Original air dates 1 October – 22 October 1977.
Scientists apparently studying a too-old-to-exist human skull.
Hiker in a dark forest.
Scientists doing science. Too-old skull starts to glow. More so as computer does more things.
Hiker runs through dark forest.
Woman scientist transfixed by glowing skull.
Hiker screams.
Aboard the TARDIS, things go off course as a scan pulls them to a hole in time. Leela is not amused. Doctor has to go to stop them before they break their planet.
Professor worked all night. Wants privacy to be maintained, so wants to not call the authorities about the hiker’s body.
Has an autopsy done on the hiker. Body is decomposing very rapidly, despite should have being fresh. Nobody knows why, very peculiar.
Doctor and Leela arrive in a field of cows. There is clearly not a rogue time scanner here. They look.
Science boffins are interrupted by their security detail, who’re not helpful. Senior Scientist Bad Accent has to reveal his True Work to the junior guy – time analysis. Junior guy is not having any of it.
Doctor and Leela sneak in past guards with dogs.
Lady Scientist sneaks in to computer room, fiddles with knobs. Skull glows. She’s still transfixed by that, somehow. A guard fires a gun, possibly at Leela. The Doctor looks on in horror as credits roll.
Leela dodges, waits for gunman to accost her, knobbles him. Doctor runs off. A second man comes in demanding to know what’s going on.
Young Scientist finds Woman Scientist in computer room, distracted. Security guy is down in the kitchen. Doctor enters as Young Scientists examines fallen man. Woman Scientist falls, and glows, with some tentacly things around her.
Doctor predicts armageddon, gets locked up by Lead Scientist’s security.
Leela is talking to a young man who’s explaining things.
Lead Scientist is raving about aliens coming to Earth, and Young Scientist is having none of it.
Doctor is freed, wanders loose. Hears about a coven operating in the area.
Old Lady is hearing voices coming for her soul, will take all life. This is sort of what the Doctor said.
Lady Scientist is talking to empty rooms, “I need help.” She finds xrays of skull with pentagram in it. Other scientist is being creepy, has picked Lady Scientist as “the chosen one”.
Doctor sees skull glow. Touches it, screams. Not smart, Doctor. Credits roll, yay.
Doctor predicts a 100 hour time limit on scanner. Shown it’s run for 98 hours already. The Second Scientist is telling all his plans to his victim/chosen one.
The Second Scientist waits for his followers. Doctor runs off to the Fifth Planet in the TARDIS.
Doctor and Leela are stalking the dark forest looking for a time breech. Lead Science guy tries to stop the coven, is shot.
Doctor and Leela find Old Lady and Her Son in the house, and are frozen in place by a slmy yarn monster accompanied by scary organ music. Credits roll!
Doctor shoots monster with rock salt, everyone runs. Sacrifice turns into a gold-skilled thing on the floor, begins to float. More organ music!
Gold Thing starts to turn coven into slug monsters. Little baby ones. Priest-Wannabe is unhappy with what is happening.
Priest-Wannabe kills himself rather than turn into a slug monster.
Doctor and others fight back with salt bombs and cunning plans. They’re trying to swipe the skull and get out before the scanner beam implodes.
The plan goes off okay, the golden doll vanishes, the house implodes. Doctor and Leela flee to the TARDIS and vamoose before they have to explain everything. Everyone else has tea.
Doctor and Leela destroy the skull with a supernova.