We're approaching a planet.
Which one?
You should soon see.
Ow!
What's the matter, my dear?
I burnt myself.
It's hot.
Oh, something overheating here.
Just as where we're landing.
Susan, check the fault decoder, please.
We're not going to blow up or anything, are we?
No, no, no, no, of course not.
It's just well there we were in the late 18th century.
And I tried another frequency to sidestep the ship back into the middle of the 20th
century.
There's something on QR18, Grandfather, and A14D.
Stand by!
Grandfather, close the door.
Help me!
Anything!
Close the door!
Don't argue, dear boy!
It's an emergency!
Just standing.
Oh.
You all right, Doctor?
What?
Are you all right?
Oh, please don't bother me.
What happened just then?
Susan, go back to the fault decatur, and I want you to check everything, child.
Do you understand?
Everything!
Well, at least we seem to be all right.
Oh, don't be childish.
They opened.
The door was open before we properly materialized.
But what does it mean?
Look, you needn't keep it a secret from us.
What?
Doctor, don't keep it in suspense.
Oh, don't run with these futile questions, please.
Can't you understand?
Can't you see?
No, we can't.
That's just it.
We were just about to materialize when the doors opened, and we hadn't properly adjusted.
You mean something went out of the ship?
No, that's impossible.
It came inside.
Oh, please, don't keep talking of the 20th century level.
I'm talking about time travel.
Neither of you can understand what I'm talking about.
I can see that.
How could we?
You've never explained it to us.
My dear boy, I...
Grandfather, everything's all right.
There isn't a fault anywhere, not even a yellow standby.
There must be something wrong, Susan.
I shall have to check that fortificate to myself and make sure.
Excuse me.
Oh, I do wish he wouldn't talk in riddles.
So do I.
Susan, perhaps you can help us.
Well, I just know the most dangerous moment is at the point of materialization.
Nothing's ever happened to us before.
Well, the doors have never opened like that before.
Well, happily no harm's been done.
It's most puzzling.
Oh, my dear Barbara, was I rude to you just now?
I'm so sorry.
I always forget the niceties under pressure.
Please forgive me.
There's nothing to forgive.
Thank you.
Well, I suppose everything's all right and yet...
You see, the temperature there is perfect.
It's quite safe to go outside.
Oh, Susan, just turn on the scanner and let's try and see where we are.
Shut up!
Perhaps you need a new tune, Doctor.
Did you notice the way it blew out?
Yes, it was like an internal explosion of some sort.
Like something too big for its frame.
Yes.
And yet I don't know, that can't be right.
What do we do now, Doctor?
Take the scanner out and strip it down?
Oh, no, no, don't, dear boy.
No, it's most puzzling, of course, but now we don't know what's behind those doors.
Oh, we must go outside and look.
You said it was quite safe.
Yes.
I wonder why...
Well, we must see.
Shall I open the doors, Doctor?
Yes, please, Susan.
Would all of you, possess me, please?
Doctor, what made the doors open before?
The space pressure was far too great for us to materialise.
The strange thing is that we all came out of it unscathed.
It's most puzzling.
It's a big mystery, my boy.
Come along.
Like a mountain path or something.
Now, why wouldn't the scanner show us all this?
Perhaps that was the only damage to the ship, Doctor.
Overloading on the scanner circuits.
Yes, I suppose so.
It could be.
What a strange rock formation.
Yes, it is, isn't it?
There are two different types of rock.
Doctor?
Hmm?
Look.
This is ordinary stone up here.
But this down here seems to be quite different.
Jessica, come here.
Come here.
What's that cement?
Might be.
Rather a rough kind, isn't it?
Yes.
Very rough.
They look like pebbles of sand, don't they?
Yes.
It's manufactured anyway to hold the stone in place.
You know, to fix it firmly beneath.
I'd have thought the stone was heavy enough to keep itself in place.
Yes, it's all most odd, isn't it?
Most odd.
Now, Barbara, I suggest that you and I take that path
and Susan and you, sir, go that way.
Hmm?
Yes, all right.
But stay within calling distance.
And if you see anything, sing out.
We'll do the same.
Yes, yes, yes.
How dirty this rock here is.
But don't leave me.
Doctor!
Doctor, it's a huge snake!
What?
Yes.
Let's call the others.
Oh, yeah. Wait, wait, wait.
Yes, I think it's dead.
It's a fantastic size.
No eyes, no head.
You see, it's a...
The skin's interesting, isn't it?
Interesting?
Yes, it's a...
It's a dowling, you see.
Doctor.
Doctor, are you sure it isn't just sleeping?
Oh, no, no, no. It's quite dead. No, no.
Death, you see, has its own particular posture and appearance.
Yes, yes.
Let's go a bit further.
Yes.
Warm, isn't it?
Yes.
Ian!
Look at this!
That's odd.
Suppose it couldn't be an egg.
Not that size.
There are more of them over there. Look.
Yes. Ostrich?
It ought to be rounder than this.
Strange.
There are dozens of them over here.
There's a whole pile of them.
Ian!
It is dead, isn't it?
Yes.
It's dead, all right.
Stiff as a poker.
What a fantastic size.
Yes.
It's a giant hent.
That's right, it is, Ian.
It looks as though it was trying to carry these eggs.
Yes, well, that's natural behaviour for an ant.
When it's attacked, take the eggs to safety.
The worker ant would give his life rather than abandon the eggs, you know.
He couldn't have had much of a chance, could he?
He must have died quickly.
Yes.
What are these eggs scattered about?
The other ants must have been frightened away.
I wonder what sort of a world could produce an insect
that size.
Well, here we are then.
This is the tail end of it.
And I know what it is.
It's a huge earthworm.
What?
Yes, there are no earthworms this size on your planet.
You're right, there aren't.
You know, except for its size, I could swear that it came from your world.
Well, let's go on.
Come along.
It's a bit like a maze, really, all these channels.
We must be careful not to get lost.
Oh, no, we won't.
No, and I'm determined to get lost.
Oh, no, we won't.
No, and I'm determined not to go back until we discover something more definite.
At the moment, we only have one phenomenon and this mystery.
What mystery?
Well, all this maze you're talking about.
You know, I admit it's a bit haphazard,
but it seems to have some kind of pattern about it.
And this pattern suggests to me that there's a brain with a purpose behind it all.
Come along.
Again, I've counted six of those dead ants.
Yes, I know, they're all about us, everywhere.
Now, this is really baffling.
It's a huge picture of mite-scented stock.
Yes, it is.
But why put up a picture of it? I don't get it.
Ah, from writing.
This is the LC Company Limited, Norwich.
Norwich, that's England, isn't it? Norfolk.
Yes, it is.
Susan, this means we're on Earth.
Something very odd here.
First those ants, now this.
I suppose it couldn't be part of a crazy exhibition.
You know, where everything had been increased in size.
Well now, this is interesting.
This has been cut by a manufacturer.
Look out, mate!
Are you all right?
Yes, fine.
Here, give me your ear, miss. I'll give you a last ear-lick.
Hey, look at the end of that. It's all charred.
Yes, you can see quite clearly what this is. It's a matchstick.
It certainly looks like one.
No, it doesn't look like one. It is a matchstick.
What, that size?
Can't you see? That huge earthworm and now this.
Can't you see what's happened?
I don't understand this at all, Susan.
I'm going to have a look around the other side of this.
All right.
Look at this matchbox.
This must be an exhibition, Susan.
Something like the World's Fair. Things this size.
No, Ian.
Oh, what else? Look at the scale of things.
You're wrong, Ian. Completely wrong.
I thought just now that something was wrong when I saw that, but now I'm sure.
All right. What's your theory, then?
Well, these things are all made of wood.
Now I'm sure. All right. What's your theory, then?
Well, these things haven't been made bigger. We've been made smaller.
Smaller?
We have been reduced roughly to the size of an inch.
An inch?
You, me, all of us and the ship.
We must get hold of the others quickly and return to the TARDIS.
No, Susan. No. It can't be.
I'm right, Ian. I know I am.
That's the danger Grandfather was afraid of when the doors opened.
He wouldn't admit it was possible, that's all.
It isn't possible, Susan. It's ridiculous.
Oh, Ian, work it out for yourself.
The doors of TARDIS opened. That means the space pressure forced us to reduce.
What's that?
What is it?
Run, Susan, run!
Ian?
Ian, where are you?
Oh, Barbara!
Barbara, over here!
Oh, Barbara!
Susan, what's the matter?
What's happened to...
There was a great big matchbox. A huge one.
And Ian and I came to have a look at it and he sat on it.
And there was this terrible noise.
And he fell inside it and now he's gone.
It's gone and he's inside it.
All right, Susan. It's all right.
Well, someone picked it up, I suppose.
We can climb this and see over the top.
Oh, Barbara, I can't reach it.
All right, I'll do it.
No, no, down, down, down, down, please, go.
Let me do it. You might hurt yourself.
Just step in, will you?
Be careful, grandfather.
Yes, yes.
Steady.
I'm all right.
Oh!
Well, it looks a tremendous distance to me.
There's a house over there and there's a man sitting down reading something.
It's a notebook, I think.
Did he have the matchbox?
How do I know?
I don't know how you know, but do you suppose he did?
I suppose so. You watch what you're doing, will you?
Well, look, doctor, give us some hope.
I mean, Ian's inside that matchbox.
Gently, gently.
We've got to find Chesterton.
Grandfather, suppose Ian and I walks off with it?
Have courage, my dear.
I know all this is a bit of a nightmare,
but we've just got to get Ian back and then we can go back to the ship.
And then can you get us back to normal size?
Well, of course, yes, I'll try. There's always a chance.
But first things first, we must find Chesterton.
And we can't go back that way. We must go back the same way we came.
Push, push, push, push, push.
Oh, hello. Thank you.
Mr. Forrester, isn't it?
We spoke on the telephone.
Yes, I got here as quickly as I could.
I hope you haven't taken any action yet.
Not yet, but I have written my report.
You do realise what's at stake here, Mr. Farrow.
The early experiments were noted by the ministry, welcomed in fact.
I've already geared factories, advertising and all the rest of it to start pushing DN6.
I'm sorry about that, but I can't give you the approval that you want.
We could, of course, spend more time on the refinery.
Oh, there's much more to it than that, as I mentioned to you on the telephone.
You want to bring in another expert, go over the tests again.
You're not a scientist, are you?
Well, let me put it this way.
On the surface, DN6 appeared to have all the characteristics of a major breakthrough in the manufacture of insecticide.
Well, I can quite understand why you pinned all your hooks on it,
particularly as my own ministry was so enthusiastic.
But the very exhaustive tests I have made show that DN6 is totally destructive.
Well, that was the idea, wasn't it?
I mean, Smithers says it'll even prevent locusts from breeding.
I don't think...
It'll wipe them out altogether.
I don't think I'm making myself quite clear.
There are many insects which make a vital contribution to agriculture,
and these insects must not die.
Did you know that?
Does Smithers know about this?
Well, I have expressed my doubts to him,
but he's so engrossed in this adventure that I shall have to make the hard facts to him very gently.
I see.
You're aware, of course, that if it doesn't go into production, I shall be completely ruined.
That is very unfortunate, but really, you should have waited until we'd given you the go-ahead.
Well, that's all very well, but it doesn't help me, does it?
Surely we can work something out.
There's a fortune to be made out of this.
I don't think I want to go on with this conversation.
Really, I shouldn't be seeing you at all,
except that I did promise over the phone that I would explain the facts to you in person.
What happens now?
Well, officially, my holiday commenced yesterday.
I have a small boat down in the harbor, and I'm going to make a tour of the rivers of France.
But before I go today, I shall telephone my ministry and then post them my report.
Couldn't you leave it until you get back from your holiday?
Give me a little grace?
Oh, you know I couldn't do that.
Do you know why I'm a success, Mr. Farrow?
Because I've never allowed the word can't to exist.
There's always a way, always.
Not this time.
This isn't business. This is science.
The formula is unacceptable, and I can't, and I do mean can't, Mr. Forrester,
allow DN6 to go into production.
Now I'll make that phone call.
Just a moment.
Don't move.
It's not moving.
Don't touch it.
I think it's dead.
But it could still sting.
What an all-inspiring sight.
Now, what chance with human beings do we have of a cure?
I don't know.
Now, what chance with human beings have I really wonder in a world of creatures like this be?
None at all.
Have a closer look.
Well, I haven't taken my eyes off it, Grandfather.
It hasn't even trembled.
I think you're right. It is dead.
It's the same distinctive aroma.
Yes, I've noticed it on all the other dead things.
Well, that must be what's killing them, then.
I wonder what would want to kill off nature like this.
What worries me is all the different things it's killing.
Things that fly in the air, things that move on the ground, things that move under the ground.
So indiscriminate.
Doctor, whatever it is that's killing these things, could it kill us, too?
Well, we must presume that it can.
So no eating or drinking until we've done our very best to find Ian, hmm?
That's not thunder, surely.
It sounded more like an ancient cannon.
Oh, we're progressing nicely.
I've seen a lot more of those dead ants, Doctor.
Yes, rather widespread, I'm afraid.
Oh, dear, I wonder what would have happened to us if any of those creatures had still been alive.
Yes, I wonder, I wonder.
And you say you saw that man?
Yes, he's over here.
Oh, not any further, please. I'm exhausted. It's taken us ages to get here.
But that smell. Cordite? Gunpowder? Hmm?
Yes. That would explain the explosion. And also the man.
It's not far. Come on, I'll show you.
He's been shot dead.
Are you sure he is dead?
Oh, yes.
There's nothing but death all around us.
Yes, what's happening here?
You weren't with us, Chesterton, but every insect we came across was dead.
Yes. Susan and I saw a great many huge dead ants.
Everything else is the same, Ian.
Yes, and we don't know what it was that killed them.
But that man, he's been shot. Murdered.
What would kill insects in a perfectly ordinary garden?
I mean, pests one can understand, but surely it's wrong to kill bees and worms and things, isn't it?
Quite so. Both are vital to the growth of things.
However, we must leave this little mystery and get back to the ship.
As I said, my dear, it's fortunate for all of us that everything is dead.
Ah! Grandfather!
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