The Pyramid at the End of the World Doctor Who

A few months ago, the Veritas was translated again.

Everyone who worked on the translation and everyone who

subsequently read it is now dead.

-Your tutor's a what?

-An alien.

What do you mean, an alien?

A space one. A space alien.

Will you read the Veritas?

So, you're blind and you don't want your enemies to know?

So...your tutor ran a computer simulation...

Well, yeah - more like he got, like, trapped inside one.

Can that happen?

Yeah, he's an alien.

-A space one.

-Yeah, a space one.

Let's just call it a sort of dream.

Are you just completely mad?

Is it working?

A little bit.

Not so mad, then.

What are you doing?

I'm doing what everybody does when the world is in danger -

I'm calling the Doctor.

Pressing send.

So this computer-simulation-dream thing...

-Yeah?

-..which, to be clear, I don't believe a word of...

-Fair enough.

-..you said I was in it?

-Yeah.

-How did it go? The dream version.

HE SPEAKS ITALIAN

-The Pope?

-In person.

The Pope, in your flat. Here?

Yeah.

Your tutor has strange dreams.

I bet he does, you know.

Maybe he's just trying to keep you on the straight and narrow.

Maybe, yeah.

How do you feel on the subject?

DOOR BURSTS OPEN

Stay where you are!

Clear.

Please remain still and calm. Sit down.

Keep your hands in sight on the table. Miss Potts?

-Yeah.

-Who is this?

This is my friend Penny. Who the hell are you?

Room secure, your Excellency.

This is Miss Potts, sir.

Hi.

Miss Potts, this is the Secretary-General of the UN.

I have flown here today to speak to the President.

I am told you might be able to help.

I don't know the President.

How would I know the President - I wouldn't even have voted for him,

he's...orange.

I mean THE President. The Doctor.

The Doctor's not a president.

What's he president of?

Well, in times of crisis...

..Earth.

Is it OK if I get an Uber?

President of the world?

In times of unusual danger, that status is made official.

Turmezistan, near the border.

This is a disputed area - potential hot spot.

The Chinese have troops here,

the Russians here, the Americans here.

And in the centre...

PHONE RINGS

A pyramid.

Sir, I have Colonel Brabbit on the line.

Colonel Brabbit, you're on with the Secretary-General.

Colonel, what have you to report?

Nothing, sir. Nothing at all.

It seems dormant.

The Russians and the Chinese are reporting the same.

Reporting what? What's dormant?

The pyramid. We are keeping it under observation.

Why? What's it been doing?

You haven't told her?

I haven't, no.

'It's a 5,000-year-old pyramid.

'But there's one problem with that.'

One little problem.

It wasn't there yesterday.

ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYING

The end of your life has already begun.

There is a last place you will ever go,

a last door you will ever walk through,

a last sight you will ever see,

and every step you ever take

is moving you closer.

The end of the world...

CAR LOCK BLEEPS

..is a billion, billion tiny moments.

Don't shut the door...!

EXASPERATED SIGH

And somewhere, unnoticed...

Sorry!

..in silence or in darkness...

Dammit!

..it has already begun.

You talking to yourself in there?

I'm meditating.

You've been in there for hours.

I've been trying to talk to you.

Have you double-locked this thing?

I'm busy thinking.

Excellent - who needs eyesight?

Those Monk creatures I told you about -

if they've modelled every event in human history,

if they've simulated entire events streamed from day one till now,

think what they'd know.

Think what they could do with that.

The UN called. They want you in Turmezistan immediately.

Tell them no!

Oh...

They wouldn't take no for an answer.

How did they get it out of my office?

The windows aren't big enough.

Oh... They are now.

Are you going to ask what's going on?

Last I heard, you were on a date with Penny. What happened?

The United Nations Secretary-General.

Awesome.

No, that wasn't a metaphor.

Good, because I really wasn't following it.

Mr President, I'm very pleased to see you.

I think we have something of interest.

Why don't you tell me in your own words?

It's a matter of a pyramid.

Ah... You're an angel.

You look - and don't take this the wrong way -

you look awful.

How could anyone possibly take that the wrong way?

Big night last night?

There was drinking.

There were breakages.

Textbook.

We going to stage two today?

Well, it would be rude not to. You OK mixing it?

I broke my reading glasses.

HISSING

Tell me what you see.

A 5,000-year-old pyramid.

What do you know?

It wasn't there yesterday.

Therefore?

It's not really a pyramid,

it's something disguised as a pyramid,

that just appeared out of thin air.

That's all way beyond human technology,

so it's got to be alien.

It's an alien space ship.

There you go.

But what's it doing?

It could have chosen anywhere on this planet.

It chose to sit on the strategic intersection

of the three most powerful armies on Earth.

So what it's doing, Colonel...

..is sending us a message.

What message?

"Bring it."

BEEPING

Mr President?

Sir? What are you doing?

Bringing it.

Nardole.

On it, sir.

What's he doing?

We don't know what that thing is capable of!

Nothing yet, all looks fine.

What are you doing?

Updating him.

There's something's happening, sir.

It's opening up, sir. There's a door.

Nardole?

Something's coming out, sir.

Going by the description you gave me from the simulation, sir,

I think that's one of the Monk creatures.

Hello?

We know you.

Then you'll know that there is a line in the sand,

and I'm the man on the other side of it -

you want to keep me that way.

We will take this planet and its people.

You will be prevented. You will be fought.

We will be invited.

We will take this world. We will rule its people.

But only when we're asked.

We will talk again.

When?

At the end of the Earth.

BEEPING

PHONES RINGING

-11.57.

-PM.

Yeah, mine too.

It's everyone's. 11.57PM.

BEEPING

Did you get that, sir? Everyone's phone's gone to 11.57.

Yep, same here.

What's...

What does that mean, 11.57?

Also known as three minutes to midnight.

The Doomsday Clock.

The what?

Symbolic clock face,

representing a countdown to possible global catastrophe,

started by some atomic scientists in 1947.

The closer they set the clock to midnight,

the closer we are to global disaster.

Currently, it's set at three minutes to midnight.

So now every clock in the world is the Doomsday Clock?

Thanks to the Monks, yes.

Is this a threat?

I wish it was, threats are easy.

I think this is a warning.

Somewhere, somehow...

..the end has begun.

Fully automated.

Lunch?

Well, it would be rude not to.

PHONE RINGS

HE SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN

VWORP

Hello. Privyet. Sorry about that.

Needed the call to zero in on your co-ordinates.

Now, this is the Secretary-General of the UN.

I am the President of the world.

And this is Xiaolian, she's in charge of the Chinese army.

Say hi to each other.

Now, we've been having a bit of chat.

The thing is, World War Three - what do you think?

Basically, we're against it.

Listen to me.

Those creatures in that pyramid, they have studied your species,

your civilisation, your entire history.

They have run a computer simulation of this world

since you lot first slopped out of the ocean looking for a fight,

and they have chosen this exact moment

and this exact place to arrive.

Why?

Because a war's about to break out?

Possibly.

But whatever it is, they are right here, right now

because they believe humanity will be at its weakest.

Then we'll demonstrate strength. We will attack the pyramid.

Force is never the answer. Isn't that right, Doctor?

Contact your masters. Co-ordinate your attacks.

Doctor?

I doubt you'll even scratch that thing,

but if you demonstrate strength and unity,

they might choose to step away.

WHISPERS: Bill, take that look off your face.

There's no look on my face.

They did not come here in peace, we have to do what we can.

Yeah, I get it.

PHONES RING

It's two minutes to now.

The Doomsday Clock is moving.

What do we do?

Co-ordinate your attacks.

What's wrong with him?

What's wrong with the Doctor?

Did Nardole send you to speak to me?

Might have done.

Might have said there was something you ought to tell me.

Funny thing, fear, isn't it?

Once it rules you, you're even afraid to admit what's scaring you.

For the record, I, for one, fully understand my weakness.

Oh, God, what's that?

'Approaching target. Permission to strike.'

So, why is the pyramid active now?

Possibly they know they're about to be bombed.

Target distance ten miles - set position five degrees.

MONK ROARS

Red 12. Mayday! MAYDAY!

It's the Monks! They've hijacked the plane.

How did they do that?

Oh, they're fine. The crew are alive.

Who are those guys?

I think they're ours.

Yours?

We targeted the pyramid with a missile.

WHOOSHING

THUD

From a submarine.

So, demonstrating strength isn't going to help.

-ECHOING:

-We are ready to talk.

Why don't you just take the afternoon off if you feel that bad?

I can't just take the afternoon off!

How about a kip on the floor under your desk?

Now, that's an idea I can get behind.

HISSING

I mean, this is a trap, right?

Possibly. Probably.

And we're just walking into it.

Well, every trap you walk into

is a chance to learn about your enemies.

Impossible to set a trap

without making a self-portrait of your own weaknesses.

Great...unless it kills us.

Well, you could say that about anything.

The human race is about to end.

The chain of events is already in motion.

Life on Earth will cease by humanity's own hand.

Observe.

Ah...

The simulation machine looks a bit different from the outside.

We are modelling the future.

Each thread is a chain of days, leading to your end.

We can detect when a catastrophe is about to occur.

And?

Stop it from occurring.

You don't look much like guardian angels.

We have chosen this form to look like you.

You look like corpses.

You ARE corpses to us.

Your world is ending. You can do nothing.

But we can save you.

Save us, then.

To save you, we must be asked.

Then what?

We will protect you.

How long for?

Forever.

Do you understand now? Do you see?

Asking them for help has conditions.

Invite them in, and it will be the last free action you take.

If you do not ask for help, then see the days to come.

Theses are the threads that lead to one year in your future.

Take them as proof.

What was that?

Planet Earth, with not a single living thing.

Dead as the moon.

You seem pretty damn calm about it.

Do I? Oh, I'm sorry - it's not my first dead planet.

Ask for help, it will be given.

Why do you need to be asked?

Power must consent.

Power must consent? What does that mean?

Those who hold power on this world must consent to our dominion.

Why?

PHONES RING

One minute to midnight.

You could take this planet in a...in a heartbeat.

Why do you need consent?

We must be wanted. We must be loved.

To rule through fear is inefficient.

Of course. Fear is temporary.

Love...is slavery.

If consent is what you need, I consent now.

No. No, don't do this. Please, don't even consider this!

What I saw was real. I felt it!

If you can help us, I consent.

Please, listen to me!

Do you have power?

I have power.

Does power consent?

Please, stop - just stop this!

If your consent is impure, it will kill you.

Impure? What does that mean, impure?

You act out of fear. Fear is not consent.

Agh!

Planet Earth does not consent to your help, your presence,

or your conquest.

Thank you for playing the big pyramid game -

bye-bye, see you again next week, hopefully not.

Without our help, Planet Earth is doomed.

Yes, well, it's been doomed before. Guess what happened?

Me!

MONK GROWLS

What are you doing?

I just need a minute.

I was about to throw up in my suit.

I did that once.

Ugh...

CRACKLING

Oh, my God.

OK - whatever that is, that is not meant to happen.

We need to sort this.

DOOR LOCK BUZZES

Why do they need consent?

Maybe they're like vampires -

can't come in unless they're invited.

They're not vampires.

The future we saw - is it the war?

Do we bring that future about?

That would seem to be the most obvious conclusion.

No. I say, no.

Friend, I will not fight you.

We are just soldiers in the field.

Are we too afraid to disobey?

I'm not.

Neither am I.

This is amazing.

What do you think, Mr President?

Did we just give peace a chance?

The clock.

I'm sorry?

Look at the clock.

Still one minute to midnight.

It made no difference. How could this make no difference?

Because it's not you who's going to end the world.

You were never the problem.

Then who is the problem?

Something is happening, somewhere else.

Somewhere in the world, in silence or in darkness,

the world is ending right now.

And we have to find out where.

It's gone crazy. It's much too strong.

It's not just breaking the root system down,

it's killing the whole thing.

We have to seal off the lab,

the greenhouse, everything.

This can't be allowed to get into the atmosphere.

This is impossible.

We can't search a whole planet in a few minutes.

Narrow it down.

They landed the pyramid in the middle of military crisis -

what was the point of that?

OK, what was the point?

What was the effect?

They told us the world was ending in a potential war zone -

what did we assume was going to happen?

-World War Three.

-But it didn't.

The trick with misdirection -

don't look where the arrow is pointing,

look where it's pointing away from.

So, what's already on our radar,

that we should be worried about right now?

Forget about war - what else could end the world?

Bacteria.

I like the sound of that.

New strain of flu? Plague?

People can be immune.

And whatever it is will kill all life on Earth,

not just humans - plague discriminates.

So this isn't a plan, it's a mistake.

Somebody, somewhere, is doing something

that's about to blow up in everybody's face.

What are you doing?

The distraction tells us that whatever's coming

is already on a watchlist.

I just put all the top-secret intelligence documents

in the world online - in searchable format.

What?!

Sit down and google.

It's never done anything like that before.

Check the mix.

Anything?

HE GASPS AND CHOKES

Douglas?

Douglas!

DOUGLAS?!

-Doctor, listen.

-What?

Isn't it worth at least just considering doing the deal?

-What deal?

-All we have got to do is consent.

That's what the Secretary-General thought. They burned him.

He was afraid -

I'm not being afraid, I'm being smart.

Being smart is not giving away your planet.

So - an accident, leading to irrevocable consequences.

I like bacteria.

They can spread - once they're out, you can't put them away again.

What could they do? What do you depend on?

Air, water, food, beer.

Air, water and food.

Let's say something's going to change,

something is going to be released.

Something new, something fast.

I'm feeling...

I'm feeling biochemical.

-Check biochemical trials.

-Yes, sir.

Doctor...

That world was dead a year from now.

We should at least go in there and talk.

There are about 100,000 biochemical trials going on right now.

Specifically related to GM bacteria.

Er...6,000.

How many have reached stage two? You cannot accept their offer.

Why not?

Because whatever the price is, it's too high.

We'll work it out.

428.

It's too many, and we don't even know if you're right.

Well, I probably am.

Probably isn't good enough!

Probably is all you've got.

It's your planet - I can't just give it away.

You know what, sir?

Finally, you've said something I agree with.

It's our planet. Our choice.

You can't make a deal with them.

You don't what you're agreeing to. I don't know.

All I know is I plan on living to fight another day.

Right now, what we don't have is a whole lot of other days.

Agreed.

Also agreed.

Doctor...

Is it just possible that they're right?

Being right is easy. We need to win.

All these soldiers in the room,

and you're the only one still fighting.

Would you make the deal? Even not knowing what's going to happen?

Those guys have modelled every event in human history

to find our weak spot.

Are you going to do the same in a couple of minutes?

Would you make the deal?

No, not if I had a choice.

But we don't, do we?

It's your world.

Not any more.

OK, back to the pyramid and negotiate our surrender.

Doctor?

What are you going to do?

Well for a start, I'm going to tell you the truth.

I've been keeping a secret from you.

Doctor?

We can blind them.

That's how we do it - we blind them!

Blind who? The Monks?

Bill, go to the pyramid. Keep an eye on them all.

Nardole, with me. To the TARDIS.

-Yes, sir.

-Have you got a plan?

You'll be hearing from me.

-TANNOY:

-'Biohazard. Lab in lockdown.

'Biohazard. Lab in lockdown.'

ALARM BLARES

'Biohazard. Lab in lockdown.'

Oh, Douglas, what have you done?

OK, - there's the list of labs on the UNIT watch list.

If they're being watched, that means they've got CCTV cameras,

with feeds to UNIT HQ.

Can you hack them?

Course I can, I'm not JUST sexy.

But there's 428 of them,

we can't watch them all.

Are you following me?

Yeah, I think I get it.

Yes, well, we're not going to watch them,

we're going to switch 'em off.

-Can you do that?

-What good would switching them off do?

If I'm right, the Monks are only watching one of those labs.

How would they do that?

Well, I suppose they'd just...hack the cameras.

So switch them off.

OK, so, we've blinded them.

But whatever's happening is still happening.

-Yep.

-And the Monks are powerful -

they can just turn the cameras back on.

Yes, they can -

but they're only watching one lab.

So all we need to know is which lab just got its cameras back?

Oh, you genius!

Boom!

VWORP

TARDIS DOOR OPENS

Oh, my God!

No, I'm the Doctor,

but it's an easy mistake to make, the eyebrows.

How did you do that? What is that thing?

It's Nardole - he's not my fault.

-Back to the TARDIS, this place is toxic.

-I'm not human.

You're human enough, I got your lungs cheap.

Oh, now he tells me...!

Park her close, monitor me.

Oh, tidy up your room.

You have a problem, I believe.

Who the hell are you?

Don't be alarmed, we don't have time.

Just jump straight to all the explaining.

HE COUGHS

DISTORTED, STUTTERING VWORP

PHONE BEEPS

It's the Doctor.

'OK found it, lab in Yorkshire.'

Long story, short - misplaced decimal point,

resulting in a bacteria

that turns any living thing it touches into gunk.

So why is it going to end the world?

'Has it been dispersed already?'

Ah, no, it's still in the lab.

I think I can contain it.

We give him two minutes and we're heading in. Agreed?

Agreed.

We have an air filtration system to take toxins out of the air.

It runs a cycle every 30 minutes.

It's going to pump the bacteria into the atmosphere.

So switch it off.

-I can't.

-Oh.

Right, OK. When's the next cycle?

-20 minutes.

-What?!

-Anything?

-'The venting system is automatic.'

This is going to be trickier than I thought.

PHONES RING

We're going in.

Think. Think, think, think, think. Stupid Doctor.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Handsome Doctor.

Adorable, hugely intelligent, but still approachable Doctor.

What's another way to destroy bacteria?

-Sterilisation.

-And how do you sterilise something?

Put it in boiling water.

-Or?

-Put it in a flame.

She's got it.

By George, she's got it!

I'm not going to lie to you,

this means that your insurance premiums

are going to go through the roof.

In fact, everything is going to go through the roof,

because I'm going to blow up the lab.

We just need some kind of a trigger, first.

But what are you going to blow it up with?

The bacteria is making ethanol!

The greenhouse and the lab are full of it!

Seriously, what are you doing when this is all over?

We're ready to talk.

Do you have power?

Well, right now, we're representing the three biggest armies

on the planet, so I guess we do.

Does power consent?

We consent.

If your consent is impure, it will kill you.

I surrender. We surrender.

What more do you want?

To rule, there must be love.

Your consent must be pure.

You act out of strategy. Strategy is not consent.

Ah!

Do you consent?

I don't have any power. I'm nobody.

You represent the greatest power on the planet.

You represent the Doctor.

Is your consent pure?

Is this going to work?

Trust me. I pop it in there. Machine goes ping.

Lab goes boom. World is saved.

You develop a pretty intense crush on me.

OK. Go through to the machine room.

You're going to have to let me back in when I'm done.

How long before the vents kick in?

Four minutes.

Doctor, you still there?

There's no way of stopping the lab venting,

so I'm going to sterilise the building by blowing it up.

Everything in here will be destroyed.

-Including you?

-Not if I pull my socks up.

Honest answer. You going to do it?

Course I'm going to do it.

Because they're still offering a deal, and...

And I'm the only one left.

Tell them you're flattered but don't.

What does consent mean?

You must ask for our help, and want it,

and know you will then be ours.

Only then can the link be formed.

What link?

Do you consent?

Can you hear me?

I don't even know your name.

Erica.

Did you always want to be a scientist, Erica?

Since I was about eight.

Before that, I wanted to be a bus driver,

because I liked how they waved at other bus drivers.

OK. I've given us two minutes.

Right, you need to get out of there!

BEEPING

Hello, I'm the Doctor, saving the world with my eyes shut.

ALARM BEEPS

Doctor - the clock's going back. Have you done it?

Yes, I have!

I'm totally the President of Earth, and from now on, two planes!

One for me and one for my glamorous assistant, Erica.

Say hello to the folks at home, Erica, and let me through the door.

'Bill, get the hell out of that pyramid!'

I can't open it. It's under emergency protocol.

You need to use the combination lock.

Set it to 3614.

You're going to have to guide me.

I can't see it from here - you can see it, right?

How long have I got?

One minute 40.

3614.

Come on.

Doctor, what's happening, you OK?

Bill - sorry, slight hitch, working on it.

What's the problem?

3614 - need it to open the door, but I can't see the numbers.

One minute, 20.

I don't understand the problem.

Combination lock - all the sonic will do is calculate the number,

I still have to enter it.

Nardole! Nardole! Nardole!

I need you to do a visual on the lab,

there's a camera in here.

Nardole? Nardole, can you hear me?

-I don't understand the problem. Just open the door.

-I can't.

Why can't you?

Because I'm blind.

I'm sorry. I'm blind.

What do you mean, blind? What are you talking about?

I lied. I've been blind since Chasm Forge.

I didn't get my sight back. I've been lying to you.

There's a combination lock, with numbers, and I can't see them.

You're an idiot...

You are the stupidest idiot ever!

But I'm not going to let you die.

No. You have to, there's no choice.

No-one else can help me now.

The Monks. The Monks can help you.

No! Bill, no! Don't do that!

I'm sorry.

I made a mistake - I have to face that -

but do not ask the Monks for help!

Bill!

Doctor.

This planet needs you. So I'm making an executive decision.

'I'm keeping you alive.'

Bill, listen to me, please.

I don't know what consenting allows them to do to you!

'You don't know what you're agreeing to!'

Can you give him his sight back?

His sight can be restored.

Then, then I'm asking you for help.

I'm giving my consent.

Is your consent pure?

Just give him his sight back!

You can have the world - just make him see again.

I consent.

You act out of love.

Love is consent. We must be loved.

Bill! Do not make this deal! I forbid it!

Bill, can you hear me? What's happening? Bill? Bill?

DOOR LOCK BUZZES

Bill, what have you done?

I'll tell you what, old man - you'd better get my planet back!

-ECHOING:

-Enjoy your sight, Doctor. Now see our world.

I woke up and the Monks were here and they've always been here.

All that we believe now is a lie.

I want to speak to her.

All you have to do is find whoever opened the door to

the Monks and just kill them.

I'm sorry your plus one doesn't get a happy ending.

All anyone's seen of the Doctor in the last six months

are those broadcasts he does.

I have joined the Monks.

GUNSHOT