03x06 - No Show

[bunniefuu]

No. [hissing] f*ck me!

- [thud]
- PAUL: Jesus Christ.

I'm sorry. Can't
find me other shoe.

- What time is it?
- Uh, seven. [grunting]

- ALLY: Is today the dreadful day?
- Yeah!

I'm taking Mum and
Dad to the hospice,

then heading out to
shatter some dreams.

- Where the f*ck has this shoe gone?
- Will you be here for dinner?

Probably late again, I'm afraid.

Working for Brandon is like

being in a Dickens
novel, only now,

Scrooge moisturizes
and wears veneers.

Ah, there you are,
you little prick.

[groans]

[exhales]

Christ. Look at me.

Smart-casual Grim Reaper.

It's Brandon's idea
to divert these funds.

He should be the one
wielding the axe.

It's a scythe. The Grim Reaper
uses a scythe, not an axe.

- You're such a twat.
- [laughs]

Four of my projects are
gonna lose their funding,

you know... four. I'm
dreading it so much.

- It's gonna devastate them.
- I'm sorry.

These are really important
community projects, you know?

They actually make a
difference. They save lives.

Darren fired everyone at
the studio via WhatsApp.

I mean, to be fair to him,
he did it with a voice memo

- to add the personal touch.
- [laughs] Classy.

- Hey, good luck today.
- Thank you.

Well, I'd better go.

Bye.

- Bye.
- [smooch]

Oh, by the way, you
need to speak to Luke,

'cause I'm worried he's...
He's getting insular again.

- Ally, I'm really...
- You're busy, I know.

But so am I, and you just
need to make time for him.

[sighs] Okay.

Uh, I'll try. See ya.

See ya.

[jazz music playing]

- Hey, it's me.
- JACKIE: Hi, love.

You nearly ready,
Mum? Got half an hour.

I'm just putting
me face on, Paul.

Ooh. Nice suit.

- Court appearance?
- PAUL: I wish.

Better get a move on if you
want a lift to the hospice.

- Oh, I'm not going.
- Why?

Well, Chrissy's
your mum's friend.

I barely knew her.

Anyway, she's better at
this sort of thing than me.

You know how women like to
talk amongst themselves.

Dad, it's not afternoon tea
at the Ritz. Chrissy's dying.

Exactly. And why would
I want to watch her die?

And why would she want me to?
I've got woodwork to paint.

Why are you doing this at
half seven in the morning?

I get up at six.
I'm old. We do that.

Yeah.

- Oh, you look nice, Mum.
- Oh, thanks, love.

- So do you!
- Oh, well...

JACKIE: Yeah, thanks
for taking me.

I've booked a cab to come back.

PAUL: Mm-hmm.

I'll send Chrissy your
love then, shall I, Jim?

Yeah, tell her I said hello.

- I'll get me coat.
- PAUL: Yeah.

ALLY: Got it!
I've got my card.

Right, so 7:30
precisely, it goes live,

then I have to keep
hitting "refresh." Okay?

- Okay, well, good luck.
- All right.

And... go!

[hitting key]

- ALLY: Oh...
- [hitting key repeatedly]

AVA: No. No. How
can this happen?

All sold out already,
in, like, seconds.

Well, I think the ticket touts
use some kind of algorithm.

- [phone buzzes]
- Did you?

Grace didn't get any, either.

- Ohh.
- Speak to you later. Bye.

Aw, you really want to
see this band, don't you?

Peach 66 are amazing, and they
probably won't be touring here

for another two
years or something.

I can't promise anything,
but Darren knows this guy

who works helping out with
the sound at the Apollo.

I could... I could ask him and
see if he could get us some comps.

Would you? That
would be amazing.

Well, I mean, I'll do...
I'll do my best. [chuckles]

Anyway, go get ready
for school. Go.

- Right, yeah. Sorry, sorry.
- Oh!

[percussive music playing]

- [indistinct chatter]
- PAUL: Hey up.

Yes. Paul. How's it going?

- Yeah, good.
- Yeah? Yeah, good, thanks.

Wow, look at that.

Yeah, these guys are machines.

- Yeah, right.
- [chuckles]

You all right?
You want a coffee?

There's instant in the
flask, but, you know...

No, no, it's fine.
Thanks, mate.

Actually, uh, Donovan,

I've got some bad
news, I'm afraid,

about, uh, your funding from us.

- sh*t.
- Yeah.

It's being pulled?

It... Well, it's...
It's complicated.

See, in order to establish
growth in other sectors,

we have to evaluate which projects
we can actually commit to.

Paul... Don't, mate. Please.

We're losing our money, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, they're
pulling your funding

and, uh, using it
somewhere else.

Trust me, mate,
it wasn't my idea.

- I-I tried to fight it.
- Uh-huh, I'm sure you did. Jeez.

- This is... this is good work we're doing, you know.
- Yeah, I know.

All this stuff, this young
offender stuff... you know

what difference it's making
in these guys' lives, right?

- I'm really sorry, mate.
- [scoffs]

Uh, I'll have that coffee,
though, if you're still going.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Thanks.

Guys... Paul's got
something to tell you.

[children chattering]

- What's wrong?
- [crying] I'm so sorry.

- Oh, my God, are you and Dad getting a divorce?
- No!

No, no, I'm just... I'm just...
I'm just really sorry that...

that I'm such a...
an amazing mum,

for getting us three
tickets to see Peach 66.

- No. Oh, my God. Really?
- Yeah!

- [giggling]
- Grace is gonna be so excited.

Do you want to hear
some of their music?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, play it.

[indistinct rap music playing]

What do you think?

Mm... Just... yeah. Yeah.

Thank you so much.

I can't believe we're
actually gonna go see them.

I can't wait to hear that live,

because it's gonna be something.

[door slams]

PAUL: Hey, Luke.

- Hiya, Dad.
- Oh, my... ooh!

[muffled shout]

Ah...

- Good day?
- [high-pitched laugh]

- What are you up to?
- Not much.

Just coming up with
a new baseline.

Cool.

- Jacob not around?
- No, he's taking Ruby

to see the Felice
Varini exhibition.

- Oh.
- At the Tate Modern.

He does, like,
anamorphic illusions.

- [laughs] Does he?
- Yeah.

Good for him. [scoffs]

- [Luke clears throat]
- It's... It's always hard

when your mate starts hanging out
with his girlfriend more than you.

But we've all been there, mate.

Me and Jacob, we're
mates and all.

- Mm.
- But we're not really best mates anymore.

- That's a shame.
- I mean,

- he's got Ruby...
- Hmm.

And I've got my band.

So, yeah, it's fine, I mean...

Well, I'm always
here for you, Luke.

- You know that.
- Thank you, Dad.

- Would you like to scream into my pillow again?
- No, I'm good, thanks, mm.

See you later.

[sighs] Hi.

- Hey.
- He seems okay.

I think that band's gonna
be the thing that saves him.

- Any dinner left?
- Oh, no, sorry.

I thought you'd get
something at work.

No, I've not stopped.

- Tell me about it.
- Ah, man.

That was, I think, one of
the worst days of my life.

Jesus Christ. I feel
that, if any of the kids

we're now not helping
gets into trouble

or, God forbid, hurts
someone, then that's on us.

Well, not on us, on
f*ckin' Buffalo Bill.

I honestly don't know if I
can carry on working for him.

No, don't eat those. They're
for Ava's concert thing.

- What concert?
- Oh, I got her tickets

for this
impossible-to-get-into gig.

- She's over the moon.
- Christ. How much did that cost?

Wow! Wow, that's
your first response?

[chuckling] Sorry, it's just, you
know, "impossible to get into"

doesn't exactly
scream "bargain."

I have to work a free shift,
which will probably k*ll me,

but at least it might
stop Ava wanting to.

Why have we never got anything
for f*cking sandwiches?

Maybe because I'm busy
with other things, Paul.

I haven't got time to
prioritize buying f*cking ham.

That wasn't a dig at you.
It was a dig at both of us.

- Well, it sounded like a dig at me.
- I'm just f*cking hungry.

- And I'm f*cking tired.
- Well, join the f*cking queue!

Are you seri... Ally.

Ally.

[whispered scream]

[long exhale]

Yeah.

[somber music playing]

- [faint whirring]
- [phone chimes]

[whirring stops]

[bloop]

- sh*t.
- [bloop]

[sighs]

[percussive music playing]

[mutters] Oh, sh*t.

[whispers] Oh, f*ck.

- Shh, shh, shh.
- Wh-What are you doing?

I just... I don't want to talk to
Carl about knocking him off his bike.

I'm frightened he's gonna
sue me or something.

ALLY: What's he doing?

Is he still there?

- ALLY: Ava.
- [Ava chuckles nervously]

ALLY: [whispering] Is he
coming? Is he coming over?

ALLY: [whispering]
Ava! What's going on?

- He's gone.
- Ohh. Great.

Oh, by the way, I was thinking
of streaming the journey

to the gig tonight and,
like, going into the venue,

- so everyone can, like, feel a part of it.
- Everyone?

Don't worry. It'll just
be my friends watching.

- Okay.
- Well, Grace's friends.

And some friends of friends.

- How many, Ava?
- Thirty?

- Thirty?
- Tops.

[inhales] Okay, sure.

But I don't want
to become a meme...

Promise I won't be a meme.

- Promise.
- Whatever a meme is.

No one can believe
you got the tickets,

and they're so excited for us.

- Why are you still sitting down?
- Oh! God.

Ah! Yes. [inhales]
Right, have a good day,

and, uh, yeah, I'll see you
later for some massive fun.

-Oh.
-I'll see you later. Bye! Love you.

Love you.

BRANDON: Come in!

- BRANDON: How you holding up, Paul?
- Um...

Oh, man, you look
exhausted, dude.

Have a seat.

Yesterday must
have taken a toll.

Uh, yeah, it... it did, a bit.

'Cause I met... Oh, f*ck me.

[groaning] Sorry...

I met with three of the four

project managers who we're
gonna be cutting funds to.

Yeah, I appreciate how
hard that must have been.

- Thanks.
- So one more to go?

Uh, well, yeah, that's what
I wanted to talk about.

- Go ahead.
- Um... We fund a theater-in-education group

that does really fantastic
dr*gs and alcohol work,

with Year Nines... the
same sort of age as my boy.

Right... [sighs]

Emotional investment
is powerful stuff.

Isn't it? Um...

they really can change
kids' lives, right?

So I thought it might
be worth another look

before we pull the plug.

Oh... I can see that this
means a lot to you...

Right, if we stop their
money, they shut down.

Okay...

How about you keep this
one going for another year?

Uh, well, yeah, that's...
That's great, Brandon.

I mean... whew.

They'll be... They'll be
relieved. I'm relieved.

- Thank you.
- You are welcome.

Are we gonna have you on the Seattle
Initiative call this evening?

Oh, for... Yes.
Yeah, I'd love to.

Thank... Yeah.
Yeah, I'll be here.

Great.

PAUL: All right.

ALLY: Come on, girls,
let's get a wriggle on!

AVA: We're coming! Grace is
going to the toilet. Again.

[girls giggling]

Oh! Hi. Sorry, I... Hi, Carl.

I'm just about to take
Ava to a concert, so...

- Well, try not to hit anything.
- Ohh.

Yeah, I'm being lighthearted.
I'm being lighthearted.

No, I just wanted to,
uh, check in on you...

Post- "the accident."

- Must have been a bit of a shock for you.
- Oh, and for you, too.

I was actually gonna pop
in and, uh, you know,

talk to you about maybe
buying you a new bike.

Oh. Well, the old one
did cost over £2,000.

Christ alive. Um...

I might have to pay for
that in... in installments.

Oh, no, forget it! I claimed
it on the house insurance.

Oh, Carl, are you sure?

- GRACE: Have you started streaming?
- ALLY: Wow! Thank you.

I've just got so much going
on in my head at the moment.

Freelancing, kids, menopause.

[chuckles] Too young
for that, surely.

Well... no, that's very...
That's very nice of you.

-It's absolutely true. But I've still got it.
-[both laugh]

- Well, I'll let you go, you know.
- Thanks.

You know, I really rate exercise

as one of the best medicines
for people of our...

- our vintage.
- Right, yeah, yeah.

I mean, cycling,
naturally, and, uh...

cardio strength training.

And people shy
away from weights,

but they really are one of
the easiest things you can do.

You know, you pick
weight lifting up...

- as you go along. [chuckles]
- [chuckles] Yes.

It's my little joke
on the subject.

- Oh. [forced laugh]
- Lunges are good, too.

I forgot about the lunges.
And they don't cost anything.

Oh, I don't know, Carl. No
such thing as a free lunge.

[laughing] Oh, yes! Very good.

- Is it?
- CARL: That's excellent.

Uh, this really tickled me.

[chuckling]

"No such thing as a
free lunge." Very good.

This is my mum. Mum, say hi.

- Ooh. Hi!
- [rap music playing]

She got us the tickets,
like a total boss.

- Yeah, she did.
- ALLY: How many people are watching this?

- GRACE: We're up to 47!
- ALLY: Oh, bloody hell.

ALLY: Right, now, fasten your
seatbelts. Extinguish your cigarettes.

- We are clear for takeoff.
- [girls whooping]

- Whoo!
- [all laughing]

JIM: So, you're all
keeping well, then?

PAUL: Yeah. We're okay.

JIM: Well, just okay?

Well, I've been working
late a lot, so...

Oh, yes. The new boss.

This, uh, Chet fella?

Brandon, yeah.

Have you told him
you're disabled?

What I've got
isn't a disability.

Well, he's not to know.

- You might get a parking space.
- I've got a parking space.

You mustn't let that
bastard grind you down.

You need to be able to be
around for your family.

What... like you are?
With Mum and Chrissy.

Well, that's a
different situation.

Is it? She's your friend, too.

We were never really friends.

Mum's struggling...
doing it on her own, Dad.

I think she's just sad
that you weren't with her.

Family first, eh?

I'll talk to my boss,
you talk to Mum.

[crowd chattering]

Hi. Three tickets under
Worsley. Ally Worsley.

We're, um, we're
on the guest list.

- [through speaker] Yeah.
- We're at the ticket office right now.

- Oh. [chuckles] - There's
nothing under Worsley.

Oh! Well, um, try
Grant then. Ally Grant.

- [keyboard clacking]
- Oh. Hi!

Yeah, no. Sorry, no. There's nothing
under that name on the system.

But can you look again,
please? 'Cause...

- Mum, what's going on?
- Oh, no, it's fine.

It's... everything's
fine. He's just...

Just trying to find our tickets.

- Oh, yeah. Now here we are.
- GRACE: Ohh!

I can't believe this
is actually happening.

- Right, Worsley is it?
- Yes.

I've got three tickets down for
last night's show, uncollected.

- What?
- The tickets were for last night's show.

- No... No one collected them.
- Um, there must be a mistake.

Because he definitely told me
that they were for tonight.

He might have said
they were for tonight,

but they're down for
last night, so...

Okay, uh, well, if, um,

if we were on the
guest list last night,

then can we just
switch them to tonight?

- No. No, no, you can't.
- Sorry, are you saying that we can't go in?

Not tonight, no. But
you could've last night.

Yeah? Okay. [whispers]
f*cking twat.

I'm so sorry.

[phone chimes]

[sighs]

- Hey, Brandon.
- Just got a wonderful email

from, uh, Harriet, the director
of your theater project.

- She's very grateful.
- I need to go home.

- Are you sick?
- No, th-the thing is, uh...

My son. He needs me.

- He's going through some stuff.
- Okay, uh...

Any way it could wait
until after the call?

You could just say
hi, hop off early?

I need to spend some time with
my kids, Brandon. It's important.

Uh... [clears throat]
Yeah, you get home, man.

- See your kids.
- Thank you. Right.

Uh, I'll... Yeah, I'll...
I'll head off now then.

- All right.
- Good luck on the call.

- See you tomorrow.
- Yeah.

Hey.

Ruby texted me last night, asking if I
think she should break up with Jacob.

[Paul chuckles]

Oh, right. Yeah, uh...
Okay, so what did you say?

- Nothing! I ignored her.
- Mm.

I'm sorry, Dad, I just
didn't know what to say.

- I just got all...
- Hey, hey. It's all right.

It's okay. I'm here now.

- If I tell her to chuck him...
- Mm-hmm.

I get Jacob back
as my best friend.

- Yeah, I guess, yeah.
- But he'll be really gutted

not to be with Ruby.

Why don't you tell Ruby
to stay with Jacob?

That way, you can
be the good guy...

safe in the knowledge
that, in a few weeks,

she probably will have moved on.

Okay... thanks, Dad.

- Mm-hmm.
- Here, I'll text her now.

Good.

Hmm. That was f*ckin'
easy, wasn't it?

- [car door slams]
- Bye.

- [front door shuts]
- I'm so sorry...

about tonight and...

Should we get something to eat?

Make the best of it.

[quietly] No thanks.

Ava...

This is the second time you've
humiliated me in front of my friends.

First the birthday
party, and now this.

The birthday party
wasn't my fault.

I didn't want it.
You made me have it.

And when Dad had to leave
home because of Luke,

you didn't care about
me or what I wanted.

That's not true. And that
was your dad's choice.

You should have stopped him.

No, that's... That's
not how it works.

Look, I-I'm sorry that you've
had such a hard time, but...

I've had a hard
time, too, you know.

I know.

But it doesn't
change how I feel.

I can't help feeling
this way about you.

[somber music playing]

[engine starts]

Hey. How'd it go with Ruby?

Not good. I did what you said.

- Mm-hmm.
- And then she replied back,

saying that she's already
finished it with him.

Now Jacob's texting me,
saying that he knows

she asked me for advice on whether
they should break up or not.

Right. But... that's all
right, though, isn't it?

No, it's not. Jacob thinks
I told her to dump him.

- Hmm.
- I tried to explain it to him,

but he just won't believe me.

- He thinks I fancy her.
- [chuckling] sh*t.

- Do you?
- No. Well, maybe.

- [laughs]
- [sighs] Oh, God.

Luke, you didn't ask her
to split up with Jacob.

She should be telling him that.

[sighs] Yeah...

Hey, you don't think
she asked your advice

- 'cause she fancies you, do you?
- What?

Asking if she should bin Jacob.

You know, maybe she's
hoping that you say yes.

Kind of a roundabout way of
finding out if you like her.

- No, of course not.
- Ah, okay.

I don't want you to get
freaked out over this.

None of it's your fault, Luke.

Don't get too
anxious, all right?

- I won't.
- Good.

- Well, you know I will.
- Yeah, of course you will, yeah. Hmm.

[car idling]

You all right, Jim?

Thanks for coming with me.

[somber music playing]

[sniffles]

[muttering] Go away, go away.

Be gone.

ALLY: Still there.

Oh... sod it. [sighs]

- Teenagers, eh?
- [car alarm chirps]

- Do you know much about them?
- No.

- Uh, oh, Ally...
- Yes?

I was, um...

visiting my sister
after we spoke,

and, um...

Oh! She a drug dealer?

Oh! [chuckling]
No, she's actually

- long-term unemployed.
- Oh, I'm so sorry.

Well, she's been taking
these sage tablets

to help with her
menopause symptoms,

and apparently they really
help with the night sweats.

Yeah, before she took
these, she'd have to...

wrestle off her cardigan
like it was full of bees.

[Carl chuckles]

Oh, they're all
natural and organic.

That's very sweet of you, Carl.

It's... thank you.

[fighting tears] No one seems vaguely
interested in how it... just...

Just rips away at the
very heart of who you are.

- [sobbing] Yeah!
- Ah.

[crying] Yes, exactly that!

Yeah. Thank you.
That's very kind.

Oh, you're welcome.

- Oh, um... one thing.
- Mm-hmm?

You might start to
exude an aroma of sage.

- Oh. Mm-hmm.
- From your... from your pores.

My sister says she smelt
like a Sunday dinner.

Mm. I love a roast. [chuckles]

Well...

- [Ally sniffles]
- CHRISSY: Jim...

it's so lovely to see you.

Well, that's good
to hear. [grunts]

[Chrissy chuckling softly]

How are you, Chrissy?

- [Chrissy laughing]
- Jim.

CHRISSY: Oh, you
know, Jim. Dying.

[Chrissy and Jackie laughing]

Jim's been doing
a bit of D.I.Y.

He's got the real bug for it.

How is the flat?

Small and high up.

I'm busting for
the lav, Chrissy.

I'll be back in a minute or two.

Talk to her, for God's sake.

You're acting like a robot.

PAUL: Hi.

I was just downstairs with Luke.

He's in a bit of a state about
Ruby and Jacob, you know.

Was the gig canceled
or something?

Yeah. By me.

There was a sort of a
mix-up with the dates,

so we didn't get to go.

Ohh, mate. I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

Well, I'm sure it
wasn't your fault.

No, it was. It
was 100% my fault.

And I think it's important to
acknowledge when you've f*cked up.

- I agree.
- How's your day been?

Uh... yeah, it was good.
It was good, thanks.

- Had two wins today.
- Right.

I managed to save one of my
projects from funding cuts.

And then I finally stood up to
the walking f*ckin' Ted Talk.

I think he was a bit
intimidated by me, actually.

Good for you.

Have I missed something? I feel a bit
like I'm giving a police interview.

Do you know what, Paul?

So much of this sh*t is...
Is actually your fault.

The reason that Ava hates me, or
the reason that she started...

to hate me is... is down to you.

- To me? Right.
- Yeah.

Your mad f*cking rages
started all of this.

I mean, Luke couldn't even bear
being in the same house as you.

-We know all that. I'm a sh*t dad. Yeah, yeah.
-Don't you get it?

- Clearly f*ckin' not.
- Ava blames me...

for the fact that you
moved out of the house.

She thinks that I pushed you
out, and do you know what?

I think you have allowed
her to believe that.

That's batshit crazy, Ally!
I'm sorry, hon, but it just is.

It's not, it's the truth,
and you need to listen to me!

Everything bad in this family
can be traced back to you!

[laughing] That's mad.

To your rages, to your...
To your selfishness,

to your refusal to... To
change or to have therapy...

- I had therapy! I had therapy!
- To make any f*cking effort at all to be normal!

It all goes back to you,
and I'm f*cking sick of it,

and I am f*cking sick of you!

Hon, do you want some pizza?

Honey...

would you like some pizza?

[door slams]

Luke, mate. Grub's up.

Can't have one f*cking good
day. One f*cking good day.

[haunting music playing]

[music continues]