FAINT RUSTLING
FAINT CREAKING
THUD
CLATTERING
LOUD CRASHING
CRIES OUT
UNZIPS BAG
WINCES
EXHALES
GROANS
KNOCKING ON GLASS
Hello, Edward.
Where shall I put this?
Anywhere. It doesn't matter.
Stick it down there.
What did you want with it?
It was important to Mum,
wasn't it?
A lot of value attached to it.
Yeah, she loved it.
Yeah. More than me and you,
probably.
What are you doing?
I'm giving you a hug.
I've not seen you in ages.
Shall I put a light on?
Obviously not.
People know the new owners
are away on holiday.
We don't want
to attract attention.
Telling me off already.
I'm not telling you off.
Attacking me.
Oh, calm down, Harry!
So how have you been?
I've been busy.
Various...ventures.
Trying my best, you know.
That bar in Menorca
never worked out, then?
SIGHS
"What about you, Harry?"
"Oh, me? I've just been here
looking after Mum.
"Then she d*ed.
I had to organise the funeral.
"I had to sell the house.
I don't know if you know that."
Look, I'm sorry that you had
to deal with everything, OK?
But me and Mum...
We didn't get on.
I hate how everyone ends up
in bungalows. Why is that?
It's just easier, isn't it?
No more stairs.
Did you find out
anything about them?
Who?
The couple
who bought the house!
No. It all went through
the agent.
I'm surprised
they haven't decorated.
They've been in a year.
It's not been a year.
Not quite.
It's weird. They wanted
everything just as it was.
Furniture included.
Did they even change
the locks, I wonder?
Oh, don't say that.
I just broke in!
I thought it'd feel different,
but...
..it's just the same.
Even Mum's chair in the corner.
What?
Are you sure...
..that's...where she was?
Why?
Because it really matters,
Harry. It really matters
precisely where she d*ed.
Are you sure?
Yes. I'm the one who found her,
remember? Me.
All right.
I'm the one
who was bringing her meals,
changing the sheets.
I know, I know!
But do you know, Ed?
Because it feels to me
like you don't know.
Feels to me
like you're swooping in
after all this time,
trying to fix everything
when it's all too late!
If it was too late, I wouldn't
f*cking be here, would I?
We're wasting time.
Where did you find out
about all this?
From a book?
Yes.
Did you bring it?
This particular book is in
the British Library behind glass.
It's one of the oldest books
known to humankind.
You have to make an appointment
to see it,
and you can only touch it
with cotton gloves on.
So that's a no, then.
How will you remember
what to do?
I googled it.
You bring everything I asked?
Yeah.
Well, go and get ready, then.
I'm going to get set up.
OK.
Oh, my God!
LAUGHS
Don't. It's like she's been brought
back to us.
Are you sure
this is part of it?
I'll bet you wish now
you'd just asked her
where all the money was.
She didn't have any money, Ed.
She would have told me.
Because she was so straight up!
She never mentioned her life
with Dad or...
..any of what they got up to.
Of course she didn't.
They were rotten, Harry.
They did some horrible sh*t
and they made a lot of enemies.
Bad people.
She was still our mum.
Yeah. And by rights,
she should have d*ed in prison.
Well, lucky for us, she didn't.
Scatter the crumbs.
Oh, they're mouldy.
Exactly.
SNIFFS AND SIGHS
For communication
with the departed.
They may run our requests.
These devotions to Azazel,
keeper of the bones,
must be enacted
where the dead in life
did perish.
Right there.
Right, let's get on with it.
And we have to do this
in the next hour.
Why?
Why what?
Why do we have to do it
in the next hour?
The process has to occur
within one year of death.
Otherwise, the necromancer
can no longer
evoke the chosen person.
So...
am today is one year
exactly since Mum d*ed.
That's our cut-off point.
What's the matter?
I'm a little bit nervous, Ed.
A little bit trepidatious,
if truth be told.
You have a sit-down in the nice
chair. I'll get you a drink.
BOTTLE AND GLASS CLINK
No. D'you know what?
I don't want to do it.
Harry... Harry!
Let's just consider
what might happen.
We're just gonna ask her
one little question,
then we're done.
But what if she's cross
with me?
What do you mean, cross with
you? You're the golden boy.
You always were!
When did she ever find fault
with a single thing you did?
STRIKES MATCH
Homework...
Sports day...
Even making a cup of tea,
for God's sake.
I was the one that was
never good enough.
And this is before I abandoned
her to have a life of my own.
You didn't abandon her.
Yeah, I know I didn't.
Her words, not mine.
I left, knowing when
our stupid thug arsehole father
got himself k*lled
stealing from his own g*ng,
she'd somehow
even blame me for that.
No, she never blamed you.
And she never talked
about any other money, Ed.
We scraped by on my benefits.
She was accessing that money
from the day he d*ed,
every month.
You never see
her bank statements, Harry?
Because I did. She let us
scratch out an existence,
and all the while she was
sitting on a stolen fortune.
And I don't know about you,
but I really f*cking need
that money, Harry.
But what if she won't tell us?
She will.
But what if she won't?
She has to.
She's bound to have to tell us.
That's the whole point
of necromancy.
This isn't like a seance.
This is different.
We get answers.
SIGHS
OK. Close your eyes and breathe...
..nice and calm.
Oh, that's not good.
Red wine on a wood floor?
That'll be a deep stain.
Harry...
I think salt can bring it out.
Or is it rice?
Don't worry about it.
Concentrate on your breathing.
O thou, Azazel...
..keeper of the bones...
..I charge and conjure thee
to allow a visit to this site,
as pure of heart
and valiant.
So...I undertake these rites
as sacred and solemn.
Baking power for the stain.
It's baking powder and vinegar.
I'll write them a note.
Sorry. Carry on.
Free from fear's grasp,
I summon Annie Olivia Blackwood
to counsel and abide,
as death's empath,
questions we are most
readily set to pose.
Keep your eyes closed.
CLANKING
Accept this offering
as payment in kind,
death for life
and back again.
With blood, we summon thee.
With love, we summon thee.
SQUAWKING
Edward? Would you stop it?
What are you doing?
Be quiet.
Sit down and close your eyes!
You're not k*lling Mr Macy!
MR MACY: What d'you want?
Stay in the circle!
Edward, you can't! It has to be
something she loved.
Come on, Mr Macy.
SQUAWKS
Ow!
That's it!
SQUAWKS
No...
No! Stop it!
Stop! Let him go!
SQUAWKS
BREATHES HEAVILY
Sit down, Harry.
I couldn't let you do it.
Sit down!
It was supposed to be
the parrot tonight.
But now I'm afraid...
it has to be you.
I need to know
where that money is,
and you've left me no option!
Ed, please! I'm your brother!
Accept this offering
as payment in kind,
death for life
and back again.
With blood, we summon thee.
With love, we summon thee.
Edward...
With death, we summon thee!
Reggie!
Yeah.
What a bloody ding-dong's
going on 'ere?
Oh, it's-it's just red wine.
But it'll come out if you use
a bit of baking powder.
Shut up, Harry!
You two just need to walk away
and come back here tomorrow,
like you were supposed to.
I don't want any trouble,
but you have stumbled upon
a family matter
that I need to resolve.
I haven't got a problem
with either of you.
Ooh!
No, but I'm afraid we've got
a bit of a f*ckin' problem
with you, sunshine!
Hurts, doesn't it?
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
Here you go, love.
Keep your fluids up.
Thanks, Franny.
We had to catch an early
flight back
cos Reggie's been feeling
a bit moby.
Moby d*ck, sick.
So, you're
Harry Blackwood's boys?
Yeah. I'm Harry Junior.
And this is my brother,
Edward.
What's that smell?
What you been up to in here?
Incense.
Jesus Christ!
I knew it.
You dirty bastards!
As if it's not bad enough
you're f*cking each other,
one of you has to be dressed
as a little old lady as well!
Not incest, you silly twat.
He's talking about the smell -
incense.
Oh! I thought
it was just wacky baccy.
Want a wheeze on it, Fran?
You'll be sick with it, Reg.
Leave it!
CHOKES
COUGHS
Oh-ho! sh*t. That's good.
How did you know our father?
We were, for a time, members
of the same organisation,
you might say.
Though your father decided
to branch out on his own.
Not too lemon tart, I'm afraid,
as a career move.
Didn't end all that well
for him.
Oh, God.
You're Reggie Stone.
WHEEZES
Fran...
Get us a Xanax out of
me wash bag, will yer, love?
I think I'm pulling a whitey.
You f*ckin' baby.
It's not even 'arris tweed
you're smoking.
It's pot pourri.
Oh!
She's a good woman, that one.
Temper on her, mind.
You wouldn't want to cross her.
Knew your mother well.
As did I. We were close.
So I heard.
We were very close.
Unfortunately,
when we needed her to talk,
couldn't get a thing
out of her.
I had to admire her for that,
in a way.
Your father, on the other hand,
was a coward.
He didn't know anything.
I discovered that
when I put his foot in a vice
and crushed it till it was
only about an inch thick.
Took some doing, mind.
I was sweatin'.
Fran said it looked like
spatchcock,
which is one of our favourites.
SLURPS
You see, he didn't wanna know
where the money was
because he knew he'd squeal.
So he gave it to your mother.
It was her that stashed it.
And when she wouldn't talk,
you k*lled her as well.
What? No.
No, she d*ed in her sleep.
Yeah, that's right.
She d*ed in her sleep.
He'll have injected her
with something, Harry.
All in a day's work
for this psychopath.
Oh, that's pots and kettles,
that is!
If I were to think back not
minutes, you were about to s*ab
your own little brother in
the middle of his bleedin' heart!
How could you k*ll her,
Reggie?
You were obviously
f*cking her for years!
I'm talking, prick!
Have some f*cking manners,
now there's a good chap!
GROANS
Now, where was I?
GROANS
Oh, yeah.
May I enquire just what
you're doing in my house
dressed as
Miss f*cking Marples?
What?!
You said Miss Marples.
Edward hates that -
Miss Marples,
Cliff Richards,
Trivial Pursuits.
Harry, this is not the time!
I don't give a f*ck!
D'you want me to spatchcock
your foot, Junior?
No, thank you.
Keep your f*ckin' north
shut, then.
Now, come on,
help me out here, gentlemen.
I am, to say the least,
a little baffled.
I don't think you'd believe us,
even if we told you.
Well, you're just gonna
have to let me
be the judge of that,
now, aren't yer?
Like the Mastermind of old...
GLASS CLINKS ON FLOOR
..I've started,
so I'll finish.
I presume you bought this house
cos my father stole money
from you
and you suspect my mother
has it stashed here somewhere.
We should feel honoured,
Franny.
Looks like
we're in the presence
of two giants
of the detective genre.
Mr Sherlock Holme
and Miss Marples
under our very roof.
I prefer Father Brown.
Father Brown?
Father f*cking Brown?!
Don't start, Reggie.
It's Chesterton's masterpiece.
Just cos you don't like
the bloke what plays him.
I can only see him
as "suits you", Franny.
I know. And that's all
you go on about.
But I think
he's perfect in the role
and I know the books.
Do either of you
like thrillers?
Not really.
I like true crime best.
Women Who k*ll.
You seen any of them?
I told you not to watch
that programme.
It'll give you ideas.
Can I ask what time it is,
please?
It's half four in the morning,
Sherlock,
and I'm tired.
I just come back off holiday
and I was looking forward
to some soot.
Sooty and Sweep, sleep.
Oh.
Now I find myself inconvenienced.
I have to spend the night
chopping up you two turds
and finding new places in
Epping Forest to bury the bits.
Mr Stone,
if you want your money,
we don't have long left
to find it.
There is a window
of opportunity,
but it's closing fast.
You saying
you can locate it for me?
Not exactly. Then you and your
brother here are rapidly
turning into landfill.
I'll get the bear's paw.
CHUCKLES
Bear's paw?
Are they gonna scratch us?
It's a saw, Harry.
You got it.
Here, Franny!
Yeah?
First holiday I've had
in God knows how long,
come back and I have
to deal with all this.
Now it feels like
I've never been away.
Yeah, I know.
I don't know
where your money is,
but I was gonna ask
the one person that does.
Who?
My mother.
I hate to break this
to you, son,
but your mother
is no longer with us.
I was going to summon her back
from the grave,
using the power of necromancy,
to ask her
where she hid the cash.
BOTH GUFFAW
Plug me up, Franny.
SAW WHIRS
And there was I worrying
about the red wine stain.
No, don't worry
about all that.
We've cleaned up worse
over the years.
Once had two St Bernards
I had to get rid of.
Don't ask me why.
I was picking bits of fur
out of me teeth for weeks.
Did you eat them?
CHUCKLES
Which one of you silly sods
wants to go first?
Me.
And then after...
..maybe let Harry go.
That won't be possible,
I'm afraid.
But very noble of you
for volunteering.
Here we go, then!
SAW WHIRS
I'm sorry, Harry.
It's all my fault.
It's all right, Ed.
I don't mind.
At least we're together.
Try and keep still.
It'll be quicker!
I'm gonna start
by taking your head off!
SAW STILL WHIRRING
ED WAILS
SAW POWERS DOWN
Franny!
Here, Reggie, I think you ought
to have a butcher's at this.
When I had my tarot done
on holiday,
it said that something
like this was on the cards,
cos I had
reversed wheel of fortune
and the ten of swords.
So?
Well...it means betrayal.
I think we should
let 'em try this, Reg.
Don't be stupid!
I need 'em brown breaded,
so I can get some proper kip.
I'm dead on my feet!
Yeah, but, Reg, listen,
that woman on the beach said
that I was on the cusp
of a life-changing event.
Said I needed
to protect meself.
She was just trying
to rent you an umbrella.
Well, this could be
our opportunity
to turn things around.
This was what she meant.
Is it, though?
You just take all these
predictions and make 'em fit.
No, I don't.
Remember when Romany Sue said
you were gonna be att*cked
by a tiger,
and you said it came true
because a box of Frosties
fell on your head in the Lidl?
Well, it's got
to be worth a try.
I mean, their old dear
was sitting on the best
part of a georgie.
What's a georgie?
George Foreman grill,
mill.
Well, I never!
Go on, then.
Sorry about this.
But it was gonna happen anyway.
Ed...
Could you hold this for me
a minute, please?
Of course.
Thanks.
HARRY WHIMPERS
With blood, we summon thee.
With love, we summon thee.
With death, we summon thee.
Wait!
Oh, bloody hell.
I can't take much more of this.
I don't think Harry has to die
for the ritual to work.
Oh, and you remember that now,
do you?
Necromancy rituals
require a sacrifice,
but it doesn't always
refer to k*lling a person.
I think it can be
something else.
Flesh and blood,
but part of us.
What if...
What if you cut
one of my toes off?
Do what?
It might not work,
but it'll be worth a try.
Be a lot less to clean up.
Works for me.
All right, then,
let's get his shoe off.
Here you are, bite on this.
Thanks. Hopefully
it won't be too bad.
You say that, but I think
you're probably best
if I take off the whole plate.
WHIMPERS
Right! Let the dog
see the rabbit!
SAW WHIRS
SCREAMS
SAW STOPS
Oh! f*ckin' doddle!
CRIES OUT
What now?
Well, tie it off.
GROANS
Ooh!
GROANS
SIGHS
EDWARD CRIES OUT
GROANS
CRIES OUT
CRIES OUT
Oh, give it a whack.
CRIES OUT
CRIES OUT
Thank you.
Accept this, our blood offering...
..as a libation,
and manifest thyself
without dread,
for...Annie Blackwood,
we do request counsel
with thee.
GROANS
GURGLES
Mum?
Mum, can you hear me?
WHEEZES
Harry...
Is that you, son?
Yeah. Yeah,
it's me, Mum.
WHEEZES
How you doing?
It's dark, Harry.
Who is that with yer?
It's... It's Reggie.
It's Reggie and Franny.
Hello, Annie.
Good to speak with you again.
Oh, Frances...
I'm surprised you're still
with that pig of an 'usband.
You've not left him yet?
No, Annie. We're still
together. Aren't we, Reg?
Yeah, yeah. Well, she ain't got
rid of me just yet.
CHUCKLES
Mum...
Sorry I wasn't there for you
at the end.
Can you forgive me?
Don't worry, son.
WHEEZES
It's done now.
I don't blame you for nothin'.
Annie, we wanted to ask you
something,
if you got a minute.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Something I've wanted
to know for ages.
I think I know what that is.
Yeah...
We were all wondering...
Was me and Reggie
having an affair
behind your back for years?
Well, yes, we was!
And like I say,
I'm surprised that
the horrible fucker
hasn't come clean by now!
What are you talking about,
Annie?
That's not a very nice thing
to say, now, is it?
All them nights
he said he was on a job, Fran,
he was half a mile away
hammering me!
Annie...
Betrayal!
No, she's lying.
Mum? For years, I held out
for that selfish bastard.
And what thanks did I get?
He kills me
and goes back to his wife!
Shut up, Annie!
You've said enough.
Yeah,
I think she probably has.
CRIES OUT
THUD
When your brother
wakes up,
I want you two
out of my house.
I'll deal with that mess later.
I'm gonna catch up
on Women Who k*ll.
FOOTSTEPS RECEDE
COUGHS
Edward?
Are you all right?
I'm cold.
You're probably in shock.
Heh...
I expect so.
Mum doesn't blame me, Ed.
She said so herself.
I-I spoke to her.
No, you didn't.
Yeah, but she was talking.
My words.
Not hers.
It was me, Harry.
Necromancy didn't work...
..even with me foot off.
Maybe I wasn't something
she loved.
FAINT DAWN CHORUS OUTSIDE
Saved us, though, didn't I?
I did something right for once.
Yeah.
And at least we had
a sacrifice to Mum after all.
What d'you want?
Mum...
Mum?
We have a question
for you.
What d'you want?
Where did you hide
all the money?
08x02 - Mother's Ruin
Watch/Buy Amazon
Dark comic tales, each of which takes place inside a building or apartment marked number nine.
Dark comic tales, each of which takes place inside a building or apartment marked number nine.