Original subtitles

Before I saw you, I didn't know it, but now, I discover...

...I'm not a bad poet.

Fiona, last night I wrote a poem that could also be a song.

It's about you.

Do you love her? Yeah.

A medieval kind of love.

Bardon's father is trying to call him into the organisation.

Talking about sacks of fertiliser, and the purchase of detonators.

Someone told us you were having problems with your heart.

I just get off the phone from your cousin Bardon.

Your nan had a heart attack this morning.

It's your grandmother.

I have decided to recommend you for three days' compassionate leave.

Last night was an alarm going off.

I'm going to change the venue, and I will need new people.

If you're one tenth of what your brother was,

you can earn a grand a week just looking like how you look.

Dante, I've had this idea

that I could do the tunes and you could do the words.

What do you say?

This programme contains strong language, some violent scenes and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

SKA MUSIC PLAYS

LIQUID SPLASHES

Out through the door, run down 20 floors.

Drive along the motorway until you reach the Milky Way.

Get directions from a spaceman.

Get a lift in a chip van, and there, in a hurricane...

...is my nan.

Is it just me?

All except compassionate leave's been cancelled

because of the hunger strikes.

Where we going?

Birmingham Bronx.

Where?

Chelmsley Wood council estate.

Just get to Birmingham and head for the plumes of smoke.

Let's get these loaded onto the van.

I thought we were doing the diesel?

You thought wrong.

Is something the matter, son?

And there's a wee parcel under the sacks.

Get that as well.

So you start a fire, the funeral pyre...

of all that's normal and flat and dull,

and the afternoon has its own mad tune.

Then comes the night.

The bad kids fight, the dope-heads take flight,

the police flash their lights.

And me? I sit at home and I write.

Jesus, Dad, what the fuck!

You show me the thing Nana hated the most the day before we bury her?

When the time comes to bury me, I'd like good men

standing over my grave, firing one of these over my coffin.

I'd like one of those men to be you.

So have a fucking go, son.

I'm wondering if you're a man at all, Bardon.

She's there, above the tower blocks, landing on the chimney tops.

Singing with the blackbirds, "Dante,

"you can take your words, and put them to a birdsong."

Then bang goes the gong.

All along I've been wrong.

How could I have been so thick?

Words... need... music.

Why here, Mum?

I used to sing here.

On Saturday nights when you were little.

Are you sober?

You'd think the news would make me go back, but it was the opposite.

Last night I drank tea.

Mum, you know it were me who found Nana on the floor.

She loved you.

She loved you as well.

Nah.

I'm the worthless one.

Mum...

She said that.

She said, "You are the daughter I'm not proud of."

You made a lot of people mad,

saying bad things cos of how you were.

But you're getting better now, Mum, right?

So am I invited?

Am I allowed to attend my own mother's funeral or not?

Dad says you can come but you have to be sober.

Ha-ha!

Ah, yes. Company rules.

No volunteer will drink before 6pm.

No volunteer will take or deal in any class A drugs

or share a roof with anyone who does.

But you're clean now, Mum, right?

Any volunteer who breaks the rules will have their kneecaps drilled,

or have them shot away.

Bardy, if I come to the funeral, will you hold my arm?

Please will you hold my arm, Bardy?

There's something I want to do at the funeral.

Why does that make me nervous?

Well, cos you were always a nervous little boy.

SHE CHUCKLES

I smell diesel on your coat.

You joined the marching band?

No, I just help with the cones.

It begins with the diesel.

Well with me, it ends with the diesel.

I know when you're lying.

What?

Some stuff came.

They're planning something, but I said no.

You said no? Made it clear.

Nothing is clear with them.

You should pack your bags.

Where would I go?

Be with me in my little bucket.

You're worse than the Ra, Mam.

If you stayed sober for even a month...

...Dad could ask permission for you to move back onto the estate.

Nah, the Ra will allow no reconciliation.

The Ra does not forgive, the Ra does not forget.

And, anyway, fuck 'em.

I'm OK in my little bucket by the motorway.

Mum, I will hold your arm.

Just be sober.

Be yourself...

...when you're funny and nice.

SHE LAUGHS

What songs did you sing?

Shirley Bassey...

...Judy Garland.

It's only Rebel music now.

In those days, we just had a laugh.

Too much of a laugh, Mum.

Yeah.

Probably.

Probably.

Mum, if you want, I'll get the bus with you tomorrow.

We can have sandwiches and cakes, like when I was a kid.

Smoking on the top deck.

Yeah, bus back full of drunks.

SHE LAUGHS

Bardy...

Not being with you is like carrying a chisel in my heart.

We'll get the bus to Birmingham tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.

Yeah.

I'll bring the cakes. Just be there.

You. Yourself.

I'll leave the wicked witch in the bucket by the big road.

See you at the bus stop, my nervous little baby.

And wash that fucking diesel out of your clothes,

or you'll get so you can't even smell it.

If you're late, I'll go without you.

♪ It is you

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ It is you, you... ♪

This was my first suit.

I bought it when I was 17 at Palmer's in Kingston Town.

And I did wear it with this hat.

I can't wear this to a funeral.

Your nan loved hats.

She would want you to have some... Style?

She'd want you to have some... stoosh, you know?

You don't like those old words.

Yeah, well, I see you stand up and look good in this suit,

take me back, you know?

Back where you didn't want to be?

What that girl name again?

Fiona.

Your mama was my Fiona.

My first love.

I was lucky. She liked me.

You need somebody... There's a girl called Jeannie now.

Boy, you move fast, see. Nah.

Jeannie's just funny.

She writes music.

Your brother coming back today.

You should talk to him.

About what?

About being 18.

Talk to him about spending a night out in Babylon

and being all right.

It doesn't look like me.

But it is you, Dante.

This is who you are.

About a month ago, your nan said to me,

"You can't keep that boy shut up in a box.'

So, today, in her honour...

...I'm opening up the box.

But just a lickle.

Rock-hard and gorgeous.

DUB REGGAE PLAYS

Hello, uncle Eamonn.

Welcome home, Gregory.

Sorry to bring you all the way up here,

but Special Branch follow me round.

I didn't think you'd want them to have photos of you and me alone.

What do you want?

You know what I am,

and I know what you are.

I thought it'd be a good idea for us

to arrange a truce before the funeral.

I've had plenty to drink already.

Celebrating getting out of hell for a few days?

A truce...

...in her honour.

Yeah.

Agreed.

There'll be some of our people there.

Well, we can talk about the weather.

The hunger strikes are getting people to act out of character.

But the truce will hold. That, I can swear.

Let's start the truce now, Gregory.

Go on.

Oh!

You take after your da.

He could drink.

He's been on the wagon for four years now, you know.

How's Estella?

Riding her addictions madly through the streets of Coventry

like Lady Godiva.

I'm surprised one of your comrades hasn't introduced her

to the underside of a bus.

She was found guilty of having a big mouth, that's all.

I keep an eye on her.

I still love her...

...if you want the truth.

Love?

In Coventry?

Yeah.

Mad fucking English junkie and still somewhere in my attic, up here,

is a picture of her at sweet 16.

Ah, yeah.

Sweet 16.

♪ I loved you as I'd never loved before... ♪

You hate us but you're learning our songs?

♪ Since first I saw you on the village green

♪ Come to me ere my dream of love is o'er

BOTH: # I love you as I loved you

♪ When you were sweet 16. ♪

The only good thing about you Irish bastards is your music.

DOOR SLAMS SHUT

The boy with the ball is strong and tall and talented and gifted,

and when his hood is lifted,

instead of a head, there's a football instead.

It's like the ball is tied to his shoes.

They say he could've played for the Blues

But he's got these birds flying around his head,

saying, "Fuck football. Be a poet instead."

Dad said you only play football on your own now.

She's not gone, y'know. Of course she's not.

People don't go if you don't let them.

I won't let her go.

How is it over there?

Belfast?

It's fucked up.

How's it been over here?

Fucked up.

I thought you'd be famous by now, you know,

playing for the Blues.

I no longer engage in any activity that pits working-class people

against each other.

Dad said these days you read a lot.

HE LAUGHS

Did he say, "He reads a lot," like he's proud, or did he say,

"He reads a lot," like it's bad?

He just said, "Him read a whole heap o' book, you know."

So I don't know. Maybe he just means too much.

Do you read about politics?

Yeah.

About pornography? What?!

I'm just asking.

Cos you don't go to dances, you don't get into trouble.

I just don't...

You sound like you're accusing me of something.

I'm not accusing you of nothing.

I was asking around about you.

Around the estate.

Mostly people say the same thing, that they never see you.

Dad keeps me in.

There was this one old guy, though.

He walks his dog at night.

Said he saw you on the bridge.

Like, standing on the bridge. Like, on the edge.

When Dad was drinking...

...people laughing at him...

...I went to the bridge and I looked down.

No-one will understand what happened next.

It's my job to stand on a bridge and look down, Dante, not yours.

I had words come into my head.

Words of explanation.

Words in no order, but I knew...

...that if I could put them in the right order...

...I would understand. Understand what?

I don't know.

I haven't put them in the right order yet.

The old guy said it was recent.

I go back there.

I have to go back and stand there to get the feeling sometimes.

Then I always step back.

Yeah, until the day you decide not to step back.

I've got too much to do first.

With words?

Yeah.

If you ever, ever think about not stepping back,

I have your hand, OK? That fucking hurts.

Yeah, I know, it's meant to hurt, make you remember

that I have your hand.

Nan has your other hand and I've got this one.

So if you ever, and I mean ever, think about not stepping back,

I need you to feel this.

Do you understand?

Good to have you back, brother.

HE SCOFFS

You ready for tomorrow?

I'm going to wear a hat.

What hat?

When I wear Dad's hat, I feel like dancing.

OK.

So, tomorrow, when it's done,

you and me, we're going to go dancing.

ORGAN INTRODUCTION PLAYS

♪ Many rivers to cross

♪ But I can't seem to find

♪ My way over

♪ Wandering, I am lost

♪ As I travel along the white cliffs of Dover

♪ Many rivers to cross

♪ And it's only my will

♪ That keeps me alive

♪ I've been licked, washed up for years

CAMERA CLICKS

♪ And I merely survive

♪ Because of my pride... ♪

Hold it up.

Gentlemen.

♪ Oh, that loneliness won't leave me alone... ♪

BELL TOLLS IN DISTANCE

♪ It's such a drag to be on your own... ♪

How have you been, man?

Studying a lot. Yeah, and me.

LIGHTER CLICKS

What the fuck is this? My dad's.

When he was a bad boy.

Everybody gets a turn at being a bad boy except me. Come, Dante.

In a minute, Dad.

Somebody told me you'd been scouted by a football team.

Not really a football team.

Birmingham City.

So, are you gonna play?

I didn't turn up for the trials.

I saw this nice tree.

Decided to climb it.

When I was in the tree, I had a better idea.

You haven't changed then, Dante.

You're still a fucking lazy, messed-up Brummie weirdo.

I'm not lazy.

All the others, yeah.

BOTH LAUGH

Are you still dancing? Yeah.

Have you ever heard of Rock Steady dancing? No. Why?

Are you boys coming in or what?

I actually can't stand for Nana to be in a box.

I mean, it's like hell for her.

Yeah, she even hated phone boxes.

I can't go in, Bardy.

No, we'll wait outside.

CAMERA CLICKS IN DISTANCE

Bardon, I swear to God, somebody just took our photograph.

Yeah, that'll be the Special Branch. Your dad's still a rebel?

Oh, Dante, he's the fucking King of Coventry.

And you should keep your distance.

Anybody in the same photo as me will go on their list.

Look at the hat, I'm a rebel.

HE CHUCKLES

I don't give a fuck about lists.

What do you give a fuck about these days, Dante?

HE SIGHS

Last night, I wrote something for Nana.

A song.

Come and listen.

"The willow tree I stood beneath, and cried.

"She found me and asked me,

'What the hell?' and I lied...

"She always had a word for things that I feel.

"I always think of her when I smell orange peel."

What'd you think?

I thought it was a song.

Why didn't you sing? I can't sing.

What did you think of the words?

I was expecting to be surprised and hear something fucking amazing.

However, it was really, really bad.

The words are true though, Bardy.

I only write true things.

I mean, seriously, "orange peel"?

She used to peel my oranges.

See...

If it's true, it makes you see things and it breaks your heart.

And there's this girl and she gave me a cassette.

What are you talking about, Dante? I listened to it and it's OK.

You asked me what I give a fuck about.

Well, there's this girl who came to my bridge.

And then, Bardy, I remembered, you used to sing those rebel songs

at parties with your dad, on the flute when we were kids.

And I remembered, you had a good voice.

And just now, I thought Nan might've liked it if I wrote the words

and you sung them and this skinhead girl wrote the music.

CLACKING APPROACHES

Fuck.

Mum!

Oh, shit.

Mum, what are you doing? I hitch hiked.

Jesus, Mama, you got into cars with strangers.

I missed the bus by one minute.

But I remembered the cakes. You've been drinking.

I want to go in.

It's my mother.

Mum, if Dad sees you like this... Fuck him! And fuck 'em all!

I wanna say goodbye to my mother. And I will.

Hello, Aunt Estella.

Who's this big lump?

I'm Dante.

Holy shit, the size of him now.

Oh!

SHE SNIFFLES, SIGHS

I like the hat. I think it's actually alive.

OK, I've walked all the way from the M6 slip road

and these heels are ripping my feet up

and I'm not sure I can walk any further.

Dante, you hold my right arm, Bardy, you hold my left arm.

Take me into that church or I swear to God, I will set it on fire.

If she says she'll set the church on fire,

she will set the church on fire. Take her other arm.

All right, let's go.

CONGREGATION: # ..wither and perish, but...

♪ ..nought changeth thee

♪ Great Father of glory

♪ Pure Father of light

♪ Thine angels adore thee

♪ All veiling their sight

♪ All laud we would render

♪ O, help us to see

♪ 'Tis only the splendour of light... ♪

Take me up to the front! ♪ ..hideth thee... ♪

DOOR CLOSES

WHISPERING

WHISPERING: It's Estella. Yeah, it's Estella.

Did you know she was coming?

Right...

Ladies and gentlemen.

Hymns are all very well,

but I am here to say goodbye to my mother.

In my own way.

In the way she would've wanted.

I'm going to sing her favourite song.

When I was little and I would sing it, she would always cry.

Mum, please. Shut up and listen!

SHOCKED WHISPERING

SHAKILY: # When all the world

♪ Is a hopeless jumble

♪ And the raindrops tumble all around

♪ Heaven...

♪ ..opens a magic lane

♪ When all the clouds darken up the skyway

♪ There's a rainbow highway to be found

♪ Leading from your window pane

♪ To a place behind the sun

♪ Just a step beyond the ra-a-a-a-ain...

♪ Somewhere over the rainbow

♪ Way up high

♪ There's a land that I heard of

♪ Once in a lullaby

♪ Somewhere over the rainbow

♪ Skies are blue

♪ And the dreams that you dare to dream

♪ Really do come true... ♪

Bye, Nana. ♪ Someday I'll wish upon a star

♪ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me

♪ Where troubles melt like lemon drops

♪ Away above the chimney tops

♪ That's where you'll... ♪

That's what I'm talking about. ♪ ..find me... ♪

Truth.

♪ Somewhere over the rainbow

♪ Bluebirds fly

♪ Birds fly over the rainbow

♪ Why, then, oh, why can't I?

♪ If happy little bluebirds fly

♪ Beyond the rainbow, why

♪ Oh...

♪ Why...

♪ ..can't...I...? ♪

Estella, my love.

OK, Dante.

Dad says it's time.

Time for what? Time for all that.

Fuck off! Baptism of fire. Is that it, Gregory?

Today, all you need to do is stay with me.

We'll raise a toast to Nan.

Dante, you can drink water if you want.

Look at ya.

You're dressed for a funeral and you're wearing Dad's hat.

Look like a proper rude boy.

What's a rude boy?

Inside the Happy Trooper, you're going to find rude boys,

skinheads and Zulus.

The rude boys come up from Coventry,

the skinheads are from white council estates in Redditch and Shirley,

and the Zulus are mostly from round 'ere, and they're in charge.

Luckily, most of the Zulus are my friends from the past,

so they should leave you alone.

Unless you do something really weird.

Dante? Don't do anything weird, OK?

Good man.

MUFFLED REGGAE MUSIC PLAYS

MUSIC: Enjoy Yourself by Prince Buster

Virgil.

HE CHUCKLES

All right, mucker.

Who the fuck's Virgil?

Roman poet from the second century.

Here, you two. It's me old mate, Wire.

These two boys are with me. My brother and my cousin.

So leave them alone.

FRIEND CHUCKLES

Dante! You look amazing.

This is Dante, he helped me shift the stuff we looted.

He did what? The only thing he wanted to keep was a spaceman.

What spaceman? Dante, come with me.

There's still lots of the good stuff left.

You can take your pick for helping me.

Dante, what fucking spaceman?

Did you listen to the music? Yes.

Bardon, come over here.

Bardon can sing. RUSTLING

Bardon, show her. Sing something.

Dante, your brother said don't do anything weird.

You're being weird.

Trust me, my cousin can sing like a bird.

This girl is Jeannie, she looks like that, but she writes music.

And then in between you two, there's me.

All this stuff was stolen, right?

Liberated. Outsiders have to pay.

He's our singer, he doesn't have to pay.

Dante, what the fuck you talking about, "our singer"?

There's somebody I want to impress.

I want her to listen to my heart breaking.

Was he like this when he was born?

We'll use the lock-up where I put the spaceman.

Dante, what fucking spaceman? Let him talk.

I think he's having an idea.

The three of us will write a song...

...and put it on a cassette

and then I will take it to Sutton Coldfield, where she lives.

Sutton fucking Coldfield? Or to the record shop where she works.

It's a song about love.

Love? I want to express it in a way she will understand.

Jeannie, come and dance.

Sorry, she's busy. WHISPERED: No, it's OK.

Come 'ere. No, wait, wait.

Fuck. Dante, let's... go and find your brother.

We can all meet at the lock-ups, I'll bring a cassette recorder.

Fucking rude boy.

That hat belongs to my dad.

Fuck your dad.

That hat belongs to my dad.

Dante, come. We'll tell your brother and he will get the hat back.

That hat...

...belongs... to my... dad.

Oh, fuck.

REGGAE MUSIC PLAYS

This hat... belongs... to my dad.

Fuck off.

GLASS SHATTERS

Right, fucking come on, then! Go on!

Let them walk!

♪ ..who could ever preach you

♪ He was a son of a preacher man

♪ The only guy who could teach me

♪ He was a son of a preacher man... ♪

Just breathe.

Come on.

♪ Oh, yes, he was

♪ Yes, he was... ♪

Jesus, did you know he could do that? No.

Neither did he.

It's in the blood. Dad could fight.

Army middleweight champion, Catterick 1969.

Did I hurt anybody?

Yeah.

Me.

You broke my fucking heart.

My... My hands are shaking.

Try this. It'll calm you down.

So... What the fuck?

DANTE COUGHS

A fight about a hat?

Yeah.

Thing is though, Dante, you were good.

Two big lads that I know can handle themselves,

and you put 'em down in ten seconds. You looked like a natural.

That's not what I want. Yeah, well...

Don't matter what you want.

Some people have it, some people don't.

Well, I don't want it.

Some of the people who just witnessed what you did

are people that are always on the lookout.

Like scouts.

This is how it starts, Dante.

You get spotted in the bar with a Trooper, you get recruited.

You make some money, you make some more money,

and then you get caught and you go to jail.

And you're just one more black kid in Winson Green.

Dante, don't laugh, it's not funny.

That's nearly what happened to me. That's why I got out.

When I'm gone, there's going to be a knock at the door.

And somebody's going to offer you free tickets to a football game.

And on the coach, you're going to hear all these stories

about the mighty Zulus.

And it looks like a laugh, stealing fag machines,

rigging fruit machines, but then you get involved with illegal clampers,

you start stealing cars, dealing dope.

They're good people, but they're dangerous.

That isn't who I am, Gregory.

Yeah, and Bardon isn't a volunteer for the Ra.

"That isn't who I am", he says.

But they'll get him in the end.

Cos he's a smart Provo boy from a family of three generations,

so they will get him in the end.

The only way to get away from these places is to get your body away.

If you don't get away,

you just become what everybody already thinks you are.

Go home.

Don't let Dad see your fists.

Come here.

Go with him.

SOFTLY: Fuck.

KNOCKING

Deuce, somebody stole my shoes from the graveyard

and I've no way of getting home.

And I know you've been to the same corner of hell where I am,

and I just wanted to ask your advice.

Can I come in?

Yes, of course.

What you doing up here?

Think I come here to pray.

You pray to the M6?

You could have sectarian conflicts with people that worship the M1.

Nah... The M1 people are fine.

It's those M40 bastards that I hate.

What a family we are, eh?

I haven't told a living soul this, Dante...

...but yesterday,

my dad took delivery of all the ingredients needed to make bombs.

Like big fucking bombs.

See?

The bridge does that to people.

Like a confessional. He's trying to bring me in.

So I'm thinking of going down there

on the slip road right now,

putting out my thumb and fucking off to London.

Sorry, you can't do that. Why not? You've got to sing my song.

For some bird in Sutton Coldfield you're in love with?

Not just that.

What else?

OK...

Bridge-induced confession.

I've got to do something to stop myself thinking

nothing is worth doing.

And right now, that something is writing a song.

I've got a guitar, a tin whistle and a big fucking Irish drum.

I'll bring them along.

And if you don't have feelings for that girl, Jeannie, I like her.

What about her boyfriend?

I'll threaten him with you.

DANTE CHUCKLES

I hope we're not shit.

Nah, we won't be shit.

We'll take over the 'ole fucking world.

♪ I can see clearly now that the rain is gone

♪ Well, I can see all obstacles in my way

♪ Yeah

♪ Gone are the dark clouds that used to make me blind

♪ Well, it's gonna be a bright Bright

♪ Oh, bright Bright sunshiny...

♪ Sunshiny day

♪ Oh, I can see a bright Bright

♪ Oh, little bright now Bright sunshiny...

♪ Sunshiny day

♪ Uh, uh, yeah Looka here. ♪

The middle fingers of the other two of my doormen...

...who opened your security doors and allowed the looters in.

I hope this proves to you that my apologies are sincere.

And I hope that we can continue our productive business relationship,

when you collect the insurance money and... reopen your nightclub.

When it reopens, it won't be a nightclub.

It will be a music venue.

And I can't consider doing business with you

until I have received the sufficient level of contrition.

Take it out.

And put it in your mouth.

HE LAUGHS What?

As an act of contrition to prove the depth of your remorse.

Put the finger in your mouth.

HE LAUGHS Fuck off.

OK, let me try this another way.

Put the finger in your mouth or I pull the trigger.

And you know I'll pull the trigger because you know I have holes

all over Birmingham where I can put you

and cover you up with concrete and the next person to see your bones

will be a fucking archaeologist.

Why?

Why d'you want me to do that?

To control a city, men like me need legends of madness.

You are engaged in a legendary moment.

Put the finger in your mouth or be a dead person.

GUN CLICKS

WIRE BREATHES HEAVILY

HE GRUNTS

HE GULPS

All the way.

HE CHOKES

I'm changing the venue to cater for a younger audience.

The dinner-dance market, it's dead.

And I will need security,

but I will need people I know I can trust to never let me down.

Can I trust you to never let me down again?

HE GULPS

Good.

See, now we're in a good place.

It's a place of trust.

WIRE GULPS

Spit it out.

WIRE SPLUTTERS

HE PANTS

HE SPITS

It's a waste of fucking single malt.

Fuck you, you mad fucking bastard.

Mad is right. Madness and legends of madness.

The knowledge that I just might.

So, now...

HE SIGHS

Do I hear news amongst the various jungles

and swamps that fester around this city...?

And I heard about an incident on the Chelmsley Wood estate.

In terms of future potential,

talk to me about Virgil's brother.

I'm watching the birds taking off.

And I'm thinking about you.

I'm watching the clouds opening up.

And I'm thinking about you.

I'm watching the traffic in the rain.

There's people waiting for the train.

The lights have just come on above the shops.

And everything says your name.

I want to walk around beside you.

I want to hear your voice, I want to show you things

that I won't let anyone see.

Cos you make me see beautiful things

and you make me feel beautiful things.

And I can see them.

And I can feel them, everywhere.

So give me a day, I'll walk you away from everything

that's in your way.

Give me your time and I'll give you mine

and we can make everything shine.

Because you make me see...

And you make me feel...

And you make all these beautiful things... real.

Bardon!

I'm going out. I have a wee task for you, son.

I need you to go and make a phone call, son.

From a phone box, yeah.

What call?

Just call that number.

Use those code words. They'll know it's real. Know what's real?

In half an hour, a bomb will go off inside Coventry rail station. Fuck.

COINS JANGLE They need 20 minutes

to clear the station, so you have ten minutes, Bardon.

Welcome, son.

Come here, give me a hug.

HE GRUNTS

The train station's full of people.

Unless you make the call, a lot of them will die.

We've decided you'll make the call.

It's time a son of mine stepped up.

Now go to the phone box and make the call! You fuck!

Bang is 10:30.

You have nine minutes.

Go and do your duty.

BARDON BREATHES SHAKILY

FOOTSTEPS RETREAT DOWNSTAIRS

DOOR OPENS, SLAMS

Fuck! HANDSET CLATTERS

SHE SCREAMS

What? No! What the fuck? I'm sorry. I'm sorry!

What're you doing?! I'm really sorry.

SHE YELPS Sorry.

Thank you.

DIAL TONE DRONES

CALL DIALS

COINS CLATTER

PHONE BEEPS REPEATEDLY

Agh! Fuck...

Speaking, how can I help you? Michael Collins.

Code word Michael Collins.

There's a bomb. Coventry train station.

In the station. I don't know what platform.

Michael Collins.

What the hell?! I'm sorry. I'm... sorry.

Sorry...

How was the funeral? Who's asking?

Commander Bentley, Special Branch.

Inside the envelope, there are photos.

Taken last night at midnight inside Coventry Rail Station.

I've got a ferry to catch.

If I tell the ferry to wait, it'll wait.

Open the envelope.

It's an order, Sergeant Williams.

Two platforms blown to shreds.

Were there casualties?

Not this time.

The Coventry brigade has been activated.

And according to our surveillance, the funeral you just attended,

you have intimate connections with some of its most senior members.

Related by blood.

By the way, the call was made by a boy, estimated age about 18.

Think you might know him.

UNDER HIS BREATH: Fuck.

Yeah. "Fuck."

So, Sergeant Williams, this is how it's going to be.

You'll return to your unit in Belfast where you are

already under consideration for psychiatric assessment.

You'll be recommended for indefinite leave away from active service.

You'll return to the family home in Birmingham

where you will engage with those members of your family

with connections to the Coventry branch of the IRA.

Your next question is going to be,

"Are you asking me to spy on my own family?" to which I answer "No".

I'm not asking you to spy on your own family.

I'm ordering you to spy on your own family.

If I say "No"...

I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that, Sarge.

If you refuse to carry out my orders, I'll have you

on a charge of desertion. You'll go to fucking jail.

Keep those if you like.

Keep them as part of your family photo album.

Fucking sweet family you've got, haven't you, Sergeant.

CAR DOOR CLOSES, ENGINE STARTS

HE DRIVES AWAY

This is where we find out if we're any good.

All we need now is our lead singer.

♪ Someday I'll wish upon a star

♪ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me

♪ Where troubles melt like lemon drops

♪ Away above the chimney tops... ♪ CAR BEEPS

♪ That's where you'll find me

♪ Somewhere

♪ Over the rainbo-o-o-ow

♪ Birds fly over the rainbo-o-o-o-w

♪ Somewhere over the rainbo-o-o-w

♪ Birds fly over the rainbow... ♪

VOCALISING