Pleasure Gas (TV Story)

Jennifer Ward

Jack Afton

Matthew Robinson

***Pleasure Gas*** was the third serial of Series 1 of *The Pyramid*. It was written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Brian Kelly and starred Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, Robert Bathurst as Chris Hector, Keeley Hawes as Jennifer Ward & David Oyelowo as Jack Afton.

Taking advantage of its post-watershed allowances, it was the first *Doctor Who*-related onscreen production to explicitly centre its conflict around sex. The episode explored sexuality in the 21st century and took a look at an alien interested in something more than just enslavement.

 Synopsis

Chris' first day working at The Pyramid sees Cardiff's night-life at the mercy of a gaseous alien who consumes its victims during orgasm, leaving behind only dust. And it's all his fault — he let it escape a fallen meteorite. The gas is devouring its teenage host. She's fighting for control as the alien inside takes down victim after victim. The team tracks the alien to a sperm bank, but too late for the patrons within. Soon, if they don't act quickly enough, it'll be too late for everyone else too!

## Plot

Chris is having dinner with Bernice, after bowling and a movie. she asks him how it feels to be part of a team again. Chris admits that he's slightly nervous as it's been a long time since he was part of a team. A meteor falls through the sky and Chris notices it crash on the town's outskirts. They run to get a better view, Bernice then texts Jack and Jennifer and remarks to Chris that it's now time for his first day at work.

Chris and Bernice pick up the rest of the team in the Pyramid jeep, Chris commenting on the dual computer stations and a seemingly illegal link to the police CRIMINT computer system. They arrive at the crash site and find, to their disappointment, that the "amateurs" — the British Army — have beaten them there. Bernice tells the team to employ the "usual formation"; Jennifer informs Chris that the usual formation varies. While the rest of the team head to the meteor to examine it, Chris remembers his equipment and returns to the car to get it.

Army security stops Chris until Bernice comes back to collect him and tells them to back off. The others move into action, taking samples and readings, and Chris feels inexperienced and out of place. When Jennifer starts trying out nicknames, the least of which is "New boy", and asks for a bigger chisel to help get a part of the meteor, Chris tosses the chisel at her & misses. It punctures the skin of the meteor, and, as Bernice tosses around gas masks, it begins to release a purplish gas that coalesces and rises into the air. Chris looks around at his team guiltily.

At an alley near an underground night club in Cardiff, a young woman, Carys Fletcher, is leaving a distraught voice mail for Eddie, who she says has stood her up again for another woman, when she is confronted by the gaseous creature. It backs her against a wall, then flows into her body. Carys, confused and shocked, inhales the Sex Gas through her mouth and nose. After all of the gas was inside of her body, she exhales. She suddenly goes from upset to sexually aggressive, and gains re-entry into the club by kissing the bouncer. She picks out a man, Matt, and nearly drags him into the women's toilet. They have sex, and, at the moment of climax, Matt dissolves into a glowing cloud of dust, while the energy portion of Matt is absorbed by Carys.

Chris keeps apologising, Jennifer keeps taunting her, Jack wants her to lay off, and Bernice just wants her to get past it and back to work. Jack thinks he can help, as he's heard an unusual 999 call for the nightclub. The team investigates, and Sgt. Johnson meets them there before allowing the team inside. They find the dust and the CCTV tapes that show Carys and Matt having their deadly sex and the alien taking her over in the alley. Bernice arranges for a dead body to be duplicated to fake a suicide for Matt, which shocks and dismays Chris. Bernice confiscates the tapes.

While the team analyses the meteorite and scene data, Carys is feeling the effects of the previous night. She spends most of her dad's breakfast monologue staring into the distance, claiming a hangover. Chris tells Jack, Jennifer and Bernice about his old team, and finds that the others share his sympathies. Jack tries to track Carys by cross-checking video from the surveillance cameras with a database of the faces of the UK population. Meanwhile, Carys breaks down crying in the shower. As she brushes her hair afterwards, she is racked with pain several times as she stares into the mirror. The postman arrives and Carys pulls him into her house, throwing him down on the couch and pulling at his clothing, but the team arrives before she can do the deed.

She breaks away but Chris catches her with an alien device that he didn't have permission to carry. After dressing Carys and bringing her to the base, Bernice puts Jennifer in charge of interrogating her. In a holding cell, a consciousness takes over Carys momentarily. It tells Jennifer it is not here for conquest, but to feed off human orgasmic energy. Carys pleads for help and doubles over in pain, causing Jennifer to open the door and help her up. However, the alien presence takes over and Carys kisses Jennifer. After pulling herself away, Jennifer suddenly begins passionately kissing Carys..

n the main room, Jack notices this on a monitor and is amused. He informs Chris, calling it a "treat", which angers Bernice.

Back in the cell, the presence in Carys realises it needs a man for its energy. Carys breaks through and pleads for Jennifer to help her. Jennifer comes to her senses and quickly runs out of the cell as Carys lunges at her and locks it. Bernice and Chris arrive to help get Jennifer away from Carys, but Jennifer signals to them that she is fine.

Returning to the main base area, Jennifer is confronted by Jack, who jokingly congratulates her on her "methodical investigation". Angered at Chris for staring at another woman, Bernice slaps Chris. Chris is confused, but admits that they should be helping her instead of studying her like a lab rat. Jennifer returns with dinner.

At dinner, they all laugh over alien anecdotes until Bernice excuses herself for the restroom. Jack and Jennifer quickly ask Chris if he knows anything about Bernice yet. Chris is surprised as he figured Bernice would've told them everything, but the two say that they know nothing except that her father died a long time ago, causing her to become somewhat frosty. Chris is shocked but decides not to tell them, as there must be a reason she hasn't told them yet. Chris hears a faint crying and notices Carys on the monitor, and Bernice returns. He tells Bernice that they should be doing something to help her. Bernice explains the scans, tests, and searches that Chris didn't know were already running. They are doing everything they can think of to analyse the problem.

Chris creates a complete profile of Carys' life, and Bernice is curious about why Chris put such effort into it. He insists Carys is not a threat, but someone in trouble who needs their help, and the information can help them help Carys fight the alien influence. Bernice is impressed until he asks to bring in Carys' dad. Jennifer breaks up the discussion with the results of the tests. The alien in Carys is producing a cloud of pheromones around her, turning her into a walking aphrodisiac. They can't let Carys near any man and realise Jack has gone down to her to get medical scans.

They arrive to find him naked and cuffed in the cell; Carys took Jack's swipe card after the pheromones overpowered him. Jennifer tells Jack that he's very lucky that his card is all she wanted and frees him. Chris asks if Jack is okay then cracks a joke at his expense.

The possessed Carys, meanwhile, makes her way to the Hub's exit and is confronted by Bernice. They battle with the ambient weaponry until she grabs a prototype alien device and threatens to smash it to keep Bernice from following her to the exit. However, Bernice soon catches up through a secondary exit. Even though Jennifer offers to help, Bernice opens the door in exchange for the weapon, which Carys hurls to the floor. Jennifer gives chase and loses her in the plaza.

After Jack dresses himself, he demonstrates the results of his bio-scan of Carys on a rat showing that the physiological effects of the gaseous creature will make the body literally explode if it inhabits a person too long, dubbing the end result "Rat Jam". They then wonder where Carys could be as the alien in her wants orgasmic energy. Jack then jokes if he was possessed by the alien he'd come after Jennifer, much to everyone's annoyance. Jennifer then comes up with an idea.

The alien in Carys walks a street in a shopping district, in a daze of overwhelming sexual imagery. She drops in on her now ex-boyfriend and attempts to hold back the alien influence. After she learns her ex was only using her, she lets the alien kill him. The team arrive later. Bernice makes a joke about his numerous exes.

While driving through town, they discuss how to stop the alien before Carys dies. Chris double checks the records, finding that she is working as a receptionist at Conway Clinic. Jennifer recognises it as a fertility clinic, an ideal source of orgasmic energy. They also determine that the alien takes hosts because Earth's atmosphere is poisonous to it. Bernice gives Chris a gun.

Carys is already at the clinic, dragging the sperm donors into the private rooms. When the team arrives, there are piles of dust everywhere. When they surround her, Carys collapses, too weak to fight the alien any more. Chris kisses her in an attempt to revitalise her, but it's not enough and Carys faints. Bernice then offers himself as a host for the alien, asking the alien to spare Carys. Bernice backs away, and the alien flows out of Carys' body. Chris drops a portable prison cell and traps it inside before it can reach Bernice. Separated from its host, the alien dies, falling into a pile of dust. Bernice thanks Chris in thanks for saving his life, before slapping him in the face again.

Chris and Bernice take Carys back to her father. The two then have dinner together, then they part ways and head for home.

## Cast

* Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
* Chris Hector - Robert Bathurst
* Jennifer Ward - Keeley Hawes
* Jack Afton - David Oyelowo
* Private Moriarty - Adrian Christopher
* Sgt Johnson - Ross O'Hennessey
* Carys Fletcher - To be added.
* Banksy - Ceri Mears
* Matt - To be added.
* Ivan Fletcher - Brendan Charleson
* Gavin - To be added.
* Mikey - To be added.
* Eddie Gwynne - To be added.
* Bethan - To be added.
* Receptionist - To be added.
* Mr Weston - To be added.

## Home video releases

### VHS

* This story was first released on VHS in 2002.

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Series 1 were included in *The Pyramid: The Complete First Series*box set, released in 2002
* This story along with the other stories in Series 1 were later released as *The Pyramid: The Complete First Series*on Blu-ray.