13. From 2011 to Aquae Sulis
Roll original 1982 Peter Davison opening credits
NO REPRISE
SCENE #113 – INT – ROMAN BATHS – DAY, AFTERNOON – SEPTEMBER 2011
‘Part Four’ begins following the closing moments of Scene #41 in ‘Part One’.
TRACY
“He’s gone bonkers! He’s going to blow the whole Earth up?!”
In the temple of Sulis Minerva in 2011, Salvador has been crying out passionately for Sulis Minerva. The storm outside echoes with rumbling thunderclouds and lightening strikes. Tracy Gibbons and Vernon are astonished and bewildered by Salvador’s behaviour, as he stands before the head of Sulis Minerva.
VERNON
(cries) “Mr. Salvador, please listen to us!”
Just then, a loud shot echoes. It comes nearby and the thunderclouds grow even worse.
TRACY
(shaken) “What’s that? Has someone shot a cannon or something?”
VERNON
“It was coming from the Baths! Must have been where the crowd of visitors were gathered! Where Nyssa is!”
TRACY
“What have you done, Alex? It’s like an apocalyptic end for the Earth! Is that what your client wants?!”
VERNON
(cries; louder) “Mr. Salvador?!”
Salvador doesn’t respond. He seems too focused on the sculpted head of Sulis Minerva.
SALVADOR
“It has been done! All that remains is for the other two time zones!”
Salvador then moves from the head of Sulis. He heads over to the damaged equipment, taking something from the equipment which he easily dismantles from the control panel.
SALVADOR
“Come, Mr. Vernon! We’re going on a journey!”
VERNON
“A journey? To where?”
SALVADOR
“Two hundred and fourteen years ago! Back to your home!”
VERNON
“Home?! I don’t want to go home!”
SALVADOR
(bellows) “YOU WILL DO AS I SAY, VERNON! JOIN ME!”
VERNON
“What on that tombstone?!”
TRACY
“You can’t stand on that tombstone?! That’s dedicated to the priest G. Calpurnius Receptus who worked in the temple! You can’t vandalise that!”
SALVADOR
(to Vernon) “Come Vernon! We must depart!”
VERNON
“What about her?”
Salvador looks at Tracy, considering what to do.
SALVADOR
“Bring her with us!”
TRACY
“Oh no! I’m not going anyway with you nutcases!”
VERNON
“Come, Miss Gibbons!”
TRACY
“No!”
But Tracy has no say in the matter. She gets taken by Vernon, as she struggles to break free.
TRACY
(protests) “Wait a minute! What about Dr. Moore?!”
They look to see Dr. Moore standing there with a blank expression.
SALVADOR
“He is unreal! The real Dr. Moore is dead!”
TRACY
(shocked) “What?”
SALVADOR
“And as I rid the real Dr. Moore out of existence, I can do the same for this one!”
Salvador raises his hand in the air. At that moment, the fake Dr. Moore fades out of existence. The fake Dr. Moore cries out in pain, once he’s been erased. Tracy gasps in shock.
SALVADOR
“Come, Vernon! Take the girl with us! Next stop: Seventeen ninety-seven Bath!”
TRACY
(cries) “No!”
Vernon takes a struggling Tracy with him, as they all stand with Salvador on Gaius Calpurnius Receptus’ tombstone. Very soon, Salvador, Vernon and Tracy dematerialise. The temple gets affected by the temporal convergence, as the ceiling begins to fall in.
SCENE #114 – INT – BATH ABBEY – DAY, AFTERNOON – SEPTEMBER 2011
Back in Bath Abbey, following the end of Scene #43 in ‘Part One’, lightning strikes and cracks the roof of the tower. Rainwater pours in, just as the Doctor strikes his knife down on Jane Austen. A clanging noise echoes. The clanging noise…is a chain being broken.
JANE
(surprised) “Doctor! You…you’ve released me from my chains!”
DOCTOR
“Yes! That knife was next to you on that tabernacle! It seemed logical to break your bonds!”
JANE
“I’m really obliged to you, sir! Thank you for releasing me! But I fear you struck a finer blow than you intended! My wrist bleeds slightly!”
DOCTOR
(apologetic) “Oh I’m so sorry, Miss Austen. Let me have a look.”
The Doctor begins to attend to Jane’s wound.
DOCTOR
“How did you get chained to the altar anyway?”
JANE
“I thought you would know. You chained me to the altar, Doctor.”
DOCTOR
“I did?”
JANE
(reassuringly) “There’s no need to fuss, Doctor. It’s a mere cut.”
DOCTOR
“Well all the same, I am a Doctor.”
JANE
(amused) “That you are, Doctor. And a very strange one, I grant you.”
DOCTOR
(cheerfully) “Wouldn’t want to lose a lot of blood would we, Miss Austen?!” (Pause; realises) “Yes! That fits now in the dream!” (Pause) “Here! Come away from the altar! And let’s get out of this rain.”
The Doctor and Jane get away from the altar, whilst the temporal shuddering still occurs in the abbey. The rain grows worse, as it pours into the abbey.
JANE
(anxious) “Doctor, sir? Can you prevent this horrid shuddering and visions that befall us? I am anxious to see all these people! It reminds me of all the horrors I witnessed with you; Miss Nyssa and Mr. Walker.”
DOCTOR
“I’m not sure that I can, Miss Austen. For I don’t know what’s causing it.”
JANE
“And this tempest! It chills me to the skin with all this rain!”
Just then, mocking laughter echoes as rain water plummets through the broken roof of the tower.
JANE
“Doctor? What is the joke you laugh at?”
DOCTOR
“It wasn’t me, Miss Austen!”
JANE
“Wasn’t it? It can’t have been that horrid man I encountered laughing?!”
DOCTOR
(puzzled) “What horrid man, Miss Austen?”
But before Miss Austen answers, the laughter dies away and the temporal shuddering stops. Everything reverts back to normal. Mrs Bates, who has been standing in the abbey with the Doctor and Jane for quite some time, is dumbstruck.
MRS. BATES
(dumbstruck) “Doctor?! The rain! It’s coming through the abbey roof. The tower roof has cracked! How could that have happened?”
DOCTOR
“Keep well away, Mrs. Bates; Miss Austen!”
The Doctor moves the two women further away from where the rain pours in through the abbey roof. They sit in one of the pews of the abbey, as they watch the rain starting to flood the abbey. Everyone else, including the church choir, the ministers and the abbey visitors evacuate in haste.
MRS. BATES
“What in the world were you and Miss Austen talking about, Doctor? You both seem to understand….”
DOCTOR
“Sorry, Mrs. Bates! There’s no time to explain! But I’ve got a job I’d like you to do for me!”
MRS. BATES
“Anything, Doctor! What may I do?”
DOCTOR
“The visitors are leaving the abbey! I must say I don’t blame them! Can you look after Miss Austen, Mrs. Bates? Take her to a place of safety?”
MRS. BATES
(enthused) “Of course, Doctor! I’d be happy to do so!”
JANE
“But where shall you go, Doctor? To find your friends Miss Nyssa and Mr. Walker?”
DOCTOR
“Yes! They were in the Roman Baths according to your instructions when you gave me your message at the Jane Austen Centre. I assume you have given me that message already and you do know what I’m talking about.”
JANE
“Of course I do, Doctor. I do remember giving you the message to come here to Bath Abbey whilst your friends attend the Roman Baths.”
DOCTOR
“Well, that’s reassuring. It makes things less complicated.”
JANE
“But why you should give me a message like that to you, I do not know.”
DOCTOR
“Tell me, Miss Austen! Did I give you any other message? When was the first time Nyssa, Billy and me actually met you?”
JANE
“I beg your pardon, sir? Do you jest…?”
DOCTOR
“No! Just answer the question please, Miss Austen!”
JANE
(puzzled) “Well it was in the spring of Bath during Roman times. According to you Doctor, you said it was in…seventy-nine anno domini.”
DOCTOR
“Seventy-nine AD…in Aquae Sulis!”
JANE
“Yes! Exactly right, Doctor! And I remember now you told me to tell you to meet me there. But for what reason I do not understand.”
DOCTOR
“Well done, Miss Austen! I must leave now!”
MRS. BATES
“But you can’t go out there in the pouring rain and the storm, Doctor! You’ll catch your death!”
Just as the Doctor is about to leave and stopped by Mrs. Bates, the whooshing, grinding of the TARDIS echoes in the abbey. The Doctor turns round astonished, to see the blue police box materialise before him.
MRS. BATES
“What?! What’s this? Am I seeing things?!”
JANE
“Heaven bless us and save us! It’s the blue box! I recall! It’s the blue box you came to save us in whilst I was in the Pump Room in Bath, Doctor!”
The TARDIS makes a loud thump once it’s landed.
SCENE #115 – INT – ROMAN BATHS – DAY, AFTERNOON – SEPTEMBER 2011
At the Roman Baths, following the end of Scene #42 in ‘Part One’, Nyssa and Billy watch in horror and fascination as everyone slowly turns into monsters. They see the bolt of water shooting up into the sky, as it causes the thunderstorm to grow worse and to rain more. Just then, they see a blue box materialise before them.
BILLY
(amazed) “Nyssa, look! There’s the box! Over there next to the entrance to the East Baths!”
NYSSA
(relieved) “The TARDIS!”
The TARDIS fully materialises on the cobbled stone pavement, next to the entrance of the East Baths. It makes a loud thump as it lands.
NYSSA
“We must get over there! The Doctor will be waiting for us!”
BILLY
“But what about these monsters? They’re still pushing us towards the Great Bath!”
NYSSA
“We’ll just have to risk getting past them! Just make sure they don’t bite you!”
BILLY
“It’s no good, Nyssa! They’re forcing us even closer to the edge of the bath! What can we do?”
The TARDIS doors then open. As the water zombies force Nyssa, Billy and the crowd of visitors towards the edge of the Great Bath, a loud ultra-sonic sound blares out loudly rom the doors of the TARDIS. The water-zombies screech in rage and pain, as they collapse to the floor.
BILLY
(baffled) “W-What…What just happened to them?”
NYSSA
“Ultra-sonic sound! Being emitted by an alien device I believe.”
The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS, carrying in his hand a medallion device that he’s used to knock out the water-zombies.
DOCTOR
“Good evening, everybody! Or is it morning or afternoon? No, it can’t have been morning because that was when I had my dream and it’s been long since I had my dream!”
NYSSA
(pleased) “Doctor! I’m so glad you’re alright!”
DOCTOR
(pleased) “You too, Nyssa! I’m glad you’re alright too! And you, Billy!”
BILLY
(bewildered) “What did you just do, Doctor? How did you knock these guys out?”
DOCTOR
“Remember this?”
The Doctor shows the medallion device to Nyssa and Billy.
NYSSA
“The medallion! The one used by the Vegrons!”
DOCTOR
“Exactly! If they were effective in controlling the Zegor pets of theirs, I wondered what it would do for these creatures!”
NYSSA
“It seems to have had the same effect! Well done, Doctor!”
BILLY
“Yes, well done!” (Pause) “What are these creatures anyway, Doctor?”
DOCTOR
“No idea! But we’ll worry about that later! Both of you into the TARDIS now!”
BILLY
“Wait a minute! What about these people? The ones who haven’t jumped in the Baths! We can’t leave them here!”
NYSSA
“Billy’s right, Doctor! We have to drop them off somewhere!”
The Doctor sees the shattered and bewildered Roman Baths visitors who have not been zombie-fied and are terrified out of their wits.
DOCTOR
“Very well! We’ll drop them off somewhere in Bath! Then we must make our way to the TARDIS!”
NYSSA
“This is the TARDIS here!”
DOCTOR
“The other TARDIS, Nyssa! Back at Queen Square!”
SCENE #116 – INT – TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM – N/A
Meanwhile in the TARDIS console room, all is quiet. That is until…the TARDIS materialises…inside the TARDIS. The blue police box lands in the TARDIS console room with a loud thump. Very soon, the door opens and the Doctor runs out into the console room. He turns back to call to Nyssa and Billy inside the blue box.
DOCTOR
(calls inside TARDIS) You two! Stay in there!
The Doctor makes his way around the TARDIS console, as he presses a few switches and enters a number of dials.
DOCTOR
Now! All I have to do…is set the temporal co-ordinates.
The Doctor flicks some more switches on the console.
DOCTOR
Entering flight plan.
The Doctor presses a final switch on the console.
DOCTOR
There! Now it will set off after a fifteen second delay.
NYSSA
(calls from inside TARDIS) Doctor! Hurry up! The TARDIS will cause a gravity bubble if it stays in the same TARDIS you’re in.
BILLY
(calls from inside TARDIS) Yeah Doctor, hurry up!
DOCTOR
(realises) Ah, right!
The Doctor runs back into the police box in the TARDIS console room. Very soon, the TARDIS soon dematerialises out of the TARDIS console room. Eventually, the other TARDIS dematerialises too.
SCENE #117 – INT – TARDIS CONSOLE ROOM – N/A
Back in the TARDIS at a later point in relative time, the Doctor, Nyssa and Billy are journeying through the time vortex. The Doctor enters switches and presses buttons at the TARDIS console.
BILLY
So, Doctor! Tell us again! What did you just do?
DOCTOR
I’ve set the TARDIS that was in Queen Square to travel back in time to meet up with me in Bath Abbey. I will then take that TARDIS to meet up with you in the Roman Baths to pick you up. That in turn will lead me taking the TARDIS back to the earlier TARDIS in Queen Square to enter the time journey I fed into the console just a moment ago.
BILLY
(bewildered) I thought I got it just a moment ago. Now I’m completely lost.
NYSSA
“So Jane Austen appeared in Bath Abbey. In two thousand and eleven.”
DOCTOR
“Yes, Nyssa. She’s with Mrs. Bates now who’s taking her to a safe place.”
NYSSA
“But how could she be there? When we went to the Jane Austen Centre, we learnt that she lived from late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century!”
DOCTOR
(impatiently) “Yes Nyssa, I’m very well aware of that! Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand.”
NYSSA
“We can’t leave Miss Austen in two thousand and eleven. She doesn’t belong in that time period.”
DOCTOR
“Oh, she’ll be alright. We haven’t met her yet. Not properly anyway. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
NYSSA
“In order to stabilise the temporal boundaries and secure the time paradox.”
DOCTOR
“Exactly! The whole of Bath is at stake and we must find a way to stop the temporal catastrophe from occurring and resolve the contradiction.”
Just then, the cloister bell gongs loudly.
BILLY
(worried) “Doctor! That bell! It’s ringing again!”
NYSSA
“The cloister bell! A great catastrophe is to occur! Just like Jane Austen said!”
DOCTOR
(determined) “Yes! And that cloister bell confirms it!”
BILLY
“So where are we going? Or when are we going I should say?!”
DOCTOR
“We’re going to Bath!”
BILLY
We’ve just been to Bath, Doctor!
DOCTOR
Yes! But it’s a Bath you’re unfamiliar with, Billy. A Bath that has long been forgotten but it did exist. It’s when Jane Austen told us to go to and we must follow her advice. The Bath…of seventy-nine AD!
Amazed and confused by what the Doctor proclaims, Nyssa and Billy watch as he presses a few switches and button with the TARDIS journeying through the time vortex.
SCENE #118 – EXT – ROMANS BATHS – DAY, MORNING – SPRING 79 AD
In the West Baths on the lower levels of the Roman Baths in Aquae Sulis 79 AD, Salvador, Vernon now Alexandros and Tracy now Apaulia are gathered. They sit in the one of the circular baths (frigidarium) in the east wing.
SALVADOR
(charismatically) Enjoying your soak, Miss Gibbons?
APAULIA
(bitterly) No! I hate the thought of having to share the same bath with two horrible men. Not to mention this water’s so cold.
ALEXANDROS
(cheerily) “Well I’m enjoying my soak, Lord Salvador.”
SALVADOR
(savagely) “I wasn’t asking you, Alexandros!”
Alexandros becomes silent, awkward by Salvador’s cold manner.
SALVADOR
(to Apaulia) Now! Listen to me, Miss Gibbons! This is important!
APAULIA
(bitterly) Do I indeed have a choice?
SALVADOR
You are to take the name Apaulia whilst you are in Aquae Sulis! Alexandros shall keep watch over you whilst you obey my will.
APAULIA
To see that I don’t stab you in the back, is it?
SALVADOR
Correct. (Pause) And just like I created Dr. Moore, I shall create a Roman mistress for you!
Moment of silence, before Salvador stretches out his hand. He forms, within the bath, a female lady. The female lady appears as she bathes with Salvador, Alexandros and Apaulia.
FLAVIA
(cheerfully) Hello, Lord Salvador! Good to see you! And you Lord Alexandros!
ALEXANDROS
“Good to see you too, Lady Flavia.” (indicates Apaulia) “This is your new servant! Apaulia!”
SCENE #119 – INT – DOCTOR’S HOUSE – DAY, MORNING – SPRING 79 AD
Sometime in Aquae Sulis, in a house on Gay Street, the Doctor, Nyssa and Billy reside there. They settle in their new home.
DOCTOR
(enthused) Well, Nyssa and Billy! What do you think? Like our new home?
BILLY
Yes. It’s nice, Doctor. I couldn’t have thought of a better home myself.
NYSSA
I’m amazed you were able to persuade the proprietor to let us have this house for rent. The way he was being unfriendly, I didn’t think we’d ever get a house to live in.
DOCTOR
Well I have my moments of persuasion. I did rent a villa in Rome myself when I was younger back in sixty-four A.D. Luckily those tactics I used to persuade the owner on that occasion seem to have worked well this time round.
NYSSA
So, we remain here whilst something is bound to happen to cause the temporal convergence.
DOCTOR
Yes. This house will have to be our base of operations for the time being. Until we have the TARDIS back on full power again, after that bumpy trip in the time vortex.
NYSSA
“Caused by the effects of the temporal displacement field no doubt.”
DOCTOR
“No doubt at all.”
BILLY
“So we wait until Miss Jane Austen is in Bath. I wonder how we’ll know that will happen.”
DOCTOR
“What’s that, Billy? I never heard of Bath!”
BILLY
(astonished) “What are you talking about, Doctor? We were there in Bath in two thousand and eleven…”
DOCTOR
“Ah you mean Aquae Sulis, Billy! That’s the name given to the city by the Romans when they resided here in seventy-nine AD. It wasn’t called Bath then.”
NYSSA
“What does it mean, Doctor? Aquae Sulis.”
DOCTOR
“It’s Latin. The name meaning ‘the waters of Sulis’.” (changes subject) “But let’s not talk about that. We’ve got lots to do. And referring back to the point you made Billy on how we will know when Jane Austen will appear, I just have no idea. We’ll just have to wait until the right moment comes. Time is relative and certainly won’t work according to our rules and anxieties.”
NYSSA
“We could use a temporal tracker to determine when Miss Austen and the catastrophe will occur.”
DOCTOR
“Yes, we could. We’ll use these communicators to keep in contact when something’s bound to go wrong. Whilst we’re here, we need to get all the tools from the TARDIS in order to measure the levels of probability in this region.”
BILLY
“And we need to do some shopping. If we don’t know how long we’ll be here, we need to make a shopping list of all the food and drink we need.”
DOCTOR
“Right. You see to making that list, Billy. I’m sure it’ll be much appreciated if you sort out all the necessities we need.”
BILLY
“Okay.” (Pause) “Err…what sort of food do they have in Bath? I mean, Aquae Sulis?”
DOCTOR
(frustrated) “Oh really, Billy! Do you expect me to know all the answers? How am I supposed to know?! Go and find out?!”
NYSSA
“I’ll help you do the shopping, Billy. You’ll need somebody to keep you company in order to know your way around the city at this time.”
Both Nyssa and Billy sit on a couch, as they fetch some paper and begin to write a shopping list. They use a Roman writing filament to write down the details.
NYSSA
“Now, the first thing we need is water to drink whilst we’re here.”
BILLY
“Then we’ll need bread…”
Whilst Nyssa and Billy make the shopping list…
DOCTOR
(impatiently) “Right. Well, I’ll get those tools from the TARDIS, including the temporal tracker. Then we’ll begin to sort out searching for any time disturbances. Right, Nyssa?”
Nyssa doesn’t hear the Doctor, as she and Billy sort out the shopping list.
DOCTOR
“Right. Well, I’ll be off then.”
The Doctor leaves the lounge, as he heads for the TARDIS. Nyssa and Billy continue sorting out the shopping list, as they sit on the couch, becoming intimate as they talk.
SCENE #120 – EXT – THOLOS COURTYARD – DAY, MORNING – SPRING 79 AD
Later that week, in the Tholos courtyard on Stall Street, the Doctor is walking there, carrying his temporal tracker. Some civilians stare, as they watch him use the tracker. The tracker whirs loudly, as the Doctor hides it in his sleeve.
DOCTOR
“The tracker’s certainly picked something up. The temporal emissions are quite strong.”
The Doctor struggles, as he wears his new Roman attire, balancing the tracker he carries in his cloak, hiding it from the passers-by. The Doctor checks his temporal tracker again, as he discovers it making a louder whirring noise.
DOCTOR
(puzzled) “Now, that’s strange! It shouldn’t be doing that!”
The Doctor shakes the tracker in his hands. He even smacks it in order to make it work. It keeps on making the whirring noise.
DOCTOR
(intrigued) “The emissions must be stronger here. Some causal imbalance in the chronic field is occurring.”
The temporal tracker keeps on whirring loudly, before it eventually dies down and stops. The Doctor puts the tracker close to his ear to listen.
DOCTOR
(puzzled) “Hmm. It’s stopped now.” (Pause) “I wonder. Where could that causal imbalance have come from?”
Suddenly a commotion occurs, as Roman civilians run out of the Roman Baths in panic and fright. The Doctor turns round to see this.
DOCTOR
(surprised) “Hello? What’s eaten them?”
The people keep running out of the Roman Baths as some cry out.
ROMANS
(cries) “Mercy! Mercy! Sulis have mercy on us!”
One of the Roman officials runs out panting, before he almost bumps into the Doctor.
ROMAN OFFICIAL
“Out of my way, please!”
DOCTOR
“Excuse me, but what’s going on?”
ROMAN OFFICIAL
“You don’t want to know!”
DOCTOR
“Incorrect, because I’ve just asked!”
ROMAN OFFICIAL
“You really don’t want to know!”
DOCTOR
(insistent) “Tell me, what’s happening?!”
ROMAN OFFICIAL
“Sulis, have mercy on us! There’s a demon in there! A woman! Dressed in strange clothes! She appeared on the Sacred Spring of Sulis! A mockery against Sulis she was!”
DOCTOR
(intrigued) “Really?!”
With that, the Doctor makes his way to the Roman Bath to enter, leading into ‘Part Three’.
SCENE #121 – INT – DOCTOR’S HOUSE – DAY, MORNING – SPRING 79 AD
Later on, back at the Doctor’s house, Nyssa and Billy sort out lunch. They gather the food they’ve bought from the shops at the marketplace in Aquae Sulis. They are in the kitchen, as they sort out the food.
BILLY
“Now…breast of peacock, here.”
Billy places the breast of peacock on the table.
NYSSA
“Three pheasants…and a bunch of grapes.”
BILLY
“Careful not to eat too many of those, Nyssa. They can be addictive.”
Billy returns to the task at hand.
BILLY
“Olives; Eggs; Bread.”
NYSSA
“And…sausages.”
BILLY
“Sausages? Oh good.” (thinks) “Now, what about the wine?”
NYSSA
“Yes we have the wine here. What are we going to drink it out of?”
BILLY
“Well, there are some wine cups in the cupboard. Along with some plates we can use to eat the food from.”
NYSSA
“And what about the food? How shall it be heated up?”
BILLY
“Oh yes, that is a problem.” (jokingly) “We can always use the oven.”
NYSSA
(puzzled) “What oven? I don’t see a…”
Nyssa stops, as she realises that Billy has been joking and starts laughing.
NYSSA
(amused) “Oh, I see. Very funny, Billy!”
BILLY
(laughs) “I can’t believe you fell for that!”
Both Nyssa and Billy laugh at the joke.
NYSSA
“I’m sure we’ll find a way.”
BILLY
“The Doctor will know certainly.” (Pause) “Oh, we can heat it on some stove fire like they used to. The Doctor will have to tell us when he gets back.”
NYSSA
“I wonder how long he’s going to be. He’s been gone for some time.”
BILLY
“This time stuff of his baffles me, Nyssa. I’m sure it’s urgent and top priority but I can’t see it from his point of view.”
NYSSA
“You haven’t been with the Doctor long enough to know much about temporal catastrophes. I don’t understand it myself, but I feel there’s a need to secure when it becomes its most critical.”
BILLY
“Hmm. Ah well. Perhaps I’ll get used to it when I experience more of them.”
NYSSA
“Oh I think you’re learning fast already.”
BILLY
“Thank you for your confidence in me.”
Moment of silence.
BILLY
“How are you finding those clothes you’re wearing? Do you like them?”
NYSSA
“Yes. Very fetching. I’m sure I’d like to wear them all the time if the seasons didn’t change.”
BILLY
(laughs) “How very true.”
NYSSA
“You look good yourself in those clothes?”
BILLY
(flattered) “Oh really. They don’t look funny on me when I’m wearing them.”
NYSSA
“No, no. They certainly make you. I’m sure all the ladies in Aquae Sulis would find you attractive in your attire.”
BILLY
(amused) “Oh. I’m sure they will. That is…if I ever meet any fine young women to talk to.”
Moment of silence.
NYSSA
“Uh…how do you like my hair?”
BILLY
“Your hair?” (Pause) “It’s very nice.”
NYSSA
“Really?”
BILLY
“Yes. Your hair…and your face look really nice.”
NYSSA
(blushed) “My face?”
BILLY
“Yes.”
Another moment of silence, as Nyssa and Billy look into each other’s eyes.
BILLY
“Nyssa?”
NYSSA
“Yes?”
BILLY
“Nyssa, I…”
Just then, they’re interrupted as the front door opens.
NYSSA
“Oh. That must be the Doctor.”
The door shuts, as the Doctor calls out.
DOCTOR
(calls) “Nyssa; Billy?! We have a visitor! Come into the lounge!”
BILLY
“You’re right, Nyssa. It is the Doctor.”
DOCTOR
“Come into the lounge!”
NYSSA
“Visitor? Who could that be?”
BILLY
“I don’t know. Maybe the Doctor found somebody who’s been responsible for what happened in two thousand and eleven Bath.”
NYSSA
“Let’s go and see who the Doctor’s brought home, shall we?”
Billy follows Nyssa, as they make their way into the lounge. The scene continues into Scene #84 in ‘Part Three’.
SCENE #122 – EXT – ROMANS BATHS – DAY, AFTERNOON – SPRING 79 AD
This scene takes place later on in Aquae Sulis, following the end of ‘Part Three’ in Scene #112. Nyssa and Billy mutate into water zombies, whilst Jane Austen appears to the Doctor during the temporal convergence and Sulis Minerva’s attack on the city. Whilst Nyssa and Billy start mutating, the Doctor, shocked by this happening, turns to see Jane Austen.
JANE
Listen to me, Doctor! Listen to what I have to say!
Jane then hands out a bottle to the Doctor.
JANE
(gradually) You must take this antidote!
DOCTOR
(astonished) Antidote? What antidote?
JANE
This antidote!
The Doctor takes the bottle from Jane and examines it.
DOCTOR
Smelling salts?
JANE
Take some for yourself! Then give it to your friends! They must be cured of their sickness so that they can survive!
DOCTOR
“But how do you know this will cure Nyssa and Billy? Who gave it to you?”
JANE
(baffled) “You did…Doctor.”
DOCTOR
“I did.”
JANE
“Please, Doctor! Waste no time! You must cure yourselves of this infection! I have had experience of typhoid fever, my sister and I! And you mustn’t let your friends suffer in ways that I have! Please, Doctor!”
With some hesitation, the Doctor looks back to see Nyssa and Billy gargle and groan under the strain of mutation.
DOCTOR
(determined) “Very well.”
The Doctor takes a deep breath and smells in the smelling salts from the bottle given to him by Jane Austen. He then hands the bottle over to Nyssa and Billy.
DOCTOR
“Here, Nyssa; Billy! Smell this!”
With some struggle, Nyssa and Billy each take in turn a deep breath, before smelling the smelling salts bottle. Very slowly, they start to breath normally again and gargle and groan less before catching their breaths back.
JANE
“I must leave you now!”
DOCTOR
“No wait! Miss Austen, where are you going?! We saw you disappear from the altar! Have you been kidnapped?”
JANE
“I can’t explain to you, Doctor. My matters are pressing. You may rest assured you’ll see me again! You must go now! Quickly! You must…”
Before Jane Austen can finish, she eventually disappears whilst the temporal shuddering continues. The Doctor then hears Nyssa and Billy wake up, as they’re fully recovered. It still rains as they wake up.
DOCTOR
“Nyssa? Billy? Are you alright?”
NYSSA
(recovers) “Yes, Doctor! Thank you for saving us!”
DOCTOR
“It wasn’t me that saved you!” (urgently) “Come on! Let’s get you both out of this rain!”
BILLY
“Before we turn into those monsters again!”
DOCTOR
“No Billy, I doubt that will occur to you, Nyssa and me! Come on! Under this archway!”
They make their way under the archway. They pass many terrified and panicked people, as the rain continues and the temporal shuddering occurs. Civilians run for their lives as it rains and the water goddess Sulis strikes her sword upon them. Many people turn into zombies, as they start coughing and become breathless. They start to wheeze, groan and gurgle.
NYSSA
“They’re all running for their lives! They didn’t expect this to happen!”
DOCTOR
“Shouldn’t have got what they wished for you see, Nyssa! That’s what comes when people ask too much!”
Whilst the Doctor and Nyssa hide underneath the arch, the omen reader Luicius Marcius Memar shouts indignantly.
LUICIUS
(shouts) “I warned you all! I warned you time would destroy this city! The flood is approaching! And it’s your fault!”
But it’s no use for Luicius, as he soon crumbles to the floor. He starts to cough and lose his breath. Very soon, like all the others, he turns into a water zombie. The water goddess Sulis continues to scream in rage, as she vengefully causes terror to everyone in the city.
BILLY
“I’ve never seen such a thing as that! It’s a lady, yet she’s gigantic! And all made out of water!”
NYSSA
“Some sort of symbiosis must have caused this to happen. A metabolic re-engineering of water composite, by what you said Doctor about the Volturnans. Held together by some biological cell.”
DOCTOR
“I wouldn’t be sure, Nyssa. This is all too fantastic to be real. Like someone has made all this to happen.”
BILLY
“What you mean to say, that Sulis is not real?!”
DOCTOR
“Oh she’s real alright, Billy! She’s definitely real! But it’s an impossibility!”
NYSSA
“Miss Austen? What’s happened to Jane Austen?”
DOCTOR
“I don’t know! But she saved our lives!”
BILLY
“What was that stuff you gave us, Doctor? It smelled like…I don’t know…like…like…”
NYSSA
“Burnt flowers.”
BILLY
“Yes, that’s right.”
DOCTOR
“I don’t know what Miss Austen gave us. It was smelling salts. And it’s helped to cure us from any infection that’s contained in the water to cause us all to turn to zombies. You Nyssa and Billy are improving. You’re better off than those Romans.”
Every Roman slowly becomes infected, as they walk about growling and snarling their way through the temple precinct causing terror to others.
NYSSA
“But how did she know what to give us? How did she know it would cure us and save us from the infection?”
DOCTOR
“Apparently…I told her!”
BILLY
(astonished) “You told her!”
DOCTOR
“Apparently. Must be in a future point in relative time.”
NYSSA
“Temporal paradox again?”
DOCTOR
“Exactly!”
BILLY
“I don’t get it!”
NYSSA
“There must have been something in those smelling salts that makes one immune to the infection that’s in the rain.”
BILLY
“Yeah, how come the rain’s infected? Some malicious jerk must have wanted this to happen to cause everything to mutate into those things!”
NYSSA
“We must give some of those salts to those people! At least we’d be saving lives!”
DOCTOR
“No! Miss Austen gave those salts to us so that we could survive this! In order to continue saving the Earth from catastrophe!”
NYSSA
“We can’t just leave these people…!”
DOCTOR
“I know Nyssa! I know! But there’s nothing we can do for them now! They’re dying anyway!”
BILLY
“So what do we do now?”
DOCTOR
“Alexandros said that his client was calling Sulis from the Sacred Spring. Perhaps we might find some answers there.”
BILLY
“Find out who this client of Alexandros is.”
NYSSA
“Jane Austen might have been teleported there during the ceremony.”
DOCTOR
“One thing at a time, you two! There’s no time like the present! To the Sacred Spring now!”
The Doctor, Nyssa and Billy run off under the archway, out of the rain, as they head for the Sacred Spring. Whilst they run off, Gaius Calpurnius Receptus stands under shelter in the arch. He watches the terrifying form of Sulis screaming and slashing her sword. As he stands, he begins to pray.
CALPURNIUS
(prays) “Great goddess Sulis save us! Please save us! Have mercy on all your people! Save us!”
Despite his praying, the goddess Sulis keeps on attacking and terrifying everyone. The population of Aquae Sulis slowly turns into zombies.
© Tim Bradley, 2017
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