Grime Scene Queens

They crisscross Scotland,

cleaning in places where others fear to tread.

That man had been lying there for two months.

An all-girl biohazard team, led by Marie Fagan.

That's my beer goggles for the Christmas night out.

And her best friend, Lesley.

I always get the worst jobs because I'm so good.

Dressed to kill the most dangerous of germs.

The pee was actually just dripping right out of the mattress.

This is no ordinary job.

You get brain, you get skull,

a lot of people don't think with a shotgun, you've got the hair...

Running your own business isn't easy.

Same shit.

No paid. Went to the bank today, hunners of money to pay out.

Getting fed up with it.

Daughter Rhiannon is the apprentice.

Can she swap spray tans for scrubbing body fluids?

That's all shit, all shit.

That's all sewage.

Oh!

Meet Scotland's grime scene queens.

Moodiesburn, a residential suburb on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Home to Marie Fagan and her young family.

PHONE RINGS

Hello, how are you doing?

Yeah...

Marie runs a family cleaning business that does

everything from offices to building sites.

It was set up by her late father, Johnny.

Freddie Starr lookalike.

I still miss him.

After watching crime scene programmes on TV,

Marie saw a way to expand the business.

We used to watch CSI as a family and I would be sitting like...

"Oh...dad, there must be somebody that does this!"

And he was like, "No, no, no, no."

The recession hit with the normal cleaning company that we had

and I decided then I was going to take it forward

and that's what I've done.

We went and done all the training and stuff, like that,

and we went from there, basically.

PHONE RINGS

Marie is also qualified to tackle biohazards.

These are jobs that deal with everything from death scenes

to drug dens full of hypodermic needles.

We have to go to a mosque in Edinburgh.

Actually, I think it's builders that's in it at the minute.

It's getting a refurb, I believe.

Erm, there's been a sewage problem.

So...

We need to go and do a quote for cleaning up the sewage spill.

Mum...

Her eldest daughter, Rhiannon, works in the company

but she doesn't share her mum's passion for the job

and sticks to the general cleaning, albeit reluctantly.

Don't copy!

Piss off, you.

We fight like cat and dog,

she drives me insane because she doesn't listen.

Why do you do this to me?

And I'm... Argh!

She is going to get a fucking slap, I'm telling you.

But we do get on really well and she does enjoy it.

This is just pure cruelty to children, do you know that?

See if I was 15, I would report her.

She wants to be a singer, she wants to be a beauty therapist.

SHE LAUGHS

Is this just pick on Rhiannon day today?

I'm telling my fucking gran on you.

I'll get there first!

Despite the bickering, they are best friends.

So you and your mum were pregnant at the same time?

Yeah, I found out I was pregnant and then about two months later

my mum found out she was pregnant, as well.

It was a bit weird to start with but it was quite funny

because we could use each other for excuses to go out and eat junk food.

I had Aaron first and then six weeks later my mum had Kayden.

I was at T In The Park and she went into labour

and I had to leave David Guetta to come down.

Marie also works with her old school friend, Lesley.

THEY SING ALONG TO RADIO

# I've been through the desert with a horse with no name... #

SHE LAUGHS

Lesley is my manager.

We speak to each other daily, it's horrible if we don't speak in a day.

We get on fantastic.

Today they're off to clean for a woman

with chronic disorganisation issues

and attention deficit disorder.

She hasn't been able to clean her flat for years.

I like to start in the kitchen and then...

It's good for the clients to get their kitchen back.

It's a condition that they've got and the first thing I think of is,

"God, I need to help them. I need to get this place clear for them

"and give them some kind of quality life back again."

Marie and Lesley have been brought to the job by Linda,

the client's therapist.

I've got one more drawer to do

and then just really clean the floor and stuff.

It's really stressful living in a chaotic environment,

although one of the kind of results of ADHD is often that people

live in quite chaotic homes.

I do hear people, you know, fairly regularly saying,

"Oh, they're just dirty, lazy, smelly people."

They're absolutely not.

You know, they've got some real challenges in life

and it really is about choosing to see the person

and not the stuff, because stuff around is irrelevant.

It's just stuff.

This one is lovely and clean, it is.

Sometimes it comes over the lid and it's meeting you at the door.

What, the sewage? So to come to this one,

it really is like a wee light relief, so it is.

Here we go, another one to go.

Where we off to? We're going off to the recycling centre.

I used to be really OCD.

I was ready, really bad, so I was.

My house is suffering for this because this gets 100%

and I get home at night and I'm like,

"Oh, no!" It's a hit and miss.

49 bags of rubbish later

and Marie and Lesley are starting to make a difference.

Normally what would happen is that organisations would come in

and they would just shovel everything up,

put it in a skip, and off it goes.

Whereas, Marie will take time and effort

and she will go through the person's belongings

as much as she possibly can

to try and save as much as she can and, you know,

respecting that that's someone's life

that she's mopping up, really.

Kitchen...

Just about there.

I'm getting things all organised.

It smells nicer.

A big difference in here.

Onwards and upwards.

I feel better when I do wee jobs.

See, like, coming home today,

and I know that lady can go in and make her dinner,

or they've got a wee path somewhere,

I love that, I really, really love that.

I can't help the world but if I can help a wee somebody,

I do come home feeling better, I must admit.

Amy?

Do you want tea with your dinner?

Rhiannon lives just up the road from her mum

with her grandmother, Amy,

who is in remission from mouth cancer.

My gran's getting baked potato with cheese and beans

but I have to blend the beans because she can't eat them,

they stick in her throat.

I've lived in this house for about 15 years

and I was a grandad's girl and a granny's girl.

When my grandad died, I just automatically stayed here.

She was in hospital again.

Again.

She's got more lives than a cat, that wee woman.

So she has.

I'm just making sure that none of this skin's hanging off

because, if it is, she chokes.

She moans.

My poor wee Amy.

This is my gran's version of cheese and bean potatoes.

It's a shame, isn't it?

I think that's going to be a bit much for you.

This is actually quite nice.

I don't think you'll need salad cream.

What?

Oh, that's rotten! Don't say that! SHE LAUGHS

Oh!

As well as caring for her gran, she has a young son, Aaron.

Bye, Gran. Bye-bye.

Did you like it? Lovely.

Throughout the week, Rhiannon cleans offices all over Glasgow.

I just didn't like school at all.

I went and done child care.

When I got paid off from there, I didn't have a job, and I had Aaron,

so I needed something quick and something that I could start.

The next day I started with my mum.

Sometimes she sings, it all depends what kind of mood she's in.

Sometimes she's in a bad mood.

Sometimes she's hungover, that's worse.

Oh, that's worse.

RHIANNON GIGGLES

I just feel as if it's not for me, if you know what I mean.

I have to do it. But the good thing is, like, the people you work with

are quite fun, and they keep you going, so it's not too bad.

I wouldn't want to be doing it for the rest of my life, to be honest.

Marie relies on construction clear-up jobs

to keep her small company running,

but being the boss isn't easy.

Running your business can be really hard.

Trying to get payments in and stuff.

Jobs run on longer

and it's a 30-day payment term

which sometimes can turn into 60 days or 90 days

and the whole time you've still got to find the wages, the fuel -

all your running costs.

Is not just an easy job the girls do,

especially in the construction, it's hard going.

It's hard work and you don't want girls working solid,

early starts, late finishes and at the end of the month saying,

"I'm sorry, I've not been paid, I've not got your wages."

That's really difficult, that.

Then the week before payday,

you don't sleep, because you're worrying.

People have told you, "Yeah, it'll be in your account, you'll have it."

And it doesn't go in.

You worry, it's a constant worry.

If Marie could land a regular contract for biohazard work,

it could bring more stability to her company.

But she would need Rhiannon to step up to the mark.

Inside there, there was literally hundreds of needles.

You can see here the urine had went through the carpet

into the floorboards.

They had to treat all the floorboards and stuff.

That was the sink.

As soon as the bathroom was full,

she started buying these bins and using these bins.

As soon as she was filling her bin,

she was buying another bin and using that.

That's all used toilet roll.

That's all shit, all shit.

Right this one was undiscovered 21 days.

Drug addict.

That should never have been there.

That was the drawers that he was lying over

but when I moved the drawers, that's basically the guy's scalp.

It should have went with the undertaker.

That sofa had to be totally cut up - biohazard.

That's all the maggot carcass here.

I'm not the type of person who can just go into an office 9-5.

That would drive me insane.

I couldn't go and sit at the same desk every day,

type the same stuff, speak to the same people.

Every single day in this job is completely different.

I know she'll talk me into it, I know she'll make me do it

but I wouldn't choose to do it, no.

While Rhiannon thinks about her future in the family business,

Marie relies on Lesley to go to the most challenging jobs.

MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO

# If I need somebody too... #

'My mum and Lesley's mum were friends all through school,

'and then they all just kind of grew up together, then Lesley

'worked with my dad in his cleaning company, then came to work with me.'

# Boy, I might need somebody... #

Their long friendship helps them

deal with some of the distressing jobs there are called out to.

The body in the bath one was quite sad, because the lady's

clothes that she had took off before stepping in the bath,

they were in a wee pile just at the side of the bar, and her wee

glass of rose and her wee name badge from work, and then all these pills.

Came in and we figured out where they were last sitting,

what they've done before it's happened. Mm-hm.

She was a hoarder but she was a really clean hoarder,

everything was wrapped so neatly,

in face cloths and tissue and all boxed,

and there must have been 100 boxes.

You could piece her whole life together,

just by going in the boxes, and you could tell she had only, like...

not went bad, but she hadn't been like that all her life,

but only maybe a year or two.

We really felt for her, didn't we? Yeah.

It's somebody's son or somebody's daughter,

that's how I think of it, it could be my son or my daughter, I'd hate

to think they were left themselves, so that's how we think of it.

With respect.

Biohazard cleaning means working with dangerous fluids

from dead bodies or contaminated needles.

Marie needs to stock up with protective clothes

and specialist chemicals.

Gloves. Yeah. Suits. Yeah.

Blue roll. Yeah. Deodoriser. Yeah.

Oh! A box of bags.

OK. The strong ones.

Paul, gonnae get us a box of the heavy binbags,

a pack of blue roll and a five-litre of odour neutraliser?

'Financially, it can be really, really hard. Really hard.

'Because you've got staff to pay, equipment to buy,

'you've got fuel, needle gloves are ?300 a pair,'

we've got to have the boots with the metal plate in them,

we've got to, you know, you've got to have the full kit.

There we go.

'I'm not one of these girls that'll sit on the internet'

and look up shoes and bags.

I look up blood stuff and, what can I get to clean that?

Oh, God, that would be good! And how much are their mattress bags?

How much are their mattress bags? You know, that's me!

There we go.

Going home, are you? Aye.

'You'd have to have the personality like Marie to do it,

'because I think it's quite a sad job as well,

'and I think they do well'

in keeping the dignity of, you know, the folk that they're dealing with.

Today, the girls have been called to deal with a suicide outside Glasgow.

Even though the remains have been taken away, it is up to Marie

and Lesley to clear up the body fluids.

People think that the police automatically send

a company in, which they don't.

They're told, right, your uncle, your father, your mother,

whoever, has been here, they've been found,

they've been there for such-and-such a time,

so, we'll keep your keys, give you them back in two weeks, um, and

you'll need to get it cleaned up, but probably best you don't go in.

You know, so, you know, it adds to the people's trauma,

it really does, and it comes across and it's just horrible.

'You've seen his last minutes and then you've seen where he lay,

'the family don't see it

'and you don't want them to see that, so, it's good knowing'

that's all gone,

so they don't need to see that, so I feel better.

He's lain...

..a wee bit of time, but not too long.

There's no carcass of maggots or anything.

It's all just body fluids.

In the bag, then it gets took straight to the yard,

then it gets picked up for incineration.

We just need to check...

So, we'll need to take that away.

He's definitely been here for a few days.

But there's no, um, maggot carcass or anything like that around.

Which tells me that he's not been here too long.

He's just...

..started to decompose.

It does protect the family from seeing the blood and all that,

but I think the biohazard sign

kind of brings it home to them a bit more, as well.

A lot of the time as well, we've done it and we've not been paid.

Because the families just don't have it.

And I'm left with the cost of incinerations and stuff like that.

It's sad, end of the line, end of the story.

Move on to the next job.

As sad as it seems.

But that's just the reality of it.

The sadness of many of the jobs stays with them.

You do take it home and you do get upset.

Sometimes, I feel like, when I get home, they are there with me.

We find, in maybe two or three days,

me and Lesley will discuss it again, she'll think of something,

just in her own wee thoughts, and she'll ask me and I'll do

the same, and then we'll just kind of clarify with one another.

I think we tend to do that quite a bit, don't we?

I like to light a wee candle, just for the dead person,

just for a wee bit of respect, to show them

that even though we are touching all their belongings

and we are strangers, that we do respect them, that's just my wee...

I connect it with that, if I light a candle,

I feel like, right, you know, I'm not touching what

I shouldn't be, I'm here to do a job and that's it.

And nobody cares about their neighbour,

nobody's interested, there's no community spirit now.

Your neighbour can lie six weeks and you don't know.

See if you see somebody's curtains being closed for a wee while,

could you not maybe see if they are all right?

But nobody cares now.

Although Rhiannon works with her mum,

she likes to have as many days off as possible.

I'm off, for a change!

When he's going to work. SHE CHUCKLES

I can't believe my luck.

I have another party to go to.

Well, christening.

Hello? 'Morning!'

Aye, I'll fucking "morning" you!

Seven o'clock this morning, you left here!

Well, that's your fault.

You turned up at the back of two o'clock this morning,

do you think this is a dosshouse?

SHE LAUGHS

Then you nearly fell down my stairs.

How can I make you breakfast and you do my eyebrows?

Are you having a laugh?

You'll end up drawing me a full face of eyebrows!

It's not funny, this is serious! I need to go.

I'll see you later.

'Love you.'

Love you.

'Missing you already!'

LAUGHING: Bye!

'Bye.'

Say, "Aah!"

Marie and her team have been booked to clean up after the annual

Gay Pride festival in Glasgow.

# ..to get you into my world

# And hold you within

# It's a right I defend

# Over and over again... #

MUSIC ON RADIO CHANGES

DISCO MUSIC PLAYS

Despite the weather, huge crowds have turned up to celebrate.

# Enough is enough is enough

# I can't go on I can't go on no more, no... #

But Marie has only brought a small team with her, Lesley and Mary.

By the time they arrive, there is already

a much bigger mess to clean up than they'd expected.

Yet again, Lesley has been sent to sort the loos.

This is the highlight of the job!

Not too bad, there you go. Oh, sorry.

I really enjoy it.

People ask me why I'm cleaning out dirty toilets,

but it's a nice wee atmosphere, enjoy the day out.

If it's not raining!

Struggling to keep on top of it all,

Marie has had to call in some extra help.

She's even had to call Rhiannon on her day off.

Just head in, love, OK?

When? Well, when are you leaving, Rhiannon? So I can tell Catriona.

The now, the now. OK, love, see you soon.

# Why waste your time?

# You know you're gonna be mine

# You know you're gonna be mine... #

Half an hour later, Rhiannon comes to the rescue.

You need to go round all the bar areas. Right, OK.

The skips are up at the right-hand side of the stage.

I'll take you to the cabin the now

and get you a vest on and get you some bin bags and a picker.

OK. All right?

This is the happy side of cleaning. Oh, thank you!

Nothing like a clean city!

I don't know, it must be my perfume, maybe, what do you think?

Maybe it's this wee plait in my hair or something.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Seeing Rhiannon's growing commitment to the company,

Marie has decided to get her stuck into the dirtier jobs.

We're going to a sewage job in Edinburgh, it's a retail unit,

there's obviously been a leak through the pipes, we've got

to sanitise the place for the plumber to come to replace

all the pipework, and then once the plumber's finished,

we go back, pick up the pipework and dispose of it, biohazard.

And this is her first day on a sewage job,

so, should be quite interesting to see how she is.

I'll probably leave her to do quite a bit, aye.

INTERVIEWER: Just to see if she can handle it.

Aye. In-house training!

Medium suit.

Used to be an extra large!

RHIANNON CHUCKLES

She's never really been interested, but the last kind of six to eight

months, she's taken a wee bit more interest in it.

I need to try and get her to a death scene or whatever,

just to see how her stomach is.

If I don't think she can stomach it,

..the offices and the cabins.

She's doing good.

In fact, give me some white roll and we'll clean this pipe,

so I don't get covered.

There's been some kind of problem with the sewage pipe,

running down the main toilet blocks, probably.

It's squirted out.

TOGETHER: # At last

# My love is coming home... #

Get your back into it, Rhiannon, come on!

# My lonely days are over

# And life is like a song

# Oh, yeah, yeah

# At last... #

At the end of a dirty day's work,

all that's left for Marie to do is to scrub herself.

This is my routine when I get back,

got to strip off and go straight to the shower.

The kids know not to come near me, I just say, "Don't cuddle me."

Two capfuls of the sanitiser...

And a wee extra, as a precaution...

You can normally smell it.

It clings to your clothes and your hair, and some jobs,

I've done it three or four times

and I can still say, "Can you smell that? Can you smell that?"

# I've been waiting all night for you to tell me... #

Rhiannon has a slightly different way of relaxing.

# I've been waiting all night for you to, oh-oh... #

No kids, no Gran, no crime scenes,

no building sites!

# I've been waiting all night for you to tell me

# Tell me that you need me

# Tell me that you want me

# Tell me that you need me

# Tell me that you want me

# Tell me that you need me

# Tell me that you want me

# Tell me that you need me

# Tell me that you want me

# Tell me that you need me

# Tell me that you want me

# Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah... #

After all the fun, Rhiannon is paying the price.

One morning, I came in, I came in at nine o'clock from the night before

and she says, "Oh, you're up nice and early the day, hen!"

I was that drunk last night, then I got all comfy in bed,

then I needed the toilet,

I thought I could have just took my gran's commode up with me!

Oh, that's sick, isn't it?

I shouldn't really be eating chips, but who cares?

I'd be lost without her.

And skint, an' all!

I don't like it.

Heh-heh. Oh, she throws me out every week!

She if she's fell out with me,

then she likes one of my pictures on Facebook,

I think, oh, she must be my pal again!

There's my friend messaging me, saying, am I hungover today?

Yes, I am.

Are you night shift today?

I've got my offices to go and clean, haven't I?

Oh, are you off?

I know, I forgot to do them yesterday.

Marie is heading back to a job

that's been on her books for two years.

MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO

# The rhythm of the night

# This is the rhythm of my life

# My life, oh, yeah

# The rhythm of my life... #

The anxious client has changed his mind every time she's turned up.

Today, she is hoping he'll let them in.

I was actually going to text you at about 10:30 last night,

then I thought, if he has fell asleep,

then I do wake him up, then he's up all night...

stressing...

but that's totally normal.

Well, this is certainly the longest screw I've had!

THEY LAUGH RAUCOUSLY

Aye, it needs to go round that way, doesn't it?

Marie has brought Mary along to help.

saying, "Ah, they should have done that, they should have done that...

"Women!"

I think, probably, you're best getting this room done

and staying in here. Mm-hm.

Because it's fresher.

They've made a really good start, but have yet to tackle the kitchen.

Where did you want to...

Just start at the beginning make a fucking plan.

I says, I take it the Chinese round here's good?

Very!

Can you feel a difference already?

I honestly can. A huge weight coming off... Aye. ..my shoulders.

This'll come up lovely.

# Don't you wish your muscles were good like mine?

# Don'tcha?

# Don'tcha? #

Bet you wish you could shovel like me! Aye!

# Don't you wish you could shovel like me?

# Don'tcha? #

"To Marie, Lesley and Mary, all the best, Paul.

"You've changed my life, thank you so much."

Aww, Paul!

It's just the start, we'll be back!

Get aff me!

Rhiannon is on her way to clean her offices,

but first has to drop her granny and her best friend into town.

It's her turn to warn Granny to behave herself.

No men the day, either!

Oh, we always get them, don't we? Oh, aye.

You fuckin' better not!

They follow us, don't they? Aye.

Nobody needs a man. Not a soul.

What do you need a man for?

Listen, don't you drink

on an empty stomach, lady! You'll be grounded!

Oh, aye, I might get an alcopop or something.

A what? Alcopop. Like a Blue WKD or something?

Aye. That'll give you heartburn, that!

See the first time I had a drink, Amy,

it was in your house, wasn't it? Sherry.

And I must have been... Aye, that's right. ..19. No, we never got...

See you! Have you got your mobile with you?

Aye. Do you know how to work it? THEY LAUGH

The monotony of cleaning the offices is getting to Rhiannon.

She's starting to reconsider working in the family business.

So, I went for an interview for another job,

because I'm just sick of these offices.

And then my mum's like,

"Oh, please, just stay, I've got this and I've got that..."

So, I'll be finished today for, like, 12 o'clock.

So, then I need to wait now until 5:30 to go to the other offices,

so I'm basically waiting about, doing nothing.

Whereas I would rather just get it all done in the one day

and that's it, then I could do whatever at night.

Because it's Friday!

Supposed to be at the boxing and I can't go

because I've got these offices.

Every week, you get a complaint.

We got a complaint in last weekend, saying, um,

was there any cleaners even in?

And of course we were in, because the bins were emptied,

the kitchen was done, the toilets were cleaned.

What was wrong with them?

Oh, I don't know. I really don't know.

How long have I been saying that I don't want to work in this?

And I'm still here.

Do you know what I mean?

You're not filming me cleaning the men's toilet, right?

Marie and her team are in Edinburgh on a dangerous biohazard job.

They've been booked by a construction firm to clear up

an old building site that has been used as a drugs den.

Before the workmen can begin on-site,

the women must make it safe from dangerous discarded needles.

That's my beer goggles for the Christmas night out!

SHE CHUCKLES

Well, they've got the caps on, so they are kind of safe.

That doesn't mean to say there's not safe ones about.

The needles can come off the syringe.

So, you need to be watching for a needle as well as a syringe.

At least they managed to bring in a bottle.

Every site we go onto, we always get a bottle of pish, don't we?

Oh, my God, I bet we'll find some used condoms!

They get their own wee kits supplied to them, wee bags,

and they've got their wee spoons in them

and their needles in them and their wipes.

There's not even a tear-off of a wipe in here,

but again, still needs to be all done.

Dressed in protective gear, the girls make a start.

There's bits of tinfoil and stuff about here,

so I don't want to take any chances.

More tinfoil, bottles of water, they are kind of telltale signs.

With the needles all lifted, there is one last job -

to clear up the top floor, full of dead pigeons.

The girls have heard from the workmen

that the building is haunted.

They decide to explore the basement to find out.

What's that in there? Look.

What is that?

A toilet?

I'm scared!

Oh, something's here...

Oh, right, shine it in the mirror.

Oh, no, it's not in the mirror.

LOUD SCREAMING

Ya bastard, ye!

Ohh! MAN LAUGHS

You're a lucky man!

Oh, well done, that was good.

Marie has taken a day off to chase outstanding invoices.

Because she has been busy on jobs

and some clients taking three months to pay,

she has hit a cash flow crisis.

That's, that's my worksheet for all the houses we've cleaned.

A good few hundred there.

648...

756...

People not paying me and I need to pay all my bills.

It's shit, absolute shit.

Hi, Ryan, I've called a number of times now,

can you please call me back, or e-mail me back, advising me

when I can expect payment?

It is outstanding from August.

There's thousands outstanding, it's constant, every single time.

Now I need to take all that paperwork up to the bank

and get it paid.

Stressed!

Really pissed off, cos that's me

going to be fucking stressed all week now.

You don't mind when it's a week late,

or a couple of days late, but when it's months late, 90 days,

it's just ridiculous.

Here we go, the moment of truth!

(Bastard!)

Well, we've been fucking paid.

So, it was enough to pay my bills and leave me with about 50 quid.

There is just enough money in the bank

to deal with this month's wages.

But she's going to have to keep chasing clients

if the company is to stay afloat.

Hello, it's Marie.

That payment never went in this week,

if you can sort it out for next week, that would be great.

It'll help with the payroll. Thank you, bye.

It's kind of late in the day on a Friday to be chasing people.

Hi, it's Marie.

Um, I've tried to get hold of Ryan and Accounts,

none of which are answering my calls or anything.

Fuckers, in't they?

MUSIC: Telephone Line (Instrumental) by Electric Light Orchestra

A few days later, Marie makes a visit to her father's grave.

The man she always turned to for advice.

This is my dad's grave.

My nephew brought down some whisky and poured it all over!

Daniel wanted to give that for his grandad.

INTERVIEWER: Did he like a whisky, your dad?

He liked a wee half, aye.

I wish he was still here,

every time I come.

You can be standing in the most awkward of places,

and you get a lump in your throat when you think of your dad

and he's not here any more.

Ten years later, you're still the same.

Just, just...

I always had the support of my dad when it was his company,

and I've missed that kind of support, really.

Marie has decided to take a risk

and put the last of her money into training Rhiannon,

so she too can work in the biohazard side of the business.

This is the course I done originally.

And they've been basically training Lesley up since,

but I think it would be really handy

if both her and Rhiannon went on the course,

because it means then that I'm freed up to go and do other things.

And I can leave them with confidence

that they've had the specific training that you need.

Cos it is really quite important for their own safety,

as well as other people's.

A few weeks later and it's time for Rhiannon

to say goodbye to her family,

as the crime scene cleaning academy is in Bristol.

Don't make me go!

You'll enjoy it, it's a really good course.

I love you...!

Give me a kiss! Mwah!

Right, bye. Be good.

Lesley is going with her to brush up on her skills

and to keep an eye on Rhiannon.

I know, it's good, it's good money,

plus I get to work with my mum and my Auntie Lesley,

but it's not the dream job, is it?

"What do you want to be when you're older?"

"I want to clean up after dead people."

On arrival in Bristol, the girls start straight into the course.

It's like being back at school,

only the lessons are much more disturbing.

If you are called into a scene,

you'll be asked to clear up and almost certainly,

insects will be part of that.

Recently, a murder I was involved in,

somebody had been found dead inside a room,

all the windows, all the doors, everywhere absolutely tight shut,

yet that flat was full of flies.

And the body had been removed, then the people came in to clean up

and they had to do something about these flies.

I went to one once - body had been there for many, many, many months

and all that's left were the larvae of these beetles,

literally picking the bones clean.

And what you remember about it all is the smell, isn't it?

That smell never leaves you.

(Does it no'?) So the idea of... You're protecting yourself.

OK, so shotgun suicide.

You get brain, you get skull.

A lot of people don't think with a shotgun suicide about the hair.

You get hair everywhere, you get bits of skull, lumps of skull

and they can travel all over the place.

The actual shot in a shotgun,

if you've seen a shotgun cartridge, it comes out,

so those shots will all make holes all the way up the walls

in a room.

The best thing is to fill them, so take some polyfiller with you

and just fill those holes.

You won't be able to dig out the bullets that are in that wall.

When you've got arterial wounds,

it's relatively easy to clean up.

When you're looking at hanging, sometimes you go to a property

and someone's hung themselves and there's nothing there.

The body's gone, the undertaker's taken the body away,

people just expect there to be something there.

I have been to one property where somebody hung themselves

and the rope was there.

The body was gone, but the head was still there

and the undertaker had forgotten to take the head

SCATTERED LAUGHTER Honestly, we had to phone up to come out and get the head,

it was quite strange. Urgh!

After a long day in the classroom,

there's no rest for the girls.

It's back to the hotel for homework.

I've got a funny feeling that we're going to have to remember this.

What does that say? Let me see. Is that "infestation"? Aye.

What, are you just writing it out

and you don't even know what it says?

No! Says, me that didn't even know what mine says!

I wrote I-N-F-E-C and it's no, it's I-N-F-E-S!

I blame the internet and phones, cos if you cannae spell,

the word just comes up for you. Mm-hm.

MUSIC: Gloria by Them

In Glasgow, Marie's on her way to meet a local businessman

who owns a cleaning firm.

He is keen to persuade her

that the two companies would be stronger together.

What you guys do, there's not a lot of people that could do it

and seeing the goriness of how they've passed away,

or how they've been murdered,

or basically how they've died,

that's the bit that I don't like.

But that's what we focus on.

This has been horrendous, it's horrible.

Let's not think about it, let's not let the family see that bit. Yep.

Make it good for them, not seeing the horror that we're seeing.

Basically, you've got that quality that not a lot of people have

with regards to the way you deal with clients.

When I first met you, that's basically what I saw

and the way you were talking about people and I thought, "Yep,

"this could be a good partnership." Mm-hm.

With our company's accreditations

and using both your accreditations and ours,

I see us only growing that side of the business even more and more.

The biohazard, the death scene, the crime scenes,

and start focusing more on that,

rather than doing that and your normal cleans...

Aye. ..then I think we can grow the business tremendously. Mm-hm.

Whilst Marie thinks about the future of her business,

in Bristol, it's day two of the course

and it's practical assessment time.

So, Rhiannon, what was the attraction?

Why did you decide to come into this work, then?

I didn't. You didn't?

I'm beginning to come round now, but...

I'm scared of my first one to go on.

Well, everybody's bound to be nervous and afraid,

but keep to the systems that we show you

and the methods and you'll keep safe.

Rhiannon will be judged on how she handles

a biohazard cleaning situation.

These situations are what we face every day, so this is very common.

She has to work in a reconstructed drug den

and deal with the disposal of dangerous needles.

Just be aware - that's it - of where it is.

Firm grip, pull it out.

Well done, OK.

Do I spray it? OK.

So we know the floor is clear of sharps...

Next up, dealing with blood spills.

But it's not the blood that's turning Rhiannon.

Instead, it's the noise of the scraper.

HARSH SCRAPING

Oh, it's the noise!

LAUGHTER

Oh, I can't, I feel sick!

LAUGHTER

It's like someone with a fork on a plate.

Urgh!

SCRAPING CONTINUES

It's horrible.

Wear earplugs!

I've never seen anybody do that before!

Did you find that beneficial? Yes. You did? Good.

Well done, good. Thank you. Let's go and get a cup of tea.

Thank you.

Did you enjoy that? Aye. Did you?

The practical's more a bit better than sitting listening about it,

do you know what I mean? Hands-on? Mm-hm.

I'm gonnae kill my mum.

Cos I like it!

She'll need to hang about with us all day! I know!

INTERVIEWER: Cos you like it now? Aye!

She's on her way, she is on her way for definite.

It's either this, or cleaning the offices. I know!

After a weekend of intensive training,

Rhiannon seems surprisingly keen to follow in her mother's footsteps.

I think when they talk about how much money you can make

and, obviously, all the different experiences you can go to,

plus I'm pure nosey, so it's excitement, isn't it?

Showed you what it's really about, now you've seen it first-hand.

But that's not saying I might change my mind

when I go to my first death scene!

Cos remember that guy talked about...

They went to a job and a man hung himself and his body lay

for, like, two months and the body actually detached,

came off the head

and an undertaker forgot the head!

Oh, I don't believe that.

Can you imagine going into a job and there was a head there?

I'd be fucking traumatised! I don't believe that.

You can forget a finger... or a tooth.

Aye, but it was hidden, but. It was hanging on a rope, he said.

No, that was a different one. There was another one.

After careful consideration,

Marie has decided to take on a business partner.

A much-needed injection of cash means a new van.

He's just put the new writing on the van.

It looks fantastic, really pleased.

Front, back and sides.

Aww! Nice, isn't it?

MUSIC: The Boss by James Brown

Now that she's completed her training,

Rhiannon is ready to make the transition

into the traumatic biohazard jobs.

We're going to an undiscovered death.

Erm...

three to four months, the victim's lain.

She's out to ruin my life, isn't she?

It's going to be a tough job, but you can't go in with...

You've just got to do it and she'll just need to do it.

It's just the thought of it more.

Once you're in there, you'll be fine, won't you?

You can see by her face she's going to be fine(!)

Oh, I hate my life.

On arrival at the location,

the smell from the flat meets everyone at the front door.

Oh, man!

DRILL WHIRS You wonder how the neighbours never smelled.

SHE GROANS

Wait till you get in

and we start disturbing it.

SHE GASPS Shit.

Once inside, the smell of decomposition intensifies,

but there's no time for weak stomachs.

Get the 240 Hoover out and make sure there's a bag in it.

Somebody will lift it up the stairs for you.

Putting Vicks under my nose so I don't smell as much of the death.

I think I should just do that!

Huge piles of dead flies,

maggot carcasses and body fluids on the sofa

indicate that the remains must have rotted away

over a period of months.

Oh!

See if it's too much, stop, right?

It's no, it's just cos it's pure heavy.

For the new apprentice Rhiannon, this is a tough job.

It's the smell.

I told you it'd get worse as we disturbed it.

Oh, Jesus Chri... Do you want me to do it? Aye, gonnae?

Don't... Do not rub your faces or anything.

Basically took the cushions off where the victim has been lying.

And if you look,

there's obviously been a lot of maggot activity.

See it? It's literally hundreds of them.

See, you can't help feel sorry for them.

It's not their fault that they've died and lay there.

I just can't get how someone can lay that long

and nobody notices.

Do you know what I mean?

Marie challenges Rhiannon

on what she has learned on the course about flies.

Here's a question for youse.

What are they called?

Eh, I'm pretty sure that's a fly, hen!

LAUGHTER No flies on you, Rhiannon!

Gie that girl a hand!

That's not fucking funny!

With the bulk of the cleaning done,

the girls take a moment to respect the fact that this is a place

where someone passed away.

Just lighting a wee candle.

For somebody to lie so long and nobody to have known they were here,

that's quite sad as well,

so just out of respect. Makes me feel a wee bit better.

Rhiannon has now proved to her mum

that she can handle the more traumatic side of the business.

'When you go into things like this, you think to yourself,

'"Right, I'm not scared of dying or anything like that,"

'and I don't think a lot of people realise what actually happens

'to your body when it starts to decompose and stuff like that.

'I didn't know until I went to that course.

'I'm like, "I can't believe how far I've come on."'

What's wrong with your own legs?

'I was so proud of her, because she just went in and she just suited up

'and not a single word out her,

'she just done it and she done it fantastic.

'I think that...

'I hope there's a future in it for her.'

Now that Rhiannon is finally part of the biohazard team,

she gets to enjoy the long van journeys

with Marie's favourite music.

MARIE SINGS ALONG: # Your time has come to shine

# All your dreams are on their way

# See how they shine

# Oh, when darkness comes

# And pain is all around

# Like a bridge over troubled water

# I will lay me down

# Like a bridge over troubled water

# I will lay me down... #