Future Days

A couple of brief plugs. The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine, has another of my Blogs of Doom. They said it wouldn’t last. Some of them demanded that it shouldn’t. But it’s still going, and some people even quite like it now. Hooray! There’s lots of other marvellous things in the magazine too, I imagine, I haven’t got my copy yet.

I do have a copy of the latest issue of The Essential Doctor Who about Adventures in the Future. For this I wrote the introductory article, giving a broad guide to the TV series’ depiction of the future. It’s a huge subject – over half of all Doctor Who stories are set in the future to an extent –  so I tried to focus on various themes; the depictions of progressive, egalitarian futures of the Troughton era, the depictions of repressive futures in the Pertwee era; depictions of the Earth’s environmental degradation; the future of humanity. Plus a couple of box outs on how the present day is ‘remembered’ in stories set in the future, and how, in the future, some things will remain the same. It was quite tricky to write – I had to hold almost the entirety of Doctor Who in my head at once, like balancing a tower of plates – with the onus very much on trying to say something new, deliver some new insights or perspectives rather than simply listing Every Story Which Does A Thing.

I’m most proud of the sentence:

Doctor Who even successfully predicted the threat of climate change due to deforestation, although, somewhat less successfully, it predicted that it would lead to a new ice age.

Anyway, copies of both magazines can be found in all good newsagents, and various supermarkets. Seek them out!

Next month will be fun, as three Big Finish things I worked on will be coming out! It never rains but it pours etc. So I shall rack my brains trying to think of fascinating things to say about them, as they ‘drop’.

Laika's Theme

Continuing with Doctor Who: The Space Race, how was it changed for the second draft? Well, there don’t seem to be many deleted scenes. Most of the changes are additions rather than deletions. I see that I was asked to remove references to Laika undergoing dissection, and this bit too:

DOCTOR

Sergeant, I’d be grateful if you could avoid killing Laika. She may still be able to help us.

ALEXEI (VIA INTERCOM)

I can’t make any promises, Doctor.

FX: MOVE TO CORRIDOR.

This is a good example of the sort of boring, unnecessary explaining-stuff-that-doesn’t-need-explaining that should get cut:

PERI

It would be easier to go in the TARDIS.

DOCTOR

If it was working. I’ve nearly finished repairing the circuit. Give me something to do on the flight.

PERI

Can’t it wait? Haven’t we got enough to deal with down here?

In the second draft I added the scene with the two maintenance workers being attacked by dogs, and then rewrote the following scene:

42C. INT. MISSION CONTROL.

ALEXEI ENTERS.

ALEXEI

General LeonovAnd by the time the guards got there, the two men had gone.

MIKHAIL

Sergeant, I’m rather busy right now, can What do you mean, ‘gone’?

ALEXEI

The dogs had dragged their bodies away, we don’t know where. I watched the whole thing on the security cameras.

PERI

And you’re sure Laika did this wait?

ALEXEI

It’s the escaped animals, sir. I’ve just had a report of them attacking one of our maintenance workers.

Oh, yes. She was leading the pack.

MIKHAIL

What do you mean, attacking?

ALEXEI

I mean, they killed him, sir. Savaged him to death. In front of his wife. Then they dragged his body away.

PERI

Laika did this?

ALEXEI

According to the wife’s description, she was leading the pack, yes.

Can’t remember why I cut the next bit. Because I was told to, I expect. Pity, I think it’s a nice little moment. It’s quite common for stories to have bits where characters think somebody is dead but where there isn’t time to explore their reaction. But, of course, it happens so often in Doctor Who that if someone got upset every time they thought the Doctor had been killed they would be upset so often it would become ridiculous.

PERI

No. I’ve thought him dead dozens of times before, and he’s always turned up, out of the blue. Usually with a bad joke.

LEONID

You were close to him?

PERI

He was... is the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. And the most infuriating.

LEONID

You loved him?

PERI

No, not like that. I love being with him. Because he makes me a better person. That’s what he does. He makes people better.

LEONID

Well, he is a Doctor.

For the scene where the Doctor encounters the alien probe, I was asked to give specific quotes of things we might hear rather than generalisations:

FX: A BRIEF BURST OF COPYRIGHT-FREERANDOM RADIO, TELEVISION AND FILM CLIPS PRECEDING 1963. SPEECHES BY RAMSAY MACDONALD, LENIN, KENNEDY, NEWSREELS AND MUSIC: JAZZ, CLASSICAL MUSIC AND EARLY ROCK’N’ROLL, CLASSICAL, HYMNS. WEDDINGS, . CROWDS AT FOOTBALL MATCHES, AUDIENCES LAUGHING AT GOONS.MIXED IN WITH:

RADIO ANNOUNCER ONE:

- Finisterre and Biscay, winds moderate. Rockall, gale warning.

RADIO ANNOUNCER TWO:

And as Maurice Leyland steps up to the wicket -

And finally, I cut the final two lines from the story. Too soppy, too corny, too on-the-nose. Ah well, you throw this stuff out there, some of it sticks, some of it doesn’t.

DOCTOR
Not just mankind. No. It’s a message to the rest of the universe. After all, you never know who might be listening....

PERI

And all because of what happened back on November the twenty-third, nineteen sixty-three.

DOCTOR

Yes. That was quite a day. A day of endings and of magnificent, wonderful beginnings.

Fall Dog Bombs The Moon

More deleted scenes, this time from Doctor Who: The Space Race, written in December 2012 – January 2013 and released in October 2013. It’s still available here and I previously blogged about it here and here. Obviously these deleted scenes constitute ‘spoilers’ so peruse at your peril.

The following deleted scenes were just cut from my ‘long’ draft before the first draft that I submitted to script editor Alan Barnes, so they were removed by me, at nobody’s behest but my own. I had to be quite ruthless to ensure that each episode was not too long. Looking at what I cut, there’s a lot of explanation about the spy intrigue that got simplified. There’s also a lot of stuff with the Doctor and Nikita (later renamed Larisa) arriving on the moon that got cut. I also restructured the end of part four so that Mikhail’s death was a bit later on, when Peri and Leonid are present.

I’m going to present the detailed sections in their ‘raw’ state, unhelpfully removed from any sort of context. As you can see, nearly every line gets rewritten and reduced before I even deliver a ‘first’ draft. The struck-through bits was cut (obviously) while the underlined bits are additions/replacements.

I shall detail the differences between the first and second drafts in my next blog.

PART ONE

PERI

Yes, this has really been our lucky night.

FX: DOOR CLOSED

LEONID

You are sure you are both unharmed? What happened to you?

DOCTOR
Ah, our car,we swerved to avoid another vehicle on the road, and, well, you can see what happenedguess the rest.

LEONID

There was quite an explosion, I saw.

PERI

Yes, the petrol tank must’ve caught fire or something. We only just managed to get clear in time.

LEONID

And it was just the two of youno-one else in the car?

DOCTOR
YesNo, just the two of us. You said we were expected?

LEONID

Of course. That is why Captain Kozlov sent me out here, to find you when you did not arrive on schedule.

...

MIKHAIL

She’s not even aware that she’s floating in deep-space.

DOCTOR

Listen to me. I need you to tell me who you are. What’s your name?

MARINKA (VIA RADIO)

No. Let me out first! Let me out now!

MIKHAIL

She doesn’t seem to be aware that she’s floating in deep-space.

PERI

Like I said, short-term memory loss resulting from shock.

MIKHAIL

Or brain damage. If there was a problem with the life-support, and she was starved of oxygen –

NIKITA

Cerebral hypoxia? It’s a theory, I suppose.

DOCTOR

(USING RADIO) I will let you out. But first I need you to tell me. Who are you?

MARINKA (VIA RADIO)

Who am I?

DOCTOR

If you’re not Marinka, who are you? What’s your name?

MARINKA (VIA RADIO)

(INCREASING HYSTERIA) I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know!

...

NIKITA

Right now? But we can’t.

DOCTOR

You must have some way of operating the capsule by remote control?

NIKITA

Yes, but that’s not the problem. It’s orbital trajectory has already been calculated.

DOCTOR

Then we’ll just have to calculate a new one, won’t we?

NIKITA

But even then, the journeyShe’s over three hundred and fifty thousand kilometres away. It will take at least three days.

 for her to return home

DOCTOR

Three days. I only hope she can last that long.

...

LEONID

Leonid, please call me Leonid.

PERI

Only if you call me Kristina.

LEONID

How is your work going, if I may ask?

PERI

At the moment there’s not a lot we can do but wait.

LEONID

How long is it before the capsule is due to return?

PERI

Not sure, a few more hours yet.

LEONID

And Miss Talonov, she is well?

PERI

I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you. Sorry.

LEONID

No, I understand, it is normal. We will have to be patient.

PERI

Not much else we can be, right now. Can’t even go outside.

LEONID

Kristina. Your quarters, they are comfortable?

...

He might take me for a spy? But my identity papers -

      

NIKITA

- can be faked. Or stolen.

DOCTOR

I think I’ve proved myself, haven’t I?

NIKITA

To my satisfaction, yes. But not everyone is as trusting as me.

SCIENTIST

Miss Petrov, Doctor Kalahsnikov – it’s time.

NIKITA

Thank you. You have the new trajectory?

DOCTOR

I have. More to the point, do you think you’ll be able to bring the capsule down by radio control?

NIKITA

We don’t have any choice. Alright. Contact Activate remote guidance system.

...

PERI

What were these suspicions?

ALEXEI

You should have been briefed.

PERI

Unfortunately our briefing papers were in our car when it caught fire. What suspicions?

ALEXEI

I believed there iswas someone based in this centre,the cosmodrome who has beenwas passing on our research to a third party.

...

PERI

She escaped?

ALEXEI

No. Someone Or the enemy agent must have come for her.

PERI

Her fellow agent had come to rescue her.

ALEXEI

I don’t think so. You see, now that I knew Valentina was an agent it was only a matter of time. Where could she run, where could she hide? No. Her fellow agent had come to silence her.

PERI

This Valentina, what wasis she like?

ALEXEI

ALEXEI

She was little more than a girl. Aboutis small, attractive, about your age.

PERI

PERI

(REALISING) And she disappeared... just before I arrivedgot here.

ALEXEI

Yes. That’s why I sent Leonid out, that night. To find her.

PERI

Then she could still be alive.

ALEXEI

Then you must find her. But something in my heart tells me she is dead. The last time I saw her, she was in fear for her life, begging me to stay. But she would not say who she was working with, who she was afraid of, and I was angry at her betrayal. I only wanted to scare her.

PERI

To make her talk.

...

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

Cutting open capsulehatch seals now, over.

FX: ALEXEI ENTERSMOVE TO STEPPE.

MIKHAIL

Captain Korlov, you’re just in time for the celebrations.

ALEXEI

Celebrations? You mean she’s back?

PERI

And still in one piece.

MIKHAIL

Another great Soviet achievement! The first human to orbit the moon!

PART TWO

DOCTOR

I think you were right. Somebody did interfere with the capsule. When it was on the far side of the moon.

NIKITA

But that’s even more ridiculous. And how do you know this is Laika? It could be any dog, couldn’t it?

DOCTOR

Any dog that went into space and never returned to Earth?

...

DOCTOR

I think that confirms it. This is Laika.

MARINKA

Yes... I remember that name. Laika.

NIKITA

I don’t believe it, a cosmonaut has been replaced by a talking dog, from space, and you’re asking it questions like it’s a human being!

DOCTOR

I can’t think of a better way of getting answers, can you?

NIKITA

(CALLS OUT) Sergeant Kurakin?

LEONID

(RUNNING TOWARDS THEM) Yes, ma’am?

NIKITA

Have the capsule prepared to be winched back to the cosmodrome.

LEONID

Yes, ma’am. And Cosmonaut Talanov?

NIKITA

To remain inside the capsule until she’s had a full medical examination. No-one is to have any contact with her, understand?

LEONID

Yes, ma’am. (RUNS OFF)

FX: IN B/G, LEONID AND SOLDIERS SHOUTING INSTRUCTIONS.

NIKITA

The fewer people who know about this, the better.

MIKHAIL (VIA RADIO)

Miss Nikita. What’s going on out there, over?

FX: MOVE TO MISSION CONTROL.

...

PERI

Dissection? But if that is Laika, then – [you can’t]

MIKHAIL

Then let’s hope she’s co-operative. She’s been away for six years. I’d like to know where’s been all this time.

...

DOCTOR

Yes. It seemsI think it’s safe to conclude the enemy agent decided to make sure ofmurdered her in order to guarantee her silence.

PERI

And this enemy agent is who killed Kalashnikov and Pushkin?

DOCTOR

Yes. If Valentina was Captain Kozlov’s lover, no doubt she passed on the news that he had informed the KGB of his suspicions.

PERI

And that two KGB agents were on their way posing as scientists from Moscow.

DOCTOR

And so the enemy agent intercepted them en route, killed them, dumped Marinka’s body in the car, and then left the bomb so that no evidence would ever be found.

PERI

And this enemy agent is still somewhere in this base.

DOCTOR

Yes. They’re probably also responsible for sabotaging the radio relay to Vostok seven, to try to make sure it never returned to Earth.

...

DOCTOR

Yes. And the only person who knows we’re not who we claim to be is the enemy agent who killed the real Kalashnikov and Pushkin.

PERI

Who will probably try and kill us.

DOCTOR

They haven’t yet. No. I think they’re trying to work out which side we’re on. Whether we are also working for the west.

PERI

And until they can be sure either way, they can’t break their cover.

...

MIKHAIL (VIA RADIO)

What is your health status? Over.

DOCTOR

We’re both fine. You really should stop worrying. Over.

NIKITA

The Doctor has been keeping me entertained with stories about his work in Moscow. I’m not convinced they are all true. Over.

DOCTOR

Of all the cheek!

...

ALEXEI

They’veShe has managed to kill, slaughter some of my best men. Only an idiot would not be scared.

PERI

But it’s just a few laboratory animals.

ALEXEI

No. We’ve been trying to keep it quiet but it’s all the animals, domestic dogs and cats, even the rats.

PERI

They’ve all joined with Laika?

ALEXEI

All of them. So you will understand if I do not wait around.

...

NIKITA

You think that whatever happened to Vostok Seven will happen to us?

DOCTOR

And you don’t? It seems almost certain. Unless, of course, Vostok Seven’s life support failure wasn’t due to outside influence...

...

50. INT. MISSION CONTROL

MIKHAIL

Five minutes to radio silence. Over.

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

All systems normal. Over.

MIKHAIL

Then, all going well, we will speak again in forty-five minutes. Over.

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

All going well. Over.

...

NIKITA

Then we will both die together. I am prepared to die for my country. Are you?

DOCTOR

For your country? That’s why you’re here. To make sure the Russians don’t find out that the Americans got to the moon before them. That’s why you sabotaged Vostok Seven.

NIKITA

That was the plan. Cosmonaut Talanov killed due to a life support failure, her capsule burned up on re-entry. Just, and this will become one more failed mission for the Soviets to hush up.

DOCTOR

And that’s how I knew

DOCTOR

Of course! That’s why you had to be sabotaged Vostok seven. To make sure the enemy agent. Who else would have hadSoviets didn’t find out about the opportunity to sabotage the radio link?

NIKITA

I was merely following orders.

DOCTOR

And killing Valentina Cherlin, was that following orders too?

NIKITA

Regrettable, but once Kozlov had discovered her treachery, I couldn’t risk being exposed. She would have talked eventually, the two KGB interrogators Kozlov sent for would have made sure of that.

DOCTOR

Kalashnikov and Pushkin?

NIKITA

Yes. After I ‘rescued’ Cherlin from Kozlov’s apartment, I took her with me to intercept the two agents. She provided a distraction, allowing me to shoot them both. And then her.

DOCTOR

Leaving a bomb behind you to cover your tracks.

NIKITA

So imagine my surprise when you and “Doctor Pushkin” turned up in mission control. I knew you weren’t the KGB agents. But who were you working for?

DOCTOR

And have you come to any conclusions?

NIKITA

I think you are agents of a third party. One of those amateurs from the British counter-measures group, perhaps. Because if you were American, you wouldn’t have joined me on this suicide mission. moonbase!

DOCTOR

Suicide mission? What are you talking about?

PART THREE

NIKITA

I designed it, I supervised its construction. I think I am capable of landing it. Now, if you will excuse me.

DOCTOR

Nikita, listen to me –

FX: SHE UNDOES STRAPS, STARTS MOVING.

NIKITA

Don’t try anything. Or I will shoot. And at this range, I cannot miss.

...

56. INT. MISSION CONTROL.

MIKHAIL

Explain this to me again. Miss Cherlin was having an affair with Captain Kozlov?

ALEXEI

I’m afraid so, sir. I... she made me believe she loved me, sir.

MIKHAIL

When in fact she was just using you to get access to confidential documents?

ALEXEI

Yes, sir.

MIKHAIL

You will be court-martialled for this in due course, Captain.

PERI

It wasn’t his fault. If it wasn’t for Alexei, I wouldn’t be here. You see, I’m a KGB investigator.

MIKHAIL

The KGB? Impossible. They would have informed me.

PERI

Not while you were one of the potential suspects. We knew there was an enemy agent in this base. We just didn’t know who.

MIKHAIL

But now you believe Miss Cherlin was passing on these documents to Miss Petrov.

PERI

Yes. It all fits. Miss Petrov has been working to undermine your Vostok mission. She sabotaged your radio link. She was probably responsible for the capsule’s life-support failing too.

MIKHAIL

And now she is in Vostok eight... with your friend, Doctor Kalahsnikov.

PERI

Yes.

57. INT. CAPSULE.

FX: VIBRATIONS HAVE STOPPED, REPLACED BY LOW-LEVEL WARBLING AND OCCASIONAL CREAK OF METAL.

NIKITA

(WAKING) What happened –

DOCTOR

You were knocked out. Not by me, I hasten to add.

NIKITA

My gun. Where is it?

DOCTOR

In very small pieces. Hope you don’t mind, but firearms in enclosed spaces make me nervous.

NIKITA

But we’re still on a descent orbit. I have to get to the lunar lander!

DOCTOR

There isn’t any need. Look at the altimeter.

NIKITA

Altitude thirty kilometres. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight... We’re going to crash!

DOCTOR

I don’t think so. We’re going down, true enough. But something is slowing our velocity.

NIKITA

What? But I burned all the fuel, the retro-rockets are not active.

DOCTOR

No. It’s the result of some outside influence. A force field of some kind, I should imagine.

NIKITA

What?

DOCTOR

I think that whatever it was that saved Laika has chosen to save us too. We should be grateful. If it hadn’t intervened, we’d both be dead.

...

57. INT. CAPSULE.

FX: VIBRATIONS HAVE STOPPED, REPLACED BY LOW-LEVEL WARBLING AND OCCASIONAL CREAK OF METAL.

NIKITAALEXEI

Yes, sir.

MIKHAIL

Marinka Talanov, Nikita Petrov and Doctor Kalashnikov all died in... an engineering accident. Have their next of kin informed.

...

59. INT. CAPSULE.

NIKITA

You think this is the result of... extra terrestrial influence?

(WAKING) What happened...?

DOCTOR

You were knocked out.Well, it’s beyond contemporary human technology. And we know that Vostok seven was subject to alien interference.

NIKITA

We do? Because of what happened to Laika?

 Not by me, I hasten to add.

NIKITA

My gun. Where is it?

DOCTOR

Because it returned at all. You know your physics as well as I do. To prevent the capsule continuing into deep space, it would have to have made a course correction whilst on the far side of the moon - just as we didIn very small pieces. Hope you don’t mind, but firearms in enclosed spaces make me nervous.

FX: BUTTONS PRESSED.

NIKITA

Cosmonaut Talanov couldWe’re still on a descent orbit. I have madeto get to the correction.lander!

DOCTOR

There’s no need. Look at the altimeter.

NIKITA

Altitude thirty kilometres. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight... We’re going to crash!

No. Because by that point she was already dead. The life support had failed. You made sure of that.

NIKITA

What is your point, Doctor?

DOCTOR

No. We’re going down, true enough.My point is, something made that course correction, and I don’t think it was Laika, do you?

 But something is slowing our velocity.

NIKITA

What? But I burned all the fuel, the retro-rockets can’t fire.

DOCTOR

No. It’s the result of some outside influence. A force field of some kind, I should imagine.You mean, whatever performed the surgery on Laika, also changed the course of the capsule so that it would come back to Earth, with her on board?

DOCTOR

Precisely. The question is, why?

...

ALEXEI

So Valentina never had any feelings for me. I was an idiot to imaginebelieve otherwise.

PERI

Oh, no. We all make mistakes, love is like that. The heart rules the head.

ALEXEI

My feelings for her, though, they were true. So where is sheValentina now? You have found her? That’s how you found out about Miss Petrov?

PERI

No. I... located Valentina’s diary, in her apartment.

ALEXEI

Then where is she?

PERI

Alexei, do you trust me?

ALEXEI

Of course I trust you. You are an agent of the KGB.

PERI

No, but apart from that. Do you trust me?

ALEXEI

Yes. Why?

PERI

Because I’m afraid... . I don’t know any other way to tell you this. But Valentina is dead. She was shot. By Miss Petrov.

...

NIKITA

I had no choice. I couldn’t risk being exposed. She would’ve betrayed me, the two KGB interrogators would’ve made sure of that.

DOCTOR

Kalashnikov and Pushkin?

NIKITA

Yes. After I rescued Valentina from Kozlov’s apartment, I took her with me to intercept the two agents. She provided a diversion, pretending to be lost out on the steppe, allowing me to shoot them both.

...

ALEXEI

Who are you? An American agent?

PERI

No. No, just a civilian. Here to help. The Doctor, he’s a genuine expert on space things. And me? Well, I did help find your enemy agent, didn’t I?

ALEXEI

If you did. What is your real name? Where are you from?

PERI

You don’t want to know, honestly.

ALEXEI

I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.

...

DOCTOR

No. Then there must be another explanation. Maybe there’s no-one home?

NIKITA

The whole point of the moonbase was that it would be manned and on permanent alert.

...

DOCTOR

Precisely. Whenair. By rights, standing here in direct sunlight, we should be being roasted alive. And blinded by the glare, for that matter.

NIKITA

So this force field, it’s acting as a kind of filter?

DOCTOR

And insulating us from cosmic rays. At least, I hope it is. I forgot to pack my umbrella.

NIKITA

To create an environment whereSo we can walk on the surface of the moon without pressure suits. Where we can reach down and touch the ground with our own bare hands.

FX: SHE PICKS UP ROCKS, DUST.

DOCTOR

Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

NIKITA

Ugh. The dust. It’s sticky.

DOCTOR

Yes. It’s positively charged with static electricity. Like rubbing a balloon. Gets everywhere, I’m afraid. You’ll be shaking it out of your shoes for weeks.

NIKITA

(FX: BRUSHING HANDS) Great.

DOCTOR

Try not to breathe it in, either. The particles are very sharp, will do all sorts of nasty damage to your lungs. Like asbestos.

FX: THEY START WALKING.

NIKITA

Right now, I think it would be worth it. To be standing on the moon. It’s unbelievable. Miraculous.

...

DOCTOR

“Here is no water but only rock, rock and no water and the cracked earth, ringed by the flat horizon only.”

NIKITA

Yes. The horizon, it’s so close, and the air’s so clear, it’s almost as if you could reach out and touch it. And the sky... it’s black. There aren’t any stars.

DOCTOR

Well, it is the middle of the day, after all. But there is some colour here.

NIKITA

What, your coat?

DOCTOR

No. Over there, just above that mountain.

NIKITA

(SHE SEES IT) The Earth.

DOCTOR

A precious blue jewel in the endless firmament.

NIKITA

It’s so small. And fragile.

DOCTOR

Yes, rather puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

NIKITA

Makes me think we can’t let the reds destroy it, yes.

DOCTOR

Thank you. For a brief minute there I had some hope for the future of mankind. But you had to bring up politics, didn’t you?

...

ALEXEI

Sir. I’ve ordered all guards to check and seal the entrance points of this building. Every window, every door.

MIKHAIL

Very good, captain. I want this place locked down. And if those animals try anything, I want them repelled with lethal force.

ALEXEI

Yes, sir. I’ve also positioned some men on the roof, sir, to act as look-outs.

MIKHAIL

Excellent. And as soon as it’s daylight, they’ll be able to pick them off.

...

DOCTOR

Don’t think I didn’t notice the rocket silos.

NIKITA

This moonbase gives the united states second strike capability, to retaliate in the event of a soviet attack.

DOCTOR

And assure mutual destruction. Humanity? You take your first steps on another world and what do you do? You embroil it in another of your... petty ideological disputes!

...

73. INT. OBSERVATION ROOM.

FX: PERI AND LEONID ENTER, CLOSE DOOR. ANIMALS CAN BE HEARD SHREAKING, HOWLING ETC.

PERI

Well at least now we know what they’ve done with all the people they killed.

LEONID

Bozhe moi. They’re laying them out on tables like... they’re preparing them for some sort of medical operation.

PERI

I think that’s exactly what they’re doing.

LEONID

What are you talking about?

PERI

They don’t need people for food. They need them for spare parts.

LEONID

Careful, Peri. Don’t get too close to the glass –

FX: ANIMAL AGITATION INCREASES.

LEONID

Oh no. It’s too late. They’ve seen us.

PERI

We have to get out of here.

LEONID

There’s only one way out, back down the stairs.

FX: HE OPENS DOOR. ANIMALS BARKING, HOWLING, SPITTING. HE SLAMS DOOR SHUT AND LOCKS IT.

PERI

And I think they know that.

FX: SCRABBLING ON OTHER SIDEREACH BOTTOM OF DOOR, THEN CRASHING.

LEONID

I’m not sure how long this door will hold them.

PERI

Then help me shift this table, these chairs. We need to build a barricade.

74. INT. MOONBASE.

FX: A LOWER LEVEL, TUNNELS, WALKING ON STONE. HUM OF POWER.

DOCTOR

I have to say, despite everything, this is an astonishing achievement. Some of the technology here wouldn’t look out of place in the mid nineteen-eighties.

NIKITA

All patented by the military and confidential. I expect they’ll let some of the advances leak out for domestic use when they’ve moved on to other things.

...

84. INT. MISSION CONTROL.

FX: DOOR OPENS, PERI AND LEONID ENTER.

MIKHAIL

Sergeant Kurakin – what’s going on?

LEONID

The animals attacked, sir. Laboratory rats. They wiped out almost all our men, and Captain Kozlov.

PERI

We were lucky to get away at all.

MIKHAIL

And where are the animals now? Did they follow you?

PERI

No, they in the laboratory. I think they’re using that as some sort of base...

...

NIKITA

You think you’ll be able to pilot us back to Earth?

DOCTOR

I don’t see why not. I’ll certainly be able to get us as far as the Earth side of the moon so we can make radio contact. I expect they’re all quite worried about us.

NIKITA

You don’t intend to tell them about the moonbase?

DOCTOR

No, Miss Petrov. Your secret is safe with me.

PART FOUR

NIKITA
So when we return to Earth, the KGB can have me executed.

DOCTOR

I don’t think so. This is a major diplomatic incident which makes you a very valuable bargaining chip. They’ll keep you alive. Which you won’t be, if you don’t break your cover.

NIKITA

That’s my choice? Either I betray myself or I die?

...

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

You don’t understand, it will be interpreted as an act of war.

PATERSON

I understand only too well. But I guess that ship sailed when you sent your cosmonauts to steal one of our rockets.

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

I am not working for the Soviets. I am agent Topaz working for the US Defence Intelligence Agency.

PATERSON

What? Lieutenant – [check this]

ANDREWS

Yes, sir.

NIKITA (VIA RADIO)

I am a US citizen with a Soviet cosmonaut as my prisoner.

DOCTOR (VIA RADIO)

Yes, she’s telling the truth!

...

FX: ANIMALS IN B/G, CLICKING AND CHECKING GUNS.

LAIKA

You have explainedAll the principles of the weapon to the others?

ALEXEI

I have, comrade Laika.

LAIKA

And all the rhesus monkeys are now armed?

ALEXEI

They are, and spare ammunition has been gatheredcomrade Laika.

...

LEONID

Heading there now, sir. One thing. We think we spotted Laika, sir, running away from the Cosmodrome.

MIKHAIL (VIA RADIO)

What? Where was she going? Over.

LEONID

Not sure, sir. Too dark. Do you want us to investigate? Over.

MIKHAIL (VIA RADIO)

No, continue to capsule. Out.

...

102. EXT. STREET.

FX: LAIKA RUNNING THROUGH SNOW.

ALEXEI

Laika, where are we going?

LAIKA

To take our revenge on humankind.

FX: TANNOY ON.

MIKHAIL (VIA TANNOY)

Attention. All residents. There is a rabid dog on the loose within the town. Any sighting is to be reported immediately. Do not approach the animal. You are to remain indoors for your own safety.

FX: TANNOY OFF.

LAIKA

For their own safety? The human general has condemned them all to death!

...

104. INT. JEEP.

FX: IN TRANSIT.

DOCTOR

General Leonov You had all the animals gassed? Not sure I approve, seems a little extreme.With C O two?

LEONID

You weren’t there, Doctor, weWe didn’t have much choice, Doctor. It was us or them.

DOCTOR

I’m more worried about how it might look.

PERI

Look? To who?

NIKITA

It turns out the human race has been found wanting.

DOCTOR

But the animals arethey’re still alive? Albeit in, that’s the land of nod?

PERI

Most of them. But we saw Laika get away, there might be others.

DOCTOR

Laika is still on the loose? What a resourcefulmain thing she is.

PERI

Doctor, she’s killed people. Innocent people.

DOCTOR

Yes. I know. She might’ve been given intelligence, but at heart she’s still a wild animal.

PERI

Doctor, you haven’t said, what you found on the far side of the moon?

DOCTOR

Well, it’s quite a long story –

...

106. INT. SILO.

FX: FOOTSTEPS ON METAL GANTRY, A HUGE CHAMBER WITH LOTS OF ECHO.

MIKHAIL

(CALLING OUT) Alright, Laika. I know you’re in here somewhere... No point in hiding, there’s a good dog.

LAIKA (DISTANT)

(CALLING OUT) You are the one who placed me in the rocket. You condemned me to death.

MIKHAIL

At the time, you were just a dumb animal.

LAIKA (DISTANT)

(CALLING OUT) I was so alone. So afraid. You left me in pain. Tortured me. And my comrades.

MIKHAIL

Your comrades?

FX: GUN CLICKS.

ALEXEI (NEARBY)

Remember me, General?

107. INT. CORRIDOR.

FX: DOCTOR AND NIKITA RUNNING UP TO US.

NIKITA

Doctor, what are we doing here?

DOCTOR

I promised the probe that we’d demonstrate that humanity is capable of looking after its fellow species.

NIKITA

So... the gassed animals?!

FX: THE GASSED ANIMALS ARE STIRRING.

DOCTOR

Yes. Fortunately they’re all still alive, by the look of it.

NIKITA

And coming around. The C O 2 must be clearing.

DOCTOR

(RUNS) Then we don’t have much time.

NIKITA

(RUNS) Much time to what?

DOCTOR

(RUNS) Dinner! Come on!

108. INT. SILO.

MIKHAIL

A rhesus monkey. With the voice of Captain Kozlov.

ALEXEI

Do not move, general. Or I will shoot.

MIKHAIL

And it’s carrying a rifle! (CALLING OUT) Laika! You have me at your mercy. Let me help you. Tell me what you want.

LAIKA (CLOSER)

What I want, General, is justice. For myself and my comrades.

MIKHAIL

Justice?

LAIKA

To make sure that no others will suffer as I have suffered. To end the work that is done here. The experimentation. The creation of weapons like these.

MIKHAIL

(REALISES) The warheads. You’re going to trying to set off one of the nuclear warheads.

LAIKA

Humankind will die, by its own hand.

MIKHAIL

You’re psychotic. Insane.

LAIKA (CLOSER)

Just how you made me, General. Look at me. Look at what you created!

MIKHAIL

Oh, I’ll do more than look –

FX: GUN COCKED – AND ALEXEI FIRES HIS RIFLE.

MIKHAIL (KILLED)

LAIKI (WOUNDED)

ALEXEI

Laika, are you alright?

LAIKA

(IN PAIN) Do not worry. It is... just a flesh wound.

ALEXEI

The human is dead?

LAIKA

Yes, comrade. You gave him a swift and painless execution. A kindness he never offered us. We will give the rest of humankind an equally humane death.

...

NIKITA

Where are we going? Not that... wooden box.

DOCTOR

That’s exactly where we’re going.

NIKITA

But there must be a hundred dogs, cats and monkeys on our tail, there’ll never be enough room for them.

FX: CAR DOOR OPENS.

DOCTOR

Oh, you’d be surprised. Believe me.

FX: DOCTOR JUMPS OUT.

...

DOCTOR

That is one option, yes. But I have a better idea. Keep the animals out of my way, could you? I need to concentrate....

PERI

Fine, Doctor.

NIKITA

This thing... it’s a spaceship.

DOCTOR

You think I am unaware of that fact?

NIKITA

But if you had a spaceship, why did we take a rocket to the moon?

PERI

One of the circuits broke down. The TARDIS is not exactly what you’d call reliable.

DOCTOR

But now fully restored to working order.

FX: TARDIS BEGINS TO LAND.