Original subtitles

From the Lomot Lake with an ocean breeze to the Duff and to the rain of London

City.

We come from the sun to live in the coal, I make my run, I want my coconut

Let's keep the music street, wind up your waist and feel.

Hurry up and get out, Harry, or Mum and Dad wake up. But we didn't do nothing.

In this house? Are you kidding?

Why are you telling that to Dad?

Look, I'm just going to grab some juice on the way out.

Are you mad?

Just come home!

I love you too.

6 .30.

Is that the time?

See, we just got back from the rave about half an hour ago, and I thought

come in and get my paintbrushes because I'm starting a new painting, you see. So

where's Gloria?

In bed.

What? I'm not going to sleep.

It's all that dancing, you see.

Oh, for a moment I thought you'd stay the night.

Warpy, tidy man who tries to do things with my daughter in my house.

May he stay the night? No, I wouldn't do that. You'd kill me.

That's as soon as look at you.

Do you want some orange juice?

Why, you seem to know your way around the kitchen.

You don't want to tell me where things were.

Why don't you tell me which chair to sit in? Why don't you have keys to the

house? Why don't you stay for breakfast?

Breakfast?

Yes, thanks.

for everything.

Yeah, and you just sent them there.

Surely I can't have that sort of thing in my... our house.

What sort of thing are we talking about here exactly, Pops? Sean, go to your

room. Your mother and I want to talk about things.

Oh, but Dad, if it's Gloria, can't I stay?

Don't argue, boy.

But then again, I remember the last time you told me about things.

I never heard anyone make things sound so dull in all my life.

I think Alex and Gloria are, well, you know.

Yeah, I do know.

And yes, probably.

Right, thank you.

Desmond, come back here and sit down. How can you be so calm?

Well, only one of us has to panic and you go to that. Sit down.

Look, Desmond, your little girl is not a little girl anymore.

She's a woman.

An independent woman, as she so often reminds us.

So if they are... You know.

You shouldn't be surprised.

Well, I never get used to it.

I know, Desmond.

If we had our way, our children would stay five years old forever.

Yes, well, this looks good.

You're convinced there's a market for a tropical fish shop in Peckham, yeah?

That's why I comforted the eye.

Okay. Well, I need to think about it.

Why don't we meet up sometime next week?

All right, McBride. My personal assistant will sort it out.

She has my diary. Mandy, will you arrange a date for Mr Naylor here,

Yes, certainly.

Is next Wednesday, 11 .45 a .m. OK?

Please, please, please.

Yes, of course.

Peace.

Mandy, will you find out how many tropical fish shops there are in

please? Are we changing our eating habits?

Mandy, do you think I've changed in the last three or four years?

Do you want me to be truthful?

Well, yes.

But easy does it.

Well, since you've become a manager, you do seem to become a little bit more...

How shall I put it?

Smug. Smug, Mandy? Yes, smug. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought

got a new girlfriend.

Well, if I had, you'd be the first to know. After all, we have been seeing

a bit of each other.

Yes, Michael.

With all our social appointments?

What have we got today? Oh, well, today we have lunch with the market traders.

At 4pm we're at the Christopher School truck. And tonight we have guests of

honour at the Philharmonic Charity Gala at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Oh, which Philharmonic? London or Birmingham?

The Reggae Philharmonic.

Tomorrow you have your reunion.

Yes, we have.

We? Well, I thought it would be nice if you were there.

Oh, well, I'm not sure if I'm free.

Oh. Let me check my diary. Yes, I'm free. Where is it?

The banks club.

Wonderful. Is this the reunion of your old university pals?

Yeah.

Wait a minute, that smug look's coming back. Is there something more to this?

Well, yes and no.

I think nine years ago when my best friends and I graduated, we all went out

a meal and put in an envelope what we hoped to achieve in the next five years.

And? Well, four years ago we met and compared notes.

James. Right,

James. Five years ago, you wrote, I believe London is on the verge of a

explosion. I'd like to get a piece of the action.

Well?

Well, I joined Hardbottle and Hardbottle, where I rose to district

I then moved on to Farquhar and Farquhar. Far more prestigious than,

men's shoes in terms of promotion.

So, I raised some venture capital and set up on my own. Peters, Peters, and

Peters.

It's amazing.

Well done. Cheers for James.

Cheers. Yes, yes, well done. Cheers.

Right, Charlotte Piggott -Smith. To be in

my job without having to compromise because I'm a woman.

I work on the money market, commanding a team of ten.

My salary is... fabulous, and the only drawback is I have to get up early,

aides my skin no end.

Come on, let's hear it for Charlotte.

Charlotte.

Well,

uh... Nigel Clark, your turn.

Nigel. I want to earn enough money to be as silly as I want, and more

importantly, enough to watch the West Indies cricket team play anywhere in the

world.

Come on, Nigel.

Well, last... Last year, I made enough money to afford a return ticket to

Australia to watch the West Indies.

On my travels, I saw a number of items which I could sell to British businesses

and shops.

So I started importing in bulk.

Now I do the same in the Caribbean and in India.

So I can safely say that I combine business with pleasure.

Nigel. Nigel.

Nigel.

Right, those two will leave.

I want to be happy.

I'm a British rep for a Hong Kong -based shipping company, and his name is

Martin. Well done. Come on, gang, let's hear it for Do.

Do. Do.

And what did you put in your envelope?

Well, I, uh, I said I'd like to become a bank manager.

Really? What a surprise.

Well, at that first party, I'd only got as far as assistant.

So now you've organised another one to tell them you've become a manager?

Yeah.

Boy, I wish I had a friend like you.

You know what I'm going to do, Pokwai? What, Dad?

I'm going to have a word with Alex.

Oh, not Gloria and Alex again.

Desmond, please, you simply have to come to terms with it. How many more times

are we going to have to go through this?

Alex and Gloria are perfectly happy.

Yes, and we know why they're happy.

Oh, come on, Desmond. I'm sure you and Cheryl must have got up to a bit of

-panky. Are you serious? We used to call Desmond the fastest hands in the West.

Indeed. That was a long time ago.

Desmond, the father -daughter relationship is a universal one. There

father in this world who wants his daughter to grow up.

Yes, and fooling around with women is fine until it's your daughter that's

fooled with.

That's right.

remember what it was like to be in love?

Come on.

Oh, look, Desmond. Alex ain't a layabout, is he? He's an artist.

And if people are stupid enough to pay the prices he's asking, he can marry my

daughter any time.

That's it?

I'll tell him to marry her.

Make an honest woman of her.

Desmond, wake up. This is the 20th century.

Stop behaving like Fred Flintstone.

Wilma!

Look, I'm sorry about this little delay.

Could you ask them to hold dinner?

You know, if your friends don't turn up soon, I should be on the floor.

Well, yes, they are over an hour late.

Maybe the traffic's bad.

Maybe.

I'm sure they'll turn up.

My first time at this club.

How embarrassing.

What are you watching?

I don't know.

It looks interesting.

Yeah, no, that's why I'm watching it.

Where's Mum and Dad?

In bed.

Boy, they're early.

Well, you know how parents are, innit?

The older they get, the earlier they go to bed.

Which also means they get up early.

Really early, Gloria.

Early enough in time to catch your boyfriend leaving your room.

All right, all right, give it a rest.

Look, let me give you some advice.

You give me advice?

Well, if you don't want to know.

All right, go on. No.

Go on, Sean.

Nope.

Pretty please.

All right, all right. Save those for Alex, mate. Gee.

You know the floorboards between Mum and Dad's room and yours?

Yeah. Well, tell Alex they creak.

And watch out for the fourth and the eighth steps as you come down the

And I'll tell you, there's a wicked one outside this door.

How did you know about all this?

Well, this little brother ain't so little anymore.

Oh, really?

Well, yeah, of course.

You see, the advantage of being the youngest is one moment they've got their

eyes on you, I can just slip in and do my thing, you know what I mean?

Oh, dear.

Don't be brought back then.

What, as if I'm going to tell you?

Oi.

Michael ever, um... What, Michael?

Oh, no.

So, wait, is it serious between you and Alex, then?

Well, I think so, but then again, I don't know.

I mean, I've never been here before.

You know that feeling when you think about a person and your stomach goes all

weak and you get that tingling in your armpits?

It's just impossible to put into words.

But when the right one comes along, you know him. Oh.

So do you think you'll get married, then? Married? Are you mad? Not to

with him first.

If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you saw your friend?

Well, um, we've all been very busy with our respective careers.

How long?

Three?

Maybe four.

Months?

Years.

surprised they're not here?

Well, our friendship is such that we don't have to see each other very often,

but when we do, it's usually very... Michael!

Hey!

Whoa!

Hey, good to see you. Oh, good to see you. Hey, listen, sorry we're late.

Hey, what's punctuality between friends? Exactly.

Look, drinks. There's wine, beer, spirit. Ah, you're a vodka man, I

Used to be old fruit, used to be responsibility.

Now, you know, two humble orange juices, please. Of course.

Sorry, Michael, this is Gabby, my partner.

Yes, clearly.

Sorry, James, this is Mandy. Gabby, Mandy's my... Is she really? Hey, nice

meet you.

Nice meeting you, Gabby. Michael's an assistant bank manager. Uh -uh, uh -uh.

Manager now, actually. Oh, whatever.

Two months to go.

We met at a creative writing course, did we, Gabs? After I gave up being a

boring old estate agent.

Actually, Gabby just finished writing a book called The Real New Man. Clever

little thing. Oh, I'm going to read that. We might learn something.

Michael!

Nigel!

Sorry we're so late.

Fancy felt sick, so we had to stop for a while.

Oh, silly of me.

We met and married in St Lucia a year ago when I was out in the windies for

test match.

She completely bowled me over.

Fancy, this is Michael.

Charmed. Michael is an assistant bank manager.

Branch manager now.

Really? I see you!

How are you? I'm fine.

Snuff!

When did you? Two months.

Snuff!

I'm Mandy. Would you like to make a feed? It must be hell on your feet at

moment. So, finally found something more satisfying than import -export, eh,

Nigel? Oh, my God, yes.

Sometimes I think back to those money -grabbing valleys we had five years ago.

One -dimensional or what?

When my sister was pregnant, she had to lie flat on her back for six months with

her legs up in the air to reduce the swelling in her ankle.

And no -one had told the doctor she had legs like tree trunks anyway.

You're not pregnant by any chance, are you?

You always were perceptive. Yes, it's a real thing, isn't it, darling?

Oh, Michael, sorry, this is my husband, Dave.

He's a fireman.

Pleased to meet you.

Michael's an assistant bank manager.

Branch manager now, actually. Yes, I'm sure you are. Nice to meet you!

Here he is, my fireman Dave.

Who would have guessed, eh? Me and a fireman. He saved my life, and out of

gratitude, I'm married.

How wonderful.

Charlotte, this is Mandy.

Michael's partner.

Wonderful. So, Dave, how did you save your life?

Sorry, darling. Well, I was on the phone to a friend when I completely forgot

that I'd left my supper in the oven. The damn thing went up in smoke.

I rang the fire brigade, whereupon Dave rescued me.

Carried me down the ladder, slung over his shoulder, no less.

Lovely view of his bus.

I then exactly went into the flat to fight the fire, and while he was there,

rummaged through my things, found my work number, and rang me two days later.

But the rest... You know?

Congratulations.

Oh, Charlotte, you must be a fancy in my mind.

Fancy, fancy. This is Charlotte.

And Charlotte, this is Gabby. Gabby, Charlotte.

Would you like a drink, Charlotte?

Oh, hi!

You look fantastic.

I'm sorry I'm late, everybody. Trouble with the babysitter.

Hello, darling.

I'm sorry. I had to leave Martin at home with the kids in the end.

Oh, good like that.

Changes nappies, cooks. He really is a new man. Bizarre. Gabby's just finished

writing a book on that, haven't you, darling? Oh, wonderful. I'm glad we're

on a career trip anymore. The 80s were awful for that world. The go -get -it

-wannabe mentality.

The 90s were going to be a caring decade where kids come first and careers a

long way second.

By the way, Michael, how's the job?

It's okay.

Oh, it's through there. I'm Mandy, by the way.

Are you Michael's partner?

Yes, you could say that.

Our youngest, who's three months, has just learnt to hold his head up. And the

other one said his first sentence this morning. Do you know what it was? No.

Party. Whoops.

Whoops.

Just kick me.

Stop being a party pooper.

The baby's kicking.

It's not game time.

Stop in a minute.

Go on.

Get the cocoa and stop harassing the girl. I want to know that blasted boy's

there.

Go on then, Dad.

Search the room if you want to. But I tell you, he's not in there.

Well, who's laughing then? I was laughing at you.

Because I can hear you creeping along the corridor.

And by the way, floorboards 4, 5 and 14 are the ones you should watch out for.

Satisfied?

It's all right, Janet. It's just my dad making a fool of himself again.

Janet, Dad.

All right, what?

Are you joking, Dad?

Your friends are wonderful.

Yes, they are, aren't they?

Wonderful.

What's wrong, Michael?

Nothing. Oh, come on, Michael, talk to me.

I am. No, talk to me.

You would hold things so close to your chest.

Do I?

Yes. Every day I talk to Michael Ambrose, bank manager.

You never allow me to talk to Michael Ambrose person.

That's the problem, isn't it?

Michael Ambrose has become the bank manager and nothing else.

But that can change.

You had an ambition. Now you've achieved it, you've got to make room for other

things. When?

Well, I'll put it in the diary if you let me know what it is you're looking

I want what they've got.

I've always wanted what other people have.

You and the rest of the world, the grass is always greener.

Yeah, when you get there, you find it's still littered with dog turd.

Michael, you're too hard on yourself.

Am I?

Yes.

But that can change, can't it?

Yes, it can.

We could slow right down.

make more time for each other, couldn't we?

Yes, we can.

Can we put it in the diary?

Yes, we can.

We can do dinner at my place tomorrow night.

Yes, we can.

Never a truer word spoken, Popeye. Yes. But will he listen?

No. Look at it this way, Des.

Birds do it.

Bees do it.

Even educated Africans do it.

All right.

That's it.

Someone's got to walk in the morning.

Yes. Some of us do.

Yes. Some of us need our beauty sleep.

Yep, and some of us don't.

Night, then.

Night, then.

Lock up your daughter, Desmond Ambrose. Don't worry, he won't be coming here

tonight.

I hear you want to talk to me.

That's good, because I need somebody to talk to.

I mean, what is this world coming to?

When everybody accepts as normal your little girl doing a thing with her

boyfriend.

Is it me?

Am I the old -fashioned one here?

Or is it as I suspect that everybody else is wrong and I am right?

It is difficult to cross the bear of being right.

But you do it well.

All right, I admit she's 20 years old.

I remember what I was like at that age.

But that was with other people's daughters.

Yes, other people's daughters.

Ooh. Oh, this.

I've just come to drop off Gloria's keys.

There. Don't worry, I can see myself out.