Original subtitles

Water!

Walter, about a mile back.

Horse tore him, got a broken leg, been out all night.

Walter? Shepard man, friend of mine.

Well, are you coming or not?

Of course we're coming.

Well, we're too far from Willingham and our German friend.

Spat.

What?

What? A vet.

A vet?

Did my sheep.

A vet? Where is the vet? North or south? Where is he?

Manor.

Manor?

House. A manor house. Is that it? A manor house.

Sloat.

Sloot.

Has he gone?

Who? Our big husky commissar.

Oh, yes. He prowled round the stables for a bit and then off he went.

We must teach the people.

You're probably the only vet in the country.

Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Miller.

Make her a vet.

What's he going to do, anyway?

Round everybody up and force them here to be lectured?

He's persuasive enough.

A bit intense, I thought.

That's passion.

That's what?

He'll appeal to the women.

Well, you should know.

Greg?

Hey, you watch it.

Short for Gregory, I suppose.

Is this Sloat Spence?

Sloat and Spencer, yes.

I'm Charles Vaughan.

Philip Hurst.

Are you ill?

No.

How do you do? How do you do? I gather you're a vet?

Well, more human than animal nowadays, I'm afraid.

We have a man with a broken leg about three miles south. We don't move him.

I'll go and tell Janet.

She's the vet.

All right, Charles?

No,

I didn't.

Collect all this.

I've always lived here.

The whole area was my practice before the death.

Pretty lucrative.

Lot of horses.

Mind you, I've raided a few collie burgery.

Not as much danger from dogs in the country.

Well, not then, anyway.

Are the drugs you used the same that doctors used?

Oh, yes.

Why?

Oh, I was just thinking about a friend we had who went into Birmingham once for

antibiotics. We never thought of vets.

What happened to him?

He died.

All right to watch?

Yes, of course. Come in.

Incredible, isn't it? This was Janet's practice before.

Oh, I see.

I was just thinking about Paul.

No need to go into cities.

Aye, well, we learn.

At a rough guess, I'd say you're about as useful as a doctor.

Sorry, I didn't mean... I know.

You must get about a lot.

Yes, I do.

You go far?

As far as I have to.

As far as I can.

Because there's brucellosis about 60 miles south of here. How many?

We think it's run its course now. About 20 cows died, but a friend of ours went

down with it. How long?

Sorry? How long has he had it?

About a week.

Fever? To begin with.

How old is he?

She's about... About my age.

She'll be all right.

Behind you in the cupboard, there's some wire.

That's it.

Can you place it over his face?

Now, don't worry.

We're giving you an anaesthetic.

He'll be fast asleep in no time.

Place it each side.

Jenny, if you can open that thing over there and get a large pad of cotton

wool.

Where's Hubert?

Oh, Philip's teaching him about horses. He used to be a breeder.

That's right.

Good practice for you two.

Now put the pad over the wire netting.

Charles, there's a pair of scissors in that drawer.

Have us try the leg from the thigh, will you?

This one? Yes, that's right.

But gently.

It's got a fracture of the femur.

Do you know that a doctor wasn't allowed to practice on animals, but a vet could

on humans?

Good heavens.

You see, a vet was trained as an applied scientist.

A doctor was constructed not to think of anything else alive except humans.

In our situation, vets are infinitely more valuable.

We're used to disinfectants, controlling the environment.

We hardly ever referred our patients.

Not like doctors.

And as far as emergencies go, we can do almost anything, provided... I should

stand back if I were you.

Provided we have the anaesthetic.

Now breathe deeply.

Come on.

Deeply.

Finish the trousers when he's under.

Keep breathing.

Keep breathing.

Fluathane.

Pardon?

Fluathane. Before, we used it in conjunction with oxygen.

Oh, I see. Hence the wire and the cotton wool. No oxygen.

We ran out of oxygen ages ago.

What happens when you run out of fluathane?

Well, I suppose we'll just have to get used to it.

Pain is something we'd largely got rid of. But we managed before anaesthetics.

Thank you. Not very well.

Oh, come on.

Trafalgar chaps got their legs shut off.

They cried out, oh, had me leg shot off. Got slugged on rum or whatever it was.

Old sore bones lopped off the leg, slapped hot tar on the stump and that

was it.

Cheers. Cheers.

There are substitute anaesthetics.

Like a synthesis of pethidine.

How on earth did you know about that?

Ah, we've met people.

Yeah.

That's aspirin.

From Willow Park.

And there's a fellow we met called Bill Sheridan.

He's an expert in homeopathic medicine.

You see, it's quite apparent to me that we've enough skill and inventiveness to

really get things moving again. All it needs is organising a federation of

communities.

Sorry?

I'm sorry. It's a private joke.

Look, what about tonight?

We've got beds and we can feed you.

And hot baths.

It's a back boiler.

You warm enough?

I do.

Here. Who's going to look after you, Shane?

You are.

I'm talking more than telling you. I'm getting a bit fed up with charging

around all over the place.

I'll ask her about you, Shane.

She'll get somebody.

You heard?

Yeah.

Did he hurt you?

No. It went out like a light.

It's a bit now, though.

Some

people

can do everything, can't they?

I don't even know.

behaving as if they had money, as if they were old bears.

Can't make it out.

It's funny, isn't it?

Damn funny.

Oh, well.

They've even got bath salts.

It's going to ruin our surviving technique.

Oh, it's just for one night.

You seem nice people.

Yes, yes.

If Greg really thought about me and wanted me... Look, Jane.

Don't let all this fool you.

These people can't live like this forever.

Hmm.

Poncy smells.

Hubert?

This is one of our stills.

For drinking?

I'm afraid not. It's a substitute for petrol.

Every now and then we take the car out when we've got enough.

And we keep the grass down.

But it's a long, slow process.

I find you have to go further afield each time for veterary supplies.

Exactly.

You know,

you have a fair-sized community living here.

People could come to watch and learn.

Actually, they could go out and form their own groups. You could test them

before they went, examine them. The National School of Veterinary Medicine.

You probably are the only vets in the country.

Well, in our experience, most people who come here aren't really interested in

what we can do.

In the way of development, I mean.

You and your kind are few and far between, you know.

They're going to have to be organized, aren't they?

Always have bosses.

That's right. It blazes with democracy.

Survival comes first.

You're quite extraordinary.

Only this morning I was listening to exactly the same words.

That's the pony club I used to help with. We got to Horse of the Year show

in 73.

Mounted games.

That's our police dogs we used to look after.

Who's that?

The boy?

That was my son.

He was away during the death.

So was my husband.

He was up in Edinburgh on a business trip.

I never saw either of them again.

And that must have been taken just before.

You can see from the notice there.

We had an outbreak of foot and mouth.

That really saved us because it meant that people had to stay away.

So when I heard the news on the radio, I had plenty of time to disinfect the

approaches to the house.

To Mrs Millan with love for Pony Club.

Oh, look.

I'm boring you.

How about another drink?

Jenny?

What is it?

What was his name, your son?

Why? Your son's name.

Why? Was it John?

We have a boy called John.

John Millam.

He's nine now.

We found him.

Where? Not here. Down south.

He was down south.

He said he'd been staying with his granny and she died. I went to look for

him. I found my mother, but John had gone.

He's fair, round-faced.

He's got a mole on his back.

He's alive.

He's at a place called Chalema.

It's where we left to come up here.

He's being looked after. There's a very nice woman there called Pet who looks

after him and she's very warm-hearted and lovely.

My son's there too, Paul.

He's still only a baby.

He went to a prep school, John. Oh, that's strange.

Oh, Janet.

I was going to tell Charles.

It's John's mother. Janet's Greg.

It's John's mother. Greg was here. Janet. He was here. Janet Millan. Our

John.

And I want Paul.

We're going back.

you feel, Jenny.

But John isn't going to leave Chaloner.

He'll be there until we get back.

We've come a long way.

We've suffered quite a lot.

If we go back now, we'll have to start all over again.

Greg was here, Jenny.

He was here.

That's not a rumour or hope.

A few hours ago, he was here.

Philip said he went north to Buxton. North?

Jenny,

you can't go with Janet on your own.

The dogs are getting worse. I need Greg as much as you need Paul.

As much as Janet needs John?

Jenny, it's not for me.

No. No.

We're doing it for everybody, for humanity.

Look, Greg can't be more than a few miles away.

A day or two at the most. We'll find him, then we can all go back to

Chaloner, all of us.

Janet and I can go on our own. No. And Philip can look for Greg.

Philip has got a man with a broken leg to look after.

And I'm not trusting Hubert with you.

Not all that way.

Stick together, Jenny, and be rational.

Rational? One day, Jenny, one day, that's all. It's always one day. All

right, two!

Now, there's still some strep left in there.

Now, be careful.

I will. Oh, hello.

We're just checking through things. Help Philip while I'm gone.

What's the matter?

I'm not going.

Not yet.

Two more days.

Well, we can all go then.

You see, with Greg so close, we must try and find him.

We've come all this way and... And we couldn't.

I must go in the morning. I must.

I just couldn't.

Only for two days, I promise.

You too go.

But what... I mean, what if you don't come back? Nothing will happen to us.

But I'd worry.

Terribly.

I really would.

I don't think I could stand it.

Well, we could always leave you a map reference.

But the route.

Well, you know the safe ways.

Can't your friend Hubert go after Greg?

Hardly. He's not a lot motivated. He's not very reliable either.

Charles! Not in this.

You see, even if we did know where it was, Philip and I can't go together.

There must always be someone here.

You've got this broken leg now and... Please, don't say I can't go to my son.

Please.

Why must you find this chap, Greg, anyway?

I mean, what's so important?

He's not the prime minister yet, is he?

What is he, an engineer or something?

Well, all right, so he's got some good ideas, but he's not going to change the

world overnight.

And even if he's your friend, it's not as important as Janet finding her son.

Surely.

He's the father of my child.

My... A husband.

But I thought he said the girl was Swedish.

What girl?

Well, I don't know. He talked about some girl. I thought he said she was Swedish.

She is Norwegian.

Oh. And there's nothing between them, absolutely. I wasn't suggesting... All

right, everybody, all right.

Why don't we just... We'll just go and get some sleep, eh?

Ginny?

Come on, Ginny.

No.

Greg has got a lot to do.

And he's very busy.

Janet and I shall go to Cheltenham first thing in the morning.

Because we need our children.

Don't we, Janet?

That's the thing that matters.

Now, don't worry, Jenny.

I'll keep a lookout for Charles.

He's bound to come back here with or without Greg.

Anyway, we've got Hubert riding shotgun till tomorrow night.

Hubert's a good shot, aren't you, Hubert?

What'll manage?

Charles has given you the rendezvous. That place by the river.

And he's promised to meet up with us tomorrow night.

That's not even two days.

It's not that. It's just that... Anyway, Philip, thank you very much for

everything.

Poor girl.

A baby, one end of the earth. A man.

Goodbye, my love.

Oh, don't say goodbye. I'll see you soon.

Yes. With my son.

He might not seem very much like me. Well, he won't make me love you, any the

less. We'll have a big reunion.

I've still got those fireworks.

They'll be damned.

No, they won't. I put them in the airing cupboard.

Check the reservoir supply.

I will. And watch Walter's toes. If they turn the slightest shade, slacken off

the spins. Don't worry.

Don't forget the generator.

Get off.

Bye.

Hey, how are we doing?

All right.

What are you doing?

We're building a house. Who for?

Us. John and me.

What's wrong with the one you've got?

We're playing mothers and fathers.

No luck?

Dead as a doornail.

The battery all right?

Checked it with a hydrometer. Seems okay.

Seems ages since they left.

They'll be back.

Of course, it was a rather silly thing to do.

Eh? What was?

Oh, to jump up like that, Jenny.

You're quite right. You could have got yourself killed easy as wink.

Still, it was very brave of you, Hubert.

Charles must have confidence to leave us with you.

Well, now,

did I tell you about the time before the death when I was a shepherd?

One of my sheep got stuck on a ledge halfway down the quarry.

Stuck far, she was.

I went down there without a rope.

No one to hold me in case I fell.

I brought that sheep back up, I did.

Well, what did you do for handhold?

Well, you were carrying the sheep on your back. How on earth did you hold on?

Feet.

All the best climbers use their feet, didn't you know that?

Quite true. Climbing is all balance.

Ah, there you are. Feet.

Anyway, you did save my life. Thank you very much.

What's that?

I'm sorry, Jenny.

Was Hubert... You

see, I think we got it all wrong.

I kept thinking as I was chasing Greg.

White Cross was fine for a time.

We learned to be independent, to survive, but it's not in the centre,

either geographically or actively. There's a lot going on in the Midlands

and the north.

Janet's place is ideal.

Chaloner is just a temporary halt.

And you're the kind of doctor that any settlement could do with.

Could we form one, Janet, with you at Slotin Spencer?

How many of you are there?

Two adults, two children and a baby.

That's all really at Chaloner anyway. There's us two as well, obviously.

I'll have to ask Philip, of course.

Of course.

But is it on?

Oh, yes.

Yes. Why not?

Well, we'd be able to do more rakes, more searches.

And after that, we could bring the others down from White Cross.

Yes, I know.

I think it's a good idea.

It's time I did something positive.

Oh, not you.

Oh, yes.

I was rather sceptical about your friend Greg.

I had no right to be.

Not even sceptical about Hubert's ability to shepherd us.

What matters is sticking together.

Yes.

Never mind, Jenny.

Not long now before you see Paul.

How far to go?

About 50 miles.

Come apart from Seth's place at Linden.

Can we make the four o'clock call?

Oh, we should get there in time.

We hurry.

Oh, we thought we'd missed you.

We're at Linden.

We're on our way to Chaloner. Now, listen, this is very important.

We have Mrs. Millen with us, John's mother.

Yes. Yes, we found her at John's home.

She thought he was dead.

That's incredible, Jenny.

Amazing.

Hey, that's wonderful.

I can't wait to tell Pet, let alone John.

But you're certain it's his mother?

Oh, yes, it definitely is, no doubt at all.

But, Jack, I think you ought to tell him gently.

I mean, don't shock him.

No, well, I'll get Pet to tell him.

But it really is wonderful news, Jenny. I can't believe it.

How's my baby?

Paul? He's fine.

Blooming. Now, don't worry.

Hey, how long have you been travelling?

Oh, you'll be worn out. You've got another two days yet.

We'll manage.

Well, look, if you're at Linden, why don't we come to meet you there?

I mean, you must all be bushed.

Oh, I don't know.

Hold on. I'll ask Charles.

Jack suggests they come out to meet us. We stay where we are.

They come here?

My horse is a bit winded.

Yes, he looks a bit down. Perhaps he ought to rest.

I don't want them to.

It's not a journey for a baby.

Not with just Jack and Pet, anyway.

It can be compromised.

They come and meet us halfway.

Yes, all right. You go and tell them, Jenny.

What if we miss them?

We'll be in a right cape with them, won't we?

They'll be safe enough if they follow our route.

But is it wise?

It's quite a long way to go with a baby.

Our chance seems to think it'll be all right.

What about Doris?

Well, we're on the cart.

I got my gun.

It'll be all right as long as we don't carry any meat.

Anyway, I've arranged it all, haven't I?

I had to make a decision straight away.

I might not have contacted them again.

Yes, all right.

Look at him.

Tomorrow he'll see his mother for the first time in two years.

Liz, love, come and give us a hand, will you?

What's with?

Well, take a minute.

But what about John?

Yeah, well, him too when he's finished his dinner.

Come on.

Haven't you eaten a lot?

Soon we're not going to be able to feed you.

May I leave? In a minute. Leave the table, please.

John.

Do you remember... Well, do you ever think about, you know, what life was

like before... You know, before Greg and Jenny and Charlie and I came along?

Do you?

Not much.

We've never talked very much, have we, about your family?

No.

I just wondered.

Why?

Well, you know how things happen.

People lost touch with each other.

We know Charlie's looking for Greg, and he may not find him for ages, for years

even.

He will.

Oh.

Well, I hope he shares your confidence.

But can you imagine how surprised he'd be if one day he suddenly bumped into

him when he thought that he was... Dead?

Is he?

Oh, no.

No, no, no, no, no. I was just imagining what it would be like.

But suppose somebody told you that somebody that you thought was dead

wasn't dead after all.

Who?

How about your mummy?

I don't know if she is.

But you weren't with her.

You were with your granny when it all happened, everybody dying.

She died?

Your granny died, yes, I know. And then you left, and Greg and Jenny found you.

But suppose you found out that your mummy wasn't dead, that she was lucky,

like you.

I don't know.

John.

Lovey, listen.

Please.

We think that your mummy's alive.

Jenny's coming back with her.

She's coming here tomorrow.

You'll see your mummy again tomorrow.

Miss Charles coming.

Big day.

Yes. Nervous?

Yes, we might miss them.

Oh, I didn't mean that. I know.

Yes, I am.

It's two years.

A child grows a lot in two years. He might hardly remember me.

Oh, I can't believe that.

It's actually longer than two years.

He was at his granny's for a month before they... well, before it happened.

Well, he's very normal.

Very well adjusted, really, considering.

It's remarkable.

I'm quite terrified, actually.

He obviously loved you a great deal.

He talked about me.

No, that's the point. He didn't.

Here we go.

Didn't say goodbye to the cows.

Did you try?

Yeah, I tried.

Well, what did he say?

Nothing. He didn't seem to care.

Well, maybe he doesn't remember his mother.

Well, we've virtually been his parents.

Greg and Jenny, Charlie and me.

Yeah, I suppose so.

But his mother will be expecting hugs and kisses.

No, I don't think so.

I spoke to her on the 8 o'clock call.

She's a vet and very businesslike.

She's bound to understand.

Mommy?

Hello, John.

It's me.

Your mummy.

Where's Janet?

John's with Hubert and the horses.

A real turn-up.

Do you really think we ought to leave, Challoner?

Why?

John. That can't be it, surely.

He's only confused.

No, he was behaving funny before.

I think something's happened.

What?

Don't know.

Maybe he thinks, you know, as kids do, that his mother deserted him or

something.

Well, let's sort out what we're going to do.

Who wants to go back to Chaloner?

Well, I think we ought to stick together.

I'm not going to leave Paul again anyway.

All right, then. That's settled.

Spend the night at Linden with Seth. He can pass word back to Chaloner.

Don't worry, Jenny.

We'll leave word for Greg there.

And Janet's place is the best place for this fellow.

Isn't it?

Where's John?

Where's my pony?

I know I didn't see him all that much, but he was away at school.

Even when he was at home, he was off on the farms.

Well, he knew all the farmers, and I was busy with the practice.

But even so, it's as though he resents me.

Jenny, where's John now? Do you know?

I think he's out exploring with Jack.

And you had the foot and mouth here just before the death?

Yes.

I tried to take him round, but...

He's sitting in the stable.

He won't shift.

Hello, John.

They've taken your pony, have they?

Tell you what, I've never really seen round the farms.

Your mother was telling me about Sam Higgins' place.

A friend of yours, remember?

You used to milk his cows.

Let's go and have a look, shall we?

You know what's happened, don't you, John?

It's the foot and mouth, remember?

They probably wiped out all his cattle.

Or they had to be killed.

You know that, don't you, John?

Cattle have to be killed when there's foot and mouth.

Your mother probably had to help.

But you can't blame her for that, can you?

I want to go back.

I thought he blamed you for his pet cars being killed.

He wouldn't have known he wasn't here.

Well, shall I take Walter's meal up, or will you?

Janet?

That must be it.

I wrote to his granny saying John mustn't come home because I didn't want

him to see the shooting of the cattle and the burying.

He was due home, you see, the day after the foot and mouth broke out.

Obviously, he thought I didn't want him back.

And his granny probably didn't tell him about the foot and mouth.

She probably didn't. Well, his granny died.

All he knew was that his mother had forbidden him to come home again.

But Philip's told him about the foot and mouth.

He doesn't understand.

And he won't listen to me.

He just stares.

I'll talk to him.

It's amazing, isn't it?

It's just the same as it did when you were here.

Remember the old saying, the commoner never lies?

Aye, well, it did.

Quite often.

You know, you can be certain of one thing, you get it fixed in your head.

Then you're wrong.

Do you remember Alistair McFadden?

Ah, that man, yes.

He frightened you, do you remember why?

He would say he was dangerous, like a tiger.

So what did you do?

Ran away.

I bet you don't know what happened then.

Yes, I do.

I stayed out all night, in the treehouse.

No, no, no, I mean what happened to Alistair?

He left.

Do you know why?

Because?

We didn't trust him.

See, we believed that he'd killed you.

And that upset him.

And so he left.

Hubert went after him on his own like a madman.

Of course, we didn't tell you at the time because you were too young.

Turning a knock as you've grown up.

He's changed though, hasn't he, Hubert?

The guy looked after Jenny.

Do you know, Jenny believes that Greg doesn't want to come back to her.

No.

Well,

we'll have to convince her, won't we?

People believe some funny things.

Do you know your mummy believes that you don't love her?

And that you think she didn't want you to come back from your granny's?

I know why, of course.

Because there was foot and mouth here. She didn't want to upset you by seeing

your favourite cows destroyed.

She wrote to your granny.

Telling her to wait for a couple of weeks, but then the death came, didn't

it?

She couldn't telephone or anything.

By the time she got down there, it was too late.

You'd already gone.

It's funny how people believe these things.

Wasn't that incredible?

I actually persuaded him.

Oh, I don't know.

My powers, eh?

Look, I, uh...

I don't suppose I could... No, no, no, no. You're too deeply entrenched.

What?

Well, I just thought, you know, if I can persuade John to see the facts, then

maybe I... You know... What are you talking about?

Well, you know how suspicious you are about Greg.

You know, not wanting him and all that.

Poor old Greg. Oh, shut up.

No, no, no, I know how you feel, no. It's just that when I do find Greg,

which I shall do, how do I explain to him that his woman doesn't want him

anymore?

I mean, she's such a suspicious woman, this woman Jenny.

Poor old Greg.

Now, look here, I think... Oh!

Oh, dear, oh, dear.

Jenny, Jenny.

Don't worry, Jenny.

We'll find him.

We'll find him.

Watch this.