Original subtitles

Thank you.

Yes, I'm sure if we waited for the next train, we could have come straight

through on the central line to Oxford Circus. Well, I just thought that if we

went straight through to Liverpool Street Station, we could get the central

or we could get the Metropolitan, we could go to Baker Street. Yes, I know,

but my point is there's no need to go to Baker Street.

Yes,

I know, but my point is there's no need to go to Baker Street.

There only seems to be one bell.

It hasn't got his name on it.

No, and all the names are here, look, on the door.

That must be the one to ring, then.

Yes, it must be.

Don't forget his mister.

To see, Doctor, Mr. Miller.

I'll show you to the waiting room. Thank you. Alison.

I told Mr. Madam Secretary that you're here.

That is it.

Allison.

Sorry? Oh, I... Oh.

Allison, dear.

No, Barbara, don't do this. She knows very well I don't like to do this.

It doesn't matter. It matters to me. I don't want you to be here. Mr. McIntosh,

I'll see you now. Oh, thank you.

You know the way, don't you? To the second floor. Thank you.

Cigarette.

Mr. and Mrs. Fisher.

Oh, yes.

Mr. Ballam is ready for you now. Oh, thank you. Just up the stairs. Will you

follow me? Yes. Alison.

Oh, yes.

Oh, thank you, Miss Gibson.

Mr. Mellon's ready to see you.

Excuse me.

Just one moment, please.

Perhaps Alison would like to wait here with me.

Yes, of course. Alison.

Now we've had the file from the hospital and you have the letter from your

doctor? Yes, I've got it here. Come this way.

Mr.

and Mrs. Fisher.

Some lovely dresses in this one.

Alison.

Sorry to keep you.

You've probably been told many times before that the symptoms, indeed the

whole case history, suggest a classic form of autism, or rather what we

doctors inadequately describe as autism. A new and more accurate name is badly

needed, I'm sure you'll agree. Clinics, trial guidance, remedial training

centers. Dr. Ross at the clinic said we should come to you, because now she's

17. You see, psychotherapy is the one thing that hasn't been tried yet, would

I say? It is an acknowledged tool in certain areas, but in the case of

autism, there's no real evidence to suggest that it has any success before

puberty. Yes, but now that she is 17...

Well, it's just one more chance we didn't think we had.

Alison has been without speech now since birth.

Yes, that's right.

She was a very pretty child.

I remember when she was about three years old... Happily, that's often the

case.

How do you communicate with her?

Well, we try... We use mime, and she's always seemed to understand simple words

and phrases, but that didn't really help. If anything, it only made her

withdraw more difficult to understand. She just didn't seem to be able to love,

and she hated touch.

Not me, not Jack, not anybody.

Of course, she has improved.

And the school and the clinic, they've helped her a very great deal.

You've stuck together a close family unit.

Everybody says that. Maybe Alison's a needy lady. It's hardly what you would

call normal. The tragedy is that families do crack under stress like

this. Well, our problems don't really seem very important, do they?

You mustn't expect too much from any therapy.

Autism can be overcome, then some unusual talent or skill will be

revealed. You must understand that most autistic children are retarded on all

levels.

Occasionally we do discover some extraordinary, how can I express it,

eyelids, some unusual form of memory, some remarkable musical ability. Miss

Allison used to like music, and she's good with her hands, as you'll see from

the report.

But, no, she's got no special skill.

Have you ever considered having another child?

No. Well, we... Alison quite accepts us now.

She's got her little rituals, her games, and we join in. It all helps. It helps

us all. We've had to build up a sort of independence for her, of course, as best

we could.

Washing, dressing, that kind of thing. She's really very close... Spoiling her

won't do.

She's really very close to becoming socially acceptable. Of course, we know

it means an institution for her once we've got her. We don't want that not

being possible. No, of course we don't.

Well, it wouldn't be right, would it? Putting Alison amongst subnormal and

psychotic people.

That's why we've come to you.

Dr. Ross has much to say that there was some child... Can psychotherapy help?

Not in the early years.

Possibly in adolescence when a child realizes that he or she is different.

Or, for example, when they seem to comprehend death.

I've read and I've been told that you've used it already in many other cases.

Not on truly autistic children, Mrs Fisher. Psychotic children, yes.

Children who can talk. Now searching for a neurosis demands cooperation.

But she's got to understand.

A form of understanding may not be enough.

Well, you will at least see her. Of course I will.

Mrs Davidson.

Yes, Mr Madison. Will you show Miss Fisher in now, please? Yes, of course.

Shall we go and see the doctor now, Alison?

Alison. She doesn't often get a chance to see a room, Alison.

There are some places she just can't take you.

Not if the shapes in it are wrong.

Matter of proportion, I suppose.

Of course, I see that she has... Well, we see that she has a lot of things in

the house that she enjoys looking at. Well, Alison has excellent taste.

Alison. This room was designed by a master of proportion, Robert Adam.

Hello, Alison.

Try to play with some of these?

Make a pattern, perhaps?

No? Never mind.

I'd like to try some of these chaps.

You build something.

I know.

Let's see if we can find someone.

Help, shall we?

Hello, Aniston.

Hello, Aniston.

Give us a bit of help.

Help Mr. Punch.

Help Mr. Punch. Help Mr. Punch. Help Mr. Punch. Help Mr. Punch. Help Mr. Punch.

Yes.

Mrs. Nevinson?

Yes, Mr. Mellon? Will you make an appointment for Alison early next week,

please? Yes, I will. Thank you,

Mr. Mellon.

Bye. Goodbye. Thank you very much, Mr. Mellon. See you next week.

Alison?

Alison?

Bye, Alison.

Would Tuesday 2.30 suit you?

Yes, thank you. I think that would do very well.

I'll show you out.

Alison.

Just a moment.

Yes? Yes, Mr Mullen? You called me just now.

No, I was in the hall seeing the fishers out.

I had a word with Dr Rayburn, but only for a moment.

Doesn't matter, my fault. There, you make an appointment.

Yes, Tuesday, 2.30. Good.

Your tea's nearly ready, Alison.

It's all right, Alison.

It's all right.

Daddy's here.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Monster Party Imagine that we

may know Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Monster Party

Well, that's worth doing. She won't be very excited at all. I know that, but

butter's too cold.

You do it, then.

I don't mind.

Well, do you think madam can really help?

I don't know.

But once he'd seen Alison laugh, he did seem interested.

It's almost worth the visit just for that.

Three years old. That was the last time.

If you remember.

Of course I remember.

Hasn't played that for ages.

It's alright. She likes it. It's not a regression.

I never said it was, did I?

Right.

I'm taking this up to her now.

You coming?

Yes.

Your tea is ready, Alison.

Alison, your tea is ready.

Everything's ready for you, Alison.

Alison, when you take your coat off, you will hang it up neatly and tightly,

won't you?

We were pleased with you today, Alison.

You did very well.

Alison, when you start to play, you will take that nice skirt off, won't you, and

put your overall on.

Your overall, Alison.

Well, I think I'll go and have my cup of tea downstairs.

Dr. Mallon was pleased too.

Don't forget your tea.

Good.

Now find me the cube, Addison.

Well done.

Now, this time, the pyramid, that's triangles on all sides.

That's fine.

Now, I'm going to show you... Oh, Mrs. Levinson, the Rorschach cards, please.

Over here, I think.

I'm going to show you this series of ink blobs, one at a time.

They don't necessarily represent, mean anything.

I want you to look at each one, then draw

or show me what they mean to you.

I know you can draw, Alison, if you want to.

I don't want to.

What did you say?

Alison?

You spoke to me.

I heard you.

How did you do it?

Speak to me again.

No, just pick up the cue... Yes,

what is it?

Your 3.30 appointment's waiting, Mr. Madison. What?

Your 3.30 appointment.

Oh.

Yes, thank you, Mrs. Eddington. We have finished.

Next week, we'll play a different kind of game, Alison.

Alison, you did so well last time, I want to try something new.

Now, these are called Zener cards.

They're five designs.

One, two, three, four, five, you see? Five designs,

and there are five of each.

Would you like to sit over there?

Alison?

In a moment, I'm going to place ten of these Zener cards on the desk where you

can't see them from here.

Then I shall concentrate on each one in turn.

I want you to do the same.

When you think you know what a card is, draw it on that sheet of paper, and then

the next, and the next, and so on.

Understand?

No, Alison, I haven't finished yet.

I want to take the experiment a little further than there.

I'm going to close these doors.

Don't be afraid.

I'm going to choose ten cards.

I want you to write them down.

No. Oh, well.

Never mind. It's not your fault. You're probably tired.

You've tried very hard, Alison. Thank you very much.

Now, shall we come and find your father?

Finished for today, Mrs. Nevinson. We'll take Alison along and find her father.

Her mother bought her today, didn't she, Alison?

Till next time then, Alison.

It's me that had to make all these. Good morning, Dr. Raven.

Late, I'm afraid. You're on a list.

Who's waiting? I need some advice. Not just now, Andrew. Happy this evening,

I'm afraid.

Who's waiting?

Just around there.

Mrs.

Hughes and Sir Henry Brown. I see Sir Henry first.

You'll not keep me long, I hope.

What's it about?

I've got a patient who's a teleper.

Lack of postnatal emotional control.

Phases of severe withdrawal.

Obsession with tactile reinforcement.

Symptoms of a mute autism.

How old is she?

17. We've been struggling for a long time.

So has she, in total silence.

What makes you think she's telepathic?

What's that got to do with mute autism, anyway?

I don't know.

I tested it a day, standard ESP process, Xenocars. Surely, it's going to take

more than a few good statistics.

90% success rate.

How'd you get on with it in the first place?

I really don't know.

First, I thought I heard her talk to me, although she'd been mute all her life,

and then it seemed that she tried to communicate in some other way. And when

she communicates with you... Anyone else ever present?

No, we've always been alone.

That's why I want you to test me.

Oh, my dear fellow.

I'm hardly an expert at this kind of experimentation.

Never mind. You're the best example of an acid test that I could think of.

Besides, I'm in need of my dinner. Five minutes.

Not a minute more.

Mrs. Stevenson, what are you doing? I've nearly finished. I haven't

seen these things in years.

Did you sign the letters?

Yes. Oh, thank you. Good night. They're not marked, are they?

Uh, ten. One minute.

Right.

Ready.

Turn up again.

Okay, look.

Hardly world shattering.

Statistically, well below average. As a reader of minds, it makes you something

of a failure, I'd say.

And it has to be her.

Could it be some puberty phenomenon?

Oh, my dear fellow, aren't you grasping a rather sensational source? Something

more rational, then. What?

I have no idea.

I still need your help, John. It's not my field. For the girl's sake.

How many times has Alison reached out with her mind and found only a brick

wall? Many times, if what you say is true.

Then I come along, and possibly for the first time in her life, contact happens.

In her stage of adolescence, it would be like a revelation, a mystical

combination, a first love. Andrew!

It's also typical of a doctor-patient transference situation.

It could be exactly what is needed in Alison's case, a purposeful one-to-one

relationship. It could also be extremely unhealthy, dangerous. All the more

reason why you should sit in on my next session.

Treatment or psychic research?

I need your eyes, John. I need you to see for yourself, just one session.

Come on, Alison.

It's time to get your coat on.

Oh, you're ready.

Daddy's going to take you to see Mr. Malham today.

That's nice, Alison.

Come along then, dear.

Daddy's waiting.

Mrs. Emerson, look after Alison for a few moments, please.

No correlation whatsoever.

Over 90% out of zero, just like that.

So, conditions for the test, were they different at all? Identical, except for

you being present as observer.

Well, perhaps that's a variable we should consider, the personality factor.

But you saw for yourself, there was no tension, no emotional conflict.

Perhaps enough to affect her sensitivity if she decided I was an intruder.

You aren't. Not to you, perhaps, but Allison might well see it differently.

The premise at least deserves consideration, wouldn't you say?

Uh, Mrs. Nevinson, could we have a little more milk, please?

Thank you.

Allison?

What?

John? It's so simple, it's perfect. Look, look, look.

Of course they are.

What are you saying? That she's four cards ahead?

Precognition. Looks like it.

Remember that last session I told you?

I thought she'd given a series of wrong answers in the long-range sequence

because she was tired. She wasn't.

I had a tour. She skipped four for some reason, then she gave me four in

advance. If what you're saying is even remotely true, then these last four here

must be right on top of the pack.

Three.

Oh, really?

I don't believe it.

Just a random phenomenon.

It's growing, growing, growing, developing, developing, developing into

active life.

You don't have acceptable proof of that. You don't have proof of anything. True,

true, true.

We have to be sure. Now, look, you get the girl back, and I'm going to dig out

some more equipment.

All right.

Andrew, make it something she'll enjoy.

Alison, would you like to come back in for a moment, please, dear?

Ah, what's that, then?

A random light selector.

Ah, I see.

Eliminate the human element.

Now, Allison, this is a new game.

This machine will flash its lights on and off all by itself once I switch it

on. See?

Now, Dr.

Rayburn and I have no idea which light will flash next.

We want you to sit in the next room and think about which one you think will

come on next.

I'll only attempt ten occurrences, that's all we need.

Won't take long.

Dr. Rayburn that he won't talk to me.

He's here to help me. He's a friend.

Trust him.

Has it got to be me alone?

Very well.

Simple sequence of 10. All right. I'm ready.

Ten, that's it.

Right, let's see.

Identical.

Interesting. Interesting?

It's astounding!

That's a beginning.

These tests aren't the only factor we have to consider, Andrew.

I'd like to suggest a more simple test conducted by me. For what purpose? To

define the limits of Allison's corporation.

We've both seen what you can do, John. We have to go further. No!

I'm asking you to trust me.

All right. What do you want me to do? Go for a walk.

Farther away the better.

Give me half an hour.

Alison? I want to concentrate, just as you did before.

I'm going to use the light machine, just the way Mr. Mallon did.

Using the machine means that I can't... I can't interfere.

I can't come between you and what you... what you

see.

Did you want a line?

No, no, sorry, sorry, thank you.

You will see something, won't you?

Because the results are important.

Even though Mr Mallon is not here, you... You know he wants you to succeed,

don't you?

Try, Alison.

For his sake.

I'll start machine now.

Something went wrong. What happened?

Precisely nothing.

We've been waiting for you to get back.

I think Alison should go home now, don't you? Yes, till next week then, Alison.

Something went wrong. What was this for a start?

A random light test.

Identical conditions to the previous experiment with one important

difference. You weren't there.

You said yourself she might feel confused. Lost is the word.

Without you, the child either can't or won't cooperate.

We've already discussed the dangers of emotional dependence in a situation like

this. You must end it now.

She tried to contact me while I was in the park. You heard her voice? No, it

was purely visual. I saw her looking desperately lost. It was only for an

instant, but I knew something was wrong. One thing is very wrong, Andrew. Your

motivation.

Everything you've seen is fact.

I've invented nothing.

Allison is unique. Can if she is.

You know very well the stir such a phenomenon would cause.

The media, scientific pundits.

Could you imagine the way they'd put that child through the hoop?

It would be an object, not a person. Is that what you want?

You seriously think I'd do that?

Many autistic children have eyelids of exceptional talent. Brilliance, even.

Look, the talent that the chief possesses is hers alone.

If for some reason she's offered it to you... I accept it in all its

implications. You haven't the right for the first time in her life real

communion with another human being? You'd forbid her that? What you propose

is too cruel!

Do you really regard your patient as a scientific specimen to be observed and

recorded through every miserable stage of her existence?

Since when has science taken precedence over humans? We must reach out to the

limits, John. We must secure all the possibilities of human existence. That

classic excuse.

Of course I respect Alison as a human being. Damaged and in need of help, but

with a potential which puts her far beyond our understanding. And if

anything goes wrong, she beats the safeguards, I swear. With you as

watchdog, they'd be effective. If you cannot offer the child proper treatment,

send her home for good.

All right.

A compromise. Some final physiological tests.

Purely technical.

EEG, buzzer, biofeedback, that sort of thing.

Still need your help, John.

Please. You see?

Preceding each alpha climax.

An expectation, Peter. A full 30 seconds ahead.

Better still, look at the theta wave coincidence. Interlock with alpha

doesn't prove ESP. But the two are both closely linked with the created impulse.

Similar trace patterns also occur during dreaming, even during meditation

rituals.

Did she speak to you? No, no, no. Look, I want to run a simultaneous EEG on

Alison and myself over a sequence of ten Xenics. It's late, Andrew. I was doing

St Thomas's five minutes ago.

Mrs. Davidson?

Yes, sir?

Look, I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel the clinic. Will you ring them,

please? I will.

Thank you very much.

You see him?

See who?

Timothy, my God, sir.

See him? No. Why?

Emigrated to Australia with his parents three years ago.

I saw nothing.

Then something in Alison triggers off this latent power in me.

And all those tests, the results?

Transmitted to her by me, the very person who's conducting the experiment.

She's just an agent.

Alison. Alison.

Do you realize what we've become, you and I?

The two of us together form something unique.

A composite mind.

Do you understand?

Come along, my dear.

I'm going to take you to your father, and he'll take you home. It's all right.

Come along.

What will you tell him?

Nothing.

Neither will you.

I must see Mr. Palin before he leaves tonight. What time's his last

appointment?

Five o'clock. Good. I'll see you straight off. Right. Thank you.

Well, a bit of difficulty breathing, but otherwise, not bad.

I'm sorry.

Not at all.

I knew it was going to happen, you see.

Did we keep this in our command?

No, it just came.

And the girl?

I've told you, an essential part of the mental process.

She's more than just a girl. Oh, call it... Convenient.

functioning organism.

She's an individual.

Handicapped or not. The quality of precognition only exists when she is

present. The sole measure of her individuality is as a catalyst, and as

yet only by accident.

Think of it as a tool, John, a scientific tool. Consider the

application. It's just a random phenomenon.

Then it must be channeled and controlled.

Without me, she'd be just another autistic child and probably condemned to

an institution for life. She came to you as a patient. You still have...

That obligation?

The Pallison and I are partners in a fascinating creative experiment.

Yes, there will never be anything more than your shadow.

An echo to your... your mind.

What is he?

Passive.

You don't even have a language of communication that could lead on to help

her learn something worthwhile.

Surely the child deserves compassion.

I understand.

But it cannot stop here. I have to know where it will take me.

And Alison?

Don't be afraid for her.

Alison?

Alison?

If you can hear me, answer me.

It's very late, Alison.

Time to go to sleep.

Now, Alison, how many times have I told you that... It's been

a bit upsetting for you today, I know.

I'm glad you finished your nice picture, Alison.

But you don't want to go to sleep looking at it, do you?

Good night, Alison.

God bless.

Alison?

Just a minute, please.

I'm Miss Gibson and Mr. Mallon would like to see both Alison and Mr. Fisher.

Oh, they're here now. I was just shown into the waiting room. Oh, could you

show them up right away?

Alison?

We were just wondering if there was anything particular we could do to help.

You're used to being patient, Mr. Fisher. I can see that. But it's only

fair that you should know what's going on.

Oh, the methods you're using? Yes.

Electroencephalograph readings, for example. Of course, several times.

How I interpret them in her particular case might interest you.

I've no idea why she turned on you like that.

She's never done such a thing before.

Hans?

She isn't a violent child. She never has been.

Perhaps it would be better if we cancelled today's appointment, Mr

Fisher. I'm sorry, Mr Mellon. Truly, I am.

You must forgive Alison, please. She meant no harm.

Alison.

Going home now.

Alison, forgive me.

I didn't know.

I didn't know.