Journey into Terror
(A bleak and dark room, with ancient stone walls and a grand staircase which leads up to a landing. Of to the side is a fire place, with holes like eyes above it. Around the room are unlit candles, with cobwebs sticking to almost everything. And there's even the sound of thunder and lightning from above. Then, as a strange and alien wheezing noise fills the air, a blue police box materialises with a thud. After a few seconds, the door opens and Barbara steps out into the room. Behind her is Ian, then Vicki and the Princess, and lastly the Doctor. The time travellers all look around, unsettled and disturbed by where they are.)
BARBARA: I'm not wild about this place.
IAN: I don't know. Ideal place to fight Daleks, you know. Good stout walls, an upper storey, stairs. Daleks don't like stairs.
(As Ian steps on the first step, a swarm of bats suddenly swoop down upon them all. The women scream, as the bats fly around them, before then vanishing back up into the ceiling.)
DOCTOR: Is everyone all right?
BARBARA: (Breathless) Yes…Yes…
IAN: No scratches or bites?
BARBARA: No…I'm all right. What about you, Princess?
PRINCESS: I'm okay.
VICKI: Probably vampires, if you ask me.
DOCTOR: Oh, rubbish, my child. Vampire bats are only to be found in South America.
VICKI: Maybe that's where we are.
PRINCESS: It could be. The ship's instruments where struggling to get a location reading.
DOCTOR: Probably to do with our constant movement as of late. The systems aren't getting the chance they need to recover. But no, I don't believe this is South America. Not judging by the architecture, no. I would say Central Europe.
VICKI: Well, I'm with Barbara. I don't like it here. I think we should go.
PRINCESS: Normally I would agree with you, Vicki.
VICKI: But…?
PRINCESS: But Ian's right, there are advantages to this place from the off. Not to mention with this lighting, the Daleks might struggle to see.
IAN: Another reason to stay.
DOCTOR: Or at the very least have a look around. I think we should try upstairs.
(The Doctor steps onto the stairs and again the bats descend swarming around them. Again, the women scream, all gathering together while the Doctor presses on up the stairs. And as he does, the bats suddenly fly back up into the ceiling again.)
IAN: Strange…
(Ian skips over the first step, joining the Doctor on the stairs. This time, the bats don't descend.)
IAN: Coming ladies?
BARBARA: Absolutely not. You go if you want to, but I'm staying near the Tardis.
VICKI: Me too.
DOCTOR: Oh, very well, stay where you are. We shan't be long.
PRINCESS: I…I think I'll stay with Barbara and Vicki. In case they want to go back inside the ship.
DOCTOR: Very well, do as you like.
(The Doctor continues on up the stairs to the landing. Ian is more hesitant.)
DOCTOR: Chesterton.
(Ian jumps a little, before slowly going up one step.)
IAN: (To Barbara, nervously) Shan't be long.
(Ian proceeds up the stairs after the Doctor. The women then watch the Doctor and Ian walk across the landing before vanishing down a corridor. Now alone, the three women back up slowly towards the police box.)
BARBARA: Now, Vicki, there's…there's really nothing to be scared of. Right, Princess?
PRINCESS: Absolutely. Perfectly safe…minus the bats.
BARBARA: It's just an old house, that's all.
PRINCESS: Exactly. Mustn't let our imaginations overtake us.
(Thunder strikes and all three jump – holding on to each other before then slowly letting go.)
VICKI: On the other hand…couldn't we wait in the Tardis?
BARBARA: No…No, like the Princess said, it's perfectly safe out here.
PRINCESS: We'll just…We'll just wait until the Doctor and Ian come back with their analysis of the situation.
BARBARA: Right. And in the meantime, we'll have a look around here for anything useful.
VICKI: Could I have a look inside the ship?
PRINCESS: I think for now, we'll be safer together, Vicki.
BARBARA: How about we start by checking the fireplace?
(The three women, staying close together, move over to the old stone fireplace.)
BARBARA: Maybe there's something inside.
VICKI: Yeah, waiting to jump out at us!
PRINCESS: Oh, Vicki, do calm down. Barbara's talking about a tool, or…or…
BARBARA: Or maybe a way out.
PRINCESS: Yes.
(The Princess and Barbara lean down to look inside the fireplace.)
PRINCESS: Do you see anything, Barbara?
BARBARA: No, I–
(Vicki suddenly screams, and the Princess and Barbara straighten up. Vicki points above the fire place and the Princess and Barbara look up to see two very real eyes looking down at them. The Princess and Barbara jump back, taking Vicki with them. The eyes follow them, as the Princess and Barbara take Vicki behind the police box. They go around the other side, and Barbara peaks, only to see that the eyes have closed over with stone bricks.)
BARBARA: They're gone… Probably just imagining things.
VICKI: All three of us at once?!
PRINCESS: Let's…Let's just tread carefully. (Looks around) Why not try over here.
(The Princess takes Vicki and Barbara over to a nearby wooden chest. The three stand over it, looking down.)
VICKI: What do you suppose is inside it?
BARBARA: Only one way to find out.
(Barbara goes to open the chest, when suddenly maniacal laughter fills the room. Barbara halts in opening the chest and looks up to Vicki and the Princess. All are nervous and on edge. Barbara then goes for it, opening the lid of the chest quickly…only to find nothing inside it.)
PRINCESS: Oh! (Chuckling) That's a relief.
(Barbara and Vicki join in the Princess' laughter.)
VICKI: All that fuss over nothing.
(Barbara, still chuckling, closes the lid, only for a skeleton to then drop down from the ceiling. The women all scream, jumping backwards as the skeleton laughs with its jaw flapping up and down and its eyes flashing green and red. As the women scream, the skeleton then vanishes, leaving the women all shocked and confused as they look around.)
VICKI: We–We all saw that, didn't we?!
BARBARA: Hard to miss it, Vicki.
VICKI: What is going on here?!
PRINCESS: I'm not sure? Some kind of mass hallucination?
VICKI: I don't like it here. We should get the Doctor and Ian and leave!
(Vicki goes towards the stairs.)
BARBARA: Vicki, wait!
(As Vicki touches the first step, the bats drop down again swarming all over them. Vicki staggers back, being caught by Barbara and the Princess, and then the bats suddenly fly back up once more.)
PRINCESS: Right, that does it, we're waiting inside the ship! Come on!
(They turn back towards the ship, only to find a man, dressed in a tuxedo with a dark cape around his shoulders, blocking their path. He also has thinning black hair, brushed back, and two sharp pointed teeth, which stick out the corners of his mouth.)
COUNT DRACULA: Good evening.
PRINCESS: Good…Good evening.
VICKI: Who are you?
COUNT DRACULA: (Slowly) I am Count Dracula.
BARBARA: But…But you can't be, I mean, not…not really.
PRINCESS: Barbara's right, that's impossible.
(The man, claiming to be Count Dracula, pulls his cape up and around himself before vanishing from sight.)
VICKI: Was…Was that really him? Count Dracula?
PRINCESS: No…No, it couldn't have been.
BARBARA: Let's just get inside the Tardis.
(Suddenly there's a piercing scream from above which makes all three women jump and turns round. They look up, seeing a woman on the land in a maid's outfit. She is both screaming and laughing, pointing down towards them as the time travellers furiously back up towards the police box. But then suddenly, as they are stepping over a carpet, it gives way and the three of them fall straight down, all screaming as they fall. That is until they hit something soft and squishy. They wobble up and down for a moment, until they find their balance, getting up on all fours. They are now in a room with four bricked walls leading up to where they fell in, and no clear way out.)
VICKI: What is this?!
BARBARA: It…It feels like a water bed.
PRINCESS: Similar concept, but much stronger.
BARBARA: We're lucky it was here, or we'd be dead.
PRINCESS: I'm starting to think it has nothing to do with luck.
BARBARA: What do you mean?
VICKI: Oh, who cares! All I want to know is how are we going to get out of this nightmare and get back to the Tardis. If we stay here any longer, the Daleks needn't bother with killing us, I'll have died of fright.
PRINCESS: I rather think that's the point.
BARBARA: Oh, stop talking in riddles!
PRINCESS: Sorry, Barbara, but I think… (The Princess crawls over to the wall and starts tapping each brick) If I'm on the right track… That there should be a secret doorway somewhere. Would you mind helping me look for it?
VICKI: Why would they put a door down here? Surely, they dropped us down here to starve us to death.
PRINCESS: But then why have this soft floor? Why not just kill us right away?
VICKI: Because they're cruel.
BARBARA: No, the Princess is right. Come on, let's have a look.
(Vicki unenthusiastically begins tapping the wall like Barbara and the Princess. But unlike Barbara and the Princess, Vicki taps a stone that gives way. And as the stone is pressed in, the wall next to it parts, revealing a tunnel out of the pit.)
VICKI: I found it! I found it!
PRINCESS: Well done, Vicki!
BARBARA: Brilliant!
VICKI: Mind you, doesn't look like it's been used in a while. There are cobwebs everywhere. Probably spiders too…
BARBARA: I'll go first then, you come up behind me. (Crawls into the passageway) With any luck, this'll lead us back up to the room we arrived in.
(Vicki follows Barbara into the passageway.)
PRINCESS: Hopefully we'll get back before the Doctor and Ian start to worry.
(Lastly, the Princess follows Vicki into the passageway, with the wall closing over behind her.)
(A short while later, back in the room where the police box materialised, from out of the fireplace crawls Barbara, coughing and spluttering as she exits.)
BARBARA: We're…We're back where we started.
(Barbara, having climbed out, helps Vicki out.)
VICKI: Well, that's good isn't it? That's where we wanted to go, right?
PRINCESS: You're absolutely right, Vicki.
(Barbara and Vicki help the Princess climb out and then help her to her feet, before all three start dusting themselves down.)
PRINCESS: Question is, do we wait inside the ship, or go looking for the Doctor and Ian?
VICKI: (Pointing up the stairs) No need, there they are!
(The Princess and Barbara look to see Ian and the Doctor coming down the stairs in a hurry.)
IAN: Barbara!
DOCTOR: Where have you all been?
VICKI: We fell through a trap door of some kind, then found this secret tunnel and–
IAN: There's no time to tell us now. The Daleks are here.
BARBARA: Daleks?!
DOCTOR: Yes.
PRINCESS: Where?
VICKI: Over there!
(The time travellers all turn to see a Dalek approaching them, its weapon aimed right at them.)
DALEK: Halt! You will be exterminated!
(But then, from behind the Dalek, Count Dracula steps out of the shadows.)
COUNT DRACULA: (To Dalek) Good evening.
(The Dalek turns around to face Dracula.)
IAN: Quick, into the Tardis while we've still got a chance!
(The Doctor pushes the Princess towards the police box as the time travellers all run. All but one.)
VICKI: (To Dracula) Look out, he'll kill you!
(At the police box doors, the Princess unlocks the door with her key, before she and Barbara race inside, followed swiftly by the Doctor and Ian who shut the doors behind them.)
IAN: Quick, get us out of here before the Daleks are on top of us!
DOCTOR: Chesterton's right. No time for coordinates, my dear, speed is the primary goal here!
(The Doctor and Princess run to the console and quickly start pressing buttons and pulling levers. As they do, the glass column in the centre begins to rise and fall, as the wheezing engines of the ship echo around them.)
DOCTOR: That's us. We're away.
BARBARA: (Sighing) Well, thank goodness for that.
PRINCESS: I think I could do with a drink.
IAN: Yes. Me too after all that running around and screaming.
BARBARA: I'll get us all some, will I?
PRINCESS: Oh, thank you, Barbara, that would be most appreciated.
DOCTOR: Yes, thank you, Ms. Wright.
(Barbara exits through the door, heading further into the ship.)
IAN: (Sighing) This game of hide and seek through time is wearing a little thin now.
PRINCESS: I'd hardly call it a game, Ian. We are running for our lives.
(Ian sits down in a chair while the Doctor and Princess remain at the console.)
IAN: Sorry, Princess, but you know what I mean.
PRINCESS: I suppose so.
IAN: And what an extraordinary place that was?
PRINCESS: You mean where we just were?
IAN: Yes. More spooks to the square mile than the Tower of London. (To Doctor) You know that theory of yours–
DOCTOR: Theory, my dear boy? Fact, fact!
PRINCESS: What theory?
DOCTOR: Shortly after leaving you, I deduced that that place back there we neither time, no space.
PRINCESS: Where were we then?
DOCTOR: Lodged in an area of the human thought, my dear.
IAN: (Getting up) And were the Daleks lodging too?
DOCTOR: Oh, I don't want to enter into a discussion about it, not now.
IAN: Have it your own way. I think there's a much simpler explanation.
PRINCESS: Such as a haunted house?
IAN: My thoughts exactly.
DOCTOR: Justify it any way you like. But I assure you, I am correct.
IAN: (To Princess) Shame we can't prove it.
PRINCESS: Even then, he'd still insist he's right.
(Ian chuckles.)
DOCTOR: What was that, my dear?
PRINCESS: I was just wondering about our flight path.
DOCTOR: It's steady enough for now. But this old ship of ours will be needing a rest soon. All these quick hopes are wearing it down more than I anticipated.
IAN: Then you'd best finish that machine of yours while you have the chance.
(The Doctor moves away from the console and over to a table where his equipment – a box like device with various wires and pieces sticking out of it is resting. The Doctor begins to tinker with the device.)
DOCTOR: Yes…I think I've almost got it. A little crude, for sure, but I haven't the time to perfect anything.
PRINCESS: How much longer do you think you'll need before it's ready?
DOCTOR: You know just as much about that as I do, my dear.
IAN: Well, we can't keep this up much longer, Doctor. We've been lucky so far, escaping by the skin of our teeth. But sooner or later we're going to slip up and that'll be the end of us – That is unless we stand and fight them.
DOCTOR: Oh, I quite agree with you, dear boy. Problem is, once we've decided to stand fight, there'll be no turning back. It'll either be them or us. So, before making that decision, I wish to tilt the balance in our favour, do you follow?
IAN: Yes, Doctor, I follow. But you've said it yourself, we're running out of time, we're getting tired. The sooner we make our stand the better.
DOCTOR: Only once I've got this machine functioning. If we try and fight the Daleks without it, we'll be finished. Now, a bit of peace, please. Maybe then I'll stand a chance at finishing it.
(Barbara returns, carrying a small plastic tray with five glasses of drinks on it.)
BARBARA: Here we are.
DOCTOR: (Taking a glass) Oh, my dear, that's very welcome, thank you.
PRINCESS: (Taking a glass) Thank you, Barbara.
IAN: (Taking a glass) Thanks.
BARBARA: Where's Vicki?
(The Doctor, about to drink, suddenly stops and looks to Barbara sharply.)
DOCTOR: But I thought she was with you?
BARBARA: No, I left the room on my own.
IAN: Well, she's not in here, is she?
PRINCESS: Well, she must be around here somewhere.
(The Princess goes over to the door leading further into the ship.)
PRINCESS: (Calling) Vicki? Vicki!
DOCTOR: (Approaching the console) Hold on, I'll checks the instruments. We'll soon find out where she is.
(The Doctor presses a few buttons…and then tenses.)
IAN: Well, Doctor, where is she?
DOCTOR: I…I'm not sure.
BARBARA: But you must be able to find her surely.
DOCTOR: I would…if she were onboard.
PRINCESS: Doctor, stop fooling around, she has to be onboard.
DOCTOR: I assure you, my dear, I'm not fooling around. And Vicki is not onboard this ship.
BARBARA: But…But that would mean…
PRINCESS: We've left her behind…
(The Princess and Barbara are horrified, while the Doctor and Ian look grimly to one another.)
(Meanwhile, onboard the Daleks' time machine, Vicki comes out of hiding, from behind some equipment. Much like the Doctor and Princess' ship, it is bigger on the inside. Vicki has found herself inside some sort of laboratory, with a large cylindrical device off to one side – tall enough for a person to fit inside. Vicki looks are it ominously, shivering before then going to the doorway to make sure there are no Daleks nearby. Outside is clear, so Vicki goes over to the wall with a microphone. It has many nobs and flashing lights and looks very complex. Vicki gingerly adjusts the nobs at first, but after a moment does so more confidently. She then pulls the microphone over towards her.)
VICKI: (Into microphone) Tardis? Hello, Tardis? Come in please. Over…
(There is no reply.)
VICKI: Doctor? Princess? Somebody, please…please help me…
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Why do you need help, child?
(Vicki jumps, turning around and finding a woman stood in the room with her. A young woman, but still older than herself, dressed in strange robes with a high collar behind her head, and golden hair that almost glows as it runs down smoothly to floor, forming a puddle around her feet.)
VICKI: Who…Who are you?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: I rather think you're capable of getting yourself out of this situation.
VICKI: What…What's happening?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Well, that's a rather interesting question. I suppose, nothing is happening. Or perhaps everything is happening at once, all around us.
VICKI: Excuse me…?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: That's what the vortex is, in many ways. And that's what those who enter it become, part of something beyond even themselves.
VICKI: All right…
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: You are confused?
VICKI: A little, yes.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Do not worry, much of life is confusing. That's why we must treasure the answers which we find.
VICKI: (To herself) I must be hallucinating.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: It's certainly a possibility.
VICKI: (Staring) Who are you?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: An observer…and yet, I find myself interfering.
VICKI: Interfering with what?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: With everything. It's getting harder to keep it all together, but still, I must. Until their time comes.
VICKI: Who's time?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: The youngest always look to future, do they not? While the oldest look to the past. Possibly because there is so much of the other, in either case. Perhaps you should look to your future now?
VICKI: What do you mean?
(The mysterious woman looks over to the large cylindrical device across from them. Vicki follows her line of sight, before then approaching the device. She looks in through the misty glass on the front, and through that mist she makes out a familiar face…that of the Doctor. Vicki quickly backs up, holding her head and squeezing her eyes shut.)
VICKI: (To herself) It's a dream. A horrible dream. And soon I'll wake up on the Tardis…
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: This is no dream, child. You have seen what the Daleks mean to do, you must be ready to stop them.
VICKI: No, no. It's not real. It's not him.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: You are correct, it is not him, but a duplicate. One which will be loyal to the Daleks. You must help your friends to stop them.
VICKI: I can't…I can't do it alone.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: You won't be alone. I have made sure of that. But I cannot dictate everything, not as I am. You must play your part. You must help her.
VICKI: Help who?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Be brave, child. For soon, this tale will be over.
(Vicki opens her eyes, but the mysterious woman has disappeared from the room. But when Vicki looks back into the cylindrical machine, the misty and faint image of the Doctor is still very much there.)
(Later, back on the Doctor and Princess' ship, the four time travellers are stood around the console room. All depressed and ashamed of themselves.)
DOCTOR: It's my fault. All my own stupid fault. I shouldn't have moved the Tardis. I have should have checked first to make sure that everybody was inside. I shall never forgive myself.
IAN: Oh, no Doctor, don't blame yourself. We're all equally to blame. I was convinced she was on board.
BARBARA: Isn't there anything we can do? Is there no way of going back for Vicki?
DOCTOR: You don't think I'd be standing here doing nothing, if there were! And you of all people should know, that to try and pilot the Tardis back to a previous destination is almost impossible in its current state!
PRINCESS: The fast return switch has been useless ever since you joined us. If we try it now, what happened the first time might happen again.
IAN: That's the problem isn't it? We've never stayed long enough in any one place to repair the Tardis. (To Doctor) If we did, is there a chance of going back for Vicki?
DOCTOR: Yes, of course, it's possible, but it might take months, even years.
BARBARA: But Doctor, if we all worked together, if Ian and I helped you and the Princess, surely, it's worth a try?
DOCTOR: Yes, my dear, I know it's worth a try, but you don't think the Daleks are going to sit back and allow us to tinker do you? They're right on our tracks. Their one aim is to destroy… And by the time we've completed our repairs–
PRINCESS: Don't say it, Doctor…please.
IAN: But he's right. We've got to acknowledge the possibility.
BARBARA: Ian, don't–
DOCTOR: These Daleks were sent to kill us. And as hard as it is to think…they may have already done so to Vicki.
(The Princess cries into her hands.)
BARBARA: But…But you don't know that for certain! There's still a chance!
DOCTOR: Of course, there is. And I won't rest until we have answers, but…
PRINCESS: (Sobbing) She can't be dead.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: She can be.
(The time travellers all jump and turn, finding a fifth person has joined them in the console room of the ship. A woman younger than any of them in appearance, with strange robes and a high collar, and flowing golden hair so long it forms a puddle around her feet. Barbara goes to Ian who is holds her close, both tense and unsure. But the Doctor and Princess, they recover from their shock, both with grime expressions on their face.)
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: However, in this instance, she is in fact not.
PRINCESS: She's alive?!
(The Princess strides around the console and over to the mysterious woman.)
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: When I last spoke with her, yes.
PRINCESS: Where is she?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Aboard the Daleks' time machine.
PRINCESS: Get her out of there. Bring her here, or put her somewhere safe, just do something!
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Do not take that tone with me. And you know I cannot do as you ask.
PRINCESS: Then why are you even here?!
BARBARA: Doctor, who is that?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: (To Barbara) I am a relation. And you, Barbara Wright, and Ian Francis Chesterton, are out of your proper time and place.
(Barbara and Ian look unsettled.)
PRINCESS: Leave them alone.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: It is not I who involved them. Nor you as it were.
(The mysterious woman looks to the Doctor, who seems to shrink beneath her gaze.)
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Although, the one responsible seems to know his place well enough to remain silent at this time.
PRINCESS: Leave him alone too. He's a good man.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: Because he does your bidding?
PRINCESS: Because he's my friend.
(The Princess and the mysterious woman stare off against each other.)
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: A discussion for another time. And believe me, that time will come. For now, we have much more pressing issues.
IAN: You mean the Daleks?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: I do, child.
PRINCESS: How do they have time travel?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: It's complicated.
PRINCESS: That's not an answer. You should have stopped them, why didn't you?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: (Deep breath) Things are transpiring that are outside your frame of reference. Cracks are forming, things are slipping into times and places they ought not be. These Daleks are one of them, out of sync with you and the rest of the universal timeline. They are from events yet to transpire, from a timeline that's yet to be.
PRINCESS: But that's impossible.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: And yet, it has happened.
IAN: Whatever you're talking about doesn't concern us. All we want to know is how we get Vicki back and defeat the Daleks.
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: You cannot defeat the Daleks as you are, child. And I cannot tell you whether your companion will be returned to you or not. All I can say, is that your next destination will be your final one.
BARBARA: What's that supposed to mean?
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: (To Princess) I have done all that I can to move things into position. The rest is up to you and your companions. If you wish to be reunited with Vicki Pallister, then you must not leave until you have done so. But if you are to be safe again, you must make sure every last Dalek pursuing you is destroyed, along with their time machine. Do you know what to do?
PRINCESS: Yes.
(And without another word, the mysterious woman vanishes, melting away into a golden glow that fades into nothing. For a moment, everyone is silent, with only the wheezing of the ship's engines to fill the silence.)
BARBARA: Who…Who was that?
IAN: Yes, who was she, Princess?
PRINCESS: Nobody.
BARBARA: But how did she get into the Tardis?
DOCTOR: Believe me, my dear Barbara, that leads to a trail of questions, which even I, dare not ask.
IAN: But you both knew her.
PRINCESS: Yes. But she's not important. What's important right now, is that we get Vicki back.
DOCTOR: Agreed. And she said we can't leave until we have her. Meaning wherever we land next, will be our battle ground.
IAN: Can you get your machine ready in time?
DOCTOR: I believe so, yes, yes.
BARBARA: Then we're all committed to this? To standing and fighting?
IAN: (Looking around at the others) I think so.
PRINCESS: Then it's decided.
DOCTOR: Yes. One way or the other, this chase ends now…
Next Episode – The Death of Doctor Who
