Snowblind Doctors

I can't breathe. You were right, I've taken something.

-Let me through. Edward's doctor. He told me he's taken something.

-What do you mean? Taken what?

I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so sorry.

Jas, have you changed your locks yet?

They died because of us!

If they trace it back to us, we can go to jail.

We're not breaking any laws - conducting research.

What are you doing? Liam, this isn't funny. Liam?

-Can you remember what happened?

-Can't...I can't breathe.

Have you taken something? I said, have you taken something?

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Oh, ah!

Not much further. You CAN do this.

Any hot water left?

Oh, yeah you may be able to squeeze like half a mugful.

Did you have a nice weekend?

Um, quiet-ish.

Catching up on the old beauty sleep, eh?

Huh! Think I need it?

Have they said how he's doing?

He's stable. Still not talking.

How about you?

Heston, have you been here all weekend?

His parents were away. I couldn't desert him.

They've only just got here.

Then you should go now. Sleep.

What are you doing here?

I was hoping to have a word with him.

-About what?

-About where he got the stuff from.

I've had one patient die, him hospitalised...

I want to put a stop to it.

Hey!

Grandad!

Oh, rescued! At last!

We've been stranded on the flow for seven days!

Freezing winds. Nothing to eat but seal blubber.

-Ugh!

-Muktuk, that's what the Inuit call it.

Three guesses what it tastes like!

Muck. Grandad's been telling that one since I was a kid.

How are you, dad?

Tim. New car?

-Hired.

-What happened to yours?

-Actually, that's part of what I've got to tell you.

Ah, the big news you couldn't tell me on the phone.

I'll whack the kettle on.

Anyway, didn't you say you'd got news as well?

So, you and me all day.

Any plans for what we can do?

Just as well - I have. Come on!

I thought I'd keep you company.

You were the last person I expected to see like this.

Liam, um...

Did somebody drug you?

Were you coerced?

If somebody put pressure on you, you have to say.

Liam...

No looking! And...what do you think?

Brilliant!

Blimey, you've pushed the boat out.

You've only got him for the day. How long's this lot take?

I can still erect a tent.

Faster than most men my age can put slippers on.

Oh, and you've a missed call. Dr Reid?

So...what I thought was this.

You and I are going on an expedition.

Actually, Edmund, I...I've left the food in the car.

Fetch it, will you?

Yes, Dad.

Food?

Bits and bobs. What he doesn't eat, I'll leave.

I CAN feed my own grandson.

Or is this your none-too-subtle way of filling my cupboards?

Dad, you've hardly anything in there. You are eating?

Will you ever stop fussing?

I need to know you're OK.

Huh! What brought this on?

It's part of what I've come to tell you.

I said I was going for an interview.

It's more than that. I've been offered the job.

So why the long face?

It's... in Canada.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Anyone in there?

I need to talk to somebody about Liam Slade.

Hello?

Hello?

I just thought you'd have more to say.

What else do you want me to say? It's great news.

Dad, it's 3,500 miles away.

I've been tying myself up in knots. And all you're going to do is shrug? And say it's great?

What do you want me to do? Talk you out of it?

Do you want to go?

-Yes.

-Then there's your answer.

Besides, Canada's only a hop and a jump.

And you and me'll really get to go on expeditions then!

-You mean it?

-Try and stop me!

DOORBELL RINGS

Edmund, get that for Grandad, will you?

Yes, Dad.

So you will come out, then?

You know you're always going to be welcome.

Thought maybe you could come for Edmund's birthday.

Sure. Why not?

But don't build it up for him, just in case I don't make it.

And what's that mean?

You'll only come if you've not got a better offer?

Well, thanks, Dad, thanks for that!

Sorry, am I...interrupting?

Dr Reid.

Mr Cruickshank. You missed your appointment.

Have I come at a bad time?

It's nothing.

And I'm sorry. I forgot.

It's the third time. The health visitor is very busy.

Yes. I apologise.

So? What is it? Nerves?

Are you worried?

I don't know.

Partly the...it's these damned-awful headaches every morning.

Well, we can make the appointment for later.

Where's the point? I mean, who cares what the place looks like?

I'm hardly going to be there for long.

It's a two-way street, I'm afraid. They need to meet you.

You need to meet them.

If your son's around, then maybe he should go with you.

No! We don't talk about it in front of Edmund

in case he picks up on anything.

But I will rearrange.

And turn up?

So apart from the headaches, how are you?

A young man trapped in a geriatric's body.

I still find myself talking to people half my age

as if we're the same generation.

But they've barely started out.

Quite a treasure trove.

Souvenirs of a life well-spent.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've a grandson, and we are going on an expedition.

Are you sure you're up to it?

Never surer.

How come you didn't answer the door? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on.

I just want to talk, OK? I'm Kevin Tyler. I'm a doctor at the Mill. I know Liam.

Oh, so you're not police, then?

Why would you be worried about the police?

Hello. If you'd just like to go on through.

-I didn't know you were registered here.

-I'm not.

And I'm running late, shouldn't really be here.

So why are you here?

I wanted a word about Dad. I'm worried about him.

OK.

Well, you know Dad. He'd rather die than admit to being ill.

But I thought, if there was something wrong, you might be able to say.

I see.

So is there something?

Look, if there's something that your father wants you to know,

-I'm sure he'll tell you himself.

-Right.

-So what are you late for?

Oh, new job. An acclimatisation day.

Sounds interesting?

Credit control. Yeah, I know, everyone laughs.

Dad's this celebrated adventurer, and all I do is crunch figures!

-Congratulations.

-Start in three weeks. It's been chaotic.

It's not long to sell up and move everything out to Canada, is it?

No.

Cut his fingers off?

Only two. And only the tips.

We'd been stuck in port waiting for equipment that long,

he'd got frostbite.

Couldn't he go to hospital?

The ship would've sailed without us.

It was fingers, or the expedition.

Only one way to go.

Did Dad never want to be an explorer?

Hey, your dad's looked after you the best he can.

Still, it's best with you.

You supplied him with the drug?

No, I didn't supply him with nothing! That drug is legal!

-And the fact that somebody died? That doesn't even come into it?

-No!

-You...you...you can't pin that on me!

-No, but the police might.

-No, no, you can't.

-Just watch me.

-No, no, listen, listen. It wasn't just me!

-Makes no difference.

-It was Liam. He was pushing it.

Hey, Hey!

Yes, can I speak to somebody from CID, please?

Look, look, look, look, look! Liam had a whole group of people taking it. Look.

It's all here. It's...

DOORBELL RINGS

C'mon boys, you can do it! Hike, hike!

Hike, hike!

Don't they get cold?

No, the colder it is, the more they like it.

They're packdogs, it's what they live for. Hike, hike!

-Mr Cruikshank!

-What?

Oh!

Dr Reid? We are on a dog sledge.

Yes, I can see!

Looks like we better take a rest.

Edmund, one time I got caught in a total white-out.

No idea where I was. But the huskies had.

Must've memorised the way. They got us home.

Now that's an intelligent animal for you.

Yeah, well, maybe Edmund will get to see some for himself.

In Canada.

Ah.

Hey, Edmund, be a good boy, get us those sandwiches, would you?

How did you hear?

Tim came to see me. He's worried about you.

-Did you tell him?

-Of course not. But why haven't you told him?

And why lie to me? He's emigrating.

He should know.

That's exactly why I can't tell him.

Liam was running trials?

All I did was get him the drug.

And I got mates to agree.

But how do I know this is genuine?

Oh, yeah, like I faked it?

OK, say he was, how come he ended up in hospital?

He couldn't...he couldn't get enough people to do it.

When...

When Ed died, a load of people backed out.

I told Liam...I told him to drop it.

-Just forget the whole thing.

-But he wouldn't?

I wanted out. I...I didn't know it was going to get this heavy.

-Yeah, bit late for that, mate.

-Yeah, but it was like he's lost his mind.

Going on about how he was going to be this famous doctor.

He decided he'd make the numbers up himself.

I wanted to say something.

I'd built myself up to tell him.

Then Tim starts on about Canada and the moment passed.

That doesn't explain why you haven't told him before?

Maybe for the same reason I can't go to their place.

Because once I do... once I tell people...

then it becomes real.

You can't keep putting it off.

I'm not putting anything off. I was, but not any more.

-What I'm doing now is not telling him.

-I don't understand.

I can't. Because if I did, he wouldn't go.

He'd want to stay.

What's wrong with that?

He's been out of work for two years.

His wife left him with Edmund.

This is his big chance for a new start.

I can't...I'm not risking that.

He is your son.

That doesn't make me any sort of father.

I don't follow.

Do you know how old Tim was before I was even in this country

for one of his birthdays?

Twelve.

My wife knew what to expect. But Tim?

I was a stranger to him.

And by the time I could be bothered enough to see that, he was grown-up.

Any chance I had to make up for it was gone.

And that justifies letting him go halfway across the world?

Finding out you're in a hospice and then having to come back?

He won't. I'm leaving instructions he's not to be told.

No. No!

This is my death.

I think I've the right to do it my way.

-Shush!

-What?

Listen!

Polar bear.

HE GROWLS

It's a mother calling her cubs.

We'd better to be careful.

They're scary things at the best of times,

but this one will want to protect her young.

Wait.

Is it still there?

No.

We'd best get back to the sled.

Hey, did I tell you about the bear who tried to get on a boat with me?

What?

Ah! Oh!

Grandad?

No, no. It's fine.

What was I saying?

About a bear.

Ah, yes. It was a few years before you were born.

Off...off the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

What happened?

The ice was cracking up

and this thing had hitched itself a lift on...on a big sheet...

Grandad?

Ah...only it was hungry...oh!

Saw us...next it's battering against the boat...

You, OK?

Lucky for us... lucky for...

Grandad?

Grandad!

Yeah. It's obviously something concocted by the other boy.

A self-confessed drug pusher. I'm amazed you didn't call the police.

What if he's right? He reckons Liam's got it into his head that he was going to

turn out a study that was set to change the way

we look at psychological illnesses for ever.

Yeah and you believed him?

Liam is far too grounded to get involved with something like that!

But not grounded enough to avoid ending up here?

Too bright to jeopardise his entire future.

So what do you propose?

I'm going to talk to him.

-Well, do you want me with you?

-No, thank you.

I trust my own judgement rather than someone so easily persuaded.

You really should've gone in the ambulance. You know that, don't you?

Mrs Robinson had offered to look after Edmund.

I don't need the hospital. I'm fine here.

I think it's probably best if you take him next door.

No!

I'll look after Grandad.

Hey, what's this? We don't do tears.

-The doctor's right.

-I'll pop round for you in a bit.

-You are going to be OK?

-Course.

Why today? Today was supposed to be special.

I wanted to give him something he could remember.

Your B.P. is fine.

Do you feel nauseous at all?

What about Tim?

I called. He...he was in a meeting.

But what did you say?

Just that there was a problem and he needed to come home.

So, as far as he's concerned, all this was, was a fall?

You're still not going to tell the truth? Even after everything that's happened?

I told you why I couldn't.

Oh, yes, because you think it's the kindest thing to do.

Well, it's not. It's the cruellest thing imaginable.

Don't you care what happens after you're gone?

-He'll be sad. So will Edmund. They'll get over it.

-Will they?

They'll be in a new country. They'll have a new life.

And how...how is Tim supposed to feel?

Or maybe he'll simply think that you didn't trust him enough?

Of course, this isn't about him at all, is it?

I'm sorry?

I think you're using Canada as an excuse.

You can't talk to me like this!

You're dying. And you can't cope.

But rather than admit that,

you're grabbing at everything you can to avoid it!

And if anyone gets hurt, then, well so be it!

Excuse me.

Liam, he may be your friend but you owe him nothing. He deserves everything he gets.

We have to keep you at university

and this way, the dean realises it had nothing to do with you.

But what about the research?

What about it?

Look. What Finn was saying...

It's not all lies.

Only you have to see what I was getting to really understand.

I don't follow you.

Dr Carter, it's incredible.

I mean, it's like you said, if you could just maintain an open mind, anything's achievable.

What are you saying?

Quack is more than just a recreational drug.

All the students I spoke to all reported a sense of euphoria

and positivity, heightened sensory perception.

Its potential for combating anxiety and stress is huge.

It's because of you that I could do this.

-Me?

-Yeah. You encouraged me to be the best.

I wanted to show you I'm as good as you think!

I'm sorry about that, it was unprofessional.

Who did you lose?

It doesn't matter.

What matters is that I have seen what comes next.

How we still have a responsibility...even after death.

I was planning to say something.

I really thought today I'd get the words out.

But then Canada came up.

Are you OK?

Your dad's inside. He's a bit shaken up, but...

I came as soon as I could. How did it happen?

He...had a fall. But he's fine now.

No. That's not right.

-Dad?

-There's something you need to know.

I've been trying to tell you. I've been too scared.

So this is my responsibility for supporting you?

I'm not saying that. But I wanted to show you you weren't wasting your money.

-By doing this?

-I know, I know. It all got mental.

But that doesn't negate the findings. We're onto something here.

Nobel Prize for Medicine? Applauded by a grateful public!

How deluded are you? You even self-administered!

Yeah, in a good cause. And I'm hardly the first!

We have certain protocols.

Who cares? If I can get this right,

if I work out what the glitches are...

-Glitches?

-Think what I'd have done.

Oh, my god! A fellow student dies and you learn nothing!

Isn't there a cure?

I'm afraid not. Gliomatosis cerebri is a rare brain tumour.

It's probably why he passed out earlier.

Dr Reid pesters me on a daily basis to visit the hospice

I'm to go into.

The house will be on the market shortly.

Your dad wanted to tell you earlier.

But with your news about Canada,

he was worried it would alter your decision.

And that's why there's no food in. You're running everything down?

I wanted to leave as little as possible for anyone else to do.

Clear the decks.

But why on your own?

Dad, I love you.

When have I ever deserved that?

When have I ever been there for you?

But you were.

Dad, every kid in the class knew who you were.

Yeah, it would have been nice if you'd been home more.

But do you think I'd have swapped that for you working in a bank or something?

Dad, why didn't you just talk to me?

Maybe I never learnt how.

I didn't want a different dad. I wanted you.

The only thing that ever hurts is when you shut me out.

But everything you've done...

..is different to you. Yes. But not because of you.

Or no, that's not strictly true.

Because the one thing you've always taught me is to be true to myself.

Which is what I'm doing.

And why this changes nothing.

What?

We're still going to Canada.

I'll see if I can delay till you're settled in the hospice.

And we'll come back and visit as much as we can.

But this is OUR adventure and I'm not giving up on it.

I'm so glad.

Really.

I'll fish you out some maps.

Dad, we're going to Toronto. They have a subway.

If you don't mind, I'll...I'll leave the trekking to you.

So that's it? Just because I tried something and it didn't work...

It's irrelevant. What you did was wrong. Fundamentally wrong!

OK, OK. I...I'll learn.

Just give me a chance!

Please, Dr Carter. I need you to speak to the Dean.

Tell him it was a mistake.

So you can go back to your absurd little project?

Why not? You helped me before.

This is now part of a police investigation.

Even if it wasn't, I wouldn't support you!

What? Why?

Liam. Medicine is a matter of judgement. Judgement!

Yours can't be trusted.

So you're just going to drop me in it without a second thought?

You did that to yourself.

Oh, I get it!

Yeah. You liked it when I was all grateful for your money, didn't you?

And you've had your fun telling me how great I could be,

-only the first chance you get to knock me back down...

-I'm not listening any more.

And what gives you the right, eh? To mess with people's lives?

Have you any idea how hard my mum and dad had to work to get me this far?

Eh? I still couldn't afford it.

Until you decided to play God!

Why should people like me have it so hard

when you've got it so easy?

Goodbye, Liam.

Hello?

You cannot expect just to come back and have everything your own way.

If you've got anything to do with this, I'll have you.

I'm handing my notice in.

You're doing what?

The Chief Constable is a golfing buddy of mine.

Should I mention it to him?

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