Nightvisiting Class

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

-'Rachel's dead...'

-'Mum was paralysed in an accident.

'Our teacher is the Quill's leading terrorist.'

Freedom fighter. We're just little arses of smart,

who don't even know what evil looks like.

We're so busy fighting amongst ourselves we never saw them coming.

Why are you trying to make me talk about it?

My dad died...

almost two years ago.

A stroke.

HE SHOUTS IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE

MUSIC: Nightvisiting

# I will put my ship in order

# And I will sail to the sea

# I will listen at the window

# To see if my true love

# Minds on me

# When I come into the harbour

# The burning Thames I have to cross

# I will listen at the window

# For my true love

# You alone

# Cos I'm here and I'm outside your window

# The rain is soaking to the skin

# The prison walls I'm scaling

# The chains that bind me down

# The clay will not contain me

# And keep me from your arms... #

MUSIC FADES OUT

# And so I sing

# Unto the morning

# Oh, Sun, don't rise

# Before the day

# Birds

# Hold your tunes a bit longer

# For dawn comes to steal

# My sweet one away. #

SLOW PIANO INSTRUMENTAL

PIANO INSTRUMENTAL QUICKENS

MUSIC ENDS

SHE SOBS

SHE SNIFFS

SHE SNIFFS

SHE SIGHS

TENSE MUSIC

CHILLING MUSIC

MUSIC BUILDS

Daddy?

MUSIC: Up All Night by Alex Clare

# What have I been waiting for?

# Been wasting all my time

# Watchin' my youth slip away

# Surely is a crime

# We go on and on and on and on

# Never knowing where, never knowing where

# We gonna, we gonna...

# We gonna end up in the morning

# We go on and on and on and on

# Never knowing where, never knowing where

# We gonna, we gonna...

# We gonna end up in the morning. #

It isn't you.

It is.

I've reached out to you across all time and space.

Because dead people are doing that

all the time. I mean, you hear about it constantly(!)

The stroke came so suddenly.

One moment I was here...

And the next, you were gone.

There's so much that I wanted to say to you.

You're not him.

I am. I'm a part of you, Puddle.

I'm out of here.

I'm your father - Jasper.

I married your mother, Vivian.

And then, two years later, we had your brothers.

You died two years ago today.

I was at your grave with Mum.

I know that, Puddle.

But I'm here now.

I know how much pain you're in.

I can help with that pain.

Why don't you take my hand?

I...I don't think I'm dealing with this very well.

DOOR OPENS

DOOR SHUTS

SHE PANTS

TENSE MUSIC

MUSIC BUILDS

MUSIC BUILDS

DOOR CLICKS

Alien invasion or teen angst?

"Teen angst" is a pejorative phrase.

He's upstairs.

SLITHERING

What's wrong?

They've...thrown me out.

COMPUTER JINGLES, TAPPING

COMPUTER JINGLES

HE SIGHS

COMPUTER JINGLES

COMPUTER JINGLES

Oh, come on, Tanya! Where are you?

RAIN PATTERS

SLOW VIOLIN MUSIC PLAYS

VIOLIN PLAYS

MUSIC ENDS

COMPUTER JINGLES

SHE SIGHS

Hey.

-Have you seen Tanya?

-No.

She's not been around today.

It is the anniversary of her dad's, erm...

I know that, she's more my friend than yours.

Why does it have to be a competition?

-Did you understand the physics homework?

-What?

-Oh.

-Don't "Oh" me.

Fine. Although I didn't understand all of it either.

Is that a keyboard?

Do you play that too?

-Yeah.

-SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

I write sometimes.

You write songs?

No.

Nothing. Erm...

Let's get to physics.

-IN FOREIGN ACCENT:

-Was argument.

One we had many times.

About boys.

Then it became about you.

It was almost OK I liked boys.

But my father...

If I don't have a boyfriend, he doesn't have to think about it.

But you...

you exist. You are a real person.

Did this really happen?

KNOCKING

KNOCKING

Because, of course, I'll get it.

I once led an army.

-KNOCKING

-Yes, all right!

You know, you aren't supposed to just drop by in this country.

LOCKS CLICK

KNOCKING

She's the worst teacher I've ever had.

I don't know how nobody notices.

-She does barely anything.

-I don't know.

So, what I did on question three was...

RUSTLING

KNOCKING

What was that?

Someone just knocked on my window.

And that's weird...?

I'm on the first floor.

Hello, Andrearth.

No-one knows that name.

No-one alive knows that name.

Therefore...?

Therefore, you're a dead woman.

Or you're going to be.

Come, come, Andrearth. A fight?

Then again, maybe that would be the best greeting.

Mum?

DOOR CREAKS

I'll see you in the morning.

I hope.

KNOCKING

Ram, you have to see what that is.

Oh, screw you! I don't HAVE to do anything.

I've done plenty already.

CRASHING

Ram?

-Oh, come on!

-Ram?

What's happening?

It's just not fair!

Holy mother of Kanye!

Rachel!

-SCARY MUSIC

-Agh!

SHE SIGHS HEAVILY

DOOR OPENS

DOOR SHUTS

Why me? Why not Mum or your sons?

We go to the strongest pull first -

the one who misses us the most.

You were like a siren song, when we stepped into this world.

But how can I possibly miss you more than Mum does?

Because she's already let me go.

It's the shape, I know.

Some morphic resonance thing I don't understand.

One has to make allowances for other planets.

Surely, though, even in this skin...

..that you yourself wear so well, Andrearth...

..surely you recognise your own sister?

How? How are you here?

That's a story and a half.

I ain't going nowhere.

You AREN'T going anywhere.

The correct words AREN'T always the right ones.

Well, that's true, isn't it?

That's what I always used to say to you.

That's what my dad used to tell me.

Fair enough. All right.

We are...

..the Lan Kin.

Aliens?

'So you're NOT him?'

-I am.

-You just said you're...

The universe is so big!

So big you wouldn't believe it.

Yes, actually, I would.

So, who are "the Lan Kin"?

They gather souls, Puddle.

They gather our souls, or they can...

if we let them.

'Quill don't have souls.'

We do.

We just believe they die with us.

They're wrong about that.

The Lan Kin...look after them.

They shepherd them.

Aww! Where to? Heaven?

If heaven is being with the souls of everyone you've ever known...

then yes.

Sounds like hell.

That, too.

What do you get out of it?

'Souls give off energy,'

a perpetually renewing power source.

It is mutually beneficial.

The more souls that gather together,

the more energy the Lan Kin have.

So...

..why are you here?

If you take my hand, I can ease your pain.

Our souls will connect.

So that, when it comes to your time...

many years from now...

..you'll be able to find me.

Dad! I know we talked about the weird stuff...

Dad, call me as soon as you get this.

HE GRUNTS

HE GRUNTS

HISSING

-ECHOING:

-Ram!

-HE GASPS

HE PANTS

MUSIC BUILDS

'You can stay here as long as you need.'

What if that's forever?

Then it's forever.

You know...

these weeks...with you,

I know you were different,

but, now that I know why, it doesn't matter

because you are still you

with all your...

strangeness.

Same here.

Charlie...

I would like to say something,

but I don't want you to think it's because of this situation.

-OK.

-Do not laugh at me.

-Is it funny?

-No.

Because sometimes I miss the human sense of humour.

I mean, you've seen that show Take Me Out.

I love you.

Do you...

have love where you come from?

What about Miss Quill?

I told her never to intrude unless the world is actually ending.

LAUGHTER

We've never gathered the souls of this race.

Not until cracks in the universe started appearing here.

We found a few souls we could help

but we'd like to help more.

Right, so this is a sales pitch?

And you've chosen a human picture of my sister

to be your mouthpiece?

Tell me again why I shouldn't kick your arse right now.

The shadow kin attack happened so fast, sister.

No-one knew it was their last day.

I know we've rarely seen eye-to-eye...

You tried to kill me in the nest.

All Quill sisters do that.

It is how we know the survivors are strong.

We allow you to properly say goodbye,

and, thereby, ensure you'll find one another in the hereafter.

Oh, this is sounding suspiciously sentimental.

Exactly the sort of nonsense

that would lead one of these ridiculous humans into a trap.

It's symbiotic.

You give to me as I give to you.

Why does it have to be a bad thing?

I've had bad luck with aliens recently.

Well, we're not all evil.

And there is so much good in the universe.

So much good.

You're hesitating, you're wondering.

What if?

ENGINE RUNS

There's so much I wanted to tell you.

And so much I wanted to say.

I know, son. Take your mother's hand and tell her, mm?

-Mama?

-Son!

GRUNTING, TENSE MUSIC

HE PANTS

HE SIGHS

What was that?

A soul saying goodbye.

HE GROANS

HE SIGHS

Not as clean as we'd have liked.

A lot of anger there.

We are kind of a messier species than the Lan Kin is used to.

So sad...

..when we can't let go properly.

'In my world, love is a practical term,

'it is almost a business one.'

It means to combine what you have with what someone else has.

It's the combination that means love,

not...the wish to do it.

The wish told you where love might be found...

it wasn't love itself.

What are you saying?

That my wish isn't love?

-No.

-Because, if not, then I've given up very much for a pointless wish.

No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying.

Here, you have so much choice.

But if your family is wrong for you, you can choose a different one.

My family...

They never saw me as someone they needed to bother combining with.

I was a valuable piece of property

to be used for the good of the country.

The wish, my wish...

..had nothing to do with it.

I wish for you.

You wish to combine with me?

Yeah, isn't that what we just...?

Sometimes I think you play stupid!

How about that fight?

Matron's rules - no mercy.

That would get in the way.

It's our limitation.

We have to stay attached to the great trunk.

It's how the souls connect.

I could only come this far to you.

You have to come the rest of the way.

Why?

'Because souls can never be forced.'

They can only be persuaded.

What can I say to make you believe me?

Oh, Puddle.

-Won't you take your father's hand?

-Take your sister's hand.

Tell me why you call me Puddle.

We were watching the regimental horses at Hyde Park.

One of them did an absolutely enormous wee

and you, not knowing what it was, jumped right into it.

"Puddle, puddle, puddle!", you said.

Horse wee everywhere.

That doesn't mean that...

That just means you can read my mind.

It doesn't mean that you're actually you.

I suppose that's true, yeah, but...

..there's no way to convince you.

You just HAVE to believe me.

I really want to.

I want you to.

I've missed you so much.

Dad?

HE PANTS

HE PANTS

HISSING

April?

I think the world's ending.

How do I know that you're not just some chameleon?

Chameleon?

An animal they have here. It changes its skin to match its background.

Useful for camouflage.

Have you made contact with their leaders?

Chameleons hide themselves.

So what I am wondering is...

what is it you are hiding?

Maybe you should ask yourself,

what am I offering?

THEY PANT

SLITHERING

-What are they?

-I don't know, but it was connected to Rachel.

Yeah, I saw.

But that's just not on!

SHE GASPS

That's not even the third weirdest thing I have seen this month.

I'm shaking.

Well, the world's ending.

The dead have come back for us.

Maybe.

Maybe there's another explanation.

Do you always have to be so goddamn sensible?

-Yes.

-What?

Yes! I DO always have to be so goddamn sensible.

Why? Why do you say that?

Because the world isn't sensible, haven't you noticed?

Yeah, I've noticed.

I decided a long time ago that I could either

let that break me into pieces,

or make sure that it never got the chance.

You just think I'm nice or sensible

but, really, it's war.

I'm always at war.

Can we please get out of here before we become one of those?

SLITHERING

'What are you offering?'

Do you remember what you said to me the last time you saw me?

That if I ever saw you again,

I'd rip your heart out with my bare hands and make you watch.

Good times.

Well...

..I'd like to see you try.

That's interesting.

THEY RUN AND PANT

Wait a minute.

SHE PANTS

I need to breathe.

Did you mean that?

SHE PANTS

Mean what?

Being at war all the time.

My dad...

He was a folk singer.

He played the fiddle.

And made people cry with it.

OK, he make me cry.

He was always away on tour, so we didn't see him very much,

but it was nice when we did.

And then it got less nice.

He drank.

A lot.

And then he drank more.

When I was eight years old, he purposely drove off the motorway

with me and my mum in the car.

My mum was in the passenger seat and that is why she's paralysed.

I was sitting in the back, but I didn't get hurt.

He said it was a suicide attempt, that he wasn't thinking straight,

but he still went to prison for it.

I got lots of therapy.

Loads of it.

People were really nice.

So nice, but also careful.

Like, me and my mum were just glass figurines.

I'm not made of glass.

What he did, it's important,

but if it's the thing that rules,

then he gets to keep doing that to us every day forever

and I won't have that.

I play folk music because I love it.

I won't let him take that from me.

And that's why I'm so goddamn sensible.

You're still shaking.

Did...D-Did you see that?

It looked like my...

parents.

Do you often see your parents after sex?

What's wrong with the sky?

Why is no-one answering their phones?

It is like olden times or something.

Probably cos they are all already dead.

A little optimism wouldn't kill you, Ram.

No, alien shadows will kill me.

Alien tattoos will kill me.

-Eh?

-It's coming from the tear.

Why is there only one?

I'm not sure, but that's the way to Tanya's flat.

There's something that you need to know.

Something I didn't tell you.

My dad was a policeman.

I know that, Puddle.

My mum used to worry every night.

Worry when he'd work shifts...

..that he wouldn't come home.

It's not America, I'd say.

And every night, he'd go out...

and every night he'd come home and

even if it was really late, like,

even if it was like three o'clock in the morning...

I'd look in on you.

..he'd look in on me.

And I would always wake up.

Do you know why I did that?

Because I used to do it to you when I was little.

Like, little, little.

I'd, erm, get out of bed and come to your door

and look inside...

And I'd ask, "What are you doing, Puddle?

And I wouldn't say anything...

..but you knew.

You knew.

You were making sure we hadn't gone anywhere in the night.

Because how could something so good ever last?

And it didn't.

I hated you for leaving.

Everything was perfect and we were all so happy,

and then you just left.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, Daddy, I just...

Please...

Puddle.

Come to your daddy.

Let him listen to your pain.

Let him tell you how he'll still watch over you.

You want it?

Come and take it.

It has to be your choice.

My choice.

That's how the Lan Kin works.

I can only reach out.

You have to reach back.

I thought you were just giving me time to say goodbye.

And this is how you'll do it.

Hey, have you seen the sk...? Hi, who's this?

Oh, finally.

Finally what?

Finally, you've come down from your little love nest

and are therefore implicitly under threat.

Which means I can finally find out who this infuriating wolverine

actually is.

What?

Agh!

Get a very big knife.

No, wait.

Get two.

Why her?

She never hurt anybody.

-Night visiting.

-What?

Night visiting, it's a genre of folk song.

Oh, my God, I've heard more about folk music in the last half an hour

than my entire previous life.

There's been songs for centuries

about people coming to your window at night.

Usually ghosts of people you've lost.

Like Rachel.

What do they want?

Sometimes it is a warning.

Sometimes?

Sometimes they want to drag you down with them.

You have no idea of what you're giving up.

Oh, do shut up, sis.

Sis?

Oh, I got a screwdriver and some secateurs.

I specifically asked for knives.

I don't like knives.

I can't use weapons, remember?

Right, stab that in its hand.

Oh.

Go on, you take your time.

Come on! What do you think this is?

Really bad phlegm?

Agh!

Good. Move.

Now, let's have a little chat.

I have, like, 100 missed calls from April.

We're at Tanya's. What's going on?

I think we're about to find out.

Is Tanya in danger?

Well?

We came to offer you release.

-Yeah.

-Go get her.

We'll be there as fast as we can.

It's bad.

Then we're going to save her.

No, Ram!

You made one mistake.

That's not how the Lan Kin works.

The Lan Kin aren't a people.

You're a person.

You are a chameleon, I'll give you that. Taking these shapes.

You see, the other thing about chameleons,

really long tongues which shoot out to catch their prey.

You're just the tip of the tongue.

Such a succulent species.

Your grief's so large, it will not matter what you do to this limb.

I've found a grief that will make me stronger

than you little worms can imagine.

What a drama queen.

She must have meant Tanya.

April says the main strand of it goes into her flat.

Let's kill it.

You're with us?

No-one disgraces the memory of my sister by making her nice.

-By the way, Matteusz lives with us now.

-Whatever.

I've missed you so much.

I've missed you.

Take it.

That's how it works.

Two streets up. Then left.

They reform as soon as you cut them.

Aargh!

What's it doing?

My guess is it's gathering strength.

To do what?

Like the veins of a heart.

It all leads to one branch.

Where's the rest of her family?

What happens when I take your hand?

You become free.

Free from pain.

Free from worry.

Free from this grief that haunts you.

Like, how?

Will you please just listen to your father for once, young lady?

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Urgh!

Tanya!

Don't go to them.

Why didn't Mum open the door for them?

I feed on your release.

Where are my brothers?

I've never felt a species so in love with closure.

The sweetness of the taste.

-Hi.

-Hi.

What the...?

You are my heart in this world, Puddle.

I'm not letting you go.

-Puddle?

-And once my heart is rooted,

oh, how I shall feed.

You'll have to go through us first.

Very well.

-MATTEUSZ:

-This will not be enough.

Give me your hand,

or I will kill your family.

Will you let my friends go?

Tanya, don't.

Can't you see?

Then your mum would have lost you without saying goodbye.

And it gets to feed again.

On her.

It's a cycle.

I will let them go.

There's only so much even I can consume.

You'll take away my pain forever?

Forever.

No!

Tanya, no!

Something's happening!

Oh, release.

Tanya!

GROANING

What are you doing to me?

Unclean!

You are not my father!

What have you done to me?

You know, us humans ARE a messy species.

I told you I hated my father for leaving.

My grief may be strong, but my anger is stronger.

And that's what I gave you.

You poisoned me!

You don't get to have my closure.

-So how does that taste?

-Bitter.

You have weakened me.

HE GASPS AND COUGHS

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

But not enough.

She didn't!

BUS HORN HONKS

-Where did she get that?

-She's resourceful.

No, no!

Nooooo!

Aaaargh!

SQUELCHING

SLITHERING

I'm so glad that worked.

My mum!

What on earth is this mess?

What's going on?

I've spoken to a few, none of them seem to remember anything,

which seems really convenient.

The Lan Kin probably does it so it can come back and feed again.

It'll think twice before coming back here.

Hey!

Are you all right?

How did you know to come here?

My mum doesn't remember anything.

-Yeah, I just said that.

-Did you guys see anyone?

-RAM:

-I saw Rachel. Tell me about it.

My dad's the wrong kind of lost.

I saw my parents, but only briefly.

Our bond was not strong. I've got different ones that are stronger.

We all do. We'll beat it together.

Finally, we did something as a team.

My God, I'm going to vomit.

Where did you get a bus from?

I should really be walking you home.

Ram, don't you listen?

I'm not glass.

April...

..any time you want to come night visiting...

That's not how I meant it.

I will see you at school, Ram.

Because of the folk music.

That's all I meant.

Hey.

As long as you need. I mean it.

We'll make it work.

Thank you.

Er...thank you.

I am a warrior of the Quill race.

And a warrior needs a gun.

The water was so cold.

He knew it too.

Made a fool of himself just to get my attention.

-He was quite handsome.

-Oh, he was very handsome.

That smile.

That's how I wanted to remember him.

Me too.

# And so I sing

# Unto the morning

# Oh, sun, don't rise before the day

# Birds hold your tunes a bit longer... #

Goodbye, Dad.

Dorothea Ames, new headteacher.

PHONE RINGS

SIZZLING

Oh, my!

Somewhere there, this heart beats.

-Aargh!

-April!

April's in trouble.