Page 143 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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JOHN: I thought you didn’t care about things like that.
SHERLOCK: Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it.
(They walk into the Arches.)
JOHN: Listen: Alex Woodbridge had a message on the answerphone at his flat – a Professor
Cairns?
SHERLOCK: This way.
JOHN: Nice(!) Nice part of town. Er, any time you wanna explain.
SHERLOCK: Homeless network – really is indispensible.
JOHN (getting a small flashlight from his pocket and switching it on): Homeless network?
SHERLOCK: My eyes and ears all over the city.
JOHN: Oh, that’s clever. So you scratch their backs and ...
SHERLOCK: Yes, then I disinfect myself.
(He has also brought a torch and shines it around as they continue into the darkness of the
Arches. Their beams pick out homeless people all around the place, most of them settling down
for the night. Suddenly, in the distance, the shadow of a man shows on a wall as he begins to
stand up. The man is incredibly tall.)
JOHN: Sherlock!
SHERLOCK: Come on!
(They duck to the side of a wall while the man continues straightening up for ages until he is
over seven feet tall.)
JOHN (in a whisper): What’s he doing sleeping rough?
SHERLOCK (peering around the corner): Well, he has a very distinctive look. He has to hide
somewhere where tongues won’t wag – much.
(John looks down as he realises that he has come out without something essential.)
JOHN: Oh shi...
SHERLOCK (taking John’s pistol from his coat pocket): What?
JOHN: I wish I’d ...
SHERLOCK (handing him the gun): Don’t mention it.
(The man breaks into a run and hurries away down another tunnel. The boys chase across
towards where he was and reach the tunnel just in time to see him climbing into a waiting car
which immediately speeds off. Sherlock punches the air in frustration.)
SHERLOCK: No, no, no, no! It’ll take us weeks to find him again.
JOHN: Or not. I have an idea where he might be going.
SHERLOCK: What?
JOHN: I told you: someone left Alex Woodbridge a message. There can’t be that many Professor
Cairns in the book. Come on.

PLANETARIUM. Professor Cairns is alone in the planetarium’s theatre. As Gustav Holst’s “Mars”
plays over the sound system, she is standing at the mixing desk in front of a huge screen and
watching footage of a film which is played to visitors. Other than the light coming from the
screen, the room is in darkness.
NARRATOR (over the footage): Jupiter, the fifth planet in our solar system and the largest.
Jupiter is a gas giant. Planet Earth would fit into it eleven times.
CAIRNS (bored): Yes, we know that.
(She stops the recording and fast-forwards it for a moment because starting the playback
again.)
NARRATOR: Titan is the largest moon.
CAIRNS (fast-forwarding again): Come on, Neptune, where’re you hiding?
(Behind her, a hand pushes open the door to the theatre. A moment later, just as Cairns starts
the playback again, the door bangs shut. She looks round.)
NARRATOR: Many are actually long dead ...
(Cairns peers up to the projection room.)
CAIRNS: Tom? Is that you?
NARRATOR: ... exploded into supernovas.
(She turns back to the desk. Behind her a long arm reaches out towards her.)
NARRATOR: ... discovered by Urbain Le Verrier in 1846.
(A tall figure steps up behind Cairns and clamps one hand over her mouth and nose, pulling her
backwards.)
CAIRNS (muffled): Oh my God!

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)