Sarah possède et gère le stockage ELF, Nick est un client qui visite son unité chaque année la veille du Nouvel An. Cette année, cependant, leur soirée s'avère un peu différente de celle prévue.
[Reception]
(A car pulls up at night outside what appears to be an Elf Storage business. The S is missing. The reception area has Christmas decorations up. A woman walks in, talking on her phone.)
SARAH: Every year, every New Year's Eve, Jeff, you promise me that you'll work, and then you play me for the fool that I clearly am, and then just at the last minute, when you know, you know I have plans, you leave me high and dry, on my own, on New Year's Eve working in a business that you know I hate, but not as much I hate you, Jeff, and I do hate you. I wish I'd never employed you. So, yeah, can you call me back when you get a chance? Thank you. Oh! No! (Happy New Year messages popping up.) Stop it! Go away! Oh, er, hiya, Nick.
NICK: Happy nearly New Year, Sarah. Here we are again.
SARAH: Yeah, yeah. Here we are again.
NICK: No Jeff?
SARAH: No. Astonishingly, no. No Jeff. It's become a little bit of a tradition now. Oh, my God!
NICK: Sorry, are you busy on your phone?
SARAH: Sorry, no, just my phone's broken, the button, and I can't put it on silent. And so obviously everyone's sending me messages and texts and pictures from their night, and unsurprisingly I don't really want to see them.
NICK: Much better being here! You know, instead of all of those parties and people and drinks.
SARAH: Yeah, I mean, it's not though,is it?
NICK: I'm not really one for New Years.
SARAH: Yeah. No, I know that, yes. So, you want to access your unit?
NICK: Yes.
(She gets the key from a cabinet.)
SARAH: Yeah. So...
NICK: Can you remind me of the list of things that can't be stored?
SARAH: Yes. Stolen or illegal goods. Tyres. Animals, humans, dead or alive in any cases. Cash, plant, food, cars, guns or ammunition, or any material that is in anyway toxic, hazardous or radioactive, and a shop.
NICK: I promise you I don't have a shop.
SARAH: Very good. Here's the keys.
NICK: And when you say hazardous?
SARAH: When I say hazardous? Well, I suppose I'd ask myself, if I set fire to this item, will it have potentially explosive or devastating consequences?
NICK: So, this.....would be okay?
(A Monopoly set.)
SARAH: Well, that's a board game.
NICK: Yes.
SARAH: Is it a toxic, hazardous or radioactive board game?
NICK: There's loads of paper in there?
SARAH: There's your key.
NICK: I hear loads of storage places have access codes now.
SARAH: Yes, Nick, they do, and they also have the money to upgrade their systems, whereas I have no money, just a dilapidated building, my rival straight across the road, and you as my only customer. As valued a customer as you are, Nick.
NICK: Platinum loyalty card member, that's me. I'll be off to my unit.
SARAH: Yeah.
NICK: Won't be long. See you next year.
SARAH: Huh. Have you been practising that?
NICK: Yes. (He gets into the lift and goes up.)
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: Ready?
BOTH: Ready!
DOCTOR: When I set this going, the Tardis will go into self-reset, which should - if I've got this right, which I'm sure I have - clear out all the Flux debris, minimise the number of doors, and be back to fully functioning. But it'll be out of service for a little bit.
YASMIN: How long is a little bit?
DOCTOR: I'm not sure, but that's why we're landing on the sentient beaches of San Munrohvar. We'll be playing chess with the fish, drinking mocktails with the lobsters. Once I throw the last lever, we'll have seven seconds to get out. We don't want to be in here when it's resetting because, well.....we'd die. Here we go! Go, go! Go, go, go!
[Basement]
YASMIN: Where's the beach?
(Red glowing cracks form over the Tardis and the Cloister Bell sounds.)
DAN: That's supposed to be like that,is it?
DOCTOR: Not sure. Never had to do this before.
YASMIN: Are you sure we're in San Munrohvar?
DOCTOR: Er...
YASMIN: Cos it doesn't look very beachy to me. (The sonic tricorder gives the answer.)
DOCTOR: Ah, Manchester.
YASMIN: What?
DAN: Of all the places!
DOCTOR: Sorry. New Year's Eve 2021. Nine minutes to midnight. Tardis will be sorted soon. Come on, there'll be a party on somewhere. Temporal disturbance, two floors above.
YASMIN: Because of the Tardis?
DOCTOR: Don't think so. Cloaked signal. We should check. Come on.
DAN: Mancs. New Year, Mancs. Doesn't she understand?
[Level 1]
(In his unit with a ridiculous amount of racking, Nick puts a post-it note by the Monopoly set - Simone Nov '20 Jan '21. The lights flicker then go to emergency red. It's the same in the corridor.)
NICK: Er... Sarah? (A sudden sound makes him turn around with a start.) Ah!
DALEK: Identify.
NICK: I'm Nick.
(The Dalek uses a Gatling gun style gunstick to exterminate him. This weapon shows up the skeleton but does not destroy the body.)
[Reception]
SARAH: Mammy, it's four minutes to midnight. Every year. Why are you calling me now?
MARY [facetime]: The lines will all be busy at midnight.
SARAH: No, they won't, because it's not 1973.
MARY [facetime]: Are you still at work? New Year's Eve is the best time to meet a man.
SARAH: I'm not trying to meet a...
MARY [facetime]: I met your father on New Year's Eve.
SARAH: You did not.
MARY [facetime]: January 9th, same thing.
SARAH: It's literally not the same thing, Mammy. Anyway, who says I even want to meet a man? And the only reason I'm working tonight is because I had to keep on stupid Jeff at the stupid place that I inherited from your stupid uncle, obviously no offence, God rest his soul.
MARY [facetime]: Your uncle Barry was a saint.
SARAH: Oh. Listen, Mam, I have to go. I've got a customer. So, yeah, just call me at the bongs, will you?
MARY [facetime]: The lines will all be busy.
SARAH: No, they won't.
MARY [facetime]: I don't like calling on the...
SARAH: Go away with your stupid having fun. Stupid party, stupid drink, stupid everyone pairing up. Just die, everyone! (The lift is coming down.)
[Level 1]
(The trio find Nick. The sonic tricorder gives cause of death.)
DOCTOR: Oh, no. Dalek. Multiple weapon blasts.
YASMIN: Was that the time disruption?
DAN: What's a Dalek?
DOCTOR: The deadliest killing machine in the universe.
[Reception]
(Lift doors open.)
SARAH: You all done, Nick?
DALEK: I am not Nick. This area is now under Dalek control.
SARAH: What's going on?
DALEK: Exterminate!
(Sarah dies. The trio come down the stairs.)
DOCTOR: Dalek! You'll answer for that.
DALEK: Daleks answer to no one.
DOCTOR: Daleks answer to me. Why are you killing these people?
DAN: Shouldn't we just go?
DOCTOR: I'm using my sonic to jam its weapon systems.
DALEK: Sonic device will not override my weapons.
DOCTOR: Yes, it does, 'cos I've used it before.
DALEK: Correct. Daleks learn. (The sonic stops working.) Exterminate!
DOCTOR: Not like this.
(They die. Crash to opening titles.)
SARAH: But that's a board game.
NICK: Yes. (They look up and check that they are solid.) You okay?
SARAH: Yeah. Are you okay?
NICK: I'm not sure. I feel like I've just had this...
SARAH: Here are your keys, by the way.
NICK: Most places have...
SARAH: Access codes. Yes, I know. No need to go on about it. Sorry, sorry. I'm just a bit spaced out at the moment. I've been working too hard.
NICK: I'll go to my unit.
SARAH: Yes, you will. You will. (phone texts) Oh, my God.
NICK: See you next year?
SARAH: Oh, have you been practising that?
[Basement]
(Running out of the Tardis.)
YASMIN: Where's the beach?
DOCTOR: Whoa. (Cloister bell.)
DAN: Has anyone else got proper deja vu?
YASMIN: Yeah. Didn't we just get exterminated?
DOCTOR: Lad by the storage unit!
[Level 1]
NICK: Wait, did I...?
DALEK [memory]: Exterminate!
NICK: Sarah.
(Drops the Monopoly and his bag, and runs.)
[Reception]
(The lift is coming down.)
DALEK [memory]: Exterminate!
SARAH: No, no, no. No, no, no. (A forcefield wibbles over the doors.) What the...? (She touches it.) Ow! God! I'm going to need a weapon. A weapon. Jeff!
[Level 1]
DOCTOR: He's not here. He should be here. We've gone back in Time. Dalek incoming, two people in this building about to die unless we stop it. So, why isn't he here? Argh!
[Reception]
NICK: Sarah! (He discovers the forcefield the painful way.) Argh! (checks the CCTV) Fifth floor. Okay, cool.
DALEK: Do not move.
NICK: You're real.
DALEK: Correct. Exterminate!
[Level 5]
(Corridor with Police Crime Scene tape and a notice - Jeff's stuff! Keep out!! Temporary storage only! You said it was ok, Sarah! Remember! On that Tuesday!)
SARAH: Jeff. Temporary storage, you said it was okay. Honestly, I said one unit! Honestly, give that man an inch and he takes a corridor.
(First unit - stuffed animals.)
SARAH: What? No animals, alive or dead.
(Second unit.)
SARAH: Oh, my God. Holiday goods? They're probably stolen.
(Third unit.)
SARAH: Jeff. Food! (Beef and beans 40p) Gross. I just need something I can use as a weapon!
(Phone rings.)
SARAH: Mam, now is really not a good moment!
MARY [OC]: The lines will all be busy at midnight.
SARAH: No, they won't, Mammy.
MARY [OC]: Are you still at work? New Year's Eve is the best time to meet a man.
SARAH: Mam, I'm going to have to call you back at the bongs, okay? Look. No. Just no, okay? Cos this is my premises and you, sir, are trespassing, okay? So, just... just... just shoo. Just go. Just... just... just... just get!
DALEK: Increased fear levels detected.
SARAH: I mean, well, obviously! And how did you even find me? I changed up what I did!
DALEK: I anticipated your change.
SARAH: Please, please don't kill me.
DALEK: Exterminate!
[Reception]
DOCTOR: No! The second time I've failed to save him. Second time the Dalek's been cleverer than us.
YASMIN: Doctor, look. It got both of them.
(The Doctor sonics the forcefield.)
DOCTOR: It's ahead of us. Way ahead of us.
DALEK: Correct, Doctor. Dalek strategy is supreme.
DOCTOR: Says you.
YASMIN: So there's no point making a run for it?
DALEK: The entrance has been secured. There is no escape.
DOCTOR: If it's any consolation, we'd have been shot before we got there anyway.
DAN: So, we're dead. Second time round.
DALEK: The inferior human is correct.
DAN: Oi! Who are you calling inferior?
DALEK: You. Assessment has been made.
YASMIN: Pretty smart, Daleks.
DOCTOR: We've been here before, but Time reset, so we're still alive. You failed.
DALEK: My mission was completed. There was a disruption with Time.This moment is the correction. There is no escape. Exterminate!
(Sarah looks at her phone. 23:53)
SARAH: What? (The lift is on level 5. The CCTV shows a Dalek appearing out of thin air.) Oh no, you don't!
[Basement]
DOCTOR: Time loop.
YASMIN: Time loop.
DAN: Groundhog Day. Same difference.
DOCTOR: We've got to go get that lad.
[Level 1]
(Sarah and Nick run into each other.)
SARAH: Sorry! Sorry! Oh, my God, Nick, we have to get out of here.
NICK: That's what I was coming to say to you.
SARAH: What? No, no. We're stuck in a time loop with killer robots.
NICK: Okay, yeah, that makes sense.
SARAH: Does it? Cos I actually thought I was losing my mind.
NICK: No, because I've been killed twice by a robot.
SARAH: Oh, my God, me too!
NICK: Which is crazy, because I'm still alive, right? But I was coming back to save you on the second time.
SARAH: You did what?
NICK: But you weren't there. Yes, that's because you were coming up to save me, right?
SARAH: Yeah, yeah, that was it. We must have missed each other. Who are they?
(The Doctor holds out her psychic paper.)
DOCTOR: Hi. I'm the Doctor, this is Yaz and Dan.
SARAH: How did you get in here? Wait, are you from building control? Are you from the council?
DOCTOR: Yes. We're here to control your building.
SARAH: And three of you? On New Year's Eve? You make me sick.
DOCTOR: Building control never sleeps. We're the rapid response unit and we really need to get you to safety, like right now!
SARAH: Wait now. Have you got something to do with that robot?
DOCTOR: No, and it's a Dalek.
SARAH: Oh, my God, you know its name! Are you...? Is it your robot? Cos you know we've died like two times so far. We have died! Okay? And I know that sounds mad because obviously I'm alive saying it, but still! (to Nick) At any point, you can just jump in and say something now.
NICK: I'm trying to figure out which one is most unlikely. Time loop with robots or three people from the council working on New Years.
DOCTOR: We're here to help. We're also stuck in the time loop. The robot isn't a robot, it's a Dalek. It's a living mutant creature inside weaponised battle transport. It will kill everything not within its own image.
SARAH: And then what does it want with us? Why is it here?
DOCTOR: I don't know. All I know is we don't have much... (Dalek weapon fire.)
DOCTOR: Time.
DALEK: Halt!
NICK: Get behind me, Sarah.
SARAH: What are you doing?
NICK: I'm being chivalrous.
SARAH: It's just patronising!
NICK: Okay! Everybody, into my storage unit just here!
[Storage unit]
DOCTOR: Where's the exit?
NICK: What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Where's the way out? No, the other way out, so we can escape.
NICK: There isn't another way out.
DOCTOR: What?
SARAH: It's a storage unit.
DOCTOR: What? Not a great plan, was it?
NICK: Well, we're not dead.
DOCTOR: From now on, I'm in charge of the plans. And there's always another way out somehow. You just have to find it.
DALEK [OC]: Surrender. There is no escape. Daleks are patient. I will wait.
DOCTOR: Show me your phone.
SARAH: What do you want with my phone?
DOCTOR: Oh, that's what I was worried about.
SARAH: What were you worried about?
DOCTOR: Shh, I'm working.
SARAH: How did you three even get in this building?
DAN: If we told you, you'd never believe us.
SARAH: Nick, why have you got all those names on the shelves?
NICK: They're just ex-girlfriends.
SARAH: They're what?
NICK: Oh, this is where I keep stuff for women I've split up with. You know, just in case they ever ask for it back. I don't want it in my eyeline, you know, at home. I have a very small flat. They said it's a flat, but it's more of a boxroom with a door and a toilet, With like a kitchenette on top of a toilet.
YASMIN: You have a lot of ex-girlfriends. They're alive still, aren't they?
NICK: Of course... Oh, God! Of course! Yeah. Not all of them were serious. Some were just like a few days.
SARAH: Man, you are weird. What?
DAN: Bit harsh.
SARAH: Bit har...? He comes here - here! - every New Year's Eve, which is weird enough in itself, and for what? To do all of this blah? Which is... That is weird.
YASMIN: He is standing right there.
NICK: It's fine.
SARAH: No, it's not fine! It's not fine! You're the reason that I'm here. You're the reason that I'm trapped in a time loop with a robot...
DAN + YASMIN: Dalek!
SARAH: Oh my, with stupidly named robots, with people I don't even know, all so what? Why? So, you can catalogue your Monopoly? Just throw stuff away!
NICK: Er... yeah.
DOCTOR: No, no, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no!
[Level 1]
DOCTOR: Get back in here.
NICK: Take me. You can take me, just... but just let them go.
DOCTOR: Don't try and reason with it.
NICK: You're right, this is all my fault.
SARAH: What?
NICK: You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me.
SARAH: No.
NICK: So, you can let them g-argh!
[Storage unit]
YASMIN: It's okay. It's okay.
SARAH: He did that for us. He did that for us. For me!
YASMIN: It's okay.
SARAH: For me. But it's not his fault. Oh, my giddy aunt! (answers phone) What the...? Mammy, please, now is not the time.
MARY [facetime]: But the lines will all be busy at midnight!
SARAH: No, they won't! Goodbye!
DOCTOR: Let's focus on what we can do now. You know I said there's always another way out?
ALL: Yeah!
DOCTOR: There isn't. Solid concrete walls, thick ceilings. It will take a long time to resonate through those, and nothing of any use in here unless you want to play Monopoly. Our resources in defeating the Dalek are limited to non-existent. Do you have anything we could use to defeat the Dalek? It really is a matter of life and death.
SARAH: I mean... four floors up, I mean, there's a mad stash of stuff four floors up.
DAN: But... but we're on this floor!
DOCTOR: This time.
YASMIN: Doctor...
SARAH: What?
(Dan is ready with a ski and an iron as the Dalek attacks the shutter door.)
DOCTOR: Very persistent, your Dalek.
DAN: How do we get out of here?
DOCTOR: I don't think we do. But we get another go. Except we'll have less time.
ALL: What?
DOCTOR: I felt it the second time, but this time I'm certain. Time on your phone proved it. We're coming back a minute later each time. Last time, it was eight minutes to midnight. This time, seven. I think the next is going to be six. The time loop's shortening on each reset.
YASMIN: Is that a good or bad thing?
DOCTOR: Not sure. Definitely one or the other. Well, it depends on your outlook. Less time for the Dalek to find and exterminate us. Equally, less time for us to figure this out and defeat it. Whatever's causing the time loop can't sustain it. It must be under some sort of pressure. That's why it's decreasing. Either way, the loop repeats, Time repeats, so we need to be the variation. We need to be unpredictable so the Dalek can't guess what we're going to do next. Next time, we don't come back here. That's what it'll be expecting. Go straight to the fifth floor, see what that mad stash has to offer.
SARAH: But what about Nick?
(The Dalek has burnt through.)
DALEK: Surrender.
DOCTOR: Congratulations. The most evil creature in the universe has successfully vanquished an old door.
DALEK: Silence!
DOCTOR: No chance. You just can't seem to get rid of us, can you?
DALEK: We have learned. We will exterminate all life here until the closure of the time loop. All necessary calibrations have been made. The target will be executed.
DOCTOR: Targeted execution of who?
DALEK: You, Doctor.
DOCTOR: I was worried it might say that.
SARAH: So it is your fault.
DOCTOR: You've killed us twice, yet we're still alive. Why do you think it's going to work this time?
DALEK: We are relentless. Your ultimate extermination and execution is inevitable. You are trapped, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Not trapped. Never trapped. You won't win. You never win.
DALEK: Incorrect. Exterminate!
[Basement]
DOCTOR: Lift. Fifth floor.
[Reception]
(Sarah checks her phone. 23:54. A Dalek appears beside her. She runs.)
DALEK: Do not move!
SARAH: I am very much going to move! (Sarah runs up the stairs, missing the weapon fire.)
[Lift]
DOCTOR: Just passed reception. Patterns indicate that's where the Dalek's starting this time. And the time loop's shortened by a minute. Every time one minute less. This is tricky. It seems that the time loop only extends to the radius of this building. If we can stay alive and be outside the building when midnight hits, we might stand a chance of getting clear of this. Second Dalek signal in a different part of the building. That's either an echo or...
DAN: There's two of them.
(He presses no 2 on the control.)
YASMIN: What are you doing?
DAN: I'll keep the one in reception busy. You two try and figure out how to stop all of this. If I manage to stay alive, I'll see you up there. If not, I'll see you in the next loop. So there'd better be a next loop.
DOCTOR: Dan, you don't have to do this.
DAN: I know. But you saved the entire universe last week. I think I owe you one. Look after each other.
(He gets out of the lift, picks up a box stacked by the stairs and runs down.)
[Level 1]
SARAH: Oh! You're here. I was worried you wouldn't be here. Look, sorry you got killed, you know? But you should not have done that, though. Especially not because of anything that I may or may not have said, or made you feel, or whatever. Anyways, I've got a plan. We're gonna get out of here.
NICK: What about the others?
SARAH: Oh, literally not our problem. They'll be fine. Honestly. It's probably their fault that the robots are here in the first place, actually, so... That's what I was thinking. So, yeah, come on.
NICK: Wait, but...
SARAH: Don't have time to explain!
[Reception]
DALEK: Identify.
DAN: All right, mate. Are you new here?
DALEK: I arrived 1.93 rels ago.
DAN: Yeah, well, er... I've got some stuff I need storing, and I just wanted to see what was available.
DALEK: Daleks do not store stuff.
DAN: You're in the wrong job then, aren't you? What are you, some kind of automated staff? How does this work?
DALEK: Desist. Do not approach.
DAN: I'd get a friendlier voice, though. This one's a little bit grating. (Dan has moved in close so the weapon cannot hit him.) What kind of a welcome is that, eh? I'll report you to your manager!
DALEK: Daleks do not have managers.
DAN: Yeah, well, maybe that's part of your problem.
DALEK: Artron energy particles detected. You are a friend of the Doctor. Analysis concludes this is a delaying tactic!
DAN: Took you long enough.
DALEK: Exterminate!
[Basement]
SARAH: What the hell is that? And what's all this stuff? Do you know no one's paying for anything on this floor? If Jeff is sub-letting this place, honestly, I'll actually... This is crazy. And he knows I never come down here. This is unbelievable. Please don't tell anyone from the council about this.
NICK: They're not from the council.
SARAH: Oh yeah. Hard to keep track. Oh, Mammy. Please don't call before midnight. How many times? No, the lines won't be busy.
MARY [OC]: What do you mean? I haven't spoken to you since August.
SARAH: Yeah, I know.
NICK: Shh, Sarah! Down!
SARAH: I'll call you back.
NICK: The robot's over there. They must be trying to hunt us down.
SARAH: The escape is over that way, through that corridor. Listen, I er... I lied to you earlier on. I didn't come and try to save you that second time.
NICK: Right.
SARAH: Yeah. I went to find a weapon in Jeff's.... On the fifth floor.
NICK: Right. I guess that's a valid approach.
SARAH: But like, I'm sure that had I found a weapon, and not been killed, then I absolutely would have come to save you. Probably.
NICK: Except I would have been dead.
SARAH: Yeah, admittedly that was a flaw. But that's why I came to save you this time.
NICK: Thanks.
SARAH: I really appreciate you trying to save me. You know, not many people would have done that. Some close friends and family included, actually.
NICK: We should get going.
SARAH: Yeah, don't want to get killed.
[Level 5]
YASMIN: We're never going to get that moment on the beach where you tell me everything that happened to you,are we?
DOCTOR: Of course we will. (stuffed animals) Interesting. (beach gear) I'm not sure these are particularly useful resources.
(Tinned food room.)
YASMIN: Urgh. Who eats beans and then thinks these could just do with being a bit beefy?
DOCTOR: Nobody, by the looks of things. These are three years out of date. (Next locker.) Oh.
YASMIN: I think Jeff might live here.
(And finally.)
DOCTOR: Oh, Jeff. You bad, bad man. Yaz, this is the sort of stuff about which you would ask yourself, if I set fire to this, will it have explosive and potentially devastating consequences? And the answer is yes.
DALEK: Surrender, Doctor!
(They dodge round the storage cages.)
[Basement]
SARAH: It's blocking our exit. Why do you always put your stuff into storage just before midnight on New Years Eve? Feels a little over-organised.
NICK: That's the time I'll know you'll be here. Jeff always lets you down. I have an embarrassing crush on you. No, I don't mean the crush is embarrassing, I mean...the time. This is an embarrassing time to let you know...now.
SARAH: And so why are you saying it to me like this, now?
NICK: Cos I'm going to be killed by aliens in a minute. Again. I guess... I'm just worried that one of these times I won't make it back.
SARAH: How long has this been going on for?
NICK: Three years.
SARAH: Oh my...! What? Three years? That is so stalkery.
NICK: I'd prefer unrequited. Or shy. Stalkery would be if I was menacing you, or said anything about this at all. Which I haven't.
SARAH: No.
NICK: And I wouldn't...
SARAH: No.
NICK: If I wasn't going to be...
DALEK: Exterminate!
SARAH: No! You're going to be sorry for that.
DALEK: Daleks are never sorry.
(Sarah runs through a door and across to big loading bay doors.)
SARAH: No! Come on, door! I know I haven't opened you in years, but just work with me!
DALEK: Exterminate!
[Level 5]
DOCTOR: Ah.
DALEK: You will not escape us, Doctor.
DALEK 2: You will never escape us.
DOCTOR: So there are two of you. Bad news. Bad news on top of previous bad news. Not my favourite New Year's Eve.
DALEK: Your attempts to evade us are futile.
DOCTOR: Agree to disagree. Why have you created a time loop?
DALEK: We did not create the time loop. The time loop was created by your Tardis.
DOCTOR: We caused it with the reset.
DALEK: Dalek command identified the energy pattern of your Tardis and despatched Daleks to execute you for your actions against the Dalek race.
DOCTOR: Which particular actions?
DALEK: Using the Flux to destroy the Dalek war fleet.
DOCTOR: That wasn't my idea! That was a Sontaran stratagem that I hijacked.
DALEK: You are responsible for the destruction of millions of Daleks. Your death is the priority of the Dalek race. We will not stop.
DALEKS: Exterminate!
[Basement]
DAN: We made it back. I'm alive!
DOCTOR: All right, don't get cocky. Reception. Take the stairs!
DAN: I mean, a thanks would be nice.
[Reception]
(23:55)
SARAH: Oh. Okay.
DOCTOR: Er, where were you?
SARAH: Well, I can explain.
DOCTOR: We had a deal. Meet on the fifth floor.
SARAH: Yes, yes, fair. Fair. But er... Yeah, okay, so I did desert you, I did, but to be fair to me, I was trying to not get killed again, so... and we almost got out. Well...I almost did. I got to the door, but then it zapped me. Well, actually, it zapped... it zapped us. Oh, my God, Nick. Oh, I have to go get him.
DOCTOR: No, no. You have to stay here. There's more than one of them.
SARAH: I'm not just gonna wait for him to get killed. I don't care if he's a weirdo. And he is. He is a weirdo, you know, but he's decent. And he's got a good heart. My friend Lauren actually says that good-hearted weirdos are actually the keepers, so...
DOCTOR: What?
YASMIN: No, nothing.
DOCTOR: No! We need to stay here and come up with a plan. I can fix this.
SARAH: But then why haven't you? You haven't done a very good job so far, have you?
YASMIN: Oi. I don't see you coming up with solutions.
SARAH: Yeah, cos it's not my fault, is it? It's hers. And there's no point us all sticking together if we keep on dying multiple times.
DOCTOR: Including the time you followed your own plan. Didn't go well, did it? Please, you need to trust me. Do as I ask and stay here.
SARAH: No, you don't understand! Nick doesn't survive past five to. So if he doesn't survive this time, then... then there's not going to be another five to. It'll be four minutes to. And then he'll be dead, properly. That's right, isn't it?
DOCTOR: Stay here. Together.
[Level 1]
DALEK: Do not move.
NICK: No, I'm going to move.
DALEK 2: Do not move!
NICK: Two of you now. That's not right.
DALEK: Daleks are supreme.
NICK: Okay, come on, then. You've got me again. Say it.
DALEKS: Exterminate!
(Nick ducks as they both fire from opposite ends of the corridor.)
NICK: I'm not dead. I can make it to midnight. I can make it out! Woo! You think you can kill a Rasta?
DOCTOR: Nick, what happened here?
NICK: Don't worry. I've dealt with them. I took them out. They're not coming back. You're welcome.
DOCTOR: I mean, they will. Cos the fact that there's two of them means they've found a way of keeping inside the time loop. So, what did you do?
NICK: It was a lot of strategic analysis, weapons assessment and battle-ready thinking.
DOCTOR: Did you duck?
NICK: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Nice.
[Reception]
SARAH: You saved him.
NICK: Saved myself, actually.
SARAH: Er, yeah. No. What really happened?
DOCTOR: Yeah. Just took two of them out, huh?
NICK: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two top level ones as well.
DOCTOR: They were the same as the others. Don't milk it.
YASMIN: But if there's two there now, that could mean there's more on their way, right? Knowing Daleks.
DOCTOR: Yeah. Listen, we need to be strategic, and we need to work together. The Daleks have learned and applied it across the loops. We need to do the same.
SARAH: Yeah, but if we get rid of them, then we can get out. There's a door downstairs in the basement without that force fieldy thingy on it.
DOCTOR: We have to think longer term.
DAN: As in four minutes longer term?
DOCTOR: Exactly. We don't get out this time, but we formulate a plan which guarantees we make it out before the loop closes. How would you feel about destroying this place?
SARAH: I mean, I'd have to talk to my insurance providers.
DOCTOR: I don't think you'll be covered for an Act of Dalek.
SARAH: I mean, this place is all I have.
DAN: But if you don't get out, you won't have anything.
SARAH: Who is he? Why's he talking?
YASMIN: Oi, you. No dissing my mate. That's my job.
DAN: Thanks, Sheffield.
YASMIN: Shh, shh, shh.
NICK: How would the plan work?
DOCTOR: Next loop, we have four minutes. If we divide, that's four minutes each. Times five, that's 20 minutes.
YASMIN: And we know there's a stash of toxic and combustive materials on the fifth floor.
DOCTOR: Ah, fifth floor's too far up to lure all the Daleks in, be sure they're destroyed, get back down hereand out the rear exit.
SARAH: Yeah, there could be more of them in the basement, and Jeff has all of this stuff down there even though I explicitly said to him not to have any more stuff in there. Honestly...
DAN: Look, if we're going to divide up, some of us could go upstairs to the fifth floor, get Jeff's stuff, bring it down, then wrap it round his other stuff downstairs. But won't the Dalek things just find us?
DOCTOR: I can make the Daleks think we're somewhere else. I can use my sonic to bounce our life signals off the walls, sort of sonic ventriloquism. It's my party trick! If I can do it long enough to confuse the Daleks, we can lure them to wherever we want them to be. Ah, but I'm going to need an ignition trigger.
(Sarah's phone rings.)
SARAH: Oh, my God, are you serious?
DOCTOR: Ah! Two birds, one stone. Or two Daleks, one phone. Yeah, no, the other one's better. Can you get your mum to call at exactly ten seconds to midnight?
SARAH: Absolutely not. She's not doing that.
DOCTOR: Not even if her daughter's life depended on it?
SARAH: If our lives depend on my mother ringing me at a time I actually ask her to, honestly, we're all dead. I'll try, I'll try.
DOCTOR: So we're good, we make this work next time round.
SARAH: But we failed to do this the last five times. And this time we have even less time. What makes you think that this is going to work?
DOCTOR: Because something seems impossible. We try, it doesn't work, we try again. We learn, we improve, we fail again, but better, we make friends, we learn to trust, we help each other. We get it wrong again. We improve together, then ultimately succeed. Because this is what being alive is. And it's better than the alternative. So come on, you brilliant humans. We go again and we win. Deal?
SARAH: Deal.
NICK: Deal.
DAN: Deal.
YASMIN: Deal.
(Three Daleks beam in.)
DALEK: Exterminate!
(And again.)
SARAH: I'm so tired.
(She runs into the lift. The Dalek shoots out the power.)
SARAH: What? Oh, come on! No, no, no! That's not fair!
DALEK: Daleks are not fair. Daleks are unstoppable.
[Level 1]
NICK: Right, come on. Oh. (He finds a torch.) Oh. Rah! I got away last time.
[Basement]
DOCTOR: I can't execute the plan in time if it's dark. Stay here.
YASMIN: No, but...
DOCTOR: Stay here. I need to know where you are. We've only got four minutes here.
YASMIN: Stop leaving us all the time. We're all worried.
DOCTOR: But I'm trying to keep everyone safe.
(The Doctor activates the sonic's light mode and heads up the stairs.)
DAN: Have you ever told her?
YASMIN: Told her what?
DAN: How you feel about her.
YASMIN: I don't know what you mean.
DAN: Yeah, you do.
YASMIN: Is it that obvious?
DAN: Maybe not to a good-hearted weirdo. But I've spent four years travelling the world with you. I saw it then. You didn't half cane looking at that hologram.
YASMIN: I didn't. I mean, it were just that it... She's just... I don't know what to do, Dan. I've never told anyone. Not even myself.
DAN: Just tell her.
YASMIN: It's not that easy.
DAN: Look, I took way too long to tell somebody that I liked them and then... the universe ended and everything got messy. I wouldn't want that to happen to you, Sheffield.
YASMIN: Dan. Don't move.
DAN: There's one behind you, Yaz.
YASMIN: Doctor!
DALEK: The Doctor cannot save you. The Doctor will never save you.
[Reception]
(The Doctor finds Sarah.)
DOCTOR: I'm sorry. I'll fix this.
DALEK: Incorrect.
DALEK 3: Exterminate!
[Basement]
DOCTOR: I'm angry now. Exterminations will do that. Right, why would he cordon this stuff off? Let's have a look. Oh. Oh! Oh, Jeff, you bad, bad man.
(Holding up fireworks.)
DOCTOR: Dan, come and help me with this. Yaz, go get Sarah and Nick. Bring them down here.
YASMIN: What about all the stuff on the fifth floor?
DOCTOR: Just bring them down here! Sorry. No time. Really, no time. My actions are catching up with me. Time is catching up with me. I will not let you die because of decisions I've taken. Please go, get the others!
DAN: She likes you.
DOCTOR: I like her, too.
DAN: No, I mean... she likes you.
DOCTOR: I don't understand what you're saying, Dan.
DAN: I think you do. But for some reason you pretend to me, and to her, that you don't.
[Reception]
DALEK: Halt!
YASMIN: In your dreams, mate!
(Dodges and runs up the stairs.)
[Level 5]
NICK: Sorry you're going to belosing this place.
SARAH: Oh, God, I'm not. It was er... you know, a family obligation. Everyone was grieving, and then I sort of stepped in to help. It just sort of became my life, really, when I wasn't looking.
NICK: Right.
SARAH: In that way that life does, you know?
NICK: So, who named it Elf Storage?
SARAH: Oh, Elf. No, it's... the S fell off.
NICK: Right.
SARAH: But if this place blows upon me, you're going to lose all your stuff.
NICK: Yeah, I feel like I'm done with it. They're never asking for their stuff back, are they? All my exes?
SARAH: No, they're really not.
NICK: And what are you going to do without this place?
SARAH: God, I don't know. I always sort of wanted to travel. Yeah, I had this romantic notion, I suppose, that I would go travelling the world with someone. But, um, yeah, never really had someone to do it with.
YASMIN: You two. Come on. Out of time.
NICK: But this is the plan.
YASMIN: Basement, now!
[Level 1]
DALEK: No human presence. Life signals in sub-ground level space. Analysis suggests the Doctor's survival plan centres on that location.
[Basement]
SARAH: So wait, am I getting my mother to ring now or what?
YASMIN: I don't know any more!
DOCTOR: Ah, great. Well done!
SARAH: Why has the plan changed?
DOCTOR: The plan hasn't changed.
SARAH: Are those fireworks in those boxes? Jeff.
DOCTOR: If we're to stand the best chance, we need to be one loop smarter than them. The Daleks will learn based on the information we give them in the whole of the next loop. That last-but-one loop becomes a decoy loop.
DAN: So, give them false information to change what they predict.
DOCTOR: Bingo. Decoy plan. You know the plan, do the opposite soon as it resets. Then when it resets for the final minute, we will have the narrowest of narrow precious advantages.
DALEK: Surrender, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Ha. You took your time. I'm not even wearing a watch, I'm doing it for show. Still haven't beaten us, then?
DALEK: The time loop is almost closed. You cannot escape us.
DOCTOR: I can, 'cos we've got a brilliant plan. Haven't we got a brilliant plan?
ALL: Yep.
DAN: Yeah.
DOCTOR: See? Worried now.
DALEK: Daleks are not worried.
DOCTOR: You should be.
DALEK: Exterminate!
[Lift]
(23:58)
DALEK: Exit the ascension device!
SARAH: Sorry, important stuff to do. Really important stuff! (Gets the door closed.) Oh, hiya, Mam.
MARY [OC]: Hello?
SARAH: Er... yeah. Just rang to say Happy New Year, really. Er... and I miss you. And I love you. Yeah, cos I'm not really sure I say that enough.
MARY [facetime]: Are you drunk?
SARAH: No, I'm not drunk, Mammy.
MARY [facetime]: Oh, God, are you ill?
SARAH: No, I'm not... Do you know what? Happy New Year. I love you but I have to go.
[Level 1]
DALEK: Male human located. He has returned to the subsection of the facility. The objects in this unit have been placed as a barrier. Male human is behind its belongings.
NICK: What are you going to do now, then? (The Dalek destroys the Monopoly set and all the rest of the items.) Whoo! Ah. Thanks for the therapy.
DALEK: Explain?
NICK: Ex... terminated.
[Level 8]
SARAH: Top floor. Electricals, womenswear, fish tanks. (Extermination.)
[Jeff's home unit]
DALEK: Locating the Doctor.
DOCTOR: Hey there, want to join?
DALEK: Explain?
DOCTOR: Oh, just having some beef and beans. Might put on the Hootenanny. What about you? Any plans? Seeing friends?
DALEK: Daleks do not have friends.
DOCTOR: Yeah, well, you've only got yourselves to blame for that.
DALEK: You will never escape execution.
DOCTOR: Let's see, shall we? And brace for the final go-round.
DALEK: Exterminate!
[Reception]
SARAH: Mam, don't speak. I need you to call me ten seconds before midnight, okay?
MARY [facetime]: But the lines will be busy.
SARAH: Just do it. Bye!
DOCTOR: Thanks. (The Doctor takes her phone and sonicks it. A Dalek appears the same time as Nick.) Run!
(The lift goes up.)
[Level 5]
DOCTOR: We'd be so good on Supermarket Sweep! (Trolley full of dangerous stuff.)
DALEK: Doctor identified. Exterminate!
[Basement]
DAN: We're running out of time, Doc.
DOCTOR: I'm really aware of that, Dan.
SARAH: We've got to go. We've got to go.
[Reception]
DALEK: The Doctor has deceived us.
DALEK 2: Life signals detected in subground level space.
[Basement]
DOCTOR: Go, I'll be right behind you. Go! I haven't seen this much gunpowder since 1605.
DALEK: Halt, Doctor.
(She sonics the power grid and the lights go out.)
SARAH: Door's just through here.
DALEK: Switching to dark vision mode. Dark vision mode interference. It is the Doctor.
DALEK 2: Human life signals detected. Converge. We know you are hiding within this collection of objects.
(Sarah's phone rings.)
DOCTOR: False signal confusion done. Just answer the phone.
(Mary's face appears on the phone.)
[Outside the storage facility]
SARAH: This way!
DAN: Where's the Doctor?
DOCTOR: Everybody get clear! Get down!
[Basement]
MARY [facetime]: Sarah?
DALEK: Human presence confirmed.
(Dalek weapon fires. Fireworks etc. ignite.)
[Outside the storage facility]
(Ka-BOOM! and the building collapses. Fireworks go off in a colourful display.)
NICK: Good fireworks, though. Fair play to Jeff. Wait. We're alive.
SARAH: Ah! You did it. Time didn't reset.
DOCTOR: We did it.
(The healed Tardis is sitting at the bottom of the crater.)
[Across the way]
KARL: (filming with his phone) Good display. Just for me, is it?
[Tardis]
DOCTOR: Ah, look at you. It's so much better. Thanks for looking after us. If you did. Quite mysterious, really.
YASMIN: What did you mean, when you said your actions were catching up with you?
DOCTOR: Nothing. Nothing. I don't remember. I say lots of things. We all say lots of things we don't mean.
DAN: And some we do.
DOCTOR: Do you know what I've always wondered? The lost treasure ofthe Flor de la Mar. Whatever happened to that? Shall we go have a look?
[Outside a block of flats]
(A black cab is waiting.)
SARAH: It's ridiculous. Just use the wheels.
NICK: I'm fine, babe. (Carrying a suitcase.)
SARAH: Oh my God, this is the most silliest type of macho-ness I've ever seen. Oh. Hiya, Mammy. Yeah, we're just about to get in a taxi to the airport.
MARY [facetime]: Have you got your passport?
SARAH: What, do I have...? No, I don't have my passport, Mammy. I set fire to it in a bin last night.Yes, I have my passport, of course. I'm a grown woman, and I ran a business by myself for almost five years.
MARY [facetime]: Before you burnt it to the ground.
SARAH: It burned to the ground, yes, I admit. You know, there's a lot more to that story than you know about, so...
MARY [facetime]: Isn't there always?
SARAH: Isn't there... Well, moral of the story, I have my passport so... Oh, look.
NICK: Hello, Mary.
MARY [facetime]: Oh. Hi, Nick.
SARAH: Okay, Mum. I'll call you from the other side of the world, okay?
BOTH: Bye.
MARY [facetime]: Bye.
SARAH: Bye. Bye-bye, bye-bye! Bye. Do not flirt with my mother, please.
NICK: I'm just being nice.
SARAH: Just being nice? What, so she doesn't think I'm a madwoman for travelling around the world with a man I've just met?
NICK: I guess it's a weird first date.
SARAH: As opposed to our actual first date where we were killed... Oh, where we were killed eight times by robot aliens?
NICK: And saved by a woman in an old police box. But was that a first date? I feel like it was more of a meet-cute.
SARAH: Do you? Mmm.
(They get in the taxi and it drives off as the Tardis flies across the sky.)
