Cwmtaff, South Wales 2020 AD
Mo (Alun Raglan) reading The Gruffalo: “Who is this creature with terrible claws, terrible teeth and his terrible jaws?” Go on, your bit. “He has—”
Elliot (Samuel Davies): I can’t do it Dad. I can listen to books anyway.
Mo: I know you can listen, son, but you’ve got to keep at it.
The Doctor: Behold, Rio!
Amy: Not really getting the Sunshine Carneval vibe.
The Doctor: No— Oo! What’s that? Ground feels strange. Just me. Wait. That’s weird.
Rory: What’s weird?
Amy: Doctor, stop trying to distract us. We’re in the wrong place. It’s freezing and I’m dressed for Rio, here. Not some— Doctor, are you listening to me? It’s a graveyard. You promised me a beach.
The Doctor: Bluegrass. Patches of it all around the graveyard. So. Earth. 2020-ish. Ten years in your future. Wrong continent for Rio, I’ll admit. But it’s not a massive overshoot.
Amy: Why are those people waving at us?
The Doctor: Can’t be. It is. It’s you two.
Rory: No. We’re here. How can we be up there.
The Doctor: Ten years in your future, come to relive past glories I’d imagine. Humans, you’re so nostalgic.
Amy: We’re still together in ten years.
Rory: No need to sound so surprised.
Amy: Hey, let’s go talk to them. We could say hi to Future Us. How cool is that?
The Doctor: Uh, no. Best not. Really best not. These things get complicated very quickly and— Oh look. Big mining thing. I love a big mining thing. See? Way better than Rio. Rio doesn’t have a big mining thing.
Amy: We’re not going to have a look, are we?
The Doctor: Let’s go and have a look.
Nasreen Chaudhry (Meera Syal): The drill’s shut down. There’s no sign of Mo, and nobody’s been in or out of the perimeter between last night and… now. What’s that? That wasn’t there last night. How the hell did that get there?
Tony Mack (Robert Pugh): Don’t know.
Ambrose (): Well that was quick.
Rory: Was it?
Ambrose: It’s great that you came.
Elliot: Bit retro. What is it, portable crime lab?
Rory: Oh, uh. Sort of.
Ambrose: Ambrose Northover. I was the one who called. I run a Meals on Wheels for the whole valley. This is my son Elliot.
Elliot: Where’s your uniform?
Ambrose: Don’t be cheeky, Elliot. He’s plain clothes. CID is it? Anyway, it’s over here.
Rory: Um. shrugs and follows the two
The Doctor: Restricted access. No unauthorized personnel.
Amy: That is breaking and entering!
The Doctor: What did I break? Sonic-ing and entering, totally different.
Ambrose: It’s a family plot, see. My aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Allen, died a few weeks back. They lived in a house two doors down.
Elliot: Mom, he doesn’t care about that. He wants to know about the dead bodies.
Ambrose: Yes, sorry. Well they always wanted to be buried in the same plot—together. But when we went to bury Uncle Allen, Gladys wasn’t there. Gone. Body, coffin, everything.
Rory: What?
Ambrose: Remarkable thing is, on the surface the grave was untouched. No signs of it having been messed with.
Rory: I’m sorry, I don’t understand.
Ambrose: Nobody has touched the grave since my aunt was buried. When we went to open it, the body was gone. How is that possible?
Amy: Oh please. Have you always been this disgusting.
The Doctor: No. That’s recent.
The Doctor: It knows we’re here. It’s attacking. The ground’s attacking us. Under the circumstances I’d suggest… Run!
The Doctor: Amy. Concentrate. Don’t you give up!
Amy: Tell Rory…
Nasreen: Where is she?
The Doctor: She’s gone. The ground took her.
Elliot: There’s only one explanation as far as I can see.
Rory: What’s that then?
Elliot: The graves eat people. Devour them whole. Leaving no trace.
Rory: Not sure about that.
Elliot: They didn’t steal the body from above. They couldn’t have got it from the sides. Only other thing is the dead did it from underneath.
Rory: Not very likely though.
Elliot: When you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains—however improbable—must be the truth.
Rory: Sorry?
Elliot: Sherlock Holmes. Got the audio book. The graves around you eat people.
Nasreen: Is that what happened to Mo? Are they dead?
The Doctor: It’s not quicksand. She didn’t just sink. Something pulled her in. It wanted her.
Nasreen: The ground wanted her?
The Doctor: Something that was dormant, just a patch of earth when we saw it this morning. And the drill did stop. When you restarted the drill the ground fought back.
Nasreen: So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling? Doctor, that is ridiculous.
The Doctor: I’m not saying that it’s not ridiculous. I just don’t think it’s right.
Tony Mack: You’re not making any sense, man.
The Doctor: Excuse me, I’m making perfect sense. You’re just not keeping up.
The Doctor: So if you shut the drill down, why can I still hear drilling?
The Doctor: Why here though? Why’d you drill on this site?
Nasreen: We found patches of grass in this area containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years.
The Doctor: The blue grass. Oh Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren’t X marking the spot, saying “dig here”. They were a warning: “Stay away”. ‘Cause while you’ve been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up.
The Doctor: That noise isn’t a drill. It’s a transport. Three of them. Thirty kilometers down. Major speed looks about 150 kilometers now. Should be here in… oo, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bioprogrammed the Earth is on its way up. Now.
The Doctor: Energy signal originating from under the earth. We’re trapped.
Rory: Doctor, something weird’s going on here. The graves are eating people.
The Doctor: Not now, Rory! Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can’t get out and no one from the outside world can get in.
Rory: What? Okay. What about the TARDIS?
Nasreen: The what?
The Doctor: No, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time maybe, but we’ve only got nine and a half minutes.
Rory: Nine and a half minutes to what?
Nasreen: We’re trapped and something’s burrowing toward the surface.
Rory: Where’s Amy?
The Doctor: Get everyone inside the church. Rory, I’ll get her back.
Rory: What d’you mean? Where’s she gone?
The Doctor: She was taken. Into the earth.
Rory: How? Why didn’t you stop it?
The Doctor: I tried. I promise, I tried.
Rory: Well you should have tried harder!
The Doctor: I’ll find Amy. I’ll keep you all safe. I promise. C’mon, please. I need you alongside me.
The Doctor: Right guys, we need to be ready for whatever’s coming up. I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going.
Elliot: I can’t do the words. I’m dyslexic.
The Doctor: Oh, that’s okay. I can’t make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot.
The Doctor: What are those?
Ambrose: Like you say, every little helps.
The Doctor: No. No weapons. It’s not the way I do things.
Ambrose: But you said we’re supposed to be defending ourselves.
The Doctor: Oh Ambrose. You’re better than this. I’m asking nicely. Put them away.
The Doctor: Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci or Einstein. It’s not stopping you.
The Doctor: Lovely place to grow up ’round here.
Elliot: I suppose. I want to live in the city one day. As soon as I’m old enough I’ll be off.
The Doctor: I was the same way where I grew up.
Elliot: Did you get away?
The Doctor: Yeah…
Elliot: Do you ever miss it?
The Doctor: So much.
Elliot: Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?
The Doctor: Yeah.
Elliot: Are you scared of them?
The Doctor: No. They’re scared of me.
Elliot: Can you really get my dad back?
The Doctor: No question.
Elliot: I left my headphones at home.
The Doctor to Rory: Anytime you want to help!
Rory: Can’t you sonic it?
The Doctor: It doesn’t do wood.
Rory: That is rubbish.
The Doctor: Oy! Don’t diss the sonic!
Ambrose: Where’s Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?
The Doctor: I did.
Ambrose: Where is he?
The Doctor: He said he was going to get headphones.
Ambrose: And you let him go? He was out there on his own!
Ambrose: Elliot’s gone. They’ve killed him haven’t they?
The Doctor: I don’t think so. They’ve taken three people when they could have just killed them up here. There’s still hope, Ambrose.
The Doctor: Cold blood. sing-song I know who they are.
Rory: We got it!
The Doctor: Defending the planet with Meals on Wheels.
Rory: What was that?
The Doctor: Sounds like they’re leaving.
Rory: Without this one? Looks like we scared them off.
The Doctor: I don’t think so. Now both sides have hostages.
The Doctor: So I think I’ve met these creatures before. Different branch of the species, mind, but all the same. Let’s see if our friend’s thawed out.
Rory: Are you sure? By yourself?
The Doctor: Very sure.
Rory: But the sting.
The Doctor: Venom gland takes at least twenty-four hours to recharge. to the creature Am I right? I know what I’m doing. I’ll be fine.
The Doctor: I’m the Doctor. I’ve come to talk. I’m going to remove your mask.
The Doctor: You’re beautiful. A remnant of a bygone age on Planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel. Geothermal currents projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit? Now! Your people have a friend. I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want? Oh I do hate a monologue, give us a bit back. How many are you?
Alaya (Neve McIntosh): I’m the last of my species.
The Doctor: Really? No! “Last of the species.” The Clempari defense. As an interrogation defense it’s a bit old hat I’m afraid.
Alaya: I’m the last of my species.
The Doctor: No, you’re really not. Because I’m the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don’t insult me! Let’s start again. Tell me your name.
Alaya: Alaya.
The Doctor: How long’s your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It’s not difficult to work out. You’re 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now.
Alaya: We were attacked.
The Doctor: The drill.
Alaya: Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault, wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet.
The Doctor: Do we have to say “vermin”? They’re really very nice.
Alaya: Primitive apes.
The Doctor: Extraordinary species; you attack them, they’ll fight back. But! There’s a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that.
Alaya: This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes.
The Doctor: Doesn’t give you automatic rights to it now, I’m afraid. Humans won’t give up the planet.
Alaya: So we destroy them.
The Doctor: You underestimate them.
Alaya: You underestimate us!
The Doctor: One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans—you’ve got your work cut out.
Alaya: We did not initiate combat! But we can still win.
The Doctor: Tell me where my friend is. Give us back the people who were taken.
Alaya: No.
The Doctor: I’m not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya. They’ll be no battle here today.
Alaya: The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due.
The Doctor: Not while I’m here.
Alaya: I’ll gladly die for my cause! What will you sacrifice for yours?
Rory: You’re going to what?
The Doctor: I’m going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe to talk to them.
Ambrose: You’re going to negotiate with these aliens?
The Doctor: They’re not aliens! They’re Earth… -liens. What’s known as the Silurian race or, some would argue, Eocenes. Or homo reptilia. Not monsters. Not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that’s all.
The Doctor: Look, from their point of view you’re the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement.
Alaya: I know which one of you will kill me. Do you?
Nasreen: How far down are we?
The Doctor: We’re not more than 24 kilometers.
Nasreen: So why aren’t we burning alive?
The Doctor: Don’t know. Interesting, isn’t it?
Nasreen: It’s like this is every day to you.
The Doctor: Not every day. Every other day.
The Doctor: We’re looking for a small tribal settlement. Probably housing around… a dozen homoreptilia. Maybe less!
Nasreen: One small tribe.
The Doctor: Yeah.
Nasreen: Maybe a dozen.
The Doctor: Ah. Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the earth.