and that is locks.
CODAL: Well, what now - if we can't even get the door open?
DOCTOR: Well, we'll just have to start our escape when the door's already open.
CODAL: But they'll be a Dalek standing outside.
DOCTOR: Yes, exactly. So, we're not trying to deal with a door, we're trying to deal with a Dalek.
CODAL: How?
DOCTOR: How. A very good question.
(He walks back to the stools.)
DOCTOR: How...
(He sits down and looks over their collection of objects spread over the floor.)
DOCTOR: Well, there must something here that could prove useful.
CODAL: There's nothing that I can see.
DOCTOR: (To himself.) Come on, come on! We've got to think of something.
CODAL: Well, the one thing we have got is time.
DOCTOR: On the contrary, my friend, the Daleks don't intend to let us rot down here, you know?
[SCENE_BREAK]
19: INT. DALEK CITY. CONTROL ROOM
(Several DALEKS stand and wait in a control room. It has bare bluish walls with a right-angled bank of controls to the right of the room. A DALEK glides in and up to another at the controls.)
DALEK LEADER: Report.
DALEK: Section three requests that after interrogation, prisoners should be transferred to their laboratory.
DALEK LEADER: State reasons.
DALEK: They are required for experiments of light-ray emissions on living tissue.
DALEK LEADER: Agreed. Next.
DALEK: Central control report that only two Thals are still at liberty. Their capture is expected shortly.
[SCENE_BREAK]
20: EXT. JUNGLE
(TARON and VABER take two objects out of the undergrowth. They are wrapped in clear plastic bags to protect them. They each have two fat red columns on dynamite held within a white stand with handles attached.)
TARON: Well, at least these haven't been found - that's something.
VABER: There's enough explosive here to take care of fifty Daleks, never mind twelve. Come on, Taron, we'll take a chance - rush the main entrance. If we can make it down that first tunnel, the blast from these will cave in the whole section - bury the Daleks!
TARON: And if we don't make it down that tunnel?
VABER: (Impatiently.) Oh, come on, Taron! What's the matter with you? When we came on this mission, you knew there'd be risks. Well let's start taking them!
(TARON starts to put the bombs back.)
TARON: We make our move when we have a chance of succeeding, not before.
(Behind him, VABER has had enough. He takes out his gun and points it at TARON'S back.)
VABER: Give me the explosives!
(TARON looks up. He remains calm.)
TARON: No.
VABER: Get them out! I mean it, Taron! I'll kill you if I have to!
TARON: And that's the only way you'll get them.
(VABER pulls the safety catch of his blaster back. Before he can carry out his threat there is a roar overhead. A wind howls through the patch of jungle and the area is suffused with a red glow. The two men crouch down against this sudden onslaught. It ends with a thump and several small explosions some distance off. The wind having died away, the men look up.)
TARON: What's that?
(VABER shakes his head, as puzzled as TARON who suddenly realises the cause.)
TARON: A spaceship coming in too fast.
(There is another explosion.)
TARON: Burning up...
(Their dispute temporarily forgotten, the two men move off to investigate.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
21: INT. DALEK CITY. CELL
(The DOCTOR looks over the TARDIS log and ponders.)
DOCTOR: A tiny motor with an electric power source...
(He snaps his fingers.)
DOCTOR: That's it. Yes...yes, I'll dismantle the circuitry, reverse the polarity...and convert to a low power receiver transmitter with a positive feedback.
CODAL: That's right! The Dalek's guidance system functions by means of high-frequency radio impulses.
DOCTOR: Correct, and if we can jam them...
CODAL: It should give them quite a headache.
DOCTOR: It should give them quite a brainstorm. Give me a screwdriver.
(CODAL passes him the object from the floor and the DOCTOR sets to work.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
22: INT. CAVE
(JO is awake and recovered. She looks over her arm which is now clear of the fungus.)
WESTER: All trace of the infection has gone. Your arm will be sore for a few days, but that's all.
(JO looks up to where the bowl still hovers in the air and smiles.)
JO: Thank you. I'm very grateful to you. Tell me some more about your planet?
WESTER: Before the Daleks invaded, they bombarded the planet with bacteria. Only a handful of my people survived. When the Daleks landed, we could offer no resistance. Those that were left were forced to cooperate with the Daleks.
JO: But you don't?
WESTER: No. There are a few of us, not many, who do what we can to fight back, and that's little enough.
JO: Why did the Daleks invade you? What did they want?
WESTER: To master our techniques of invisibility, and they seem very close to doing it.
JO: Is there no way of stopping them?
WESTER: They're too powerful. I had hoped the aliens from the spacecraft might help us, but there are so few of them. Two more were captured today.
JO: You've seen them?
WESTER: When they were taken to the city - a tall fair-haired man, and later, one with silver hair, also tall, wearing strange clothes.
(JO smiles in delight as she recognises the description.)
JO: The Doctor! Oh!
(She gets to her feet.)
JO: W...where is he?
WESTER: You know him?
JO: Well, yes! And I thought...
WESTER: He's imprisoned in the city.
JO: Well then we must find a way of helping him - get him out!
WESTER: There is no way. The Daleks will interrogate him, and then use him in their...experiments. He'd be better off dead.
[SCENE_BREAK]
23: EXT. JUNGLE
(TARON and VABER make their way through the trees towards the newly arrived ship. The air is filled with a gloomy smoke which causes the two men to cough.)
VABER: Something moving...
(They see a young blond Thal woman, wearing a beige ribbed spacesuit identical to their own, struggling along through the gloom, also coughing with the smoke. TARON recognises her immediately...)
TARON: Rebec! Rebec!
(He catches hold of her as she reaches them. Her face and spacesuit are covered with grime and burns. He helps her to sit.)
TARON: Are you alright?
REBEC: I think so. Our flight angle was too steep and we came in too fast. We were lucky to get out alive. All the equipment, the explosives, everything - gone.
TARON: Are you the only survivor?
REBEC: No, Maret and Latep - they're following.
(TARON looks to VABER who immediately sets off to investigate and help. TARON turns back to REBEC.)
TARON: But why did you come?
REBEC: Communications intercepted another Dalek space signal. We had to warn you.
TARON: Warn us? What about?
REBEC: Do you know the strength of the Dalek force here?
TARON: Well, it...it's no more than a dozen.
REBEC: The signal we intercepted was to Dalek Supreme Command. It stated that the force assembled on Spiridon was now complete. It gave their numbers. Well, somewhere on this planet there are ten thousand Daleks!
(TARON looks stunned.)
Plan: A: The Doctor; Q: Who is captured by the Daleks? A: Jo; Q: Who is rescued by a friendly Spridon named Wester? Summary: The Doctor is captured by the Daleks, while Jo is rescued by a friendly Spridon named Wester.