Original subtitles

Mrs. Peel.

Mrs. Peel.

Are you... Are you all right?

I think so.

How about you?

I'm a bit shaken, that's all.

Oh, and a bruise you'll just have to take my word for.

What happened?

Dog.

Oh, yes.

Did we hit it? No. My reflexes are in top form. Oh.

Oh, they needed to be two streets across the road, just like that.

Wasn't chasing anything either, was it?

No, I don't think so.

Strange behavior for a dog.

Well?

What's the verdict?

A good punch will push it into shape.

Oh, the old girl.

Well, she'll need some lifting tackle. I'll ring the garage as soon as we get

the camp.

How far's the camp?

Oh, about half a mile, if you don't mind walking.

I need to change my shoes.

Ah.

You know, this stretch of road hasn't changed in years.

Cross the bridge, through the trees, cross green grassy banks to RAF station

Hamlin. Oh! Oh!

I've driven across this road, ooh, a hundred times during the war. Well,

you know it so well, it's remarkable you couldn't stay on it.

Must confess, it's not the first time I've ended up in the ditch around here.

I remember one Christmas, 15 of us in a four -seater car.

The fire brigade had to cut us loose.

Amazing, really. We had time to win the war.

I thought you said the main gate was... Short cut.

Secret back entrance. Very handy after lights out.

After lights out, but how could you see in the dark?

There should be a bit of a gap here.

Aha.

Experience and remarkable vision.

Cat -sized teeth, that's what they called me.

Returning from a mission, hunched over the controls, eyes rimmed with fatigue,

the men groaning in the back.

Where'd you been, the Ruhr?

No, the local pub.

There's a gap in the wire, a place you can slip through.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Do you know the back way into every camp in Britain?

There's one in Scotland I must have missed out on.

I know the camp's closing down and they're giving a party, but why are we

invited? I told you I spent a lot of time here during the war.

It was an agent's launching pad. You get a posting and... You personally?

Sometimes. A couple of nights later, you'd be on a plane, bound for wherever

was. Ah, there she is.

Looks a bit bleak.

You should see it in the cold light of a hangover.

RAF camp, 472 Hamelin.

As from tomorrow, it won't exist.

You know, there used to be thousands of men here, and now there are about 30.

And tomorrow, none.

The end of an era.

Thick Friat Crystallum.

Let's have a cookie crumble.

The Latin cookie.

What's going to happen to the survivors?

They'll be scattered all over the globe. Aden, Singapore, Germany, wherever

there's a British air base.

Look right, look left, look right again, and then...

Ah, the jolly old officer's mess.

That really takes me back.

I remember once after a rugger match with the Navy, we had a beer drinking

contest. The two finalists were Pee Wee Hunt and Bussy Carr.

Now, Pee Wee Hunt... I'll tell you the rest of the story later.

Ah.

Don't waste any time, these boys. Probably been at it since breakfast.

Good to see them all again.

Bumperdoo.

Our host isn't here to receive us. Do have a drink, Mrs. Peel, Mr. Steve. So

glad you would come to our little shindig.

Shade too much grenadine.

Your recipe, I suppose.

Naturally, wherever I linger, I leave my mark.

Well, we have all the ingredients for a party. Where are all the people?

You're sure you've got the right day, Steve?

Oh, it looks like a party.

President and members of the mess request the pleasure, etc., etc.,

a .m. Well, they can't have been gone long or gone far.

I know where they are.

There's an old training plane out there to Wingjob.

They take it up and do the dance.

Last time it ended up with the police from three counties after him. You must

see this.

I don't hear a plane.

Takes a bit of coaxing to get it started.

So will you when you're that age.

Mrs. Peel.

Well, I never, a Sergeant Henderson special.

He made a cake when the old CO retired.

It was the biggest cake you ever saw.

And there was a rather shapely waft girl inside it.

They iced it down, wheeled it in, and everybody sang that he's a jolly good

fellow.

But nothing happened.

The lid didn't spring up and the girl didn't jump out.

Have you made it for time?

No.

What happened to her?

Apparently, when they iced the lid down, they cut off the poor girl's air

supply.

Only Jack got her out in time.

Lots of memos about it. It all got very ugly.

Yeah.

No milk today, thank you.

Our host, Squadron Leader Rizdale. One pint, one straw yog daily, except

Thursdays.

Block A, Shelley 7.

Jeffrey, where are you?

Jeffrey O 'Bean?

old bean.

Ah, here he is.

Geoffrey Risdale.

How do you do?

He needs a bit of a dust.

Do you suppose he hopped a plane when he heard you were coming?

Eh?

Singapore.

So that's where the old blight has been posted to.

I suppose all the lines go through to the camp switchboard.

Come and have a look at this.

My wedding present to Geoffrey. Oh?

My Batman got this for me.

A fine fellow, name of Pratt. He didn't drink, he didn't smoke.

Had eight kids.

What shattered this glass?

Caruso. He's dead.

So's Pratt, poor fellow.

And I'm beginning to wonder about Geoffrey.

The control tower.

Birds -eye view of the camp from there

If

there's

anyone around we should see them from up here

around here. Well, one thing's for certain. They can't have flown away.

There's nobody... There's nobody up here.

Not a soul.

One dead rabbit.

Not dead.

Look.

Unconscious. Why?

What did it?

Rabbit punch.

10 ,000 bottles of milk?

30 highly trained technical men just up and dance away from, uh...

He was here, the milkman.

And he was dead.

First a murder, then a body snatch.

Makes a change from unconscious rabbits.

Meet you under the clock.

I'm not doing any harm, sir, honest. I'm not doing any harm.

Who are you?

Hickey, sir.

Benedict Napoleon Hickey. What are you doing here?

Nothing. No harm, that is. I'm just looking.

There's no harm in looking, sir. Looking for what?

Rituals, sir.

Sustenance and comforts.

I've been living off dustbins all my working life, sir.

From Biggin Hill, Mildenhall, Cardington.

Hamlin here? All air bases.

Oh, yes, sir. Serpently. None of that army or navy rubbish for me. I'm loyal,

am. Loyal to the Air Force.

Always have been.

Best dustbins in the business.

Surprising what they'll throw out.

Surprising? Take these boots.

Done 40 operational flights.

I wasn't in them at the time, mind you. Not me. I'm a contra -mentious

subjector. I detest war.

Or violence.

Or stamp collectors.

Stamp collectors?

Filthy abbot collecting stamps.

All that old saliva.

More disease gets spread that way.

Generations of old saliva.

Foreign saliva, too.

How long have you been here? This camp?

Oh, about eight months.

Pity it's closing down tomorrow.

It's good garbage.

It's good garbage.

I mean, how long have you been here and looking?

Oh, not long, sir.

I felt a bit dry and I thought I might find a drop in the bottom of a bottle,

but no luck.

Seen anything unusual?

Unusual, sir? A young lady, for instance.

Well, if I had, that wouldn't be unusual, would it? I mean, there's

unusual about a young lady.

Come on, I'll give you a drink.

That's lovely, sir. Lovely.

Ah, Hickey, you were out there for some time.

I've never been inside this building before. Not inside.

I know my place.

Outside amongst the dustbin. Were you on the camp first thing this morning? It's

nice in here.

Oh, mind you, I've heard them enjoying themselves, singing away. Did you hear

them singing this morning? Nice and cosy. Hickey!

Did you hear anything in here?

They've all gone away, haven't they, sir? Camp's closing down. That's

The camp closes tomorrow.

It's a shame.

Summer coming and all.

Like people dying just before Christmas.

All seems a shame.

Nothing lasts, does it, sir?

I saw them running up the flag this morning.

For the last time.

What did they do then?

I felt funny. Did you see them come back in here?

My ears. I felt funny.

Dizzy.

As though I'd had a few drinks.

I hadn't had a few drinks, though.

But you felt drunk.

Do you think there'll be another war, sir?

I hope so.

God forbid it.

Duzbins are always full during a war.

Hickey, when you felt funny, what time was this?

Unrationing. I enjoyed that.

My name on a little ration book. My name.

I haven't done much reading since.

Was it early this morning or later in the day? Lovely sunrise.

You get over runway number four. Lovely.

Heard the clock start striking and it stopped.

Just like that, the clock stopped striking.

That was 11 o 'clock.

Rosie, you come back, eh? That's a good girl. You come back.

Should have seen her this morning.

Took off like a mad thing.

Over the fields as though the devil was chasing her. But you come back, didn't

you, Rosie?

Your dog?

Useful stuffed string.

I've got the best collection in the South East.

Does Rosie belong to you?

Oh, in a manner of speaking.

In my line of business, it pays to make friends with the guards of dogs.

Funny dog for a guard to have. Still, she's got sharp ears.

You should hear her bark.

She belongs to a guard.

Which guard?

A fellow on the main gate.

Help yourself.

Steve! John! Steve!

Well, it's good to see you. Hey, you stevie boys!

Welcome back!

Glad you could meet.

And back on time as usual.

He's always on time when there's a drink to be had.

I hope it's not to drink. Join you in a minute. Let's finish off this legal

match. Right.

That's it.

1 -0 -3. You're not going to beat this.

1 -7 -4.

Take it easy, old boy. What are you playing for, you gratuity?

Still one dash and half a splash.

Yes, that's right. I see. I remember after all these years. How's your

Oh, the squadron toast. You can't have forgotten that. Into the fight. Fly

right. Bottoms up.

Liquor down.

By right, bottoms up, liquor down.

Until five.

Ah, the cam maskets.

Bertha and Billy.

I must say, I don't know which is which. Still, I expect they do.

You feeling all right?

I had rather a crack on the head.

Really? How did you do that?

Well, I... Oh, is that a cue for me?

I don't think you know, do you, Philip? Please, I tell you, I don't know.

How do you do?

Did I hear you're not feeling too well?

Well, I've had a bit of a... I've had a crack on my head. Ah, let's have a look

then. Just there.

You must pardon my glee, Mr. Steed, but since the real M .O. left here, I've

been in charge of birthdays.

He's having the time of his life playing at being a doctor.

There's nobody here to contradict him.

Well,

there is a slight bump there, but there's no abrasion.

Made you feel a bit groggy, did it? A little.

Well, there's a chance of male concussion.

Might get a bit of giddiness.

Mind a bit hazy.

Might even get the odd hallucination.

Oh, dear.

How did it happen?

I swerved to avoid a dog and the car ran off the road.

Well, I should stay off that if I will.

A bit more for me then, won't there?

Sorry to hear about Mrs. Peel, by the way. I was looking forward to meeting

What's that about Mrs. Peel? Easy.

What happened to her?

You are shaken, aren't you? What did he mean about Mrs. Peel? Oh, merely that

she couldn't make the party, that's all.

She fanned her apologies through about an hour ago.

Excuse me.

What's this?

Theo's inspection?

Here.

Now, look, the doctor. I mean, the dentist. Ah, don't worry about these.

One won't do you any harm. That's not what he says. Well, you look as though

need it, you see.

It's a sad day for Hamelin 472, Steve. Spitting up.

Do you remember these?

Oh. Light the blue paper and retire immediately.

Well, you won't get all these chaps under one roof again, you know. They'll

be in different parts of the world.

All scattered.

This time tomorrow, I shall be en route to Singapore.

Porky there, on his way to Aden.

Where did you get out this morning, Geoffrey?

Well, about 9 .30, I suppose. What did you do then?

What did I do then? What are you talking about? It could be important, please.

Well, I climbed into a bath, shaved.

Used an electric razor?

Yeah. Then what did you do?

Well, I got dressed, left the house, came over here. Had the milkman called?

The milkman? Had he delivered the milk?

No, I suppose he had, yes. What time did you get here?

Well, just before you, about 11.

Is Hickey still on the count? Hickey?

Yeah, the fellow who lives off the airfield. It's Gardner.

I haven't seen the corporal. Sir.

Have you seen a tramp hanging about the station?

Tramp? Sir, no, sir.

He'd have to stay pretty well hidden, wouldn't he, sir? Else security would

throw him out on his ear.

John,

all these questions. Do you mind telling me what it's all about?

Oh, it's all right. I just put it down to this bump on the head.

Well, I'll see you in a minute.

any better.

Oh, yes, I'm fine. A little fresh air would be as bright as rain.

Good idea.

I don't know. He said he was going to pop out for some fresh air. Did he?

Well, get easy. Don't panic.

Who's panicking?

We've still got these two to put back.

Hurry up before I wake up.

Mrs. Peel, nice to see you again.

I've heard of being scared of dentists, but when they have to tie you to the

chair, what happened?

I suddenly felt dizzy and I must have passed out.

The next thing I knew I was here, but how I got here? Probably a milk float.

They do a regular service, door to door every five minutes. Why a milk float?

It was the most innocent thing they could find. What would you think if you

one? A milkman doing his rounds.

Steve, these ampules.

The 11.

C -11.

It's the derivative of the truth drug used in brainwashing.

Suppose someone were to put this entire camp into a coma, a hypnotic state, and

then brought them here and went to work on them.

What's that?

Don't play around with that, Steed. It's nitrous oxide laughing gas.

All right, so that's what happened, wasn't it?

Your watch, twenty past twelve.

They wake up at... 12 o 'clock, and yet all the clocks on the counter say 11 o

'clock. Back where they started.

One hour of their lives gone, just like that.

They don't remember a thing. But perhaps they do.

One particular thing.

See, the unit's breaking up, isn't it?

Dispersing all over the globe.

Well, if I'm right, and they have been brainwashed, then something could have

been planted into their subconscious.

Something that could be triggered off at a moment's notice.

A potential saboteur in every strategic air base in the world.

It's fun.

Still one piece of the jigsaw missing.

Coma, hypnotic state.

Can't be as easy as that.

Ultrasonic sound.

Sounds well above the speech frequency range, relayed over the loudspeaker

system.

It's effective in only a limited area.

How limited?

About the size of the average airfield.

That's it, indeed.

It's got to be.

But how could that knock out a lot of people?

Well, the electrical activity of the human brain has a fundamental frequency.

Call it a limit of sound vibrations, if you like.

At a point beyond which it'll break down, much like a bridge.

You mean white soldiers break step before they march over it. Otherwise it

vibrates too much and disintegrates. The bridge? Yeah.

Ultrasonic sounds affect the brain in much the same way.

They've juggled the sounds around and come out with the right frequency.

Hence the earmark.

So they don't knock out their own people.

Quite a creditable explanation.

I could pretend it was years of experiment, my life work, but it wasn't.

an accident.

Found that by raising the speed of the drill, I could induce myself into a

hypnotic state.

I took it from there.

Ultrasonic apparatus, high -speed drill.

Simple, but remarkably effective.

Don't you think?

Quite remarkable, yes.

What's the next step?

An auction.

30 preconditioned brains to the highest bidder.

Ought to make me a rich man.

But first, I have to deal with you.

Ha, ha, ha.

Steve, what is it?

What's so funny?

What is it?

I promised you a quiet drive in the country.

One can be quieter than a mouse float.

Especially the way you drive.