City of Death ( TV story ) City of Death was the second story of Season 17 of " Doctor Who " . The first story to be filmed on location outside the UK , it was co - written by David Fisher , Douglas Adams and Graham Williams under the collective pseudonym of " David Agnew . " The story marked Julian Glover ' s second guest appearance on the series . It also featured a guest appearance by former " " star Catherine Schell , as well as cameos by comedic actors John Cleese and Eleanor Bron . " City of Death " had the highest average viewing figure of the Tom Baker era , with a rating of 14 . 5 million . It also has the all - time highest rating for an individual episode with 16 . 1 million . However , this rating is somewhat misleading , as the story was transmitted at a time when ITV were on strike , and therefore it transmitted without significant opposition . Synopsis . While taking in the sights of Paris in 1979 , the Fourth Doctor and Romana sense that someone is tampering with time . Who is the mysterious Count Scarlioni ? Why does he seem to have counterparts scattered through time ? And just how many copies of the Mona Lisa did Leonardo da Vinci paint ? Plot . Part one . Earth , 400 million years BC : the Jagaroth are trying to take off in their spaceship . However the pilot , Scaroth , tries to take off too soon . The ship explodes , seemingly killing everyone on board . . . Paris , 1979 : the Fourth Doctor and Romana II are at the top of the Eiffel Tower , admiring the view . The Doctor decides to take his companion to lunch at a particularly fine local restaurant and they take the elevator ( after briefly contemplating flying ) . They take the Paris Metro and cross several streets to get to a place which the Doctor claims does a wonderful bouillabaisse . At a château with a gargoyle ' s face on one of its doors , Professor Kerensky complains of lack of funds for the experiments he is conducting for his employer , Count Carlos Scarlioni . The Count gives him three million francs but the Professor insists he will certainly need more to keep the experiments going . At the restaurant , the Doctor and Romana experience a time distortion while an artist is sketching Romana , but he crumples the paper and throws it to the floor as she moves to observe him . They examine the discarded sketch and see that instead of Romana ' s face , there is a clock face . . . with a crack in it , almost like a crack in time . The Doctor thinks this gravely important . Romana suggests they sit outside , just in case . Back at the château , Scarlioni is impressed by the Professor ' s demonstration , though it was heavily flawed . The Count wants progress now and seems obsessed with time . He wants the next test today , but Kerensky doesn ' t understand the urgency . The Count calls it a matter of time . The Doctor tells Romana the time distortions must be a result of them moving through time fields so often . He shows her the picture , causing her to sniff that Gallifrey an computers draw a far better likeness . The Doctor cannot believe this attitude : he will show her the meaning of art and take her to the Louvre , one of the galaxy ' s greatest galleries . He must show her a painting unique in the universe : the " Mona Lisa " . Romana is not very impressed , but calls it " quite good " . The Doctor loudly declares it one of the finest pieces of art in the universe . A guide taking visitors through the gallery asks the Doctor if he can move along . Romana , having moved off for a few moments , returns and asks what she said . Before the Doctor can answer , there is another time slip back to the guide approaching the Doctor . The Doctor stumbles into her , passes by others and then collapses onto a bench where a lady was reading . A man in a trenchcoat gets the crowd out of the way and gets the Doctor on to the bench . When the man , Duggan , asks if he is all right , the Doctor tells him he just dented his head on his gun . Romana gets him up and takes him out . The lady on the bench nods to a man in a hat to follow . Duggan has already left to follow the Doctor and Romana . Duggan follows Romana and the Doctor through Paris . When they arrive at another cafe , Romana tells the Doctor they have been followed . The Doctor knows : " By that idiot with the gun " . He tells Romana to look in her pocket . She takes out a bracelet the Doctor removed from the woman in the Louvre . It is a micromeson scanner which someone is using to monitor the alarms in the Louvre around the " Mona Lisa " . Romana thinks the bracelet is too advanced a piece of technology for a level 5 civilisation . He tells her the bracelet is not the product of an Earth civilisation . She asks if an alien is trying to steal the painting . Duggan turns up , pointing a gun into the Doctor ' s back . The Doctor , Duggan and Romana are confronted by gun - wielding thugs sent by Countess Scarlioni to retrieve the stolen bracelet ; they then make their escape . Duggan believes the thugs were the Doctor ' s , but the Doctor denies this : " If anyone in my employ behaved like that , I ' d sack him on the spot ! " The Doctor asks if Duggan is English . They ask Duggan who Scarlioni is . Duggan says everyone on Earth ' s heard of Count Scarlioni . When the Doctor informs him they have only just arrived on Earth , Duggan accepts this but doesn ' t really think the Doctor is serious . He gives up and is about to leave until the Doctor mentions someone might want to steal the " Mona Lisa " . The Count instructs his wife to tell Hermann to bring the three to the château . At the café , Duggan has told Romana and the Doctor that masterpieces thought lost for centuries are turning up all over the place . He thinks they are extremely convincing fakes but they stand up to every scientific test . Two new thugs point guns at the trio and order them to follow . Back at the château , the Countess asks Hermann where her husband is . He does not know , but says the Professor is resting in his room . The Countess goes to the downstairs door but it is locked ; she calls his name . Her husband stands before a mirror and removes his human face , revealing his true form : a one - eyed , green Jagaroth . . . Part two . Two thugs shove the Doctor , Romana and Duggan into the château . Hermann takes them to the lounge and shoves the Doctor in at gunpoint . The Doctor falls but gets up , delighted by “ such a wonderful butler : he ' s so violent . ” On his knees , he introduces Romana , Duggan and himself to the Countess . The Doctor crawls to a Louis Quinze chair . Dismissing Hermann , he invites himself to a drink and seats Romana and Duggan , preparing drinks for them too . He tells her he is a thief , Romana his assistant and Duggan the detective who caught him . When the Countess tells him she was under the impression that Duggan was following " her " , the Doctor says she is “ a beautiful woman , probably ” and that Duggan was likely after a dinner date . She asks who sent him . The Countess lets him know that the more he tries to convince her he is a fool , the more she will think otherwise . Romana picks up a Chinese puzzle box . The Countess insists she put it down , as she will never solve it ; Romana opens it in seconds and takes out the bracelet . The Count enters and takes the bracelet . He seems curiously happy to meet these strangers , although he insists upon knowing why the Doctor took his wife ' s bracelet . The Count ends the interview , making the Doctor jump up and talk of lunch with Duggan and Romana . When Duggan picks up a chair in defence , the Doctor asks what is it he thinks he is doing with a priceless Louis Quinze . Because Hermann can shoot Duggan , Doctor pretends to care more about the chair not being damaged . The Count orders Hermann to show them the cellar they will be locked in . As he enthusiastically leads the way into the cellar , the Doctor questions Hermann . He learns that the château was built four or five hundred years before . The Doctor catches a glimpse of the equipment before Hermann locks them in a cellar closet and gives them a light which will last two or three hours . Duggan asks the Doctor what he is playing at - they could have escaped at least twice . The Doctor tells him his plan : let them think they have them safe and escape after finding out what they came for . He takes out the sonic screwdriver to open the door to the cell . Romana calculates the horizontal length of the stairs and figures there must be an unseen area of the room . The Doctor , impressed by Romana ' s mathematical skill , wants to look at the lab first . The Doctor and Romana examine the equipment . The Doctor explains what is happening to Duggan . Kerensky comes down the stairs and Romana and Duggan hide . The Doctor acts as though he has only just arrived and claims to be fascinated by the Professor ' s research . Kerensky puts an egg in the middle of his desk and activates the machinery . They watch the egg hatch and the chick inside grow to full size . The Doctor informs the Professor that he has got it all wrong . Kerensky tells the Doctor that he is the world ' s foremost authority on temporal physics ; the Doctor replies that the world is too small a place to boast about . When Kerensky says he can solve the world ' s famines , the Doctor observes that the chicken has become a skeleton and died . Kerensky has got the principle wrong — he has created a different space - time continuum , but it is incompatible with their own : he can stretch time backward and forward , but cannot break into it . The Doctor reverses the polarity of the machinery and the chicken reforms and becomes an egg again . Kerensky is very impressed , but admits that does not answer many questions . The Doctor says that he should ask questions : that is a scientist ' s job . At this moment , the Doctor sees Scaroth ' s face in the time field and Duggan knocks out the professor . Romana has found another room behind the wall . The Count has created a mock - up of part of the Louvre in the lounge for a holographic dress rehearsal to demonstrate his plan to steal the " Mona Lisa " . He uses a sonic knife to cut through the glass with ease , then uses his device to disrupt the air around the laser beams so he can get to the painting . After the rehearsal ends , the Count switches off a holographic projector , which has created the Louvre scene , and the surroundings change back to the lounge . The Count removes the Countess ' bracelet from the projector and returns it to her , saying she must wear it always . When she asks how he did it , he smiles enigmatically and says he comes from a family of geniuses . The Doctor chisels on the brick . He tells Romana that the professor thinks he ' s breeding chickens but Scarlioni is using the equipment to distort time . Duggan tells them there are seven people in his address book that would be willing to pay for the " Mona Lisa " for their private collection . To get through the last bricks , the Doctor needs some machinery . Duggan obliges by knocking into the wall . Inside , the trio finds a cupboard with a " Mona Lisa " inside - one that the Doctor claims is the real one . He finds five other " real " " Mona Lisas " . The Doctor recognises the pigment and the brushwork of Leonardo da Vinci . Duggan explains that if there was a " Mona Lisa " hanging in the Louvre , no one would buy the others : they would each have to think they were buying the stolen one . The Doctor , impressed , says he would not make a very good criminal . The Count appears behind them and tells him , " No , good criminals don ' t get caught . " Duggan knocks out Scarlioni , allowing them to go upstairs and sneak back into the house after knocking out the Countess , who was attempting to ambush them by herself . He asks Romana to look after Duggan as he leaves to meet a middle - aged Italian in the Renaissance . He arrives at the Denise Rene Art Gallery , where the TARDIS is parked . He goes inside and says hello to K9 , and asks how he is . The TARDIS dematerialises . It materialises in Florence , Italy in the year 1505 . The Doctor takes a moment to enjoy the Renaissance sunshine . He calls for Leonardo after whistling with some birds . He tells Leo that everyone loved " The Last Supper " and most of his other paintings ; he asks if Leonardo remembers the Mona Lisa , “ that dreadful woman with no eyebrows who wouldn ' t sit still . ” The idea for the helicopter took a longer time to catch on , however . A soldier points a long sabre at his face . Leonardo is engaged on important work for Captain Tancredi . The Doctor gasps , as if he knows the name . The guard asks the Doctor if he knows the name , which he of course does not . The guard makes the Doctor sit . Tancredi will want to question him ; the Doctor wants to question Tancredi . Tancredi walks in . The Doctor asks the Captain what he is doing here . Tancredi ' s face is that of Scarlioni . He replies , " I think that is exactly the question that I ought to be asking you , Doctor . . . " Part three . Romana and Duggan , having broken into the Louvre , find a guard on the floor and the alarms outside disabled . Duggan accidentally triggers the alarm and he and Romana are forced to flee . They break out of a window , split up and agree to meet back at the cafe . Meanwhile , the professor has found the secret room , the other copies of the painting and the unconscious Count . As the Count stirs , he talks in his slumber - the same conversation he is having with the Doctor more than four centuries earlier . Back in Renaissance Italy , Tancredi wants to know how the Doctor came to be in this time and country . The Doctor rambles off an excuse , claiming he randomly " pops " out of time and space willy - nilly , but Tancredi ' s not fooled by this . Tancredi explains he is the last of the Jagaroth , and their saviour . The Doctor has heard of the Jagaroth : they destroyed themselves in a war some four hundred million years ago . A few escaped in a dilapidated spacecraft and found Earth in a primeval , lifeless stage of its development . The ship disintegrated on take - off . Scaroth tells of how he was fractured in time , splinters of his being scattered across time and space , all identical , none complete . Scaroth asks what the mysterious blue box is . The Doctor acts as though he has never seen it before . He finds the ( original ) " Mona Lisa " and realises the Count ' s plan to produce more . While Scaroth collects the instruments of torture , the guard is instructed to confiscate the Doctor ' s tongue if the Doctor talks . The Doctor tries to humour the guard , telling him Tancredi is mad , to no avail ; the guard says that when you work for the Borgia s , you believe anything . The Doctor distracts and then knocks out his guard . He goes to the canvasses for the extra " Mona Lisa " s , writes " THIS IS A FAKE " in felt tip pen and puts them face down . He also writes a quick note to Leonardo , " Dear Leo , sorry to have missed you . Hope you ' re well . Sorry about the mess on the panels , just paint over them , there ' s a good chap . See you earlier , love the Doctor . " As he is about to leave , Tancredi returns with the thumbscrews . Romana painstakingly uses her sonic screwdriver to get into the closed cafe that night . Duggan smashes a window and climbs in . As they discuss the Count ' s plan , Duggan has an epiphany . How did the Count know where the bricked - up " Mona Lisa " s were and how did he know where to get them ? Even Romana is stumped . The Count shows Kerensky the end product of his labours : what he will make . The professor cannot believe his eyes : the plan will increase the very part of the project that Kerensky was trying to eliminate . It can work both ways . Kerensky thinks it is monstrous , what he is trying to do . He will never , ever do such a thing . Anyway , even the Count cannot afford such equipment . Hermann comes with the " Mona Lisa " from the Louvre . The Count tells the professor to continue with the work or he will die . The thumbscrews are on the Doctor ' s hand and the Doctor winces - the guard ' s hands are cold . He cannot stand being tortured by someone with cold hands , so he reveals that he is a Time Lord . Tancredi asks about the girl and the Doctor stalls for time . As the guard moves to the thumbscrews , the Doctor asks a question - how he communicates with his other selves across time . Back in 1979 , the Countess gleefully talks to her husband about their recent heist . When she proudly thinks of the money they will get after their monumental theft of the " Mona Lisa " , the Count brags about the building of the Pyramids , mapping the heavens , inventing the wheel and fire and bringing up a whole race from nothing to save his own : he just wants a single life and to spare the lives of his people . He hears a voice and asks his bemused spouse to leave him . Once she has gone , he communicates briefly with his 1505 self but it proves immensely draining for both . Taking advantage of the distraction , the Doctor dashes into the TARDIS . The guard attempts to tell the Captain but he is dismissed by Tancredi . All the splinters of Scaroth appear and converse ; there seem to be twelve of him , including versions living in ancient Egypt , Neanderthal days and classical Rome . The Doctor watches him on the TARDIS scanner as he proclaims that the centuries dividing him will be undone . The TARDIS dematerialises . It is now that Scarlioni realises the truth about the Doctor and his girl . . . The Doctor returns to the same museum in Paris , 1979 . In the cafe , Romana leaves a note for the Doctor : she feels their time would be better spent finding the real " Mona Lisa " . She wonders if Scarlioni has found a way to travel through time . There is but one flaw in this theory : Kerensky ' s machine cannot function . As she tells a bewildered Duggan , you can have two adjacent time continuums running at different rates by all means , but without a field interface stabilizer you can ' t cross from one to the other . Romana suggests they return to the château . Outside the Louvre , two gendarmes tell the Doctor the news : the " Mona Lisa " has been stolen . He goes inside and confirms this . He asks the guide if she has seen his friends , who were trying to prevent the theft , but she is unable to help . The guide suggests the Doctor talk to the police , but he tells her he has the future of the human race to think of and leaves . The Doctor runs into the cafe and asks the bartender about the two people he was in with yesterday , reminding him that they were the people who kept being held up , attacked , breaking things . . . As the man turns to fetch a note , the Doctor confidently states they wouldn ' t be mad enough to go back to the château . The bartender gives the Doctor Romana ' s note , which says that they have gone back to the château . Romana and Duggan , already caught , are led into in the lounge by Hermann to converse with the Count . The Count tells Romana the Doctor let it slip that she is an expert in temporal travel . The Count wants her to take a look at the equipment herself . If she refuses , he will destroy Paris . Looking at the equipment , Romana tells Duggan that the Count can indeed destroy Paris by blasting the capital into an unstabilised time field . Duggan asks her if she believes in all this time travel nonsense . She asks him if he believes wood comes from trees - time travel is just something she was brought up with . Kerensky wants to know why all the talk of destruction - his work was surely not designed for malevolent reasons ! The Count asks Kerensky to go into the middle of the field cones ; the field generator needs examination . Once the professor is there , the Count turns on the machine . Romana and Duggan can only watch , helpless , as the Professor falls , and withers and ages , until nothing but a skeleton is left . . . Part four . The Count says the unstable time field has destroyed the Professor . The whole of Paris is next unless Romana tells him how to stabilise the time field . Although Romana pretends not to care about the welfare of humans or Paris , Scarlioni sees through this and orders Hermann to kill Duggan . When she agrees to help him , Scaroth reveals his plans to her and orders that Duggan be locked up . Romana shall build a field interphase stabilizer . . . An armed man , catches the Doctor in the château . The Doctor asks a maid to get the Count for him . The Doctor finds the Countess waiting for him . Hermann tells the Count the Doctor has arrived , but he has already guessed this . As the Doctor enters a debate with the Countess about charm , discretion and blindness ( specifically , the Countess ' s willful blindness ) , he casually mentions that a green , one - eyed chap is ransacking the treasures of the art world to save his species , the Jagoroth . At this moment Hermann arrives and takes the Time Lord to meet his master , leaving the Countess to ponder on the thought . She removes a hidden book cabinet and takes out an ancient Egypt ian scroll . . . only to find a one - eyed , green " god " exactly as the Doctor described ! In the lab , the Doctor asks Romana what she is building . It must be a Gallifreyan egg timer or some such - after all , he would be angry to find his assistant making a time machine . Duggan asks politely if they could get him out of his cell . The Count demands the Doctor help him . Of course the Time Lord refuses - after all , he is a trained professional . Romana insists all is fine - Scarlioni only wants to go back in time to reunite himself . He goes to say his final goodbyes to his wife , asking his butler to kill the trio any way he likes . Entering the lounge , the Count finds his wife aiming a gun at him and demanding what on Earth she married . He smiles , informing her how easy it was to keep surprises from her - a fur coat here , a trinket there . . . It is now that Scaroth reveals his true visage and thanks his wife for always wearing that bracelet he gave her . He presses the centre of his signet ring , and a charge of electricity goes through the bracelet and quickly kills the Countess . Scaroth takes the opportunity to tell his dead wife he is sorry she had to die , but it doesn ' t matter - soon , she would never have existed . The Doctor blames Romana for giving Scaroth the missing component but Romana reveals her rigging . The Doctor tells her all he needs is one minute . If the Count is not splintered in time , all history will be changed . The two get an idea . They ask Duggan to break down the door . The trio run outs and face a gun - wielding Jagaroth , Scaroth in his real face . The Count is aware of the limitations Romana has put in the device . But he will go back and prevent the ship from exploding and himself from being splintered . As he vanishes in the time field , a blast destroys the time machine , rigged by the Count so the Doctor will not be able to read the settings on the dials . Duggan thinks it ' s all over and wants a drink . The Doctor tells them they are going on a journey . Romana tells him four hundred million years ago . Duggan , thinking the pair mad , follows them out of the building . In the museum where the TARDIS is , a man and woman discuss the function of the sublime colours of the redundant TARDIS . Romana and Duggan follow the Doctor past them , the Doctor tossing his scarf over his shoulder to almost hit the man and Romana . The trio go inside the TARDIS and it vanishes . The woman considers this " exquisite " . The Doctor is following the time trace made by the Jagaroth to four hundred million years ago . The Doctor , getting out of the TARDIS on barren rock , tells Duggan that they are standing on what will be the bottom of the middle of the Atlantic Ocean . Romana tells the Doctor that Duggan is out of his depth . The Doctor finds the Jagaroth ship and the amniotic fluid from which all life on Earth will spring in the inert soup of low slurry . Amino acids form and fuse to make cells which develop into animal and vegetable life . Romana points out the Jagaroth ' s ship ' s thrust motors are damaged and the idiots will try to take off on warp drive . The explosion which caused Scarlioni to splinter into time also caused the birth of the entire human race . Scaroth is there and calls to his brothers to stop trying to take off . The Doctor tells him he has thrown the dice once and he doesn ' t get a second chance . Duggan punches Scaroth out . Scaroth ' s time is up and he vanishes . Duggan points out that the ship is about to take off . The trio rush back into the TARDIS and it vanishes . The Jagaroth ship takes off and explodes , as it should . A mass of flame and radiation ignites the slurry soup . Scaroth reappears at the château within the time field . Hermann sees this and before the monster can convince him that he is the Count ( " No , Hermann . It ' s me . . . ! " ) , the butler picks up a pot and throws it at the equipment , triggering an explosion that kills Scaroth and sets the château ablaze . On the Eiffel Tower , Romana , the Doctor and Duggan talk about the fire . The only " Mona Lisa " not damaged in the fire is one of the copies , which probably has " THIS IS A FAKE " in felt tip written on its pallet . The Doctor proposes since a copy of a painting by the original artist is not a fake , then the surviving copy should be considered the real work of art . Furthermore , he tells Duggan if the authorities wanted to examine the painting so closely to determine its value , it would serve them right to be disappointed to find the writing . After all , if you have to X ray something to see if it is good art , they might as well have computer painting like they have at home . Duggan asks where they are from . The Doctor uses his hands to say , " I suppose the best way to find out where you ' ve come from is to find out where you ' re going and work backwards . " Duggan asks where he is going . " I don ' t know , " he playfully says . Romana tells him she doesn ' t know either . The pair walks off toward the lift and the Doctor is laughing . Duggan buys a postcard of the " Mona Lisa " . He looks down at the small figures of Romana and the Doctor below the Eiffel Tower . The pair stop and wave , before hurrying off into the distance . DVD and Video releases . Video releases . This story was first released in the UK on VHS in July of 1991 . An Australian release appeared in September of that same year . It was released in the US in May of 1994 with a slightly different cover ( see below ) than the original UK release . In 1998 it was released yet again in the US as part of the " Gateway Collection " with the cover now featuring a border billing it as " The Best of Tom Baker as Dr . Who . " A final repackaged release appeared in the UK in May 2001 featuring a new cover design .