02x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

Ah, it's not breathing.

C'mon! Straw! It's clear.

Keep trying! Come on, come on
- Yes!
- See? New life.

Milk on cart, son, or we'll miss the 6 o'clock train.

Every day, without fail, the 6 o'clock train had to be caught.

Miss the train and the dairy would drop us, the farm would go under, we'd be finished.

Go.

Go on, Molly! Faster! Faster! Fast, come on! For five years, since the end of the w*r, my generation had been looking over their shoulders at the ghosts of older brothers who would always be young.

But up ahead, calling me on, there was my own life, begging to be lived.

You're very Muddy.

Sometimes I hear him, Bert.

And I think he's not dead.

Is that foolish? My lovely boy.

"Make it a better world," he said.

Some people have saints for protection.

Well, I'll take Joe.

Be careful.

God go with you, Bert Middleton.

Go on, lad! 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.

Lord Allingham.

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

My father insisted.

"It's history," he said.

When he d*ed, he was living in three rooms.

I promised him I'd make it happy again.

We carry on.

He frightens the servants.

Well, 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 prost*tute.


- 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.

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

You're a fascinating woman.

And you are a married man, Lord Kilmartin.

Now, the pressing question is
- How do you like your sausage?
- Hmm Please I'll show you the steps.

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.

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.

England un
-perfumed.

Breathe deeply The Middle Ages.

Burdock, barley.

Nose of pig's breath.

Dog's tongue, perhaps? And Oh, yes.

Ancient peasant bitterness.

It was my brother's shirt.

He's dead.

He d*ed.

Whilst wearing it, by the looks.

The rules.

You have a 10
-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 1:00, you win.


- How much?
- A pound.

And if you allow yourself to be caught by Lord Kilmartin at three minutes to 1:00, 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 £2 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.

£5.


- Bert.


- Ah! You'll be mine.

I can't stay here.

I like it here.

Go! Run, Bert! Now! 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 with lodgings and everything.

What if they catch you? Bert? You won't let 'em.

This smells terrible.

Go, go! Where is he? New calf, hour ago.

You should have thought of that.

Give me another week.

Responsibility, Middleton.

I rented you the cow shed, we agreed the £3 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 on! Walk on.

Go on.

Move it! 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.

n*gg*r! Say that again.

Answer him.

Hey!
- Up there, look!
- There he is! It's him! 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 the cowshed back, young Rutter.


- Twice the bastard his father ever was.


- Why?
- We owe him rent.


- Well, where we gonna 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 gonna give him for nothing in return? Something's got to change, John.

And it's us that've gotta do it.

Is the calf going to die? Let's get her up into t'field.

Her best chance is to be with her mother, get first 12 hours of milk, 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.

Me cap.

You put it back on me head.

And then you said yes.

I love you, too.

There he is! Come on! We're on him! Oh!
- Sorry, sir.


- Out of my way, damn you! Got you! He might do it.

A hundred and thirty years, and a hare has never survived.

Where is he? Where is he? You should have stopped for a wash in t'bath house, Bert.

Hey, remember that time looking through the roof?
- How old were we?
- Twelve
-and
-a
-half.

Who were you looking at?
- Nobody.


- Who were you looking at, Bert? That, 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.

As I was going to Derby Was on a market day I saw the biggest ram, sir That was ever fed with 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!
- 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 f*cking his wife, his wife's cousin and his stepdaughter
-in
-law.

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.


- Where were you?
- I've won £5.

Mother!
- Have you got it?
- Promised me.

Tell her.

I've won £5.

It's his money.

It's your money, Bert.

How much do we owe Rutter? £3.

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.

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.

For 300 years,
- an Allingham has stood where I now stand.


- He reminds me of my father.

He kept this wonderful tradition alive.

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

But we've come through And today, today marks the return of that English way of life we've all been fighting for.

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 expl*sives.

Has it been a tough life? Maybe.

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

'Cause 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.

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 fall'n 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! 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? One hundred and fifty
-three fights undefeated.

Who will be the first man to b*at 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.

You cheated.

Sorry.

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, the old one
-two.

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

How much? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten It's over.

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? 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.

I saw him last Saturday up at Bolsover Colliery.

Fifteen 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, £2! Still nobody? Here's an offer I've never made before, £3! 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.

Move, son! Knock him down! That's it.

Come on! Hit him! Move, Bert! I don't want to k*ll you.

Go down.

One
- two, three
- Come on! Four five six seven eight You all right, son? Do you wanna go on?
- You all right?
- He's all right, he's all right.

Ready? Box!
- Keep moving Bert, come on!
- Hit him! Knock out! Winner! What the f*ck 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? That was below the belt! One two three four five six seven eight
- Nine
- Stay down! Stay down!
- It's over, son.

It's over.


- Stay there! Stay.

Stay.

The winner! Well, I never.

Good old Kilmartin.

Congratulations.

Fantastic.

£20, for you to lose.

But oh, no.

You can't fall over for £20.

I won't throw a fight.

This is not boxing.

This is show business, 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.

Come in.

You need a 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 cock
-"tail" or "cock"
-tail?
- Anyway Mmm Oh, this is Appalling.

Edwina Mountbatten.

Absolute maniac for sex.


- Do not get in a taxi with Edwina.


- Oh? 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 w*r.

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? That's our Joe.

sh*t 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, though his life was short, he were lucky to have shared it with them.

You've got a bit of mud.

Yeah.

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 ofjoint, party and everything.

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

However
- there is an election coming.


- Which we'll win.

Hear, hear.

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


- Could I have a cigarette?
- Personally, I was more interested
- Oh, I don't smoke, sorry.

in what I saw in the boxing ring.

Namely 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.

"
- 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.

Middleton.

I never forget a name.

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

Everything that matters to Kilmartin, and 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 f*cking.

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! Oh, my goodness! 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 earned it.

Father.

Son? Something had changed.

We were in trouble, no cow shed, more months of winter and a calf in the kitchen.

£5 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.