First broadcast 8th January 1981.
Rothwyn and Eldred, the couple living inside the space capsule, begin to realize they might be in serious danger when they cannot make contact with fellow study groups or with their superiors.
David McCallum ... Steel
Joanna Lumley ... Sapphire
Catherine Hall ... Rothwyn
David Gant ... Eldred
David Collings ... Silver
Russell Wootton ... Changeling
Rothwyn and Eldred, the couple living inside the space capsule, begin to realize they might be in serious danger when they cannot make contact with fellow study groups or with their superiors.
David McCallum ... Steel
Joanna Lumley ... Sapphire
Catherine Hall ... Rothwyn
David Gant ... Eldred
David Collings ... Silver
Russell Wootton ... Changeling
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Steel? Steel, can you hear me?
00:30Steel, come back!
00:35Steel!
00:38Steel, whatever it is, it's seen you!
00:41Steel? It's coming for you!
00:45Steel!
00:59Steel!
01:13All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension.
01:21Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life.
01:25Medium atomic weights are available.
01:28Gold, lead, copper, jet, diamond, radium, sapphire, silver and steel.
01:40Sapphire and steel have been assigned.
01:54Steel!
01:57Steel!
02:09The child!
02:28Steel!
02:34Steel!
02:57Steel!
03:27Steel!
03:37Did you see it?
03:39Yes.
03:41A bird. Some kind of bird.
03:46It was a swan.
03:49But not a real one.
03:51Not exactly.
03:53I'd say it was being used as an instrument of attack.
03:55Well, it did a good job. It came through that thing.
04:00No, it appeared to.
04:02Appeared to? I was the victim of that attack.
04:08Where are the marks?
04:13It still tried to destroy me.
04:16Oh, yes.
04:18Something soft. Something made of feathers.
04:22And yet it can reach out and strike. Strike through that thing.
04:26And we can't even scratch the surface.
04:29Why a swan?
04:32Why not something like an eagle?
04:35Does it matter?
04:36Yes.
04:39Well, the only thing that matters to me right now is who or what provoked that attack.
04:43What do you think?
04:44Was it our little family in there?
04:47Or was it whatever's hiding in there with them?
04:51I don't know yet.
04:56Time to set the charges.
04:58No, Steel.
04:59Yes, Sapphire, I have to. As a precaution, we have to be prepared.
05:04We just might lose this one.
05:15What about the people downstairs?
05:17That's their bad luck.
05:19You're talking about the lives of 63 people and 15 animals.
05:22They'll be saving the whole of humanity.
05:25Human beings love a good sacrifice.
05:29Don't worry, when the building falls down, they'll blame the architect.
05:36It's only a precaution.
05:39Hopefully, all we have to do is get out of here.
05:41Keep the roof, this floor,
05:45and that invasion force to ourselves.
05:48What about the lift?
05:49I'll arrange it so it only comes up as far as the eighth floor.
05:52Why don't you just immobilize it?
05:54Oh, no.
05:55Life must go on normally down there,
05:58while we do what we've been sent to do.
06:01Life must go on normally down there,
06:04while we do what we've been sent to do.
06:32They're only human beings.
06:36They're capable of creating something that is invisible and impenetrable.
06:41Of what else are they capable?
06:43Friends upstairs with 1,500 years of accumulated knowledge.
06:50Who knows what their plans are,
06:53and what their reason is for being here.
06:56A man, a woman, and a baby.
07:00It's hardly an invasion force, is it?
07:17Aunt here.
07:20I'm sorry.
07:22Aunt here.
07:24Look.
07:32Look at that.
07:34That coat.
07:36It moved by itself.
07:39These things, Eldred, where did they come from?
07:42Things?
07:43Yes, everything.
07:45Everything in this place.
07:46The furniture, the clothes, everything.
07:49Where did it come from?
07:51It was provided.
07:58Are they real antiques?
08:00Well, some may be.
08:01Only they can't be real.
08:03They're in too good a condition to be antiques.
08:05Then perhaps a reconstruction?
08:07I need to know.
08:09Well, I'm sorry, I don't know.
08:12Everything was provided.
08:16And this?
08:17How did this get here?
08:19Look.
08:22Look, they're objects, that's all.
08:25Items.
08:28Pieces of equipment.
08:30Well, one of these objects,
08:32one piece of this equipment,
08:34tried to kill our child.
08:35Rothwin.
08:36And you.
08:37It tried to make me kill you.
08:39What?
08:42Rothwin!
08:43Rothwin!
08:46I've just seen the child.
08:49There's nothing wrong with it.
08:52What about these things?
08:54How do they move?
08:55I've never seen them move.
08:58And the woman?
09:01Woman?
09:03Yes, I saw a woman dressed in blue.
09:06Very beautiful.
09:08So where did you see her?
09:09Well, I saw her outside.
09:15Outside?
09:18Yes.
09:19Then how could you see her?
09:22Well, I saw her through the wall, of course.
09:30In there.
09:40Which wall?
09:43That one.
09:45Eldred.
09:47We have to go back.
09:49Back to our proper time as soon as possible.
09:51If the communications are broken down...
09:53But it's only a temporary fault.
09:55You said that.
09:56Yes.
09:57Yes, it's sure to be only temporary.
10:00Well, perhaps in the meantime, you could contact the others.
10:04Yes.
10:05Well, perhaps in the meantime, you could contact the others.
10:09I've already said that I would.
10:12This evening.
10:15Eldred.
10:16Yes?
10:17Of course, there's the thoughts as well.
10:20Thoughts?
10:22Yes.
10:23They only began today after I'd seen...
10:24What kind of thoughts?
10:26Well, just a strong desire to leave here.
10:29But haven't we just said...
10:30No!
10:32These thoughts have nothing to do with leaving this time period.
10:36Just with leaving this place.
10:39Just a strong desire to pick up the child and leave.
10:43To escape, I suppose.
10:45Escape?
10:46Yes.
10:48It's as if something's...
10:50urging me to go outside.
10:53But you know that's impossible.
10:56Yes.
10:58We're sealed in here.
11:01The doors and the windows.
11:04They're not real.
11:12These thoughts.
11:14Do you have them at this moment?
11:25So could you please contact the others?
11:27Perhaps...
11:28I will.
11:29Later.
11:30Why not now?
11:32What's wrong with now?
11:33Because it's part of the procedure of this project...
11:35There's lots of things going on in this contraption
11:37that have nothing to do with the rules and regulations of the project.
11:41Yes.
11:43And the state of your mind is obviously one of them.
11:49All right.
11:51I'll set up the screens.
11:56Look, it's still receiving information.
11:58I know that.
11:59You see, a change in time
12:01can be like a sudden change in altitude.
12:03Some minds just can't adjust.
12:04But I was chosen because of my training.
12:10Well, I think that deserves a report.
12:13Don't you?
12:30Time is the measure of duration or continuous existence without reference to time.
12:53Time is the measure of duration or continuous existence
12:58without reference to extension in space.
13:02Absolute time is unrelated to matter or motion
13:07and is continuous, unlimited, and infinitely divisible.
13:13Relative time, by which duration is measured with reference to events.
13:29The stairs?
13:31They're blocked.
13:33All of them?
13:34Just between the eighth and ninth floor.
13:37This looks all complicated.
13:39I figure not in the cable.
13:41When it goes up as far as the drum,
13:42then the lift will only come up as far as the eighth...
13:46floor.
13:58Sidereal time is based on the rotation of the Earth with respect to the stars.
14:14Solar time is based on the same movement with respect to the Sun.
14:21And as the solar day varies in length
14:24because of the Earth's own movement in its orbit,
14:28time, as measured by clocks, chronometers, etc.,
14:32is computed on the basis of an average or mean solar day.
14:53Experimental project ES-5777.
14:58ES-5777
15:02ES-5777
15:06ES-5777
15:10ES-5777
15:14Urban study group transmitting to rural study group.
15:19ES-5777
15:23ES-5777
15:27ES-5777
15:31ES-5777
15:35So either something is happening here,
15:38or it's my mind,
15:40my imagination.
15:48Urban study group transmitting to rural study group.
15:51ES-5777
15:55Rural study group, room 2, please.
15:58ES-5777
16:02ES-5777
16:05Hello?
16:07Hello?
16:09Urban study group transmitting to provincial study group.
16:14ES-5777
16:17Back to rural study group.
16:18Rural study group.
16:20Room 3, please.
16:29I realize that you cannot advise me at this stage,
16:32but perhaps a medical analysis would be of use in the interim period.
16:42In the meantime, there's nothing to worry about.
16:45We're making contact with the other two study groups.
16:49As you know, there's a doctor in study group 3.
16:53Perhaps he can help.
16:55Provincial study group, room 2, please.
17:03Godwin?
17:06Alfredo?
17:09Solar time
17:12is always at the same length
17:14and has no real existence.
17:44I'm sorry.
17:46I'm sorry.
17:48I'm sorry.
17:50I'm sorry.
17:52I'm sorry.
17:54I'm sorry.
17:56I'm sorry.
17:58I'm sorry.
18:00I'm sorry.
18:02I'm sorry.
18:04I'm sorry.
18:06I'm sorry.
18:08I'm sorry.
18:10I'm sorry.
18:12I'm sorry.
18:14I'm sorry.
18:44Seal!
18:57Seal!
19:03What is it?
19:05There are three power sources being used.
19:08So?
19:10One is...
19:12One is some kind of tabulator.
19:23For record keeping?
19:24Yes.
19:26Well, we predicted that.
19:29Now that stopped.
19:31That one stopped.
19:34The second one, well...
19:37I think that's the system for communication.
19:42Communication between them and who else?
19:44I'm not sure.
19:46Yes, it's definitely a means of communication.
19:50Is there anything unusual about it?
19:55Well, it all fits.
19:58Records, communication...
20:01It's not those two power sources I'm worried about.
20:04It's the other one, the third one.
20:07What?
20:08It's the other one, the third one.
20:15Yes.
20:16Here, I'm in line with it here.
20:18Which way?
20:19It's wrong.
20:20The third one is wrong.
20:21Where is it?
20:23Something else is wrong.
20:25The child, maybe.
20:27It's no longer in there.
20:38The man and the woman are still there.
20:41And there's someone else.
20:43I think it's another adult.
20:44You think?
20:46I think.
20:48I think.
20:50I think.
20:52I think.
20:54I think.
20:56I think.
20:58I think.
21:00I think.
21:02I think.
21:04I think.
21:06I think.
21:08I'm not sure, but there is a connection.
21:11Between?
21:13Between the third power source...
21:14And the new adult.
21:15Yes.
21:16What is the third power source?
21:17I don't understand.
21:18The third power source!
21:19I don't understand!
21:20What is it?
21:21It's not power.
21:23It's not energy as such.
21:29It's time.
21:32It's time.
21:35It's time.
21:36It's time.
21:37What would that family have used to travel back 1,500 years?
21:43Time itself.
21:44What form would it take?
21:47A unit, some sort of machine.
21:51They've succeeded in crystallizing a unit of time.
21:56Yes.
21:59A crystal of time.
22:03Then it could be unstable.
22:06A time unit gone wrong.
22:12Well?
22:15I can't communicate with it.
22:17Not without being in there.
22:19So it's not an outside force that's attacking it, it's an inside one.
22:23Something that came with them.
22:25Something that they used to travel back from 1,500 years.
22:28It helped to bring them back.
22:30Why isn't it on their side anymore?
22:34Try to communicate with it.
22:35I can't communicate with a crystal.
22:38No?
22:40Oh, go on.
22:42Time's your specialty.
22:44You've things in common.
22:47All right, if you can't communicate with it, then try exciting it.
22:50But let's see it!
22:51All right!
22:53I'll try.
22:55I'll try.
22:57I'll try.
22:58I'll try.
23:14It's no good!
23:16Keep trying.
23:22It's a piece of apparatus. I can... I can analyze its function.
23:25You've already done that.
23:27Try to communicate with it.
23:29I can't, possibly.
23:33Is it only a machine?
23:34Yes!
23:37No.
23:38No, it's not.
23:40It's not only a machine.
23:42Well, not completely. Not all of it.
23:46I can't!
23:47You can.
23:49Tell me.
23:53It's capable.
23:56Of so many things.
23:59Tell me!
24:02No.
24:05No.
24:07No.
24:08No!
24:13The pain.
24:16The pain.
24:20For always.
24:24Forever.
24:26Forever.
24:56THE END