Gently Liberated Inspector George Gently

CROWD SHOUTS OUT

Keep your hands up, man!

Go on, son! Go on!

Heads...

LAUGHTER

Get it down you!

Who's next?

Guv.

I'll be back, I'll be back.

For you.

It's not really my thing, John.

I'll have a large Scotch, please, love.

I reckon she's sweet on me.

Thank you.

Is this about Gemma?

Is what about Gemma?

She broke your heart, John,

but you're not going find what you're looking for

at the bottom of a glass.

Hey, look at us. Your misery must be catching.

Cheers.

To love.

To love lost.

Another.

BELL RINGS

GRINDING

CLANKING

Move out the way.

CLANKING

HE RETCHES

HE SHOUTS OUT

SHOUTING AND WHISTLING

MUFFLED SHOUTING AND WHISTLING

Ta. You're a life saver.

You married to a policeman, then?

I AM a policeman.

George, a word.

Yes, sir.

Good luck.

I just wanted to see how you're coping with the reorganisation.

Did they find some room for your team in the new office?

Barely, sir. We're living out of boxes.

It'll settle down.

Change is always hard, and if we want progress...

You might call it progress, I call it wasting police time.

There was a time when it would have been you up there.

There's something else, George.

We need a decision about your retirement.

With respect, sir, I'm not going to go a minute before you make me.

All the greats know when to hang up their gloves.

We do need you to set a date for your retirement, George.

I'm sorry.

Sorry, sir... I didn't mean to intrude...

Rachel, this is Assistant Chief Constable Nicholls.

Sir, Detective Sergeant Rachel Coles.

I've heard all about you, Sergeant.

-George.

-Sir.

Are you leaving us, sir?

Don't say anything to John just yet.

I want to talk to him myself.

-Detective Chief Inspector?

-Yeah?

There's a body been found up on the Tees.

All right. Get John for me.

Right.

..five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...

CHEERING

-Here you are, John.

-Thanks, Gov.

You'll want to mind your nice clothes, officers.

All kinds of crap round here.

You're in charge?

Yeah. Tommy Norton, General Manager.

I'm Detective Chief Inspector Gently.

That is DI Bacchus. DS Coles.

What were the men doing when they found the body?

We used to dump our waste down there,

but a German company wants to buy us

and they're very hot on health and safety,

so we're cleaning it up.

-And this tank was sealed until today, yeah?

-Yeah.

We'll need the exact date it was sealed

and, er, get onto missing persons.

Whatever's in there has preserved most of the body

but the fumes coming off it could take out half the mortuary.

We'll have to do the postmortem out here, on site.

-Can we get a look at that watch?

-Yeah.

"To A.L with love."

A.L, does that mean anything to you?

Alistair.

Who's Alistair?

Alistair Liddell. He worked here.

He was a friend. A good friend.

When did he go missing?

December '62. Around the Big Freeze.

But he's not missing.

He was murdered by his wife.

Do you remember it?

I do, yeah.

It was one of my first cases I worked on in CID.

Could it be him? Alistair Liddell.

Aye, maybe...it's possible.

Aye, it was a big story up here. Listen to this, right.

Wife killed him at home, whilst the kid was asleep upstairs in bed.

Can you believe that?

She confessed to it,

although she didn't say what she did with the body, of course.

Yeah. Eve, her name was, that's right.

Where is she now?

Ah, she's serving life at Thurston nick.

Rare to get a conviction without a body. Very rare.

Here you are, Alistair Liddell.

He was last seen drinking in the Victoria Arms,

which is up in Ouston Hill. It was a Saturday night in December.

Here you go.

Thank you!

What's this?

Frothy coffee, sir. It's from the machine.

It's Italian.

Yesterday I didn't have a chair -

today all I ask is to have my tea made by a human.

And that's never been Italian.

I'm not supposed to waste my time fetching things, sir.

It's in the new regulations and I'm supposed to be doing...

All right.

Get some biscuits.

So, Alistair disappeared. Didn't turn up for work Monday morning.

Now, his wife didn't report him missing.

She claimed that she hadn't seen him since he left for the pub.

It's not the most flattering of photographs.

But the neighbour said that she heard Alistair and Eve arguing,

at home, after he got back from the pub.

So she was lying about not seeing him.

And then we searched the house and found some, some rags,

some cleaning rags.

Can you move, please?

And they were soaked in blood. His blood type.

The daughter, Marion, she said that she that walked in on her mam,

on the Sunday morning, cleaning the kitchen floor with those rags -

and then we found, out the back of the house, kitchen knife,

still stained with blood.

See.

And?

Well, we couldn't lift any fingerprints clear.

So why did she do it?

Talk was, she was having an affair.

She went to see a solicitor, right, asking about a divorce,

this was a week before the murder,

he sent her packing - she killed him.

Maybe it's for the money.

The conclusion that he died in the house that night was arrived at how?

Because there was no signs of life after that.

No sightings, no movement on his bank account.

All right.

Come on, then. I'll drive.

I don't know why we're doing this.

The watch isn't conclusive. Any other form of ID?

Adult male, Alistair's height and age.

Dental records are a good match.

I'd say this is our man.

I'll do some X-rays once we get back indoors.

Cause of death?

Two deep stab wounds to the chest.

There are some shallower wounds here, to the hands and arms.

Like he was defending himself?

Reasonable to presume. I would have, wouldn't you?

And could those have been made with, like, a kitchen knife?

Eight-inch blade?

Aye, that would do it.

Right, there you are, case closed, sir.

These records state that the tank was sealed

at the end of December 1962.

Somebody was banking on this body never being found.

Eve Liddell used to work here in the early '50s.

That's how her and Alistair met.

It doesn't add up, though, does it?

Alistair's body would have been a dead weight.

If she killed him at the house, how did she bring him here?

Guv, we got a conviction.

Do you seriously think Eve Liddell did this on her own?

Somebody helped her - and they've been scot free for eight years.

Aye, see you later.

Mr Norton around?

Aye, he's just on the floor inspecting the plant.

-I can take you to him.

-Thank you.

Come this way.

Hi.

Look, our buyers are arriving in two days.

This German deal's a lifeline for us but we've not signed it yet.

Do you know how long all this'll take?

Betty, get these typed up, would you, love?

Certainly.

How many people would have known those tanks were due to be sealed?

Most people on site then. Why?

Could Eve Liddell have known?

She stopped work when they married -

but I suppose somebody could have told her.

There were rumours that she was having an affair.

Perhaps seeing somebody at the plant.

She could have had ten boyfriends down here for all I know.

If a man's shagging another man's wife

he's hardly likely to advertise it.

Is he, Inspector?

You were good friends with Alistair.

You must have known his wife, as well.

Barely. She kept herself apart.

He'd bring her to the Christmas party and she'd stand in the corner

with a face on, never saying a word.

Foreigners for you.

She wasn't born in England?

Nah, she was a Polski.

Came over after the war -

I always thought there was something wrong with her.

What about Alistair?

He was our industrial chemist - made this plant what it is.

A proper hero, too - First Airborne at Arnhem.

But he still played football with the lads every Saturday.

Didn't deserve to end like this.

I'll need a list of all the people who worked here

before December 1962.

Have it sent to my office, will you?

DCI Gently from DS Coles.

'Gently, go ahead.'

We have found the daughter, Marion Liddell.

I've spoken to the social worker - she was living with Alistair's

parents, until they died.

She's 19 now and she's studying at art college in Durham.

She's living under a different name, Eleanor Gray,

so we should tread carefully.

Understood. We're on our way, over.

Oh, one more thing, sir?

Eve Liddell pleaded not guilty at trial. She retracted her statement.

OK. Have a look at the defence case for me, will you?

-Yes, sir.

-Out.

Join the feminist revolution!

Join us, support our sisters!

We want equal pay and free nurseries.

So why did she plead not guilty?

Because she didn't want to go to prison.

Oh, yeah, all right, state the bleeding obvious.

-I mean, what was her defence?

-She didn't have one.

Excuse me. Would you like to sign our petition?

Aye, all right.

John...Bacchus.

Roman god of wine. There you go. What's it for?

Should you not have asked that before signing?

We're starting a women's centre - a safe place for women.

All right. You can donate, as well, if you like? Say, five bob?

Five bob...

See you.

See you.

The barrister knew he had a losing case.

He didn't even put her in the witness box -

and then, when the jury heard the confession,

it was game over, wasn't it?

You know how juries love a confession.

Look at this. Right. Goldfish, OK?

That's a cow.

Skeleton.

What's that meant to be?

-It's abstract.

-Ah, right.

-It's not to meant to look like anything.

-OK.

Three years learning how to draw

and that's the best they can come up with.

My daughter can do better than that.

OK, everybody, thank you very much, see you tomorrow. Sophie?

MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

Oh... It's a naked bird.

Mm-hm.

Hello.

INAUDIBLE CONVERSATION

That's her, there, sir.

Eleanor Gray?

Do you need me to identify him?

Yeah...

Do you recognise this?

Yes.

He let me wear it sometimes.

I'm sorry, Marion,

but we do need to ask you some more questions.

Why? What is there left to do?

It's only a formality. We just need to confirm identification,

then the coroner can release your dad for burial.

Well, no, it's, it's not quite that simple.

You were in the house that night?

You know I was.

Did you hear anything? Did anybody else enter the house?

I stood up in court and told them what I saw.

'It was the way she looked at me.

'Like she felt nothing.

'The last time I saw my mother she was being taken away.'

Myszka, Myszka, forgive me. Forgive me!

Forgive me, I'm sorry, Marion, I'm sorry! MARION!

The way your father was found, she could have had help.

Did she have any friends? Boyfriend maybe?

You shouldn't have come here.

I'm the daughter of a murderer.

Reporters used to follow me.

People watched me my whole life.

I've got a new life now. Just let me bury my father and get on with it.

I held on to Marion's hand for hours at the station,

before her grandparents came to pick her up.

Um... Well, we'd just had Leigh-Ann at the time,

and I remember thinking...

I hope my daughter never has to go through anything like that.

How long has it been since you saw Leigh-Ann?

Er...

Look, she's got another dad now.

A better one.

Thank you.

Can we see some ID, please, gents?

Morning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mrs Liddell. I'm Detective Chief Inspector Gently.

I think you already know Inspector Bacchus.

Yes.

Do you know why we're here?

Is it Marion?

Has something happened to her?

No, no, no. Marion's fine.

Have you seen her? What is she like?

Did she say anything about me?

Nothing you'd want to hear.

We're here because we've found Alistair's body.

Found him? Where?

Where do you think we could have found him?

Tell us what happened to Alistair.

You told the police that you killed him.

Then you took back your confession.

I made a mistake.

How did you make a mistake?

Did you argue with Alistair that night?

Perhaps you killed him during that argument -

and then got somebody else to help you move the body.

Somebody you wanted to protect?

Did you talk to Marion?

Marion testified against you.

This is what you left her with.

So don't try and act like the caring mother, all right?

What have they done to him?

Look, you dumped him at the plant.

So just tell us who helped you and then we can leave you alone,

you can go back to your cell...

John! John! That's enough.

Did you kill Alistair?

Thank you. Do you see what I had to deal with?

Did you consider other suspects?

Yes, sir. Of course we did.

Just look at the evidence against her, will you?

And her own daughter thinks she did it.

The way she reacted when she was shown his body.

Cos she realises she's going to spend the rest of her life inside,

with absolutely with no parole.

Well, if that was acting, it was very convincing.

-It looked like loss to me.

-Ah, guv.

And the story used for her conviction.

It doesn't fit where the body was found.

Look, so somebody helped her.

Now, we can chase our tails looking for them,

or we can move on to a proper case.

And what if she's telling the truth?

Guv, she's pulling the wool over your eyes. She's manipulating you.

What, you think I'm that easily fooled, do you?

You might let emotions cloud your judgment, I'm after the facts.

Aye, well she's foreign, isn't she? She reminds you of Isabella.

You are out of order.

I'm sorry.

DCI Gently about?

No, sir.

I see he's got you working on the Liddell case.

What's your opinion of it?

Well, um - I think Eve Liddell was tried by the press

before it even got to court, sir.

So, we have a reformer on our hands.

I expect you'll be wanting to make Commander one day,

like Shirley Becke at the Met.

Sir?

George. I was asking DS Coles here about the Liddell case.

She thinks Mrs Liddell didn't get a fair trial.

Well, um, there were, there were...

there were no witnesses for the defence, sir,

and, um, well, part of the prosecution case

were never backed up.

They said that Eve was after Alistair's money,

but he didn't have much to his name,

and nobody knew anything about a boyfriend.

Without a body there should have been reasonable doubt,

but she didn't have anybody to speak for her, so...

It's because she was guilty, sir.

Or maybe she was the just the obvious suspect.

I just think we should look at the evidence.

I would like to reopen the case, sir.

At the very least there was somebody else involved.

At worst, the killer is still out there.

There was a lot of press attention when Eve Liddell was sentenced.

And already I'm fielding calls from reporters.

So do I have your permission to carry on, sir?

We all respect you, George.

Don't be remembered for an error of judgment.

Sir.

Guv, we've got a result, sir.

Marion wants a body to bury.

We should just close the case.

If you keep talking, I'm going to start asking

why you're so anxious to defend a flawed investigation.

Is there something I should know here?

Because if there is, tell me - don't let me find it.

Stand back, please.

VAN DOORS SHUT

ENGINE STARTS

Mind your backs.

So, the day that Alistair disappeared, the family were in.

He went out to play football, then he came home at tea time,

he then went to the pub with his team-mates from work.

Left at ten-ish. Then it's a 15-minute walk back here.

Still the same neighbours?

Mm-hm. Mr and Mrs Willis.

You all right?

-Aye, you?

-Yeah.

So, Marion was upstairs in her bedroom

and the neighbour said that she heard a row around 10:30.

Eve had put the radio on while she tucked Marion in for the evening.

The prosecution made a big thing of that at court.

Looks bad in a circumstantial case. Suggests premeditation.

Well, the thing is, sir,

in her first statement Eve claimed that she was out at 10:30.

-She said that she had gone for a walk.

-Is that true?

She claimed. It doesn't make any sense though, does it?

What kind of mother leaves the kid alone in the house

at that time of night?

-Did you ask her to elaborate?

-Yeah, of course we did.

It was all a pack of lies.

She didn't have an alibi and we have a witness who heard them arguing.

The knife was outside?

Aye, over here.

About here.

So, either the killer threw it outside,

thinking it wouldn't be found, or Alistair died here.

Well, if Eve killed him, she went to a lot of trouble to hide the body,

didn't she, so why wait till the next morning to clean up his blood?

And why leave the knife here?

She's not exactly a professional assassin. She panicked.

We need to know who else was friendly with the Liddells.

Anybody who could have helped Eve move the body -

or anybody who wanted Alistair dead, for that matter.

Caldbrook's sent over the employment records.

I can go and speak to people who used to work with Eve.

-I'll head back to the office.

-No, you won't. You'll stay with me.

Work off the effects of last night.

You gave evidence at Eve Liddell's trial, Mrs Willis -

you heard the argument next door?

Patricia, please. I did my bit.

Do you know the family well, Patricia?

Alistair went to the grammar school with Harry.

They were next door for a few years before he died.

And did you know Eve?

Not really.

She wasn't our type of people.

Alistair was a respectable man, but they got married in a hurry,

if you know what I mean.

But they weren't happy?

She killed him. Does that sound happy to you?

Hmm. Well...

Could you describe the argument you heard?

It's all in the statement I gave to Mr Bacchus.

I heard raised voices, then crashing about.

But you are sure that the voices you heard were Eve and Alistair.

Well, it was through the wall, so I couldn't hear clearly...

I heard an argument. They'd argued before, but this was much worse.

Did your husband hear the argument? Harry?

He was still at the pub with the team.

Didn't get home until much lat...

straight after closing time, and I told him about it then.

-Ah.

-We heard Eve Liddell was having an affair.

Do you have any idea who she was seeing?

No. But I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than one.

But you never saw her with anyone in particular? No specific rumour?

Oh. Maybe your husband could help?

-He wouldn't know any more about that than I do.

-Ah...

-Thanks.

-Thanks.

How much do you want to bet her husband was shagging Eve Liddell?

She's unhappy about something.

First she says he was home "much later" the night of the murder.

Then, he came back just after closing time.

Hey. Her boyfriend living right next door. Perfect for a murderer.

DOOR OPENS

Janet Ellery? You worked at Caldbrook's with Eve Liddell?

I'm a police officer.

Come in.

Thank you.

-That's Eve.

-Oh, right.

There on the end.

-This one?

-She was 18 then, just started in the office.

What was she like?

Hard to get to know at first. Kept a lot inside.

It's not surprising, given where she came from.

How's that?

She saw her parents shot, right in front of her, by the Nazis,

when she was ten.

Gosh. That's a terrible thing for a child to see.

But she wasn't who they said in the papers -

and nobody bothered asking about him.

Who? Alistair?

Liked to put out this heroic story about himself,

but he wasn't a nice man.

He abused his position.

Did he have enemies? Down at the plant?

Aye. More than one, pet.

All right.

It's not illegal to serve a pint yet, is it?

No, we're looking into the murder of Alistair Liddell.

Alistair was in here on the night that he died.

Aye. The team had just lost the derby.

All right, do you anybody that was with him?

It was years ago, man.

You should have asked us the day after.

Yes. We should have.

Was Harry Willis in here that night?

Oh, come on, man, will you? It's not like a punter of yours

gets murdered every night of the week, is it?

What do you remember?

Do you remember anything with Harry Willis and Alistair's wife?

Now, that was just idle gossip.

Excuse me? You played football with Alistair.

Were you here that night?

Aye. I'm here most nights. I'm here most days, too.

Ah, leave Robert alone, man.

Look, they got into a barney that night - Harry and Alistair.

They'd all been drinking hard, but Alistair was worst.

What time did Harry Willis leave here?

I told you - I can't remember.

Do you remember this argument?

All I remember is Harry tried to give Alistair a lift home

because he was too drunk to walk.

Before closing time?

Aye, well before. Harry left soon after.

Harry Willis. Pull him in.

Thank you.

Thank you for being so helpful.

'I visited Eve occasionally.'

I was worried about her.

I've seen it before, you see, my father had a temper so...

People say Alistair was this hero, but, the fact is his life

hadn't gone the way he wanted it to and he was, like, raging inside.

My dad had a temper. I never killed anyone.

You're saying he hit her?

His moods were getting worse towards the end.

Well, he was under pressure - something to do with work, I think.

But you were the one who was arguing with him the night he disappeared.

I was trying to talk to him about Eve.

He was already in a rage after the game, so he wouldn't listen.

Look, we know that you left the pub early.

We know your wife lied to give you an alibi.

If you weren't with Alistair, where were you, Mr Willis?

Patricia thinks you were involved in this, doesn't she?

I was with another woman that night.

She calls herself Rose.

I see.

We'll need an address.

Why didn't you tell us this,

why didn't you say something at the time?

Because my wife has built her life on appearances

and she doesn't deserve to be humiliated by me.

You could have told somebody about Alistair.

I thought it would look bad for Eve.

Janet Ellery said that

Alistair had enemies at the plant -

his "good friend" Tommy Norton couldn't stand him.

Alistair was angling for the General Manager job

and he was furious that Tommy got it over him.

So the investigation had the wrong picture of Alistair.

The wrong picture of Eve.

And not a shred of evidence that wasn't circumstantial.

No, no, no, no, hang on.

We had her daughter's testimony,

the murder weapon we found outside the house.

Her own confession. And her friend said she bottled things up -

so what if she just snapped?

Huh?

OK, maybe we got the motive wrong before -

but there's still motive if he was knocking her about.

-It's a stronger case against her, if anything.

-No!

You had a theory and you made the evidence fit.

How many times did this happen before I got here?

How many convictions were neatly tied up

to get the result you wanted?!

It wasn't just me that convicted her.

You're forgetting about my superior officers,

you are forgetting about the judge, and 12 men of the jury...

Aye. Have you noticed something? They're all men.

That's just a turn of phrase, Rachel.

Aye, well, it fits, though, doesn't it?

A justice system that was set up by men and that is run by men.

No wonder Eve Liddell didn't think she could tell anyone

what was really going on.

No, no, sorry, no, that is no excuse -

if he was knocking her about

then she could have left, and walked away, but she didn't.

-So what if he hit her, a killer is still a killer.

-What?

Now, you taught me that, sir.

She did try to leave, though, didn't she?

She went to see a solicitor who sent her away feeling ashamed of herself.

She had nowhere to go.

-You're not - you're missing the point.

-Enough!

And if you say "so what" again,

I swear you won't be working in this police force or any other one.

OFFICER CLEARS HIS THROAT

What?

From Dr Anderton, sir. X-ray results.

Absolute confirmation.

So the only thing we know for certain

is that Alistair Liddell is our victim.

These files, is this all of it?

It's everything that went to court.

Well, I want to see all of it!

Including anything that might have been buried

in somebody's bottom drawer.

It was a strong case, guv.

Are you all right, sir?

Yeah. I'm fine.

No, I'm not fine.

I don't think justice was served here -

but he's probably right, violence in the marriage

could have been a reason for Eve Liddell to kill,

whether she meant to or not.

We have to face that possibility.

I know it's not my place, but if Inspector Bacchus knew...

If he thought that you might be leaving us soon,

he might understand why you need to put this right.

He's a policeman. He should KNOW to put it right.

I want to talk to Marion again.

I want to know what was really going on in that marriage.

INDISTINCT CONVERSATION

Sir?

Inspector Bacchus.

Gently's man.

I'm my own man, right?

Your boss still raking up this Liddell thing?

If I was my own man I'd tell him to consider what side he's on

and play happy families.

Yes, sir.

You investigated the original case. What do you think?

I think we should shut it down, sir.

For everyone's sake.

MUSIC: All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix

CHATTER

Would you care to look at our Art of Protest Exhibition?

-I'll give you this free leaflet.

-All right.

-It's free to go on in.

-Thank you.

-There you go.

Hiya.

Have you come to consciousness yet?

There's a woman's meeting later this week, join us.

I hope you don't mind us asking, sir,

but I just wondered how long we've got left with you?

Not long.

You can't fight it?

Not forever.

HE LAUGHS

My wife - Isabella - she used to love walking on the beach.

It's where I proposed to her.

You've never talked to me about her before.

I told you to leave me alone.

We're in the middle of a show.

Who is she?

Ah. It's a good likeness.

VOICES ON STAIRS

Can you give us a minute?

What was he really like, your father?

My father died a long time ago, Mr Gently.

My wife was murdered a long time ago.

The only thing I could do for her was to get her justice.

My mother's in prison. I have justice.

You lived with your father's family,

you heard just one story about your parents.

What if it that's not all of it?

I have to ask you, Marion, did you hear anything that night?

She turned on the radio.

MUSIC ON RADIO

Goodnight, Myszka.

MUFFLED SHOUTING

That wasn't the first time that she turned on the radio,

was it?

Or the first time that you hid under a blanket?

You don't understand.

You're asking me to remember,

but it's like trying to hold on to a dream.

I have nightmares where I hear him shouting,

but I loved him, too.

And her.

What about her?

A few days before he died, she dragged me up the stairs

so hard that my arm was bleeding where I scraped it off the walls.

She locked me in my room. I never understood it.

I used to think there was something wrong with me, too.

What if I'm like them?

Both of them?

You want a lift home?

Nah.

I wanted to believe she couldn't have done it - Eve.

But what if John's right?

We follow the evidence till we get an answer.

I'll see you tomorrow, Rachel.

Night, sir.

Lisa? It's me.

Yeah.

I know, I know, I know...

Yeah, I just want to speak to Leigh-Ann for a minute.

I know, please, just for a minute.

Right.

Hello, sweetheart.

Yeah, yeah. Are you all right?

Aye, you know, I'm just, um, I'm just working late...

HE COUGHS

This is everything they brought over from the old station.

Do you want to let me know what you're looking for

and I'll have it sent up?

No. I'll look for it.

Suit yourself.

Welcome, gentlemen.

Welcome, welcome to Caldbrook's.

Karl. Karl, thank you for making the journey.

-Guten Tag.

-Guten Tag.

What's he doing here?

Guten Tag. It's Robert. He's bringing my lunch, Mr Norton.

Guten Tag.

He does it every day. I'll go tell him to go.

-Hiya, pet.

-You all right?

Mr Norton asked if you could leave, it's a big moment for him.

I'll see you later, thanks.

What happened to you?

I brought something for you.

That's Marion, she's studying at the art school.

I think she has a great talent.

I write her letters.

I never send them.

You've seen a lot of violence in your life,

experienced it throughout your life.

Did Alistair hit you?

I loved him at the start. I...

..tried to keep on loving him -

for Marion's sake.

But one day I just couldn't any more.

He would... He would put his hand over my mouth and hold me down...

And he raped you?

I thought it was my fault.

I should have taken Marion away - I didn't know how.

I, I was nothing.

In your earlier statement, you said that you left the house that night.

Where did you go to?

I needed some air.

I checked on Marion and I went out for a walk.

What time?

I don't know. Before ten.

I was out for an hour - maybe two.

And nobody saw you?

When I came back, Alistair wasn't home.

There was a mess in the kitchen and the back door was open.

I thought he'd gone out looking for me.

In the morning I found his blood.

When he was drunk sometimes he cut himself.

I was glad he wasn't there.

I know how that sounds -

but I hoped he'd left us and he was never coming back.

Why didn't you tell the police any of this?

I tried. And they said I lied.

They said they knew what I'd done

and they kept asking the same questions, over and over again.

I wouldn't say what they wanted, so, so they didn't let me sleep.

They kept pushing and pushing, and the way they looked at me...

The way that young sergeant looked at me -

as if I was a monster.

Inspector Bacchus pushed you into a confession?

It wasn't only him.

But he was there.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

I think I'm getting deja vu.

Are you coming down with something?

Yesterday's shirt - big night, was it?

Are they the files from the archives?

Mm-hm.

Anything useful?

If there was, don't you think I would have told you?

I found this buried in the case files.

A few months before Alistair died there was an accident -

a fire at the plant.

Guess who did the internal review?

Tommy Norton. First thing he did as General Manager.

Alistair signed it off.

Looks like they hushed it all up and then fired an apprentice

called Robert Platt.

Should we look into it?

It's a bloody fishing trip, isn't it?

Come on, then.

I know there's something wrong.

I'm hungover.

You're always hungover at the minute.

I know Gemma left you - but this is different, isn't it?

You know you can tell us. We're on the same side.

I'm worried about my job.

He wants to have his crusade doesn't he, George?

You see, it's different for me.

I was part of this investigation -

and they'll look for someone to blame.

It was a different time. He knows that.

It wasn't different for him, was it?

You should talk to him. You need to talk to each other.

-Right, have a look at this.

-Howay.

So, there's a new nitration system

which we replace every few years. And we...

Mr Norton? We just had a few more questions.

Excuse me. This is not a good time.

Did you write this report?

Call off the attack dog, would you?

Answer the question.

This fire, at the plant -

you and Alistair concluded that Robert Platt was to blame.

You said that he was fixing a pipe and he botched up the repair work?

-That's right.

-I think it was your fault - yours and Alistair's.

I think you were cutting corners, weren't you?

You don't know what you're talking about.

Well, you wrote this report just after you got the promotion.

A few months before Alistair died.

Did the fire have something to do with him stepping aside?

Look, you can tell us here now, or I can arrest you in front of everyone.

Maybe we'll tell them everyone

that the Germans are planning on closing down the plant...

All right!

All right.

Alistair thought his, his fancy education made him a genius -

always making "improvements" to the process, never telling anyone.

After the fire I found out he'd altered the system.

A pipe cracked, Robert tried to fix it, but, yes,

the fire was Alistair's fault.

I agreed not to tell anyone

if he supported me to take over as General Manager.

Are you satisfied?

I brought Alistair down a peg or two those last few months.

He hated it, but I won. And I didn't do anything criminal.

I had no reason to kill him - so, if you'll excuse me.

What about Robert Platt? He had a motive.

Robert never knew the truth.

And he was in the pub with me all night - ask anyone on the team.

Now, if you don't mind.

Go on.

(Prick.)

Gentlemen, I'm really sorry...

You pushed her. You pushed her till she broke, didn't you?

You and your DCI decided that Eve Liddell was guilty,

but you didn't have a strong enough case without a body.

So you bullied her into a confession.

No, no, we thought we were right.

All the evidence pointed to her.

Now we've got nothing.

What's this?

It's a statement from a lad called Graham Arthur.

He was up by the Liddell house that night.

He said that he saw a woman on the street outside.

Now, the timing was wrong, so I didn't think it was relevant.

And then when she confessed, it was a loose end.

And I just... I went back to tie it up.

So, you got him to change his story. Eh?

Yeah.

Yeah, I told him to say that he was mistaken.

This could have been Eve leaving the house. This is reasonable doubt.

So how long were you going to hold on to this, eh?

Did you think you might just lose it?

And let an innocent woman rot in prison?

Do you think you decide when to dispense justice?

You're not a real policeman.

You mean I'm not you. You're a saint, aren't you?

But you know what? Saints in the Bible, they're all right,

but in real life no-one likes them much.

I serve justice. That's my life.

Yeah. And it's all that you've got.

Do you know, you're an embarrassment.

You're an accident waiting to happen.

Just look at the state of you, with your drinking.

You want to pull yourself together, Sergeant.

Except I'm not your sergeant any more, am I?

Hey, do you know why he stayed up here in the North...

-Don't.

-..Rachel?

Go on.

To chop me down. That's what he said.

He'd lost everything, he'd lost his wife.

He was on his way out of the force, and then he found himself a project.

I'd been given a transfer to the Met - but no...

..no, he needed something to restore meaning into his life.

To make up for the guilt he felt knowing that his crusades

are the reason his wife was murdered.

Get out.

You know, you tried to shape me into your image -

-well, are you happy now?

-John...

I've lost Gemma, I've lost my daughter

-and this job is the only thing I have.

-John, don't.

And what about Rachel?

What's she going to do when she has to decide between being

-a detective and having a family?

-John, don't.

You've put impossible expectations on her, just like you did with me.

John!

I thought you had a future.

Ah, well, it's not your future, any more, is it, George?

Look, the old chief.

What's going to be left behind when you go? Nothing.

You're finished here.

I'm recommending you for suspension.

Get out of my sight.

John...

It's my choice to be here, sir.

This job is important to me.

And not I'm trying to be like you, or anyone else.

There's something that Eve Liddell still isn't telling us.

I mean, why would you leave a child alone in the house?

We need to get Marion to go and visit her mother,

then we'll get to the truth.

MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

WHISPERED CONVERSATION IN BACKGROUND

MUSIC DROWNS SOUND

TYPEWRITER CLACKS

You're not meant to be in here.

I need your help, please, mate.

I want an address for Graham Arthur.

He used to live up in Ouston Hill.

Then he moved about five years ago with his parents.

Parents' names?

I don't know.

So, the Arthur family, and they could be anywhere?

I'll call back in for it.

All right.

Thank you.

Are you all right?

Mm.

What happened?

I'm leaving.

You won't change my mind.

As soon as you walked into the studio that day,

I knew it was over for me here.

You have a real talent, Marion.

Do you really want to leave art school?

Do you really want to give up on all this?

I just want to live me own life.

Well, then, you can't run away this time.

I believe that your mother will tell the truth,

but only if she knows you want to hear it.

Marion is here because she wants to know the truth...

..whatever that might be.

Myszka.

Forgive me.

What do you want forgiveness for?

I loved you so much.

From before you were born.

You used to kick me in the middle of the night...

Your father loved you, too. It was just me he couldn't love.

I didn't want you to know what he did to me.

I didn't want you to hear it.

It was getting worse - in the last few months.

He hurt me every night.

It felt like it would never end.

But then I found out I was pregnant.

I can't describe what it felt like.

I was coming back to life.

I planned to take you away with the baby.

So I went to, um, see a solicitor...

..but he told me I wouldn't get a divorce.

He told me if I left, your father would get custody.

When I got back home, it was late.

He was angry.

And you were playing so loudly,

I, I pulled you upstairs into your room and I locked the door, so he...

..so he couldn't hurt you when he hurt me.

I was so afraid.

I couldn't take care of one child.

How could I protect two?

I killed my baby.

I left you home alone and I went to see a woman...

Why didn't you tell anyone?

I couldn't.

Abortion was a crime.

I killed my child.

God forgive me.

And I thought you would be better off without me.

No, you're all right. Thank you.

Everything all right, DS Coles?

Doesn't it make you lose heart, sir?

When you know something, but you can't prove it.

I see policing as a matter of judgment, not heart.

Of balancing realities.

I look forward to seeing you, Rachel. You brighten up the place.

Thank you, sir.

DCI Gently has always paid attention to you, hasn't he?

When he retires, I want you to know that my door is always open.

Perhaps we could become as close as you and he have been?

I, erm, I read an interview with Commander Shirley Becke.

She said there's no such thing as a lady policeman.

We're police officers who just happen to be women.

Not everyone sees things that way yet,

but Mr Gently has always been a great mentor to me,

a real FATHER figure.

And I'd be honoured to see you in the same way, sir.

You're going to need a lot of friends in this world, Rachel.

Remember that.

Sir?

I've been looking over the Liddell inquiry.

Speaking to Inspector Bacchus.

We need to wrap it up.

I want headlines for the right reasons.

With respect, sir.

You were Superintendent at the time of Eve Liddell's conviction -

however much you avoided getting your hands dirty.

Now, if you want me to bury this there will be headlines

but for the wrong reasons.

If you want me to retire, I'll go 1st of January...

..but I'm staying on this case until Eve Liddell walks free.

Very well.

You need to talk to me?

I'm fine.

We're not going to find her, the woman who performed the abortion?

No, we're not.

Apart from Eve's word, we haven't got enough evidence

for a fresh appeal.

We need to find that killer.

Why that Saturday?

Why did Alistair come back from that football match in such a rage?

There was, there was bad blood on the pitch - and at the plant.

Alistair had caused an accident - a fire -

and Tommy Norton covered it up.

They blamed it on an apprentice called Robert Platt.

What day was that fire?

5th of September.

When did Alistair's money troubles start?

There are his bank statements.

Ha.

Get Robert Platt and Tommy Norton in here.

Yes, sir.

MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH

You've done well compared with all these grammar school boys,

haven't you, Mr Norton?

A good watch. Nice suit. You have expensive tastes.

I've made a success of myself, I can afford it.

Ah, but there was a time when you couldn't afford it, wasn't there?

When you needed extra cash to buy the things that you liked.

You...

Now, then, this is a statement from Alistair Liddell's bank account.

And do you know what's funny about it?

September to December 1962,

Alistair never deposited his pay -

but he was withdrawing most of his savings.

Have you got the other one?

This is yours, and during the same period

you came into quite a lot of money.

You didn't just use the fire at the plant to get the job

that Alistair wanted.

You were blackmailing him, weren't you?

Alistair always made sure to remind me of my failings -

he liked to put me down to make himself look better...

..and when I found out what he was really up to,

he was desperate not to be exposed as a failure.

Well. Blackmail being a criminal offence,

I doubt that your buyers will want a manager with a record,

so why don't you tell us what really happened

the day that Alistair disappeared?

Alistair came to me before the game.

He said there was no more money - he wasn't paying any more.

Oh, so you told Robert Platt the truth about the accident -

just to get him on side,

and together you hatched a plot to get rid of him. Yeah?

I told Robert the truth, that's all...

..and he laid into Alistair on the pitch - got Alistair sent off.

Robert was desperate. He could've done anything.

All right, you can go for now. Chris.

Oi, I'm not finished with you.

I'm looking for Graham Arthur.

INAUDIBLE

We know you fought with Alistair that Saturday.

So what?

You must have been very angry when you found out

the fire at Caldbrook's was Alistair's fault.

He shot my life to pieces. Him and Tommy Norton.

God, no-one would ever give me another chance after that.

But, I didn't kill anyone.

I didn't ask you about the murder.

But I do know that Eve Liddell didn't kill Alistair.

Which means that somebody else was at their house that night.

Somebody else was arguing with Alistair -

and you had a reason to go and confront him.

Tommy says that you were both in the pub

till closing time - but I don't believe that you were.

Alistair's body would have been hard for one person to move alone.

Tommy helped you to move the body, didn't he?

KNOCK ON DOOR

DOOR OPENS

Sir?

What do you want?

This is Graham Arthur.

He'd like to offer his witness statement again as evidence.

All right, go on, tell Mr Gently what you told me

about the lady outside the Liddell house that night?

Well...she looked like Marilyn Monroe.

DOOR OPENS

What's she doing here?

Betty, love, sweetheart, are you all right?

DI Bacchus, I want you here. Sit down, please, Mrs Platt.

What's she doing here? She hasn't done anything wrong.

Ordinary people, they read about murderers in the newspapers

and they think they can imagine what it's like to kill.

But the truth is, nobody knows how it feels to take a man's life.

The first thing is the panic, the heart's beating faster

and the blood's rushing to your brain,

so you just can't think what to do.

You should be talking to Tommy.

You look back at the body.

You feel the blood on your hands - it's sticky.

It smells sweeter than you might think.

So you try to move the body, but the feel of it repulses you,

it's soft and heavy and it's hard to move, like a sack,

but there's still warmth in it.

We have a witness who saw you on the street that night, Mrs Platt.

You helped your husband to move Alistair body, didn't you?

No.

-You don't need to do this to her. Right?

-I

-killed him.

Yeah, tell them, Betty... Tell them I did it by myself.

Love?

The other thing that people don't understand is the guilt.

How it weighs on your soul.

Your husband didn't kill Alistair, did he, Mrs Platt?

-I'm telling you..

-No.

I'm telling you I did it! I'm telling you it was me.

No, Robert. Robert, I need to tell them.

-No, no, no, don't...

-It's OK.

-You can't, you can't.

I want to do this.

Because you're right.

Nobody knows what that kind of secret does to you.

We tried to get on with our lives...

..then it just creeps into the corners.

We never talked about it.

How could we even have children?!

Tell me what happened.

We were so in love, weren't we?

All we wanted to do was to get married.

But when Robert lost his job, he called the engagement off.

That Saturday, I went to the football

because I wanted to talk to him -

that's when I overheard Alistair and him fighting.

So, I thought, if... if I could get Alistair alone,

you know, I-I could persuade him to change his mind

and to give Robert his job back.

Why did you think Alistair would listen to you?

Because he liked me.

Oh, aye, he liked coming into the office.

Putting his hand on my skirt at first - then up me leg.

And I never said anything, because he's an important man.

So you went to see him at home.

Aye, because I thought his wife would be there too, but,

but she wasn't, he was alone.

He invited me in and I tried to talk to him.

I wanted to explain

we just wanted a home, a family like he had.

But he wasn't interested in that.

SHE SCREAMS

He grabbed me and he pushed me back.

He pushed me onto the table

and he had his hands around my throat,

I can't even breathe, and he's scaring me

and I put my hand out and there was a knife...

I wanted to stop - to stop him.

I thought he was going to kill me!

SHE SCREAMS

And when I looked there was just blood.

I was frightened and I ran.

Sorry.

You helped her move the body.

You could have gone to the police.

Could I? Do you think they would have listened to me?

You let an innocent woman go to prison.

I'm sorry. Please, please, will you tell her I'm so, so sorry?

Stand up, please, both of you.

Betty Platt, I am arresting you for the murder of Alistair Liddell

on the 15th of December, 1962.

You do not have to say anything, but anything that you do say

may be taken down in evidence

and may be used in against you at your trial.

Do you understand?

Robert Platt, I am arresting you for assisting an offender

and disposing of a body, do you understand?

Come on. It's all right.

Betty, Betty, come on. Come on.

It wasn't murder. She was defending herself.

That's for a court to decide.

Do you want one?

Um, no, you're all right, thank you.

I've, er, well, I've got somewhere I need to be.

Got a date?

Sort of a...a girls' night.

All right?

Goodnight, sir.

Goodnight, Rachel.

Night.

I've come to collect some things.

Look, I know I did wrong, but I have changed and you know that.

Just give us a chance to prove it, eh?

You went to the ACC behind my back.

I was scared, and I knew I was wrong and you wouldn't stop...

Yeah, well, I knew something was coming.

It was written all over your face from the start.

Six years - six years you've been working for me

and you didn't think you can come and talk to me?

I'm a mess.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I want to be a man that my daughter can be proud of, I do...

I know you're not me, John...

..but if you want to prove you've changed,

it's not me that you've got to answer to -

it's not Gemma, it's not your daughter.

It's you. You've got to prove it to yourself.

So, it's time for you to go your way, and I'll go mine.

I'm sorry.

Free our sisters, free ourselves! Free our sisters, free ourselves!

Free our sisters, free ourselves! Free our sisters, free ourselves!

Free our sisters, free ourselves! Free our sisters, free ourselves!

-What do we want?

-Equal Rights!

-When do we want it?

Right now!

Free our sisters, free ourselves!

Free our sisters, free ourselves!

CHEERING