Episode 1 The Village

This programme contains some strong language.

Ah, it's not breathing. Come on!

Straw.

It's clear.

Keep trying!

Come on, come on...

FAINT BLEATING

Yes!

See!

New life.

Get milk on cart, son.

Or we'll miss six o'clock train.

OLD BERT: 'Every day without fail,

'the six o'clock train had to be caught.'

'Miss the train and the dairy would drop us and the farm would go under.

'We'd be finished.'

Go.

Go on, Molly!

'Faster!'

'Faster!'

Go faster, come on!

'For five years, since the end of the war,

'my generation had been looking over their shoulders

'at the ghosts of older brothers who would always be young.'

TRAIN WHISTLE

'But up ahead calling me on

'there was my own life begging to be lived.'

You're very...muddy.

TRAIN APPROACHES

Sometimes...

I hear him, Bert.

And I think he's not dead.

Is that foolish?

My lovely boy.

"Make a better world," he said.

Some people have saints for protection.

I'll take Joe.

Be careful.

BELL TOLLS

God go with you, Bert Middleton.

Go on, lad!

CAR HORN BLASTS

You call that driving?!

Look. It's the hare!

-No-one's ever done it, Bert.

-I'll be the first, then.

-Right!

The hounds are here, sir.

Thanks for coming.

I think you'll enjoy the day.

Lord Allingham.

Every visitor to this house is in here, without exception.

My father insisted.

"It's history," he said.

When he died, he was living in three rooms.

I promised him I'd make it happy again.

We carry on.

HE GRUNTS

GUNFIRE, BIRDS SCATTER

DOG BARKS

He frightens the servants.

He frightens the Prime Minister. He owns half of Fleet Street

and he's the fixer in the party, mother.

Make him happy.

You make me sound like a common prostitute.

Just do what you do best.

-And what's that?

-Host.

Never trust a man who sleeps with

anything hairier than a greyhound, Polly.

-Good morning, Lord Kilmartin.

-Good morning, Lady Allingham.

I can't tell you how delighted I am

that you're here on this day, of all days.

I wish you would.

SHE CHUCKLES

I am delighted that you're here on this day of all days.

You're a fascinating woman.

And you're a married man, Lord Kilmartin.

Now, the pressing question is...

..how do you like your sausage?

Hmm...

DOG WHIMPERS

Please.

JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS

SHE HUMS ALONG

I'll show you the steps.

HE GIGGLES

George.

Dancing before breakfast? My, my!

Come and dance with your wife!

May I have this dance?

A week ago, I saw a small boy

put his finger in an electric light socket.

The shock threw him clean across the room.

When he got up, he was screaming with laughter.

-Electricity, Einstein, jazz - anything is possible.

-So?

This is the most important election this country has ever had.

Lord Kilmartin's here because he wants YOU!

You play it right today, you'll be the next Home Secretary.

Happy day.

It's been 15 years and there have been times

when I thought this would never happen again.

So, God bless you all.

For those new to this day, a very warm Allingham welcome.

Now there's a hymn that we used to sing.

Hymns don't change, do they?

So, please, join in with me.

ALL: # I fear no foe

# With Thee at hand to bless

# Ills have no weight

# And tears no bitterness

# Where is death's sting?

# Where, grave, thy victory?

# I triumph still

# If Thou abide with me. #

The runner.

Handkerchief?

We'll need the scent.

-Shirt.

-Take it off.

HE INHALES

-England un-perfumed.

-THEY CHUCKLE

Breathe deeply - the Middle Ages.

Burdock, barley,

nose of pig's breath, dog's tongue, perhaps?

And... Oh, yes...

Ancient peasant bitterness.

THEY LAUGH

It was my brothers' shirt.

He's dead. He died.

Whilst wearing it, by the looks.

The rules - you have a ten minute start.

The horn blows when we begin the chase.

You must stay on Allingham land or within the boundaries of the village

and you must not step inside any house, you understand?

If you survive and you're still free

-when the horn blows again at one o'clock you win.

-How much?

A pound.

And if you allow yourself to be caught by Lord Kilmartin

at three minutes to one, after a good morning's sport,

-I'll still give you a pound.

-Why?

You wouldn't understand.

Up the stakes.

He'll pay you two pounds if you survive the morning.

Won't you, Allingham? Incentive is everything.

-Of course.

-But, if he's caught, he'll do everything I ask of him

for the rest of the day.

-Five pounds.

-Bert...

SHE CHUCKLES

You'll be mine.

I can't stay here.

I like it here.

Go.

Run, Bert!

Now!

HORN BLOWS

DOGS BARK

Towards the stream!

How much?

There's a job in Sheffield, for a photography assistant.

And, if I win today, it's enough to set me up wi' lodgings

-and everything.

-What if they catch you? Bert?

You won't let 'em.

This smells terrible.

DOGS BARK

Go. Go!

Where is he?

Find him, boy!

New calf - hour ago.

You should have thought of that.

Give me another week.

Responsibility, Middleton.

I rented you the cowshed, we agreed the three pounds monthly rent.

You haven't paid it, so I'm taking it back.

Your fault if the calf dies, not mine.

Get your animals out of my cowshed now, please.

It's not him.

Where is he? WHERE IS HE?

Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go...

Go on. Walk on. Go on.

I love you.

Faster!

Faster! Faster!

Get down here.

Oi, you, get up!

Where is he?

Who the hell are you?

-What did you do that for?

-Shut up! I asked you a question!

Are you deaf, boy?

Sorry, wrong word. Nigger.

Say that again.

Answer him!

Hey!

-Up there, look!

-There he is!

-It's him!

Come on.

It feels like when you proposed to me.

Do you remember?

Wind blew your cap off just as you were about to...

He's taking cowshed back, young Rutter.

-He's twice the bastard his father ever was.

-Why?

We owe him rent.

-Well, where we going to do the milking?

-In field.

What, twice a day?! In winter, John?!

Well, we'll just have to get up earlier and go to bed later.

And work every hour that God sends.

You have prayed every day for eight years. What does he want?

How much more are you going to give him for nothing in return?!

Something's got to change, John,

and it's us that've got to do it.

Is the calf going to die?

Let's get her up into field.

Her best chance is to be with her mother,

get first 12 hours of milk to protect her from diseases.

And then, if she survives, we might bottle-feed her inside.

Father won't let her die.

You picked it up - my cap.

You put it back on my head...

and then you said yes.

I love you too.

DOGS BARK

There he is!

Come on!

We're on him.

DOG BARKS

WOMEN SCREAM

-Oh!

-Sorry, sir.

-Out of my way, damn you!

Got ya!

He might do it.

130 years and a hare has never survived.

BELL TOLLS

Where is he? Where is he!?

HOUR CHIMES

HORN BLOWS

SHE CHUCKLES

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You should have stopped for a wash in bath house, Bert.

Eh, remember that time looking through roof? How old were we?

12 and a half.

-Who were you looking at?

-Nobody.

-Who were you looking at, Bert?

That's the thing about the past, isn't it?

Every time you look, there's more of it.

-So profound.

-He's so profound.

You know, you could be a teacher.

What do you miss most about childhood?

Singing. There were more singing.

My mother used to wash our hair in beer - me and Joe.

He'd have been proud of you.

THEY CHEER

ALL: # As I was going to Darby Upon a market day

# I saw the biggest ram, sir That ever was fed on hay

# It's a lie, it's a lie It's a lie, a lie, a lie... #

Did you win?

No. He cheated!

Cheated?

Went into a village woman's front room, against all the rules.

Well, that's good, then. The hounds win again.

-What's for lunch?

-Trout.

Bert cheated?

You heard what the man said, Martha.

Cheating, lies, ladies' front rooms?

-Kilmartin has a talent for all three!

-I'm sorry?

Lord Chater was concerned when Kilmartin

asked for his daughter's hand, that he was after political advancement.

He was wrong. He was after his whole family!

Which member of the family was he actually...

He's actually fucking his wife, his wife's cousin

and his stepdaughter-in-law!

THEY LAUGH

Chater doesn't know.

What kind of a man is he?

Half a day, Allingham, one afternoon.

Keep him smiling and your career is launched.

Hold. Hold her, hold her.

And another thing, Albert Einstein.

Who?

Time is not what it used to be.

It's not a constant against which we can all measure everything.

It is relative.

So we're on our own, all of us.

What are you on about? What's he on about?

He's saying it's important to leave your mark.

BICYCLE BELL RINGS

Where were you?

I've won five pounds.

Mother!

-Have you got it?

-Promised me.

Tell her.

I've won five pounds.

It's his money.

It's your money, Bert.

How much do we owe Rutter?

Three pounds.

No, it's too late.

-When's rent due?

-Today.

Well, today's not over, is it?

Jacket off.

A man of the people doesn't feel the cold.

BELL RINGS

The State Opening of Parliament, the King's Speech,

Christmas morning, my own birthday,

I'd give them all up for this special day in our village.

THEY MURMUR

-For 300 years, an Allingham...

-He reminds me of my father.

..has stood where I now stand and kept this wonderful tradition alive.

We've been away for a while, we all have, and we've been tested,

but we have come through and today, today marks the return of

that English way of life we've all been fighting for.

APPLAUSE

Thank you. Enjoy the day. Box well.

-Thank you for coming along.

-Thank you.

-Lovely to see you.

My name's Bill Gibby.

And I want to ask two questions:

Who am I? Who are you?

And try to answer them both.

I'm an outsider here. But I know this country.

"The lung" us townsfolk call the place

you're fortunate enough to call home.

And I used to come up here every Sunday.

It was my coming up for air, for the six years I spent mining coal.

Then I had another four years

digging under the German lines to set explosives.

Has it been a tough life? Maybe.

Do I feel sorry for meself? Not a bit of it.

Cos if there's one thing I know, it's that none of us will be free

until we stop thinking of ourselves as victims and become masters...

- and mistresses - of our own lives and our own futures.

APPLAUSE

Here's a poem.

Men of England, heirs of Glory

Heroes of unwritten story

Nurslings of one mighty Mother Hopes of her, and one another

Rise like Lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you -

Ye are many - they are few.

Shelley has the answer to my questions.

Who am I? Who are you?

We are one!

And together, we are unvanquishable!

MURMURING AND APPLAUSE

Well said, sir. Very well done.

BELL RINGS

Here from the deepest jungle of the darkest continent

for you to pit your best men against.

Who has the courage to take on

Savage Africa?

BOOING

153 fights undefeated.

Who will be the first man to beat Savage Africa?

Go and get your money.

Who's first?

Survive a round and win...a pound!

Our first contender, step right up.

Give him a round of applause, everyone.

APPLAUSE

BELL RINGS

You cheated.

Sorry.

BELL RINGS

CHEERING

Bert?

They said I cheated.

-But you didn't.

-No!

So?

Lord Kilmartin, Edmund Allingham, me and you? Forget it!

I was boxing champ in the army, you know.

There's something I want you to do for me.

How much?

BELL RINGS

One, two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine,

ten. It's over.

BELL RINGS

Our calf will die of cold if she's left out in the field all night.

I... I know you don't like my husband, or our family,

but PLEASE can we have the cowshed tonight?

HE SIGHS

If I give you extra time, what will it be next week?

You can't go on like this.

I think that's why you're here.

The calf needs warmth.

So do I.

-Sorry, but I don't understand...

-Yes, you do.

Why didn't your husband come to see me if it weren't on your mind?

It's an offer.

BELL RINGS

BELL RINGS

APPLAUSE

I saw him last Saturday up at Bolsover Colliery.

15 miners one after the other and he put them all down.

Who is next?

Survive a round and win a pound!

Men of England, are you lions or lambs?

All right, two pounds!

Still nobody.

Here's an offer I've never made before, three pounds!

-Step right up.

-They're all trying to fight him.

You don't need to fight him, you just need to survive.

John?! Don't encourage him.

We need the money.

Come on, gentlemen!

Move your feet, like I taught you.

BELL RINGS

-Move, son!

-Knock him down!

That's it.

Come on! Hit him!

Move, Bert!

I don't want to kill ya. Go down.

One, two, three...

-Come on!

-..four...

..five, six...

..seven...

..eight...

You all right, son? Do you want to go on?

-You all right?

-He's all right, he's all right.

-Keep moving, Bert. Come on!

-Hit him!

Knock out.

-BELL RINGS

-Winner!

What the fuck are you playing at, eh?

-Your boy?

-Yes.

-What's his name?

-Bert Middleton.

It's that bastard.

-He'll knock you down.

-No, he won't.

Yes, he will.

Who says?

BELL RINGS

No! That was below the belt.

One, two...

three, four...

five, six...

seven, eight...

Come on!

-nine...

-Stay down! Stay down!

BELL RINGS

It's over, son. Stay there. It's over.

The winner!

CHEERING

Well, I never.

Good old Kilmartin.

-Congratulations.

-Fantastic.

20 pounds, for you to lose.

But, oh no, you can't fall over for 20 pounds.

I won't throw a fight.

This is not boxing.

This is showbusiness and I'm the producer.

I don't want your dirty money.

And I don't need you.

Really? Fine.

Give me what's mine and go.

Gloves, shorts, boots.

Go on, then. Off you go.

LAUGHTER AND SCREAMING

CROWD DROWNS SPEECH

KNOCKING

Come in.

You've no wife, Edmund.

So, what do we know about Lord Kilmartin?

He's a bully

and a cheat

and he's your best friend.

He'll put me in the Cabinet.

It's what you do when you're in power that matters, not how you get there.

That depends on who you hurt getting there.

And your conscience.

Does one put the stress on "cock" or "tail"?

Is it cockTAIL or COCKtail?

-Anyway...

-SHE CHUCKLES

Mm...

Oh, this is...appalling

Edwina Mountbatten.

Absolute maniac for sex.

-Do not get in a taxi with Edwina.

-Oh?

BOTH CHUCKLE

Will you excuse me a moment, Lady Allingham?

Was she nice to you?

I find fragrant decay so moving.

She's like the last pansy of summer.

Why didn't you go down?

Stupid.

Brave.

Maybe both.

Like Tommies in the war.

Did you...

What was it for?

I fought for me country,

but they won't let me fight for boxing titles after it.

Why?

Because of the colour of me skin.

At least I got through it, eh?

-JOHN:

-That's our Joe.

BERT: Shot at dawn.

It happened to me best friend.

They send a man in, after the priest,

with a bottle of whisky.

The idea is to get him so drunk that

when dawn comes he hardly knows what's happening to him.

I stayed with him all night.

But he weren't afraid and he wouldn't drink.

"I don't want to spend me last hours unconscious."

You were with him?

I went in at midnight.

He said that he loved life and there's some of it left,

so we won't waste it talking about death and dying.

What... What did you talk about?

His family.

He wanted me to tell them that, although his life was short...

..he were lucky to have shared it with them.

SHE CRIES

SHE SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY

You've got a bit of mud.

-Here?

-No, come here.

Make it a better world, mother.

We were having a cigarette.

"We"?

Your speech.

I thought I should write it word for word in case you're feeling, er,

out of joint - party and everything.

I know this is a party and no place for politics.

However...there is an election coming.

-Which we'll win.

-ALL:

-Hear, hear.

Some of you may have heard my Labour opponent speak today...

Could I have a cigarette?

-I don't smoke, sorry.

-..personally I was more interested in what I saw in the boxing ring...

Mainly determination, courage, pluck - Bert Middleton.

He wasn't in the ring with his comrades, it was him in there -

alone and against the odds.

That's human spirit, that's what we're made of.

Socialism pretends to be for the good of everyone. It's not.

It's a hand-brake on mankind.

It's individual endeavour that will make this country into a nation

about which it is still possible to say, "This is a land fit for heroes."

-ALL:

-Hear, hear.

-He's my son.

You said he was a cheat, now a hero.

Which is it?

He went into Margaret Boden's house in breach of the rules.

Am I right, Lord Kilmartin?

Absolutely.

So it's your son's word against that of a peer of the realm.

Then you'll be handing him over to Lord Kilmartin.

That WAS the wager.

Edmund?

Pay her.

GROANING

Middleton.

I never forget a name.

KNOCKING

Honour, a man's name, not being embarrassed in public -

everything that matters to Kilmartin and you, you threw it in his face for a farm boy and his mother!

Someone has to be principled, Bairstow. It was the right thing to do.

And someone has to see past principles, Allingham!

You've come to make me change my mind, I suppose?

No, I was thinking of asking Lady Allingham to tell Lord Chater

which members of his family you're fucking.

Are you blackmailing me?

Absolutely.

Lady Allingham?

A moment?

Bluff!

Call me.

Lord Kilmartin wanted you to be the first to hear it.

I'm going to make your son the next Home Secretary.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness!

KNOCKING

I've, erm...

Well, I've come to give you what you've been asking for.

-Where have you been?

-To get the money.

-Did you get it?

-Yes.

-Did you pay Rutter?

-Why would I do that?

It's yours, Bert. You've earnt it.

Father?

Son?

OLD BERT: 'Something had changed. We were in trouble -

'no cowshed, more months of winter and a calf in the kitchen.

'Five pounds was a lot of money.

'It would pay for casual labour for a time, but it wouldn't be enough.

'But standing there, with my family,

'we knew we'd been brought together.

'He would always be with me - Joe -

'and, like my mother, I would keep hearing him...

'But I'd stopped looking over my shoulder

'and begun looking forward - to a new life.'