The earth's crust has been penetrated and, while the Doctor and Greg try to contain the disaster, the Doctor begins to realise the planet has passed the point of no return.
INFERNO by: DON HOUGHTON 5:15pm - 5:40pm [SCENE_BREAK] 1: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL COUNTDOWN VOICE: ...minus ten seconds... (The DOCTOR runs back another way but there is another soldier.) COUNTDOWN VOICE: Nine... (He pushes back the soldiers gun and then runs into the main body of central control where STAHLMAN picks up the fallen gun...) COUNTDOWN VOICE: Eight... (...and aims it at the DOCTOR.) COUNTDOWN VOICE: Seven, six... (The DOCTOR slowly backs off.) COUNTDOWN VOICE: Five, four... (as STAHLMAN'S finger is on the trigger.) COUNTDOWN VOICE: Three, two, one...zero. We have Penetration Zero! (An enormous explosion rocks the complex and everyone is thrown to the ground. As the crashing rumbling continues, screaming technicians get to their feet and run out of central control.) DIRECTOR STAHLMAN: Don't panic! Get back to your posts! (GREG gets up but so does BENTON and holds him against a console. He has his rifle in his other hand. GREG calls over to the BRIGADE LEADER over the constant roar that now pervades the complex.) GREG SUTTON: Look, I've got a job to do here! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Never mind him! Stop those technicians! (The BRIGADE LEADER and his men run out of the room after the fleeing technicians. STAHLMAN gets to his feet and steps up to the higher level where PETRA is at a console.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Are you all right, Director? DIRECTOR STAHLMAN: Yes, yes. Check all the other systems. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Yes. (She runs off to carry out the order. The DOCTOR is the last to get up from the floor. Slightly dazed, he turns round and sees that GREG is getting into a disaster suit.) DOCTOR: You're not thinking of going in there, are you? GREG SUTTON: Don't worry, I've never seen a bore I couldn't cap yet. DOCTOR: There's never been a bore like this one! GREG SUTTON: The first thing we've gotta do is get in there and check the main valve and get the coolant reserve flowing. (He suddenly sees the DIRECTOR running towards the drill-head area without a disaster suit on.) GREG SUTTON: Stahlman! (STAHLMAN turns and looks at him through the smoke that hangs in the air. He comes back over.) GREG SUTTON: If you're thinking of going in there, you'd better put this suit on! DOCTOR: Somehow, I don't think he feels the heat as we do. (STAHLMAN gives the DOCTOR a hard, yet slightly crazed look. GREG hands the DIRECTOR a disaster suit and he walks off with it. The SECTION LEADER joins a worried PETRA at a console.) SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Can they contain the emergency from here? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: No, they'll probably go for the actual drill-head. [SCENE_BREAK] 2: EXT. COMPLEX (Another enormous explosion tears through the complex. A huge fireball shoots into the air and debris is thrown everywhere.) [SCENE_BREAK] 3: INT. DRILL-HEAD (Smoke and the green slime are pouring out of the drill-head.) [SCENE_BREAK] 4: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (GREG is now in a disaster suit with his surname on it. The DOCTOR is still wearing his.) GREG SUTTON: Come on, Doctor. (They walk towards the drill-head area and pause on the threshold.) DOCTOR: Well, here goes. (They don their hoods and walk in.) [SCENE_BREAK] 5: INT. DRILL-HEAD (Technicians lie unconscious on the ground. As the DOCTOR makes his way through the smoke to help them, GREG crosses over to a wheel valve and starts to try and turn it. Suddenly, STAHLMAN, now also in a disaster suit emerges from the smoke with an iron bar in his hand. He crosses behind GREG, raises the bar and brings it crashing down. GREG collapses. STAHLMAN pulls off his hood and starts to drag GREG towards the pipes where the green slime is emerging. Returning to the drill-head area from helping a technician to get out, the DOCTOR sees what is happening and rushes over. He grabs STAHLMAN from behind and receives an elbow in his stomach, making him collapse. The DOCTOR gets to his feet and the two men wrestle but STAHLMAN seems stronger than he should be and he easily throws the DOCTOR. When STAHLMAN pulls him to his feet, another tussle ends in the same way. STAHLMAN jumps on the DOCTOR but across the room, GREG comes round, grabs the discarded bar and pays STAHLMAN back in kind. GREG then falls, the effort having been too much. The DOCTOR gets up and helps him to his feet and then out of the area, GREG coughing in the smoky environment.) [SCENE_BREAK] 6: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (SECTION LEADER SHAW and PETRA are helping the technician that the DOCTOR rescued. PETRA sees GREG'S condition and joins the DOCTOR as he sits GREG on the steps that lead out of central control. She examines the back of GREG'S head as the DOCTOR divests himself of his hood.) GREG SUTTON: (Groans.) Ooh, what the devil hit me? DOCTOR: A piece of pipe held by Stahlman. GREG SUTTON: Stahlman hit me? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Is the Director still in there? DOCTOR: Yes. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Why didn't he come out with you? DOCTOR: I think he likes it in there. (GREG manages to get to his feet.) GREG SUTTON: The main coolant valve's seized. I can't flood the drill-head area. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: We've got to get the Director out. DOCTOR: Yes, not to mention those technicians. GREG SUTTON: Right, let's have another go. (GREG is about to get another hood when, above the ever-present rumbling, a buzzing sound is heard from the drill-head area.) GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) Oh, what the heck's going on?! (GREG runs towards the source of the noise - it is a large metallic heat-shield which is coming down, thereby sealing off the drill-head from central control.) GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) Well that's crazy! (PETRA looks at an instrument panel.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: They've closed it from the inside. Bypassed the control and locked down on manuals! [SCENE_BREAK] 7: INT. DRILL-HEAD (Within the drill-head area, STAHLMAN pulls a concussed technician towards the output pipes. He then rubs the mans face in the green slime.) [SCENE_BREAK] 8: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (Now out of his disaster suit, the DOCTOR is looking over a ticker-tape print out from the computer. His tie hangs loosely down and his collar is open against the heat which now fills the room. GREG is similar in his attire.) SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: What does it say? DOCTOR: Very little now, I'm afraid. Tell me Mr. Sutton, how thick are those walls? GREG SUTTON: Well thick enough - ferrous concrete, steel plating, asbestos sheeting - the lot. It could stand up to an atomic blast. DOCTOR: Compared to the forces that you people have unleashed, an atomic blast would be like a summer breeze! [SCENE_BREAK] 9: EXT. COMPLEX (Further smoke, fire and explosions pour out of the buildings of the complex.) [SCENE_BREAK] 10: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (The BRIGADE LEADER comes back into central control followed by SECTION LEADER SHAW.) DOCTOR: What's going on out there? BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: The technicians and staff have got away. Most of my security guards have gone with them. GREG SUTTON: Perhaps they're the sensible ones? DOCTOR: Yes, well, they'll be no better off in the long run, wherever they go. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Doctor, I'm afraid the computer's finally broken down. (The DOCTOR goes to join her while the BRIGADE LEADER speaks to SECTION LEADER SHAW at the back of the room.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: ... SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Correct. DOCTOR: (To PETRA.) Well, the heat will have fused the main circuits. I'll have a look. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Brigade Leader? (The BRIGADE LEADER comes over.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Yes, Dr. Williams? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Any news from London yet? BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Massive seismic disturbances reported throughout the country. Earth tremors reported in the midlands and as far north as Leeds. GREG SUTTON: Just what are the authorities doing? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: They've ordered an immediate evacuation of the area - except for essential personnel. The Brigade Leader is to assume executive control. GREG SUTTON: Anything else? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: No, after that the line went dead. GREG SUTTON: So they're abandoning us. They're not even going to try and seal the shaft? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: They believe that the emergency will eventually pass over. (The SECTION LEADER'S attitude and tone imply that she doesn't share the same level of confidence.) GREG SUTTON: Well, the Doctor doesn't seem to think so. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Oh, who cares what he thinks?! GREG SUTTON: I do - he talks a lot of good sense! (He looks over the edge of the computer to where the DOCTOR is trying to effect repairs at floor level.) GREG SUTTON: Doctor? DOCTOR: Yes? GREG SUTTON: Surely there must be some way of sealing the shaft? Why don't the government evacuate us all and...and blow up the whole area? DOCTOR: Too late, Mr. Sutton. You've unleashed the energies of the Earth's core. GREG SUTTON: All right, but we must cap the bore somehow? DOCTOR: No substance of this Earth is strong enough to withstand those pressures. GREG SUTTON: Okay, so what's gonna happen? BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Well Doctor, what is going to happen? (The DOCTOR considers and then tells them the truth.) DOCTOR: Well, the heat and the pressures'll continue to build up...until the Earth dissolves in a fury of expanding gasses, just as it was billions of years ago. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: How long have we got? DOCTOR: Maybe a few weeks, maybe only a few days. (The group initially receive the news in a stunned silence. As if in confirmation, the continuing explosions outside echo through the room.) GREG SUTTON: So it's doomsday? We just sit back and wait for it? (Before GREG can answer, BROMLEY, still undergoing his transformation, enters the room. He stands and snarls at the occupants. They dive for cover on the other side of the computer console. The BRIGADE LEADER unholsters his pistol.) DOCTOR: No, don't go near him, Brigadier! Don't go near him! He's probably more interested in getting to the drill-head than he is in us. (BROMLEY slowly comes down the steps into central control, snarling and stalking the BRIGADE LEADER. Totally disregarding the DOCTOR'S advice, LETHBRIDGE STEWART stands between BROMLEY and the passage to the drill-head. As the effected technician comes nearer, the BRIGADE LEADER starts to pump bullets into him. BROMLEY roars and staggers as each bullet hits but, like the rest of his kind, there is no further effect on him. As he goes past, the DOCTOR steps out behind him with a fire extinguisher in his hand. He fires it at BROMLEY'S back and the half-creature shudders and turns. He is about to go for the DOCTOR but he fires several more shots of gas from the extinguisher and BROMLEY slowly but surely falls to the floor and is still.) DOCTOR: Ah...he seems to be dead this time. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Rather surprising. DOCTOR: I wasn't just your bullets that killed him, you know? BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: The fire extinguisher? DOCTOR: Yes, the fire extinguisher. They can't stand cold. GREG SUTTON: Well, that's enough for me. There's no point in us hanging around any longer. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: If you're thinking of deserting... GREG SUTTON: (Interrupting.) Evacuating is the word! If I've only got a little time left to live, I'm going to spend it as far away from this place as I can get! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: (Firmly.) We were ordered to remain here. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: And that's exactly what we're going to do. GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) You speak for yourself! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Shouts.) You still have a job to do here, Sutton! GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) You just don't listen, do you? (He nods towards the DOCTOR.) GREG SUTTON: You heard what he said - there's nothing we can do. Is that right, Doctor? DOCTOR: Yes, I'm afraid so. GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) Well, I'm clearing out! Coming, Petra? (He and PETRA turn and walk towards the exit. The other three follow.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Shouts.) You will stay here and do your duty! GREG SUTTON: You're still loyal to your glorious republic. (Shouts.) I'd like to know what your precious dictator can do for you now! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Shouts furiously.) I will not listen to treason! DOCTOR: (Shouts.) Gentlemen, stop arguing! Just save your energy. GREG SUTTON: (Shouts.) For what?! We're all under sentence of death! Oh, come on, Petra. (He turns but PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON stands barring his way.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: I've managed to round up a few of the men, Leader. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Good. Post them outside. No one is to leave this building without my permission! (Shouts.) No one, Benton! (BENTON salutes and turns to leave to carry out the order. GREG sighs.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: Understood, Leader! GREG SUTTON: You know it's marvellous, isn't it? (Shouts.) The world's going up in flame and they're still playing at toy soldiers! (He mimics BENTON'S salute.) [SCENE_BREAK] 11: EXT. COMPLEX (BENTON comes out of the blockhouse type entrance and sees four RSF soldiers lounging on the ground.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: You lot! Fall in on the double! (The four men jump to their feet and stand in line.) [SCENE_BREAK] 12: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (GREG and PETRA are alone in central control. PETRA is still at the inspection hatch of the computer, trying to repair the machine.) GREG SUTTON: Oh, pack it in - it's no good. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: We can't be sure of that. GREG SUTTON: You heard what the Doctor said - the heat will have fused the main circuits. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: The Doctor has no control here. GREG SUTTON: You could have fooled me! DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: It's not his responsibility. GREG SUTTON: Maybe not, but he's the only one who seems to know what's going on. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr. Sutton. GREG SUTTON: Oh, I'm not getting at you, but if...if the Doctor's right, you're wasting your time. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Look, if I can get this computer working again, it might give us the solution. (She crosses to the power console.) GREG SUTTON: Still hasn't sunk in, has it? There is no solution! The whole place is gonna blow up! (PETRA flicks a switch but there is no response.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: The whole system needs re-wiring. GREG SUTTON: No one is being allowed in or out of this place - do you get the point now? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: (Sharply.) What point? GREG SUTTON: Those blokes in London know it's no use. If they thought there was any chance, this place would be crawling with experts. You'd have as much equipment as you need! DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: (Unconvincingly.) It might be on its way. GREG SUTTON: Nothing's on its way! We've been left here to die. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: (Upset.) I don't believe that! GREG SUTTON: Oh yes you do! 'Cos it's logical - they're scared to let us out of here because we'll increase the panic. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: They wouldn't just abandon us. They'll evacuate if things got too dangerous. (GREG opens his mouth to reply, thinks and then calmly answers...) GREG SUTTON: Maybe you're right. Let's hope so. (PETRA looks at him, scared.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: You really think this is the end, don't you? GREG SUTTON: It could be. (PETRA is stunned as realisation hits her.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: We're just...going to die in here. I can't take it in. (GREG embraces her.) GREG SUTTON: Oh, look, I'm sorry but there are times when it's better to face the truth. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Oh, Greg, I'm frightened! (She hugs him back.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: What can we do? GREG SUTTON: Well, the question really is - what you're gonna do? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: What do you mean? GREG SUTTON: Well, I'm gonna get out of here. I could do with some help from you. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: From me? GREG SUTTON: Well, what about it? Are you going to be a nice well-behaved little zombie or are you going to join the rebels? [SCENE_BREAK] 13: INT. BRIGADE LEADER'S OFFICE Overseas Broadcast: (The DOCTOR, SECTION LEADER SHAW and LETHBRIDGE STEWART are in the BRIGADE LEADER'S office. Next to a desk calendar that reads 23rd July is a small red transistor radio. It is broadcasting a news announcement that is heavily filled with static.) RADIO ANNOUNCER: In London today, the Minister of Energy and Resource has made a statement about the disaster at the drilling project at Eastchester. The entire operation has now been abandoned, and the area is being evacuated. There can be no doubt that the wave of earth tremors and quakes are in some way connected with the penetration of the Earth's outer crust. The leader has called a cabinet meeting... (The BRIGADE LEADER switches the radio off. SECTION LEADER SHAW paces the room.) SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Sutton was right - we ought to leave here at once! Original UK Broadcast: (The DOCTOR, SECTION LEADER SHAW and LETHBRIDGE STEWART are in the BRIGADE LEADER'S office.) SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Sutton was right - we ought to leave here at once! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: I will decide that! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: But there's nothing we can do - absolutely nothing! DOCTOR: You could help me to save a world, you know? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: You said we'd passed the point of no return. DOCTOR: Not this one, Elizabeth. The other one. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Even now, you stick to this absurd story! DOCTOR: This other world exists, Brigade Leader. It's as true as the one you know yourselves! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: And we're all somehow duplicated there? DOCTOR: Yes, you, the Brigade Leader, Stahlman, Sutton, Petra, all of you - you could save your other selves! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Save them - how? DOCTOR: With the aid of the TARDIS. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: TARDIS? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: You mean that odd-looking contraption we found in the hut? DOCTOR: Yes. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Could it take you back? DOCTOR: Yes, possibly. If I could use your nuclear reactor for power. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: But if this other world is parallel, they'll be in same situation as us? DOCTOR: Not necessarily. Work on their project is not so advanced as yours. I may be able to stop them before they penetrate the Earth's crust. (The BRIGADE LEADER stands.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Quietly.) I think we'll take another look at this...wonderful machine of yours. (They leave the office...) [SCENE_BREAK] 14: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (...passing PETRA at the power console.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Brigade Leader, for your information, all systems are breaking down. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Remain here. We shall return shortly. (The BRIGADE LEADER, SECTION LEADER and the DOCTOR walk out. GREG, at the computer inspection hatch, watches them go. He joins PETRA.) GREG SUTTON: I wonder where he's off to? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Can't we try and get out now? GREG SUTTON: Well, you heard what he said - all the exits are being guarded by a bunch of trigger-happy thugs. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: They might let us through. GREG SUTTON: And they might shoot us out of pure nervousness! (PETRA looks despondent.) GREG SUTTON: Just wait our chance. Don't worry, Petra. When the time comes, we'll get out of here...and it'll take more than a bunch of tin soldiers to stop us! [SCENE_BREAK] 15: INT. DOCTOR'S GARAGE (Having reached the hut, LETHBRIDGE STEWART and ELIZABETH SHAW look with contempt at the TARDIS console. The DOCTOR watches them. The sound of the explosions continue to reach them from outside.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: You expect us to believe that you came here in this? DOCTOR: That's right. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: But this isn't a vehicle at all. DOCTOR: No... (He crosses to the console.) DOCTOR: ...but she's a very important part of one. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: And where's the rest of it? DOCTOR: Back in the world where I came from. I, er, I removed the console to make some trial runs. (The DOCTOR presses a button. The central column starts to rise and fall. Various hums and sounds emit from the console but nothing like the usual dematerialisation sound.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Well, what's happening?! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: You said you needed a power source to make this thing work! DOCTOR: There's always a small amount of energy left in the storage unit. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: We've seen enough of this nonsense - come on. DOCTOR: You said you were going to help me! (The two RSF members head for the door.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: I said nothing of the kind! This contraption is obviously incapable of taking anyone anywhere. We shall return to central control. (The DOCTOR goes after them.) DOCTOR: If you'd only try and use the little intelligence you have... BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: I have no time for fairy stories! SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: If you could give us some proof, Doctor - a demonstration. DOCTOR: Proof? Demonstration? What do you think I am - a conjuror? Have can I give you a demonstration when I haven't got... (A thought strikes him and he looks at the console.) DOCTOR: Well now, wait a minute... BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Well? DOCTOR: If I'm to do it, I'll drain the storage unit completely. (He goes back to the console.) DOCTOR: Very well, you shall have your demonstration! (He flicks several switches. This time, the normal dematerialisation sound is heard and the DOCTOR and the console fade away. The BRIGADE LEADER and the SECTION LEADER, shocked, look round the garage as if they expect to see the DOCTOR in a different corner. The former produces his usual solution to a problem and draws his gun.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Doctor? Doctor?! (Almost instantly, the console and its operator fade back. Stunned, the two observers step up to the console, SECTION LEADER SHAW even placing her hands on it to make sure it has a reality.) DOCTOR: Well, satisfied? Or did you think it was all done with mirrors? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: What happened? Where were you? DOCTOR: Well, just a pitiful few seconds into the future. I only wish it could have been more. (He reaches for a switch. The BRIGADE LEADER still has his gun levelled.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Stay away from that! DOCTOR: Don't be a fool, man! I can't possibly go anywhere - the storage unit is completely flat. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Quietly.) If the power was connected, you could make the journey back? DOCTOR: Perhaps. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: And take others with you. DOCTOR: (Sharply.) No! No, I couldn't possibly do that. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: Why not? DOCTOR: Well, it would create a dimensional paradox. It would shatter the space/time continuum of all universes! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Quietly.) If you can save yourself - you can save us. [SCENE_BREAK] 16: EXT. COMPLEX (Although stood in line, the RSF squad are chatting to themselves against the background noise of the explosions. BENTON walks past them and watches as he hears a particularly loud rumbling and explosion. He then turns back to his troops.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: Squad! 'Shun! (The soldiers jump to attention.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: As you were! (They relax...) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: 'Shun! (...and stand to attention again.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: Stand at ease! (They do so.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: (Mutters.) Don't move. [SCENE_BREAK] 17: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (A familiar and yet strangely strangulated voice comes out of a loudspeaker.) DIRECTOR STAHLMAN: (OOV: Over tannoy.) Doctor...Williams...the... (The voice tails off into a series of guttural gasps. PETRA, at a console, jumps up, a nervous look on her face. She runs over to the loudspeaker on the wall and listens but the sound has finished. She looks round.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Greg? (There is no sign of SUTTON and PETRA is alone.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Greg? (She walks over to the still-lowered heat shield. She then calls out as she loses her nerve...) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Greg?! GREG SUTTON: (OOV.) What's up? (He comes running down a side passage.) GREG SUTTON: I was disposing of that thing's body. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: I just heard something from the intercom. GREG SUTTON: Not a chance - they're all done for in there! DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: You come and listen. (They run over to the loudspeaker but all they hear is a buzzing sound.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: I did hear something! (Suddenly, cries of pain from STAHLMAN come through the loudspeaker. A second later, the party returns from the hut.) GREG SUTTON: We've just heard something from the drill-head. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: That's impossible - they must all be dead in there. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: I tell you - we heard something! (They listen for a moment. The only sound is the rumbling and the explosions, then...) DIRECTOR STAHLMAN: (OOV: Over tannoy.) Dr. Williams! Can you hear me? Raise the heat shield! Manual controls are...jammed with the heat... (His voice again tails off into a guttural sound, almost a growl.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: The Director! DIRECTOR STAHLMAN: (OOV: Over tannoy.) Can you hear me, Dr. Williams? Let us...let us out...! (Again his voice becomes a growl...) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: It is the Director! We've got to do what he says and let him out of there! (She runs towards a console. The DOCTOR grabs her by the arm.) DOCTOR: You mustn't! DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: But he's alive! (She shakes him off and runs to the console.) DOCTOR: No! (He runs after her and gently but forcefully pulls her away from the console by the hands. The BRIGADE LEADER comes round the other side and takes out his ubiquitous gun.) DOCTOR: Whatever you do, don't raise that heat shield! BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: If the Director's found a solution, then we need him out here. Now stand back, Doctor! (He reluctantly does so and PETRA activates the controls. To her surprise, they work and the buzzing of the rising heat shield is heard.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: He must have unlocked the manuals! The controls are working! (The heat shield rises a few feet and then stops. The drill-head room beyond is suffused with an orange glow and smoke pours out from under the gap. The bottom of STAHLMAN, still clad in his disaster suit is revealed. PETRA manipulates more controls and STAHLMAN puts his hands under the shield and starts to push it upwards - but the hands are covered in a coarse black hair. The shield is fully pushed upwards and STAHLMAN is seen, but he is still covered by the full disaster suit - hood and all. He gasps and staggers into central control.) DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Director! (She rushes down from the higher level console towards her employer but the DOCTOR, a look of concern on his face, again runs after her and tries to stop her.) DOCTOR: No - don't go anywhere near him! Don't go near him! DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: Please help! (They stop and watch as STAHLMAN starts to slowly remove his hood. Beyond him, in the drill-head are glimpsed the moving figures of the technicians in the smoke. STAHLMAN finally wrenches his hood off. The being underneath is utterly transformed. His head and chin are covered in coarse hair, what remains of his face is green in colour with red-ringed eyes and his teeth are savage and canine like a wolf's. The people in central control are stunned with shock. What used to be STAHLMAN gestures behind him and the former technicians stagger out of the drill-head. The four of them are transformed in a similar manner and growl at their terrified observers.) [SCENE_BREAK] 18: EXT. CENTRAL CONTROL (PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON walks towards and into central control.) [SCENE_BREAK] 19: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (STAHLMAN and the primordial technicians warily watch the survivors. STAHLMAN gestures to his cohorts to come further forward but they remain back.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Why don't they attack? DOCTOR: They're acclimatising themselves. They don't want to get too far away from the heat. GREG SUTTON: Let's get out of here! (They make a dash for the main exit but at STAHLMAN'S gesture, one of the PRIMORDS scrambles forward and blocks the way.) GREG SUTTON: The other way! (They try to make a run for the exit near the power console but another PRIMORD runs forward with surprising speed.) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Now they've covered both exits. DOCTOR: We'll make a break for your office. (Suddenly, the BRIGADE LEADER roars...) BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Benton, get out! (As the PLATOON LEADER enters the room, three PRIMORDS run forward and set on him. One grabs his gun whilst the other two grab the soldier himself and start to pull him across the room watched by the horrified survivors.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: Please, no! No, no! (They pull him towards STAHLMAN who reaches out a hair-covered claw-like hand towards BENTON'S face.) PLATOON UNDER LEADER BENTON: No...no...no...no..no...! (He cries out in pain as STAHLMAN touches his face and then falls to the floor, crying out in agony. The DOCTOR uses the diversion. He pushes GREG out of the way, runs to an inspection hatch at the base of a console and wrenches out some wires within. He looks up as the heat shield to the drill-head starts to close. STAHLMAN cries out in anger as he sees the source of their heat being cut off and he and the other PRIMORDS run to the fast closing doorway.) DOCTOR: (Shouts.) Into the office! (All do as instructed expect GREG who runs towards the writhing BENTON.) DOCTOR: Leave him be! There's nothing you can do! Come on, hurry! (GREG runs after them and the DOCTOR shuts the door. A PRIMORD attempts to run after them but the loss of heat causes it to sink to the floor, stunned into inactivity. The same cannot be said for BENTON who crawls across the floor, screaming in agony. He clutches at his face and, reaching a wall, almost crawls up it. His face is now green and his eyebrows are growing more bushier. His teeth are extending. Black coarse hair appears on his hands and his cries grow guttural. More coarse hair appears on his head and face. He falls to the ground, rolling in the smoke left behind from the drill-head opening. When he rises, his teeth are canine and he has undergone a full transformation...) [SCENE_BREAK] 20: INT. BRIGADE LEADER'S OFFICE GREG SUTTON: (Shouts, to the DOCTOR.) Well, we shouldn't have just left Benton! (To LETHBRIDGE STEWART.) You don't mind sacrificing your men, do you, Brigade Leader? DOCTOR: Believe me, Mr. Sutton, there was nothing we could have done. GREG SUTTON: Well not now, there isn't. He's probably been killed by those...things! DOCTOR: Worse than that - he'll have become one of them...and the heat will accelerate the process. GREG SUTTON: Well, why did you cut them off from the drill-head? DOCTOR: To keep them away from the heat. The hotter it is, the stronger they grow. GREG SUTTON: Well, if it gets any hotter in here, they won't have to attack. We'll just shrivel up. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Well Doctor, it doesn't look as though your space craft is going to be much good to anybody now. GREG SUTTON: Space craft? DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: What are they talking about? SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: The Doctor has some sort of "device" that could get him out of here. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: Only the Doctor, of course - not the rest of us. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: He says he comes from a...parallel world. GREG SUTTON: Look, will somebody tell me what's going on? [SCENE_BREAK] 21: DIMENSION BARRIER (Back in that parallel world...) [SCENE_BREAK] 22: INT. SIR KEITH GOLD'S CAR (NIGHT) (SIR KEITH GOLD sits in the back of his chauffeur driven limousine reading a newspaper as the driver, PATTERSON, continues the journey through the night. SIR KEITH looks up from his paper.) SIR KEITH GOLD: Where are we, Patterson? I don't recognise this. PATTERSON: Different route, sir - trying to avoid the traffic. (SIR KEITH puts down his paper and tries a car phone. He taps the bridge several times.) SIR KEITH GOLD: What's the matter with this thing? PATTERSON: No idea, sir. It was working on the way up. (SIR KEITH gives up.) SIR KEITH GOLD: It took me a day's hard talking to convince the Minister. Now I can't even get in touch with the complex. PATTERSON: Are they going to slow down the drilling, sir? SIR KEITH GOLD: They're going to suspend it, pending a full review of the project. (He looks out of the window again.) SIR KEITH GOLD: Where the devil are we? It looks like the middle of nowhere. (PATTERSON doesn't reply. SIR KEITH looks at him with suspicion.) SIR KEITH GOLD: All right, Patterson, what's going on? PATTERSON: I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand. SIR KEITH GOLD: (Sharply.) Answer me, please. (PATTERSON looks troubled.) PATTERSON: Orders, sir. SIR KEITH GOLD: From whom? (PATTERSON doesn't reply.) SIR KEITH GOLD: Professor Stahlman, wasn't it? PATTERSON: Yes sir. SIR KEITH GOLD: Was I ever supposed to get back from the ministry? PATTERSON: Not if you was successful, sir. I was to drive as far off the route as I could and stage a breakdown. SIR KEITH GOLD: The man's raving mad! PATTERSON: He threatened to have me sacked, sir. SIR KEITH GOLD: Well, you realise now that I have the Minister's full authority behind me. PATTERSON: Yes sir. SIR KEITH GOLD: All right. If you can break all records getting back to the complex, I might just forget about all this. PATTERSON: Thank you, sir, I'll be very grateful. SIR KEITH GOLD: So you should be - now put your foot down. PATTERSON: Sir, I'd, er, I'd like you to know that I objected to the order, sir. (PATTERSON looks behind him at his passenger.) SIR KEITH GOLD: (Shouts.) Keep you eyes on the road! Look out! (The headlights of an approaching car fill the interior. Tyres screech as PATTERSON wrenches the wheel and puts his arm across his face for protection...) [SCENE_BREAK] 23: DIMENSION BARRIER (Back in the dying parallel world...) [SCENE_BREAK] 24: INT. CENTRAL CONTROL (...the PRIMORDS come to life as the heat increases. Growling, they stagger towards the BRIGADE LEADER'S office. STAHLMAN growls.) [SCENE_BREAK] 25: INT. BRIGADE LEADER'S OFFICE BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: (Angrily.) So, we're expected to sacrifice all our lives so as the Doctor can get back to his..."other world". SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: We haven't got any lives to sacrifice. It's only a question of time. DR. PETRA WILLIAMS: What do you think, Greg? GREG SUTTON: It's the weirdest story I've ever heard, but I'm prepared to believe the Doctor. SECTION LEADER ELIZABETH SHAW: You're outvoted, Brigade Leader. BRIGADE LEADER LETHBRIDGE STEWART: It makes very little difference as we're all trapped in here anyway. DOCTOR: Not necessarily. I do have a plan for getting us out, but it all depends on those creatures out there. (The DOCTOR looks towards one of the doors. However, the PRIMORDS have regained their strength and one of them suddenly crashes an arm through the window of the second door as they attempt to break in and attack...)
Inferno - part 5