9. Rescue
Do you remember The Doctor? Ten-part drama starring Charlie Craggs, with Jodie Whittaker.
It’s the end of the world. Terrifying static ghosts have taken over every major city on the planet. Cleo and Shawna are running for their lives, Abby is entangled with UNIT, and Madame Vastra wants them to meet her oracle – an individual with extensive knowledge of both space and time.
Credits:
Cleo Proctor - Charlie Craggs
Abby McPhail - Lois Chimimba
Shawna Thompson - Holly Quin-Ankrah
Madame Vastra - Doon Mackichan
The Floater - Alasdair Beckett-King
Captain Chopra - Ambika Mod
Jordan Proctor - Jacob Hawley
Written by David K. Barnes
Additional Writing by Juno Dawson
Produced and Directed by Ella Watts
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Sound Engineer: Paul Clark
Studio Assistant: Jacob Tombling
Sound Design: David Thomas
Additional Sound Design: Arlie Adlington
Original Composition: David Devereux
Production Co-ordinators: Sarah Sharpe and Sarah Nicholls
Script Editor: Tasha Dhanraj
Recorded at Sonica Studios, Clapham.
A 91ȱ Studios Production for 91ȱ Sounds.
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9. RESCUE
91ȱ SOUNDS STING
RECAP FROM LAST WEEK’S EPISODE…
FX: CHAIR SMASHING WINDOW
REQUIEM
I’ll admit that the drop is severe, but if you want to escape then you’re going to have to trust me with your lives.
SHAWNA
Trust you? We still can’t even see your face!
REQUIEM
I have my reasons for this veil. Your kind tend to recoil from my visage.
CLEO
Who the hell are you?
REQUIEM WHIPS OFF THE VEIL. SHAWNA AND CLEO GASP
VASTRA
My name is Madame Vastra
CLEO
That is a green face!
VASTRA
Astutely observed. The world is much bigger than your tiny mammalian brain has ever imagined. Now JUMP!
Piano tune plays as credits are read.
DOCTOR WHO REDACTED: EPISODE NINE,
By David K. Barnes
SCENE 1
EXT. POWELL ESTATE, TOP OF A BUILDING - EVENING
Powerful electronic bass plays throughout this scene as they make their escape. Loud bangs are intermittently heard throughout.
CLEO
Did you just tell me to JUMP out of a tenth storey window? Sorry spiderman, I don’t have a death wish.
FX. GHOST HURRICANE
VASTRA
USE THIS LADDER!
FX. VASTRA TOSSES THEM A LADDER
CLEO
I’m sorry?!
SHAWNA
Cleo come on!!
CLEO
WHAT is happening right now?
FX. VASTRA FIGHTING GHOSTS. WHIZZES, POPS, BANGS, STATIC ROAR.
SHAWNA
It’s this or them! Alright, this should hold us. Let’s go!
FX. SHAWNA CLAMBERING OUT OF THE WINDOW
CLEO
I’m gonna die
FX. RELCUTANTLY CLEO FOLLOWS, SLOWLY
VASTRA
(Distracted by ghostbusting)
I urge you to use HASTE Miss Proctor!
FX. GHOSTS GETTING CLOSER
CLEO
Why me?
FX. WIND BLOWING, DISTANT TRAFFIC
FX. SHAWNA CLIMBING DOWN A LADDER. LOTS OF EFFORT.
SHAWNA
(climbing, calls up) Cleo! Are you alright up there?
CLEO
(calls down to her)
I’m trying not to look down!
SHAWNA
(climbing calls up)
We’re nearly at the ground! Just don’t let go of the ladder!
CLEO
(calls down, sarcastic) Oh thank you! I never have thought of that!
FX. SHAWNA JUMPS OFF LADDER.
SHAWNA
(lands)
There! OK. Now you!
CLEO
(off)
Hold up a minute! This is harder than it looks!
SHAWNA
Didn’t you do your Duke of Edinburgh?
CLEO
(off)
Not in a skirt, I didn’t!
FX. CLEO JUMPS, LANDS.
CLEO
What about whatsername - Vastra?
FX. VASTRA LANDS HEAVILY BUT EXPERTLY NEXT TO THEM, HAVING JUMPED FROM THE WINDOW.
VASTRA
(Jumps)
Tally ho!
SHAWNA
(yell of surprise)
FX: Vastra lands.
CLEO
Oh my god.
VASTRA
You called?
FX. SHE STANDS, DUSTING HERSELF OFF.
CLEO
Did... did you just jump from a tenth storey window?
VASTRA
(matter of fact)
Yes.
SHAWNA
But that’s amazing.
VASTRA
I know. Shall we go?
FX. SHE BEGINS TO WALK AWAY.
CLEO
Wait! Where are you taking us? Why did you make The Requiem Group?
Where did all the other people go?
SHAWNA
Never mind that! She’s a freakin’ DINOSAUR.
CLEO
Oh my god. Dinosaur people
SHAWNA
Episode 4 of the podcast. Abby will never let us hear the end of this.
CLEO (CONT’D)
(To Vastra)
What’s your deal? You’re clearly not a therapist.
VASTRA
I cannot abide unnecessary exposition.
FX. GHOSTLY MURMURING FROM NOT FAR OFF.
VASTRA(CONT'D)
Also: ghosts.
CLEO
Oh god.
VASTRA
We must leave, now!
FX. GHOSTS GETTING LOUDER
CLEO
You’d better have a plan, Vastra.
VASTRA
Yes. Run.
FX. THEY ALL RUN, AS THE TERRIFYING, DISTRESSING GHOST MURMURING FILLS OUR EARS. THE BASS BUILDS INTO THE NEXT SCENE.
SCENE 2
EXT. STREETS EVENING
FX. SOME PEDESTRIANS AND CARS. OUR HEROES RUNNING, UNDER:
SHAWNA
So where are we heading?
VASTRA
A safe place.
CLEO
Oh great. Definitely not a murder bunker then.
FX. CLEO’S PHONE RINGS.
SHAWNA
Who’s that?
CLEO
It’s Abz. Should I answer?
Shawna hesitates.
SHAWNA
Yeah go on. Do it.
SCENE 3
INT. UNIT HQ
FX. ABBY CALLING FROM UNIT HQ. ACTIVITY IN BACKGROUND: SOLDIERS MOVING OUT, BARKED ORDERS, GENERAL FRANTIC HUBBUB.
ABBY
Cleo, I’ve got so much to tell you - and Shawna. So first of all, there’s ghosts.
You need to be careful – look out for
anyone who’s sort of see-through.
FX. WE CAN HEAR CLEO RUNNING UNDER HER VOICE.
CLEO
(phone)
Yeah, I know. We’ve figured out a lot without UNIT. Now listen -
ABBY
Cleo, please! They’re appearing everywhere, reports all over the country. UNIT says it’s classified but I had to tell you guys -
CLEO
(on phone)
Better late than never but-
ABBY
And you can’t let them touch you! Whatever you do, stay away from them!
CLEO
(on phone)
Girl, we KNOW! Not going to lie, I really thought you’d have a bit more helpful information for us.
ABBY
What?
CAPTAIN
(OFF)
Miss MacPhail!
ABBY
Urgh...
(CALLS OFF)
I’m on the phone!
CAPTAIN
(OFF)
We’re moving out - including you!
ABBY
Oh for... yes I’m coming!
FX: ABBY WALKING QUICKLY DOWN CORRIDORS.
CLEO
(on phone)
Abby? Where are you?
ABBY
... I’m still at UNIT.
FX: ABBY PUSHES OPEN DOOR. SHE’S NOW WALKING OUT INTO THE COURTYARD ACROSS GRAVEL. BACKGROUND TROOP ACTIVITY.
ABBY(CONT'D)
Mate, things are getting really weird around here. Like, this isn’t what I expected when we started a podcast, you know what I mean-?
SCENE 4
EXT. STREETS - EVENING
FX. CLEO SLOWING TO A STOP.
VASTRA
We must keep moving.
CLEO
It’s not exactly been a holiday for me and Shawna since you left.
(sighs)
We went back to the flat I grew up in. My mum -
CAPTAIN
(phone, off) MacPhail!
ABBY
(phone, yells) I said I’m coming!
(on phone)
Sorry, sorry. What happened at the flat?
CLEO
Abby. We really need your help right now...
CAPTAIN
(phone, off)
MacPhail! For the last time-!
THE LINE GOES DEAD.
Downbeat music begins to play as the girls realise Abby isn’t there for them.
CLEO
Abby? The line’s dead.
SHAWNA
Well. I guess there’s our answer.
CLEO
(crushed) Yeah. Guess it is.
VASTRA
I must insist we proceed at once. Follow me.
CLEO
No! You want a safe place to talk? Then you follow me.
Music builds then fades into:
SCENE 5
EXT. CLEO’S FLAT - EVENING
FX. CLEO SLAMS DOOR.
VASTRA
This is a fool’s errand - there are no answers here.
FX: CLEO LOCKS THE DOOR.
VASTRA(CONT'D)
Furthermore, those locks are
useless against them.
CLEO
Yeah all right, calm down Medusa.
SHAWNA
Cleo! Rude!
VASTRA
I’m quite used to homosapiens
reacting to my face with alarm.
The stares, the whispers. Hence
the veil.
CLEO
No sorry. That was rude. I know what that’s like. I should know better. I’m sorry, I mean it.
VASTRA
I accept your apology. Now, I’d be grateful if we left this unsecured environment.
CLEO
Wait, let me leave a message for Jordan.
FX. CLEO CLATTERING ABOUT FOR PEN AND PAPER
VASTRA
Who is Jordan?
SHAWNA
Her brother. He’s missing.
VASTRA
Then this is a fruitless exercise. Your brother is not here; we must proceed with all haste.
CLEO
Yeah, well, call me crazy. But ifthe world is ending then I need my little brother to know where I am.
FX. CLEO PHONE NOTIFICATION.
VASTRA
(annoyed)
Do not answer that.
CLEO
It could be Abby.
SHAWNA
Block her ass.
MONICA
(phone)
You are coming home at some point,
aren’t you? You’re not going to be staying out all day?
CLEO
More ghosts.
SHAWNA
I don’t get it. Where are they coming from?
VASTRA
Look outside...
Shawna crosses to the window, pulls back the curtain.
SHAWNA
... Oh no. No, this is bad... There’s so many of them.
VASTRA
(worried)
Most of the city has now crossed over. At this rate, the last of us will be overwhelmed...
Slow, sad music plays faintly in the background.
SHAWNA
They’re just sort of... I don’t know, what are they doing?
VASTRA
Existing. As best they can.
CLEO
They’re not dead are they?
VASTRA
No, not dead. Trapped. Between two
planes of existence: the now, and the never-was. They are the lost. Not dead, yet scarcely living.
FX. PHONE NOTIFICATION
SHAWNA
Cleo. Don’t.
FX. CLEO PLAYS MESSAGE
JORDAN
(phone)
Hi Cleo. Got your message. Of course you can stay here, you can stay as long as you like. Don’t worry about rent, I’m not gonna charge my sister am I? Tell you what, pay me in chocolate biscuits.
Beat.
CLEO
That would have been 18 months ago.
(pained sigh)
... So that’s it then. My whole family,
ghosted.
(suddenly angry)
“They are lost” - what the Hell does
that mean?
SHAWNA
Cleo-
VASTRA
Your relatives have succumbed to
the same affliction as the others.
I am truly sorry.
CLEO
So what can we do for them?
VASTRA
Nothing. At least not yet.
CLEO
Well we can’t give up!
SHAWNA
Er, Vastra?
VASTRA
What is it?
SHAWNA
The ghosts. They’re not wandering around anymore. They’ve stopped.
(beat, scared)
And they’re looking up. At us.
VASTRA
Ah.
SHAWNA
It’s like they know something’s wrong.
VASTRA
And that is a problem.
SHAWNA
Why?
VASTRA
If you were in distress, what would you do?
SHAWNA
I’d look for help.
VASTRA
Exactly.
FX. LOW GHOSTLY MURMURS BEGIN, GETTING CLOSER.
CLEO
You mean they’re coming for us?!
VASTRA
Is there another way out of this building?
CLEO
Downstairs and out the back.
VASTRA
Then go, now, both of you. I will catch up.
SHAWNA
What? We can’t leave you! That’s bad, bad karma after you saved us.
VASTRA
I will be unencumbered without you. My species is far more agile.
SHAWNA
Wait, what are you? Seriously.
VASTRA
I am a Silurian - and yes, I like to wear dresses.
CLEO
Good for you girl!
FX. GHOST MURMURS GETTING MUCH LOUDER IN THE STREET.
VASTRA
Now quickly! I will distract the ghosts and you will run like Hell is at your heels. Are we agreed?
CLEO
How can you distract ghosts?
VASTRA
Like this.
FX. VASTRA TAKES A RUN AND - SMASH! - DIVES THROUGH THE WINDOW.
CLEO
Oh well I’m not getting my deposit back.
Electronic music is back as they make a run for it.
SHAWNA
Cleo! Unlock the door!!
CLEO
Oh yeah.
FX. UNLOCKING THE DOOR FRANTICALLY.
CLEO(CONT'D)
Downstairs... out the back... over the wall...
FX. YANKS DOOR OPEN.
CLEO(CONT'D)
... and run like Hell Shawna!
FX. FOOTSTEPS RUNNING.
SCENE 6
EXT. BUSY MAIN ROAD - EVENING
A BUSY SOUTH LONDON STREET (LIKE BRIXTON ROAD). PANIC AND CHAOS. PEOPLE RUNNING AND SCREAMING.
DRIVERS ABANDONING THEIR VEHICLES AND POLICE SIRENS.
FX. CLEO AND SHAWNA RUN UP AND HALT IN THEIR TRACKS.
FX: GHOSTS APPEARING, TOUCHING PEOPLE - WHO CRY OUT IN AGONY AND VANISH WITH A ZAPPING SOUND.
CLEO
Oh my god. Shawna, oh my god. Where have they come from? Why here, why now?
SHAWNA
The last of us will be overwhelmed - that’s what Vastra said.
CLEO
Oh my god, and then what?
SHAWNA
I don’t want to find out.
FX. A CAR SCREECHES TOWARDS THEM.
SHAWNA(CONT'D)
Cleo!!
FX. SHAWNA PULLS CLEO OUT OF THE WAY OF THE CAR, WHICH CARRIES ON AND CRASHES INTO A SHOP.
CLEO
Seriously, this is Mad Max stuff right here.
SHAWNA
Right come on, let’s make for the tube.
CLEO
What-? There’s no way the Hammersmith and City line is still running during a ghost invasion! It can barely handle a strong wind.
SHAWNA
We’re too exposed out here. If we get underground at least we can hide, we can work things out.
CLEO
And then what?!
SHAWNA
We improvise! Quick, through here!
FX. THEY DART DOWN A SIDE STREET AND KEEP RUNNING. SOUNDS OF CARNAGE CONTINUES DISTANTLY.
CLEO
Shawna! Stop
(Beat)
Abby said these ghosts were appearing everywhere, all over the country! Maybe the whole world!
SHAWNA
So?
CLEO
So what if... what if this is it? Like, the end? We always think there’s gonna be a next time, a later. But what if this really is it?
SHAWNA
I don’t know. But you’re not leaving my side for a second, you hear me?
’mDz.
FX. THEY TURN A CORNER - SLAP BANG INTO GHOSTS. THEY SKID TO A HALT; LOUD, GHOSTLY MURMURING.
CLEO
Oh come on that’s not fair!
SHAWNA
Back the way we came!
FX. THEY TURN - BUT MORE GHOSTS; CONFUSED, DISTRESSED.
INTENSE MUSIC SUDDENLY BEGINS AS THEY LOOK FOR A WAY OUT.
CLEO
We can’t! Look!
SHAWNA
They’re everywhere... (yells at the ghosts)
Keep back! Please! Can any of you hear me? Please just let us go! We can’t help you! We don’t know how!
CLEO
(yells)
We would if we could, really!
SHAWNA
(yells)
If you touch us, we’ll die alright!
FX. GHOSTS CONTINUE MOVING TOWARDS THEM.
CLEO
They’re not listening...
SHAWNA
We’re going to become like them...
CLEO
A living death...
SHAWNA
Take my hand. Close your eyes.
CLEO
(trying to believe)
No, no! We’re not going to die like this. Say it with me.
SHAWNA
(terrified) I can’t.
CLEO
(crying, yell)
Shawna, say it! We’re not going to die like this!
SHAWNA
(yell)
I wish we’d never done that bloody podcast!
FX: GHOSTS NEARLY UPON THEM, WHEN A COUPLE OF UNIT JEEPS SKID TO A HALT NEARBY.
FX: UNIT SOLDIERS JUMP OUT. CAPTAIN SPEAKS VIA MEGAPHONE.
CAPTAIN
(off, megaphone)
Please everyone remain calm!
CLEO
Shawna... Open your eyes!
SHAWNA
Why, what’s...?
CAPTAIN
(off, megaphone)
This is Captain Chopra of UNIT. I say again, this is Captain Chopra of UNIT-
ABBY
(off, megaphone)
Never mind you, pal. Cleo! Shawna! It’s me!
SHAWNA
Abby?
CLEO
Talk about cavalry...
ABBY
(off, megaphone)
We’re going to use this siren-
CAPTAIN
(off, megaphone)
Yes, thank you MacPhail. Squad, spread out.
FX. SOLDIERS FANNING OUT, UNDER.
CAPTAIN(CONT'D)
(off, megaphone)
You two - get down on the ground and cover your ears!
SHAWNA
You what?! But-
CLEO
Don’t argue, get down!
FX. A WARPED SIREN BLARES OUT
CLEO
Oh my god!
SHAWNA
Oh my days, what is that?
CLEO
Racket is what it is!
ABBY RUNS OVER TO CLEO AND SHAWNA
ABBY
Cleo! Shawna! Are yous ok?
SHAWNA
What’s that siren?
ABBY
Back at UNIT we found a frequency the ghosts seem to respond to. We don’t know why, but it seems to work. They’ll follow the truck for now.
CLEO
Dear God am I glad to see you. That, my girl, was timing.
ABBY
They’re sending everyone they’ve got.
SHAWNA
So this is you rescuing us, is it?
ABBY
Yeah. What do you reckon?
SHAWNA
Better late than never.
FX. SIREN GETTING DISTANT
More soothing music plays as they’re saved.
SHAWNA(CONT'D)
Come on. We should get to the tube station while we still can.
CLEO
No, we have to find Vastra. She’s the only one who has any idea what’s going on around here.
SHAWNA
She said she’d find us
ABBY
Vastra? Who’s Vastra?
FX. FROM A SEWER NEARBY, VASTRA’S VOICE ECHOES OUT.
VASTRA
(off, echo)
Come down here and find out!
CLEO
Vastra? ... Where are you?
VASTRA
(Off, echo) Beneath your feet!
SHAWNA
Uh... maybe she’s in the sewer?
CLEO
Oh you’re joking. Come on you’ve gotta be
joking.
FX. THE SCRAPE OF A MANHOLE COVER
VASTRA
Would you care to join me?
SHAWNA
Safer than being up here. If the ghosts don’t get us, Abby’s friends will probably shoot us by mistake.
ABBY
Shawna, do you really think -
CLEO
Oi! No fighting girls. (beat)
A sewer though. Come on!
VASTRA
(off, echoey)
I will count to ten! One, two...
CLEO
Alright, alright! When we’ve saved the world, I am having such a long bath.
Music fades into:
SCENE 7
INT. SEWER - EVENING
FX. A DANK, WET SEWER TUNNEL. CLEO, SHAWNA AND ABBY COMING DOWN LADDER. EVERYONE’S VOICES SOUND ECHOEY.
VASTRA
(echoey)
We have a long journey to make, so we will be down here for a while. A word of warning: it smells.
SHAWNA
(descending)
We kind of got that, thanks.
CLEO
Yeah, don’t want to sound ungrateful, but this is exactly as foul as I thought it’d be.
VASTRA
If you will need rescuing quite so often, you must accept the rough with the smooth. I see we have picked up another friend?
CLEO
Oh yeah sorry. Abby, meet Madame Vastra. She’s a Silurian.
ABBY
Oh. Er. Gosh. Hello. Does this mean...
SHAWNA
Yes. Episode 4.
ABBY
Told you.
Shawna chuckles.
VASTRA
Hello.
ABBY
It’s a pleasure to meet you Madame
Vastra.
VASTRA
Pleasure might be a stretch given the circumstances.
SHAWNA
Vastra, how the Hell can we beat those things up there? People are disappearing right in front of us - one touch, zap, and they’re gone.
VASTRA
And so the contagion is accelerated.
SHAWNA
Contagion? Like a virus?
CLEO
Oh my god, ew.
VASTRA
The sickness infecting our planet is indiscriminate, and the ghosts are only a symptom of it.
CLEO
Look, not being funny or anything, but how do you even know all this?
SHAWNA
Yeah, could you show your working?
VASTRA
I am merely repeating what my oracle tells me.
CLEO
Your... oracle?
VASTRA
A friend. Someone who has lived for millennia. An individual with extensive knowledge of both space and time.
CLEO
... Sorry, “space and time?” And that’s helpful, is it?
VASTRA
The calamity we face is not a physical one. As my oracle says, it is all a matter of time...
FX: SHE BEGINS TO MOVE AWAY.
VASTRA(CONT'D)
Follow me if you please.
Soft piano beigns as the girls take in this new information.
ABBY
I picked up a few things at UNIT. I read about Silurians.
VASTRA
I imagine your superiors failed to mention how they once murderered a whole colony of my people, as they lay sleeping and defenceless.
ABBY
(stunned)
They didn’t tell me that, no.
VASTRA
(a terrible beat)
It is a long walk. Shall we continue?
FX. VASTRA WALKS ON, THE OTHERS FOLLOW AT A SHORT DISTANCE.
SHAWNA
Nice one, Abby.
The piano gets louder and then quickly fades into:
INT. SEWER. LATER
FX. THEY WADE THROUGH THE TUNNELS
CLEO
So, has UNIT figured out anything else about the ghosts yet?
ABBY
They’re here and they can’t be destroyed. That’s about it...And every where’s getting a lot quieter.
CLEO
Quieter? It’s like every January sale come at once up there!
ABBY
Yeah London’s becoming abandoned. Like all the big cities. Manchester, Liverpool...
(catch in the throat) Glasgow... We don’t know where the people have gone. Mum and Craig are gone.
CLEO
Abby, those ghosts are the people.
ABBY
How can they be?
CLEO
... I heard a message, from my Mum. She said she was trapped, don’t know where.
ABBY
... Cleo, I’m sorry-
CLEO
(powering through)
What can we do about it?
ABBY
There’s nothing that UNIT can do, that’s for sure.
SHAWNA
What about your new girlfriend?
CLEO
Shawna...
ABBY
(irritated)
Osgood’s gone. It’s so weird, I can hardly remember her.
SHAWNA
That’s convenient -
ABBY
Look. I turned my back on you! I know that! Ok.
(beat, calmer) I know that.
CLEO
Abby, we don’t have time...
ABBY
No.
(Beat)
I didn’t want to be the person telling
the story any more. I wanted to be the
story. (Beat) But it wasn’t any fun without
you two.
Pause. Dripping of the sewer.
Consoling music plays as the girls are open with one another.
SHAWNA
You hurt me. You hurt Cleo.
ABBY
I know.
SHAWNA
And honestly I’m not sure I trust you.
ABBY
Fair. I’ll earn it back. Or at least
try.
SHAWNA
Cleo?
CLEO
I think you’re both idiots.
(BEAT)
But I don’t know what I’d do without
you.
VASTRA
(calling from a way off)
Any problems back there?
SHAWNA / ABBY/ CLEO
(call back)
No.
FX. AFTER A BEAT, SHAWNA WALKS ON.
SHAWNA
(walking off)
Come on.
FX. SHAWNA WALKS OFF. ABBY LEFT WITH CLEO.
CLEO
Hey, Abby?
ABBY
Hmm?
CLEO
Thanks for coming home.
Consoling music gets louder then fades into:
SCENE 8
INT. VASTRA’S DEN IN THE SEWERS
FX. VASTRA’S MAKESHIFT HOME; A WOODEN DOOR SQUEAKS OPEN. OFF, SEWER ATMOS. THEY’VE BEEN WALKING FOR SOME TIME.
VASTRA
Come in, all of you.
SHAWNA
Where are we?
VASTRA
91ȱ. Wipe your feet.
FX. THEY ENTER, WALKING ACROSS RAGGEDY CARPET ON STONE. OFF, FAINT SEWER ATMOS.
ABBY
Well... this is, er...
CLEO
Cosy. For, y’know. A sewer.
‘40s style jazz piano plays in the background, as if on a record player.
VASTRA
You need not spare my feelings. I used to own a house in the shadow of St Paul’s. There my late wife and I shared many years together... Your species have such short lives compared to mine.
A sad beat, but Vastra soldiers on.
VASTRA(CONT'D)
With the phenomena spreading
throughout the city, it felt prudent to relocate. There are no ‘ghosts’ in these sewers - except those I carry with me.
ABBY
Alright, so we’re safe down here?
VASTRA
Hardly that... You must be wondering what part you have to play in all this.
SHAWNA
Who says we have a part to play at all?
CLEO
Yeah, we’re just stumbling around trying to get through the week.
VASTRA
UNIT were sufficiently interested in you to seek your counsel. And, as it happens, so was I.
ABBY
Why?
VASTRA
I listened to your... ‘podcast’ is it? Your progress has been commendable.
CLEO
(joke)
Do you want to buy some merch babe?
ABBY
When can we meet them?
VASTRA
Who?
ABBY
Your oracle.
VASTRA
Immediately. I did promise you answers.
The record player stops.
FX. A CABINET OPENS.
VASTRA
Meet...
CLEO
Oh my god...
SHAWNA
Cleo!
ABBY
’s...
CLEO
AN ALIEN FOETUS IN A JAR!
(Beat) Finally!
ALIEN
Greetings, Earthlings.
THE ALIEN’S VOICE TRAVELS DIRECTLY INTO OUR BRAINS.
SHAWNA
This has got to be a stitch-up.
ABBY
What - who are you?
ALIEN
My race communicate telepathically, as such, we have no names, only a sense of other and a sense of self.
ABBY
Does your race have a name?
ALIEN
We have no call for one.
VASTRA
Their species exist in the transitory spaces betwixt dimensions. I call him… ‘Floater’.
CLEO LAUGHS ALOUD.
CLEO
Are you for real?!
FLOATER
What amuses you, earthling?
Pause.
CLEO
Like, you know, floater? We’re in a
sewer?
SHAWNA
What?
CLEO
Just my family then, OK.
FLOATER
My race exists in the psychic realm: the realm of thoughts and ideas. For millennia we have watched your kind, the ways you have evolved, your rise and descent. Sometimes we cross the veil between the worlds.
ABBY
You can cross into our reality? Area 51, Roswell?
FLOATER
Yes.
VASTRA
I met one before, many centuries ago.
They spoke to me, told me how to sustain
them in the tank until they were able to
return.
CLEO
(In awe)
An alien foetus in a jar...
FLOATER
I am 6 thousand years old.
CLEO
Really old alien foetus in a jar...
FLOATER
I can survive in your world quite well,
but the reverse is not true. Our realm
will not support human life for long.
SHAWNA
The ghosts?
FLOATER
Will perish unless you find the Doctor.
ABBY
The Doctor? Who’s that?
CLEO
Ugh Abby. The Doctor? Blue Box?
Makeover queen?
VASTRA
You have heard of the Doctor many times,
if only you could remember.
FLOATER
A time-traveller stood out on the primitive
planet known as Earth.
CLEO
(Under breath)
Primitive. At least we’re dressed in the
morning.
FLOATER
Time and again they appeared. Come and go,
go and comeagain to save the day. An alien
tothis planet in their craft, their TARDIS
CLEO
The blue box?
VASTRA
Once a symbol of hope, it is now quite the
opposite. Time is out of joint. The world
hangs by a thread.
FLOATER
My race saw it all. The mistake. The Doctor’s great error.
ABBY
What did they do?
FX: RUMBLING, LIKE GROUND IS SHAKING.
SHAWNA
What is that?
CLEO
Earthquake in London. What the hell?
Solemn music faintly in the background.
VASTRA
Areas of London are falling into the
Redaction. Within hours, the whole city
will be lost, then the country, then the
world.
FLOATER
It’s not just here. All the peoples and
all the planets graced by the Doctor.
SHAWNA
What?
VASTRA
Were it not for the longevity of my species,
I too would have faded already.
ABBY
And you’re saying... the Doctor did this?
FLOATER
Oh yes.
CLEO
How?
ABBY
But what can we do?
VASTRA
Whatever their reason, and however they did it, the Doctor has unravelled reality itself. If left unchecked, their own hubris will wreak devastation on a scale never witnessed before
in the universe.
SHAWNA
Ri-i-ight. So where do the three of us
come in then?
VASTRA
You? Why, you are going to stop it from
happening, of course.
SHAWNA
What?
CLEO
What?
ABBY
Hang on a minute-!
VASTRA
We cannot ‘hang on!’ I fear I am not
long for this world - but you still
have time to act!
FLOATER
You must locate the Doctor. They will not
be far.
VASTRA
The Doctor is drawn to catastrophe like a
moth to a flame.
SHAWNA
So what do we do when we find them?
CLEO
Yeah, we can’t just say “Would you mind
not destroying the universe?”
FLOATER
You misunderstand your mission. The
Doctor is the cause of all this chaos.
VASTRA
Which means our only option is... (anguish)
I dare not say the words...
SHAWNA
Well someone has to. What?
CLEO
Yeah come on Vastra?
FLOATER
The only remaining course of action is
to remove the Doctor.
SHAWNA
Remove?
ABBY
You want us to kill them?
VASTRA
We need you to kill them.
CLEO
Oh, do you know what, that’s it. I’ve had enough of this. Girls, let’s bounce.
FX. CLEO MAKES TO LEAVE.
ABBY
(seemingly cuts her off) We can’t murder
someone!
SHAWNA
Vastra, you are mad if you think -
CLEO
Don’t feed the trolls, just leave-
VASTRA
My task was to find those who saw the danger, but had never met the Doctor. In short, to find you. You are the only people with a chance of carrying out this act before you disappear yourselves!
FLOATER
The Doctor is the black hole into which all human life is being pulled. You must find and kill the Doctor.
FX: EVERYONE’S VOICES BECOME GLITCHY APART FROM CLEO.
CLEO
(feeling odd) Abby...
ABBY
We’re not going to kill anyone no matter what they’ve done, so you’d better think of something else!
CLEO
Shawna, babe I’m feeling pretty weird.
SHAWNA
Come on Abby let’s go!
CLEO
Guys? What’s...
FX. THE WORLD IS DISAPPEARING AROUND CLEO, THE VOICES OF THE OTHERS GETTING DISTANT UNTIL NOTHING.
CLEO
Shawna - Abby! ... can you even hear me?...
VASTRA
I would not ask unless it were imperative. It grieves my soul.
CLEO
Please! Can you hear me?!
ABBY
But look at us! We’re not killers!
CLEO
Stop talking! Vastra, what’s
happening - please!
SHAWNA
She just works for them.
CLEO
I need someone to hear me! Hello!
Why can’t you hear me!
(realising)
It’s got me, hasn’t it? ...
Oh my god, it’s got me.
VASTRA
I admit it will not be easy.
I have seen the Doctor stand
alone against the armies of
whole galaxies and emerge
without a scratch.
CLEO
Oh God. Oh my God, Abby,
Shawna, don’t leave me alone.
I can’t be alone. Please, I
need you. I... I’m going...
I’m...
ABBY
We’re not going to do this -
even if we wanted to, we
wouldn’t know how. You need
another plan...
FX. THE WORLD WE KNEW HAS GONE. CLEO IS SURROUNDED BY NOTHING.
CLEO
I’m gone.
END OF EPISODE.
No music, just eerie sounds reflecting Cleo on her own in the darkness.
CREDITS Doctor Who Redacted: Episode Nine, by David K. Barnes.CREDITSStarring: Charlie Craggs, Lois Chimimba, Holly Quin-Ankrah, Doon Mackichan, Ambika Mod and Alasdair Beckett-King. Directed and produced by Ella Watts.Sound design by David Thomas and Arlie Adlington. Original composition by David Devereux.A 91ȱ Studios production.Eerie music fades into silence.Podcast
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Doctor Who: Redacted
The return of the audio drama series, set in the worlds of Doctor Who.