Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (TV story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story SMW

|season number  = Series 12 (Doctor Who 2005)

|story number    = 290

|writer          = Nina Métivier

|broadcast date  = 19 January 2020

|network        = BBC One

|clip2          = Tesla Enters the TARDIS - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - Doctor Who

|clip3          = The Doctor vs the Skithra Queen - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror - Doctor Who

'''''Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror''''' was the fourth episode of [[series 12 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 12]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

[[New York City]], the turn of the [[20th century]]. For [[Nikola Tesla]], his grand [[idea]]s for revolutionising [[electricity]] and [[communication]] are proving to be a hard sell to the public. His [[business]] [[Enemy|rival]], [[Thomas Edison]], may not want him to succeed, but surely even he cannot be behind the sudden appearance of hostile [[Skithra|alien scavengers]]? The [[Thirteenth Doctor]] and her friends are about to find out.

Tesla and his assistant, [[Dorothy Skerrit]], discover a dead man nearby. She believes he may have been killed by Tesla's apparatus, so he sets to work on it alone. That night, he realises some parts have been stolen and discovers a small green orb floating. Hearing mysterious noises, Tesla and Dorothy attempt to hide from a figure that turns out to be [[Thirteenth Doctor|the Doctor]], however, she is interrupted by the appearance of Brady with a gun. Brady is suddenly shot by a laser bolt, and the Doctor shows an escape route to Tesla and Dorothy.

Finding a passing steam train heading to [[New York City]], the group enter to find [[Graham O'Brien|Graham]], [[Yasmin Khan|Yaz]], and [[Ryan Sinclair|Ryan]] in period costume. The Doctor explains they were visiting the area when she picked up a strange energy reading that led her to Tesla. Realising who Tesla is, she introduces him to her friends. Suddenly, the train jolts and a figure with an energy weapon breaks in. The Doctor uses her [[sonic screwdriver]] on the door and they run, but Ryan halts at having to jump between the train carriages. After Ryan jumps to the next carriage, their pursuer drops through the ceiling, but the Doctor grabs its weapon and the group move to the next carriage, which the Doctor then separates from the rest of the train. The figure generates a ball of lightning from its hand and throws it, but misses its target as the carriages get further apart. Lowering its hood, the figure reveals itself to be one of the investors from Tesla's presentation, but he has glowing red eyes. Now safe, the Doctor reveals the weapon to be [[Silurian]] made and confronts Tesla over his claims of not having seen anything strange. However, Tesla does not intend to hand over the orb to her. As a result, the Doctor promises to not let him out of her sight.

Arriving in New York the next day, the Doctor's friends discover a crowd of protesters gathered in front of Tesla's lab. They are protesting against his attempts at using AC electricity, which they deem too unsafe. The Doctor and her group move past the protesters and Dorothy shows them the lab while Tesla lets out some of his frustrations. When he returns, Tesla finally shows the Doctor his orb, which she identifies as an "Orb of [[Thassor]]" - belonging to one of the ancient races who created them to share their knowledge. However, it appears to have been modified at some point. As the Doctor scans it, Tesla takes interest and bonds with her over also being an inventor. As they talk, Dorothy enters with a letter from a Mr Morgan explaining he is pulling his funding from Tesla's Wardenclyffe project. Just then, a camera goes off at the window, with Dorothy identifying the photographer as an employee of Tesla's long-time rival, [[Thomas Edison]]. Wondering what Edison could be after, the Doctor, Graham, and Ryan go to visit him while Yaz stays behind with Tesla and Dorothy.

Visiting Edison as he gives a speech about the dangers of AC, the Doctor manages to get a private discussion with him after Ryan shows him the alien weapon. Walking through a significantly more advanced laboratory than Tesla's, Edison denies wanting to steal anything from Tesla as he has enough products of his own. Edison explains that he gave Tesla his first job in the US, but upon not giving him the payout for his work, he quit, started work in digging ditches, and has been bitter ever since.

Meanwhile, Yaz asks Tesla about his Wardenclyffe project, and he explains his plans to be able to transmit all of humanity's knowledge wirelessly, although he has no investors.

In Edison's lab, two men argue about building parts and a piece drops to the floor. As one of them bends down to get it, the red-eyed figure appears and electrocutes everybody else standing in the room.

Edison begins to theorise that the Doctor is hired by Tesla to sabotage his tracking of Tesla's work when the red-eyed man enters, interrupting them. Edison recognises him as one of his workers but the Doctor realises he has no human readings. As he attacks, the group flees and discovers the human he took his appearance from, dead in the lab. Edison is upset but the Doctor refuses to let him shoot the red-eyed creature. Instead, she asks for zinc.

Back in Tesla's lab, Tesla hooks the orb up to his work station and confirms it is emitting too much energy. He and Yaz consider it is scanning for something.

As the Doctor's group hides, she uses the trail of zinc to trap the creature behind a wall of fire. After she asks it to reveal its true form, its face distorts and it disappears.

 

 

 

 

On the Skithra ship, Yaz and Tesla examine some equipment. The queen states Tesla must use his engineering prowess to prepare them for battle, but he refuses. In response, the queen commands her legions to kill Yaz. Meanwhile, the Doctor finds a "Braxium Bouncer, Mark III" in her toolbox for her to reach the ship with. However, she acknowledges that it will need time to recharge before she can return. As the queen prepares to kill Yaz, the Doctor appears and stops her. She realises the ship and most of the technology on it has been stolen from other races, which is why the queen needs an engineer to fix it. The queen states that she chose Tesla because of his intelligence, which was proven when answered back to their call - something he did not realise had worked. As the Doctor carries on talking, she distracts the Skithra with a camera just as the bouncer recharges and the three are teleported out.

Tesla finds himself saddened at how he has to turn himself in and his plans for inventions will never be realised, but the Doctor refuses to let him and tells him to explain the Wardenclyffe project. She realises it could be used to generate a single bolt of lightning that could hit the ship. Edison, however, dismisses the idea and he and Tesla argue about their respective ideologies. As Graham breaks them up, the Doctor concocts a plan: she and Tesla will finish the Wardenclyffe tower as she extends the TARDIS shields, Edison and Yaz will clear the streets, while Dorothy, Graham, and Ryan will work on ways to defend themselves.

Yaz attempts to generate panic on the streets to no effect, so Edison helps by playing on the public's existing fear of Tesla's experiments. Meanwhile, Graham and Ryan look through Tesla's inventions and find a "prototype death ray" as the Doctor plugs the TARDIS into the tower. As a disguised Skithra appears in the streets, Edison pulls out a pistol and attempts to shoot it. However, several more in their scorpion forms appear and start chasing them. Yaz and Edison find a hidden door leading them back to Wardenclyffe and they arrive just as a large group of Skithra amass at the shields and the lab is boarded up. Although outnumbered, the Doctor plans to take out the queen to ruin the species as they work as a hive. However, once the tower powers up, the shields will drop thirty seconds before it fires, meaning the group will have to fend the Skithra off themselves.

As the tower charges up, the Skithra begin attacking the lab, but the Doctor receives a signal and the Skithra stop attacking. With the prototype death ray failing, the Doctor realises she cannot attack the queen on the ship because she has landed at Wardenclyffe instead. The queen immediately disarms Edison and threatens the group. The Doctor attempts to take the bouncer, but she is apprehended by a disguised Skithra and it is given to the queen. However, the Doctor reveals this was part of her plan; throwing off the Skithra and sonicking the bouncer, the Doctor teleports the queen back to her ship, with the rest of the Skithra following. Tesla activates the tower and the Skithra ship is electrocuted, leaving them no choice but to fly away.

The next day, Edison admits to Tesla how impressed he is and offers him a chance to work for him again, but Tesla turns him down. Meanwhile, the Doctor and friends say goodbye to Dorothy. Although Yaz is convinced these events will change history and make Tesla more famous, the Doctor reveals that time stays as normal - Tesla will be forgotten and die penniless, though his actions remain and his inventions change the world. Tesla arrives and begs the Doctor to allow him a look at the TARDIS, but she convinces him that his inventions are more important. He agrees and, thanking the group, says that no matter what anyone believes, he will always work for the future. As he leaves, the Doctor leads her friends towards the very future Tesla helped shape.

== Worldbuilding ==

* Edison mentions how he once offered Tesla a [[job]] on the [[factory floor]] of his [[company]] and that he ended up digging [[ditch]]es for two [[Dollar|bucks]] a [[day]].

 

* [[Brady (Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror)|Mr Brady]] notes that he won't invest in [[fairy tale]]s.

* The [[Foreman (Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror)|Foreman]] thinks [[Bill Tallow]] was killed by an [[Electricity|electrical]] shock.

* A [[scientist]] in Edison's lab uses a [[grounding coil]].

* The [[Queen of the Skithra]] taunts the Doctor by asking her if she has "ever seen a [[dead planet]]".

* Graham notes that this is not their "first rodeo". Ryan notes they've never been to a [[rodeo]].

* The [[newspaper]] ''[[New York Bugle]]'' reported on Tesla's message from [[Mars]] in [[1903]]. Mr. Brady mentions Mars-stories, but Dorothy debunks them as unbelievable stories from [[the Times]].

* [[H.J. Bradshaw]] is a [[grocery store]] on Long Island.

* A [[restaurant]] is seen to be selling [[coffee]], [[sandwich]]es, [[tea]], [[cake]]s and [[chocolate]].

* The [[Old Ale House]] sells [[whisky]].

* [[K.L. Simmons Stores]] is a shop located on Long Island.

* Nikola Tesla invented the [[shadowgraph]] which later led to [[X-ray]]s, the [[automaton]] which led to [[drone]]s, and the [[patent]] for [[radio]] which later got taken by [[Guglielmo Marconi|Marconi]]. He also coined and thought up the idea of [[remote control]].

* The Skithra Queen has a [[Venusian]] [[spaceship]], that the Skithra has dubbed the [[Throne Ship of the Skithra]]. They have also stolen a [[Klendov warp drive]] and a [[Dullirian resonator]], as well as a [[starship power source]].

* The Doctor blinds the Queen of the Skithra with a [[camera]].

* Tesla notes that [[Dimensional transcendentalism|the TARDIS's internal dimensions transcend the external]].

* Cory Building, [[Cardiff]] - [[Nikola Tesla's laboratory]]

 

 

 

 

* In the United Kingdom, this story is available on [[BBC iPlayer]]''.''