1. Regrets

2.1 – REGRETS

 

FX: BBC Sounds Sting

 

ANNO           You’re about to listen to series two of Doctor Who: Redacted. New episodes will be released weekly, wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the full series right now, first, on BBC Sounds.

 

Inquistive, investigative sounding bongs underneath the title reading and continuing into the first scene.

 

           ANNO         Doctor Who: Redacted. Episode One, Regrets. By Juno Dawson.

 

Scene 1.1

 

FX: Car door slams, footsteps and scuffling.

 

SHAWNA               Excuse me? CLEO    Mr Degsy?

ABBY           We’re in Northampton investigating claims that a meat processing plant is serving something a bit more exotic than bacon. Mr Desgy-

 

SHAWNA      What is in your sausages? DEGSY          No comment.

CLEO           We’re the Blue Box Files podcast. Mr Degsy, do your sausages contain extra-terrestrial DNA?

 

DEGSY         Rubbish.

 

ABBY           We’ve had your products tested, Mr Degsy, and they contain genetic matter unlike anything else on earth.

 

DEGSY         No comment.

 

SHAWNA      People have a right to know! DEGSY        If you touch me, I’ll call the police.

ABBY           Do you turn aliens into burgers, Mr Degsy? DEGSY This is private property! Go away!

SHAWNA      We know the Blue Box was here last year!

 

Pause. Tense.

 

CLEO           Have you seen her? Have you met the Doctor?

Scene 1.2 – INT. CONVENTION CENTRE. DAY

 

FX: There’s applause and a hub-bub of chatter at the National Podcast

Convention in Manchester. There’s a wail of feedback and the panel event gets underway.

 

WILDTRACK      [generic excited podcast attendees]

 

RANI                  OK then! That clip could only be from our final guests of the afternoon. I’m Rani Chandra from Rani Takes On The World and I’m very pleased to be joined by the hosts of the brilliant Blue Box Files - Abby MacPhail, Shawna Thompson and Cleo Proctor!

 

 

FX: Applause

 

RANI                  Abby, let’s start with you.

 

ABBY                 Can I just say I’m a huge fan? Your episode on the Panama Papers was…chef’s kiss.

 

RANI                  You absolutely can. (SMILES) But let’s talk about The Blue Box Files. Introduce us to it.

 

ABBY                 Basically, it’s dedicated to uncovering the truth about an enigmatic cuboid shape which seems to appear at times of historical upheaval. Pompeii, it’s there; Titanic, it’s there. You name it, there’s sightings of a strange blue box. We even think what Scientists are calling the Redacted Virus is related. So many people suffered blackouts. Including us.

 

RANI                  Me too. Last year is a blur, to be honest. Now, Shawna, you’re the in-house sceptic, is that right?

 

SHAWNA           That’s maybe a bit reductive, but OK. I’ve become less sceptical as the years have gone on, but I’m inclined to believe there is a conspiracy, it’s just not from outer space. At the moment, Abby and I are looking into this organisation called ‘Torchwood’; super secretive, super shady…but not alien.

 

CLEO                 Well, I do think it’s alien actually. There, I said it.

 

RANI                  Oh really? What do you think this Blue Box is?

 

Cleo pauses.

 

RANI                  Cleo?

CLEO                 I think…I think, I think the blue box is our guardian angel.

 

The tone on the panel changes.

 

WILDTRACK      [quiet uncertainty] ABBY                          Cleo…

RANI                  Let’s go with that. How do you mean?

 

CLEO                 I think – like if there’s a blue box – it makes sense that there’s someone inside it you know. Keeping us all safe. They’re called The Doctor.

 

The audience chatter increases. Rani clears her throat.

 

RANI                  Right, OK. (NERVOUS) Maybe we should move on.

 

CLEO                 No, I’m for real. Would you believe me if I said she, or he actually, is a chic time traveller with two hearts and undiagnosed ADHD?

 

RANI               [laughs] WILDTRACK             [laughter]

SHAWNA           Cleo is the comic relief, obviously.

 

CLEO                 (ANGRY) Thanks Shawna Thompson, but I also happen to know. Just because you girls don’t remember what happened last year, I do. And anyway, I’ve been researching my own case. Giant rats. In Docklands.

 

Another awkward silence.

 

WILDTRACK      [throat clearing]

 

RANI                  OK, well this is weirdly tense. Let’s move it along. So! I was listening to your episode about killer shop dummies…

 

Fade out.

Scene 1.3 INT. GREENROOM.

 

FX: Abby, Shawna and Cleo enjoy catering backstage. Light background chatter with low music.

 

CLEO                 I’m sorry I derailed the panel, OK! But it’s true! I remember the Doctor, I can’t help it. I do!

 

Another awkward moment.

 

ABBY                 OK…

 

SHAWNA           Sorry Cleo. It’s just…hard to remember stuff we don’t remember. But we believe you, we do!

 

CLEO                 You actually met her.

 

ABBY                 Yeah yeah, we believe you, we do!

 

CLEO                 Really? Because it doesn’t sound like it.

 

SHAWNA           I think Rani provoked you deliberately to make you look unhinged. She’s jealous of the competition.

 

ABBY                 I think there’s room for more than one podcast about uncanny investigators out there. I thought she was super nice.

 

SHAWNA           Not nice enough to hang around in the green room with the hoi polloi.

 

CLEO                 But guys, I think she remembered the Doctor! Didn’t you see her face when I said their name -

 

ABBY                 And she did say, any time we needed a hand, to just get in touch.

 

SHAWNA           (OVER) Ooh Abz, that falafel wrap thing is stunning. Have you had a bit?

 

ABBY                 No no, is there any left?

 

CLEO                 (under breath) End of discussion, I guess. SHAWNA    Have a bit of mine.

 

FX: Falafel broken off

 

SHAWNA           Here you go (mild effort).

 

ABBY                 (eating) Oh my gosh, that’s divine!

 

There’s a pause.

 

ABBY                 What?

 

CLEO                 You two are sickening, you know that?

SHAWNA           Sorry are we doing it again? I’ll put a pound in the jar.

ABBY                 Sorry, sorry sorry sorry!

 

CLEO                 I’m kidding, I’m kidding! It’s sweet. Young hearts, run free and all that. But, you know, Shawna maybe you could speed up the process by chewing it and spitting it directly into her mouth like a bird would.

 

FX: Shawna hurls a cushion across the greenroom.

 

SHAWNA           (effort) Shut up!

 

                          I don’t know what’s happened to me. I’m sure I used to be cynical and bitter.

 

CLEO                 (sarcastic) And we all really miss that.

 

FX: Abby’s text alert sounds and she taps out a reply.

 

SHAWNA           Is your mum OK?

 

ABBY                Er aye – that’s just the new carer now. All is well.

 

 

CLEO                 And now you get to have your own place. SHAWNA          Exactly!

CLEO                 Shackin’ up! That’s fast even by lesbian standards.

 

ABBY                 Ah ah excuse me!

 

CLEO                 Bi! Sorry! I know, don’t kill me! (PAUSE) Get a flat with a spare room. A Cleo annex I can retire to before I die alone.

 

SHAWNA           (laughs)

 

ABBY                 Aw. You will meet someone.

 

CLEO                 Abs, the last guy I dated literally faked his own death to get out of a second date.

 

SHAWNA           Oh. Wow. Bold move.

 

CLEO                 Anyway, as if I have time to date. Between my course and this case, I have zero time.

 

There’s a significant pause.

 

ABBY                 Is this the rats thing?

 

CLEO                 Yes. There was another attack yesterday – look.

 

FX: She gives them her phone.

 

SHAWNA           (reading) ‘Third London Rat Attack – Family Dog Killed’. Man, that’s grim.

 

CLEO                 Watch this video…

Scene 1.4 – EXT. GARDEN

 

FX: We hear a news report play. Little musical sting like the BBC news app.

 

ESTHER            I was on a work Zoom when suddenly Benj starts barking and barking, and that’s not like him at all. I ignored it for as long as a I could but…but then he stopped. I went out into the garden and that’s, that’s when I found him.

 

 

ESTHER            He’d been mauled. Ripped to shreds. (TEARFUL PAUSE) I saw this long, thick tail vanish under the fence. It was a rat. I swear. I know what I saw.

Scene 1.5 – INT. CONVENTION CENTRE. DAY

 

FX: We return to Cleo, Abby and Shawna. Cleo stops the video.

 

CLEO                 See? So when are you coming to London? We need to get involved. If there’s trouble, it’s only a matter of time before the Doctor shows up.

 

Another loaded pause.

 

ABBY                 What makes you think it’s a Blue Box File? CLEO  Hello? Killer rats?

SHAWNA           No offence, but London is a very ratty city.

 

CLEO                 She described it as half-rat-half-gremlin. SHAWNA       (laughs) Sorry…but come on!

CLEO                 I can’t believe, after everything we’ve been through, that I’m getting the Scully treatment. Rude.

 

ABBY                 Do you think maybe a part of you wants it to be the Blue Box?

 

There’s a pause.

 

CLEO                 No. Maybe. (Pause) Yeah. I guess. It’s different for you guys. You don’t remember everything that happened last year but I do. I…I miss her.

 

SHAWNA           Miss who?

 

Another pause.

 

CLEO                                Doesn’t matter. FX: Cleo gets an alert on her phone.

 

CLEO

Oh my god!

SHAWNA

What is it?

ABBY

Is it about the case?

CLEO

What? No! I got a message from a guy.

 

 

Scene 1.6 – INT. TRAIN / EUSTON STATION. NIGHT

 

FX: Train door bings open onto bustling Euston station – passengers and wheelie luggage.

 

TRAIN VOICE    Welcome to London Euston. This is our final destination. Please take all your belongings when you leave the train.

Scene 1.7 INT. BAR. NIGHT

 

FX: Crowded noisy bar. Music. Glasses. Voices. Laughter. Ed sets two wine glasses down on a table.

 

CLEO                 Thanks for this. I needed a drink. Cheers. I’m so glad you messaged.

 

ED                     Cheers.

 

FX: They clink.

 

CLEO                 So, Ed. Ed Hinge. Tell me about yourself. What do you do? ED         Um, yeah. So like I said, I’m in IT.

CLEO                 My friend Shawna is too. No idea what that means, I just nod along.

 

ED                     Yeah, it’s pretty dull to tell you the…

 

He drifts off, looking around.

 

CLEO                 Are you OK?

 

ED                     Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. So what about you? What do you do?

 

CLEO                 Well I do a couple of shifts as an usher, but I’m actually at theatre school. I’m an actress…

 

ED                     What, sorry?

 

CLEO                 An actress. (Beat) Are you sure you’re OK? You’re acting like you got MI5 watching you or something? You being followed?

ED                     No! No, it’s just that I, um, I’ve never actually, you know… CLEO     (deflating) Oh I get it. Don’t wanna be seen in public with a

trans woman.

ED                     It’s not that! I just, like, you know I’m straight and this is a big deal for me…

CLEO                 You know what, Ed, I can make this so easy for us both. (she downs her pinot in one gulp)

 

FX: Cleo puts the wine glass down, pushes back stool, stands.

CLEO                 Boy, bye.

Scene 1.8 INT. TRAIN CARRIAGE. NIGHT

 

FX: Train atmos

 

TRAIN VOICE    The next station stop will be Carlisle. Please take all your belongings with you when you leave.

 

SHAWNA           Is there another gin in a tin? ABBY    Aye.

FX: She hands her a tin.

 

ABBY                 Do you think we ought to, you know, tone it down a bit around Cleo? I don’t want her to feel like a third wheel.

 

SHAWNA           She said she was fine. (Beat) It’s not our fault that love radiates from us, is it?

 

ABBY                 Ha! Yes, that’s cute, but I don’t want her to get radiation sickness.

 

SHAWNA           That’d explain the rat hunt.

 

ABBY                 Don’t. I feel bad, I do, but it’s just not a Blue Box File. There’s no evidence linking it to us. We’re better off focusing on Torchwood. I think it’s got legs.

 

SHAWNA           So what do we know so far?

 

ABBY                 I’m so glad you asked, Ms Thompson.

 

 

FX: She taps away on a laptop.

 

SHAWNA           Oh god. There’s a doc on the shared drive.

 

ABBY                 Of course there’s a doc on the shared drive. Look.

 

Pause as Shawna reads.

 

SHAWNA           OK. Torchwood. Fill me in.

 

FX: Torchwood music sting!

 

ABBY                 Okay. All through blue box cases, there’s this one word that keeps coming up time and again, and it’s not “Doctor”. It’s Torchwood. I know because I set up an Alert.

 

SHAWNA

How many of those do you have set up now?

ABBY

I keep it to a sensible hundred.

SHAWNA

Torchwood like driftwood?

ABBY

No! It’s a place. A big old house in Aberdeenshire, AND they had a break in last night. There was a local news report which then promptly vanished…

SHAWNA

Shady.

ABBY

Might be really interesting to check it out, don’t you think?

SHAWNA

Oh, Abby, no…

ABBY

You’ve got the day off tomorrow!

SHAWNA

Abs…

ABBY

It’s only a three-hour drive!

SHAWNA

Only?! (Beat) It’s a good job I love you isn’t it?

Scene 1.9 – INT. CLEO FLAT. NIGHT

 

FX: We hear keys and the door close as Cleo arrives home. Quiet London streets beyond.

 

CLEO                 Hi honey, I’m home! (Beat) Oh I forgot; I live by myself. Alexa!

Play depressing music.

 

FX: Some mournful music begins and Cleo flops down on the sofa and kicks her shoes off. After a moment, she picks up her phone and begins a voicenote.

 

CLEO                 Hi Doctor. Me again. I know you gave me this number For Redacted Virus Emergencies Only but I’ve tried everything else and I’m getting worried – are you okay? Anyway. Just got back from a first date. You don’t need to buy a hat, look at it that way. (SIGHS)

 

CLEO                 Jordan and Floater are still off finding themselves in Bali so I’ve got the flat to myself for another month. It’s nice. Bit quiet. It’s weird. (Beat) I have a big day at college tomorrow.

Audition for our end-of-year showcase. Gotta do a Shakespeare monologue. Have you met Shakespeare? What was he like? Bet he was well clever. Did he have a mullet? (ANOTHER LONG SIGH)

 

CLEO                 Anyway. Let me know if you’re getting these little messages in bottles. You gotta get here. Giant rats! Giant mutant rats! If Abby and Shawna don’t believe me, I need your help.

Scene 1.10 – INT. THEATRE. DAY

 

FX: Echoing space. Theatre ambience.

 

CLEO                 (taking this seriously) “But man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he's most assured, his glassy essence, like an angry ape - ”

 

OLIVIA               That’s great. Can I stop you there, Cleo?

 

FX: There’s some polite applause from her classmates.

 

CLEO                 Can I finish the monologue?

 

OLIVIA               It’s OK, I’ve heard enough. That was good. Really good.

Um. I’m not sure I see you as Isabella myself.

 

CLEO                 No?

 

OLIVIA               I’m, um, not sure it’s playing to your strengths. You’re so good at the lighter stuff, Cleo. Don’t worry, Shakespeare has plenty of comedy roles, we’ll find you a match for the showcase.

 

CLEO                 Thanks. (Beat) Can I ask why not Isabella? OLIVIA Isabella is a nun, for one thing.

CLEO                 What?

 

OLIVIA               She’s also the object of Angelo’s obsessive lust. She has to be sweet, perfect and virtuous.

 

CLEO                 (dejected) OK. Got it. I’ll think of something else.

Scene 1.11 EXT. LONDON PARK. DAY

 

FX: We hear pigeons, children playing etc. Cleo is on the phone to Shawna.

 

CLEO                 Urgh I hate her. Getting strong Adult Human Female vibes if you catch my drift.

 

SHAWNA (D)     Really? That sucks.

 

CLEO                 She might as well have just said ‘audition for King Lear or some other hairy man’ or what’s the one with the donkey on his head?

 

SHAWNA (D)     That’s a question for my girlfriend I’m afraid. CLEO Maybe I should quit.

SHAWNA (D)     Cleo no! You worked so hard to get on the course.

 

CLEO                 I know, but what’s the point? Even if I defy the odds and graduate, I’m like a gazillion pounds in debt and then there’s no trans roles to play. Unless Caitlyn: The Musical is secretly on its way.

 

SHAWNA (D)     (Laughs) Now that I’d see.

 

FX: We hear some branches snap.

 

CLEO                 Ow!

 

SHAWNA (D)     Cleo, what are you doing?

 

CLEO                 I’m in the park, looking for mutant rats? SHAWNA (D) I beg your pardon?

CLEO                 I attract rats all the time, how hard can it be? [beat] I’ve put down a bit of rat bait, and now I’m waiting. But a pigeon keeps eating my bait. Get lost you feathery little –

 

SHAWNA (D)     Cleo, are you OK?

 

CLEO                 What? Yeah, of course I am. And maybe the Doctor will show up. I’ve been messaging her.

 

SHAWNA (D)     Eh? What?

 

CLEO                 She said to keep in touch. So I did.

 

Silence.

 

CLEO             Shawna? SHAWNA (D)                       I’m here.

CLEO                 You don’t believe me do you? SHAWNA (D)        It’s not that…

CLEO                 Well when I have proof about these rats, maybe you’ll believe me then. It’s just a matter of patience. They’ll show up.

 

SHAWNA (D)     The Doctor or the rats?

Scene 1.12 – INT. CAR. DAY

 

FX: Traffic noises. We join Abby and Shawna en route to Aberdeen

 

ABBY                 Cleo, just be careful. If you’re all alone in a park in London, it’s not rats you should be looking out for.

 

CLEO (D)           I’m on it. I should be quiet really, I’m scaring the rats away. But enjoy scoping out wedding venues. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.

 

ABBY                 We’re not! Right stay safe. Ok bye, bye!

 

FX: Shawna ends the call.

 

SHAWNA           (whines) Are we nearly there yet? I need a wee. ABBY   Just twenty minutes

SHAWNA           OK. Holdable. (Beat) She’s not letting this ‘Doctor’ thing drop, is she?

 

ABBY                 I don’t know what to say anymore.

 

SHAWNA           Maybe she’s right. I remember so little of what happened last year, maybe we really did meet this Doctor woman and just forgot it. You think?

 

Abby struggles to accept Cleo’s version of events.

 

ABBY                 Oh, I just don’t know, Shawna. Maybe all the answers are in Torchwood House.

 

 

Scene 1.13 – INT. CLEO HOME. NIGHT

 

FX: Tired, Cleo settles in on sofa and starts recording.

 

CLEO                 Hello Blue Boxers, this is Cleo Proctor – the solo album years.

 (Beat) Abby and Shawna are too busy picking out shades of Farrow & Ball to join me right now.

 

Pause.

 

Whatever these rats are, they weren’t feeling my tin of cat food. I dread to think what people thought I was doing in that hedge, but we move. I’m going full Abby research mode. I can do this all by myself if I need to.

 

FX: She gets out her laptop and types away.

 

CLEO                 OK, the news story says the woman who lost her dog is called Esther Daley and it says she’s on the Isle of Dogs…which is unfortunate given what happened to her dog.

 

FX: More typing.   

 

Esther Daley, lives in London…let’s see. Yep, that’s her. Right then. I guess we slide into the old DMs…

Scene 1.14– EXT. TORCHWOOD ESTATE. DAY

 

FX: Rural nature vibes. Footsteps crunch through gravel as Abby and Shawna arrive at the estate last seen in Tooth and Claw.

SHAWNA           Oh wow. It’s so pretty. (Beat) Do they do weddings? ABBY They do! But get that idea out of your head. Torchwood

has quite the history. Queen Victoria once stayed here, you know?

 

SHAWNA           I did not know. Can we go inside?

 

ABBY                 Aye. Open To The Public. This way I think.

 

FX: They head inside.

Scene 1.15 – INT. TORCHWOOD HOUSE. DAY

 

FX: Grandfather clock ticking. Fusty mansion vibes. Abby and Shawna make their way through the house.

 

SHAWNA           (Hushed) It’s giving haunted house. ABBY      I would not want to spend the night here.

MORAG             (from afar) In case the werewolves gobble you up? SHAWNA/ ABBY (gasp)

MORAG             Sorry to give yous a fright. Couldn’t resist. I’m Morag Stewart.

Curator.

 

ABBY                 Werewolves?

 

FX: MORAG descends stairs to join them in the foyer.

 

MORAG             Aye that’s the story. Did you not see our episode of Most Haunted?

 

SHAWNA           No.

 

ABBY                 We’ve come about the break-in?

 

MORAG             I’ve got the CCTV for you.

 

SHAWNA           You have?

 

MORAG             I’m sorry. Are yous not the police? SHAWNA         (ABJECT HORROR) No!

ABBY                 Um no.

 

MORAG             Oh I see. (FROWNS) Did Archie send you from “The Institute”?

 

SHAWNA           N -

 

ABBY                 Aye. Aye he did.

 

MORAG             About time! I’ve been calling and calling him! No answer! I’ve had to close the tea room. Nightmare. I’ve spent all day today trying to work out if anything was taken. So strange. A house full of priceless antiques and they tried to get into the cellars of all places.

SHAWNA           The cellar?

 

MORAG             Exactly! Yous lot cleared everything out years back so I don’t know what they were looking for.

 

SHAWNA           So there was something worth stealing in the basement? MORAG I thought you said you were from the Institute?

ABBY                 Ms Stewart…

 

MORAG             Och just Morag, please.

 

ABBY                 What’s the Torchwood Institute? I’m sorry. I don’t want to lie.

We’re from a podcast investigating Torchwood.

 

MORAG             (Hesitant) I wouldn’t know anything about it. SHAWNA    Wow, even I lie better than that.

MORAG             I wouldn’t go asking too many questions about Torchwood if I were you. I’m just from the National Trust for Scotland. I make tea and scones, deary, I swear on my mother’s grave.

 

ABBY                 OK. We know this house was private until 2007. What was it before that? I heard it was some sort of an archive facility…an archive of what exactly?

 

MORAG             (PAUSE) Look. Any house this old is going to have some bloodstains under the rugs, know what I mean? (Sighs) You didn’t hear this from me, OK?

 

ABBY                 Ok of course.

 

MORAG             You need to speak to an old fella called Archie Bell. That is, if you can get hold of him. I assumed he’d sent you.

 

ABBY                 OK. And where’s he?

 

MORAG             Glasgow city centre, about three hours’ drive from here. SHAWNA You have got to be kidding.

Scene 1.16 – INT. CLEO BEDROOM. NIGHT

 

FX: Cleo records a voice message. Rustle of sheets.

 

CLEO                   Me again. It’s just gone 1 am and I can’t sleep.

My leg is doing that twitching thing.

 

She pauses.

 

CLEO                 Doctor, I don’t know where to start. I keep hitting these dead ends and I know that you’re all up in space and time and whatever, but if any of you happen to be in 2023, we need your help. There’s these rats that don’t look right, and I think the Prime Minister could be a cyborg and…you know what? I need you.

 

She takes a breath.

 

CLEO                 I know! I know you told me to stay here and sort my life out, but I don’t wanna be here anymore. It’s not fair. No-one else remembers what happened but me. What am I meant to do with that knowledge? After all that, how am I supposed to go to college, and go on dates with absolute wastemen, and eat vegan sausage rolls, and bingewatch every night? There’s a whole universe to explore, and I’m stuck on these three or four streets. You could…you could take me away from all this.

 

FX – A crackle of weird static. A man’s garbled voice can be heard – very briefly. Do we hear the phrase ‘Cleo Proctor?’

 

MAN/APEX         Cleo Proctor!

 

CLEO                 Doctor? Doctor is that you?

 

 

FX: Cleo jabs some buttons on her phone.

 

CLEO                 Stupid thing! Was that you? OK. Doctor, if you can hear this, tomorrow I’m going in search of the rats. London Docklands. Meet me there. Don’t let me down. C’mon. Send me a sign!

 

FX: Cleo’s phone rings

 

CLEO               Doctor! Finally!

 

ESTHER           Hello, is that Cleo Proctor? I got your message

CLEO               Doctor?!?

ESTHER           My name’s Esther. You messaged. About the giant rats.

 

 

Scene 1.17 EXT. ESTHER’S HOUSE. DAY

 

FX: Flight from London City overhead. Patio door slides open and Esther brings Cleo a mug of tea to the garden.

 

ESTHER            Oat milk and two sugars.

 

CLEO                 Thank you. And thanks again for fitting me in. ESTHER  That’s OK. What did you say this was for again?

CLEO                 Blue Box Files. We’re actually legit now. Half a mil listeners and everything. Turns out there’s a lot of really paranoid people out there. Can’t say I blame them.

 

ESTHER            And you look into…weird stuff?

 

CLEO                 The weirder the better. Oh – sorry, I didn’t mean. (Pause) I’m so sorry about your dog. It sounds pure horrific.

 

Esther is understandably very sad.

 

ESTHER            He was my first dog, just a puppy when I got him. Eight years. He was my best friend.Yeah. And no-one seems to care. A rat the size of a child and no-one gives two hoots.

 

CLEO                 Well I care. (Beat) Can you show me where you saw it? ESTHER          Sure, just at the bottom of the garden.

FX: The pair travel over the lawn and into the thicket.

 

ESTHER            It was just here.

 

CLEO                 OK, and what happened after you saw it?

 

ESTHER            There was just one of them. I know it sounds mad, but it was upright, on its hind legs. It was wet and pink and covered in patchy grey fur. Huge, sharp teeth, yellow eyes. Hideous.

 

CLEO                 Jesus…

 

ESTHER            I only saw it for a split second and then it darted away.

 

Cleo takes all this in.

 

CLEO                 What do you think it was?

ESTHER            It was a rat! Just a rat unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Its tail was like a snake.

 

FX: Cleo pushes further into the undergrowth.

 

ESTHER            It ran into that hole in the fence. CLEO What’s on the other side?

ESTHER            A wasteland really. It’s all derelict. You know Docklands was pretty much a dump until the 1990s. It used to be a port, but was in ruins for decades. Anything could have been growing here, living in the filth.

 

CLEO                 What, with all the bankers in Canary Wharf? Sounds about right.

 

FX: She crouches to see if she can fit in the gap.

 

ESTHER            What are you doing?

 

CLEO                 I’m gonna go have a look around. See what I can see. It’s what the Doctor would do.

 

ESTHER            Who?

 

CLEO                 Never mind. Listen; can I borrow this little garden fork thing?

Scene 1.18 – EXT. DOCKLAND. DAY

 

FX: Cleo crawls through the fence and finds herself on a wasteland. She stumbles to her feet. She starts a voice note.

 

CLEO                 Hello this is Cleo Proctor from the Blue Box Files. OK, I’m presently on wasteland in London Docklands in search of the mutant rats terrorising the capital.

 

FX: She pushes through shrubland.

 

I dunno if the police searched around here, but it stinks and it’s covered in junk. It’s basically a flytipping junkyard. If I was a giant rat, I’d choose this place too. There’s, like, an old boatyard or something…

 

FX: Cleo freezes. We hear a squeaking, a scuttering of little paws before a bit of corrugated iron clatters over.

 

OK, did you hear that? I don’t think I’m alone. Something just knocked some fencing over. (Beat) Doctor, if you’re up there, I’d really like to hear that weird TARDIS noise any second now…

 

FX: Instead, there’s a louder squeak and Cleo jumps.

 

(exclamation!) That was closer that time. I hope my phone picked that up. It’s just a rat. What’s the worst it can do?

Rabies, plague, mauling, fair point.

 

Everything seems quiet.

 

I’m gonna check out the boathouse and then I’m out of here.

Scene 1.19 INT. BOATHOUSE. DAY

 

FX: We hear a banging as Cleo kicks in a boarded-up window. It clatters open.

 

CLEO                 Urgh! Well that reeks.

 

FX: She slides through the narrow window on her tummy.

 

CLEO                 Hmph! Ow!

 

FX: She struggles to her feet.

 

CLEO                 (calls out) Hello? Anybody home?

 

FX: There’s no reply. She starts her voicenote again.

 

CLEO                 I’m inside the boathouse now. It’s like a workshop or something, but totally abandoned. I don’t think anyone’s been here for years.

 

FX: She wanders the hall. Footsteps echo. A pigeon in the rafters.

 

CLEO                 Nothing to see here. Wild goose chase. Wild rat -

 

FX: There’s a wooden groan as the trapdoor she’s standing on breaks with a loud splintering noise. Cleo screams as she plummets through the floor and lands messily in the cellar.

 

CLEO                 Ow! Ow! (Coughing) (She recovers) Oh my god!

 

FX: She coughs and dusts herself off. Her phone broke in the fall.

 

CLEO                 Not my phone! (She tries to turn it on) As if….come

on….come on. No way! That was brand new! Damn it!

 

FX: She stops when she hears little feet scampering.

 

CLEO                 OK…what was that?

 

FX: We hear some light squeaking.

 

CLEO                 Please be a cat. I can hear you! I’m not tryin’ to hurt you yeah?

 

FX: More feet, more squeaking. Then rasping, dribbling.

 

CLEO                 Oh my god…what the hell?

 

FX: The snarling gets louder as the rats skulk out of the darkness.

CLEO                 No way…this can’t be real.

 

FX: The squeaking, rasping intensifies.

 

CLEO                 Please stop! Stop! Stay away!

 

FX: More and more rats pour into the cellar.

 

I said get back! (Effort as)

 

FX: Cleo wields garden fork, scrape against concrete

 

 

FX: We hear a wet smush as she stabs one with the garden fork. The rat shrieks in pain.

 

CLEO                 Just leave me alone…

 

FX: The rats swarm around her. Cleo screams as they bear down on her.

 

CLEO                 HELP ME Doctor!

 

The music builds into a threatening synth and ends abruptly with a distortion. Before building into a gleefully Whovian, alien symphony of synths and electric keyboard that cuts off into piano that continues under the rest of the credits.

 

 

END CREDITS    Doctor Who: Redacted. Episode One, Regrets by Juno Dawson. Starring Charlie Craggs as Cleo Proctor, Lois Chimimba Abby Mcphail, Holly Quin-Ankrah Shawna Thompson, Anjli Mohindra Rani Chandra, Maggie Service Morag, Teri Ann Bobby-Baxter Esther and Sam Stafford as Ed. Directed by Bethany Weimers, Producer James Goss, Sound design by Rob Harvey, Original Composition by David Devereux. A BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.