Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary

Posting Doctor Who scripts on their 50th anniversary, one line at a time. —All of it belongs to the BBC and its rightful owners.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Next Time: The Masque of Mandragora: Part One. Coming 4 September 2026 from 09:00.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

The sound tore into the creature's braincells. Its whole γίγαντῐ́κ body quivered and trembled. It's heart beat faster and faster and faster.

Suddenly, it was all over. Before my very eyes, the invincible, the all-powerful Zor, completely disintegrated, and, with him, the entire species of an evil alien civilisation. All that remained now was the vertebrae of a giant deep-sea fish. The lifeline was broken, the invasion at an end. So too was the πλάνήτ of Pesca.

And so, my friends, our στορί is at an end. The TARDIS is waiting, and I must move on to another time, another place. Perhaps some remote corner of the Outer Universe. But, wherever it is, we shall meet again. We shall meet again. Goodbye.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

The cavity. Inside the cavity. The switch!

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Only the beginning, Doctor. The beginning. Kill. Kill. Kill.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

A few more inches. I must draw him forward a few more inches. But someth…something is happening to me. I…I can't move. The eyes. The creature's eyes. Staring into me, right into me. I…I can't hold on. Falling away. My power is falling away.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Correction: This is no end for we Pescatons, Doctor, only the beginning.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Your power is broken, Zor. The Pescaton civilisation is at an end. Within hours, all that will remain of your πλάνήτ will lie scattered across the universe.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

He moved closer and closer towards the cavity. Just a few more inches and he will be inside the sound activation area. Just a few more inches. But suddenly he stopped. I had to do something. I had to get Zor moving again!

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

We meet again, Doctor, for the last time.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

His eyes were fixed on me, penetrating the dark. And his whole body, expanding to the pulsating ῥύθμ of his own powerful heartbeat.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

We meet again, Doctor.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

I must say, I had no idea my Μοῦσῐ́κal talent would be so enthusiastically received, for it certainly had the desired effect. Quite unwittingly, we had stumbled upon the one effective enemy of the Pescatons. An enemy as repellent to those alien creatures as it is to so many of those killer sharks who mercilessly ravage the oceans of πλάνήτ Earth. That enemy was noise. High-pitched noise.

The hunt was on. If we were to prevent the migration to Earth of the entire Pescaton species, then our only hope was to seek out the nerve centre of that species and destroy it. Zor, their creator, had to be destroyed. But time was running out. Soon the hot rays of the sun would be moving in for the final destruction of the πλάνήτ of Pesca. Soon the πλάνήτ would be no more than a vast γᾰ́λᾰξῐ́ spread across the dark, endless night of space. At last our chance came.

During the lull that followed the first wave of attacks, reports were coming in which described a different, more terrifying creature which was taking refuge in a sewer somewhere beneath the city streets. The description of this γίγαντῐ́κ beast, with an oval-shaped head and a body covered with shiny μέταλλῐ́κ scales, soon confirmed my suspicion that we had located the lifeline of the Pescaton civilisation, their leader, the all-powerful Zor. With the help of Professor Emerson, I set up high-frequency ἤλεκτρόνῐ́κ sound equipment round the walls of a cavity which was built into the sewer duct. If I could only find a way to lure Zor into that cavity, the sound beam would activate a blow deadly enough to cut right into his brain.

Alone in the dark, again, waiting. Waiting for the final confrontation which would decide the destiny of two great civilisations. One good, one evil. But what would happen if the sound wave failed to work? Hadn't Zor proved himself to be invincible, to be all-powerful? And what would happen if I myself succumbed to those powers? I waited anxiously, but not for long.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

No, do as I say, quickly.

Louder, Doctor! Louder! Look, it's going away, Doctor. The creature's going. It's backing away down the tunnel.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

What? What do you take me for, the Pied Piper?

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

No, there's something wrong, I tell you. The Μοῦσῐ́κ. Quick, Doctor, play your piccolo again.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Get out of the way, Sarah. Get out of the way!

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

No! No, Doctor, wait a minute. The creature, it… Look at the creature. There's something wrong. It's trembling, shaking.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Let's get out of here, quick.

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

Doctor, look out! Behind you!

[Doctor Who Script 50th Anniversary @DWScript50]

I always play the piccolo when I'm nervous. Relieves the tension.