THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD
PART NINE (TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS)
Run time: 24:56
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Trial room
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Inquisitor: We are all aware of your feelings of sorrow, Doctor. Has the recess given you sufficient time to overcome the distress of your bereavement?
The Doctor: I doubt that there will ever be sufficient time for that, my lady.
Valeyard: May we not proceed, my lady? The cavalier manner in which the Doctor permitted his young companion to be destroyed militates against this charade of concern.
Inquisitor: The Doctor is fighting for his life, Valeyard. However, I do take your point. Doctor, are you ready to present your evidence?
The Doctor: Yes. Yes, I am grateful to you, madam, for according me the same privilege as the Valeyard that allowed me access to the Matrix. My excursion will be into the future.
Valeyard: The future? Is it going to be the Doctor's defence that he improves?
The Doctor: Precisely.
Valeyard: This I must see.
The Doctor: My submission concerns a crisis which threatens the lives not only of a group of people confined together with no means of escape, but would, if unresolved, threaten every mortal being on the planet Earth.
Inquisitor: Proceed.
The Doctor: Mogar, a planet on the Perseus arm of the Milky Way.
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Space
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The Doctor (O.C.): Rich in rare metals. A top priority consignment of these precious metals is being loaded aboard Hyperion Three, an intergalactic liner that ferries between Mogar and Earth. A scheduled flight in the Earth year two thousand nine hundred and eighty six.
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Lounge
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The Doctor (O.C.): The crew is aboard. The last passengers are reporting in. Many will never complete the journey, for, in order to protect a secret hidden on the space liner, one will become a murderer.
Lasky: Am I expected to trust my life for millions of millions of miles to a bunch of incompetents who can't even get my luggage aboard without losing it?
Janet: Your luggage, Professor? It's not in your cabin?
Lasky: Really, do I have to repeat myself?
Janet: I'm sure we can sort it out.
Rudge: Problems, Janet? Let me help.
Lasky: And who are you?
Rudge: Security Officer Rudge, Professor. Now, which cabin did you go to?
Lasky: You're asking, and you're the Security Officer? Cabin six, where else?
Rudge: May I see your key, please?
Rudge: Ah, no. The other way round, I think. You are in cabin nine, and that is where you will find your luggage, Professor.
Lasky: Let's hope so.
Janet: You're in cabin six, Mister Grenville.
Grenville: Thank you.
Rudge: Mister Grenville, Security Officer Rudge. If you have any problems...
Kimber: Mister Hallett, how pleasant. At least one face not belonging to a stranger.
Grenville: I'm sorry, I think you must be mistaken.
Kimber: Oh, surely not. We met three years ago on Stella Stora. You came to investigate shortages in the granary.
Grenville: My name is Grenville, and I've never been to Stella Stora. You're obviously confusing me with someone else.
Rudge: Maybe the gentleman has a doppelganger.
Kimber: But I could have sworn. Even the voice is the same.
Bruchner: An investigator?
Lasky: Bruchner, go and check the safety measures for the Isolation room, immediately.
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Cargo hold
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Guard: That's the final batch. Get your men ashore.
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Trial room
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Valeyard: An objection.
Inquisitor: Relevant, I hope.
Valeyard: Completely. When, may we ask, is the Doctor going to embroil himself in this saga?
The Doctor: Now I object. Am I not to be protected from the prosecutor's insinuations? On what evidence does he conclude that I embroil myself?
Inquisitor: None. I shall ignore his terminology. But I do confess I share his curiosity.
The Doctor: I fail to see why you're so curious, madam. Surely you must know where my TARDIS is?
Valeyard: Obscurity is a recognised tactic for subterfuge.
The Doctor: And posing unnecessary questions in order to score cheap points is the tactic of a prosecutor who has no case. You have been monitoring my TARDIS. You claim it's been bugged with a listening device. So you tell the court where my TARDIS is.
Inquisitor: I require you to respond to the challenge, Valeyard.
Valeyard: It has entered the sector the Hyperion Three is traversing.
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Bridge
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Computer: Hyperion flight one one three is now in progress.
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TARDIS
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Mel: Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five...
Mel & Doctor: Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty, thirty one, thirty two, thirty three, thirty four...
The Doctor: Thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight...
Mel & Doctor: Thirty nine, forty.
Mel: This will wake you up.
The Doctor: Carrot juice?
Mel: It'll do you good. Honestly, carrots are full of vitamin A.
The Doctor: Mel, have you studied my ears lately?
Mel: It's your waistline I'm concerned about.
The Doctor: No, no, seriously, though. Is it my imagination or have they started to grow longer?
Mel: Listen, when I start to call you Neddy, then you can worry. Drink up.
The Doctor: You'll worry sooner when I start to bray.
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Corridor
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Janet: Perhaps when you've unpacked, you'd like to join the other passengers in the lounge for refreshments.
Janet: You startled me.
Janet: You haven't got your translator switched on, sir.
Atza: Why did we not depart on schedule?
Janet: We were delayed for a late arrival. A gentleman from your planet, as a matter of fact.
Atza: A Mogarian?
Janet: Yes, sir.
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Communications room
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Janet: Anything interesting?
Edwardes: Maybe. Unidentified craft. I've tried all the standard frequencies.
Janet: Without response?
Edwardes: Not a bleep.
Janet: Perhaps it's a piece of space flotsam.
Edwardes: You make delicious coffee, Janet.
Janet: Oh, well, if you don't want the benefit of my advice.
Edwardes: Let's try you on hyper-frequency.
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TARDIS
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Mel: Sixty nine, seventy, seventy one, seventy two...
The Doctor: Quickly, Mel, press the red button. Get the message on the screen. Press it. Press it!
Mel: I have. You said red.
The Doctor: Did I? Must be the carrot juice making me colour blind.
Mel: Colour blind?
Mel: Cryptic.
The Doctor: Unsigned.
Mel: Mayday call? We have to respond.
The Doctor: Practically on our doorstep.
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Cargo hold
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Mel: Come on, Doctor. Come on, hurry.
The Doctor: How I keep up with you is a constant source of amazement to me.
Mel: No one sends a mayday call unless it's a matter of life and death.
The Doctor: Yes. Let's exercise the grey cells for once, shall we, rather than the muscles.
The Doctor: That was no ordinary mayday call. It was beamed specifically at the TARDIS.
Mel: So it's from someone who knows you.
The Doctor: In which case, why wasn't it signed?
Mel: Panic? Desperation. Well, we won't find out by hanging about in here, will we?
The Doctor: We won't go blundering into a trap, either.
Mel: I've never seen this side of you before. You're usually the one who goes charging in regardless.
The Doctor: Can't you sense it, Mel?
Mel: Sense what?
The Doctor: Evil. There's evil in this place.
The Doctor: I've got a better idea. Let's go to Pyro Shika, a fascinating planet...
Mel: Doctor!
Mel: Doctor.
The Doctor: So much for your enthusiasm. Let me do the talking.
The Doctor: Now listen, my man, I can explain. We're...
Guard: Shut up. Move.
The Doctor: I said I can explain.
Guard: And I said move.
The Doctor: He did, didn't he.
Mel: You certainly talked us out of trouble there.
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Bridge
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Rudge: You never heard anything?
Edwardes: Not a sound.
Rudge: Nor saw anything?
Edwardes: I've already told you.
Rudge: No one's blaming you, laddie, but I thought perhaps now that your head is clearer.
Edwardes: I was concentrating on the unidentified craft.
Rudge: From which you failed to get a response.
Travers: Mister Edwardes, what about the security tape?
Edwardes: Deactivated, sir.
Travers: Which indicates knowledge of our procedures.
Rudge: Just my thoughts too, Commodore.
Travers: I'm sure. How about the rest of the equipment?
Edwardes: In perfect order, sir.
Travers: That leaves only one objective your assailant could have had.
Rudge: To send a message.
Travers: I was trying not to state the obvious, Mister Rudge. That'll do. Report to the medic before returning to duty.
Edwardes: Thank you, sir.
The Doctor: Will you please stop poking that contraption into my spine.
Guard: We heard a noise in the cargo hold, Mister Rudge, and found these two.
The Doctor: Is it? Yes, it is. Captain Tonker Travers.
Travers: Commodore.
The Doctor: Oh.
Travers: Of all the places in this infinite universe, you have to turn up on my ship.
The Doctor: Commodore? That means this is a grade one security craft.
Rudge: Yes, and I should like to know how you got here.
Travers: Don't bother, Rudge. I know how. What I don't know is why.
The Doctor: But didn't you send the mayday call?
Travers: Me?
Mel: We had to respond.
Edwardes: That's true, sir.
Travers: I am fully conversant with the navigational code, Mister Edwardes. I thought you were reporting to the medic.
Edwardes: Yes, sir.
Travers: I authorised no mayday signal. My Communications officer is attacked and then you appear.
Mel: And a fat lot of thanks we've got for our pains.
Travers: If I seem to lack gratitude, young woman...
The Doctor: Melanie. Known as Mel.
Travers: It is because on the previous occasion that the Doctor's path crossed mine, I found myself involved in a web of mayhem and intrigue.
The Doctor: Ah, saved your ship, though, Commodore.
Travers: Yes, you did, though whether it would have been at risk without your intervention is another matter.
Mel: Whatever happened in the past doesn't alter the fact that a mayday call was sent.
The Doctor: Not by you, though, Commodore, so let's make this hail and farewell, shall we?
Travers: Stand easy, Doctor. You're not leaving.
The Doctor: We're not?
Travers: I'd rather have you where I can see you than swanning around outside. Conduct them to the lounge. Consider yourself restricted to passenger quarters.
Mel: In other words, welcome aboard.
Rudge: Stowaways. I could have done without that on my final service report.
Travers: If you're expecting an easy ride on your last voyage, Mister, I'm afraid you're not going to get it.
Rudge: I think you're being a mite unfair, sir.
Travers: Am I? Well, don't be too diligent in policing the Doctor.
Rudge: Can I have clarification of that instruction, sir.
Travers: Give him enough rope and he will snare our culprit for us.
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Lounge
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The Doctor: Far cry from the carefree life of Pease Pottage, eh, Mel?
Mel: I'm not complaining. You're really worried, aren't you?
The Doctor: I can't rid myself of the feeling I'm being used. Whoever sent that message knew me.
Mel: There's a made to measure candidate.
The Doctor: There is?
Mel: The Commodore. He's met you before.
The Doctor: He'd have said.
Mel: Would he admit he needs outside assistance?
The Doctor: Intriguing possibility, but that's all.
Mel: Look, the quickest way out of this is to solve the mystery.
The Doctor: That could also be the quickest way into trouble.
Mel: Why don't you ask for a passenger list?
The Doctor: Don't hustle me, Mel.
Mel: Who's hustling? All I'm saying is that you might recognise a name. Simple, isn't it?
The Doctor: Hmm. Meanwhile?
Mel: Meanwhile, I wander around, poke my nose into a few nooks and crannie and see if anyone tries to make contact. Remember, we were restricted to the passenger quarters. This is only the lounge.
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Corridor
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Rudge: Looking for something, miss?
Mel: I see you've a gymnasium.
Rudge: Needed on a long trip like this.
Mel: I thought I might do a bit of limbering up.
Rudge: That's the spirit. Let me take you there.
Mel: So you can keep tabs on me?
Rudge: Why would I want to do that?
Mel: This way?
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Lounge
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The Doctor: I wonder if you can help me.
Janet: I'll do my best.
The Doctor: I'd like to see a copy of the passenger list.
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Gymnasium
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Rudge: Put the headset on, Miss.
Rudge: Sorry. If you get tired of aerobics, just select another tape. They come complete with instructions and music.
Mel: Thank you.
Doland: Professor, we have a problem in the Hydroponic Centre.
Lasky: The Hydroponic Centre? What's happened?
Doland: It's been broken into.
Lasky: Get Bruchner down there. He's in the Isolation Room.
Mel: Yes? Yes, I heard, but who's speaking?
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Lounge
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Janet: You're very persuasive, Doctor, but I can't possibly...
Janet: Ah, here's the man who could give you permission.
The Doctor: No, no, no, no, don't bother.
Rudge: Permission for what?
The Doctor: Ah, it's not important. It's just a whim. I'm subject to whims, so I'm told.
Janet: The Doctor wants a passenger list.
Rudge: Why not? Indeed, the idea makes good sense.
The Doctor: Mmm. Well, if I could I could just spot a familiar name...
Rudge: We'd get our culprit, you'd bid us farewell. I should have thought of that myself, Doctor. Sign of age. I'm due to retire after this voyage.
The Doctor: No, no, all complete strangers, I'm afraid.
Rudge: Pity.
The Doctor: Thank you.
Mel: He's been in touch. He wants you to meet him in cabin six.
The Doctor: Did you see him, get a name?
Mel: No, just a message. Let's go.
The Doctor: Now, before you go rushing off, Mel, do you know what a Judas goat is?
Mel: Er, yes. It's a decoy goat that's tied to the stake to lure the tiger out into the open.
The Doctor: Getting badly mauled in the process. I think I shall refuse the role.
Mel: Then where are you going?
The Doctor: For a non-provocative stroll around the deck.
Mel: But what about cabin six?
The Doctor: Tiger trap.
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Cargo hold
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Lasky: You appalling dunderhead, Doland. Couldn't you have repaired this?
Doland: I assumed you'd want to see the damage for yourself, Professor.
Lasky: And I suppose it never penetrated your thick academic skull to check the pods.
Doland: That was the first thing I did. They're stable.
Bruchner: Professor Lasky! The Demeter seeds, they're gone.
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Cabin 6
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Mel: Hello? Anyone at home?
The Doctor: You're not supposed to be in here.
Mel: And what about you?
The Doctor: Hmm?
Mel: Going for a stroll? You just said that to put me off.
The Doctor: Well, there's no sense in putting two heads into the noose.
Mel: Ever heard of safety in numbers?
The Doctor: Hmm.
Mel: Looks like someone's been in a fight for their life.
The Doctor: Yes. The question is, did they succeed?
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Bridge
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Travers: Yes?
Rudge (O.C.): Would you come down, sir?
Travers: Where?
Rudge (O.C.): Waste disposal unit. There's been an accident.
Travers: Accident? Can't you deal with it?
Rudge (O.C.): I think you should be here, sir.
Travers: Very well. What I have done to be landed with him, I fail to comprehend. Take over.
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Corridor
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The Doctor: What is it?
Janet: Emergency in the waste disposal unit.
Mel: This way.
The Doctor: Yeah, this way.
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Waste disposal
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Travers: I see. Cut the klaxon. Accident? Why can't you use plain language, mister? Whoever's been dumped in there has been pulverised into fragments and sent floating in space, and in my book that's murder. Have you called a medic for this man?
Rudge: Of course, sir. Straight away.
Travers: Then I suggest you begin earning your salary and find out who that belongs to.
The Doctor: I may be able to help you there, Commodore.
Travers: Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.
The Doctor: If you'd rather I left it to Mister Rudge?
Mel: The passenger in cabin six sent for the Doctor. When we got there, he was gone.
Travers: Doesn't follow that he wound up in the pulveriser.
The Doctor: The room was a wreck.
Mel: And there was a single shoe, exactly the same pattern as that.
The Doctor: To be complete, the syllogism only requires its grim conclusion.
Travers: And naturally you have never met the man or know why he sent for you.
Mel: We don't even know his name.
Rudge: It was Grenville, sir. A mineralogist.
Travers: Any suggestions why a mineralogist who wanted to see you should be killed?
The Doctor: None at all.
Travers: Or why it is that every time you appear on the scene, people begin to die?
Mel: Hey, I don't care who you are, you've no right to say that to the Doctor.
The Doctor: Yes, he does, Mel. He has every right. It happens to be true.
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Lounge
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Lasky: Well?
Lasky: Never mind them. Is the Isolation Room safe?
Bruchner: Yes, the emergency was in the waste disposal unit.
Lasky: Then we can relax. Nothing to do with us.
Bruchner: That's your assessment, is it, Professor? The danger's passed?
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Gymnasium
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The Doctor: Well, that's it, then. End of the line.
Mel: What do you mean?
The Doctor: Well, our contact. Obviously he's the one who's been pulverised.
Mel: So we give up?
The Doctor: What else?
Mel: The Hydroponic Centre. I told you about the sudden panic when I was in here.
The Doctor: Irrelevant and immaterial.
Mel: What?
The Doctor: My dear Melanie, if you wish to pursue this completely arbitrary course, pray hurry along to the Hydroponic Centre and leave me to my static and solitary peregrinations.
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Trial room
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The Doctor: Hold it! Just a minute, I don't remember that.
Inquisitor: How could you remember? These events are in your future.
The Doctor: But, I reviewed that section earlier when I was preparing my defence. There have been changes. That isn't what happened. The girl, Melanie. Her information was important. I wouldn't have just ignored it. Completely uncharacteristic. And the words, misused, didn't even sound like mine.
Valeyard: What isn't completely uncharacteristic is this resort to excuses and subterfuge. To gloss over the death of Peri, the Doctor conveniently presents us with another companion.
Inquisitor: Hardly a convenience, Valeyard. These events are in the Doctor's future. He would not have met the young woman yet.
Valeyard: I stand corrected. But my assumption of why he has pursued such an arbitrary course in aborting this tale still remains.
The Doctor: Arbitrary course?
Inquisitor: Your assumption, Valeyard?
Valeyard: That she, too, is going to her death.
The Doctor: No! No, look, I'm sorry, madam, I can't explain, but I have a feeling I am being manipulated, that the evidence is being distorted.
Valeyard: Preposterous! Absolutely preposterous! Forgive me, Sagacity. The idea the Matrix could lie. No, it is we who are being manipulated.
The Doctor: No!
Valeyard: To obscure the damaging truth.
The Doctor: No, this is total fabrication.
Valeyard: The truth, Doctor! You sent your companion down the cargo hold into a situation which you described, I quote, can't you sense it, Mel? Evil. There's evil in this place.
The Doctor: No! No, this is all wrong. Every instinct of which I am capable would have made me prevent her.
Valeyard: Yet you did not.
Inquisitor: Doctor, either you continue with your submission or I must consider the evidence for the defence to be concluded.
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Cargo hold
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Edwardes: What are you doing prowling around down here?
Mel: Prowling? Why should I be prowling?
Edwardes: Because this if off-limits, and I suspect you know it.
Mel: I just wanted to have a peep at the Hydroponics Centre.
Edwardes: Any reason in particular?
Mel: I think it might tie in with that mysterious mayday call. I'm not going to touch anything. What harm could it do?
Edwardes: I'll no doubt regret this, but come on, a conducted tour only. No wandering off on your own.
Mel: Tell me, who's the woman with the dragon's voice?
Edwardes: Professor Sarah Lasky. She's an agronomist. So are her two assistants, Bruchner and Doland.
Mel: So was the Hydroponics Centre set up specially for them?
Edwardes: Yes, we had to allocate part of the hold.
Mel: Why is only low spectrum light allowed in the place?
Edwardes: Something to do with photosynthesis. Low spectrum light allows the plants to stay dormant.
Edwardes: Now, I'll go first. We don't want you breaking your neck. At least, not until...
Plan: A: the courtroom; Q: Where does the Doctor start his defense? A: the Doctor; Q: Who tells Mel that he can sense evil? A: his defense; Q: What does the Doctor start by showing the future? A: Hyperion III; Q: What spaceship is the Doctor on when he arrives in court? A: the planet Mogar; Q: Where is the Hyperion III on its way to Earth? A: rare metals; Q: What was the cargo of the Hyperion III? A: The Doctor; Q: Who shows the court that he picked up a distress signal? A: the TARDIS; Q: What did the Doctor show the court that picked up a distress signal? A: Commodore Travers; Q: Who is the Doctor brought before? Summary: Arriving back in the courtroom, the Doctor starts his defense by showing the future beginning with his arrival onboard the spaceship Hyperion III which is on it's way from the planet Mogar to Earth with a cargo of rare metals. The Doctor shows the court that the TARDIS picked up a distress signal and he responded to it. Upon arrival, the Doctor tells Mel that he can sense evil. They are then captured and brought before Commodore Travers.