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22 October 2014

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Doctor Who | Photonovels | The Wheel in Space

Episode Six contact sheet

Leo orders the firing of the X-ray laser. The huge cannon lets loose a powerful energy beam which disintegrates the meteorites on contact. Zoe and Jamie struggle to maintain their equilibrium in the wake of the blast.

The crew's jubilation at knocking out the meteorites is tempered only by the Doctor's fears for Zoe and Jamie's safety. Leo orders repeated onslaughts as the Doctor and Tanya's concerns grow.

The radar screen clears, indicating the successful deflection of the main body of meteorites. Leo turns to the Doctor and admonishes him for allowing Zoe and Jamie to take such high risks. The Doctor claims the risk is justifiable – and calculated by Zoe.

The Doctor then warns Leo of the enormous danger to everyone unless he switches over to the sectional air supply. When Leo is sceptical about the Cybermen's poisoning of the air supply, the Doctor tells him the information came from Gemma - before she died.

Intent on verifying, Leo checks with the oxygen room. He is greeted with the body of Gemma. 'She sacrificed her life to warn us,' mutters the Doctor.

Enrico announces that another swarm of meteorites is approaching. As the Doctor turns his attention to the radar, Jarvis Bennett rises from his chair and stares as the body of Gemma on the monitor. As if shocked out of his lethargy, he purposefully leaves.

The crew, preoccupied with destroying and deflecting the latest wave of meteorites, fails to notice Bennett's absence. By the time the Doctor realises the former controller has gone, Bennett is in an outside corridor.

Concerned at his absence, the crew are searching for Bennett on the monitor when his face appears. 'They've killed Gemma you know,' he says, ignoring Leo and Tanya's pleas for him to return. 'I lifted the forcefield. You'd better replace it.'

As Leo prepares to bring him back, the Doctor indicates the monitor. A Cyberman looms over Bennett, who turns to grapple with the silver giant.

Bennett's resistance proves futile. The Cyberman effortlessly lifts him over its head and throws him across the room.

Overcome by the sheer strength of the giant, Bennett lies still. The Cyberman activates its chest unit weapon and the room is scorched by a searing light. Tanya turns away from the monitor distraught, while the Doctor and Leo stare in horror at the unfolding atrocity.

In the Silver Carrier Zoe and Jamie recover from their ordeal. 'I didn't think we'd get through,' says Zoe. 'I feel as if someone's been hitting me all over with small hammers.' They resolve to search for the time vector generator.

In the oxygen supply room, a Cyberman confirms that Vallance has poisoned the air supply. However, the hypnotised crewman soon reports failure – the others have switched over to the emergency supply from within the forcefield.

On learning the news of their plan's failure, the Planner assimilates the data. 'One of the Earth humans must have experience of our methods,' it concludes.

The Cyberman listens intently as the Planner gives it its instructions: 'Projection of all identities on the Wheel is essential.'

On the Silver Carrier, Jamie's jubilation at discovering the time vector generator goes largely unnoticed by Zoe. The girl has found a scanner relaying images from the Cybermen's frequency. She sees the Cyberman ordering Vallance to stare into the box.

'Think of each individual human being at present on the Wheel,' it orders. 'Form the image in your eyes.' The face of an attractive young woman fades into view. 'Tanya Lernov, Astrogator, second class,' he informs. 'Negative,' the Planner grates.

'Leo Ryan,' he continues, 'Communications Officer.' 'Negative,' responds the Planner.

'Jarvis Bennett, Space Station Controller.' 'Negative.'

'Zoe Herriot, Astrophysicist, Astrometricist, First Class.' 'Negative.'

'Doctor … I don't know who he is,' Vallance falters. The Planner continually demands identification of the man on the screen, to Vallance's increasing distress.

Tanya notices an object too large to be a meteorite approaching on the radar. When it changes course it arouses the Doctor's worst suspicions. 'It could be a Cyberman space ship,' he warns. Meanwhile, Zoe and Jamie overhear the Planner order the Doctor's death.

A hypnotised Flannigan reports in, claiming he is holding off a group of Cybermen near the workshop. Radio transistors are essential to contact Earth, so the Doctor insists on fetching some. Flannigan, meanwhile, is sent to destroy the forcefield...

Desperate to warn the Doctor that a trap is being set for him, Zoe and Jamie spacewalk back to the Wheel with the newly-recovered time vector generator.

Using the emergency air tunnels as the safest means of getting round the Wheel, the Doctor soon arrives at the power room. He not only discovers the transistors, but also a phial of mercury. He pockets the objects with glee.

Using some nearby equipment and a reel of wire, he heads for the door and starts constructing a trap of his own.

On their arrival back at the Wheel, Zoe and Jamie are horrified to discover the body of Gemma. They cautiously make their way out of the oxygen room and down the corridor outside.

Flannigan takes them by surprise. He admonishes them for taking the risk of being in the area before offering to show them a quicker way back. Nearby, Vallance offers to show a Cyberman the air supply tunnel the Doctor must have used to bypass them.

The operations room door opens, and Flannigan, Zoe and Jamie enter. Acting on an earlier warning from the Doctor, Leo and Enrico throw themselves onto Flannigan, wrestling him to the floor.

While the Irishman struggles, Leo clamps one of the metal plates to his neck, holding it in place. Leo confirms to Zoe and Jamie that Flannigan was under the Cybermen's control. His mind is now free.

The Doctor's face appears on the communications monitor. He tells them he has found the spares, and asks Jamie to bring him the time vector generator via the emergency air supply tunnel. He ends the message with an ominous 'I think I've got company.'

The Doctor turns to see two Cybermen standing in the doorway. The two giants stare at him impassively. 'You know our ways,' the first one grates. 'I imagine,' the Doctor breathes, 'you have orders to destroy me.'

One of them reveals that Bill was ordered to only destroy the Wheel's transmitting complex. The Doctor deduces that their invasion fleet's smaller ships can only enter Earth's atmosphere by homing in on a radio beam. 'You must be destroyed,' the second Cyberman repeats.

'You'd better come in...'

The first Cyberman advances on the Doctor, who plunges down a switch on a power box. The silver giant is caught between two wired-up terminals, a massive electrical current arcing across its writhing frame. It crashes to the ground.

The second Cyberman activates its chest unit weapon, but it has no effect. 'You can't break through the field you know,' the Doctor taunts. The Cyberman retreats, warning, 'You will be destroyed. Others are coming.'

As the door closes, Jamie and Flannigan scramble through the air tunnel. 'I've got a head like a big bass drum,' complains Flannigan. 'Somebody's going to pay for this.' 'Well it looks like the Doctor's already made one of them pay,' Jamie points.

The Doctor decides to try boosting the power of the Xray laser with the time vector generator. He asks Flannigan to stop the invasion force at the loading bay, then tells Leo to train the laser on the approaching Cyberman ship.

Inside the loading bay, Jamie and Flannigan are soon approached by Vallance and a Cyberman. Flannigan feigns subservience before surreptitiously fixing a metal plate to Vallance's neck.

As Vallance regains his senses, Flannigan launches an attack on the Cyberman with quickset plastic. It staggers back, activating the bay door mechanism before collapsing. The way is now clear for the space-borne invasion force.

Flannigan rushes to close the doors, horrified at the horde of Cybermen growing ever nearer.

As the doors begin to close, the space walking Cybermen seem to join formation. The leading Cyberman, looking slightly altered from those already seen, attempts to force the closing doors apart. Flannigan panics – he has run out of quickset plastic.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has completed his frantic modifications to the laser. On receiving the go ahead, Leo orders the destruction of the Cyberman ship. The laser fires, bathing the ship in a searing light which triggers its total disintegration.

Flannigan operates the neutron forcefield, catapulting the Cybermen back into space. The operations room witnesses a scene of widespread jubilation. Enrico succeeds in contacting Earth and Leo promises a full report in due course.

'All systems now operational,' he states, as his hand affectionately grips Tanya's. 'Request official permission to assume responsibility.'

Zoe accompanies Jamie and the Doctor back to the Silver Carrier. She pesters Jamie for some information about the TARDIS, but the Scotsman is reluctant to explain. 'Look Zoe, he says, trying to say goodbye, 'we won't forget you.'

Inside the TARDIS control room, the Doctor tops up the fluid links' mercury levels. 'All set?' asks Jamie as the Doctor prepares to leave. His preparations are delayed when he notices they have a stowaway. 'I want to go with you!' Zoe exclaims. 'It's impossible,' Jamie responds.

'Now Jamie,' the Doctor corrects him, 'it's not impossible, but it's something we have to decide.' Zoe continues to maintain her enthusiasm as the Doctor opens a roundel panel, taking a headset.

He puts the headset on, sits down and tells Zoe to look at the scanner screen. 'I'm going to show Zoe the sort of thing that she could be in for,' he tells Jamie. 'Thought patterns?' asks Zoe. 'Yes, only I'm going to weave them into a complete story for you.'

'Have you ever heard of the Daleks?' asks the Doctor as the screen fills with the image of a squat metallic device.

Zoe watches, transfixed, as the Dalek murders a man in cold blood – an example of one of the many dangers the girl may have to face should she choose to join the TARDIS crew.

Her mind, however, is already made up.

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