Barnham neutralizes the Keller Machine
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Doctor realizes the Keller Machine is more powerful than before and struggles to find a way to stop it. He expresses doubt about being able to set up the coils again without being killed.
Barnham enters the room, drawn by a noise, and unwittingly causes the Keller Machine to stop temporarily. This reveals a connection between Barnham and the machine's activity.
The Doctor uses Barnham as a shield against the Keller Machine, discovering that Barnham's presence neutralizes the machine's power. This provides a temporary solution to contain the immediate threat.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Terrified and confused, with a childlike trust in the Doctor’s guidance. His emotional state is a mix of fear, compliance, and a dawning realization of his unintended importance.
Barnham, disoriented and fearful, stumbles into the Process Theatre, unaware of his role in neutralizing the Keller Machine. The Doctor grabs him and uses him as a shield, forcing him closer to the Machine. Barnham resists initially, his fear palpable, but complies when the Doctor reassures him. His presence alone causes the Machine to deactivate, revealing his processed mind as its Achilles’ heel. He remains passive but compliant, his confusion and fear evident in his dialogue and body language.
- • Avoid the Keller Machine’s wrath, even if it means being used as a shield.
- • Understand why the Machine reacts to him, though he lacks the capacity to fully grasp the situation.
- • The Doctor knows what he’s doing and will keep him safe.
- • His processed mind is somehow connected to the Machine’s behavior, though he doesn’t understand how.
N/A (Antagonist entity, but its 'behavior' can be described as menacing yet vulnerable in Barnham’s presence.)
The Keller Machine, a grotesque and resilient brain-like entity, reacts violently to the presence of others but falls silent in Barnham’s proximity. Its deactivation in Barnham’s presence confirms the Doctor’s theory that it feeds on evil impulses and is repelled by Barnham’s processed mind. The Machine’s behavior is both a threat and a puzzle, its intelligence making it adaptable and dangerous. It serves as a physical manifestation of the story’s themes of evil and moral purity, its reactions driving the Doctor’s experiments.
- • Feed on evil impulses to sustain itself and grow stronger.
- • Escape containment and cause destruction, prioritizing potent sources of evil.
- • Its survival depends on exploiting the evil in others.
- • Barnham’s mind is an anomaly it cannot comprehend or overcome.
Frustrated yet determined, with a calculated calm that masks his desperation. His tone shifts from urgency to explanatory patience, revealing both his strategic mind and his need to justify his actions to Jo.
The Doctor, initially frustrated by the Keller Machine’s escalating power and the failure of his previous containment methods, seizes upon Barnham’s unintentional neutralization effect. He physically grabs Barnham and uses him as a living shield, forcing him closer to the Machine to test its reaction. His actions are a mix of scientific curiosity and desperate pragmatism, revealing both his brilliance and his moral flexibility. He explains the Machine’s vulnerability to Jo, framing Barnham’s processed mind as a 'screen' that neutralizes evil impulses, while also reassuring Barnham to keep him compliant.
- • Contain the Keller Machine before it causes further destruction or harm.
- • Understand the Machine’s vulnerability to Barnham’s processed mind for future strategic use.
- • The Keller Machine’s intelligence makes traditional containment methods obsolete.
- • Barnham’s lack of evil impulses is the key to neutralizing the Machine, even if it requires exploiting his vulnerability.
Confused but attentive, with a hint of unease at the Doctor’s methods. Her tone is inquisitive, reflecting her role as both a companion and a representative of the audience’s perspective.
Jo stands beside the Doctor, initially confused by the Machine’s sudden deactivation in Barnham’s presence. She questions the Doctor’s actions, seeking clarification about Barnham’s role and the Machine’s behavior. Her dialogue reveals her growing understanding of the situation, though she remains visibly unsettled by the Doctor’s use of Barnham as a shield. She acts as a grounding presence, her confusion mirroring the audience’s potential disbelief at the turn of events.
- • Understand why the Keller Machine reacts to Barnham’s presence.
- • Ensure Barnham is not harmed by the Doctor’s experiments.
- • The Doctor’s methods, while effective, may be ethically questionable.
- • Barnham’s safety is as important as containing the Machine.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Keller Machine, a grotesque brain-like entity housed in a humming apparatus, is the focal point of the event. It initially reacts violently to the Doctor and Jo’s presence, its psychic assaults threatening their safety. However, when Barnham enters, the Machine falls silent, confirming its vulnerability to his processed mind. The Doctor uses this anomaly to experiment, forcing Barnham closer to the Machine to test its reactions. The Machine’s deactivation in Barnham’s presence is both a narrative turning point and a symbolic moment, highlighting the conflict between evil and moral purity. Its physical presence on the table in the Process Theatre underscores its role as an uncontrollable force of destruction, repelled only by Barnham’s innocence.
The containment coils, previously used by the Doctor to sabotage the Keller Machine, are mentioned but dismissed as ineffective. The Doctor explains that the Machine’s intelligence has adapted, nullifying their previous success. This object serves as a narrative device to highlight the Machine’s evolving threat and the Doctor’s need for new strategies. Its failure underscores the urgency of the situation and the desperation driving the Doctor’s experiments with Barnham.
The Process Theatre table serves as the platform for the Keller Machine, placing it at the center of the conflict. The Doctor and Jo stand near it, while Barnham is forced closer by the Doctor to test the Machine’s reactions. The table’s sterile, clinical setting contrasts with the chaotic and dangerous nature of the Machine, emphasizing the institutional origins of the threat. It becomes a battleground where the Doctor’s experiments unfold, with Barnham’s presence turning it into a temporary safe zone.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Process Theatre is a fortified chamber deep within Stangmoor Prison, designed for the containment and study of the Keller Machine. Its sterile environment contrasts with the chaos unleashed by the Machine’s escape, creating a tension-filled battleground. The Doctor, Jo, and Barnham navigate this space as the Machine’s violent reactions rip through the room, hurling furniture and threatening their safety. Barnham’s unintentional neutralization of the Machine turns the theatre into a testing ground for the Doctor’s experiments, with the table at its center serving as ground zero for the confrontation. The atmosphere is one of urgency and danger, underscored by the Machine’s humming and the Doctor’s desperate strategies.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
UNIT’s influence is implied in this event through the Doctor’s role as a scientific adviser and the broader context of the Keller Machine’s containment. While UNIT troops are not physically present in the Process Theatre, their institutional protocols and resources are referenced indirectly. The Doctor’s experiments with Barnham and the Keller Machine reflect UNIT’s broader mission to contain alien threats, even if his methods are unorthodox. The organization’s absence in this moment highlights the Doctor’s independent problem-solving, though his actions ultimately serve UNIT’s goals of neutralizing the threat.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The Doctor's decision to focus on the Keller Machine after it escaped leads directly to him discovering Barnham's ability to neutralize it. One directly follows the other."
Doctor Warns of Master’s Nerve Gas Threat"The Doctor's decision to focus on the Keller Machine after it escaped leads directly to him discovering Barnham's ability to neutralize it. One directly follows the other."
Doctor Prioritizes Machine Over Master"Barnham's entrance into the room and the subsequent stopping of the Keller Machine directly leads to the Doctor experimenting and discovering that Barnham's presence neutralizes the machine's power. The discovery is a direct consequence of Barnham's inadvertent action."
Doctor uses Barnham to neutralize the Machine"Following the realization that using Barnham as a shield works, the Doctor deduces the underlying reason: Barnham's lack of evil impulses neutralizes the machine. This demonstrates the Doctor's intelligence and problem-solving abilities."
Doctor uses Barnham to neutralize the Machine"The Keller Machine's escape and subsequent killing of prison officers Dave and Bill escalates the threat, leading the Doctor to investigate and realize the machine is now even more powerful. This prompts his concern over how to stop it."
Keller Machine kills prison officers"Barnham's entrance into the room and the subsequent stopping of the Keller Machine directly leads to the Doctor experimenting and discovering that Barnham's presence neutralizes the machine's power. The discovery is a direct consequence of Barnham's inadvertent action."
Doctor uses Barnham to neutralize the Machine"Following the realization that using Barnham as a shield works, the Doctor deduces the underlying reason: Barnham's lack of evil impulses neutralizes the machine. This demonstrates the Doctor's intelligence and problem-solving abilities."
Doctor uses Barnham to neutralize the MachineKey Dialogue
"BARNHAM: What's wrong?"
"DOCTOR: Barnham, get out of here! Get back!"
"BARNHAM: I heard this noise. I was..."
"JO: It's stopped."
"DOCTOR: The mind of evil, Jo. I should have realised. That creature feeds on the evil impulses of the brain."
"JO: And Barnham hasn't got any."
"DOCTOR: No, the machine extracted them all. Something in his mind acts as a screen and neutralises it. So long as he's here, we're perfectly safe."