INT. LORD MAYOR'S OFFICE
Mr Cleaver paces the office.
MR CLEAVER (anxiously): I've checked the figures. I've checked them again and again. ALWAYS the same result. The design is not safe. It could result in the death of millions. I beg of you... stop the project right now, before it's too late.
MARGARET: Well. Goodness me. Obviously, Mr Cleaver, you're the expert...
"She intended it to result in the death of millions didn't she?" Rory asked, turing to the first couch.
"Oh yep," "yes" "yeah" "definitely" 10, Rose, Jack and Mickey all said at the same time.
"You're getting good at noticing things." Amy remarked.
"Well you sort of pick it when you've been doing this long enough." He shrugged.
11 suddenly felt nervous. Ever since the incident with Davros and the reality bomb and Donna he'd had this unconscious fear of having too strong an impact in people's lives.
MR CLEAVER: Then... you'll stop it?
MARGARET: Seems I have no choice. (Stomach rumbles noisily, an apologetic smile). Oh... do excuse me. Civic duties leave little time for a sandwich.
MR CLEAVER (urgently): But you promise you'll stop it, today?
MARGARET: Well of course. Nothing is more important than human life...
"She couldn't seem less suspicious if she tried." Mickey deadpanned.
"Somehow I don't think she cares." Martha whispered to him. Like a lot of people in the room she had the sneaking suspicion this poor man wasn't going to be alive much longer.
Her face hardens, and Cleaver looks slightly worried. She makes an effort to lighten her tone.
MARGARET (CONT'D): What do you take me for? Some sort of maniac?
MR CLEAVER: Why, no...
MARGARET: Am I right in thinking you've shown your results only to me?
MR CLEAVER: Just to you. No one else.
MARGARET (smiles): Wise move.
"No, not wise, not wise at all." Mickey said.
"He can't hear you dumbass." Said Donna.
"I know that I was just—"
"Alright!" Martha intervened before the two could start a full on argument.
Mr Cleaver, clearly very relieved, takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes, fatigued.
MR CLEAVER: I can't tell you Mrs Blaine, this is such a weight off my mind. I've barely slept. I couldn't believe my own readings.
He whips a hanky out of his pocket, his backed turned to Margaret, who looks darkly at him and slowly raises a hand to her forehead...
Everyone grew nervous. For those who had met the slitheen a chill ran down their spines. For the others it wasn't quite so scary as they had only seen the criminal family on screen in the previous episodes but it still made them feel sad to know poor Mr Cleaver was about to die.
MR CLEAVER (CONT'D) The scale of it - destruction like the British Isles has never seen before.
He cleans his glasses on the hanky, his back turned to the room so that he does not see the blue light flashing behind him. He squints at the model of the nuclear power station.
MR CLEAVER (CONT'D): If I didn't know better, I'd almost think that someone wanted this project to go wrong. As though they intended this city should be wiped off the map.
"He's pretty intelligent." Clara observed.
"Too bad he ignored his theory." 12 muttered darkly.
MR CLEAVER (CONT'D): (Slowly replaces his glasses). Thank goodness we've got you, our esteemed leader.
He turns around, and Margaret is standing right behind him in her true, Slitheen form. She shrieks and grabs his neck with a huge claw, while Mr Cleaver shouts out with terror.
A few people felt sad at the irony that the one person he trusted to help solve this disaster was the one causing it and the one who killed him.
OPENING CREDITS
EXT. CARDIFF TRAIN STATION
A loudspeaker speaks out over a train station. A sign says "Caerdydd Canolog - Cardiff Central". A train pulls up and Mickey alights, looking up at the Way Out sign.
Rose felt herself growing uncomfortable, she remembered this trip well. It was the first time she and Mickey had properly argued about he decision to travel in the Tardis. It wasn't fair to him that she'd just left him behind like that.
EXT. MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
Mickey makes his way across Millennium Centre Square to where the TARDIS is parked in front of the silver water sculpture. He knocks on the door. It swings open almost immediately, and Jack pops his head out.
JACK (without hesitation): Who the hell are you?
MICKEY (rudely): What d'you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?
Everyone chuckled.
"This should be good…" Said Donna. Like most people she had the feeling Mickey and Jack's different personalities were going to clash in an amusing way.
JACK: Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying.
MICKEY: Get out of my way!
He barges past Jack into the TARDIS.
INT. TARDIS
JACK (shutting the door): Don't tell me, this must be Mickey.
"So you knew he was coming and you still had to make the joke?" Amy asked.
"Of course." Said Jack and they high five each other. Mickey just huffed, unamused.
The Doctor is way up in the gantries, standing on a ladder. He appears to be carrying out maintenance work on the TARDIS. He has a red flashing light strapped to his forehead and looks extremely dorky. Rose is standing by the console.
THE DOCTOR (cheerily): Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?
MICKEY: It's Mickey!
ROSE: Don't listen to him, he's winding you up.
"Yeah about that," Mickey began, looking at 10, "did you genuinely think my name was Ricky or were you just winding me up?"
"Just winding you up Mickey the idiot." 10 said back with a cheeky grin.
"Oi!" Mickey exclaimed but he was smiling too.
MICKEY: You look fantastic.
They both grin broadly and give each other a big hug.
JACK: Aww, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?
THE DOCTOR: Buy me a drink first.
JACK: You're such hard work.
THE DOCTOR: But worth it.
He grins in an extremely self-satisfied way.
Everyone laughed enjoying the light-hearted banter.
ROSE (to Mickey): Did you manage to find it?
MICKEY (hands her passport over): There you go.
ROSE (grins at the Doctor, brandishing the passport): I can go anywhere now!
THE DOCTOR: I told you, you don't need a passport!
ROSE: It's all very well going to platform one and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kloon but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything.
She sticks her tongue out, smiling.
MICKEY: Sounds like your staying, then.
Awkward silence.
The atmosphere in the theatre became awkward as well. Rose still felt guilty about being unfair to Mickey. Mickey wasn't angry anymore, he'd long moved on but he didn't feel comfortable talking about his and Rose's relationship.
The Doctor looks between them curiously. Mickey smiles, attempting to lighten the atmosphere again.
MICKEY: So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears up there.
THE DOCTOR: Oi!
MICKEY: Look in the mirror.
Everyone laughed, happily letting the tension drain from the room.
"They weren't that big were they?" 10 asked.
"They were pretty big." This comment, surprisingly, came from 12. Clara snorted and most everyone else was chuckling and voicing their agreement on the former doctor's large ears.
The Doctor shakes his head and turns back to his work.
MICKEY (CONT'D): But this guy, I dunno, he's kinda...
JACK: Handsome?
MICKEY: More like cheesy.
JACK: Early 21st Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?
MICKEY: Its bad.
JACK: But bad means good, isn't that right?
"Only in a certain context." Martha said, causing just about everyone to burst out laughing.
"To be honest, 51st century slang isn't that different from 21st century slang," River added.
THE DOCTOR (tottering down the ladder): Are you saying I'm not handsome?
Everyone ignores him.
"Course you're handsome." Rose whispered to 10
"You're very handsome sweetie." River said to 11 at the same time.
ROSE (to Mickey): We just stopped off. We need to refuel. Thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions...
THE DOCTOR: The rift was healed back in 1869...
ROSE: Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, 'cos these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it.
The group all had a moment of silence for poor Gwyneth.
From the look on his face, Mickey is finding this hard to follow.
JACK: But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the Human Race.
THE DOCTOR: But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and...
JACK: Open up the engines, soak up the radiation...
ROSE: Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!
JACK (hi-fives Rose): Into time!
THE DOCTOR, ROSE, JACK (the Doctor and Rose hi-five): And space!
ROSE: Whoo!
MICKEY (staring at them in disbelief): My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?
THE DOCTOR: Yeah!
ROSE: Yeah!
JACK: Yep!
"Well all of us are clever." Said Clara. Everyone, even the doctors, nodded.
"Except Rory," Amy added.
"Oi!" Her fiancé exclaimed.
"Sorry stupid, but hey I like that about you." She said playfully, elbowing him. They both laughed softly.
Jack gives Mickey a friendly slap on the cheek, he doesn't look pleased.
"Did you two ever come to like each other?" Clara asked.
"Of course" Jack said.
"Definately not." Mickey said at the same time. Jack looked at Mickey in mock hurt while Mickey just pulled a face, letting him know he was teasing. Mickey and Jack still found each other aggravating at times because of their different personalities but they'd managed to reach a level of respect over the years.
EXT. MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
They all bundle out of the TARDIS.
THE DOCTOR: Should take another twenty-four hours, which means we've got time to kill.
MICKEY: That old lady's staring.
JACK: Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box...
He pats the Doctor suggestively on the shoulder. The Doctor, Jack and Rose snigger.
"You should consider writing a book of double entendres, I'm sure it'd be a bestseller." Martha joked but Jack looked like he was seriously contemplating it.
MICKEY: What are you captain of? The Innuendo Squad?
Everyone found themselves doubled over in laughter. Martha patted her husband on the back.
"To be honest my old squad might as well have been called that," Jack laughed, "Ah the times we had."
Jack makes the 'whatever' sign and heads off.
A few people snorted.
MICKEY (CONT'D): Wait! Er, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?
JACK: Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?
ROSE (complacently): It's a cloaking device.
THE DOCTOR: It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck.
MICKEY: So it copied a real thing? There actually was police boxes?
THE DOCTOR: Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested somebody, they could shove them inside until help came. Like a little prison cell.
JACK (leaning towards him): Why don't you just fix the circuit?
THE DOCTOR: I like it! Don't you?
ROSE (patting it for emphasis): I LOVE it!
Everybody in the room immediately agreed with Rose. The Tardis just wasn't the Tardis without the police box look. The Doctors were all certain that she, the Tardis, felt the same way about her design.
"She's beautiful." 11 said.
"Careful sweetie, you'll make me jealous." River teased causing him to become flustered. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and everyone went back to watching the episode.
MICKEY (grinning, thinks he has proved a point): But that's what I meant! There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?
THE DOCTOR: Ricky, let me tell you something about the Human Race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town and what do they do?
He puts his hands on Mickey's shoulders. Mickey open his mouth to reply, but doesn't get a chance.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Walk past it. Now stop your nagging, let's go and explore!
"Well!" Donna huffed, feeling insulted.
"He's got a point though, most people would just walk past it." Rory chimed in.
"Yeah but I can see a few curious people trying to investigate the strange blue box." Amy said, laughing.
"Well the Tardis is locked and shielded so there's nothing to worry about." Said 10.
He walks off, linking his hand with Rose's. Mickey and Jack follow.
ROSE: What's the plan?
THE DOCTOR: I don't know! Cardiff. Early 21st Century.
Rose bounces up and down excitedly.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): And the wind's coming from the... East. Trust me, safest place in the universe.
Clara punched 12 in the arm.
"Ow." He hissed though it didn't really hurt.
"Way to jinx it." She huffed causing a few people to chuckle.
"He doesn't need to say anything to jinx it trouble follows him round like a stalker anyway." Rose said causing everyone to laugh.
INT. TOWN HALL, EXHIBITION ROOM
Margaret stands on a podium holding a glass of champagne and addressing a room full of civic dignitaries, journalists and waiters and waitresses.
MARGARET: This Nuclear Power station right in the heart of Cardiff City will bring jobs for all! (Climbs down from the podium, moves towards the miniature of the nuclear power station). As you can see, as Lord Mayor, I've had to sanction some radical redevelopments...
A camera flashes and Margaret throws her hand up in front of her face.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (angrier than the occasion warrants): No photographs! What did I say?
"Bit harsh." Said Donna.
"She probably didn't want to attract any more attention than necessary incase anyone such as yourself or galactic authorities caught on to her." River reasoned. Everyone nodded, that sounded plausible.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Take pictures of the project by all means, but not me, thank you. (Smiles, addresses the room at large). So. Cardiff Castle will be demolished allowing the Blaidd Drwg Project to rise up, tall and proud. A monument to Welsh industry. And yes, some of you might shiver. The words "nuclear power station" and "major population centre" aren't exactly the happiest of bedfellows. But I give you my personal guarantee that as long as I walk upon this earth, no harm will come to any of my citizens.
"Which I'm guessing means she plans to be off the planet when everyone dies." Said Clara.
"Oh yep," "Uh huh," "Yeah," "That's right," Said the four people who had been there and knew what happened.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Now drink up. A toast - to the future!
She raises her glass and the rest of the room follow suit.
ALL: To the future!
MARGARET: And believe me... it will glow.
"She's enjoying this, taunting them by insinuating her plans knowing they think she means these things to be good." Martha hissed angrily. Mickey grabbed her hand and began rubbing circles on the back to sooth her. Everyone who knew the Slitheen family were not surprised, it was in their nature to turn their jobs and killings into a sport to be enjoyed.
After a smattering of polite applause, the guests begin to mingle. A journalist named Cathy Salt hurries over to Margaret.
CATHY: Excuse me, Mrs Blaine? My name's Cathy Salt, I represent the Cardiff Gazette.
MARGARET: I'm sorry, I'm not doing interviews. I can't bear self publicity.
She begins to turn away.
CATHY: But are you aware of the curse?
Everyone suddenly perked up with interest.
MARGARET (looking her up and down with a fixed, fake smile): Whatever do you mean? Cathy, wasn't it?
CATHY: Cathy Salt. That's what some of your engineers are saying. That the Blaidd Drwg Project is cursed.
Now a lot of people were growing fearful. It was obvious this woman was uncovering more than she should and that likely meant Margaret would kill her.
MARGARET: Sounds rather silly to me.
CATHY: That's what I thought. I was just chasing a bit of local colour. But the funny thing is, when you start piecing it all together, it does begin to look a bit odd...
MARGARET (coldly): In what way?
CATHY: The deaths! The number of deaths associated with this project. First of all, there was the entire team of the European Safety Inspectors...
MARGARET: But they were French! Its not my fault if "Danger, Explosives! " was only written in Welsh.
"So basically she killed everyone who figured out the power station was dangerous and made it look like an accident." Said Amy. The doctors all nodded while everyone else just stared at the tv in anticipation.
She turns her back on Cathy, but Cathy persists.
CATHY: And then there was that accident with the Cardiff Heritage Committee...
MARGARET: The electrocution of that swimming pool was put down to natural wear and tear.
CATHY: And then, the Architect?
MARGARET (softly): It was raining, visibility was low, my car simply couldn't stop.
Everyone was willing to put money on the fact that she slammed on the accelerate rather than the brake.
CATHY: And then just recently, Mr Cleaver, the government's nuclear adviser...
MARGARET: Slipped on an icy patch.
CATHY: He was decapitated.
MARGARET: It was a very icy patch. I'm afraid these stories are nothing more than typical small town thinking. I really haven't got time, if you'll excuse me...
She makes to go, but Cathy still persists and hurries round in front of Margaret, blocking her way.
CATHY: Except, before he died, Mr Cleaver posted some of his findings online.
MARGARET (interested, now): Did he, now?
"Oh no…" Clara whispered, knowing that poor reporter had basically just dug her own grave.
CATHY: If you know where to look. He was concerned about the reactor.
MARGARET (attempting to laugh it off): Oh! All that technical stuff!
CATHY: Specifically, that the design of the suppression pool would cause the hydrogen recombiners to fail, precipitating in the collapse in the containment isolation system and resulting in a meltdown.
MARGARET: Who's been doing her homework?
CATHY: That's my job.
If everyone wasn't so worried about Cathy they'd probably be very impressed with how well she did her job.
MARGARET (prodding Cathy's necklace): I think... Cathy Salt... I think you and I should have a word in private.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR
Margaret is practically dragging Cathy out of the doors and along a corridor, still with a deadly sweet smile on her face. Her stomach rumbles loudly.
MARGARET: Ooh! My poor tummy's complaining. I think we might have to make a detour to the ladies.
CATHY: I'll wait here.
MARGARET (grabbing her hand and pulling her along): Oh, come on. All girls together!
Margaret pulls Cathy into the ladies.
INT. TOWN HALL, LADIES TOILETS
MARGARET: So, you were saying? These outlandish theories of yours?
She hurries into a cubicle and shuts the door, leaving Cathy to wait outside. A wet farting noise sounds from inside.
CATHY: Sounds like we got here just in time.
Everyone was disgusted by the general scene taking place before them.
"I don't think I've ever seen monsters as violent and gross as these guys." Rose said with a shiver.
"You can say that again." Donna added.
"Even the way you kill them is gross." Mickey grumbled, remembering the disgusting and exhausting task of cleaning dead Slitheen off his kitchen walls.
MARGARET: Continue.
CATHY: Well, I don't know much about nuclear physics. But from what I could make out, Cleaver was saying that the whole project could go up...
Inside the cubicle, Margaret begins to unzip her forehead with an evil smile on her face.
CATHY (CONT'D): ... worse than Chernobyl. (Notices the flickering blue light from under the toilet door). Is there something wrong with the lights?
MARGARET: Oh, they're always on the blink. I can't tell you how many memos I've sent. So, Chernobyl...
CATHY: Apparently. But a thousand times worse.
Margaret begins to wiggle out of her body suit.
Some people like Donna, Rose, Clara, Rory, Amy and Martha were still hoping Cathy would get away somehow, she seemed like such a nice woman. Jack, Mickey and River and had all resigned to the fact that she'd probably die and while they felt a little sad they'd all seen their fair share of death in their time and weren't that affected by it. The doctors meanwhile all knew from memory what was about to happen and intrigued by the prospect of seeing it unfold.
CATHY (CONT'D): I know this sounds absurd, there must be so many safety regulations. But Cleaver seemed to be talking about a nuclear holocaust. He almost made it sound deliberate. I mean, we're hardly the Sunday Times, it's only the Cardiff Gazzette, but we still have a duty to report the facts.
SLITHEEN / MARGARET: And you're going to print this information?
CATHY: Are you all right? You sound a bit...
MARGARET: Sore throat. (Affected cough). Just a little tickle. But tell me, do you intend to make this information public?
CATHY: I have to.
MARGARET (menacingly): So be it.
She raises a claw ready to push the door open.
A few people averted their eyes while some leaned forward in their chairs.
CATHY (walking to the sinks): Mind you, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad.
Margaret lowers her claw, listening.
What…? Most of the companions thought.
River sat up suddenly very interested. It wasn't unknown to people like herself and the doctors that there were moments in the lives of killers where their conscience kicks in but she'd never seen one with her own eyes before.
CATHY (CONT'D) (checking her reflection): We're getting married next month. And he says if I cause a fuss, I could lose my job. Just when we need the money...
MARGARET: ... Boyfriend?
CATHY (smiling): Jeffery. Civil Servant. He's nothing exciting, but he's mine.
MARGARET: When's the wedding?
CATHY (turns away from the mirror): The nineteenth. It's really just to stop my mother from nagging, but the baby sort of clinched it, I suppose.
Margaret slowly sits down on the toilet.
MARGARET: You're with... child?
Most of the companions were shocked, she sounded so sad and sincere. The Doctors didn't know how to feel. 12 felt confused, this was all such a long time ago for him, he felt as though he was scared that if he acknowledged his feelings he'd either find he cared or that he didn't care and he wasn't really sure which scared him more. 11 kept a straight face on the outside but inside he was conflicted, he never intended to make so many enemies, to be such a powerful figure in the universe, it just kind of… happened. It was easy not to think about most of the time but there were moments like this when he had to confront the fact that the criminals and killers he fought against were still living creatures. 10 was trying to remind himself that taking a stand against those who tried to harm others like Margaret did was the right thing to do, and that's what he did, as the doctor, he did the right thing. Even if it was hard sometimes.
CATHY: Three months. It's not showing yet. Wasn't planned. It was an accident. Nice accident, though.
She's smiling, just thinking about it.
MARGARET: Congratulations.
CATHY: Thank you. How about you? You got any kids?
MARGARET: No...
CATHY: Is there a Mr Blaine?
MARGARET (voice trembling): Not anymore. I'm all on my own. I had quite a sizeable family, once upon a time, wonderful brothers. Oh, they were bold. But all of them gone now. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm cursed.
A few people felt a jolt of sadness as they realised it had genuinely hurt her to lose her family.
"The Slitheen are a family of ruthless killers but they look out for one another." Jack stated.
CATHY (consolingly): No, no... I don't think so. Not really.
MARGARET: You're very kind. If you don't mind, I might be a while. You run along. Perhaps we could do this another day.
CATHY: Are you all right?
MARGARET: Fine!
CATHY: Okay, I'll tell you what, uh, I'll leave my details with your office. Thanks for talking.
MARGARET (sadly): Thank you...
Cathy leaves, glancing back at the door of the cubicle as she goes. When she is gone, Margaret gives a quiet moan of sorrow, lowering her head and closing her eyes with misery.
"She let her go…" Rose whispered in disbelief.
"Even ruthless killers like the Slitheen family have feelings." 11 said solemnly. "Family is very important to them, I think that woman talking about her family reminded her of her own."
Everyone else just nodded at what he said, staring intently at the screen.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY, RESTAURANT
The Doctor, Rose, Jack and Mickey are sitting at a table having a thoroughly good time as Jack tells them all an exciting story.
JACK: I swear, six feet tall and with tusks...
THE DOCTOR: You're lying through your teeth!
ROSE: I'd've gone bonkers! That's the word, bonkers!
JACK: I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy...
"Oh I know this story." Jack perked up with a grin. Rose, Mickey and the doctors all found themselves chuckling as they remembered as well.
THE DOCTOR: How could you not know it was there?
JACK: And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked...
ROSE: Naked?!
Amy, Clara and Martha all mimicked the Rose on screen.
"Yeah, quite the adventure that one, I may hate the Time Agency for what they did to me but there were some wild and fun times me and my squadron had on and off our missions."
JACK: And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me! And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say...
MICKEY: I knew we should've turned left!
They all roar with laughter at this punchline.
JACK: That's my line!
"That was genuinely what I said." Said Jack.
ROSE: I don't believe you, I don't believe a word you say ever, that is so brilliant!
The Doctor glances over at a newspaper an old man nearby is reading, and the smile instantly fades from his face. Unnoticed by the others, he stands.
ROSE (CONT'D): Did you ever get your clothes back?
JACK: No, I just picked him up went right for the ship, full throttle, didn't stop until I hit the spacelanes, I mean I was shaking! It was unbelievable, I'm freaking out and by the time I got there I was fifteen light-years away I was like this!
"Yeah, you should of seen the faces on the guys back at head office when we got back. All of walk in there without clothes and everyone's staring at us." Jack cackled, along with many of the others.
While Jack is prattling on, the Doctor pulls the paper out of the old man's hands and looks at the front page. He looks up, face troubled.
Clara gave 12 a little smack.
"Hey." He whined.
"Have you always been this rude?" She asked. He opened his mouth to retort but found himself uncertain of how to answer.
THE DOCTOR: And I was having such a nice day.
And he holds up the paper and shows them the headline: New Mayor, New Cardiff, complete with a picture of Margaret as she objected to the photographer taking her picture.
"And just like that we're back to fighting monsters and saving the world." Martha said in mock sarcasm. The other women in the room all smiled thinking of the thrill and adventure that came with traveling with the Doctor.
EXT. TOWN HALL
The four of them stride purposefully up the steps to the town hall, headquarters of the Mayor.
"Awesome!" Jack cried. "I wish we had that music playing while we were there."
The girls, 10 and 11 all laughed while Mickey and Rory rolled their eyes and 12 just ignored him.
INT. TOWN HALL, STAIRCASE
They enter and go up the steps into the entrance hall as though they own the place. They stop and glance around at their surroundings.
JACK: According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty seven/fifty six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face-to-face, that'll designate Exit One, I'll cover Exit Two, Rose, you Exit Three, Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that?
"Impressive plan," River complimented, Jack grinned at her appreciatively.
While Jack is rattling all this off, the Doctor is eyeing him with mild surprise at his impertinence, Rose's face is contorted with the effort of understanding what on earth he's going on about, and Mickey just looks plain confused.
THE DOCTOR (sternly): Excuse me. Who's in charge?
JACK: Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir.
Everyone snorted with laughter and Jack blushed in embarrassment.
"Hey he was letting me travel on the Tardis of which he's the captain therefore I have to do as he says." Jack defended, then realised how that sounded. "I mean— Oh forget it." He leaned on his hand and tried to ignore everyone else.
THE DOCTOR (voice deepening with authority): Right. Here's the plan. (A pause. He beams). Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?
Everyone was full on laughing at Jack and the doctors. 10 and 11 laughed with them, finding it funny also, even 12 cracked a smile.
JACK: Present arms.
They each pull out a mobile phone.
THE DOCTOR / ROSE / MICKEY: Ready!
JACK: Speed dial?
Each press a button with a beep.
THE DOCTOR: Yup.
ROSE: Ready.
MICKEY: Check.
JACK (lazy grin): See ya in hell.
"Very badass." Amy said causing Jack to grin.
"Careful, give his ego any more and it'll explode." Said 10, prompting the others to chuckle.
He walks off to the right, the Doctor and Rose head off to different exits straight ahead, and Mickey hesitates with confusion for a few moments before ambling off to the left.
Everyone laughed while Mickey blushed.
"We were all a bit overwhelmed in our early days." Clara said comfortingly.
"Yeah, it's amazing to think how much stronger you've become." Martha said, Mickey smiled and gave her a quick kiss.
INT. LORD MAYOR'S OUTER OFFICE
The Doctor strides over to the Secretary sat behind a desk outside the Mayor's office, Idris Hopper.
THE DOCTOR: Hello! I've come to see the Lord Mayor.
"Only you can just waltz in anywhere you want and see whoever you want." Martha sighed.
"What can I say, just part of my natural charm." 11 bragged.
"Speaking of egos." Said Rory making everyone laugh and all the doctors look indignant.
IDRIS: Have you got an appointment?
THE DOCTOR: Nope, just an old friend passing by, bit of a surprise, can't wait to see her face!
IDRIS: Well, she's just having a cup of tea.
THE DOCTOR: Just go in there, and tell her the Doctor would like to see her.
IDRIS: Doctor who?
12 felt uncomfortable as he was suddenly reminded of all the trouble that question had brought him in recent years.
THE DOCTOR: Just the Doctor. Tell her exactly that. The Doctor.
IDRIS (standing up resignedly): Hold on a tick...
Idris enters the office, and the Doctor stands with his hands behind his back and waits serenely. He barely raises an eyebrow when he hears the sound of a teacup smashing.
Everybody snorted.
Idris reappears, slightly flustered, and opening the door as little as possible before squeezing through it and shutting it behind him.
IDRIS: The Lord Mayor says thank you fo...- for popping by... she'd love to have a chat, but, um... she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you could make an appointment for next week...?
THE DOCTOR: She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?
IDRIS: Yes, she is.
"Well he didn't put up much of a fight." Donna laughed.
"He seems like to submissive type to me, plus it's the Doctor." Amy pointed out.
"Must be more of his "natural charm"." Said Rose. 10 grinned cheekily and nudged her with his arm playfully.
The Doctor nods smugly and pushes past him into the office.
INT. LORD MAYOR'S OFFICE
He dashes across the room to the open window and hurries out on the balcony.
EXT. LORD MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALCONY
The Doctor emerges just in time to see Margaret hop over onto the scaffolding.
"She's quite fast for a woman in a skin suit." River said.
THE DOCTOR (to the others, into his mobile): Slitheen heading North.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 1
ROSE (starting to run): On my way.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 2
JACK (also running): Over and out.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 3
MICKEY (stunned): Oh my God.
Everyone began laughing. Jack and Rose, of course use to this sort of thing by now, were all over it. While Mickey was completely stumped.
"It was still early days for me." Mickey said in his defence.
EXT. LORD MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALCONY
Idris rushes out onto the balcony and starts grappling with the Doctor.
IDRIS: Leave the Mayor alone!
"Well he grew some balls in those few seconds." Jack said causing everyone to laugh again. This whole episode seemed to be a bundle of laughs.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 1
Rose runs down a corridor and pushes past two secretaries in her hurry, sending paperwork flying.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 2
A tea lady shrieks as Jack does a running jump clean over her tea trolley.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 3
Mickey clicks off his mobile, eyes wide, and finally starts to run... straight into a cleaning trolley, sending the entire thing flying.
Speaking of laughter, the sight of Mickey stumbling his way through this adventure was quite the riot. Mickey sighed, accepting the fact that this episode was going to show off how overwhelmed and clumsy he was when he was younger.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 1
Rose bursts out of an exit.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 2
Jack bursts out of another exit.
INT. TOWN HALL, CORRIDOR 3
Mickey clomps along a corridor with his right foot stuck inside a mop-bucket, toilet roll trailing behind him.
Again people laughed, even Mickey this time.
EXT. LORD MAYOR'S OFFICE, BALCONY
As the Doctor and Idris continue with their tussle, Margaret hops off the scaffolding at the bottom and takes off her brooch.
EXT. BACK OF TOWN HALL
Margaret turns, ready to make her escape, but Rose is running towards her, blocking the way. She hisses angrily and pulls of an earring.
River had already worked out she was probably using a teleport. A cheap one mind, not like her lovely vortex manipulator.
She turns her head the other way, and Jack is running towards her. Her eyes widen with shock and she runs back the way she came, but the Doctor has managed to throw Idris off and he's on his way down the scaffolding.
THE DOCTOR (calling mockingly): Margaret!
But there's a fourth exit, and she's belting down it as fast as her fat legs can carry her, pulling off her second earring. Jack, Rose and the Doctor converge at one end.
JACK: Who's on Exit Four?!
ROSE: That was Mickey!
MICKEY (finally catching up, panting): Here I am!
THE DOCTOR: Mickey the idiot.
Mickey stuck out his tongue at 10 who gave him an affectionate grin, both had begun to accept the term as one of endearment these days.
ROSE (staring after her) Oh, be fair, she's not exactly gonna outrun us, is she?
But Margaret, smiling to herself, clips her brooch and the two earrings together and she vanishes in blue light with a small ting.
JACK: She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never gonna get her!
"How is it cheating? This isn't a game." Martha argued.
"When you've lived this life as long as I have it might as well be a game." Jack replied. He laughed but there was a small hint of sadness to his demeanour as Jack recollected the many, many years he'd been alive at this point. Who knew how much longer he was going to live for, especially since nothing could kill him.
ROSE: Oh, the Doctor's very good at teleports.
And the Doctor, who has produced his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, holds it in the air with a dopey grin and clicks it once. Margaret reappears, and this time she's much closer and running straight at them, still with the self-satisfied smile on her face. It fades as soon as she realises where she is, and she grinds to a halt and hurriedly changes direction while pressing her device together. She vanishes again, and the Doctor clicks his screwdriver again. She reappears, again running towards them. She turns around, vanishes again, and again, the Doctor clicks his sonic screwdriver causing her to reappear, and this time she's right in front of them, absolutely exhausted and gasping for breath. She gives up.
The entire group was laughing throughout. Thoroughly impressed with how the Doctor smugly outsmarted Margaret without even having to lift a finger.
THE DOCTOR (cheerily): I could do this all day.
MARGARET (puts her hands up): This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?
"Is she serious?" Amy asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
THE DOCTOR: You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet.
MARGARET (dismissively): Apart from that.
"Well apart from that she's probably got a criminal record farther than any eye can see." Said Jack.
INT. TOWN HALL, EXHIBITION ROOM
The Doctor, Rose, Jack, Mickey and Margaret enter.
THE DOCTOR (to Margaret): So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family get killed but you teleport out, just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station.
He gestures at the model in the middle of the room while Rose and Jack examine it with interest.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): But what for?
MARGARET: A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways.
"As if!" Donna yelled.
"Shush." Mickey hissed.
"What? It's true, she's already murdered a hoard of people." Donna defended.
THE DOCTOR: And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift.
MARGARET: What rift would that be?
JACK: A rift in space and time. If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go schwwwupboom!
THE DOCTOR (looking down at the model): This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity.
ROSE: Didn't anyone notice? Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?
MARGARET: We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care! The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice... Oh... I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native.
Everybody laughed, seems even moving to another planet for long enough can cause someone to pick up local mannerisms.
MICKEY: But why would she do that? A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself.
MARGARET: She's got a name, you know.
MICKEY: She's not even a she, she's a... thing.
THE DOCTOR (eyeing Margaret): Oh, but she's clever...
And in one swift movement, he has prised the middle section off the model and flipped it over, revealing a giant circuit board underneath.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Fantastic.
JACK (excitedly): Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?!
THE DOCTOR: Couldn't have put it better myself.
"Incredible… I've only seen one a handful of times." Said River. Jack and the doctors were all looking starry-eyed at the screen, even to this day impressed with the beauty of the extrapolator.
JACK (taking it off him for a better look): Ooh, genius!
The Doctor's attention seems to be caught by something on the far wall, the poster for the project, bearing the words "Blaidd Drwg".
JACK (CONT'D): You didn't build this.
MARGARET: I have my hobbies. A little tinkering...
JACK: No, no, no, I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you.
MICKEY: I bet she stole it.
MARGARET: It fell into my hands.
ROSE: Is it a weapon?
Jack places the extrapolator down on the floor.
JACK: It's transport. You see, the reactor blows, the rift opens, phenomenal cosmic disaster, but this thing shrouds you in a forcefield, you have this energy bubble, zzhum, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system.
MICKEY: It's a surfboard!
JACK: A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah.
"Sounds fun." Amy commented. "Think we'll get the chance to try one?" She asked Rory.
"Um… Well… I…" He stammered, not really sure how to answer. Luckily 11 stepped in and told Amy they could see about it when they got back.
MARGARET (bitterly): And it would've worked. I would've surfed away from this dead-end dump and back to civilisation.
"Our planet is not a dump." Cried Donna, all the humans in the room agreeing.
"Of course not." 11 agreed, "earth looks nothing like the universe's dumping planets."
MICKEY (incredulous): You'd blow up a whole planet just to get a lift?
MARGARET: Like stepping on an anthill.
THE DOCTOR (staring up at the poster): How'd you think of the name?
"That's what you're focused on?" Donna asked incredulously.
"If it is then it must be important." Clara said.
MARGARET: What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh.
THE DOCTOR: I know, but how did you think of it?
MARGARET: Chose it at random, that's all I dunno. Just sounded good. Does it matter?
THE DOCTOR (turning around, brow furrowed): Blaidd Drwg.
ROSE: What's it mean?
THE DOCTOR: Bad Wolf.
"Again?" Rory asked, "that's been popping up in every episode."
"Yeah, exciting isn't it." Amy said, laughing. "So come on then," She latched onto 11 "what's it mean?"
"I'd love to tell you but it's a no spoiler zone remember?" He said, grinning mischievously. Amy pouted but didn't complain, knowing he was right, if he tried to tell her about it he'd probably get shocked by Scar.
ROSE (haunted): But I've heard that before, Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times...
THE DOCTOR: Everywhere we go. Two words. Following us. Bad Wolf.
ROSE: How can they be following us?
The Doctor stares into space for a few more seconds, then...
THE DOCTOR: Nah! Just a coincidence! Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind!
"Everything's important you idiot," Clara said, cuffing 12 in the back of the head.
River sighed, "You know I often wonder how you can be so brilliant one moment and a complete moron the next."
"Hey, I make the odd mistake but more often than not I'm brilliant." 11 argued.
"Face it, if it weren't for the rest of us you'd've been long dead by now." Said Amy prompting all the people in the room besides the doctors to agree with her. The doctors tried to act like they were offended but deep down they knew she was right and they couldn't be more grateful to have such amazing friends watching out for them.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Things to do. (Claps his hands briskly). Margaret, we're gonna take you home.
JACK: Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?
ROSE (gleefully): I don't believe it! We actually get to go to Raxa...
The Doctor rolls his eyes.
ROSE (CONT'D) (indignantly): Wait a minute! Raxacor...
THE DOCTOR: Raxacoricofallapatorius.
ROSE (walking slowly towards the Doctor): Raxacorico...
THE DOCTOR: ... fallapatorius.
ROSE: Raxacoricofallapatorius!
She screeches in delight.
THE DOCTOR (yelling joyfully): That's it!
They throw their arms around each other and he picks her up and spins her.
Naturally this sparked attempts by everyone to try and say Raxacoricofallapatorius. Some, like Jack, River and Rose got it on the first go, well, they'd had practice. Clara and Amy were pretty quick. Martha took a few goes but eventually got it right, meanwhile Rory, Mickey and Donna were still trying as everyone moved on to watch the next events of the episode.
ROSE (squeaking happily): I did it!
MARGARET: They have the death penalty.
Nasty silence. All smiles fade.
Donna, Mickey and Rory stopped their attempts and a silence settled over the room as everyone watched intently.
MARGARET (CONT'D): The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty. With no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor? (Holds the Doctor's cold stare). Take me home and you take me to my death.
THE DOCTOR (indifferently): Not my problem.
A lot of the companions felt their blood turn cold as they got another glimpse of how cruel and indifferent the doctor was when he was straight out of the war. Sure their doctors had their moments but on the whole they knew him to be a friendly, merciful person.
EXT. MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
Darkness has now fallen, and they have taken Margaret back to the TARDIS.
MARGARET (in wonder): This ship is impossible! It's superb.
INT. TARDIS
MARGARET (CONT'D): How do you get the outside around the inside?
THE DOCTOR: Like I'd give you the secret, yeah.
"What is the secret?" Amy asked, curious.
"It's… uh… complicated." 11 said. "Bit of a time wimey thing."
"I like that, I'm definitely going to use that." 10 said, smiling. 12 grinned too knowing it was the truth.
MARGARET: I almost feel better about being defeated. We never stood a chance. This is the technology of the Gods.
THE DOCTOR: Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad God.
The people closest to each of the doctors placed a comforting hand on their shoulders. They all knew how much the doctors hated that people looked to him as a god or a hero when all he really wanted to be was a ordinary man that travelled through time and space for fun.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): You wouldn't get a day off, for starters... Jack, how we doing, big fella?
Jack is on the floor next to the console, wiring the extrapolator up to the TARDIS.
JACK: This extrapolator's top of the range. (Peers around at Margaret). Where did you get it?
MARGARET: Oh, I don't know... some airlock sale...?
JACK: Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power.
THE DOCTOR: But we can use it for fuel?
JACK: It's not compatible... but it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning.
THE DOCTOR: Then we're stuck here. Overnight.
"I get the feeling it's going to be a long night." Martha said. Mickey nodded, not saying anything.
MARGARET: I'm in no hurry...
ROSE: We've got a prisoner! The police box is really... a police box.
Margaret is twirling a beaded ball in her hands.
MARGARET (smiling unpleasantly): You're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you...
The room grew tense, no one was quite sure how to react to any of this.
MICKEY (coldly): Well, you deserve it.
MARGARET: You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me, how, exactly...?
Mickey has no answer to this.
Martha placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder.
"It's not your fault, she made her own choices and if her people have chosen her punishment that's their society and their decision."
Mickey turned and smiled at her, placing his hand atop hers.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Long night ahead...
The Doctor eyes her beadily as she takes her time walking around the console to sit elegantly in one of the seats.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Let's see who can look me in the eye.
She fixes Mickey with a calm, collected gaze. He manages to hold it for a few seconds before averting his eyes uncomfortably. Next, she looks at Rose who glances guiltily at the Doctor, who glances up only for a second as he is still working busily, but still very aware of the atmosphere.
Everyone was on edge, not really sure how to respond to this. Rose and Mickey were remembering how hard it was to stare into the eyes of someone they were condemning to death. They'd seen death many times during their travels but this was in the early days and they'd never actually had to spend time with someone they were going to kill, direct or indirect.
EXT. MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
Mickey is standing alone outside the TARDIS in front of the water feature. Rose steps out of the TARDIS and joins him.
ROSE: S'freezing out here!
MICKEY (nodding towards the TARDIS): Better than in there. (A pause as Mickey gathers his thoughts together). She does deserve it. She's a Slitheen. I don't care. It's... it's just... weird, in that box.
"Everyone feels that way at first, you just have to get use to her." 10 said encouragingly.
"Yeah, yeah." Mickey replied, rolling his eyes. "What do you care, you probably prefer being along with her anyway."
Everyone burst out laughing at his comment and the doctors all blushed.
ROSE (grinning tentatively): I didn't really need my passport...
Meaning, she wanted to see him. Mickey smiles, obviously pleased. She nudges him playfully, and he nudges her back with a grin.
"I do miss you, you know." Rose said sincerely to Mickey.
"Yeah, I know, look you and me had a good run, but, at least from my perspective, we've both moved on and found somewhere we belong," Mickey said, unconsciously taking his wife's hand. Rose smiled and nodded, snuggling closer to 10.
MICKEY: I've been thinking, you know... we could... go have a drink. Have a pizza or something. Just you and me.
ROSE (nodding): That'd be nice.
MICKEY: And, I mean, if the TARDIS can't leave until morning, we could...
Rose nods as he speaks, listening. Mickey looks slightly bashful.
MICKEY (CONT'D): ... go to a hotel? Spend the night? I mean, if you want to! I, I've got some money.
ROSE (smiling): Okay. Yeah.
MICKEY (as though he can't believe it): Is that all right?
ROSE (laughing): Yeah!
MICKEY (very pleased): Cool. There's a couple of bars around here, we should give 'em a go. (indicates TARDIS). And do you have to go and tell him?
ROSE: It's none of his business.
"Oi, I worry about you, you know." 10 said, nudging Rose playfully.
"Well, sorry dad." She teased causing him to blush.
INT. TARDIS
On the TARDIS scanner, the Doctor watches Rose and Mickey walking away hand in hand.
JACK: So, what's on?
The Doctor's head jerks around and he hurriedly turns the screen off.
THE DOCTOR (quickly): Nothing, just...
"Ooh… Somebody's jealous…" Amy sang.
"I was not!" 10 and 11 cried. Though 10 was blushing.
Margaret is sitting with her back to the console, on the metal grilling.
MARGARET (darkly): I gather it's not always like this... having to wait. (Pause as she considers this). I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go.
The doctors all kept straight faces but their friends could tell her words had struck a nerve. The doctor was in the habit of running away because he was too ashamed and afraid to face future, to face his himself.
MARGARET (CONT'D): You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last, you have consequences... how does it feel?
THE DOCTOR: I didn't butcher them.
JACK: Don't answer back. That's what she wants.
THE DOCTOR (needing him to understand): I didn't! (To Margaret): What about you? You had an emergency teleport, you didn't zap them to safety, did you?
MARGARET: It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up in a skip on the Isle of Dogs.
The Doctor and Jack snigger.
The group all snigger too.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (sharply): It wasn't funny!
THE DOCTOR (sheepishly): Sorry.
But Margaret turns around, and they're both still grinning their heads off.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): It is a bit funny!
The Doctor and Jack start laughing again - and Margaret joins in.
Hearing her laugh made everyone in the audience stop. There was something unnerving about it.
MARGARET (more relaxed): Do I get a last request?
THE DOCTOR (humour gone): Depends what it is.
MARGARET: I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals... brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things... there's a little restaurant. Just round the bay.
The Doctor glances around at her.
MARGARET (CONT'D): It became quite a favourite of mine.
The Doctor walks towards her and leans over the railings to talk to her properly.
THE DOCTOR: Is that what you want? A last meal?
"It's clearly a trap." Mickey said.
"We know!" All the doctors said defensively, upset that they'd been stupid enough to agree to her request.
MARGARET (defiantly): Don't I have rights?
JACK: Oh, like she's not gonna try to escape.
MARGARET (bitterly): Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger? (She considers the Doctor, a challenger). But I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?
THE DOCTOR: Strong enough.
No one doubted the Doctor's words. They'd accumulated pretty strong stomachs after spending a few months living life with the doctor. After more than nine hundred years… His stomach must be titanium.
MARGARET: I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies... now dine with them.
THE DOCTOR: You won't change my mind.
MARGARET: Prove it.
The Doctor is sorely tempted, he wants to see what can become of this. But...
THE DOCTOR (walking away): There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger.
JACK: Except... I've got these. (Holds up a pair of metal hoops, like bangles). You both wear one. If she moves... more than ten feet away...
He makes a loud buzzing noise, mimicking an electric shock. Margaret jumps in alarm.
A few people jumped. A few even chuckled.
JACK (CONT'D): She gets zapped by ten thousand volts.
THE DOCTOR: Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner? My treat?
MARGARET (sickly smile): Dinner in bondage... works for me.
A lot of the companions looked disgusted at her insinuation. River looked rather resentful. She'd seen many people flirt with her husband, he was a great man and she knew she could only ever be a brief part of his life, but seeing one of his enemies make sexual innuendos at him really got under her skin.
EXT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret enter the restaurant, chatting away and holding hands because of the handcuffs.
A lot of people were disturbed to see the doctor acting so casual with one of his enemies. The doctors all assured their friends they didn't enjoy one second of that evening. In fact, they all would rather forget the entire ordeal of this episode.
INT. TARDIS
Jack is lying on his back halfway underneath the console, happily wiring the extrapolator up to the TARDIS.
Jack's expression dropped. He wished he hadn't been so stupid as to not notice he was playing right into their enemies hands. He was a soldier, he should have seen this was all part of her plan.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
Rose and Mickey walk along the pavement past a restaurant, chatting.
INT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret take their seats.
INT. TARDIS
The lights on the extrapolator flash and Jack watches it with a big smile on his face.
INT. RESTAURANT
The Doctor and Margaret are reading their menus.
MARGARET: Here we are, out on a date, and you haven't even asked my proper name.
THE DOCTOR: It's not a date! What's your name?
"It's a date." Said Jack.
"It was not!" Cried the doctors and surprisingly Rose and River.
MARGARET: Blon. I am Blon Fel Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen. That's what it'll say on my death certificate.
THE DOCTOR: Nice to meet you, Blon.
MARGARET: I'm sure.
The Doctor goes back to reading the menu, but Margaret has put hers down. She looks out of the window.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Look... that's where I was living as Margaret.
The Doctor turns around in his seat to follow her gaze.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Nice little flat. Over there. On the top. Next to the one with the light on.
Behind the Doctor's back, she opens her ring and empties some sort of powder into his wine glass.
"Not bad, doesn't quite measure up to my standards though." River said, since she was quite the expert in the art of sneakily poisoning people.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Two bedrooms... bayside view...
The Doctor turns back around to face her, and she is sitting as normal.
MARGARET (CONT'D): I was rather content. Don't suppose I'll see it again.
And the Doctor swaps their glasses around.
THE DOCTOR: Suppose not.
Everyone laughed.
"I'm a Time Lord, my senses are ten times that of humans. Plus after 900 years I'd learned to be very aware of my surroundings." 10 explained.
He returns his attention to the menu.
MARGARET (sarcastically): Thank you.
THE DOCTOR (matching her sarcasm): Pleasure.
MARGARET: Tell me then, Doctor, what do you know of our species?
THE DOCTOR: Only what I've seen.
MARGARET: Did you know, for example... in extreme cases... when her life is in danger... a female Raxacoricofallapatorian can manufacture a poison dart within her own finger...
She suddenly points her finger at him and a dart flies out of its tip - but the Doctor is ready. He catches it in his fist without so much as looking up from the menu.
THE DOCTOR: Yes, I did.
A lot the group were staring in awe at the screen. In his ninth form the Doctor had possessed a great deal of sass and they loved the moments they got to see it. Right now they suspected they were witnessing the epitomising moment of the Doctor's ability to outwit his opponents and they were loving it.
MARGARET (pleasantly): Just checking.
The Doctor grins at her.
MARGARET (CONT'D): And one more thing... between you and me...
She casts a furtive look around the restaurant, and they both lean in as if she wants to tell him a secret.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (whispers): As a final resort, the excess poison can be exhaled through the lungs.
She suddenly breaths a green gas out of her mouth. Without even flinching, the Doctor whips out a Gold Spot and gives her open mouth a squirt.
Again everyone laughed.
"Why did you even have that on you?" Rory asked.
"Oh I carry all kinds of useful stuff just incase of emergencies." 11 replied.
"Where?" Amy asked.
"In my pockets of course." 10 answered this time. "And before anyone asks, they're bigger on the inside."
"Of course they are." Clara said, shaking her head with a fond smile.
THE DOCTOR :That's better.
He leans back in his seat, while Margaret sticks her tongue out at the taste of the breath freshener.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Now then, what d'you think? Mmm, steak looks nice. Steak and chips!
Margaret, peeved, opens her menu.
Everyone laughed happily. The Doctor had won this round.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
Rose and Mickey are going down a set of steps near the bay. Rose is chatting away enthusiastically to him, but although he is trying to appear so, he really doesn't seem interested.
ROSE: The Doctor took me to this planet a while back, it was much colder than this, they called it "Woman Wept". The planet was actually called "Woman Wept". 'Cos, if you looked at it, right, from above, there's like this huge continent, like all curved round... sort of looked like a woman, you know... lamenting. Oh my God, and we went to this beach, right, no people, no buildings, just this beach like, a thousand miles across! And something happened, something to do with the sun, I don't know, but the sea had just frozen! Like, in a split second in the middle of a storm, right, waves and foam, just frozen! All the way out to the horizon. Midnight, right, we walk underneath these waves a hundred feet tall, made of ice.
Everyone listened in awe at what she was describing, thinking of all the beautiful things they had seen. Rose and the doctors were all reminiscing about that trip. It had been quite an adventure.
MICKEY: I'm going out with Trisha Delaney.
They are now leaning on the railings near the water. Mickey has long since given up trying to look interested in what she is saying. Rose stares at him.
ROSE (wrong-footed): Oh Right... that's nice... Trisha from the shop?
MICKEY: Yeah, Rob Delany's sister.
ROSE: Well, she's nice... she's a bit big...
MICKEY: She lost weight.
"How dare you." Donna exclaimed giving Mickey a slap.
"Ow." He hissed. "That wasn't why I was with her. We were just going out for a bit. I've moved on." He smiled at Martha, who smiled back.
MICKEY (CONT'D): (Looks at her, trying to justify himself). You've been away.
ROSE: Well, good for you. She's nice.
MICKEY (more relaxed): So, tell us more about this planet, then.
ROSE: That was it, really...
And they walk away in silence, worlds apart.
Everyone can feel the tension of the scene. None more so than Rose and Mickey who keep trying to remind themselves they've put all this behind them.
INT. RESTAURANT
Margaret is openly trying to get through to the Doctor, now.
MARGARET: Public execution is a slow death. They prepare a thin acetic acid... lower me into the cauldron... and boil me. The acidity is perfectly gauged to strip away the skin. Internal organs fall out into the liquid. And I become soup. And still alive. Still screaming.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Donna said, placing a hand to her mouth. Some of the others looked a bit uncomfortable too.
THE DOCTOR: I don't make the law.
MARGARET: But you deliver it. (No reply). Will you stay to watch?
"I'm glad we didn't have to do that." Rose whispered to 10. He nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen.
THE DOCTOR (resignedly): What else can I do?
MARGARET: The Slitheen family's huge. There's a lot more of us, all scattered off-world. Take me to them. Take me somewhere safe.
THE DOCTOR: But then you'll just start again.
MARGARET (whispers): I promise I won't.
THE DOCTOR: You've been in that skin-suit too long. You've forgotten. There used to be a real Margaret Blaine. You killed her and stripped her and used the skin. You're pleading for mercy out of a dead woman's lips.
"Thanks for that." Rory said. The other's agreed, they really did not need that image.
MARGARET: Perhaps I have got used to it. A human life. An ordinary life. That's all I'm asking.
The Doctor fixes her under his gaze.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Give me a chance, Doctor... I can change.
THE DOCTOR: I don't believe you.
She sighs, defeated.
"People can change you know." Clara said.
"I know." 10 replied, deathly serious, "but some can't, when you've lived as long as I have, you learn to notice the difference."
Clara didn't respond. Everyone just sat in silence, mulling over the heavy words and watching the events on the screen.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
Rose is standing by the railings looking out across the water, while Mickey is sat with his back to her on a bench.
MICKEY: So, what d'you wanna do now?
ROSE: Don't mind.
MICKEY: We could ask about hotels...
ROSE: What would Trisha Delaney say?
MICKEY: S'pose. (Pause. He points). There's a bar down there with a Spanish name or something...
ROSE (turning on him with sudden anger): You don't even like Trisha Delaney!
MICKEY: Oh, is that right? What the hell do you know?
ROSE: I know you. And I know her, and I know that's never gonna happen. So who do you think you're kidding?!
MICKEY: At least I know where she is!
Rose nods, now understanding.
ROSE: There we are, then. It's got nothing to do with Trisha. This is all about me, isn't it...
MICKEY: (standing with sudden fury): You left me!
He stands in front of her, and she is silent.
MICKEY (CONT'D) (upset) : We were nice. We were happy. And then what, you give me a kiss and you run off with him and you make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing.
Rose stares. Mickey's eyes begin to fill with tears.
MICKEY (CONT'D) (tearful): I can't even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I comes running. I mean, is that what I am, Rose? Standby?
Rose shakes her head silently.
MICKEY (CONT'D) : Am I just supposed to sit here for the rest of my life, waiting for you? Because I will.
ROSE (quietly): I'm sorry.
Mickey leans against the railings. She touches his arm, but he shakes her off.
Everyone remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. It was clear to them this was the moment Mickey and Rose's relationship started to fall apart.
"I'm sorry. This was all my fault." Rose said tearfully.
"Look Rose." Said Mickey. "I can't deny I was hurt but you and I just weren't meant to be. I couldn't give you the exciting life you'd always dreamed of."
"That's—"
"No, it's okay,"
"No it isn't, it wasn't fair of me to just run off and expect you to be okay with it."
"Regardless of circumstance, we all got to where we should be. I think that's what matters in the end don't you?"
"I guess."
Rose still looked tearful though.
INT. RESTAURANT
MARGARET: I promise you, I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl... just today... young thing. Something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought. And then... I stopped. She's alive somewhere right now, she's walking around this city because I can change, I did change. I know I can't prove it...
THE DOCTOR (calmly): I believe you.
"Really, just like that?" Amy asked.
"I told you, I can notice when people mean what they say." 10 replied.
MARGARET: Then you know I'm capable of better.
THE DOCTOR: It doesn't mean anything.
MARGARET: I spared her life.
THE DOCTOR: You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared. Because she smiled... because he's got freckles... 'cos they begged... and that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction... you happen to be kind.
MARGARET (coldly): Only a killer would know that.
Pause. Not the answer the Doctor was expecting, and he's thrown.
Naturally 10 and 11 were also thrown by her words, they hated being reminded of how many people they'd killed.
12 didn't show it but inside he was filled with guilt and anguish. He was almost certain now that he was not a good man. What good man killed hundreds, sometimes thousands and then just ran off.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Is that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy-go-lucky life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on 'cos you dare not look back. Playing with so many peoples lives, you might as well be a God.
The Doctor loses eye contact, slightly hurt.
All the doctors in the room felt it too. Their friends gathered around them, caring for them as best they could but in moments like these, when the doctors demons came to light, it was near impossible to get through to him.
MARGARET (CONT'D): And you're right, Doctor... you're absolutely right. Sometimes... you let one go.
She looks into the Doctor's eyes, her own full of tears.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (softly): Let me go.
She definitely touched a nerve. The Doctor stares at her at a loss, he doesn't know what to do.
"You can't let her go, she'll just start over."
"Do you think I don't know that?!" All the doctors yelled. They couldn't help but be upset. The Doctor never asked to become a god or a warrior or have to decide who lives and who dies. All he ever wanted was to see the wonder of the universe, he only interfered because he couldn't sit by and do nothing the way other Time Lords did he wanted to help, to do the right thing. Though he sometimes thought it had been a mistake.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
Rose and Mickey are sitting side by side on the bench. She's stroking his hands.
MICKEY: I'm not asking you to leave him, because I know that's not fair. But I just need something, yeah? Some sort of promise that when you do come back, you're coming back for me.
Rose spins around as she hears a low rumbling in the distance.
ROSE: Is that thunder?
MICKEY: Does it matter?
ROSE: That's not thunder.
"Good instinct." River complimented. Everyone else just watched in anticipation. It was obvious something was about to go down.
INT. RESTAURANT
Margaret is speaking quickly now, her desperation growing.
MARGARET: In the family Slitheen, we had no choice. I was made to carry out my first kill at thirteen. If I'd refused, my father would have fed me to the Venom Grubs.
"Eugh, I had a run in with a hoard of them on a mission once, it wasn't pretty." Jack said, grimacing.
"They don't like oil." River advised.
"Yes I know that now." Jack huffed.
The Doctor's head turns to the side as he also hears the low rumble.
MARGARET (CONT'D): If I'm a killer, it's because I was born to kill, it's all I know!
No reply, as the Doctor is listening to the rumble intently with his brow furrowed.
MARGARET (CONT'D): Doctor? Are you even listening to me?
THE DOCTOR: Can you hear that?
MARGARET: I'm begging for my life...!
THE DOCTOR: No, listen, shush...
He holds up a hand to silence Margaret. He peers at the glasses on the table, which are beginning to shake slightly. Very suddenly, the glass windows shatter and the diners begin to scream.
Everyone jumped from shock.
"Oh no…" River muttered as she realised what was happening.
"I know, I know." 11 relented. "I should have checked the extrapolator's programming first."
"Yes, I know I would have. I honestly don't know how you've survived this long without me sweetie." River teased. 11 laughed and kissed her cheek.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
A street light smashes and passers-by shriek. Baffled, Mickey looks around for Rose but she's already running in the direction of the TARDIS.
MICKEY (yelling after her, bitterly): Oh, go on then, run! It's him again, isn't it? It's the Doctor! It's always the Doctor! It's always gonna be the Doctor and it's never me!
Rose opened her mouth but Mickey beat her to it.
"It's fine, I know you and the Doctor have something, you can't help your feelings. I know I can't help mine." He smiled at Martha, who was happy to return it. Rose smiled too, watching her ex-boyfriend and his new wife. She was happy for him, finding someone he was happy with since deep down she knew that couldn't be her anymore. She leaned back in 10's arms, for once feeling like everything worked out for the best.
EXT. CARDIFF BAY
The Doctor and Margaret hurry down a flight of stairs, the sound of screaming and smashing in the background. Margaret is falling behind...
MARGARET (urgently): The handcuffs!
The Doctor waits for her at the foot of the stairs and pulls off her handcuff.
THE DOCTOR (grabbing her wrist): Don't think you're running away.
MARGARET (fearful): Oh, I'm sticking with you.
"Wow… I was sure she was behind this." Said Donna, a few of the others nodded.
"She is a pretty good actor." Rose whispered to 10.
"Mm." He hummed in agreement.
He pulls her off in the direction of the TARDIS, glass shattering on their heads.
MARGARET (CONT'D): (shouting over the noise): Some date this turned out to be!
They run, bumping into people through the chaos, down another set of steps.
EXT. CARDIFF MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
The Doctor's eyes widen with shock as they finally see the TARDIS at the other side of the square. A huge bolt of lightening rips out of the TARDIS roof and into the sky.
THE DOCTOR: It's the rift. The rift's opening!
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Spoilers, don't worry it'll explain." Rose replied. The doctors and Jack all lowered their heads, each feeling blameworthy of the disaster.
Storm clouds gather above the TARDIS.
INT. TARDIS
Jack panics as the sparks fly out of the console and the extrapolator flashes madly as he rips out the wires connecting it.
EXT. CARDIFF MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
The Doctor and Margaret hurry across the Millennium Square, the ground starting to crack beneath their feet. Margaret looks terrified as he fits the key inside the lock of the TARDIS and pulls her inside.
INT. TARDIS
The whole ship is shuddering, the lights blinking.
THE DOCTOR (yelling to Jack): What the hell are you doing?
JACK: It just went crazy!
THE DOCTOR (running to the console): It's the rift! Time and space are ripping apart. The whole city's gonna disappear!
Small explosions erupt from the console.
Everyone stared at the screen completely enrapt.
EXT. CARDIFF MILLENNIUM CENTRE SQUARE
Rose has reached the Millennium Square, and she is confronted with the sight of the TARDIS, the lightening shooting out of the top of it into the sky. Her eyes widen and she flinches at another rumble. She begins to run across the Square to the TARDIS, more cracks appearing in the ground.
"Be careful!" 10 couldn't help but shout.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Rose assured him, rubbing her tumb over the back of his hand.
INT. TARDIS
More explosions from the console as the Doctor and Jack work furiously.
JACK: It's the extrapolator! I've disconnected it but it's still feeding off the engine! It's using the TARDIS. I can't stop it!
THE DOCTOR: Never mind Cardiff, it's gonna rip open the planet!
Rose bursts into the TARDIS.
ROSE: What is it? What's happening?!
MARGARET (gleefully): Oh, just little me!
She frees one of her arms from the skin-suit revealing the Slitheen claw. She grabs Rose around the neck. The Doctor darts forward, but...
MARGARET (CONT'D) (threateningly): One wrong move and she snaps like a promise.
Everyone felt worried for Rose. They should have guessed Margaret was behind this, she was an incredible trickster.
Rose felt her chest tighten as she remembered how terrifying it had been to have her neck trapped in-between claws like that. She'd been so scared that any moment they'd tighten and crush her neck.
THE DOCTOR: I might've known.
MARGARET (moving closer with Rose): I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it. (To Jack). You, fly boy, put the extrapolator at my feet.
Amy couldn't help but snort as she referred to Jack as fly boy. No one said it out loud but everyone thought it was quite fitting.
Jack hesitates. Margaret tightens her grip around Rose's neck. Jack looks at the Doctor for help, he nods, so Jack does as he is told.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (pleasantly): Thank you. Just as I planned.
ROSE (strangulated): I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station.
MARGARET: Failing that, if I were to be... arrested... then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to Plan B!
She pulls one of Rose's plaits roughly. Rose whimpers.
Everyone glared at Margaret, especially the doctors.
MARGARET (CONT'D) : To lock onto the nearest alien power source and open the rift. (Looks around the TARDIS with awe). And what a power source it found... I'm back on schedule... thanks to you.
JACK: The rift's gonna convulse. She'll destroy the whole planet.
MARGARET: And you with it!
She pushes Rose aside so that she can stand on the extrapolator, but still keeps a hold of her neck.
MARGARET (CONT'D) (evil smile): While I ride this board over the crest of the inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back boys... surf's up.
Everyone booed and hissed at her terrible joke, some even throwing pillows at the screen.
Outside, there is a burst of lightning from the TARDIS light. Inside, a panel of the console directly in front of Margaret suddenly bursts open, and a blinding white light floods out. Margaret looks at it in surprise, then up at the Doctor on the other side of the console.
"The heart of the Tardis…" Rose breathed in awe. She'd only seen it twice; briefly during this adventure and then again when she'd used it's power to defeat the daleks.
"Never thought the day would come when I'd see this…" River muttered. She knew how dangerous opening the Tardis' heart was, but naturally she was curious. Everyone just stared at it, it was so beautiful.
THE DOCTOR (calmly): Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart.
MARGARET: So sue me.
THE DOCTOR: It's not just any old power source. It's the TARDIS. My TARDIS. The best ship in the universe.
The doctors all grinned proudly.
MARGARET (nastily): It'll make wonderful scrap.
ROSE (struggling to see): What's that light?
THE DOCTOR: The heart of the TARDIS. This ship's alive. You've opened its soul.
Breathing heavily, Margaret stares into the light, as if forgetting everything else. Her voice becomes dreamy and vague.
MARGARET: It's ... so bright...
THE DOCTOR: Look at it, Margaret...
MARGARET: ... Beautiful...
THE DOCTOR: Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light.
Margaret is transfixed by the light, and her grip on Rose relaxes. Rose stumbles out of the way and back to Jack. Margaret continues to stare into the light, a blissful smile spreading across her face. Then, she looks up at the Doctor who smiles slightly.
"What's going to happen to her?" Clara asked.
"Spoilers." Everyone else said.
"The Tardis understands everything, she'll do what she's knows is best." 11 said fondly.
MARGARET (softly, genuinely): Thank you...
She is engulfed by the light, and when it clears, her body-suit flops on top of the extrapolator, empty. The Doctor immediately springs into action, darting around the console.
THE DOCTOR: Don't look, stay there, close your eyes!
He slams down levers and the gap in the console closes, shutting out the white light.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut down!
Jack rushes over to the console.
THE DOCTOR (CONT'D): Rose, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right.
They work busily, the console exploding with sparks. And finally, the shaking lessens and the lightening shooting from the top of the TARDIS into the sky disappears, all back to normal.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over. It'd been quite an episode. Mickey and Rose didn't like how this episode had dragged up their messy relationship but they were pleased it had given them a chance to work out their differences. The doctors were still dealing with the fallout of their actions, Jack also felt a little guilty about being tricked so easily. Everyone else was glad things had worked out in the end.
THE DOCTOR: Nicely done. Thank you, all.
ROSE: What happened to Margaret?
JACK: Must've got burnt up. Carried out her own death sentence.
THE DOCTOR (looking down at the body-suit): No. I don't think she's dead.
ROSE: Then, where'd she go?
THE DOCTOR: She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, and even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic, like I told you, Rose. Gets inside your head. Translates alien languages. Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts...
He kneels down next to the skin-suit for a closer look. Rose and Jack follow suit, so all three of them are huddled around it. The Doctor reaches inside the skin-suit and pulls out an egg.
THE DOCTOR: Here she is!
ROSE: She's an egg?
THE DOCTOR: Regressed to her childhood.
"Wait I'm confused." Amy said. "You said the Tardis gets in your head, was she thinking about this?"
"Who could say." 10 said. "The Tardis works in mysterious ways, she knows everything from the past to the future, the way people think and feel, there could be any number of reasons why she decided to regress her to an egg. Unfortunately the Tardis can't talk so we'll never know what she's thinking."
12 smiled knowingly, he couldn't wait for that episode.
JACK: She's an egg?
THE DOCTOR: She can start again! Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell 'em to bring her up properly, she might be all right!
JACK: Or she might be worse.
THE DOCTOR: That's her choice.
ROSE: She's an egg.
THE DOCTOR: She's an egg.
Everyone laughed.
ROSE (suddenly remembering): Oh, my God. Mickey...
And she dashes out of the TARDIS and sprints back across the Millennium Square.
"Thanks for remembering me." Mickey said, laughing. Rose felt a little guilty but she was starting to feel a little more light-hearted.
EXT. STREET NEAR BAY
A police car hurtles down a ruined street, sirens on and lights flashing, an ambulance close behind. Rose runs down the street in the opposite direction. She doesn't see Mickey, who is standing alone and watching from a distance, the firelight flickering on his face. He watches Rose tap a paramedic on the shoulder and question him. The paramedic shakes his head, and Rose leaves him, clearly not knowing where to look next. Mickey turns and walks away into the night.
Even though she knew this was in the past Rose still found herself willing the Rose on screen to turn around and notice him. Mickey had always wondered if he made the right choice. That maybe he should have stayed and talked to Rose. Maybe if he had things would have been different. Then he would remember that he was happy now and it didn't matter, the past was the past.
INT. TARDIS
Rose walks back into the TARDIS, where the Doctor is fiddling with the console, Jack round the other side.
THE DOCTOR: We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go. If that's all right...
ROSE (tone light but there's traces of tears on her cheeks): Yeah, fine.
10 placed his arm around Rose and stroked her arm to comfort her. She assured him she was fine.
THE DOCTOR (carefully): How's Mickey?
ROSE: He's okay. He's gone.
THE DOCTOR: D'you wanna go and find him? We'll wait...
He and Jack glance at one another.
ROSE: No need. He deserves better.
"I think that's maybe going a bit far." Martha said to Rose, to everyone's surprise.
"Yeah," Mickey agreed, "I'm happy with Martha, I love her, but we had a good run. It was fun for a while, we just belong with other people," He placed his arm around his wife, "and I'm glad we're still friends."
"Yeah." Rose said, smiling with tears in her eyes. "I'm glad too. Also, I didn't say it but I am happy for the both of you."
All three of them were smiling now. As was the rest of the group.
THE DOCTOR (briskly): Off we go, then. Always moving on...
He pulls a lever.
JACK: Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now, you don't often get to say that.
He smirks. They have balanced the egg on top of the console.
THE DOCTOR: We'll just stop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again! A second chance.
Rose is staring into space.
ROSE (almost to herself): That'd be nice...
Rose wasn't the only one who thought it'd be good to have a second chance. A lot of the others, especially the doctors began contemplating how they would have don things differently if they'd been given a second chance. A lot of them had made some big mistakes…
The engines rise and fall and the TARDIS fades away.
THE END
NEXT TIME…
INT. THE HOUSE
Lynda is supporting the Doctor who appears dizzy.
LYNDA: You got chosen.
"Oh god…" Jack whispered. The doctors and Rose also felt themselves growing nervous. They remembered this adventure all too well…
A camera is observing them.
LYNDA: You're a house mate. You're in the house! Isn't that brilliant?!
She laughs as if this truly is something to be happy about.
INT. DIARY ROOM
The Doctor finds himself in the Diary Room. He plonks himself down in the bright red chair, looking rather useless.
Everyone laughed; it was rare but always amusing to see the Doctor out of his comfort zone.
INT. THE WEAKEST LINK STUDIO
ANNE DROID: Welcome, to "The Weakest Link"!
Rose is stood at one of the podiums looking very confused.
"What that…?"
Is that…?"
"Oh my god…"
Everyone was completely shocked to see Rose on what appeared to be a futuristic version of the weakest link.
INT. WHAT NOT TO WEAR STUDIO
Jack is lying on a chair in the 'What Not To Wear' studio, being examined by the Trin-E and Zu-Zana droids.
TRIN-E: We're giving you a brand-new image.
JACK: Why, is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?
"Not at all…" Donna said, staring dreamily at the screen.
INT. THE HOUSE
On the TV Crosbie is hit with a disintegrator beam.
THE DOCTOR: What was that?
LYNDA: She's been evicted.
"My god…" Clara whispered in horror. Everyone had matching expressions of disgust.
INT. THE WEAKEST LINK STUDIO
The Anne Droid hits Agorax with a disintegrator beam from her mouth as he screams.
INT. THE HOUSE
THE DOCTOR: This isn't just a game.
"They kill people on TV in the future?" Donna asked, still terrified.
"That's sick." Mickey said. Everyone agreed.
INT. THE WEAKEST LINK STUDIO
ROSE (terrified): I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere... he's always here!
"Definitely, I'll always be there for you I promise." 10 said.
"I know." Rose replied, flashing him a big grin.
INT. THE HOUSE
THE DOCTOR: There's something else going on.
INT. FLOOR 500
MALE PROGRAMMER: We have contestants outside the games.
CONTROLLER: My masters they fear the doctor.
THE DOCTOR: Tell me, who are they?!
The Doctor, Jack and the programmers are all looking at a holographic image of Dalek ships.
"Oh god, no." Martha said. Everyone who had encountered the daleks felt fearful as their memories resurfaced. Even those who had only seen the violence of the daleks from watching them on screen felt worried for their friends and what they'd encounter next episode.
JACK: That's impossible, I know those ships, they were destroyed.
THE DOCTOR: Well obviously they survived.
INT. SPACESHIP
A Dalek enters an area on the spaceship, where several others are crowded.
DALEK: Alert! Alert! We are detected!
Rose and 10 were huddled close trying to brace themselves for what they knew they were about to watch.
Jack too, was feeling a bit nervous about it.
Everyone else was excited about how interesting the next episode seemed but at the same time worried, for it looked like their friends were in a lot of trouble…