ROSE
[OC]: Planet Earth. This is where I was born. And this is where I died.
For the first nineteen years of my life, nothing happened. Nothing at
all. Not ever. And then I met a man called the Doctor.
DOCTOR 9: Run.
ROSE [OC]: A man who could change his face. And he took me away from
home in his magical machine. He showed me the whole of time and space.
I thought it would never end.
[Planet]
DOCTOR: How long are you going to stay with me?
ROSE: Forever.
ROSE [OC]: That's what I thought. But then came the army of ghosts.
Then came Torchwood and the War. And that's when it all ended. This is
the story of how I died.
[The Tyler's flat]
(The Tardis materialises in a corner of the
children's playground on a bright, sunny day. Rose has a very heavy
rucksack with her.)
ROSE [OC]: Mum, it's us! We're back!
JACKIE: Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone. You never use
it!
ROSE: Shut up, come here!
JACKIE: Oh, I love you!
ROSE: I love you!
JACKIE: I love you so much!
(Jackie and Rose hug. The Doctor makes his way past.)
JACKIE: Oh no, you don't. Come here!
(Jackie kisses the Doctor.)
JACKIE: Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine.
DOCTOR: Just, just, just put me down!
JACKIE: Yes, you are.
(Rose hands over her rucksack.)
ROSE: I've got loads of washing for you. And I got you this.
(A small ornate metal nick-nack.)
ROSE: It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, er,
what's it called?
DOCTOR: Bazoolium.
ROSE: Bazoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's going to rain.
When it's hot, it's
going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather.
JACKIE: I've got a surprise for you and all.
ROSE: Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks.
JACKIE: Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. He'll be here
at ten past. Who do you think it is?
ROSE: I don't know.
JACKIE: Oh go on, guess.
ROSE: No, I hate guessing. Just tell me.
JACKIE: It's your granddad. Granddad Prentice. He's on his way any
minute, Right, cup of tea!
(Jackie goes into the kitchen.)
ROSE: She's gone mad.
DOCTOR: Tell me something new.
ROSE: Granddad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died, like, ten years
ago. Oh, my God. She's lost it. Mum? What you just said about
granddad.
[Kitchen]
JACKIE: Any second now.
ROSE: But he passed away. His heart gave out. Do you remember that?
JACKIE: Of Course I do.
ROSE: Then how can he come back?
JACKIE: Why don't you ask him yourself? Ten past. Here he comes.
(An ethereal humanoid shape walks through the outside wall and stands
next to Jackie.)
JACKIE: Here we are, then. Dad, say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?
[Powell Estate]
(The Doctor and Rose run out of the block of
flats.)
DOCTOR: They're everywhere!
(And no one is alarmed at the sight of them.)
ROSE: Doctor, look out!
(One of the shapes walks through the Doctor. It is not a comfortable
sensation.)
JACKIE: They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of
minutes. They're about to fade.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, shift? Since when did ghosts have shifts?
Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?
JACKIE: Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?
DOCTOR: But no one's running or screaming or freaking out.
JACKIE: Why should we? Here we go. Twelve minutes past.
(Somewhere, a man in a lab coat pulls a big lever, like the sort used
to change railway points. The images vanish.)
[Lever room]
(A well-dressed management type woman comes out of
her glass fronted office with
the words Torchwood Institute etched on it.)
YVONNE: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to announce we've just measured
the ghost energy at five thousand gigawatts. Give yourselves a round of
applause.
[The Tyler's flat]
(The Ghostwatch programme is on the television,
presented by that bloke from
Cash in the Attic.)
ALISTAIR APPLETON [on TV]: On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of
the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular
formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a
military display.
DOCTOR: What the hell's going on?
(The Doctor changes the channel.)
WEATHERMAN [on TV]: And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts from
London, through the North and up into Scotland.
(Trisha Goddard's show - I married a dead man.)
TRISHA [on TV]: So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that
you are in love with a ghost.
EILEEN [on TV]: He's my ghost, and I love him twenty four seven.
(Change channel to an interview with a ghost hunter.)
DEREK ACORAH [on TV]: Well, no one needs me anymore!
(If only. Change channel to an advert.)
HOUSEWIFE [on TV]: My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered
Ectoshine!
FRENCH NEWSREADER [on TV]: Et le President d'aujourd'hui, quelle est
(An Indian newsreader follows, then a Japanese lady.)
JACKIE: Oh, yes.
DOCTOR: It's all over the world.
(Eastenders.)
PEGGY [on TV]: Listen to me, Den Watts. I don't care if you have come
back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in
this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me. Get out!
(The Doctor turns the TV off.)
DOCTOR: When did it start?
JACKIE: Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so
she goes down
DOCTOR: No, I mean worldwide.
JACKIE: Oh. That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one
morning, and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round
screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank
you very much. Then it sort of sank in. It took us time to realise that
we're lucky.
ROSE: What makes you think it's granddad?
JACKIE: It just feels like him. There's that smell, those old
cigarettes. Can't you smell it?
ROSE: I wish I could, mum, but I can't.
JACKIE: You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it,
sweetheart.
DOCTOR: The more you want it, the stronger it gets.
JACKIE: Sort of, yeah.
DOCTOR: Like a psychic link. Of course you want your old dad to be
alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that
to pull themselves in.
JACKIE: You're spoiling it.
DOCTOR: I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes.
Just a memory.
ROSE: But if they're not ghosts, what are they then?
JACKIE: Yeah, but they're human! You can see them. They look human.
ROSE: She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but
they're definitely people.
DOCTOR: Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the
world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot.
[Lever room]
(Yvonne makes the rounds of the bright young things
at their computer terminals. Everyone is wearing a bluetooth earpiece.)
YVONNE: So, what've we got? Any sign of that power loss?
ADEOLA: There's no problems. Must've been a glitch.
YVONNE: Rajesh?
[Sphere laboratory]
YVONNE [OC]: You got anything?
RAJESH: It's so busy down here, I'm on Sudoku book 509.
[Lever room]
YVONNE: Well, we just had a great ghost shift.
RAJESH [OC]: I know.
[Sphere laboratory]
RAJESH: But we had nothing. Did they tell you? RND
came up with a new spectrometer yesterday. Barged in here, all full of
themselves. Said they could detect the heat off a single protozoa
through half a mile of steel.
YVONNE [OC]: And what did they find?
RAJESH: Nothing. It gave them nothing. Same as ever. The machines keep
saying the sphere can't exist. But there it is.
(A big blank sphere hanging in midair at the end of the laboratory.
There is a ladder just below it.)
YVONNE [OC]: Anything we can do?
RAJESH: No, I'm all right. It's just, it gets into your head, this
thing. Like it's staring at you.
YVONNE [OC]: All right, we'll catch up later. Thanks, Raj.
RAJESH: Yeah.
(Rajesh goes up the ladder and tries to touch the sphere, but he
can't.)
[Lever room]
YVONNE: Matt, get on to hospitality, will you? Send
Rajesh something. He's going mad down there. Not alcohol.
(A technician gives Adeola a printout, which she files, then she looks
across at a male co-worker. She sends him an internal message.)
ADEOLA [text]: god im bored.
GARETH []text]: me too yawn
ADEOLA [text]: fancy a coffee?
GARETH [text]: though u never ask :)
MAN [OC]: Kept it stable at fifty six point one.
YVONNE [OC]: So, if you just check the statistics.
GARETH: Yvonne? I'm going to double check the stacks, just in case.
YVONNE: Sure.
(Gareth leaves.)
ADEOLA: Yvonne, I'm going to go and cross reference the levels with the
sphere.
YVONNE: Okay, fine.
(Adeola leaves.)
YVONNE: And they think we haven't noticed.
[Unoccupied floor]
(Plastic sheeting, painter's ladder and pots, and a
No Entry sign.)
GARETH: Come on. It'll be all right down here. Just two minutes.
ADEOLA: This is out of bounds.
GARETH: Yeah, and that's the point. It's completely safe. They're just
building new offices.
ADEOLA: What about the workmen?
GARETH: They must be allocated somewhere else.
ADEOLA: It's not worth it for a snog.
GARETH: It is. Come on.
(Gareth goes through the plastic sheeting. The workmen return for their
ladder and paints, then leave.)
ADEOLA: Gareth? Now, don't be daft, where've you gone? Gareth! Look,
I'm going to
head back. I'm seeing you tonight anyway. Gareth? I'm going to go back
to work.
(She steps through the plastic sheeting.)
ADEOLA: This is it. I'm going. See you. Now stop it, Gareth. I'm not
kidding, just stop it!
(There are more curtains of plastic. One has the shadow of a figure
behind it.)
ADEOLA: Sorry, I'm just looking for my friend. Did anyone come down
here?
(The curtain is pulled back to reveal a Cyberman. Adeola screams.)
[Tardis]
ROSE: According to the paper, they've elected a
ghost as MP for Leeds. Now don't tell me you're
going to sit back and do nothing.
(The Doctor pops up from below the console floor wearing a backpack and
holding a hosepipe like device.)
DOCTOR: Who you going to call?
ROSE: Ghostbusters!
DOCTOR: I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
[Playground]
DOCTOR: When's the next shift?
(The Doctor puts three metal cones linked by wires on the grass.)
JACKIE: Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?
DOCTOR: Triangulates their point of origin.
ROSE: I don't suppose it's the Gelth?
DOCTOR: Nah. They were just coming through one little rift. This lot
are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper.
JACKIE: You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it
be real? Just think of it, though. All the people we've lost. Our
families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?
DOCTOR: I think it's horrific. Rose, give us a hand.
[Tardis]
(They plug the power cable into the Tardis console.
Jackie follows them in and closes the door. Neat trick with such a
thick cable running through it.)
DOCTOR: As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red,
press that button there. If it doesn't stop
(He hands her the sonic screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: Setting fifteen B. Hold it against the port, eight seconds and
stop.
ROSE: Fifteen B, eight seconds.
DOCTOR: If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left.
ROSE: Hang on a minute, I know. Push that one.
DOCTOR: Close.
ROSE: That one?
DOCTOR: Now you've just killed us.
ROSE: Er, that one.
DOCTOR: Yeah! Now, what've we got. Two minutes to go?
[Lever room]
YVONNE: Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make
it a good one, people.
(Adeola enters, wearing two earpieces.)
YVONNE: Come on, you two.
ADEOLA: I'm sorry we're late.
YVONNE: Save it 'til later.
(So is Gareth.)
GARETH: Sorry we're late.
YVONNE: And powering up.
(The man in the lab coat moves the big lever. Gareth and Adeola's
earpieces flash, and they type into their computers.)
[Playground]
(The Doctor activates the cones.)
DOCTOR: What's the line doing?
[Tardis]
ROSE: It's all right. It's holding!
JACKIE: You even look like him?
ROSE: How do you mean? I suppose I do, yeah.
JACKIE: You've changed so much.
ROSE: For the better.
JACKIE: I suppose.
ROSE: Mum, I used to work in a shop.
JACKIE: I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?
ROSE: No, I didn't mean that.
JACKIE: I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?
ROSE: Don't talk like that.
JACKIE: No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any
reason to come back home. What happens then?
ROSE: I don't know.
JACKIE: Do you think you'll ever settle down?
ROSE: The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling.
JACKIE: And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty,
there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the
marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not
Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human.
DOCTOR [OC]: Here we go!
ROSE: The scanner's working. It says delta one six.
[Playground]
DOCTOR: Come on then, you beauty!
[Lever room]
YVONNE: And we're into Ghost Shift.
(She puts on a pair of dark glasses as the room fills with bright
light.)
COMPUTER: Online.
(In the playground, a ghost appears between the cones, and gets
trapped. Jackie and Rose watch it on the scanner. The Doctor puts on a
pair of red and blue 3D cardboard spectacles and makes an adjustment to
his control box. An alarm sounds in the Institute.)
YVONNE: What've we got?
MATT: Something's interfering with the ghost field.
YVONNE: Location?
MATT: It's close. It's within the city.
[Playground]
(The ghost is starting to writhe inside the field.)
DOCTOR: Don't like that much, do you? Who are you? Where are you coming
from? Whoa!
(The ghost tries to break out of the field.)
DOCTOR: That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?
[Lever room]
YVONNE: Close it down. Close it down!
COMPUTER: Offline.
(We now see there are two levers to be moved, on either side of the
room. The ghost fades and vanishes. The Doctor gathers up the cones.)
MATT: It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field, and that
makes it easy to pinpoint. Almost there South London. South East
fifteen. It's a council estate. The Powell Estate. SU15 7GO. It was a
public area.
YVONNE: Can we patch into the CCTV network?
MATT: Doing it now.
(The Doctor runs into the Tardis.)
MATT: Here we go. We've got a camera within fifty yards.
(The Tardis comes into view.)
YVONNE: Oh, my God.
MATT: Is it him?
YVONNE: It's him.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: I said so! Those ghosts have been forced
into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the
source. Allons y!
[Lever room]
(The Tardis dematerialises.)
YVONNE: He's coming.
(Yvonne runs out. Adeola and Gareth look at each other.)
[Corridor]
YVONNE: Rajesh. It's him!
[Sphere laboratory]
RAJESH: Now we've got you.
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: I like that. Allons y. I should say allons
y more often. Allons y. Watch out, Rose Tyler. Allons y. And then, it
would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then
I could say, allons y, Alonso, every time. You're staring at me.
ROSE: My mum's still on board.
JACKIE: If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you.
(The Tardis materialises in Torchwood Loading Bay 2, and is immediately
surrounded by armed troops. The Doctor watches them on the scanner.)
DOCTOR: Oh well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still, cuts to
the chase. Stay in here, look after Jackie.
ROSE: I'm not looking after my mum.
DOCTOR: Well, you brought her.
JACKIE: I was kidnapped!
ROSE: Doctor, they've got guns.
DOCTOR: And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you
think? They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine.
[Loading bay]
(The Doctor steps outside and raises his arms.
Yvonne runs in on her high heels.)
YVONNE: Oh! Oh, how marvellous. Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day.
(She starts clapping and the soldiers join in. The Doctor lowers his
arms.)
DOCTOR: Er, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor.
YVONNE: Oh, I should say. Hurray!
DOCTOR: You, you've heard of me, then?
YVONNE: Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for
you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the Tardis.
(More applause.)
DOCTOR: And you are?
YVONNE: Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records,
you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion.
That's a pattern, isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything.
Not from us. So where is she?
DOCTOR: Yes. Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all.
(The Doctor reaches in through the slightly open door and grabs the
first person he can.)
DOCTOR: But here she is, Rose Tyler.
(Oh no it isn't.)
DOCTOR: Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too
steady on her pins. A lot of that.
(Yakkety yak.)
DOCTOR: And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time
Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do.
JACKIE: I'm forty.
DOCTOR: Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone?
She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I
say not bad. Anyway, lead on. Allons y. But not too fast. Her ankle's
going.
JACKIE: (sotto) I'll show you where my ankle's going.
[Warehouse]
YVONNE: It was only a matter of time until you
found us, and at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor.
Welcome to Torchwood.
(A massive warehouse area, with lots of crates, jeeps and trucks
running around, and a flying saucer.)
DOCTOR: That's a Jathar Sunglider.
YVONNE: Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago.
DOCTOR: What, did it crash?
YVONNE: No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped
it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That
was us. Now, if you'd like to come with me. The Torchwood Institute has
a motto. If it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we
strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire.
JACKIE: For the good of the what?
YVONNE: The British Empire.
JACKIE: There isn't a British Empire.
YVONNE: Not yet. Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind.
(A soldier hands Yvonne a very big gun.)
YVONNE: Do you recognise this, Doctor?
DOCTOR: That's a particle gun.
YVONNE: Good, isn't it? Took us eight years to get it to work .
DOCTOR: It's the twenty first century. You can't have particle guns.
YVONNE: We must defend our border against the alien. Thank you,
Sebastian, isn't it?
SEBASTIAN: Yes, Ma'am.
YVONNE: Thank you, Sebastian. I think it's very important to know
everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People
skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person.
DOCTOR: Have you got anyone called Alonso?
YVONNE: No, I don't think so. Is that important?
DOCTOR: No, I suppose not. What was your name?
YVONNE: Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman.
(The Doctor picks up a black plastic step-stool with a handle on top.)
YVONNE: Ah, yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found
in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an
object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of
weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way.
Torchwood refuses to go metric.
JACKIE: I could do with that to carry the shopping.
YVONNE: All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general
public's.
DOCTOR: So, what about these ghosts?
YVONNE: Ah yes, the ghosts. They're er what you might call a side
effect.
DOCTOR: Of what?
YVONNE: All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me.
(The TARDIS is driven past on the back of a truck.)
JACKIE: Oi! Where are you taking that?
YVONNE: If it's alien, it's ours.
DOCTOR: You'll never get inside it.
YVONNE: Hmm! Et cetera.
(Rose peeks out of the Tardis. The Doctor gives her a little nod.)
[Tardis]
(Rose goes through the Doctor's coat pockets.)
ROSE: Psychic paper, psychic paper.
[Lever room]
ADEOLA [text]: Hey Matt. Want to see something
good?"
MATT: (silent) What?
ADEOLA [text]: Come and see.
(Adeola leaves. Matt follows, leaving the messages live on his screen.)
[Corridor]
DOCTOR: All those times I've been on Earth, I've
never heard of you.
YVONNE: But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in
the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown.
DOCTOR: 1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland.
YVONNE: That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the
werewolf.
JACKIE: I think he makes half of it up.
YVONNE: Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express
intention of keeping Britain great, and fighting the alien horde.
DOCTOR: But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?
YVONNE: Oh yes. But we'll make you perfectly comfortable. And there is
so much you can teach us. Starting with this.
[Sphere laboratory]
YVONNE: Now, what do you make of that?
RAJESH: You must be the Doctor. Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
JACKIE: What is that thing?
YVONNE: We got no idea.
JACKIE: But what's wrong with it?
RAJESH: What makes you think there's something wrong with it?
JACKIE: I don't know. It just feels weird.
YVONNE: Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you want to
run and hide, like it's forbidden.
RAJESH: We tried analysing it using every device imaginable.
(The Doctor puts on his 3D glasses.)
RAJESH: But according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It
weighs nothing, it doesn't age. No heat, no radiation, and has no
atomic mass.
JACKIE: But I can see it.
RAJESH: Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off
nothing. It is absent.
YVONNE: Well, Doctor?
DOCTOR: This is a Void Ship.
YVONNE: And what is that?
DOCTOR: Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was
just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and
space, travelling through the Void.
RAJESH: And what's the Void?
DOCTOR: The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities
around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all
stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between,
containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no
dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end. My people called
it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it
Hell.
RAJESH: But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?
DOCTOR: To explore? To escape? You could sit inside that thing and
eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the Universe, start of
the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole
of creation.
YVONNE: You see, we were right. There is something inside it.
DOCTOR: Oh, yes.
RAJESH: So how do we get in there?
DOCTOR: We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get
here in the first place?
YVONNE: Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into
this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake.
DOCTOR: Show me.
(The Doctor walks out and turns left.)
YVONNE: No, Doctor.
(He turns round and goes right.)
[Unoccupied floor]
MATT: I don't get it. What is it? What am I
supposed to be looking for?
ADEOLA: Just go to the left.
MATT: Yvonne's going to be back any minute.
ADEOLA: Just go to the left.
MATT: What, you mean in here?
(Matt goes through the plastic curtains. There is the whirr of a
circular saw then a scream.)
[Yvonne's office]
(Rose sneaks out of the Tardis, which has been put
next to a very large and brightly decorated mummy case. She grabs a
white coat from a bench and walks out.
Yvonne points the Doctor at the blank wall at the far end of the Lever
room.)
YVONNE: The sphere came through here. A hole in the world. Not active
at the moment,
but when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breech opens
up.
DOCTOR: How did you even find it?
YVONNE: We were getting warning signs for years. A radar black spot. So
we built this place, Torchwood Tower. The breech was six hundred foot
above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it.
DOCTOR: You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How
much money have you got?
YVONNE: Enough.
(Jackie is looking out of a window.)
JACKIE: Hold on a minute. We're in Canary Wharf. Must be. This
building, it's Canary Wharf.
YVONNE: Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know,
it's Torchwood.
DOCTOR: So, you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through six
hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of
reality. And that hole, you think, oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall
we back off? Shall we play it safe? Nah, you think let's make it
bigger!
YVONNE: It's a massive source of energy. If we can harness that power,
we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become
truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shift's
in two minutes.
[Lever room]
DOCTOR: Cancel it.
YVONNE: I don't think so.
DOCTOR: I'm warning you, cancel it.
YVONNE: Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording
it over us. Assuming alien authority over the Rights of Man.
DOCTOR: Let me show you. Sphere comes through.
(He points his sonic screwdriver at her glass wall. It cracks.)
DOCTOR: But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The
entire surface of this dimension splintered. And that's how the ghosts
get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through
the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into
yours, with the human race hoping and wishing and helping them along.
But too many ghosts, and
(He taps the glass and it shatters.)
YVONNE: Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful. Positions!
Ghost Shift in one minute.
DOCTOR: Miss Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it.
YVONNE: We have done this a thousand times.
DOCTOR: Then stop at a thousand!
YVONNE: We're in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breach,
but equally they can close it.
DOCTOR: Okay.
(The Doctor goes back into her office and fetches a chair to sit on.)
YVONNE: Sorry?
DOCTOR: Never mind. As you were.
YVONNE: What, is that it?
DOCTOR: No, fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a
cup of tea?
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in twenty seconds.
DOCTOR: Mmm, can't wait to see it.
YVONNE You can't stop us, Doctor.
DOCTOR: No, absolutely not. Pull up a chair, Rose. Come and watch the
fireworks.
ADEOLA: Ghost Shift in ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two
YVONNE: Stop the shift. I said stop.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
YVONNE: I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as
possible. But the programme will recommence, as soon as you've
explained everything.
DOCTOR: I'm glad to be of help.
YVONNE: And someone clear up this glass. They did warn me, Doctor. They
said you like to make a mess.
(Matt is at his computer, wearing two earpieces. Now there are three
busily typing.
Rose follows another scientist along a corridor to a sign saying
Torchwood Institute, Reception, Lever Room, Maintenance. She kisses the
psychic paper then puts it against the entry reader for the door the
scientist has just gone through.)
[Sphere laboratory]
(Rose enters, and is transfixed by the sphere.
Rajesh comes over to her.)
RAJESH: Can I help you?
ROSE: I was just
RAJESH: Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?
ROSE: Sorry. They sent me from personnel. They said some man had been
taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? I'm just checking the lines of
communication. Did they tell you anything?
RAJESH: Can I see your authorisation?
ROSE: Sure.
(She hands him the psychic paper.)
RAJESH: That's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a
basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank, and you're a
fake. Seal the room. Call security. Samuel, can you check the door
locks? She just walked right in.
(Samuel turns round. It's Mickey! He gives Rose the thumbs up.)
MICKEY: Doing it now, sir.
RAJESH: Well, if you'd like to take a seat.
[Yvonne's office]
YVONNE: So these ghosts, whatever they are, did
they build the sphere?
DOCTOR: Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a cannon ball.
RAJESH [OC]: Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor.
We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same
time as the Doctor.
(Yvonne turns her laptop so the Doctor can see Rose and Rajesh on the
webcam.)
YVONNE: She one of yours?
DOCTOR: Never seen her before in my life.
YVONNE: Good. Then we can have her shot.
DOCTOR: Oh, all right then. It was worth a try. That's, that's Rose
Tyler.
ROSE [on screen]: Sorry. Hello.
YVONNE: Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's she?
JACKIE: I'm her mother.
YVONNE: Oh, you travel with her mother?
JACKIE: He kidnapped me.
DOCTOR: Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history,
don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother.
(Clunk!)
JACKIE: Charming.
DOCTOR: I've got a reputation to uphold.
YVONNE: Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift. Who
started the programme? But I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?
(The levers are moving.)
YVONNE: Right, step away from the monitors, everyone. Gareth, Addy,
stop what you're doing, right now. Matt, step away from your desk.
That's an order! Stop the levers! Andrew!
(A scientist grabs one of the levers.)
YVONNE: Stop the levers!
DOCTOR: What's she doing?
YVONNE: Addy, step away from the desk. Listen to me. Step away from the
desk.
DOCTOR: She can't hear you. They're overriding the system. We're going
into Ghost Shift.
[Sphere laboratory]
RAJESH: Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost
Shift was cancelled. What's going on? Yvonne?
(Bang! Rumble.)
RAJESH: It can't be. It's active!
[Lever room]
DOCTOR: It's the ear piece. It's controlling them.
I've seen this before. Sorry. I'm so sorry.
(He zaps Adeola's ear piece with his sonic screwdriver. She screams,
and so do Gareth and Matt. Then they collapse.)
YVONNE: What happened? What did you just do?
DOCTOR: They're dead.
JACKIE: You killed them.
DOCTOR: Oh, someone else did that long before I got here.
JACKIE: But you killed them!
DOCTOR: Jackie, I haven't got time for this.
YVONNE: What are those ear pieces?
DOCTOR: Don't.
YVONNE: But they're standard comms. devices. How does it control them?
DOCTOR: Trust me, leave them alone.
YVONNE: But what are they?
(Yvonne pulls one off Adeola. A rope of gray matter comes with it.)
YVONNE: Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain.
DOCTOR: What about the Ghost Shift?
YVONNE: Ninety percent there and still running. Can't you stop it?
DOCTOR: They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system.
YVONNE: Who's they?
DOCTOR: It might be a remote transmitter but it's got to be close by. I
can trace it. Jackie, stay here!
(Rajesh is on Yvonne's laptop with the message Sphere Activated.)
YVONNE: Keep those levers down. Keep them offline.
[Sphere laboratory]
RAJESH: We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can
you hear me?
(The sphere is trembling.)
RAJESH: Yvonne, for God's sake. The sphere is active! The readings are
going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field.
It exists!
(Clunk, thump.)
RAJESH: The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!
MICKEY: It's all right, babe. We've beaten them before, we can beat
them again. That's why I'm here. The fight goes on.
ROSE: The fight against what?
MICKEY: What do you think?
(The sphere's shudders are becoming more violent.)
[Corridor]
(The Doctor is tracking the signal with his sonic
screwdriver. They pass two soldiers going the other way.)
YVONNE: You two. You come with us.
SOLDIER: Yes, ma'am.
(The scientists are struggling to stop the levers from reaching
activation point.)
[Unoccupied floor]
DOCTOR: What's down here?
YVONNE: I don't, I don't know. I think it's building work. It's just
renovations.
DOCTOR: You should go back.
YVONNE: Think again.
(They go through the plastic curtains.)
YVONNE: What is it? What's down here?
DOCTOR: Ear pieces, ear pods. This world's colliding with another, and
I think I know which one.
(Figures appear behind plastic curtains.)
YVONNE: What are they?
DOCTOR: They came through first. The advance guard.
(The figures rip the plastic sheets, just like they did in their Tomb,
and step through.)
DOCTOR: Cybermen!
(The soldiers open fire.)
[Sphere laboratory]
MICKEY: We had them beaten, but then they escaped.
The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but
so did we.
ROSE: The Doctor said that was impossible.
MICKEY: Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong.
ROSE: What's inside that sphere?
MICKEY: No one knows. Cyber Leader, Cyber King, Emperor of the
Cybermen. Whatever it is, he's dead meat.
ROSE: It's good to see you.
MICKEY: Yeah. It's good to see you too.
[Lever room]
(Cybermen escort the Doctor and Yvonne in.)
DOCTOR: Get away from the machines. Do what they say. Don't fight them!
(The Cybermen activate their arm guns and shoot the scientists holding
back the levers.)
JACKIE: What are they?
CYBERMAN: We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one
hundred percent.
(The levers move up.)
COMPUTER: Online.
DOCTOR: Here come the ghosts.
(The shadowy images appear as usual.)
ALISTAIR APPLETON [on TV]: It's extraordinary, there are more ghosts
than we've ever seen before, and it's happening all over the world.
POLICE COMMANDER [on TV]: As far as we know, the increase in ghost
activity is harmless.
(Heavy boot steps are heard through the blank wall at the end.)
[Sphere laboratory]
RAJESH: Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help
down here! I need
(Creak, thunk. Mickey removes his white coat and ear piece.)
MICKEY: Here we go.
(The Sphere starts to crack open, then a black hole appears.)
[Lever room]
JACKIE: But these Cybermen, what've they got to do
with the ghosts?
DOCTOR: Do you never listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot.
CYBERLEADER: Achieving full transfer.
DOCTOR: They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of
them, right across the world.
(The ghosts solidify and form up in squads everywhere. People start to
scream and run.)
[Ghostwatch studio]
PRESENTER: They're not ghosts! They're metal men
(A Cyberman strangles him.)
POLICE COMMANDER [on TV]: I urge you, stay in your homes!
(Cybermen break down front doors and appear on upstairs landings.)
[Lever room]
YVONNE: They're invading the whole planet.
DOCTOR: It's not an invasion. It's too late for that. It's a victory.
COMPUTER: Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere
activated.
[Sphere laboratory]
MICKEY: I know what's in there, and I'm ready for
them. I've got just the thing.
(Mickey gets his really massive gun from underneath the platform below
the sphere.)
MICKEY: This is going to blast them to Hell.
RAJESH: Samuel, what are you doing?
MICKEY: The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth.
(Lock and load.)
[Lever room]
DOCTOR: But I don't understand. The Cybermen don't
have the technology to build a Void Ship. That's way beyond you. How
did you create that sphere?
CYBERMAN: The sphere is not ours.
DOCTOR: What?
CYBERMAN: The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only
followed. Its origin is unknown.
DOCTOR: Then what's inside it?
JACKIE: Rose is down there.
[Sphere laboratory]
(The sphere is slowly disappearing in a blaze of
light. Then four oversized pepperpots glide out of the Void.)
MICKEY: That's not Cybermen.
ROSE: Oh, my God.
BLACK DALEK: Location, Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!
DALEKS: Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!
To Be Continued
|