Original subtitles

METALLIC THRUMMING

CLICKING

RUSTLING

You there, who are you?

Doctor!

Is that really you?

Peri?

Yeah.

After all these years!

THEY LAUGH

Oh...

THEY CHUCKLE

Doctor!

THEY SIGH

Let me look at you.

The warrior queen!

It's so good to see you again.

You got old. Mmm!

And bigger!

And beardier!

Ohh.

Oh, time marches on, Peri, even for a Time Lord.

It really has no respect.

But you...

You've filled your years with adventures

and legends in the making!

You heard about that, did you?

I've heard minstrels sing songs of the Warrior Queen

from the Scorpion Nebula to the outer rings

of the Medusa Cascade.

Some of them were very catchy.

# Bom-bom-bah! #

I'm glad you approve.

Ah...

I've done things a girl from Fells Point could never dream of.

You lived the life intended for you,

by time, from that day in Lanzarote,

and your story is far from over.

For both of us, Doctor.

Maybe.

Maybe.

I was wondering what had brought you here.

I was kind of wondering that myself.

I mean, it looks like the TARDIS.

Much more on the inside? Yeah.

Cosy, though, isn't it?

This is a remembered TARDIS, Peri.

All those stories we shared,

their memories live on here,

like ripples on an eternal pond,

forever moving, forever repeating,

and sometimes those memories come back to us

through space and time

when we least expect them.

RUMBLING

And that's how I got here now?

You've always been here.

You never left.

The TARDIS never forgets.

And neither did I.

I didn't forget you either. No.

Every night, I would look up at the stars and wonder

which one you were spinning round in the TARDIS,

and I'd ask myself...

"..Will I ever see him again?"

And here we are!

Older and wiser.

Two adventurers...and friends...

..reunited across light years and time.

It is so good to see you again.

And you too.

I guess we made a whole lot of memories,

though, if I'm honest, some I'd rather forget.

You mean Sil and Kiv?

Not the most likeable lifeforms in the universe.

You can say that again.

But that first encounter on Varos

was a prelude to your whole life as the Warrior Queen.

Yeah, I guess.

In a way.

Oh, there's no doubt.

Good can come from even the darkest of places.

WHIRRING

HE GROANS

HE SCREAMS

HE GASPS

Not him again? Yeah!

COMDIV must be running short of people to laserise.

Yeah.

HE GROANS

Rubbish! He's not hurt, he's only acting. Never!

HE YELLS

Is this all? It's what they sent.

How can I work, dig on this?

It wouldn't fill a clinker-mole's belly, let alone a worker's!

There's shortages, maybe more to come.

Governor's punch-in vote tonight.

Voting, voting! This Governor calls a punch-in every time he wants to change trousers!

Sooner he's out, the better. What would the next one do different?

Everything! Anything!

What is this I'm eating, Etta?

How should I know? Just get it out the dispenser!

Didn't have a label.

Get off!

I want to chuck it at the screen when your beloved Governor begs my vote.

Attacking COM-TEC property can bring loss of viewing rights.

Way you're thinking, you'll be in that one's place.

Why have they stopped?

It's pathetic! When did they last show something worth watching, eh?

When was the last decent execution? Last week!

What? The blind man?

That was a repeat!

It wasn't! You're thinking of that infiltrator.

He wasn't blind. Not at the beginning, anyway.

Yes, he was!

I'm going to sleep. Can't, you've got to vote.

Do it for me.

Do you want POL CORPS calling here?

Do you, Arak?

How would they know it wasn't me voting?

I'd tell 'em!

That's it!

I don't believe it! I haven't told you what I've done yet!

You sound confident. I don't want to know!

What is the matter with you?

Every time you sound confident nowadays, something terrible seems to happen.

Does it?

What do you mean?

Well, since we left Telos, you've caused three electrical fires,

a total power failure and a near collision with a storm of asteroids.

Not only that! You've twice managed to get lost in the TARDIS corridors,

wiped the memory of the flight computer and jettisoned three-quarters of the storage hold!

You even burned dinner last night.

I have never said I was perfect!

If you recall, I was supposed to have a cold supper!

That was an unfortunate accident!

You're a reasonable man.

Lower the price of your commodity a little, please.

My people deserve fair prices for the Zeiton-7 ore.

Who else will buy from you,

if my corporation withdraws its contract?

We'll have to find other outlets, I should think.

You are not a rich planet. Zeiton is all you have to sell.

There are other exports.

We're expanding into entertainments and communications with some success.

How? The Punishment Dome.

We sell tapes of what happens there.

CHUCKLES That is enterprising!

Your idea, Governor? Yes.

Are they really disturbing, these videos you sell?

They show what befalls those who refuse to obey the laws

of the people of Varos.

Torture, blindness, executions?

All functions of the Punishment Dome are recorded as warnings to miscreants everywhere.

But they entertain as well as instruct?

You must ask my Chief Officer,

he's responsible for COMTEC Division product.

I would hope to help organise your sales exports...

..if you consent to lower your Zeiton price!

I can't, sorry.

Then my patience is exhausted.

And spent totally!

The people are anxious for a decision on the new price of our product.

Negotiations between ourselves and Galatron Mining are far from complete.

The broadcast must be delayed. Impossible.

Rules must be obeyed by Governors as well as prisoners.

What is the difference?

What point have you reached, gentlemen?

STALEMATE! On contracts, royalties, everything!

Surely, a little movement regarding cost?

Already I have gone beyond my authority

to meet the stubbornness of this Governor.

We must have an increase of price, we must!

I will wait.

Perhaps the next Governor...

..will be more sensible of reality.

I am the Governor, you deal with me.

But tonight, you must place yourself

at the mercy of the votes of your people.

Should they not agree with your stubborn stance,

you may be obliterated!

LAUGHS EVILLY

DOWNWARD HUM

That's interesting,

not to say arresting!

Where are we? Neither here nor there.

Doctor? Somewhere!

Let's see!

Stalled! In the equivalent of a galactic lay-by!

See? No.

Mid-way between Cetes and Sculptor!

Materialised into actual and temporal void.

Yes, but why won't it move?

This is the one problem a TARDIS cannot overcome.

Like all things in the universe, she cannot move without power...

..and energy.

Yes, Doctor, but we can!

Don't give up, please!

It's all right for you, Peri. Me? Why's it OK for me?

You've only got one life.

You'll age here in the TARDIS and die!

Me...

I shall go on regenerating until all my lives are spent.

Like this Governor we do not.

Replace you must arrange most soon.

That is what our secret payments to you are for.

My dear Sil, a little patience is all that is required. Trust me!

Do you think he suspects the truth of matters?

He simply wants a better deal!

Maybe I should dispense with your pay-offs.

Perhaps I should offer that and you to him?

You simply really mustn't threaten me.

You need me for what you hope to gain here.

If I do not succeed one way,

I favour another.

Enough talk!

I would wish to witness the suffering moments of this fool Governorship.

HE COUGHS LIGHTLY

Good evening. For centuries, the Galatron Mining Corporation

has declared rich dividends by exploiting our labour.

Now is the time to steel ourselves for sacrifice

to gain what is ours by right.

As always, I seek ways to market the resources of our poor planet...

Blah, blah, blah! Get to the point! Shut your mouth!

..I ask seven credits per unit...

You won't get it! One more yak out of you,

and you're in my report as a subvert!

I'm entitled to an opinion! Entitled to a vote is all!

I know how I'll use that!

Viewers of Varos, I ask that we agree to hold out for a fair price

for our principal marketable resource, that of Zeiton ore.

Those who wish to fight alongside me for a prosperous tomorrow,

vote "yes" to a 10% reduction of our food rations.

Those who wish for full bellies today and nothing to eat tomorrow

have the option to punch their "no" button.

Right!

WARPING HUM

HE GROANS

HE GROANS

He's lost! Go on, pour it on and on!

Yes, he's going! Yes, he's snuffed it! Has he?

WARPING HUM STOPS

HE GROANS

Next time, next time for sure.

He's strong! That's three losing votes in a row!

Yeah, next vote'll see him blasted out for sure.

No-one's taken four bashings from that cell disintegrator!

I wish you'd leave him alone!

Why?

He's the worst Governor since...

..well, since... Since the last one!

Is the Governor no more?

He survived...just.

We must arrange good riddance of this bad Governor soon!

He is weakened by the human cell disintegration bombardment.

Engage him in negotiations now and you may gain advantage.

Permission to leave Governor's domain.

Congratulations, sir, you survived the vote.

Soon, your death will be apparent.

You will see.

Should we try again to reach agreement

before I must communicate with my executive council?

Later.

Now or never!

Give me a moment or two.

Very well!

Transport me to the office of the Governor!

I find the G-forces of this Varos-sized world quite excessive.

I'm so tired!

I warned the people would not accept yet more rationing cuts,

whatever the reason.

This system of referendum... How much longer can I survive?

One more vote?

Governor? May I suggest you do something to please,

to entertain, to please the people?

Just to give yourself time to recover your strength.

Why not give them the life of the rebel Jondar?

After all, it's his death or yours!

It would have to be something different.

I thought perhaps by laser obliteration, sir,

by a concentrated build-up of power.

Neutralise the "Q" switch.

That way the random laser emitter builds up to a giant pulse of light,

an explosion of focused laser energy

that will wipe the prisoner out of existence.

We have never shown that style of dispatch.

Too quick, it would be over too soon.

We'd never sell so swift an execution. It's the uncertainty!

No-one knows quite when the power will blow!

We'd get at least ten minutes of tension out of his apprehension and fear.

It's novel, I suppose.

I'm sure the video of his execution would sell.

You said we must export or die.

Yes, yes, I did.

Very well, arrange it.

And, Bax...

Sir?

Thank you for the suggestion.

End random pulses. Conserve CB.

Neutralise "Q" switch.

Activate viewing of imminent public execution.

DOCTOR SIGHS

Here, a little something to stop you sighing like a steam engine!

What is it? TARDIS manual.

I found it in the workshop propping open a vent.

Oh, yeah!

Started reading that once.

Hey!

Won't it tell you what's wrong with the TARDIS?

I know perfectly well what category of disaster has befallen us.

The comparator?

No. No, not this time.

HE SIGHS Might as well confirm my diagnosis.

Something to pass eternity with, I suppose.

Doctor, the column moved!

Oh?

Probably some vestigial power passing through to the transitional elements.

Which would mean...

Where are we? What is it?

Yes. Hold that!

Don't lose the place, and don't give up hope! Not yet!

Yes, Doctor.

Another attempt will be made to obtain better terms for the mining of our resources.

One other pronouncement.

As Governor, I hold final say as to the appeal against sentence of death.

The rebel Jondar, although enduring his pre-execution ordeal well,

must nevertheless suffer the fate of all who transgress the rules

of our society.

At eight o'clock, then, attend to your screens

to witness what must befall all

who oppose the reality

of our just constitution.

The order for your husband's execution has just been received.

When is it?

Soon.

Jondar was your friend! Before he rebelled against orders.

Curious how being a guard has changed you!

I can do nothing! Rondel!

Do you know what he found? What he saw? No, please!

While the rest of us toil without hope,

the officer elite enjoy power and luxury.

Lies! Varos is what it always was,

a prison planet,

a colony for the criminally insane!

The descendants of the original officers still rule...by fear!

With the spectacle of death our only entertainment.

That is what Jondar found, what he learned.

That is why they want to kill him.

I must leave!

Can't we make an attempt to save him?

Rondel, please!

It's too late!

TR reading from the IV table?

Is that in the hyper-time ratio section? Where else?

Um, orthoganal reading is Zee S plus 101 EQ.

"Zee"? "Zed"!

Yes.

That's as it should be!

The power converter factor seems stable,

so why aren't we receiving full transmission of that power?

There's a possibility! May I?

What is it?

Let me see.

Yes, we might...

We'll try!

Hold that!

CONTROLS HUM

HUMMING INTENSIFIES

Doctor, it's working!

With the last vestiges of our emergency power booster.

Enough for a limited flight, no further!

What depresses me most is that the transitional elements

have lost their capacity to generate orbital energy and must be replaced!

How long would that take? No time at all.

If we obtain enough Zeiton-7 to reline the trans-power system, the TARDIS should be...

Well, as she was.

It's not the fitting that's the problem.

Zeiton is a very rare element.

It's only found on one planet. Let's go there, then!

Mm?

I suppose if we use the emergency power booster to bypass the failing circuits,

we could just reach the planet Varos in the constellation of Cetes.

Question is, when?

If we missed their mining era, we'd be stranded for evermore!

Anything's better than being stuck here!

What's inside that skull?

Anger? Fear? Hatred of you, Quillam!

Ah, but hatred of yourself as well!

We all have some parts of our mind that we consider unworthy,

some memory that makes us shudder

and squirm.

Do you know what my process of transmutation does?

It focuses on the seeds of fear in your mind

and makes them grow,

until you, your body, your face, your entire being

transforms into the image in your mind.

You should turn into something quite interesting.

A reptile!

Or something simian perhaps!

Or something truly loathsome, such as you!

Take her to the rehabilitation unit!

Sir!

For sedition, thought rebellion and incitement of other rebels to organise,

to unionise and to terrorise the workforce of Varos,

the vote of the people was for your death to take place by laser obliteration.

The Governor was to consider my appeal!

Our Governor bows to the will of his people.

As Systems Arbiter and Chief Officer,

I confirm that the conditions of the constitution have been complied with.

I therefore permit your execution to proceed.

When will this be, Chief Officer?

At eight o'clock.

You will have ample time to compose yourself for eternity.

All of five short minutes!

It isn't exactly certain when obliteration takes place.

Stand clear of the execution site.

You have your anti-hallucination helmet?

Yes, sir. Good. Switched on?

Yes, sir! Good, we wouldn't wish for my guards

to succumb to the phantoms of the Punishment Dome.

Not with all of Varos watching. No, sir.

MACHINE HUMS

METALLIC THRUMMING

Ah! Who's this coming to welcome us?

Hmm.

Control? Senior Guard Maldak 239.

Report of fault on anti-hallucination helmet.

Am experiencing sensory distortion. Permission to withdraw?

Stay until after execution.

Understood.

Artificial atmosphere, enclosed, underground, breathable.

But distorted readings from a nearby power source.

What kind of place is this, Doctor?

Why did that man fire at us and then turn away as if we didn't exist?

Let's go and ask him!

Sir, Chief, something's wrong! Be quiet! Attend your function!

But... SILENCE!

Execution is imminent!

SIL WARBLES EXCITEDLY

What is it?

This is the most wonderful entertainment.

Hello! Hi!

Not interrupting anything? I know how this place works!

You are a product of my mind.

I will resist you to know you cannot exist.

Quite right!

Control, my helmet's malfunctioning!

Permission to withdraw! That's what we've come to fix, eh?

Sure! Let me have it!

Come on, give it to me NOW!

Doctor! Careful!

Thank you!

Is this planned? Certainly not. What's happened?

I'll alert the IR Squad immediately, sir.

There's another group... We have seen!

Are they rebels? I don't know.

We must...we must act!

They must be apprehended, sentenced, executed, ALL OF THEM!

Attend to it! Sir!

Bax! Sir.

My company is only interested in stable situations.

Varos has been stable for more than 200 years.

See you remain so!

Or a most unfavourable report I will give!

I'm... I... I...

Help him!

Now, my dear friend,

what is good price for your Zeiton-7 ore?

Seven credits per unit...

I'm so, so tired...

SIL WARBLES

Seven credits a unit?

When the engineers of every known solar system

cry out for his product

to drive their space-time craft?

A planet of fools who don't realise their luck

and don't deserve to!

Return to our craft!

Alert the Council to have a colonising force sent here.

Right!

When I control this planet,

I will possess the means of power

throughout this entire galaxy!

And perhaps for all others beyond!

Help me, whoever you are! Quickly! Pull him away from the wall!

Like this? That's it!

Right, hold! Close your eyes and wish for luck!

Here we go!

Now the other one!

Who are you? I'll explain in the TARDIS.

Doctor!

To retreat another way might be more viable!

They're too close! Help me turn this round.

Come on!

Argh!

Kill laser connection!

Run, run, go on, run!

It's a dead end!

I can't go on! Nor me!

What is this place?

An ordinary prison once, but...

There's a patrol car coming.

I thought there was an escape cell here.

Let's create some difficulty for our uniformed friends!

Why help me?

You're the only one who hasn't attacked us!

Help me, pull! PULL!

Right, see what I can do with this!

Stand back!

MONITOR CRACKLES

Where's that emergency lighting?

If you insist!

This way!

I thought we'd lost you!

They arranged your execution so quickly, we couldn't attempt a rescue.

You didn't send him? No.

I'll explain, but I'd rather get back to the safety of the TARDIS, er...ship!

Spaceship? Something like that!

We'll escape through the guards' entrance. We must leave!

First, what is this place?

This place is where the innocent are tortured,

while the population gloats at our efforts to survive!

Not all enjoy, some seek to help.

For every Rondel, there are a thousand Varosians

slumped before screens, deadened by overwork and starvation. Starvation?

Varos has precious minerals! Zeiton-7!

That stuff! Who wants it?

I wouldn't say no to a little! We must go!

Great! Great! They're getting away!

Yeah, but wait for the guards in the tunnel!

They'll be all right! This batch of rebos are good!

I like that one, the one in the funny clothes!

Back!

These cameras, do they feed pictures into every home?

The whole Dome is wired.

Areas of ingenious danger lurk everywhere.

You can die in so many varied and spectacular ways.

The cruel thing is there's supposed to be a safe route,

leading to an exit, freedom.

If we get to the TARDIS, we can get away more easily.

How? The Doctor will demonstrate.

Do you know where we are? Near the Purple Zone.

Adjoining interrogation and execution areas.

Is there another way to your ship?

TARDIS.

Not without traversing the Purple Zone.

Then we're trapped! Good as dead!

Not yet!

Let's see what this purple passage has to offer.

Is he sane, this Doctor? Sometimes!

Peri! This is no time for casual conversation!

Coming!

Quickly! The guards might return any time!

We must try!

I like this section! I wonder if they know what's waiting?

This'll sort 'em out!

Of course! That's it! Close your eyes!

I can't!

Close them - now!

Right, all take hands.

Now follow me. It's just an illusion!

Whatever happens, keep your eyes closed!

He's not a fool, your intruder.

Perhaps just lucky.

Or he has received information on how the Dome works.

There was a guard helping them!

The prison contains too many devices.

No-one could know or survive them all.

They do not seem or act like Varosians.

They could be from a rival company!

The Amorb Prospect Division!

I want the strangers removed for questioning!

Get me a line to patrol headquarters. Yes, Chief!

Then check on that object found at the execution chamber!

Have it brought here at once!

All clear!

Oh! What was that thing we saw?

INSECT BUZZES A creature from my worst imaginings!

In fact... Aha!

There we are!

A gee-jee fly! But it was huge!

We thought it was!

It was enlarged by the effect of the purple zone on our visual cortex.

Once the purple light was eliminated, we returned to a proper sense of proportion.

FLY BUZZES Interesting!

Is everything we experience here like that?

No, some dangers are very real.

The crowds love to watch trialists face a danger they believe is imaginary.

They applaud and shout with laughter as we poor fools face certain death.

Who loves to watch? Almost all of Varos!

It's the way officers divert discontent, questions, thoughts of revolution...

Oh! Let's see what else this fun palace has to offer.

PERI SNIFFS Ooh! What a stench!

Animal! Real or imaginary?

DOCTOR SNIFFS Just as loathsome!

The niff is certainly not an illusion! Or is it?

Just like COMTEC to put a real monster behind an imaginary one!

That's exactly how they would expect us to reason!

One way to find out! No, Doctor!

All right! They're lights!

Green lights!

Two of them! PERI SIGHS

The view-pop like them!

We've received very good punch-in appreciation figures.

Good!

All the more impact when they are captured, tried and executed.

A rebo leader, and his woman, and intruders from another world.

That's not only prime-time viewing here,

but the recording of their final agonies will sell on every civilised world!

The TARDIS should be...

Just here!

It was just here! Your ship has gone?

It most certainly has! Where?

Yes, Doctor, where?

It can't be far away!

Come on!

This mysterious most is!

There's an explanation!

The strangers will be captured soon, then we'll force some answers!

Who are other people helping rebels?

If they should be of another mining corporation,

our contracts are ended!

No, he is unknown to us.

I would wish them dead!

Only that would please my company!

Close them out, Chief.

Use every guard available!

I'll talk to the people. Arrange it quickly!

What about this?

Keep trying to open it!

All these corridors look the same to me!

Check down there!

LOW HUMMING Sh!

There's a patrol car coming, quick!

Doctor, look out!

There's one!

They've had it now!

Ow!

Make a fool of me, would you?

Take her to the Prison Control Centre!

The others...

..to the termination cell!

Oh, dear! And I really liked him!

NEWS-STYLE MUSIC PLAYS

Good evening! Oh, no!

What's he want? Shut up and listen!

I must report that the attempt to divert the course of justice has been repelled.

The rebel and his compatriots have either been captured or destroyed.

The extent of the rebellion is greater than feared.

Help from another source,

perhaps from another world, is suspected.

The vehicle of their transport is now in the possession of my officer guard.

The leader of the invaders is now walking into a no-options kill centre,

there he will suffer the fate of all who seek to overturn the law of Varos.

I ask you to vote now upon my campaign to halt insurrection.

I await your verdict.

"Yes", and the rebellion will be crushed.

"No", and no doubt another Governor will have other plans.

Thank you.

HE CHUCKLES

DOCTOR PANTS

Drink, Doctor?

Drink. Drink water.

Peri?

SIL WARBLES EXCITEDLY

What a wonderful thing a man's mind is!

The hallucinatory inductor makes him believe he cannot survive,

and soon he will be unable to draw one breath after the next.

We got anything to drink?

Doctor! Keep quiet, we're recording!

The moment approaches. Close-up on death throes, please.

No sign of life, sir. Dead as death!

How long should I hold? And cut it...

..now!

SIL WARBLES HAPPILY

You animals! What have you done to the Doctor?

Show her!

No, I don't believe it! He can't be dead!

I'm afraid he is.

You did it! You killed him!

Not really. He had the hallucination that he was lost in a desert.

His mind thought he was dying of thirst.

His body agreed, so die they did.

What is that thing? Show some respect!

Now, tell me, the dead intruder was called "the Doctor"?

So who are you?

Answer. Answer. ANSWER!

Why do they keep showing that stiff? They know what they're doing.

Huh? What?

He moved!

Reflex! Maybe he isn't fully dead!

Then he soon will be. Here comes the acid bath!

Ooh! I hate this bit!

They always do that. It's to show the acid's highly corrosive.

Shut up!

Who are you? You wouldn't believe me.

You agents of Amorb are!

I don't know what that is or even what he says.

Sil's language transposer has an eccentric communication circuit.

But don't tell him, it's my only amusement.

Don't upset the Galatron delegate, please.

We need that agreement to sell the Zeiton ore to his company.

On the starvation rate he offers us? Who else will buy our only asset?

Why not find other mining companies

who will refine Zeiton ore on better terms?

Who will pay the seven credits per unit I ask? Why not Amorb?

NEVER! The people of Varos have voted to accept Sil's final terms.

You, as Governor, must impose their will or suffer death by default.

After I extract the truth about this girl and her companion, the Doctor.

Come.

I had the most peculiar... Argh! ..dream!

GUARD SCREAMS

You'll forgive me if I don't join you.

What's the matter?

Oh, you grieve for his death.

I forget that people do.

You don't?

I did once.

But now death is my only friend...

..my constant and loving companion.

Can you feel his...his cold presence?

I don't want to, thanks!

You should. Your life is even more at risk than mine.

The Doctor, he's escaped!

How? He's dead. Not dead, he was just pretending to be.

He's alive? And running.

Good. Good?

Recapture him and we bargain this girl's life for information

from our Doctor friend.

And I thought you were a bit better than these other brutes!

I'm sorry.

I thought you were my mirror image,

until I realised that I wasn't holding a...gun?

Who are you? A student of science!

Much interested in primitive nuclear technology.

The mask, remove it!

I've seen you on the screens!

You've returned from the dead.

A waste of effort.

I assume there will be something novel by way of spectacle

to mark my return to that state?

I should think something might be arranged.

Let's have a little word with the executioners.

They're always on the lookout for fresh material.

After you. I don't think so.

Why is she on Varos?

She won't say.

Are you employed agent of other mining companies?

You and that man who was dead?

No. LIAR!

You belong to Amorb! You lying liar!

Why should she belong to Amorb?

Well?

I'm from another time, another century.

Nearly three centuries before you were born, I lived in another world.

I had an idea you wouldn't believe me. You were right.

Give her to the rehabilitators.

A disturbance of her molecular structure will bring out the truth.

Put her into the reshapement chamber.

Watch her change into beast or bird. SIL LAUGHS

No!

Why are you here, Peri?

Tell me, please.

All right.

Our TARDIS, that box-thing outside,

is, if you like, a ship of time, a sort of spacecraft.

Well, I don't understand the technical stuff,

but the Doctor said we must have this special metal,

to fix the bearings or something.

So we had to come here.

That's just what we did! She's laughing at us, all over the face!

It's the truth! No matter!

Once again, we've captured the mysterious Doctor.

Quillam came across him at Prison Control.

He'd have liked that, sir. Yes.

How long is it since we rigged a primitive execution, Chief?

Not since after the Outer Dome sabotage trial.

I think it's time we staged another.

They're always most enjoyable, aren't they, sir?

SIL GUFFAWS

What kind of people are you?

THEY GROWL

Oh!

What are you doing?

My viewer's report.

I'm not on it, am I?

I was tired.

Reports, spying. Working men should be...

Yes?

Yes? Go on.

Erm, not taken seriously for the rubbish

they may have spoken earlier on.

Hello! Your appeal has been turned down. I'm sorry.

So would I have been, if I'd asked for one.

Do you always get the priest parts?

# We are gathered here today in the sight of the great Video

# To ask forgiveness and make atonement

# For three amongst us who have transgressed the laws of Varos. #

Doctor, I-I...I'm sorry! I've tried everything.

They just won't believe the truth.

Truth is a very flexible commodity here on Varos, Peri.

As long as things APPEAR truthful, that's all that matters.

Enlighten us as to the truth about your visit, please, Doctor.

Why, to help Varos realise the wealth of its potential, what else?

How, by eating rocks? HE LAUGHS

Kill him! Execute them!

He must have listened to the rebel Jondar, believed his lies.

Yes, yes. What is the staging plan, Chief?

The men to hang. The women, I would suggest, be given to reshapement

and cell mutation experiment.

The results to be exhibited as a warning to women

who support their men in acts of violation

against the regulations of Varos.

I'm sorry you'll be denied the sight of the ladies turning into...

Well, who knows what?

A serpent? A griffin? A new admixture of fish and fowl?

Anything to add, Doctor?

Anything which might persuade me to halt the sequence of events?

One request. One last request?

Yes? Well?

Who is he? Why is he here?

What interest can my presence matter?

The delegate from the Galatron Mining Corporation

is here to negotiate

our yearly review of market price for the ore of Varos.

Zeiton ore? Zeiton-7? Yes.

I see. Thank you.

Is that all you wish to know?

For the moment.

That's all you have, Doctor!

Take the women away.

No! Doctor, do something!

Jondar! Jondar!

# In the name of the great Video

# And of Varos Who gave his name to our planet

# Accept the lives of these humble deviants

# In the recompense for their sins

# We pray that you will continue to look

# Benignly down upon your devoted servants. #

Anything to say, Doctor?

Anything which may yet save your lives?

Sorry?

So am I. All right.

Wait!

I knew it! Hold on broadcast. No sound or vision.

My death will prevent Varos from ever progressing

out of the reach of extortion of such as the Galatron Mining Company.

Our deaths will send any hope for this planet

back into the pit of fear and misery,

which has, for so long, been the lot of its people.

Pull the lever! Stretch them out of this life! Wait!

I came to this planet because I needed a new source

of energy supply. My TARDIS depends for its function

upon a rare and precious mineral of Varos.

Zeiton-7.

I can show you new prosperity!

DESTROY THEM NOW!

I will give the order for execution!

KILL! KILL! KILL! Oh!

I trust you are unharmed, Doctor?

Do you often employ the noose trick?

As a means of eliciting true information,

it has often been successful.

You suspected our bluff? I noticed your cameras weren't broadcasting.

A real execution would have been broadcast.

Ah, yes...

What I have to discover now is the truth of your statements

made from the scaffold.

I will discuss nothing, reveal nothing,

until I have proof that Peri and Areta have been released unharmed

from the cell mutation experiment.

He has nothing to reveal, he is lying!

An Amorb agent who wishes only to usurp

our worthy Galatron contracts by rashful promises!

Until I can hear what each of you has to say or offer,

the matter rests without decision.

Should the Doctor be lying, he will find the next noose

about his neck will sever his head from his spinal column.

But should he be accurate in his appraisal of the potential worth

of our Zeiton ore, I shall want to know, Sil, why you and your company

have been duping Varos these many generations.

How dare I be spoken to like this!

I will reject all offers!

That releases me from my people's decision to accept them, thank you!

BLAST!

How long will the process last?

I heard them say it was a matter for initial experiment.

Anything could happen to us just for their amusement.

My arms! Something's happening to my arms!

M-M-Mine feel strange, too.

My skin...

Oh, no!

Intolerable all of this Doctor being allowed to live!

The Governor likes and may believe him!

Zeiton-7 has brought your company great wealth.

You have miscalculated events.

For the sake of a few miserable extra credits,

you may have lost the source of all our wealth and power!

Listen to me! I have plans to take charge of this planet of Varos.

I have put in a request to have a Galatron occupation force

to speed to this sector.

A little time is all we need, Chief.

The Doctor will tell him the true value of Zeiton!

Only if his women are released unharmed.

Have you done that?

Not yet.

Then...

..let us observe the experiment of the tissue transmogrifier.

I am interested in science.

I do not wish to impede its progress.

There. Doctor's friend is feathered.

The other one, she's almost attractive now.

How long before permanent result ensues?

I'm not exactly certain. It's not too long, I would think.

Perhaps I'll keep them in my Dome

as pretty, pretty pets!

It is too advanced! Well, where are they?

There's a problem. What?

Something they call a "transmogrifier"

was at too advanced a stage.

We were unable to reverse the transmutation of your lovely ladies.

There was plenty of time to halt the experiment.

I gave orders the process be halted.

Too late. Sorry!

I'll kill him!

Who controls the transmutation experiment?

Mr Quillam, our technical director and principal devisor of programmes.

And controller of all that happens

in the People's Dome of Punishment and Correction.

Areta! Do something!

It's probably too late. Only "probably"?

It is an unstable process.

Even I am not quite certain as to how it works, exactly.

That beam that radiates,

what source of energy does it derive from?

The nuclear bombardment beams release all the power latent in the recipient's mind.

If the changelings see themselves as unworthy,

they can become serpentine or reptilian.

She, for instance, must wish to fly away from trouble as would a bird.

It's an offshoot of our mining technology.

We found our miners growing fur and claws,

the better they thought to dig with.

How can the process be reversed? Who knows?

We don't require such findings here.

And you call yourself a research scientist?!

Certainly, which is why this trial must continue.

An experiment like this has never

been so advanced or so successful before.

Turn off the machine! They might still be restored to normality!

Mr Quillam, I make formal request. I am Section Controller.

A permanent position. No-one orders me!

Certainly not a transient Governor in the twilight of his reign.

Who decides the authority of command?

The regulations hand it to the Officer Guard, by long tradition.

But it can be changed? Not by him!

You have held your position for too long, Mr Quillam,

that becomes ever more obvious.

No-one has the nerve or the will to wrest it from me...

..Mr Governor, sir.

Do you still experiment on your own person?

No any more, why?

But in the past you exposed yourself to much danger, I think.

Yes. Why do you ask? How do you know?

Your mask!

Hold it!

Gun!

Thank you!

Turn off the transmutation process!

Take your choice! There must be 100 switches to choose from,

if it's a switch that controls the bombardment beams.

Doctor, can you decide which?

No time.

QUILLAM YELLS

You, out!

ALARM BLARES

That won't be necessary!

Keys.

Thank you. Out!

ALARM CONTINUES

ALARM STOPS

We must have stopped the process

before the final transformation was complete.

Without the final phase bombardment,

their bodily metabolism is reasserting itself.

The guards must return soon. You said there's an escape exit?

On the other side of the Dome, but from here, it's impossible!

Not now! The odds are unpredictable.

With the Control Centre damaged, we may yet have an outside chance.

We must move on! What, leave them here?

No, take them with us.

Peri! Peri, can you hear me?

Areta! Can you move, Peri?

Try!

You are...Peri!

Peri!

Peri? I am the Doctor and you are Peri!

Perpugilliam Brown! Peri?

It's a question of re-imprinting their identities,

of establishing again who they are.

Wake up, Areta, come on!

Can you walk, Peri? Come on, try!

I thought I could fly!

Walking is all that's required for now. Come on, Peri. Walk!

There's no control.

All maintenance reports confirm

the attack damaged a large number of operating circuits.

The effects are impossible to control.

Why not shut off all the power?

And allow every prisoner in the Dome to escape, including this Doctor?

Oh, no. I want them delivered to me.

The screens are still showing scenes from the Punishment Domes.

And they'll continue to do so.

It's the only way we have of assessing the effects

of the damage done. This Doctor must be eliminated!

He smells the truth of things!

The Dome will take care of him.

Doctor?

GUN BLASTS

Cover me, I'll get the girls!

GUN BLASTS

Areta!

Where's Peri? Where's Peri gone, Areta?

Quick, Jondar!

That's more like it!

I thought he was dead!

No. Pay attention.

SHE SIGHS, HE CHUCKLES

My insulted person can stand no more!

Either you sign the newly agreed price for the Zeiton ore,

or I will leave you and the Varosian people

to starve on this miserablest of planets,

with nothing to eat

except unsold Zeiton!

You are in no position to threaten me now.

Found wandering near Prison Control.

I brought her here to display as evidence before the people.

I will decide when and if I broadcast.

Not any more!

The regulations have a clause

for just the situation that we are in now.

At the end of every Governor's term, there comes a time of disapproval,

where the people tire of his incompetence -

the wish to vote him down.

The wish to see all the cells of his body destroyed.

When the final vote is avoided,

the Chief Officer is empowered to insist on a final vote.

You must accept full responsibility

for failing to quell the prison rebellion

led by this woman and her companion, the Doctor.

Prepare for your final broadcast...Governor.

SIL LAUGHS

We must find Peri! She could be anywhere.

Here we will die, as have so many Governors.

The Chief will broadcast first.

Anything I say after that will seem like bluster and lies.

C-Can I speak? Can I say what I know?

The ramblings of someone deranged by the transmogrification process.

But I'm fine now!

We have no hope.

How long?

As soon as the Chief assembles the Officer Guard.

The regulations insist that the 12 most senior officers

place their names in hazard. The Chief draws a name,

and the unlucky winner is brought in here and forced to govern.

In fear of suffering the same death.

Yes, the theory being that a man scared for his life

will find solutions to this planet's problems.

Except the poor unfortunate will discover

there are no popular solutions

to the difficulties he will find waiting for him here.

It's crazy! Cruel!

It's Varos.

Maldak, isn't it? Yes, sir.

Put your gun down, I have no intention of trying to escape.

Can't do that, sir.

Weren't you elected to the Officer Guard

when my name was drawn as Governor?

Correct, sir.

Might I ask one favour? Let the girl go free.

I can't do that, sir.

You know that soon I will be destroyed?

Soon a new Governor will be elected.

That is the custom, sir.

What if the name they draw is yours?

You've witnessed how impossible the system is.

You're an intelligent man.

The regulations are archaic, distorted, unworkable.

Even if you're not chosen, an enquiry will be called.

New Governors always have enquiries.

It was you, wasn't it? Who showed the Doctor and Jondar

where the women were held captive.

I couldn't help that, sir. They'll say you should have resisted.

Just what is it that you want?

For you to turn your back, let us go,

find the Doctor, who has words and perhaps knowledge

which might bring salvation to everyone -

except the Chief and his cronies. No, sir, I can't do that.

And Peri? No, sir. I'm sorry.

At least, when the vote goes against me

and the human cell disintegrator beams pour down...

..kill Peri, please...

..to spare her from the rehabilitators.

I tried.

We will die together.

BUGGY POWERS DOWN

It's no good!

Where are we? I don't know.

I wonder why we've been allowed to progress so far

into the Dome without being apprehended?

This place is cracking up!

The guards must be as confused as we are.

I think we're into what they call the "endgame".

Not many trialists reach this stage.

Could that be where the escape exit would be? Presumably.

What are we waiting for?

I must be cautious.

From now on, I believe the mind games and jolly tricks are over.

What we're entering now could be the area of most dangerous ordeal.

This is a forced vote.

I have explained my actions, the Governor must now explain his,

and then you, my fellow Varosians,

must use your vote and decide.

I have addressed you many times, and you have seen other Governors

approach the ultimate crisis point of their regime.

The time of forced vote now is upon me.

I am not afraid to die.

Good!

HEY!

ELECTRICAL WHIRRING

HE BREATHES RAPIDLY

HE MOANS

Your system is wrong!

We sell ourselves...

..cheaply for nothing to such as Sil and his like.

I see my words mean nothing...

..that you all wish the harsh system of Varos to continue.

So be it!

Isn't there anything I can do? No!

WHIRRING STOPS, GOVERNOR BREATHES DEEPLY

NO! You've messed up the whole system!

They'll be coming round for you!

Voting twice and using someone else's voting box?

Both criminal offences!

We must find the Doctor!

He's in the End Zone. He must be seeking the safe exit.

Let's go there, then! Not that way! There has to be another route.

There is, the ventilation ducting!

There's an outlet here.

I once spent eight days down there searching for escaped prisoners.

I know it only too well. Come on, then!

NO!

Begone! You are shadows, insubstantial ghosts!

We are real, you are not!

I think perhaps we should try another route.

Where is Governor?!

Why is he still at life and liberty?

Why is everything no longer as it was?

We are still the power!

Why not you both prove it?

What did he die from? I don't know.

His neck's swollen as if to burst. Poison, perhaps?

Taken or been given? Perhaps neither.

Doctor! MEN GROWL

Fellow prisoners! This is no time for speeches, Jondar!

What shall we do?

Run.

Stop, Areta!

If you value your lives, don't touch those tendrils!

In, but don't allow one touch!

THEY GROWL

What do they want? Why do they want us?

I noticed a pile of bones back there.

I think we were on their dinner menu!

HE GROANS

Sh! Patrol car!

We're trapped!

What do we do? The best we can.

Could you attach this string to that clump of vines

without killing yourself?

I see you have a keen interest in the flora of Varos, Doctor.

Just a passing fancy!

It'll pass faster than you think. Kill them! Wait!

This man has insulted me. He must suffer for my humiliation.

This is no time for revenge. Kill them quickly!

And deprive Varos of an example of how traitors are dealt with?

The cameras are still functioning. Let the show begin.

I want to hear them scream...

..until I'm deaf with pleasure.

To see their limbs twist in excruciating agony.

Ultimately their blood must gush and flow

along the gutters of Varos!

The whole planet must delight in their torture and death!

An excellent scenario. Not mad about the part!

PROCEED!

NOW!

THEY SCREAM

Let's get away from here.

Stay where you are! Don't move!

What is it? Poison. One touch and...whoo!

Poison ivy? Something like that.

It'd give you a very nasty rash.

Oh, Doctor!

Plenipotentiary Sil to Galatron Occupation Force Commander.

Urgent need for instant invasion of Planet Varos

to consolidate our interest. React immediately!

Water me.

I must look my best

to assume the emperorship of this primitive planet.

Gently! Gently!

Take extreme care with my person

if you wish to retain your skins.

That's better!

Mirror, mirror! Come on, mirror! MIRROR!

Oh, yes, I will wear the mantle

of power so, so handsomely!

Ah! There you are!

I called you here to inform you

that a force of invasion is about to land.

Really? From where?

My home planet, from Thoros Beta.

You had innumerable chances to settle with me, Governor.

Now your people will work for me.

I will be Governor of Governors!

I will be Viceroy of Varos!

The confirmation of my colonisation force!

"Report of Zeiton-7 traces found on asteroid Biosculptor.

"Invasion of Varos cancelled."

AARGH!

The ways of the ruler are fraught with uncertainty, are they not, Sil?

Certainly...certainly!

There's more. "New supplies of Zeiton-7 required urgently.

"Start shipments immediately.

"Pay any price asked by Varosians."

Well, shall we commence negotiations from a reasonable base?

Of what?

Of what?

20 credits per unit.

20?! 20?! ARGH!

I think he needs more than water, Peri, eh?

Like cyanide!

Oh, come, Peri, where's your sense of justice?

What about that transmogrifier thing he put me in?

I think we'll leave the Varosians

to work out their own idea of justice, Peri.

I'm very grateful, Doctor.

Varos is grateful.

Is there nothing we can offer you in return?

Well, er...a little Zeiton-7 would be quite useful...

..not to say essential.

You shall have as much as you need. Maldak will arrange it.

Thank you.

Goodbye!

Ah, goodbye.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

You...you can't leave me here!

Now you see me...

ARGH!

..And that, fellow citizens of Varos, is my vowed intention,

for without justice and peace and tolerance,

we have no future.

I know you will all work as hard as I shall

for a glorious tomorrow.

Thank you for allowing me into your homes.

Thank you.

No more executions, torture. Nothing!

It's all changed. We're free!

Are we? Yes!

What shall we do?

Don't know.

CRACKLING HISS

Oh!

I can feel them all over me again.

Ugh!

Some memories can be very prickly, even after all this time.

It's not just that.

I got back to Earth...

..eventually.

Have you been there lately?

The 21st century - it feels like Varos.

Yes, Sil would fit in well.

Everything has its price, even the planet itself.

But, Peri, do you see what I mean?

The inhumanity of Varos

and Sil's greedy manipulation of that

helped to give you the fire to fight evil

wherever you found it.

You mean, they didn't turn me into a bird,

they turned me into the Warrior Queen?

Marrying King Yrcanos had something to do with that as well,

but you see...

..the universe can be chaos,

but what it creates

is ultimately always capable of being wonderful and good...

..even on Earth...in the end.

You'll see.

Yeah.

I get it.

SHE BREATHES DEEPLY

The two of us, we're warriors of the universe.

Warriors of the universe?!

HE CHUCKLES

I like that. It has a ring to it.

So, what do you think? Where shall we save first?

The Doctor and the Warrior Queen?

Why not? We're older, but our stories are a long way from over.

I guess those minstrel songs won't write themselves.

We'll give them something to sing about.

Just one thing. What? I have to go back...

..to Yrcanos's memorial. Can we do that? Once a year.

Just to keep an eye on things. It's a deal!

Right. Meanwhile, there are worlds out there

waiting for us to save them!

So what are we waiting for? Right, come on, then! Yeah!

BEEPING AND BLOOPING