Original subtitles

A mystery baffling investigators in the UK.

Four months to the day

since the Salisbury incident,

and another mysterious substance in Wiltshire.

Police in Wiltshire say two people are critically ill in hospital.

They're dealing with

what they're calling a major incident.

The man and woman in their 40s, and just a few miles

from where a former Russian spy and his daughter

were poisoned in March.

Perhaps it's some kind of contamination from the Skripals.

Is there some risk of exposure environmentally?

It is not yet clear if a crime has been committed.

They said nothing in their backgrounds

would suggest they were targeted.

Tests are being carried out

at the government chemical weapons research laboratory.

A whole raft of new questions

for the British authorities.

Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, both in their 40s,

were found unconscious at a house in Amesbury, in Wiltshire, on Saturday.

They remain in a critical condition

after being exposed to the substance Novichok.

Now, Nick Dixon has this report.

Police have validated what many speculated.

Two more people have fallen... Nick!

Victim to the lethal nerve agent Novichok.

Nick!

Intelligence confirmed that the man and woman

were exposed to Novichok.

It's... It's happened again. What?

It's happened again.

That contaminated both Yulia and Sergei Skripal.

The couple named locally as Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess...

What if it's my fault? What?

What if they've come into contact with something that I touched?

No, Nick. That's not... That's ridiculous.

It could be a delayed reaction.

Couldn't it? No.

It takes 50 years... No, Dr. Haslam said...

Right, I want you and the kids

to get tested again. Dr. Haslam told you... Nick!

I can't have you like this.

I ju... I just can't.

Sorry. Sorry for shouting.

Are you okay?

Go get ready for school, yeah?

Yeah?

This is pretty much a precautionary measure

at the sheltered housing where Dawn Sturgess lived.

It is unnerving speaking to people here in Salisbury today

who are worried about the impact, again, on this city.

Sorry to disturb you, but as you can see, the police are here.

They have not come to arrest you. They have come to help you.

For safety reasons, you have to evacuate the building.

Please, can you...

Questions have been asked about

how this could have happened just months after...

four people now, if you are including the Skripals,

who are in a critical condition.

And for a militarygrade nerve agent in a Wiltshire town.

That's it.

I'm sorry, sir. Restricted access.

Oh, Boss. I didn't realize you were...

Are you...

So where are we with containment?

Charlie Rowley's flat has been sealed off,

along with everywhere else he went that day.

John Baker House, where Dawn lives, has been evacuated.

They were in Salisbury on Friday. The day before they became ill.

Where?

Queen Elizabeth Gardens. We are moving to close it now.

And we believe they then took a bus to Amesbury.

As soon as we identify it, we'll impound and test it.

Would anyone care to hazard a guess as to what's happened here?

Well, we always knew

the attackers would have a container for the poison.

We just assumed they left with it. But what if they didn't?

Maybe Dawn or Charlie found it, picked it up...

So we're back to square one.

This isn't square one, Stephen. This is much, much worse.

First time around, we had something to work with.

This time we have no idea what has happened or how.

Sergei Skripal was a Russian spy.

These are two ordinary people.

Home sweet home. Just as you left it.

The boss wants to see us in five. Okay?

You know, there was no way any of us could have foreseen this.

I'll be there in a minute.

And I'm just saying...

It's not your fault.

It's not anybody's fault. I said I'll be there in a minute.

I was reading about Dawn this morning, and I realized I'd met her.

I ran an outreach seminar for people with alcohol problems.

She was having a hard time.

She was funny. She had a bit of life about her.

I liked her.

You'd like her too.

I'll see you upstairs.

Yeah.

How long am I going to stay at Nanna Diane's for?

Just a couple of days, love.

And I don't have to go to school? No.

You get an extra half term break.

My slippers.

What's wrong with mam?

Oh, she's a bit poorly, love.

But the doctors are going to make her better.

Yeah?

Yeah. Good girl.

You don't worry though. It's all right.

She's going to be fine, dear.

Oh, sweetheart.

Oh, there.

Come on.

Your brother's just through here.

Thank you.

I haven't seen him for a while.

We had a bit of a falling out like.

If you wouldn't mind putting these on.

Can I touch him then?

With these on?

Only his feet.

Jesus, Charlie. What have they done to you?

What have they done to you, hey?

I'll get that.

With our top story, is live in Amesbury right now.

Mum.

Dad!

I'm in the road, Simon, where a couple, Saturday, fell ill.

Here behind me is a police cordon there.

They're now critically ill in hospital in Salisbury

after being exposed to Novichok nerve agent.

While in the House of Commons, the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid,

has said he understands the concerns of the public.

I recognize that some local Wiltshire residents

will be feeling very anxious.

Let me reassure you that public safety is of paramount importance.

We'll bring you the very latest this afternoon.

I let her down. Our Dawn.

I let her down. No, you didn't.

I was relieved, you know,

when they told me she'd been poisoned.

What?

I thought she'd done it to herself.

And I was relieved

because I wouldn't have to live with that for the rest of my life.

That I couldn't save her from herself.

I thought, all those months I kept her at arm's length,

and she goes and does this to herself, how could I live with that?

So when they told me about the poison...

I was happy.

I was bloody happy.

Have you ever heard anything more selfish than that?

You didn't let her down, Stan.

You were always there for her. She knew it.

She knew it.

How could this happen to our little girl?

Do you remember when she was 15 and she ran away to Cornwall

and you had to go and pick her up from the traveler's camp?

They were the ones who wanted rid of her.

And then when she was 17, she got knocked down by an ambulance.

They were treating her on the side of the road

and she looked up and she said,

"I don't know whether I'm really unlucky or really lucky."

Yeah. I remember.

When you think about it, Stan,

this could only happen to our Dawn.

Wiltshire Police initially thought that the couple

had taken contaminated crack cocaine or heroin.

It was initially thought they had fallen ill

after using heroin or crack cocaine from a contaminated batch of drugs,

but further tests are now needed.

Police say it's not yet clear if a crime has been committed.

The couple may have touched

a contaminated object from the Skripal attack,

like a discarded cigarette end or a syringe containing Novichok.

The couple may also have found a container

in which the original substance was mixed.

The fact that the police still haven't found a container

with the lethal chemical weapon inside it is a cause for concern.

The public are repeatedly told that the risk to them is low.

But without the evidence, that is hard to justify.

Can everyone get off the vehicle, please?

A month ago, I stood in the middle of this city

and declared it safe and open for business.

We all thought it was.

What do we say to them now?

You said that this city was safe outside the cordons.

Now what do you say?

My son is 10. He won't go to school.

He's having panic attacks about this!

What am I supposed to tell him?

Who missed this? How did you miss it?

How do we know it's not going to happen again today

or tomorrow or next week?

If I may, um, you're right, we didn't see this coming,

and we still don't know exactly how it happened.

Is that all you have to say?

Until we work out exactly what happened here,

yeah, I'm afraid it is. That's all we have to say.

We are testing every single object found at all six sites,

and we'll have answers soon.

What?

What the hell is this?

What are they saying about her?

Stan, don't read it.

A homeless addict?

That's not Dawn!

Anymore teas or coffees?

We're fine.

I hardly slept all night. Me too.

I don't know why we're here.

We should be with her. They told us...

We have to go back.

Whatever happens...

We have to be with her.

Tim, how's it going?

Slowly.

Look... Uh, this isn't out yet,

but last night we tested a perfume bottle.

It was full of Novichok.

Dawn must have sprayed it on herself.

Even now what's left in the container could kill thousands of people.

But... But the contamination radius could be worse than last time.

So, we have no idea where they got hold of it and who gave it to them?

Look, sir.

Professor Atkins?

Just after 11:00 this morning,

we saw a large convoy of emergency vehicles drive by.

More than a dozen in all...

One of them's Charlie Rowley, isn't it?

I thought you didn't want to know.

I nicked him a couple of times.

I used to, uh, bump in to him when I was on the beat.

That's why they call it Smallsbury. Mmmhmm.

Yeah.

He wasn't one of the worst, actually, Charlie.

Priority now is to try and find out what...

He was all right.

NEWSREADER ...that had Novichok agent on it.

Now, this is...

He was all right.

Sarah. Yeah?

I am ready to go back.

Nick, I just...

Sarah, I am a police officer, okay?

It's who I am.

I have to...

I have to go back.

I have to.

Oh...

They're coming!

Oh, my God. Stan.

Oh...

A few questions, please!

Mum?

Please, can you just leave her alone, please?

We need to get into our house, please.

Please. Can we just get into our house, please.

Cannot make this out.

Don't answer it. Oh, my God.

What's that?

"Mr. and Mrs. Sturgess.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sturgess.

Sir, just please come out and comment!

Come in.

You wanted to see me?

I heard about the town hall, Tracy.

You were right to request more information.

So, these are the chief suspects

in the criminal investigation being run by CT.

Their movements before and after their attack on the Skripals.

It does not leave this room.

Okay.

They flew to Gatwick from Moscow on Friday, the 2nd March,

then went to a hotel in east London, where, according to other residents,

they spent the night with a prostitute and a bag of marijuana.

Next day, 3rd of March,

they caught a train to Salisbury for a recce

and left and went back again the day after.

The day of the attack.

And does it look like they threw any kind of container away?

There's no evidence of them discarding anything,

but they were out of CCTV range for long periods,

so they could well have done.

You've got 10 minutes.

Thanks for this, Paul.

The Home Secretary has pointed the finger at Russia.

It is completely unacceptable for our people

to be either deliberate or accidental targets,

or for our streets, our parks, our towns to be dumping grounds for poison...

It's very sad

because I think it's probably put Salisbury back again.

I hope not because we were just beginning to...

One disaster is bad enough,

and now we thought we'd moved out of it,

and it seems to be happening again.

Salisbury is always a quiet place, you know.

It's nice to live in.

So it's a bit worrying what's going on.

I don't know why we're so bloody quiet. She hated that.

Can I talk to you all in the family room?

Yeah.

We should be able to declare

the flat in Amesbury safe in less than 10 days.

However, as you would expect,

this is the biggest concentration of Novichok

we've ever encountered.

And yet we still haven't managed to find any

in any of the other sites that Dawn or Charlie visited.

Stephen.

Well, that's good news they haven't found it anywhere else.

It means this time it wasn't spread.

So, I suggest we reassure the public by countering the conspiracy theories

and get the facts out there.

I'm sorry, is there a problem? The facts?

I still know next to nothing about what really happened here, Stephen.

You want to tell the public the city's safe

when all I know for sure is that an innocent man and woman

are fighting for their lives in hospital?

And there still could be something else out there.

You saved the other ones. You saved them.

Why can you not save Dawn? Mum...

Dawn has a bleed on the brain. It's inoperable.

She can't recover from it.

I am so, so sorry.

Where am I?

You're all right, Charlie.

You're okay, mate.

I'm here.

It's your brother. It's Matthew. You're safe, mate.

Where's Dawn?

You're okay, mate.

Where's Dawn?

You're okay.

Dawnie?

Dawnie.

You are a good person.

You're... a good person.

You always were.

Come on, mate.

Hey.

You should get some sleep.

I'm just here for a shower and a change of clothes.

Can you take me to school?

No, Tobes. Not today. No.

You're never here. It's worse than last time.

Toby, you know I have to...

I'll talk to him.

See you later, yeah?

Hello, Dave.

Yeah.

No, I just nipped home. Why?

Oh, no.

No...

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

Hospital staff in Salisbury

said they did all they could to save the life of Dawn Sturgess,

a 44yearold mother of three who came into contact

with the highly toxic Novichok nerve agent just over a week ago.

She died late last night after being on life support.

The death of Dawn Sturgess, a British citizen, on British soil

now changes the investigation to a murder inquiry

with all the diplomatic and security ramifications that carries.

Charlie.

It's all right, Stan, I'll stay here.

And now, Gracie Sturgess would like to say a few words.

I just want to say...

I really loved my mam.

And she really loved me.

We always liked doing things.

Going to the Cathedral to light a candle.

Making friendship bracelets.

This is one she made for me.

We liked to video ourselves doing that.

So I just want everybody to know...

She was a really good mam.

She was the best.

Come. Come...

That was wonderful. That was wonderful.

What are you doing here?

Have you read this?

Charlie Rowley gave an interview.

He's saying the perfume was wrapped in hard plastic.

If he's right, then...

Tracy, we did a fingertip search of everywhere it could have been.

We did our job.

That first day you rang me I thought, "This is it. This is it, Trace.

"This is the important thing you're supposed to do with your life.

"This is the reason you went through all..."

Through all?

I had three kids by the time I was 20, my girls.

They're all grown up, working...

But when they were little, I was a single mum,

with no money and no qualifications to speak of.

Huh.

I had no idea.

Sounds like such a clich�, but I thought I'm going to be something for them.

So I studied nights and weekends,

got my degree. Got a job.

Eventually, I...

I ended up here.

I'd "made" it.

And now this has happened.

All right, listen to me.

How many fatalities since you got put on to this job?

Huh?

I'll say it. One.

And that is deeply incredibly sad.

But it could have been dozens.

Could have been hundreds.

And you're going to see this through.

And so am I, no matter what it takes.

The police report...

Bye. Bye, Mum.

NEWSREADER 1... didn't have enough evidence to charge the men.

See you.

Salisbury in March. They say...

We now know the faces of the two Russian men

accused of the Novichok poisonings.

It's understood British Police may know their true identities,

but CCTV shows them arriving in the UK

under the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.

They're seen travelling to Salisbury,

where it's believed they used this fake perfume bottle

to deploy the Novichok nerve agent, which would later kill Dawn Sturgess

and contaminate her partner, Charlie Rowley.

Theresa May said months of investigations...

The Salisbury suspects

say their weekend trip was for tourism,

and not for an assassination attempt,

according to the channel's own translation.

Hey! Who are you?

We're those who were shown to you in the pictures.

Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov.

Are those your real names?

Yes, they are our real names.

Just two young men

with an interest in the Cathedral, they say.

And so they crossed the continent to see it.

Stan, what are you doing?

I wanna know the truth.

Our friends have been suggesting...

It's the only thing I can do.

We deserve to know.

There's the famous Salisbury Cathedral,

famous not only in Europe, but in the whole world.

It's famous for its 123metre spire.

And it's famous for its clock, one of the first ever...

The truth isn't for people like us.

Still working.

They said they cut short

their sightseeing trip because of the bad weather in the town.

And it certainly was a cold weekend.

We actually were going there

to see the Stonehenge, Old Sarum and the Cathedral.

That's good. Come towards me.

A bit more. That's good.

Left shoulder in.

Left shoulder in towards me. That's good.

Excellent. Big smile. Don't forget the smile.

That'll do.

Hiya, mate. Hey, the hero returns!

Dress blues and everything, eh?

They made me wear this for the photograph, I think.

Come here.

It's good to have you back. Cheers.

Welcome back, Nick.

Welcome back.

Good to have you back, Nick.

Good to see you back, Nick.

Control, can we get a pass on this from CID?

DI Mant, on my way.

Roger that. Over.

Nick, you up for this? You want to come?

Hello?

All right, mate.

You eaten? Not yet.

Do you know what time it is?

You've been like this for weeks.

Are you ever going to talk about it?

They said that I should just take a few more months off.

I never wanted to be anything else but a copper.

All these people,

they're all calling me a hero.

I'm not a hero, I just opened a door.

Nick...

I know that I'm not the same man that you married.

I just wish I could go back...

But I can't.

It's not right.

It's not. It's not right.

What am I supposed to do now?

It's too soon.

That's all. You...

You have to give it some time.

Hi, darling.

How was school? Good.

What did you get up to? We're reading a new book.

And what's the book?

Goodnight Mister Tom. That's a good book.

Okay. Cheers.

Tracy... Caroline.

Thank you. Thank you for this.

Thanks for coming.

Uh, you took a massive dose, Nick.

Your cholinesterase levels were almost nonexistent.

Every single one of your major organs

was fighting an independent battle to stay functioning.

And normally, in that situation, you lose consciousness.

So, uh, we waited for the crash.

But the thing was, you never lost consciousness.

I still don't know how you did it.

None of us do.

I've seen a lot of sick people, Nick.

But I've never seen anyone fight as hard as you did.

Have you done your homework?

Yeah, I've done it.

Watch out. Here.

Hmm... It smells delicious.

Can I have ketchup?

In stew?

Mrs. Montague was talking about you today.

Oh, no. What have I done now?

She says you're a hero.

Oh, don't be daft.

She told my whole class that if it weren't for you,

lots of people might have got sick.

No.

There were masses of people involved, hundreds of us. I just helped.

Yes. It's true.

That's cool.

Here.

Thank you.

Couscous, Tobes?

Here you are.

Salad?

I... love...

Spag bol.

Well? Is it an improvement?

No, Mum, it's not. I'll say.