Echoes of War, by Matt Fitton

A Big Finish Productions Eighth Doctor Time War Volume 1 Audio Drama, released Oct 2017

(A Dalek struggles to speak.)

BLISS: Doctor, what do we do?
DOCTOR: I’m thinking. Get behind me, everyone
DALEK: Do not. Do not. Move.
DOCTOR: Wait, can we at least
(Consternation.)
QUARREN: What did you do?
DOCTOR: Nothing. Ah! Time distortion. Back inside the ship, now.
BLISS: Help me with him.
RUPA: Here, I’ve got his arm.
DOCTOR: Everyone, this way, quickly.
JEFFERSON: What about that thing?
BLISS: Doesn’t look too lively now. Just do as he says and get back in the ship. There’s some kind of Time
shielding. It might protect us.
QUARREN: Look at the sky. Is that, was that the Theseus?
RUPA: Never mind that now, Quarren. Come on!
(Dalek gurgling in pain.)

BLISS: See if you can get those doors closed.

(Effort from men.)
JEFFERSON: I thought he said we couldn’t stay in one place.
BLISS: You saw the fireworks in the sky. I don’t think anyone’s coming after us from
DOCTOR: Yes, thank you.
BLISS: Doctor.
DOCTOR: Another distortion. A wave from the wake of the Time War. It’s easing now.
QUARREN: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Diverting some of the remaining power to the shields. More for my benefit than anyone else’s.
Like our friend outside, I’m rather more sensitive to temporal disruption.
JEFFERSON: Here’s your gun.
BLISS: Not mine, remember? It’s dead, anyway.
DOCTOR: What can the ship’s sensors tell us? Bliss, the long-range scanners are over there. Could you?
BLISS: I’m on it.
RUPA: There was a rain forest out there. Jungle. I’m not certain, but I thought I saw movement in the trees
before.
QUARREN: The whole area withered and died in moments. I’ve never seen anything like it.
DOCTOR: That’s what these readings are telling me. Everything in our immediate surroundings is suddenly
in a constant state of flux. Bliss?
BLISS: The same. That was the Theseus falling out of hyperspace, or whatever was left of it, breaking apart
in the atmosphere. But everything else is changing. Star maps, life signs. Is there something wrong with the
scanners? Are they failing, shutting down?
QUARREN: Don’t look at me, I’m not the scientist. That’s my wife.
DOCTOR: Dalek technology is efficient, if nothing else. If that’s what it says, that’s what’s out there.
Confusion.
(Alarm.)
DOCTOR: Whoa, we’re losing it. I need to find something.
(Alarm tails off and stops.)
JEFFERSON: Hey, it’s quiet out there now. Dead quiet.
DOCTOR: From what I can tell, the wave’s gone. It’s stable, for the moment. Stable confusion.
QUARREN: Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?
DOCTOR: For some. For me, it’s a way of life. Excuse me, Bliss. I’ll try and get as wide a scan as I can with
the last gasp of power.
BLISS: I’ll let you get on. So, Jefferson, you think it’s quiet. Fancy a look outside?
JEFFERSON: I wasn’t volunteering.
BLISS: Oh. We can’t stay in here forever. Doctor?
DOCTOR: Put your head out the door if you like. I’d be curious to know if the plant life’s still reacting the
same way. Don’t go too far, and keep an eye on that Dalek.
(Door hauled open.)
BLISS: Okay, guess I’m on my own.
RUPA: No, I’ll come too.
QUARREN: Rupa. Wait for me, love.

QUARREN: The forest’s gone.

RUPA: No, it’s still here. Just withered, dried out and rotted. It’s like the trees have aged a thousand years in
two minutes.
QUARREN: And the Dalek?
BLISS: Oh, I’ll check on it.
QUARREN: Careful.
BLISS: It’s all right. It’s dead.
(Bangs on casing.)
QUARREN: Don’t touch it.
BLISS: See? Nothing.
QUARREN: Not too far, remember?
RUPA: That’s not nothing. I think there’s something alive out there.

DOCTOR: Ah. This ship’s last legs just gave way.

JEFFERSON: So I guess we can’t use it to escape.
DOCTOR: It was never that easy, but I did confirm that we’re still in the middle of the Time War.
JEFFERSON: That’s the war we were all running away from.
DOCTOR: The war ran faster, I’m afraid. This world’s already been blasted by its horrors. Some weapon was
deployed that’s still scrambling Time and reality. No technology will work the way it’s supposed to in this
environment. Not even my screwdriver.
JEFFERSON: So we need to get out of here? How?
DOCTOR: On foot.
JEFFERSON: You’re joking.
DOCTOR: The good news is that I believe I detected a less effected area a few miles away. I couldn’t get a
proper fix on it, but perhaps if we start moving things will become clearer. There might even be a Temporal
save zone.
JEFFERSON: Perhaps? Might? You’re suggesting we just set off and hope for the best?
DOCTOR: I can’t think of a better way to travel. Anyway, it could be that the remains of our recent transport
has stabilised some of the… instability. Or there’s another possibility.
JEFFERSON: What, something else bad?
DOCTOR: On the contrary. My own transport might be there. After all, I’m here. I got onto the Theseus
somehow. I could have landed anywhere in that ship.
JEFFERSON: You don’t remember?
DOCTOR: It’s a little more complicated than amnesia, but there’s every chance my Tardis is in that
wreckage. I’d usually know when she’s close, but this place has set all my senses on edge. I don’t want to
count any chickens.
JEFFERSON: Chickens? There are chickens out there too?
BLISS: Doctor?
DOCTOR: Figure of speech, Mister Jefferson. Bliss, you look worried.
BLISS: We heard something moving back in the forest behind the ship.
DOCTOR: Good, because we are the other way.
BLISS: Over where the bits of Theseus came down.
JEFFERSON: Yeah, he thinks there’s a what’d you call it, a Temporal safe zone.
BLISS: Oh, sounds like a good place to start.
DOCTOR: But first we need to strip the place of useful technology. Power packs, signalling devices,
communication links, anything that’ll be handy if we find somewhere it actually works.
BLISS: Weapons?
DOCTOR: If you must. I doubt there are any lying around. Daleks tend to carry their own.
BLISS: Ah, that’s a point. Oh, couldn’t we grab the gun stick off the one out there?
DOCTOR: It would need powering up. Do you really want to risk it? Five minutes, everyone, and then we’ll
be ready to go.

QUARREN: Whatever it was, I think it’s gone.

RUPA: You’re right. Maybe it was just the wind. This place is making me nervous.
QUARREN: All those expeditions, you’d think you’d be used to it.
RUPA: This forest is rather different to anywhere else I’ve been. What are they doing in there?
DOCTOR: Rupa, Quarren, we’re moving out. You might want to lend a hand.
BLISS: We’re stripping out any useful components.
QUARREN: All right, but I’m not really very technical.
DOCTOR: Ah!
BLISS: Doctor!
DOCTOR: I felt another wave, something. Yes, there.
RUPA: Oh, look at that. The forest, it’s re-growing all around us! And dying again.
QUARREN: Now it’s all coming back. New shoots, new leaves.
BLISS: It’s like it’s cycling through time. Growing, dying, growing, dying, over and over.
DOCTOR: More fallout from the Time War.
BLISS: Ah, isn’t that the way we’re going?
QUARREN: There are people here.
DOCTOR: I’m not convinced they’re here in the conventional sense. Have everybody wait by the ship. I’ll
scout ahead.
BLISS: Doctor, wait for me.

(Distant shouts and weapon fire.)

DOCTOR: Ah, interesting.
BLISS: The war is still here after all. Oh.
DOCTOR: Not exactly.
(Sounds fade away.)
BLISS: What happened to them? They’re fading away, like ghosts.
DOCTOR: That’s what they are. Phantoms, echoes, caused by whatever weapons were used here. Ah!
BLISS: You all right?
DOCTOR: Yes. The images are fading. It should be fine for us to come through if we move quickly. We
should go and get the others.

BLISS: You sure you’re all right?

DOCTOR: Another symptom of the corruption. Time is fragmented here. Causality’s askew. What we just
saw is resonance from battles long past. Other times, other versions of reality. Ah! Like I said, I’m just more
sensitive to it.
BLISS: Because you’re a Time Lord. Those were your people back there, dying.
DOCTOR: Yes, but I’m not part of their fight. (beeps) Ah ha. What did I say? The fog is lifting. That’s a
definite trace. My Tardis is somewhere on this world. I just need to work out where.

QUARREN: This way, everyone. Secure your backpacks. We’ll be setting off in this direction. The Doctor will
be back soon.
RUPA: My husband, the hero.
QUARREN: I don’t know about that. I feel more like a tour guide. Did you notice the forest stopped growing?
JEFFERSON: Hey, you two. Do you see that?
QUARREN: See what?
JEFFERSON: The light on its forehead, it flickered.
QUARREN: On the Dalek?
RUPA: Oh, the eye.
JEFFERSON: The damn thing’s alive!
DALEK: I, I
DOCTOR: Stay calm, stay calm. No sudden movements. Bliss, keep everyone back.
BLISS: Sure. You heard the man. Stay where you are.
DALEK: Where am I? What am I?
DOCTOR: I beg your pardon?
DALEK: Who am I? Where am I? What am I?
DOCTOR: Please, please, please, please, please, stay calm. Stay calm. We mean you no harm.
JEFFERSON: Doctor, what the hell are you doing?
DOCTOR: Shh, shh. Please, listen to me. I’m a friend. You are among friends
BLISS: You what?
DALEK: Friends? What happened? Answer!
DOCTOR: There was a crash. We are the survivors.
DALEK: Sensors indicate… sensors are confused. Temporal disruption! Temporal disruption!
DOCTOR: Shh, shh, shh. Calm down, calm down. Yes, there is a huge temporal disruption all around us, but
I have found a safe zone straight ahead in that direction, six or seven miles. Maybe less. I’m not exactly
sure.
DALEK: Safe zone? Scanning.
BLISS: Doctor, what are you doing?
DOCTOR: Testing a theory. It can’t remember what it is. It might be an idea not to call me that for now. No
need to jog any memories.
DALEK: Temporal safe zone existence confirmed. Locating.
DOCTOR: Good. Well done. We can all get out of this if you tell us the way.
DALEK: This is a place of safety, where I can be restored?
DOCTOR: Absolutely. We crashed together. Our systems were all scrambled in one way or another. Or we
could always leave you behind and come back later. You seem worst affected by it.
DALEK: No, you must assist. I must survive.
DOCTOR: You’re vulnerable. You’ll need our help.
DALEK: Then help me.
DOCTOR: Well, if we can pin-point the exact location of the safe area, we may all survive.
DALEK: Survive. I must survive. Always survive.
DOCTOR: And to do that, we stay together. Friends together, yes?
DALEK: We survive together.
DOCTOR: Can you move? Can you show us the way?
DALEK: Affirmative.
DOCTOR: Good. Lead on.
JEFFERSON: This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Doctor, er, friend. A very dangerous game.
DOCTOR: It’s even more dangerous stumbling around blindly on a planet full of temporal disruption.
BLISS: Every step could be your last before you even take it.
DOCTOR: Succinctly put, Bliss. Like walking through a minefield. But now we have a sniffer dog. Come on,
all of you. Stay well back if you’d rather, but don’t lose track of us.
JEFFERSON: This is madness.
BLISS: Bring up the rear if you like, Jefferson. I’m not letting him or that thing out of my sight.

DALEK: Halt. Space-Time distortion ahead. Rescanning.

BLISS: Makes sense. We’re in dead vegetation again. The time corruption’s in pockets scattered all over this
world. First stages of diffusion. Eventually the whole place’ll be covered.
DOCTOR: You’re good, Bliss. Where were you before?
BLISS: Luna University. Post Grad in Applied Quantum Astrotech. We were supposed to be on a field trip.
DOCTOR: This is about as hands-on as quantum theory gets.
BLISS: Lucky me.
DALEK: Analysing new data.
BLISS: Quarren, everything okay?
QUARREN: The others were wondering. How can we trust it?
DOCTOR: It’s not a question of trust.
BLISS: We don’t have a choice.
DALEK: This way. Follow.
QUARREN: We were trying to get away from the war, and now here we are with a Time Lord and a Dalek.
DOCTOR: Quiet, please.
DALEK: What did the friend say?
BLISS: Nothing. Lots of chatter. People tend to do that when they’re nervous.
DALEK: He spoke a name. Dal
DOCTOR: Dal. Dal. Your name is Dal.
DALEK: That is familiar.
DOCTOR: Come on. You and I can scout ahead, Dal. Mister Maguire, why don’t you join your wife, further
back along the line. Keep your distance. No memory jogging, remember?
QUARREN: Right. Sorry.
DALEK: I have recalibrated our course based on new parameters. Safe zone located. Follow.
BLISS: Couldn’t you strip out its sensors or something?
DOCTOR: Have you ever rewired a… person like Dal without their permission? It’s not easy. Take it from
someone who’s well-practised.
BLISS: What about the gun stick?
DOCTOR: No. Trying to remove it now would only provoke a hostile response. We don’t want to remind it
what it’s for.
BLISS: I knew I should have grabbed it before.
DOCTOR: At the moment its survival instinct is paramount. Let’s not rock that boat. This is the only way, for
now. Keep the others back. I’ll have a word with our navigator. Dal, what do you recall before the crash?
DALEK: There is nothing before my awakening, 962 rels ago. Data corrupted. No memory files available.
DOCTOR: But you know how to move, how to speak, how to operate your systems, some of them at least.
You know what rels are. You’ve retained something.
DALEK: I survive, that is all. Survival is necessary. You will assist.
DOCTOR: I’ll do what I can.
DALEK: You will restore my memory.
DOCTOR: Let’s cross that bridge when we’ve built one, eh?

(Primate calls.)
JEFFERSON: Move along there.
RUPA: I thought I heard something.
JEFFERSON: All the more reason to keep moving. Looks like your crazy forest is growing again behind us.
Catch up with your husband. I’ll bring up the rear.
RUPA: Quarren, wait for me.
JEFFERSON: Yeah, it’s happening again. How many times can trees die and come back to life? Keep going.
Don’t lose the others. I’m right behind you. Let’s all play follow my leader with a Dalek. I suppose if there’s
only one way out of whoa! Argh!
RUPA: Jefferson! Stop, everybody. Wait!

DOCTOR: Dal, wait there. Something’s wrong.

DALEK: I obey.
DOCTOR: Please, stay where you are. Let us through.
BLISS: What the hell’s going on?
QUARREN: I heard Rupa. Rupa, are you all right?
RUPA: The jungle’s grown back. There’s something up there. Quarren.
QUARREN: Oh, darling.
RUPA: That poor man, Jefferson. Something took him, something in the trees.
DOCTOR: What was it? Did you see?
RUPA: Big dark shapes. They had fur, lots of arms. Claws, I think. Animals of some kind. Apes, predators. I
should know, I’m the expert. But it all happened too fast.
DOCTOR: Think, Rupa. What do you remember? Anything, anything at all could be useful.
QUARREN: Leave her, Doctor. Can’t you see she’s had a shock?
BLISS: Hold on, did you say Jefferson disappeared? Jefferson who’s right over there?
DOCTOR: Wait, Bliss. Stay back.
JEFFERSON: (weak) Help me. Please.
QUARREN: What’s wrong with him? He’s transparent.
BLISS: Like a ghost, but getting more solid.
RUPA: He’s injured. He’s been shot!
DOCTOR: Wait, Rupa!
RUPA: We can’t just leave him. He’s real and he need help.
DOCTOR: Of course. Not only that, look at his face, his clothes. It’s like he’s aged weeks or months.
JEFFERSON: They made me fight. (thud)
DOCTOR: Jefferson. Jefferson, wake up.
(Jefferson stops breathing.)
RUPA: Doctor, I think he’s dead.
DOCTOR: Yes, it’s too late. I’m so sorry, Jefferson.
(Sonic screwdriver.)
BLISS: What happened to him?
DOCTOR: This isn’t telling me anything. What happened? I don’t know. But I know who to ask.

DALEK: Analysis complete.

DOCTOR: And?
DALEK: This human was affected by chronon dispersal. Hypothesis, time disruptor weapons have been
released on this world.
DOCTOR: That’s what I thought. Mind if I?
DALEK: Transferring data.
(Into sonic screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: Yes, your readings show all the hallmarks of a particularly nasty form of attack. If I remember my
Jane’s Guide to Time Weapons, they’re called Now Devourers.
BLISS: Now what?
DOCTOR: Temporal napalm. Microscopic organisms engineered to destroy the very concept of linear time.
They must have been blasted all across this area, seeding instability. Jefferson was dragged into one of
those battles we saw.
BLISS: Aren’t those battles from the past?
DALEK: Battles? I have a query. Who is at war?
DOCTOR: Ah, good question. We need to move before the answer blows up in our face.
DALEK: Answer my query. Answer.
DOCTOR: I will, in good time. For now, we need to stay ahead of those echoes. Everybody pick up the pace.
Stay together. The phantoms can’t touch us, but we should keep well away from them.
DALEK: This way. Follow.
BLISS: You heard. Come on, move. Move!
QUARREN: Rupa, are you sure you’re all right?
RUPA: Of course not. I just saw a man snatched away by monsters, and he died right in front of me looking
like he’d been dragged through a war zone. I’m not all right, but what can we do?
QUARREN: We could stop, take a breather.
RUPA: I don’t think we could. Oh, love, how did it come to this? How did we become a part of this war?
QUARREN: No one had any choice.
RUPA: People are telling us that an awful lot these days. Perhaps these high and mighty Time Lords should
think about giving people a choice sometimes.
QUARREN: But their enemy. Someone has to make a stand.
RUPA: Do they? They weren’t coming for us. We’d never even met one of those creatures before the Time
War came crashing into our lives.
QUARREN: As I understand it, the Time Lords felt they had to draw a line. Those (sotto) Daleks, (normal)
they want universal domination. They must be stopped.
RUPA: But do both sides have to rip apart the universe in the process? Oh, they’re getting closer.
QUARREN: Remember what the Doctor said. They’re echoes. They can’t hurt us.
RUPA: Tell that to Jefferson.

BLISS: How much further?

DALEK: Data inconclusive. Attention, unknown lifesigns detected.
BLISS: Great. What was that? Something in the trees?
(Primate screams. Battle noises.)
BLISS: There it is again. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.
(Dalek voices.)
DALEK: What was that?
DOCTOR: More echoes. Don’t worry about them.
BLISS: We need to keep moving.
DALEK: They are my kind.
DOCTOR: Yes, but you’re not like them.
DALEK: They are Dal, Dal, Dalek.
DOCTOR: Think about it logically. They’ve been affected by the weapon, driven insane. You took the
readings yourself. You know what’s been released here. You are here helping us, helping your friends.
DALEK: Who are you? What is your name? Answer.
DOCTOR: Smith. I’m John Smith.
DALEK: You are… Alert! Unknown lifeforms approaching.
BLISS: Oh! Sorry, we’ve more concrete things to worry about. Big hairy things with claws.
QUARREN: Doctor.
DOCTOR: They’re all around us, in the trees.
BLISS: Which way do we go?
DOCTOR: Dal, find a way.
DALEK: Scanning.
RUPA: These aren’t ghosts. They’re something else. Oh!
DALEK: Safe path detected. Follow.
RUPA: It’s right, there’s a gap in the trees.
QUARREN: Come on, my love. Come on, all of you.
BLISS: Wait, wait, wait. What about Smith? We can’t leave him. He’s surrounded by those things.
DOCTOR: Dal, take these people to safety. Get to the safe zone, whatever happens.
DALEK: Follow. You will all follow. Obey! Obey!
BLISS: What about you?
DOCTOR: These animals are focussed on me. Maybe they’re intelligent. Maybe they can be reasoned with.
Hello there. Do you want to say hello? You don’t want to hurt me, do you?
BLISS: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Go, Bliss. Don’t lose the others. My new friends and I are going to get along just fine, isn’t that
right? I’m the Doctor. You must be Argh!
BLISS: Doctor!

DALEK: Follow.
QUARREN: Have we lost them?
RUPA: I think so.
BLISS: That’s not all we lost.
QUARREN: The Doctor?
RUPA: Those things took him, just like poor Jefferson.
BLISS: He’s not like Jefferson. He’ll figure out a way.
QUARREN: He’s gone? They took him? You mean we’re on our own?
DALEK: Halt. Calculating path of minimal corruption. You will remain here.
BLISS: Well, we’re not quite on our own
QUARREN: Jefferson came back. Maybe he will too.
RUPA: What if he does, and he’s in the same condition?
BLISS: We can wait a second, let everyone catch up.
QUARREN: Here! We’re over here! Are you absolutely sure about the Doctor?
BLISS: I, I saw it myself. They were all over him, knocked him unconscious and dragged him up through the
branches.
RUPA: This part of the jungle’s thicker than ever.
BLISS: Yeah, but have you noticed? The vegetation isn’t dying or changing. It’s just there, normal.
QUARREN: It still gives them cover. Those animals could be anywhere.
BLISS: No, I don’t think they are. Dal is looking for the least dangerous route. Those monsters are something
to do with the Time corruption, and I don’t think this area’s been affected by the fall-out at all. Not yet,
anyway.
RUPA: That’s it. Everyone’s here, I think.
QUARREN: Everyone who’s left.
BLISS: Where’s Dal got to?
DALEK: Follow. There is a clearing ahead.
QUARREN: What now? Do we do as it says?
BLISS: We don’t have much choice.
RUPA: You see, Quarren? Those words again.

QUARREN: Look at this. Wreckage. From the Theseus, do you think?

BLISS: Unless you know of any other recently exploded spaceships in the neighbourhood?
RUPA: Yes, I recognise the flooring. What’s left of it, anyway.
DALEK: I have detected useful technology close by. Friend Bliss, are you now in command?
BLISS: I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.
DALEK: John Smith was leading. Your interactions indicated a level of trust and loyalty. You are now in
command.
BLISS: Er, you’re leading the way. Yeah, I suppose, if you like, you could be
QUARREN: Bliss! What are you
DALEK: Negative. I must obey orders. You must lead, I must obey.
BLISS: All right, all right, if you say so.
DALEK: Vital technology is here, beneath these panels.
BLISS: You lot help Dal. There might be something useful.
QUARREN: Did you really consider putting that thing in charge?
BLISS: We still need Dal to show us the way. We’re not at the safe zone yet. We need to keep it on-side.
QUARREN: Oh, so now you’re the leader, just because it said so. I hardly think that’s the most sensible idea.
RUPA: Quarren.
BLISS: It’s not like I wanted to. You’d rather take over and lead us from one disaster to the next because you
haven’t got a clue what’s happening, watch everybody die one by one like all my friends back on Titan? Do
you want that? You want to be in charge, be my guest.
RUPA: None of us want that. We are surviving, just as we have done ever since this war touched our lives.
We do what we have to. We don’t have a choice any more. Perhaps later, if we get out of this, we will.
QUARREN: Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry, love.
RUPA: It’s not me you should be apologising to.
QUARREN: I’m sorry, Bliss. Whatever you think best.
DALEK: Clear the wreckage. Seize the artefact.
BLISS: What have they found?
QUARREN: A crate? Was it someone’s luggage?
BLISS: What does it say? Police Box. I don’t remember seeing anything like that on the Theseus.
QUARREN: There’s something about it, something odd.
DALEK: This technology is essential. We must take it to the safe zone.
RUPA: Technology? Really? It’s just a wooden box.
DALEK: It is familiar.
RUPA: Look at the sign. Free for use of public. Advice and assistance obtainable immediately. Well, what on
Ganymede could it possibly mean?
QUARREN: The doors, are they unlocked?
RUPA: Careful.
QUARREN: There’s nothing inside. It’s an empty shell. Don’t know why I expected anything else.
DALEK: It is of value. We must take it. We must take it!
BLISS: Okay, keep your dome on. How do you suggest we carry it?
DALEK: Locate equipment now. Identify plasma cables. Identify power cells.
RUPA: (sigh) I suppose we should help.
QUARREN: No, you stay. I’ll join the others.
RUPA: I’m no invalid. We go together.

BLISS: Hey, everyone’s scared, exhausted. We’ve lost people, we’ve had monsters on our tail, and we’ve
been going for miles. Can we all please rest a moment?
DALEK: Smith ordered us to reach the safe zone. It is still some distance.
BLISS: Yes, but he’d have also seen that these people need a rest. This area’s reasonably stable. Can’t we
take a break? I’m in charge, and I say we rest.
DALEK: I will consider. Scanning.
BLISS: Are you worried about those creatures, or is it what you heard in the battles that’s getting to you?
DALEK: They were my kind. They were angered. They were attacking. Were they in pain?
BLISS: You shouldn’t pay any attention. Remember what Doctor Smith said. You’re not like them.
DALEK: If we reach the safe zone, I will be restored?
BLISS: I’m not sure.
DALEK: If we do not, I will become like those other Daleks, corrupted, insane?
BLISS: I can’t say. Yes, maybe.
DALEK: Then we move now. There will be no rest. Locate equipment and lift. I will direct you.
BLISS: (sigh) I tried.

(Noisy battle.)
DOCTOR: No, no. Not here, not now. Stop this, please.

RUPA: It seems happy now. This we must be close. Dal has been a help to us, despite everything.
QUARREN: I suppose. I still can’t understand why it wants to bring that tatty old thing along.
RUPA: I don’t suppose it’s any hardship now we’ve got it hovering, a couple of us steering it. It is clever, you
have to admit.
BLISS: More than that, it is brilliant. Amplifying its own hover-sphere in a parallel circuit using Theseus’s own
reflectors. It’s a lot of trouble for some old crate, but it’s genius. It would have taken me at least a couple of
days to come up with that.
RUPA: Really?
BLISS: Yeah. I was pretty much the brightest spark in my tutor group.
RUPA: How come you’re out here on the Theseus?
BLISS: Oh, er, some bright spark thought it’d be interesting to measure quantum fluctuations in a Temporal
Warzone.
QUARREN: Oh, it was your idea.
BLISS: Yeah. We thought they’d passed by centuries before, skirting the edge of the solar system. Any
danger was ancient history. Of course, a Time War doesn’t work like that.
QUARREN: What happened to the rest of your group? You said
BLISS: I don’t know for sure. I guess I never will now.
RUPA: I’m sorry. Was there anyone special?
BLISS: Nah, never got the chance to find out. What about you two? How did you end up on the Theseus?
QUARREN: We were touring the galaxy, enjoying an early retirement.
RUPA: Quarren made a few good investments, but I always meant to go back to work. I missed it.
DALEK: Follow! Follow quickly!
QUARREN: What’s the rush?
DALEK: We are nearing the safe zone. I am detecting clusters of Time corruption.
RUPA: Which means
DALEK: Primitive lifeforms approaching.
RUPA: Oh no!
(Running, screaming.)
DALEK: Follow! Follow!
QUARREN: Rupa, look out!
RUPA: They’re all around us! Quarren, I ah!
QUARREN: No! They’ve taken her!
BLISS: They’re going to take everyone! Run!
QUARREN: Rupa, no!
DALEK: Do not abandon the box!
BLISS: Dal, we need to get out of here now! Leave that crate!
DALEK: Negative. We must repel the hostiles. I require a means of defence. I must have aggressive
capabilities. I must, I must, attack!
(Dalek weapon fires.)
BLISS: Whoa! What where you’re pointing that thing.
DALEK: I have access to energy weapon systems. I will destroy the hostiles.
BLISS: Everybody move. Get behind Dal.
QUARREN: Rupa! No, Rupa, she can’t be gone. We can’t leave her.
BLISS: Come on, Quarren, get up. Run!
DALEK: Eradicate the hostiles. Exterminate!
BLISS: Defensive only. That’s enough, Dal. They’re going.
DALEK: Exterminate. Exterminate!
BLISS: I said, that’s enough!
(Dal stops firing.)
BLISS: That’s it. You don’t want to lose yourself. You don’t want to be like the others, not now.
DALEK: Hostiles have been repelled.
QUARREN: Rupa.
BLISS: We lost half the group. Do we really need that box slowing us down?
DALEK: It is required.
BLISS: How far to the safe zone?
DALEK: Scanning. Seven hundred metres.
QUARREN: What’s the point? What’s the point of any of it now?
BLISS: Come on, Quarren. We’ve got this far.
DALEK: The question is valid.
BLISS: You know what the point is. We’ve got to survive.
DALEK: No. I have purpose. I have purpose beyond survival. Extermination of enemies. That action had
meaning. Meaning beyond anything else I have experienced.
QUARREN: Oh no.
DALEK: Am I a warrior?
BLISS: I guess you must have been, before.
DALEK: My purpose is war.
BLISS: You’re protecting us. That’s your purpose now. That’s what Smith told you to do.
DALEK: Smith. You called him Doctor.
BLISS: Yeah, Doctor Smith. I think he was a scientist.
DALEK: A Doctor and a blue box. The concepts are familiar. There are memories I cannot retrieve, orders I
cannot access.
QUARREN: Orders? Orders from who? Oh no, is it remembering who it really is?
BLISS: Shut up, Quarren, you’re not helping. Listen to me, Dal. All that matters are the orders the Doctor
gave. That Smith gave. The safe zone. Get us to the safe zone.
DALEK: Find the safe zone. Survive. Survive.
BLISS: That’s it, survival. That’s all that matters.
DALEK: Attain the safe zone and all else will follow. Meaning will be clear. My true purpose will be known.
QUARREN: I’m not sure.
DALEK: Three hundred metres and closing. Follow, follow.
QUARREN: (sotto) The closer we get, the more it will remember. What happens when we reach it?
BLISS: (sotto) I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have any of them. I’m trying to deal with one
thing at a time and keep us alive.
QUARREN: (sotto) Once that Dalek knows it’s a Dalek there might not be an option anymore.

QUARREN: Is this it? Looks like a swamp. There’s a wall of mist.

BLISS: It’s not a swamp, the ground’s solid. And that’s not just mist, it’s some kind of barrier. Dal, any ideas?
DALEK: Confusion. Too much data.
BLISS: Okay, you’d best stay back for now. All of you, wait there. I’ll see if I can oh!
RUPA: Quarren? Quarren?
QUARREN: Wait, did you hear that? Inside the fog. Please, don’t say I’m imagining it.
RUPA: Quarren? Is that you?
QUARREN: Rupa! Oh, Rupa.
DALEK: Hostiles. I will defend us.
QUARREN: Rupa, get out of the way. I can get rid of them.
RUPA: No, I won’t have it.
DALEK: Move.
BLISS: Don’t fire. Dal, Rupa’s in the way. Friend Rupa, remember?
DALEK: Friend.
QUARREN: Oh, to hell with everything. Rupa, darling!
BLISS: Quarren, no!
RUPA: It’s all right, Quarren. I’m safe. I’m safe.
DALEK: Friend Rupa, Friend Quarren, move, move.
BLISS: Wait. Just wait. We’re on the very edge of the safe zone. The distortion’s more concentrated. What is
this?
DALEK: Do not. Do not. Time distortion. Time distortion.
BLISS: Dal. Dal, can you hear me?
DALEK: Confusion. Only confusion. Urgh. (gurgle, silence)
RUPA: You still got the ship? Good? Take it in, quickly.
QUARREN: Ship? What ship?
BLISS: She means the blue crate. You do, don’t you?
QUARREN: What about the Dalek.
RUPA: It’s back to how it was when we first arrived. Leave it for now. Go through, Bliss. The others are
waiting. Everyone’s safe.
BLISS: Come on. Quickly, that’s it. Push it through the cloud.
QUARREN: Rupa, what happened? When those monsters took you…
RUPA: They’re not monsters, they’re scared, terrified animals.
QUARREN: What?
RUPA: They’re the natives of this world, of the jungle. Their evolution was accelerated and mutated by the
war. Originally they were just a harmless tree-dwelling primate, common to so many worlds like this.
QUARREN: But look at them. All those limbs and claws.
RUPA: They were forced down some twisted, horrible evolutionary path, then dragged back and then sent
forward again, back and forth, just like the trees.
QUARREN: They took our people. What they did to Jefferson…
RUPA: That wasn’t their fault. They wanted someone to help them. Jefferson couldn’t understand. He ran,
fell into one of those battles. It must have been the Time Lords who forced him to fight.
QUARREN: How do you know all this?
RUPA: I started to communicate. I’ve been here for almost a day, and time passes differently here. And
there’s someone else to thank for opening their minds and understanding. Come on, we should go through
and join the others.
QUARREN: Someone else? Who?

RUPA: Here we are. The safe zone.

QUARREN: There’s no mist on this side. I can see the Dalek clear as day, and the forest all around. The way
we came, it’s not changing, it’s not dead. It all looks normal.
BLISS: I imagine it’s a matter of perspective. This is a safe zone, untouched by the Time War. We see our
surroundings as they once were, untouched.
DOCTOR: I was right, Bliss. You really are very good.
ALL: Doctor!
DOCTOR: My friends agree. Meet the natives of this world, as nature intended.
QUARREN: Those little monkeys?
RUPA: They’re not strictly monkeys.
QUARREN: You’re saying they’re what attacked us?
DOCTOR: It was more of a cry for help. Your wife is rather brilliant too, Quarren.
QUARREN: Oh, I know that.
DOCTOR: She kept them calm and worked out some rudimentary sign language, enough to convince them
to get the message out across the jungle. Come to this place and you’ll be safe. And you found my Tardis!
BLISS: Your what?
DOCTOR: My ship. This is the way out for everyone.
(Sonic screwdriver, door opens.)
QUARREN: It’s just a shell.
DOCTOR: No, she’s protecting herself, retreated from the corruption. Shouldn’t take long to recuperate, then
I’ll take everyone home.
BLISS: You’re not seriously suggesting we all squeeze in there?
DOCTOR: Give it a little while, you’ll find it’s surprisingly roomy.
DALEK [OC]: Friends? Where are my friends? Friend Bliss? Friend Quarren?
(Tardis door closed.)
DOCTOR: Dal can’t enter this zone. He’ll be back to himself in an instant. Quarren, Rupa, wait by the Tardis.
Tell me when it’s ready.
QUARREN: How will we know?
DOCTOR: You’ll know.
BLISS: Hey, wait for me.

DOCTOR: Dal, can you hear me?

DALEK: You have returned, Smith. No, you are the Doctor.
DOCTOR: Please don’t move any further.
DALEK: I am Dalek. Memory retrieval. Daleks do not obey inferior species.
BLISS: (sotto) It’s remembering bit by bit. We can’t let it in there with everyone else.
DOCTOR: Listen to me, Dal. I’m your friend.
DALEK: Memory retrieval. A Dalek does not have friends.
DOCTOR: Now that’s not true. (sonic screwdriver) Would you like me to help?
DALEK: Stay back, Time Lord.
BLISS: Careful.
DALEK: You are a Time Lord. I do not know what that means. Memory retrieval. Memory retrieval.
DOCTOR: Dal, will you trust me? There’s something I’d like you to do. You’ve had another shock to the
system. Run a complete reboot, full diagnostic with one extra step.
DALEK: Explain.
DOCTOR: Analyse everything we’ve been through. Restore core systems by all means, I simply ask that you
base any future decisions on your recent experience.
DALEK: This course of action is logical. System reboot commencing.
BLISS: Doctor, this isn’t going to help. A Dalek is a Dalek is a Dalek. It’ll know that as soon as it comes back
online.
DOCTOR: What do you suggest we do, kill it?
BLISS: Oh, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Dal. It defended us after we lost you.
DOCTOR: Exactly. It’s an intelligent being. It’s had a completely new set of experiences. Unlike any other
Dalek I’ve encountered, it may be capable of learning from them. If not, we’ll have just bought us some time.
BLISS: You mean?
DOCTOR: A few more minutes and my Tardis can get us out of here. We can leave Dal to have his
existential crisis in peace. Oh. The mists are quite literally clearing.
BLISS: So why do you suddenly look so worried?
DOCTOR: I’m not convinced that’s an entirely good sign.

BLACK DALEK: All spaceborne Dalek squadrons, secure the atmosphere.

DALEKS: Attack. Attack. Attack.

TAMASAN: I have the Lieutenant of the twenty ninth fleet, ma’am.

OLLISTRA: Report.
LIEUTENANT [OC]: Cardinal, the Daleks have detected the advance Tardis regiments as planned.
OLLISTRA: Excellent. The trap is sprung. They’re bringing every Dalek saucer in the sector to this world.
Lieutenant, deploy our new Battle Tardis arrays. They haven’t seen our Type 120s yet. Loose Time
Torpedoes. We need to draw the enemy down. Transmat ground troops to the surface.
LIEUTENANT [OC]: Yes, ma’am.
OLLISTRA: Ollistra out. And this is where the Doctor’s group has been located. Two birds with one stone.
Captain Tamasan?
TAMASAN: I have a lock on their position, ma’am.
OLLISTRA: Then take us in to land.

DOCTOR: The Time War is here. We need to leave.

BLISS: Everyone stay close.
QUARREN: Is this is? Do we get inside your Tardis now?
(Sonic screwdriver.)
DOCTOR: Still not cooked. With these new arrivals, it’ll take a while longer than I’d hoped. Now it’s too late.
RUPA: Soldiers! They’re appearing everywhere.
QUARREN: These are armies. Time Lord armies.
DOCTOR: Where there are armies, there’s usually a General, or at the very least, a Cardinal.
OLLISTRA: Doctor.
QUARREN: You know one another?
DOCTOR: Unfortunately, yes. Hello, Ollistra. Can’t say it’s a pleasure running into you.
TAMASAN: I’ll secure a perimeter, ma’am.
OLLISTRA: You do that, Tamasan. Now, Doctor, you’ve collected quite a motley little band of followers.
Commander Braylin.
BRAYLIN: Ma’am.
OLLISTRA: Have them rounded up. The transport should be arriving shortly.
QUARREN: What?
BLISS: Let me go!
DOCTOR: These people are innocents. I’m trying to get them away from here.
DALEK: Reboot complete. Systems online.
TAMASAN: Cardinal, we have a hostile.
BLISS: No, no, leave it alone. Back off.
DOCTOR: Wait, Bliss.
TAMASAN: Out of the way, civilian.
DOCTOR: No, you get out of the way, soldier. (thump)
DALEK: I am Dalek.
BLISS: Don’t shoot. Tell them, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Dal, remember what I said. Remember everything we went through together.
DALEK: Doctor. Now I know the truth. You are Time Lord. You are the enemy of the Daleks. This was all
deceit.
DOCTOR: No, it was expedient. There was no time to explain. We needed to survive. And we all survived
together. I did everything I said I would, and so did you.
BLISS: You protected us out there.
DOCTOR: Come here, Bliss. Dal’s not going to hurt you. No one’s hurting anyone right now.
DALEK: I am not Dal. I am Dalek.
DOCTOR: You are, but you’re also something more. We helped one another. You defended us. You were our
friend.
DALEK: I survived. We survived. Dalek and Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Yes, that’s it. Remember.
DALEK: Collaboration. Understanding. Trust. I am, I am your (boom!)
BLISS: No!
TAMASAN: Sympathy for the enemy? You really are as disloyal as they say.
DOCTOR: Who are you!
TAMASAN: Captain Tamasan, Third Paytrex Battalion.
OLLISTRA: What has happened here?
TAMASAN: Bleeding heart, ma’am. He’s worse than I thought. A traitor and a coward.
OLLISTRA: That’s quite enough, Captain. The Doctor is a special case.
BLISS: Are you in charge of these toy soldiers?
DOCTOR: Bliss.
TAMASAN: Look out, ma’am. This one’s just as bad.
BLISS: This trigger-happy idiot just murdered our… Get off! Get off!
OLLISTRA: I only see a dead Dalek. Carry on, Captain. Put her with the others.
TAMASAN: Right. Come on, you.
BLISS: No!
OLLISTRA: Your band was even more motley than I thought. Honestly, Doctor, a Dalek?
DOCTOR: You’d never understand. A little longer and we’d have been away from this planet, but no, you had
to bring your war back here.
OLLISTRA: Back? This is the first time we’ve visited. I’ve set a trap for an entire Dalek fleet.
DOCTOR: And now the jungle is burning. There are living creatures here. But if you haven’t been here
before… Oh no, you are destroying an entire ecosystem for one small victory.
OLLISTRA: It’s through the sum of small victories that wars are won.

(A Transport Tardis materialises, door opens.)

QUARREN: Rupa, stay close.
RUPA: I’m here, don’t worry.
BLISS: We are civilians. We are nothing to do with this.
TAMASAN: That’s for the Cardinal to decide. Eleven assorted human and humanoid lifeforms for processing,
Commander.
COMMANDER: Thank you, Captain. Move them in.
BLISS: You can’t do this.
TAMASAN: Enough. Quiet, all of you. Get them in the Transporter.
OLLISTRA: Secure them ready for internment, Commander. We will follow you back to Tenacity.
COMMANDER: Understood, ma’am.
DOCTOR: What’s going on? These people are under my protection.
BLISS: Doctor, you’ve got to help us! You
(Transport door closes.)
DOCTOR: Bliss, I’ll find you! Ollistra, you cannot do this. They were fleeing the Time War. They are refugees
from destruction that you caused.
OLLISTRA: They will be processed humanely. I will vet each individual personally.
(The Transporter dematerialises.)
DOCTOR: Where are you taking them?
OLLISTRA: An internment camp in a very safe location. Don’t worry, we’re all going the same way. In fact,
we need to leave now. Captain Tamasan, are we ready for deployment?
TAMASAN: Yes, ma’am. Fleet Commanders report all payloads ready and waiting.
DOCTOR: Payloads? What payloads?
OLLISTRA: Excellent. Give the order. Release the Now Devourers.
DOCTOR: This was you. The echoes, they weren’t from the past, they’re from the battle you’re starting now!
You’ve doomed this world and every living creature on it! You’re fighting in poisoned Space-Time.
OLLISTRA: Our projections indicate Gallifreyan biology is ten times more resistant to corruption than the
enemy. In less than six months of fighting, we will eliminate two hundred thousand Daleks with less than forty
percent mortality on our side.
DOCTOR: Obscene. What you’re doing, what you’ve done here is obscene. I won’t have any part in it.
Where’s my Tardis?
TAMASAN: His ship’s been stowed in your Battle Tardis, ma’am.
OLLISTRA: Then you must come aboard too, Doctor.
DOCTOR: And if I refuse?
OLLISTRA: Captain?
TAMASAN: A pleasure, ma’am. Guards!
DOCTOR: Oh! Ah!
OLLISTRA: You have very little choice in the matter, unless you wish to stay here and see Time ripped apart
along with all the little forest creatures.
DOCTOR: What about my friends? Where did you take them?
OLLISTRA: I told you, we have the same destination. A secure stronghold not far from here. The moon of
Tenacity. You’ll be billeted to your new quarters to undergo front-line training.
DOCTOR: Quarters? Training? Why do I need training?
OLLISTRA: Why, Doctor, because you’re going to war.
(Battle Tardis dematerialises. Sounds of the ground battle distort.)