Doctor who the end of the world Page #3

Season #1 Episode #2

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[The Tyler flat]

(Jackie is emptying the washing machine.)

JACKIE:
What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits.

[Gallery 15]

JACKIE [OC]:
You should get your money back. Go on.

[The Tyler flat]

JACKIE:
There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day.

[Gallery 15]

JACKIE [OC]:
What's so funny?

ROSE:
: Nothing. You all right, though?

[The Tyler flat]

JACKIE:
Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?

[Gallery 15]

ROSE:
What day is it?

[The Tyler flat]

JACKIE:
Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover?

[Gallery 15]

JACKIE:
Oh, I tell you what. Put a quid in that Lottery syndicate. I'll pay you back later.

ROSE:
Yeah, er, I was just calling 'cos

[The Tyler flat]

ROSE [OC]:
I might be late home.

JACKIE:
Is there something wrong?

[Gallery 15]

ROSE:
No. I'm fine. Top of the world.

(Jackie rings off.)

DOCTOR:
Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill.

ROSE:
That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead.

DOCTOR:
Bundle of laughs, you are.

(The space station shakes.)

DOCTOR:
That's not supposed to happen.

[Steward's office]

STEWARD:
Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end.

(He makes a calm broadcast.)

STEWARD:
Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you.

(He berates Control.)

STEWARD:
The whole place shook! I felt it. I've hosted all sorts of events on Platforms One, Three, Six and Fifteen and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you, if this lot decide to sue. I'm going to scan the infrastructure.

(He does so, then hears a scuttling sound.)

STEWARD:
What's that? Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings. I have no idea. Well, they're small. The scan says they're metal. I don't know what they look like!

(Then he sees one on the desk.)

STEWARD:
Although I imagine they might look rather like that. You're not on the guest list. How did you get on board?

(The spider pushes a button on his desk keyboard.)

STEWARD:
No.

COMPUTER:
Sun filter deactivated.

STEWARD:
No!

COMPUTER:
Sun filter descending.

(The room starts to fill with white light from the ceiling downwards as the filter on the window lowers.)

STEWARD:
No! Sun filter, up! No, no, no!

COMPUTER:
External temperature four thousand degrees.

STEWARD:
Control, respond! Sun filter up! Argh!

(The spider escapes through a small vent into the corridor.)

[Observation gallery]

MOXX:
Indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario. I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse

(The Doctor and Rose enter.)

DOCTOR:
That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?

JABE:
It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me.

DOCTOR:
Where's the engine room?

JABE:
I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife.

DOCTOR:
She's not my wife.

JABE:
Partner?

DOCTOR:
No.

JABE:
Concubine?

DOCTOR:
Nope.

JABE:
Prostitute?

ROSE:
Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson.

(Rose goes to talk to Cassandra.)

DOCTOR:
Don't start a fight.

(He offers Jabe his arm.)

DOCTOR:
I'm all yours.

ROSE:
And I want you home by midnight.

COMPUTER:
Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes.

[Maintenance duct]

(A multitude of spiders scuttle out of sight behind the swags of wiring and piping.)

DOCTOR:
Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a Captain or what?

JABE:
There's just the Steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal mind.

DOCTOR:
You mean the computer? But who controls that?

JABE:
The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another.

DOCTOR:
But there's no one from the Corporation on board.

JABE:
They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the Alpha class. Nothing can go wrong.

DOCTOR:
Unsinkable?

JABE:
If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate.

DOCTOR:
You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg. It wasn't half cold. So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?

JABE:
I'm afraid not.

DOCTOR:
Fantastic.

JABE:
I don't understand. In what way is that fantastic?

[Observation gallery]

CASSANDRA:
Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun.

ROSE:
What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?

CASSANDRA:
They say mankind has touched every star in the sky.

ROSE:
So, you're not the last human.

CASSANDRA:
I am the last pure human. The others mingled.

CASSANDRA:
Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels.

ROSE:
Right. And you stayed behind.

CASSANDRA:
I kept myself pure.

ROSE:
How many operations have you had?

CASSANDRA:
Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out.

ROSE:
I'd rather die.

CASSANDRA:
Honestly, it doesn't hurt.

ROSE:
No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline.

CASSANDRA:
Oh, well. What do you know.

ROSE:
I was born on that planet, and so was my mum, and so was my dad, and that makes me officially the last human being in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking.

(The Adherants watch Rose leave.)

[Maintenance duct]

DOCTOR:
So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this?

JABE:
Respect for the Earth.

DOCTOR:
Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions.

JABE:
Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions.

DOCTOR:
In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land.

JABE:
All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest.

DOCTOR:
Excuse me.

(He scans a door panel marked Welcome to Platform One. Guide of Platform One Do You Need Assistance. A keypad labelled Maintenance log in, then Access denied.)

JABE:
And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am.

(She puts her hand on his arm, and the Doctor puts his hand over hers. A tear drops from his eye. He gets the door open.)

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