Episode 2 Blackout

-How can they do this?

-Hire your staff and pay them less!

Daniel, you haven't heard?

Henry Pulis is in a coma. He was attacked last night.

'Sylvie. My Sylvie.'

-Are you seeing someone?

-None of your business, but I'm not.

Don't lie to me, Sylvie. I'll get proof.

'Police said they have CCTV footage of a woman running away.'

Why was he there?

Last time I was here, there was a woman over there. Do you know her?

This is all my doing. You don't deserve this.

'Just take care of the kids, please.'

I'm a drunk.

Nothing mattered to me more than getting wasted.

Maybe there is a purpose you don't know yet, for you.

Maybe they're right.

You can use what has happened to you to help people.

What kind of city would want me as a mayor?

This programme contains some violent scenes and some strong language.

REPORTERS CLAMOUR

CAMERAS CLICK

They say people get the leader they deserve.

REPORTERS FALL SILENT

Our city picked a drunk for a mayor. Well done.

I'm getting a chance to pay for all the wrongs that I've done.

But right now, I've got to take the kids to school.

REPORTERS CLAMOUR

Come on.

BOTTLE TOP CLINKS

The thing to remember is, they want you to take charge.

So make a gesture. Do something to show them that you're going to lead.

Do it kindly.

-Let's dive straight in. What's first on the list?

-Recycling and refuse collection.

And who said politics wasn't sexy any more?

CHUCKLING

There is a broader issue, which is that

the whole city services contracts remain up for renewal,

postponed after Henry Pulis's death.

We've been holding onto the tenders

until the new administration was in place.

We can go through those, but I think we should open it out

-to bring in some more bids.

-Maybe not.

We spend millions and millions of pounds of council money...

Oh, I've lost touch already!

Millions of pounds of TAXPAYERS' money.

People like Henry Pulis take a thick slice of profit off the top.

Sorry, but the idea of taking services back into public ownership,

that's the land that time forgot! CHUCKLING

Well, that's not what I'm saying.

So, what are you proposing?

The people who do the work, they own the company, they run it.

There's a word for that - communism.

When I was a kid, it was called the Co-op.

Problem number one - it won't work.

Problem number two - it wasn't in the manifesto.

They didn't vote for who collects the rubbish.

They voted for someone to tell them the truth. So, let's do that.

Let's spell it out, let them decide.

Hello. Is it possible to speak to the mayor, please?

-'Not at the moment.'

-Well, can I leave a message?

'Can I take your name?

'No, I don't really want to leave my name.'

Are you ready?

852 employees. Equal shares in the company.

They vote in the management, who stand for re-election every year.

Three objectives. One - provide the city with services. They serve.

Two - take care of employees, who happen to be the shareholders.

Three - any profit goes back into the city.

Radical.

Democratic.

Daniel, please, you don't need to convert me. I'm a believer.

You do see the problem, though, don't you?

-Enlighten me.

-It's a world without incentive.

Today, I am my own boss. So how would I like to get up

and clear a shitty, rancid, disease-hole of a drain

-or would I rather just stay in bed?

-You have no faith in humanity, Jerry.

Devil's advocate.

It will turn political and it will turn on you.

You sound to me more like the devil's best friend.

It's my job to spot the traps and pitfalls,

name them, shine a big light on them so that you, Mr Mayor,

can step right around them.

Come on, Jerry. Let's shake the tree, see what falls out.

I thought we could go out again tonight and celebrate.

What do you think?

I'm going to go round to Daniel's.

Well, I can come.

It becomes too visible. I just don't think it's...

it's fair to ask people to collude.

How's business?

Daniel seems to think we're the people's republic.

Aren't we?

LAUGHTER

It's two jobs, really - drugs and law.

Daniel, I can't take a job at City Hall.

It says here the mayor has a budget of £82 million.

You get to spend £82 million?

It's not like getting a wallet full of cash and heading down to Gap.

-We're custodians.

-Mm-hm.

-Who knows what a custodian is?

-I'd head to Zalando.

-That's a lot of shoes.

-You're not telling me

you want to stay where you are, practising?

This is what you've always dreamed of.

It's time for me to leave this town. A new life.

What are you talking about?

Luke, does your laptop need to be on the table for every meal we have?

This pasta's fantastic.

It's pasta. It comes in a packet,

I boil it.

Right, I want you all to hear this.

If I can be half the person your mother is, I'll die happy.

When I was doing my best to rip this family apart, she held it together.

While I was running around like a selfish child,

she showed you what a real grown-up behaves like.

Alex, I can never repay you for what you've given me.

I don't care what the whole city thinks of me.

I just want to earn your respect.

Jeez, Dad! Can't we even have dinner without a Disney speech?

-Mum, can you pass us the...?

-Yeah, sure.

Why do you want to leave now? We've only just got started.

I'm pregnant.

Well, that's great, isn't it? I had an idea you and Jerry were close.

What's the deal with his marriage?

It'll ruin Jerry if I stay here.

And I won't give up this baby.

He doesn't know?

I don't want to tell him. I know how mad that is.

ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

INCREASES VOLUME

What are you doing?

Is he in there?

Tell him to come out.

There's no-one in there!

I'm getting the locks changed.

Can you not see what you're doing?

Can you not see how you scare Kim and Jeannie?

Get out of my house.

You idiot!

You wonder why I've had enough of you?

This is why I've had enough of you.

It's all right.

I'm sorry.

I just want my family back.

HE SOBS

I just want my family back!

HE SNIVELS Please! Sylvie, please!

Get out! Go!

Get out! Will you get out?!

No!

I don't want to talk to any more junior officers.

I want to speak to the person leading the investigation.

Well, get Detective Griffin to call me, then.

My friend the mayor.

Can we get a coffee?

Dad was a member of these clubs.

I've been looking through his stuff.

Midnight Moves, the Silhouette Bar.

If all he wanted was sex, those clubs have rooms.

So if it was about having a woman, why go to some seedy alleyway?

It makes no sense to say he was with this prostitute.

-Have you told the police this?

-I don't want to.

They'll mess it up. It's like they don't want to know.

-Ruth, listen to me...

-I don't think she is a prostitute, this woman.

If she was, they would have found her.

-You have to stop this.

-I want to go to the alleyway where they found him.

Will you come with me? Tonight?

There's a woman downstairs who wants to see you. She says she knows you.

She won't rearrange for another day. Insists she has to see you now.

What are you doing here?

I was going to come and see you after you got out of the hospital,

but one or two things were happening.

You got yourself elected, so it was impossible.

You saved my life, so now you reckon I owe you.

You've come to petition me about hospital funding.

You're going to pick up a drink, mister.

Not possible.

I've seen you on TV.

You're on top of the world.

I hear the ticking of the clock.

-You've got me worked out?

-Yes, I have.

Do you know how far you are from drinking again?

This far.

When the thought of a drink comes - and it WILL come...

call me.

-PULIS:

-'You think I'm here with you because I like you?

'Because we're mates? Because you matter one bit to me?'

Danny, you cut this crap! You're beginning to sound like a drunk!

You get your act together.

My act, Henry?

My act is this.

I don't belong in my own skin!

Dad was talking about you that day.

The day he was killed.

He was cursing you.

Saying what an awkward swine you were.

He liked to get his own way.

The police say the girl ran down here.

I just don't believe no-one saw her. It's like no-one's telling the truth.

Hi, there!

There's blood on your shirt.

She's gone.

She ran.

There's blood all over you.

-'There's blood all over you...'

-Please don't protect me.

Are you OK?

Hey.

I'm going to take you home.

DISTANT SHOUTING

SIRENS WAILING

Oh, no.

Absolute piece of crap.

I didn't do anything! I don't know anything!

-Do you know who I am?

-I don't know anything!

-Well, why did you run when you saw me?

-You're police, aren't you?

-You saw me that night.

-Who are you?

You can't talk to anyone, understand?

-I must have hit him, did I?

-Listen to me,

you didn't do anything, OK?

It's going to be all right, you didn't kill anyone.

-They're saying he's dead. Is he dead?

-Not you.

-I can't remember!

(I can't remember.

(I can't remember.)

I want you to stay here tonight, OK? I'll come and see you tomorrow.

-Why are you doing this?

-I'm the same as you, I'm a drunk.

You stay here, OK?

Have a shower. Can you do that?

Here, pay cash.

OK?

I'll come back.

DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES

Alex?

'I didn't want you to ever know.'

I wanted to give myself up to the police.

That's why I went to see Lucy.

I want to pay.

I'm doing it.

I'm trying.

Everything that's happened is telling me

that I can pay for what I've done.

I know how that sounds.

Alex.

I must have been so gone.

It keeps coming back to me.

What happened.

Me and Henry in that alleyway.

I see it.

What I did to him.

You think I want to hear that?

You think I want to know what happened?

Ever since I woke up that morning...

..I've been thinking.

I've been asking myself,

"Why don't the police come after me?

"Why don't they know I did it?"

What if the kids never have to know?

Don't you ever touch our children again.

Don't you fucking ever go near them!

DONNA: 'I hear the ticking of the clock.

'When the thought of a drink comes - and it WILL come...

'..call me.'

MUFFLED SOUND

MUSIC PLAYING

In a few minutes, you can drink it, if you still want it.

Look at it.

I'm an alcoholic too. I understand your need.

But what happens if you drink that one?

I'll drink another one.

-Then what?

-I'd keep going till I get to oblivion.

Then hell.

You know where it takes you and you still want to pick it up.

Is that sane?

No.

No, it's not sane.

You give your life over to King Alcohol.

Every time.

Is that true?

Who is king?

Say it.

The booze is king.

Not king, no. It is God.

You give your life to it.

Say it.

The booze is God.

My wife knows what a vile piece of scum I am.

I can't bear it!

I can't bear being me.

I say you can bear it. I say you are bearing it right now.

Are you bearing it right now?

You hate yourself. We alcoholics all do.

That's why booze is not your problem, it's your solution.

You need it to escape being you.

But that makes you powerless.

So my question for you is...

..are you beat?

Yes.

Are you done?

Don't say it for me. Don't say it for your kids or your wife.

Say it because you know it in your soul.

I am done.

-Tell me.

-66.

OK, get it packed.

Morning, Mum.

-Come on.

-Morning, Mum.

See you, Mum.

Bye.

Dad?

I know where there are some bottles at home if you want them.

I can get them for you.

It's OK, Charlie.

I don't want to drink today.

The Commissioner made an announcement this morning.

They have forensic evidence from the crime scene.

They're looking for some bloody street drunk called Frank Waters.

-Why now?

-What do you mean?

How come they've suddenly got evidence, after weeks of nothing?

How come they name a suspect today?

Daniel, this is good news, isn't it?

A drunk.

That's it. Some drunk killed my father

-because he happened to rob him?

-We don't know yet.

-Let's see what they come up with.

-Well, they might find him.

They might be right.

It was him. He came into that alleyway and he did it.

But that doesn't say why my father was there. Why does no-one ask that?

It keeps sort of jumping into my mind.

The night it happened, that was the day before

the bids for the contract.

I keep thinking my dad being killed has something to do with that.

We're not giving all the city's money to some corporation.

We're giving it back to the people who live here.

That's government by emotion, Daniel.

It won't cook. When I first spoke to you in the hospital,

you said you didn't want this job. Remember why?

You said you weren't up to it.

Now look at you. You're talking like a conviction politician.

Like only you know best.

You're right. I should slow down, but I can't.

PHONE RINGING

Alex.

I have a choice.

I have to decide.

I know what I should do. I should go to the police and tell them

my husband killed Henry Pulis.

But if I go that way, my whole life is shattered.

I want to know all of it.

I get information for Henry.

Quotes, contract information,

so he could pitch his own offer at the right place.

He paid me.

There's a lot of money to be made in council contracts. Millions.

I told myself, "I deserve this.

"I'm entitled.

"I can get away with this."

I could shut all feeling down with booze,

so it didn't matter.

But then you look at your kids and you think, "Who am I?"

I don't want to tell them it was you.

I don't want you involved.

-It's past that now. There is no other way.

-If the police find out,

-you're implicated.

-No, we can't let them find out.

TYRES SCREECH

-What?

-I get jumpy.

Alex, someone saw me that night.

A street drunk. He saw me running.

But I found him.

I have to talk to him again. Find out what he saw.

I put him in a hotel to buy some time.

PHONE RINGS

Ruth.

-Daniel, it's so obvious.

-What is?

There's a club, close to where they found my father.

The Yellow Moon.

TYRES SCREECH

MUSIC POUNDS

Daniel.

Dad didn't come here.

I just thought, because it was nearby...

Ruth, you've got to stop doing this to yourself.

Can we have a drink?

Yeah. Come on.

I could have told you that your dad didn't come here.

I used to come here.

It's where I drank.

So, now you're mayor, Mr Demoys.

Did you find your friend you were looking for?

Yes, I found him. Can we get some drinks?

Ruth?

Gin, please. Just with ice.

Sure.

The "friend"...

Did you see the look on his face?

That was my dealer.

He used to bring coke to my table.

-You were looking for him?

-Then, not now.

Not any more.

Do you mind if we get out of this place?

I-I don't like myself being here.

PHONE BEEPS

They've found Waters.

RUTH SOBS

You're Ruth, yeah? You're Ruth Pulis?

Mr Mayor.

Maybe I shouldn't be talking to you. I'm not on this case,

er, officially, but it was me who found him.

It was me who got the tip-off that he was here.

He was drunk, walked right off the bridge.

I'm sorry.

If it helps you, we only work with what we have.

And what we have is a man with a history of violence.

He had cash on him. We have strong forensic evidence.

The suspect is dead, we can't question him.

-His kill fits with this man.

-Thank you.

-Detective...?

-Bevan. Detective Bevan.

Suspect is dead, we can't question him.

So all we have here is...

..is the evidence.

'It's like they're trying to cover up the killing.'

-No, they ARE covering it up.

-I don't understand.

Who would want to do this? Why?

PHONE BEEPS

Waters didn't drink himself to death.

He saw me that night, now he's dead.

They set him up, put Pulis's DNA on him

and then pushed him off a bridge.

They know!

Whoever they are, they know I killed Henry Pulis.

SHE RETCHES

Let's go.

Let's just get in the car and take the kids and go...

Alex. Alex! Stop it, there's nowhere to go.

I still have Pulis's phone.

Alex, listen to me. I need you to get this.

I want you to promise me. Now, we have this.

We keep it.

YOU keep it.

It might reach the point where you go to the police.

If you give me up, then you're in the clear.

That's all that matters.

What's in here is a ticket to Paris, or Prague, or Venice...

'Whatever we want is in here.'

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

It's me. It's Daniel.

'Oh.'

Got my card?

'I didn't know what else to do.

'I called the number you gave me, but it was wrong.'

I was drunk when I gave it you.

-'Are you OK?'

-Yeah.

Considering.

I've been so scared, Daniel.

'When can I see you?

-'Can we meet tonight?'

-OK.

Call me by my name.

Sylvie.

PHONE RINGS

Daniel Demoys.

'I'm hoping you remember me, Mr Mayor.

'Detective Bevan.'

-You found the vagrant.

-'Yeah.'

Yeah. But now there's something bothering me.

I want to come and see you.

'When?'

How about now?

-I have a committee meeting.

-If I were you, Mr Mayor,

I'd want to hear what I have to say.

I found him.

I knew I'd find him if I wanted to.

They shut me out of that investigation

because I'm not one of DI Griffin's pets.

They're saying that, er...

he walked off the bridge and he must have been the drunk of all drunks

because he had money on him and it all adds up neat, like maths.

Yeah, I got them. But then I noticed something.

I noticed how smooth it all is, and I'm not used to smooth.

Smooth does not follow me round.

And the way DI Griffin is talking to me, telling me what a good boy I am,

it's just... It's starting to make my skin itch.

Because when everything is so good...

..it has to be bad.

You understand that, Mr Mayor?

So I go back.

And I find a couple of drunks who knew Waters.

'And what they tell me is he disappeared from The Mission Bell

'in the middle of the night with some guy.

'The drunks assumed it was police.'

So I checked.

No police contact with Waters in the days before his death.

Waters is then found and next,

I tell DI Griffin what I've discovered

and he's pleased and he's grateful.

Tells me, "Don't... Ssh! Don't tell anyone."

And he's talking to me like I'm one of his pets.

So what's he done about it?

Do you really think I'd be talking to you here

if he was cracking the whip to chase it down?

And why wouldn't he?

Well, maybe he's so convinced that we got it right

-that what I say just bounces off him.

-And you don't think so?

Unlikely. Or maybe he doesn't like the mess.

We've got to tidy. He wants to keep it all...tidy.

You're not buying?

Unlikely.

So it's not conviction and it's not negligence. What does that leave?

Well, let's just call it...

..a mystery.

Oh, another thing.

Griffin was pretty matey with Henry Pulis.

Wouldn't that make him all the more determined to find the right killer?

It would me.

It would you, wouldn't it?

You were pretty friendly with Pulis too, Mr Mayor.

Do you want me to go to the Commissioner, Detective?

One thing that bothers me is that Griffin loves being a cop.

-If he's crooked, then so is Jesus.

-Why did you come here?

-What do you want me to do?

-Two things - don't mention me,

don't mention the information I've given you.

Find a reason to make smoke for the Commissioner and DI Griffin.

Maybe use Pulis's daughter. She doesn't like the way things are going.

You make a noise here and I'm going to watch them from the inside.

I'm going to dig around. And if they should suddenly find dope

in my locker or child pornography on my computer,

and I'm discredited,

suspended, arrested, I'm going to come to you.

This conversation is my insurance.

Sorry.

OK. Here's what we're looking at.

We've made some informal soundings with the management of Services.

They're going to put together a business plan,

based on the idea of a workers' co-operative.

Now, obviously the biggest problem is getting this organised.

How to go from nothing to a functioning operation.

I don't believe that is the biggest problem, Mr Mayor.

The real danger is the risk.

It's nice to assume that all will go well,

but what happens if they go bust?

Who carries the can?

The taxpayer, just like the old days.

We have to ask ourselves, who are we doing this for?

A few hundred people that sweep the roads, maintain the parks.

Is our obligation to them?

Or is it to the entire population of this city?

Our mission isn't to be charitable.

It's to be smart.

Our purse is empty. Are we willing to raise taxes?

This is a company called Danto Global. Quality for less.

Their costs are lower because they buy big and they have

the systems already in place. They're the experts, basically.

Thank you, Jerry, that gives us two clear alternatives.

Bear in mind I've now spoken to Danto.

If they were to get the contract on a 20-year deal,

they're prepared to come in with some serious investment.

Like the Lexworth School Project, which has been dropped.

Well, the devil certainly has a very powerful advocate.

PHONE RINGS

'What's been nagging at you?'

The night Dad was killed was the night before the bids and tenders

-for the contract renewal.

-And why do you think that matters?

I think my father might have...

I don't know how to say this.

I think he corrupted the contract process.

Well, that's a pretty big conclusion to get to.

If he was going to do that, who would be in it with him?

Me.

If he had won a contract, my father was going to sell his business.

It was all done, in place.

He was going to walk away with millions.

Who was he going to sell to?

A company called Danto.

If there was someone on the inside working with him,

how do we find that person?

They'd be in there.

Why are we meeting here, Daniel?

This isn't a dress for a car park.

-Maybe it is.

-This is all going to stop now, Sylvie.

We've been waiting all of our lives for this.

This is not love. I was in blackout.

I was in alcoholic blackout when I was with you.

-No.

-I don't remember what I said.

-It wasn't me talking to you.

-No.

This is not real.

You don't need me.

You have two children.

They need you to grow up.

I want you to know that you're safe. I won't mention your name.

You're safe from me.

You're saying this to protect me.

That's love.

Go home, Sylvie.

Please.

Go home.

VOICES OUTSIDE ROOM

BANGING

RAGGED BREATHING

Ah!

Luke, how do you get past this PR bullshit?

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Ruth.

They took it!

They took it all.

His files, his laptop, everything.

If I may, just to fill you all in quickly.

If this co-operative was to even get off the ground,

then we're needing plant equipment,

machinery, vehicles. They're looking for a start-up loan.

As you said yourself, Daniel, they have nothing.

So I got them speaking to the banks.

Then I spoke with every possible source,

and no-one's prepared to take them on. The numbers are too big.

So the management have now accepted that it's simply not possible.

They've looked at the dangers to themselves, to the operation,

-and they admit it's out of reach.

-You've been through all this with them?

I've been trying to get hold of you, Daniel, nail you down on this,

but you're not taking my calls.

Shall I go on?

Yeah, do.

So now it looks like we're back to the original offers.

Plus Danto.

What they are proposing is massive.

It's ambitious. It's way beyond the scope of just providing services.

Not only that, they will guarantee jobs

for everyone currently employed by the city.

Daniel? There's a woman who's called

to speak with you four times today.

Says her name's Roxy.

OK, just leave it with me.

I thought you understood. You said you accepted.

'I do accept. But something happened.'

I had, like, this panic attack.

I couldn't breathe, just kept seeing what happened in my head.

Seeing you in that alleyway.

-Sylvie...

-I have protected you.

I haven't told anyone.

No-one. I just need you to help me.

Talk to me.

Well, what can I do?

Meet me. I just need to talk.

I have nightmares.

You're the only person I can talk to about this.

OK.

OK, Sylvie.

Is that yours or mine?

Just take whatever ones you want.

I'm clearing my stuff out of the way. Clean break.

And I appreciate it.

Is it OK to use the toilet?

BEEPING

'GPS activated.'

Is this mine?

Ask before you start snooping around in my room.

I miss it.

I'd just like to take you all through this new tendering document for the city.

-If we start by looking at finance...

-Jerry.

The problem we have in setting up the co-operative

is being able to afford the plant equipment.

In other words, the problem is money.

The banks won't lend it.

But what if we don't need it?

If I may?

Ruth Pulis knows that this city has been good to her father.

And she wants to do something in return.

She'd tell you herself,

but she has difficulty speaking at the moment.

She was attacked in her own home.

Ruth is proposing that the new co-operative

takes on the existing plant from her father's company,

and a repayment package be arranged over ten years.

How does that sound?

Anyone want salt?

GENERAL CHATTER

PHONE BEEPS

I can see it sometimes.

When I'm on my own.

I see that man on the ground in the rain.

I can't get it out of my head.

'I just want to see you sometimes.'

Be with you.

So I don't feel like I'm on my own with this.

Hold me, please.

I just want to be held.

Police!

Why do I get the feeling I'm lost?

Because you are.

What does that mean?

What you do, Mr Mayor, is what you're told to do.

Secrets will kill you, Daniel.

Who's covering this up? Is it Griffin?

If anything happens to my daughter,

the last thing I'll do on this earth is come after you!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd