~ (MEN COUGHING) ~ We're clear!
SOLDIER: Get me out of 'ere! My foot's stuck, 'elp!
Jesus Christ!
Get off, oi!
~ Anyone finds a watch, it's mine. ~ Piss off!
Sandy, tell him! I let you have the last one!
He did let me have the last one.
I don't give a damn.
Two minutes, boys.
Never know how to end 'em.
I never know how to start them.
Broken. Why do I always find the broken ones?
(WHISTLES) What do you reckon, lads?
~ Wouldn't mind a piece of that! ~ (GUNSHOTS)
Quick!
(DOG BARKING)
Dickens, come on, that's enough!
Inside, come on!
~ Dickens - ~ He needs taking in hand. Don't you Dickens?
~ Don't you, wretched thing? ~ (BARKS)
Oh, God!
Operator? Fire brigade.
Fire!
(PEOPLE COUGHING)
Where is Mrs Taylor? What have you done?
Mr Taylor, where's your wife?
Mrs Taylor? Mrs Taylor!
Mrs Taylor?
Take my hand, don't be scared.
Marion? Marion, look, we have to go!
No... No.
(SHRIEKS) Oh!
~ This way! ~ Come on! Come on, come on!
~ No! ~ Go, go!
Oh, Marion! I thought I'd lost you!
~ Ben, are you hurt? Let me see. ~ I'm fine, Dad -
~ Let me see. ~ I'm fine!
You stupid man! Stupid, stupid man!
(FIRE ENGINE BELL)
It's almost rather beautiful.
~ Rage, rage, against the... ~ (TOGETHER).. dying of the light.
~ Thank you. ~ That's very kind.
~ Does it smart? ~ Can't feel a thing.
Ben!
Do you have any idea how it started?
Ashes in the grate, I imagine.
Yes, ashes in the grate.
~ You saved the lot of them! ~ That's not entirely true.
They'd be dead if it weren't for you, that's a fact.
Bloody hell, Vic!
Next you'll be telling us the boy can walk on water!
(CHURCH BELL CHIMES)
~ Here he is, our hero. ~ Running into burning buildings.
Damsels in distress? I hope you gave him a thorough telling off,
~ Mrs Maguire. ~ Oh, don't worry, she did.
Miss Headingly's been praising you to the heavens.
Me? I fell over making a phone call.
~ I'm not sure she needs to know that. ~ Come on!
Today is a day to be thankful for the big things.
A community supporting each other.
And for the small...
for those little kindnesses.
A cup of tea, a kind embrace.
(ORGAN PLAYS)
ALL: Amen.
Mr Chambers?
~ Oh, I'm sorry, you're in a hurry? ~ No, I'm not at all.
~ Another time, perhaps. ~ Mr Taylor, what's troubling you?
I'm not sure where to begin.
I find the start is often the place.
I've tried to be a good man, all my life.
An honest man.
I've tried so hard to be a...
to be an example to my children.
To do what is expected of me as a husband.
I just want to be a good man.
You've had a terrible shock.
~ When an accident like this happens - ~ It was no accident, Mr Chambers.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Darling?
The children are tired, I...
~ I'm tired. ~ Yes.
Yes, of course. Erm...
~ You know where I am. ~ Thank you.
~ Hildegard. ~ Sidney.
You look wonderful.
Thank you.
Berlin clearly agrees with you.
What little is left of it.
What brings you back?
The sale of the house...
and you promised me a boat trip on the canal.
I'm sorry, er... Mrs Hildegard Staunton, these are my friends.
~ Miss Amanda Kendall. ~ Hello.
And Mr Guy Hopkins.
So how do you two know each other?
Er, Hildegard plays the piano.
I'm thinking of taking some lessons.
GUY: What do you play? Any Mozart? Can't beat a bit of Mozart.
Of course, he is one of my favourite composers.
Plays the piano?
Next you'll be telling me she actually likes jazz.
~ She does. ~ She lets you think she does!
You're a dark horse, Chambers.
~ You kept it. ~ Of course I did.
Thank you for not telling your friends about my husband.
When people hear he was murdered, they never know what to say.
You must miss him?
Is it awful to say that some days I don't think of him at all?
~ Why are you smiling? ~ I'm sorry, I, er...
I'm just not used to being with someone so, er, so open.
(FOOTSTEPS)
(BANGS TRAY ON TABLE)
(DOOR SLAMS)
~ She doesn't like me. ~ She doesn't like anyone.
Tomorrow, then.
Tomorrow.
Have you thought to ask what she did during the war?
Was she goose-stepping for the rest of them?
Never behave like that in front of one of my guests again.
(DOG PANTS AND SQUEALS)
(SLAMS TRAY ON TABLE)
She was crying while she was braising the mutton.
I'm sorry if I was short with you, if I was rude.
Sorry if Hildegard's Germanic tendencies upset you.
If it's any consolation,
I'm pretty certain she wasn't part of Hitler's inner circle.
I was trying to take care of you.
Between the whisky and the jazz, jumping into fires,
someone has to take care of you.
And for that I am very grateful.
Thank you, Mrs M, for being infinitely wonderful.
No more adventures.
Not unless you're properly dressed.
I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away.
Can't help myself, I'm afraid.
We're moving back to London. It's for the best.
I was never fond of this house.
Such a lonely place.
What is it, Marion?
It pains me to see someone so unhappy.
We'll be happier now, Dominic and I.
He'll be the man I fell in love with again.
He'll be himself... again.
~ You'd better stick around, Vicar. ~ What's happened?
Where's Geordie?
~ Mrs Taylor? ~ Yes?
I'm, er, Detective Constable Atkins.
At 12:54pm this afternoon, a er... a body was discovered,
on Regent Terrace in Cambridge.
We believe it to be that of your husband.
I'm so very sorry.
GIRL: Dad! My brother David's poorly.
~ David's poorly, is he? ~ Got whooping cough.
(WHISPERS) Doctor says he'll die, but I don't believe him.
SIDNEY: Geordie? Cathy?
(BABY COUGHS AND WHEEZES)
~ Cathy? ~ Oh, please forgive the mess, it's...
~ How is he? ~ Erm...
They say it might... It might go to his lungs, and...
And if it does, then, er...
.. they're saying we should prepare for the worst.
(COUGHING)
(SNIFFS) I can't let it go on, Sidney.
(SOBS)
~ You should've let me know. ~ Nothing you can do.
I would've come sooner.
How'd you know I was here?
~ Atkins said you were on leave. ~ Atkins?
(CHILDREN GIGGLING)
I should go.
~ If there's anything you need - ~ Where'd you see Atkins?
~ He's leading an investigation. ~ He couldn't lead a dying horse to water.
Will you stop it?
Go inside, play nicely.
What is it?
~ Murder? ~ It doesn't matter.
~ Any suspects? ~ Don't even think it, Geordie.
I can't just stay here and wait for him to die.
GEORDIE: Where are we?
Dominic Taylor.
Fellow of Downing College, 39, stabbed through the chest.
~ Witnesses? ~ Well, er, not witnesses as such.
Knife?
No.
~ Leads? ~ It's Sunday, sir.
A day you've become very familiar with.
~ You'll work every one from now to Christmas. ~ Sir.
This, er, fire...
Mr Taylor seemed to think that Tobias Hall was responsible.
~ The landlord at the Red Lion. ~ You've spoken to him?
What the hell have you done?
TOBIAS: Dominic Taylor was a pompous bastard.
Who thought you'd burnt his house down?
That was not my doing.
Why accuse you, then?
He was one of these stuck-up twerps,
always moaning about something. The noise, my customers...
So it was just that, just the noise?
I'd check your files. Made a fair few complaints.
Why accuse you of starting the fire?
Rich people always got to blame somebody for their woes.
Answer the bloody question!
Came over here, all airs and graces.
Said he wasn't going to rest until he closed this place down.
I told him...
if he did any such thing, he'd live to regret it.
You threatened him?
I didn't like the man. I wouldn't wish him dead.
No, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Check the records, see if we have anything on Mr Taylor's complaint.
You talk to his wife.
Then Backgammon and a pint, what do you say?
Cathy needs you, Geordie.
Go home.
Atkins, do you play Backgammon?
~ No, sir. ~ Excellent.
(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS)
HILDEGARD: Hello?
I was... I was lost there for a minute.
HILDEGARD: I'm having to sell my piano.
Really? That is a shame.
The cost of shipping is far more than it's worth,
and there are debts to pay, my husband's gambling habit.
~ You angry with him? ~ Angry?
For leaving you to pick up the pieces.
I'm angry that he kept a whole part of himself from me.
The affairs, the lies.
The man I loved... didn't really know him at all, it seems.
Sidney, you were lost again.
Regent Terrace?
~ Regent Terrace? ~ Do you know it?
It's near Parker's Piece, isn't it?
Taylor died on that road right there.
~ What if you're wrong? ~ If you didn't have God on your side,
I'd tell you where to get off, Mr Chambers!
He's on your side too.
Here, see?
He was stabbed...
.. staggered out across the common onto Regent Terrace,
where he collapsed.
~ He was getting his end away. ~ In a public lav?
Oh... I see.
It... What you're suggesting is not decent.
~ It doesn't mean it's not happening. ~ Dirty sod!
I think his wife knew he was a homosexual.
~ I just need a piss. ~ With your friend for company?
~ Shall I take him in, sir? ~ Go ahead.
Geordie, he didn't do anything!
I'm arresting you on suspicion of gross indecency.
~ You're not obliged... ~ How is this helping?
~ .. but what you say may be... ~ It's not helping!
Get the area secured. I want it searched.
Mrs Taylor?
~ I need to get the children settled. ~ (Not here, Geordie!)
Were you aware of your husband's liaisons?
~ I don't know what you're talking about. ~ With men. Sexual liaisons.
Marion...
Marion, if you speak to us, it won't go any further. You have my word.
~ Dominic loved me. ~ He did what he wanted, with who he wanted,
and you brought up his children.
Geordie!
~ No, he loved me. ~ Of course he did.
No one who knew you could doubt that.
~ I have your word? ~ Dominic's private life will remain just that.
It was early.
~ I couldn't sleep. ~ What time?
~ I don't know. ~ (TUTS)
Four, possibly. I... I don't know.
You couldn't sleep?
Went downstairs and...
.. someone had put a note under the door. It was anonymous.
'The usual, everyone will find out.'
'That was the gist of it.'
'It was all lies.'
I only intended to destroy it.
~ You didn't notice money disappearing? ~ Dominic dealt with the accounts.
No envelopes of cash? (DOOR OPENS)
No blank cheque stubs?
Please leave us alone.
Thank you so much.
She has a right to her privacy...
to her husband's privacy.
At the expense of the truth?
And you really think it works like that, Sidney?
Sidney?
Sidney?!
My son, James.
He was in the Fusiliers. 21 when he died.
What kind of age is it?
Didn't even get to bring him home.
(FOOTSTEPS)
~ Sidney, people are arriving. ~ Just a moment.
The day of the fire.
It was early, but you were dressed.
You were walking to the pub, not from it.
What has that got to do with anything?
You had just delivered a letter to Dominic Taylor.
~ A blackmail letter. ~ Oh! That's quite an accusation.
~ You don't deny it? ~ Why should I?
I'm not the one in the wrong.
'Vic's so proud of his boy, off to university, the hero.'
(DOOR OPENS)
'Doesn't realise...
he's a sodomite.'
Ben Blackwood?
My son dies, and that degenerate lives.
Where's the fairness in that?
~ Tell the police what you've done. ~ Or what?
Or I will.
~ Sidney, let's go, please. ~ You do that, you tell them.
Then everyone will know, won't they?
They'll all know what he is.
Go on. Tell them, Mr Chambers.
Mr Taylor helped me apply for my place in Cambridge.
Whoever told you otherwise is lying.
Mr Hall told me what he saw.
Are you going to play or are you just going to gossip?
Gossip, I think.
My dad can't find out.
I've... I've got Lucy, I... I'm going to university.
Ben, I'm not here to judge you.
Please, don't let my dad find out.
Funny how a man can be murdered,
and all anyone's worried about is his private life.
The Church has made its position on the subject clear.
It's something from which deliverance should be sought.
Do you agree?
It's not my place to make any statement to the contrary.
So you think that these men, men like Ben,
should be locked up for 18 hours a day in solitary confinement,
for years on end?
Will you tell the police?
If I don't, they won't know the whole story.
(SIGHS) A murderer could walk free.
And if you do, the consequences for Ben, it will destroy him.
He'll help with the enquiries as long as he remains anonymous.
That's good of him (!)
If you can just guarantee his privacy, that is all I ask.
He's not a killer. We should look to Mr Taylor's family, his friends.
His friends are a bunch of queers, Ben Blackwood amongst them!
Arrest Tobias Hall for blackmail.
Sir.
And arrest Ben Blackwood.
Find out where he was on the day of the murder.
Geordie, you know what this means for him.
~ You're not thinking straight. ~ Don't you tell me what I'm thinking!
He hasn't done anything!
Don't worry, son. I'll sort this out.
Dear God!
I don't understand. I just...
I don't understand.
Go ahead.
~ He says he has an alibi, he was with his girl. ~ Do you believe him?
He's a practised liar. His kind have to be. Put it this way,
it won't come as a great shock when we end up arresting him for murder.
In the meantime,
we'll charge him with gross indecency and grant him bail.
There was a better way to do this.
Do you know what I've done?
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
~ I can't even look at you! ~ Dad, please...
Dad, please!
You've made it very clear that I'm to cast no judgement on your guests.
So however difficult it may be, I shall hold my tongue.
Thank you.
Well, you know what the Bible says.
CHAMBERS: We all judge.
We judge a person on their appearance...
their class...
their nationality.
On the choices they make or the lives they lead behind closed doors.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
~ (BELLS CHIME) ~ Goodbye, Lucy.
~ Mrs Taylor... ~ You gave me your word.
Mr Blackwood.
Mrs Staunton,
it would be much appreciated if you could join us for tea.
I'd like that.
You see? Infinitely wonderful.
Invite her for tea now? She's beautiful, too.
Make a perfect vicar's wife.
Don't tell me it hasn't crossed your mind?
I've had other things to think about.
I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't been practising her name.
Mrs Hildegard Chambers, at your service.
Anyone would think that you're jealous?
~ You're wanted. ~ So are you.
Go on. I'll be fine.
Did Dad ask after me?
I'm sorry.
~ He hates me. ~ No, he doesn't.
My father, he was a gruff man too.
He was always bellowing at me, always cross about something.
But I know it always came from love.
It always comes from love.
~ HILDEGARD: He's very handsome. ~ A devil, too.
Disappeared for no good reason during that blessed war.
More cake?
I was only a schoolgirl when it broke out.
My father and my brothers fought like all the men had to.
~ Where's your father now? ~ He died. My brothers, too.
All of us lost a lot, I think.
(TELEPHONE RINGS)
~ The Vicarage? ~ CATHY: 'Sidney, it's Cathy.'
'He's got worse. Can you come now?'
(CRIES)
I don't understand it.
(COUGHING)
Geordie can find a dead body...
.. doesn't bat an eye. Can even make jokes about it.
(COUGHING)
I thought he could face anything.
He should be here, Sidney.
Sidney!
Sidney! You sly old dog, you.
Tell me something interesting.
Tell me about the German.
~ How's David? ~ BARTENDER: One and six please.
~ Mm, I'm a police officer. ~ One and six please.
~ Here. ~ No! Don't pay him, don't pay him.
~ Geordie! ~ I'm a police officer. Show some bloody respect!
How's David, Geordie?
Have you got in her knickers yet, the German?
If he dies and you're not there, how will you live with yourself?
I have work to do.
Got a dead pansy, no leads.
He's your son, Geordie. You should be there.
(SIGHS) And you...
.. should stop pissing about. Just admit it.
You hate your life.
You hate it so much, you have to screw up everyone else's.
It's fine. We're fine.
Oh, you think I don't care?
I'd give my life for my boy.
But I can't, can I?
There's nothing I can do.
Go home.
Scotch.
You're a selfish bastard.
'But I know it always came from love.'
It always comes from love.
I don't need your counsel, Vicar.
A father would do anything for his son, wouldn't he?
You knew what Ben was hiding.
You've always known...
.. and you killed to save him from it.
You say things like that,
you'd better have something to back it up with.
You killed Mr Taylor.
Where's the proof?
Place has been swarming with Old Bill for days,
and even they can't find any.
What place?
Parker's Piece?
That lot couldn't find a needle in a whole stack of needles.
And if they can't, I doubt you can.
You killed him, Mr Blackwood.
I know you did.
Sidney, Ben's gone.
I want to confess to the murder of Dominic Taylor.
~ Ben's already confessed to the murder. ~ What if Ben's lying?
What if he's covering for his dad?
Mr Blackwood told me the police could not find a needle
in a whole stack of needles. I think he meant the knife.
~ I went over this place, thorough as you like. ~ Just trust me!
I don't think I've trusted anyone less, and you're a vicar.
We've searched in here already, sir.
Waste of time.
~ There's no knife. ~ Could've told you that in the first place.
Now who's the selfish bastard?
I'm sorry for wasting your time.
It won't happen again.
I thought I'd visit Ben.
If there's anything that can take you out of yourself
at a trying time, it's a good book.
(THEY TALK AT ONCE)
~ Sorry, you go - ~ You go...
I've not been myself lately.
Understandably.
~ But - ~ Calling you a selfish bastard...
.. is not far from the truth.
I'm scared, Sidney.
I know.
I won't interfere again, in that, or work.
A shame! In another life you'd have been my chief inspector.
Right! I don't know about that.
You have a knack for it. A lot of the lads don't have.
They prefer to knock people about before they engage their brains.
Can't think who you're referring to!
Atkins isn't so bad. He'll grow out of it.
~ What? ~ The knife.
It's still there.
Geordie, it's not here.
Not now, perhaps. But when we first came here, Atkins...
Follow me.
It transpires you CAN find a needle in a whole stack of needles.
Just let me finish.
He found out about his son's affair through Marion Taylor.
She came to see Ben the day after the fire.
He's my husband!
Mine!
GEORDIE: 'Vic saw...
.. and followed Dominic Taylor
who was waiting for Ben for a bit of a fumble.'
'He hid the knife.'
Ah, you know the rest.
What will happen to Ben?
Gross indecency, perverting the course of justice.
I've made bigger problems disappear.
Don't look so shocked, Sidney.
Our lot are just as corrupt as yours.
I wouldn't bet on it!
He was going to be a doctor.
Someone people respect.
He still can be.
How naive you are, Mr Chambers.
Dad thought Dominic corrupted me.
'That he'd taken advantage.'
I loved him, Dad.
Do you know what I've done for you?
Do you know what I've done?
I killed for you!
~ Can I ask you something? ~ Of course.
You advocate a man's right to privacy.
But isn't that just hiding from the truth?
Isn't it lying?
I've never really thought of it that way.
Perhaps you've never had to hide your true feelings, Mr Chambers.
It's time to go home, I told you.
Cathy?
Geordie.
His fever's broken.
I'm sorry.
I know.
I am so, so sorry.
SIDNEY: 'Faithful and loving God.'
'Bless those who care for these children.'
'Grant them your gifts of love,
wisdom and faith.'
'Pour upon them your healing and reconciling love,
and protect their home from all evil.'
Fill them with the light of your presence,
and establish them in the joy of your kingdom.
David Sidney, I baptise thee.
In the name of the Father...
and of the Son...
and of the Holy Ghost.
(DAVID WHIMPERS)
Amen.
'We are all one in Christ Jesus.'
'We belong to him through faith.'
'Airs of the promise, of the spirit of peace.'
They said it was extra to carry it in. I'm not paying extra!
Fine. You can help me lift it in, then.
See what I have to put up with?
You sure you don't mind?
It can stay here as long as you need.
~ How about that lesson? ~ Here?
Why not?
~ We'll start with the C Major scale. ~ Mm-hm.
~ Do you know middle C? ~ Yes. Middle C.
(LAUGHS) No!
I'm never going to play Bach, am I?
~ (LAUGHS) I'm hopeless! ~ (LAUGHS)
~ Amanda and I, we've been friends for a long time. ~ Not friends.
Just this one night, we are off duty.
I love this one!
Preacher man, where you going?
I have no idea.
I didn't want no part of it then. I don't want no part of it now.
Someone's trying to send me a message. I want him hunted down.
We'll get him, Archie.
She was just a child.
~ I knew he'd done something! ~ Who?
I am NOT a boy.
There's something you should know.