THE ARK IN SPACE
BY ROBERT HOLMES
PART ONE
Original Air Date: 15th February, 1975
5:30pm - 5:55pm
SARAH: Run, Doctor! Run!
NOAH: Stay, Vira, stay... Abandon the Ark, Vira! Take the transport ship. Leave now. If you stay, you are doomed.
VIRA: That would be desertion!
NOAH: Then, you must die - all of you! When the Wirrn emerge, you will be hunted down and destroyed, as you destroyed us!
SARAH: (To NOAH.)We've never destroyed... (To the DOCTOR.) What does he mean?
NOAH: Long ago... Long ago, humans came to the old lands. For a thousand years, the Wirrn fought them, but you humans destroyed the breeding colonies. The Wirrn were driven from Andromeda.
VIRA: Andromeda? So our star pioneers succeeded?
NOAH: Since then, we have drifted through space, searching for a new habitat. The Ark is ours! It must be ours!
DOCTOR: But the Wirrn live in space. You don't need the Ark!
NOAH (OOV.): You know nothing!
NOAH: We live in space, but our breeding colonies are terrestrial.
DOCTOR: But you could leave the Ark and go on. There's plenty of room in the Galaxy for us all.
NOAH: In the old lands, senseless herbivores, cattle, were the hosts for our hatchlings. Now we shall use the humans in the Cryogenic Chamber. We shall be informed with all human knowledge. In one generation, the Wirrn will become an advanced, technological species. We shall have power!
VIRA: That proposition is genetically impossible!
NOAH: I already have all Dune's knowledge! High-energy physics, quantum mechanics... Every ramate in the next hatching of Wirrn will possess the sum of your race's learning.
NOAH (OOV.): That is why you must die!
DOCTOR: Time to leave.
NOAH: Leave the Ark, Vira, or die with the rest of your race!
HARRY: Something must've happened to them.
ROGIN: If we go out there, it might happen to us!
HARRY: I think we ought to investigate.
ROGIN: There are no lights in the rest of the Ark area. After what happened to Lycett I want to see where I'm putting my feet!
HARRY: Well, you should worry!
HARRY (OOV.): Doctor!
HARRY: It's taken you long enough to get here! I was worried stiff!
DOCTOR: We bumped into Noah.
ROGIN: Again?
DOCTOR: Yes. Quite chatty this time. Garrulous, even.
VIRA: You've got the power on.
ROGIN: No, Commander, I'm using photon energy. Just enough to run the lights.
HARRY: (To the DOCTOR.) Well, what did Noah say?
SARAH: Vamoose or stick around and get k*lled.
HARRY: I'm ready to go! Doctor?
DOCTOR: Anyone for a jelly baby?
HARRY: Why don't we all just pile into the TARDIS?
DOCTOR (OOV.): No?
VIRA: TARDIS?
HARRY: Yes, a sort of spaceship thing in there. There’s plenty of room for all of us.
DOCTOR: Vira has no intention of leaving the Ark, have you?
VIRA: I can't.
DOCTOR: Of course you can’t. So neither can we.
SARAH: Oh, well... that settles us.
DOCTOR: Besides, we can't let the Wirrn eat through the cryogenic sleepers as though they were a lot of...
HARRY: Jelly babies?
DOCTOR: Exactly! Let them be turned into surrogate humans? It's the most immoral suggestion!
ROGIN: How can we stop them?
DOCTOR: High-voltage power. If we can somehow send enough electrical power through the bulkheads of the Cryogenic Chamber...
SARAH: Like an electric fence?
DOCTOR: Yes! The Wirrn would never dare to cross it. The only problem is we don't have electrical power and they control its sources - the solar stacks.
HARRY: We can forget that idea, then, can't we?
SARAH: Doctor...
DOCTOR: (Not listening.) Unless we can lure them out of the infrastructure...
SARAH (OOV.): No, wait a minute!
VIRA: How can we do that?
DOCTOR: Bait! Human bait! One of us could distract them for a few moments, I might be able to get down there and turn the power on!
SARAH: Doctor, will you listen...
DOCTOR: Sarah, we're trying to make a plan!
VIRA: It won’t work, Doctor, if they have Dune's knowledge, they'd simply turn it off again !
DOCTOR: Not if we electrify the switch itself.
ROGIN: That would take a long time. Those switch boxes are non-conductive.
DOCTOR: Well, we can't do without oxygen indefinitely! (To SARAH.) What was that you were trying to say, Sarah?
SARAH: I was just wondering about the transport ship that Noah mentioned.
DOCTOR: What about it?
SARAH: Surely it has its own power system, doesn’t it?
ROGIN: Four granavox turbines! That ship can generate twice the power of the Ark!
DOCTOR (OOV.): How can we reach it?
VIRA (OOV.): Here's the connecting ramp. It's less than a hundred meters from this control room.
ROGIN: The only trouble is how do we run a cable from the ship to the Cryogenic Chamber? If it's in the open, they'll cut it.
DOCTOR (OOV.): Aren't there conduits?
ROGIN: Yes, but they're only about this wide. (He shows an estimation with his hands.) We'd need a mechanical cable runner.
SARAH: Why can't I take that cable through? (They all turn to face her.) Well, I'm about that wide!
HARRY: It's hardly a job for you, Sarah!
ROGIN (OOV.): I reckon she might just squeeze through, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Good girl, Sarah! Come on. We’d better hurry. The Wirrn are going to start moving any moment. You four go to the transport ship and I'll start wiring up the Cryogenic Chamber!
ROGIN: This is the transport ship. And here's the conduit. We'll connect one end up here. You have to drag the other end through. Do you think you can manage it?
SARAH: I'll have to!
VIRA: Good luck.
HARRY: It seems very narrow, Sarah! (To VIRA.) Does that lead straight to the Cryogenic Chamber?
VIRA: No, there are many junctions.
HARRY: How is she going to find her way in the dark?
VIRA: We'll give her a two-way radio from the ship. We have a plan of the conduits. We can guide you.
ROGIN (OOV.): All right, Commander!
ROGIN: Beautiful! We could head straight home to Earth now! Nothing could stop us!
VIRA: You've completed all checks?
ROGIN: Yes...Commander.
VIRA: Right, waste no more time. Give the girl the radio.
HARRY: How are you doing, old girl?
SARAH (OOV.): How do you think I'm doing? Twit!
HARRY: I'm sorry! I thought you were stuck!
SARAH (OOV. On the radio.): Hello, Rogin? Hello? I've reached another junction, a sort of Y-fork.
ROGIN: That's good. You're more than halfway there. Now, take the right conduit. Do you understand?
SARAH (OOV.): Got you.
ROGIN: Yes. Sarah?
SARAH (OOV.): Yes?
ROGIN: The section you're in now runs right through the infrastructure. Move as quietly as you can.
SARAH: (Whispering.) Understood.
SARAH: Oh...!
ROGIN (OOV.): Now, it's the second opening you come to on your left. You understand?
SARAH (OOV. On the radio.): Yes. Rogin... is it much further?
ROGIN: No, about another fifteen meters. You're almost there!
SARAH (OOV.): Oh, I hope so! Don't think I can go on much longer...
VIRA: Yes, you can!
HARRY: Come along, Sarah! Stick at it!
SARAH: That's the trouble! I keep getting stuck!
HARRY (OOV. On the radio.): Marvelous thing about old Sarah. Terrific sense of humor.
DOCTOR: Come on, Sarah! Hurry!
SARAH (OOV.): Doctor! Where are you?
DOCTOR: Straight ahead! Look - I'll shine a light. Can you see?
SARAH (OOV.): Yes! Doctor, I can't move!
DOCTOR: 'Course you can! You've got this far.
SARAH (OOV.): No, I'm stuck!
DOCTOR: Don't panic, Sarah, don't panic. Ease round and try again.
SARAH: I'm jammed! I can't move at all...!
DOCTOR (OOV.): Stop whining, girl! You're useless!
SARAH: Oh, Doctor!
DOCTOR: ''Oh, Doctor!'' Is that all you can say for yourself? Stupid, foolish girl! We should never have relied on you! I knew you'd let us down!
DOCTOR (OOV.): That's the trouble with girls like you! You think you're tough, but when you're really up against it, you've no guts at all!
DOCTOR: Hundreds of lives at stake and you lie there, blubbing!
SARAH (OOV.): You...wait...till I get out! I can manage! I don't need your help, thank you!
DOCTOR: Yes, you do. Yes, you do!
SARAH: Ow! Ow! Go away!
DOCTOR: You've done marvelously, Sarah! I'm very proud of you, I really am, I’m very proud of you!
SARAH: What...? Conned again! You're a brute!
DOCTOR: Me, a brute? Don't be ungrateful! I was only encouraging you! Come on!
SARAH: Hello, Rogin?
SARAH (OOV. On the radio.): The Doctor's connecting the cable.
ROGIN: Beautiful. Let me know when to switch the power through.
DOCTOR: Close the door to the access chamber, Sarah.
SARAH: Argh!
DOCTOR: (To ROGIN.) Are you ready?
ROGIN (OOV. On the radio.): Yes!
DOCTOR: Switch on now!
ROGIN (OOV.): Right!
DOCTOR: Not bad for a lash-up!
SARAH: Has it gone, do you think?
DOCTOR: Reporting to the others. They'll know where we are now.
VIRA (OOV. On the radio.): Hello, Doctor? Are you all right down there?
DOCTOR: For the moment.
VIRA: You lack confidence?
DOCTOR (OOV. On the radio.): The Wirnn don't give up that easily. They need the Ark. How is it at your end?
VIRA: There's been no sign of them in this part of the Ark.
SARAH: (Whispering.) Doctor...
DOCTOR: (In the radio.) I think we've got some more visitors. Don't let the power drop!
DOCTOR: Gone away.
SARAH: I think so. I can't hear anything now.
DOCTOR: Either discretion is the better part of valor or...
SARAH: Or what?
DOCTOR: Or they're planning something.
SARAH: Yes, but we're safe here, aren't we?
DOCTOR: Unless they chew through the floor. I've left a free-running cable just in case. The insulation should stand up to it.
SARAH: Argh!!
DOCTOR: Cheer up! We're still on our feet!
SARAH: Those things are so venomous! They'll never give up!
DOCTOR: No... And neither shall we, Sarah! What we're protecting here is too precious.
SARAH: Why have they turned the power back on?
DOCTOR: We'll find out soon enough.
NOAH (OOV. On the intercom.): Vira? Can you hear me?
DOCTOR: She can hear you. What do you want, Noah?
NOAH (OOV.): Your resistance is useless. We control the Ark!
DOCTOR: And we control the Cryogenic Chamber! I repeat - what do you want?
NOAH: We offer you safe passage from the Ark. Surrender now and your lives will be spared.
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): Not a chance!
NOAH: What does Vira say?
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): She agrees with me, don't you, Vira?
NOAH (OOV. On the intercom.): Let Vira speak! She is the commander!
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): She's busy - resuscitating more humans.
NOAH (OOV. On the intercom.): You lie!
DOCTOR: Listen, Noah! Now, hear me. You're beaten! The Ark is of no value to you without its humans, so why don’t you just leave us in peace?
NOAH: Humans require two mass pounds of oxygen a day to stay alive, Doctor. We Wirrn can live for years without fresh oxygen. If you refuse to surrender, we shall shut down the oxygen pumps.
DOCTOR: And if we surrender?
NOAH (OOV. On the intercom.): I have said - you will be allowed to leave the Ark.
DOCTOR: The Wirrn hate all humans. Once we step outside the Chamber, we'd be att*cked.
NOAH: I am the swarm leader. I guarantee your safety. The Wirrn will spare your lives... but leave the sleepers for us!
DOCTOR: Noah, listen to me! If there's any part of you that's still human, if you've any memory of the man you once were, leave the Ark! Lead the swarm into space.
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): That's where the Wirrn belong, Noah. Not on Earth, not where YOU were born. Remember the wind and the sun, the fields, the blue sky... That's Earth, Noah. It's for the human race. Don't abandon it.
NOAH: I have... no memory... of the Earth.
HARRY: I say, Rogin, I don't want to be an alarmist, but I think I saw something moving!
ROGIN: You're right! They're coming up the funnel. (To VIRA.) Commander.
VIRA: Start Starboard 4.
ROGIN: Starboard 4. Running.
VIRA: Negative thrust out.
ROGIN: Neg thrust... out.
VIRA: Full boost.
ROGIN: Full boost. And...check.
VIRA: Close boost.
ROGIN: Close boost.
VIRA: Close Starboard 4.
ROGIN: And close Starboard 4.
HARRY (OOV.): I bet that singed their whiskers!
ROGIN (OOV.): They won't try that again.
VIRA: I wonder if Noah...
ROGIN: Noah?
VIRA: Not important.
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): Are you all right over there?
HARRY: Ahoy there, Doctor! Yes, we're fine, thanks.
DOCTOR (OOV.): We heard a rocket engine.
HARRY: Just a warning blast. How are things with you?
DOCTOR: All right at the moment.
HARRY (OOV. On the intercom.): Good.
DOCTOR: Keep in touch.
SARAH: I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems to be getting stuffy in here.
DOCTOR: It's your imagination.
SARAH: You'd say that anyway!
VIRA: They're coming in through the reversion vents!
ROGIN (OOV.): Look at them! There's a whole army of them out there!
VIRA: Doctor, the Wirrn have space-walked round the Ark and have broken into our cargo hold.
DOCTOR: How many of them are there, Vira?
VIRA (OOV. On the intercom.): We cannot say. But it looks like the entire swarm's attacking.
DOCTOR (OOV.): How long will it take them to reach your control deck?
VIRA (OOV. On the intercom.): A few minutes only. The interior bulkheads have a low stress factor.
DOCTOR: Tell Rogin to cut the power! We're coming out!
ROGIN: Power off, Doctor.
DOCTOR (OOV. On the intercom.): Good. Set the controls on a*t*matic take-off and evacuate the ship! Hurry!
VIRA: We'll do as you say, Doctor!
DOCTOR: Come on, Sarah, come on! Run! Run!
HARRY: It's crawling with the brutes!
DOCTOR: Are you coming or staying?
DOCTOR: Into the Ark as fast as you can! You too, Sarah! Harry, you go with the girls!
DOCTOR: Rogin... help me with the synestic locks...
ROGIN: I thought that was your idea!
HARRY: What are you going to do, Doctor?
DOCTOR: Just look after Sarah, Harry!
DOCTOR: Leave this to me.
ROGIN: You know what'll happen when you cut that lock?
DOCTOR: There's no point in us both being k*lled by the blast! Get in the Ark, man!
ROGIN: Don't want trouble with the space technicians' union!
DOCTOR: What?
ROGIN: That's my job!
VIRA: They must have both died instantly.
HARRY: Come on, Sarah! He'd have wanted you to be brave.
VIRA: Doctor! Where's Rogin?
DOCTOR: Rogin's dead. I woke up in a protection hatch.
SARAH: Oh, Doctor! You're safe!
DOCTOR: Yes. We're all safe now, Sarah, thanks to Rogin's bravery... and perhaps something else.
VIRA: Something else?
DOCTOR: Yes, some vestige of human spirit. Was Noah on our side and one step ahead of us at the end?
VIRA: You mean by leading the swarm into the shuttle?
HARRY: Look!
VIRA: Space Station Nerva.
NOAH (OOV. On the intercom.): Goodbye, Vira!
SARAH: The shuttle's blown up!
VIRA: He must've known that that would happen! Noah deliberately neglected to set the rocket stabilizers.
DOCTOR: More than a vestige of human spirit. It can all begin now, Vira. Mankind is safe.
VIRA: I must get my people back to Earth! Now that I have lost the transport ship, I should have to rely on the matter transmitter.
DOCTOR: Yes.
VIRA: It will be a long operation. It can only convey three people at a time.
DOCTOR: Yes...it could if it was functioning properly. The signal's faulty. Probably the diode receptors. I'll just beam down and check them.
SARAH: To Earth?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's where the trouble is. Fetch me a coat from the TARDIS, will you? You never know what the solar flares have done to the weather.
VIRA: It isn't anything serious?
DOCTOR: What? Probably no more than a spot of corrosion. Whatever it is, it shouldn't take long to fix. And it'll give me a chance to see if the planet is fully viable again. What's keeping them? Sarah?
SARAH (OOV.): Coming!
SARAH: Here's your coat.
DOCTOR: I don't remember inviting you two!
SARAH: Er...no, you didn't. But here we are.
HARRY: Well, the Brigadier did tell me to stick with you, Doctor, and orders is orders!
DOCTOR: I hope you don't mind being left.
VIRA: Well, I won't be alone for long. Life is returning to the Ark and soon to the world.
DOCTOR: Have a jelly baby, Vira!
VIRA: Oh...thank you. Thank you.
`
Doctor Who
TOM BAKER
Sarah Jane Smith
ELISABETH SLADEN
Harry Sullivan
IAN MARTER
Voices
GLADYS SPENCER
PETER TUDDENHAM
Written BY: ROBERT HOLMES
Production Assistant
MARION McDOUGALL
Title Music by
RON GRAINER &
BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
Incidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSON
Production Unit Manager
GEORGE GALLACIO
Title Sequence
BERNARD LODGE
Special Sounds
d*ck MILLS
Visual Effects Designers
JOHN FRIEDLANDER
TONY OXLEY
Costume Designer
BARBARA KIDD
Lighting
NIGEL WRIGHT
Make Up
SYLVIA JAMES
Sounds
JOHN LLOYD
Designer
ROGER MURRAY-LEACH
Producer
PHILIP HINCHCLIFFE
Directed by
RODNEY BENNETT
COLOUR
© BBC 1975
TOM BAKER
Sarah Jane Smith
ELISABETH SLADEN
Harry Sullivan
IAN MARTER
Voices
GLADYS SPENCER
PETER TUDDENHAM
Written BY: ROBERT HOLMES
Production Assistant
MARION McDOUGALL
Title Music by
RON GRAINER &
BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
Incidental Music by
DUDLEY SIMPSON
Production Unit Manager
GEORGE GALLACIO
Title Sequence
BERNARD LODGE
Special Sounds
d*ck MILLS
Visual Effects Designers
JOHN FRIEDLANDER
TONY OXLEY
Costume Designer
BARBARA KIDD
Lighting
NIGEL WRIGHT
Make Up
SYLVIA JAMES
Sounds
JOHN LLOYD
Designer
ROGER MURRAY-LEACH
Producer
PHILIP HINCHCLIFFE
Directed by
RODNEY BENNETT
COLOUR
© BBC 1975