The Edge of Destruction

Dear Diary,

Almost immediately upon leaving Skaro, a large explosion occurred, knocking all the lights out in the TARDIS and knocking me to the floor, causing me to cut my head open and lose consciousness.

I finally woke with Miss Wright attending me and a terrific pain in the back of my neck. Susan fixed me a bandage for my head. The doors to the TARDIS are open, but no one will admit to doing it, insisting they opened themselves, which is preposterous, as if the TARDIS had a will of its own.

Chesterton insists there’s been a power failure, whilst Susan insists something has entered and is hiding, perhaps even inside one of us. I really have tried to be patient with these people, but I have no time for this. Especially Miss Wright’s ridiculous theories. It was obvious to me at the time that the only fault could be outside the ship.

I asked Chesterton to assist me with the fault locator. Susan activated the scanner and immediately felt a pain at the back of her neck much like mine. The scanner showed a pastoral scene outside, the doors opened once more, then the scanner switched to a photo of the planet Quinnis in the Fourth Universe, which Susan and I had recently visited (and rather narrowly escaped with the TARDIS), and then the doors shut once more.

It is obvious these two humans have been tampering with the ship’s memory banks and are trying to confuse me. I accused them of sabotaging the ship, attacking Susan and myself, and tampering with the controls in order to blackmail me into returning them to England.  Miss Wright became indignant, suggesting that I owed them my life for saving me in the Cave of Skulls, and blaming our misadventures on Skaro on my own curiosity about the Dalek city. The nerve!

Before I could adequately respond, a freak event melted all the clocks aboard the ship and even Miss Wright’s wristwatch. Everyone seemed overwrought, so I took this opportunity to take my leave and prepare some tea to calm everyone’s nerves. Miss Wright took hers and stormed away to her quarters.

Susan and Chesterton begged me to apologise to Miss Wright. I did go to her and explain that in our situation we have no time for codes and manners.

I also, of course, had taken the liberty of adding a harmless sedative to their tea, that I might have the time and liberty to investigate what has happened here without their interference. After all, as I told her, one man’s law is another man’s crime.

And now, to examine the console.

 

Based upon the teleplay by David Whitaker, first broadcast on BBC 8th February 1964