All language subtitles for Inside No. 9 S09E02 The Trolley Problem

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

WIND GUSTS

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER CRACKS

I'll just let it stew for a minute.

Nothing worse than a weak tea,
is there?

Well, there are a few worse things,
but I know what you mean.

Do you take sugar?
No, thank you.

I'll put one in anyway.
It's good for shock.

And you're sure you don't want
a tot of whisky or anything?

I don't drink.
Ah, very wise.

Is there anyone
you'd like me to call?

No. Thank you. I don't want
to put you to any trouble.

It's only a cup of tea.
Is cow's milk all right?

As opposed to what?
Hmm.

Can I ask how long you were
out there?

Um, not sure. A couple of hours.

And nobody stopped?

No. Well, why would they?
I suppose I was just a man

standing on a bridge
looking at the view.

Must have been...

..20 or 30 people walk by.

It's the bystander effect.
The more people there are,

the less likely any of them
are to help.

Why did you stop?

I thought you looked
like a bit of a lost soul.

Anyway, don't feel like
you have to say anything.

Um, I'm happy just to sit with you,
give you some space.

Thanks. Um, I will just...

HE SIGHS

..take some time.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. I've got
some stuff to do anyway.

WIND GUSTING

You went to Cambridge?

McCambridge. It's an online college.
Hmm.

Should've got a bigger frame.
It looks like it says Cambridge.

Mm.

Are you a doctor?

I'm a therapist.

But don't worry, I'm not going
to charge my hourly rate.

Is there much call for that
round here?

Oh, you'd be surprised.
I'm fairly new to the area

but I've already got
quite a full client list.

I suppose people go mad
in the countryside, don't they?

You're always hearing about farmers
blowing their brains out.

Well, the isolation doesn't help.

But, yeah, that's part of
the reason I came out here -

to act as a listening post.

This is a neutral space where
people can feel able to say...

..whatever they want to say.

Like Free Parking.

Sorry?

Like Free Parking in Monopoly.
It's a neutral space.

Exactly! I'm Free Parking.

You can rest your boot here
as long as you like.

They don't have the boot any more.

They changed it to a penguin
in 2017.

The bird, not the biscuit.

I'm not a big fan of games.

I am.

Can I ask...

..have you ever spoken
to anyone about your situation?

What situation?

Well, whatever it was that led you
to standing on that bridge tonight

contemplating...

..whatever you were contemplating.

No. I haven't.

I mean, I can't even
get through to my doctor.

You've got to ring by 8:00, and
then it's engaged for 45 minutes.

They offer you a Zoom. I haven't got
strong enough Wi-Fi.

I mean, the whole thing
is totally fucked!

THUNDER CRACKS
Yeah, you're right, it is fucked.

The system's under
a lot of pressure.

I like to try and see
my clients face-to-face.

I can get a better read that way.

What do people talk about?

That's up to them.

And what if people
don't want to talk?

That's also up to them.

There's no one way of doing things.

I offer various mindfulness classes,

a sort of cognitive detox.

What kind of classes?

Oh, CBT, laughter yoga,
hypnotherapy.

What's, um... What's laughter yoga?

Um, it's a fairly new practice,

popularised in the mid-90s
by Dr Madan Kataria.

He conjectures that you don't
actually need comedy

or funny stories to trick the body
into the benefits of laughter,

so with these exercises
you...you just start laughing.

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

And eventually...

HE LAUGHS

Ooh!
CONTINUES LAUGHING

Hee-hee!

..you really start to benefit!

HE CHUCKLES WEAKLY

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

I don't know whether I'm laughing
at you or with you.

It doesn't matter!
As long as you're laughing!

BOTH LAUGH

Ooh-ooh!

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

OK, OK. Let's leave it there.

LAUGHS TURN TO SOBS

No, that's good. That's good.

HE SOBS

Let it all out. Come on.

HE SOBS LOUDLY

SOBS QUIETEN

HE SOBS

Here.

HE SOBS

These are the real tools
of my trade.

Thank you.

HE BLOWS NOSE

I'm sorry.

No, it's...fine.

I've heard a lot worse,
I can assure you.

Do you want to talk about it?

You know, sometimes saying a problem
out loud can reduce...

I think I might have
killed somebody.

You think?

Yeah. I'm not sure.

OK. Do you feel able
to give any more...

Look, I didn't ask you to drag me
from that bridge

and bring me back here, did I?
No.

No. No. So I don't want to be
fucking analysed, all right?

Have a night off!

THUNDER CRACKS

OK, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Can I use your bathroom, please?

Sure.

Yeah, it's just through there.
On the left.

DOOR SQUEAKS OPEN AND CLOSES

WATER SPLASHES

FAINT CLUNK

THUNDER CRACKS

Sorry for shouting.

Oh, it's no problem.

Did you do the drawing
in the bathroom?

No, no, that's...that's
my son, Robbie.

He's... He's doing art A-level.

It's good. Yeah.

Yeah, he's very talented.
I'm proud of him.

I used to like drawing
when I was at school.

Oh.

A lot of people
find it very therapeutic.

Robbie's quite a shy kid.
It's good for him.

His teacher says it really
brings him out of himself.

Would you like to take a...a seat
over by the fire?

So, um, what kind
of things did you like to draw?

Oh, anything, really.

Landscape, portrait.

I wasn't very good.

You'll have to let me
be the judge of that.

If you fancy it.

So is, um...

Is this art therapy?

It's whatever you want it to be.

Just express yourself.
Ah.

Here.
Oh.

Um, well, I, um... I might...

I might draw you, then.

Oh, of course. As long
as you get my best side.

I'm kidding,
I don't really have one.

Hmm.

So I don't even know your name.

Oh, um, it's Drew.

Ah! My name's Blake,

as you probably saw on my diploma.

So do you work, Drew?

I did. About a year ago
I was working as an assistant

at an estate agent's.

Just a high-street branch.
It was fine.

Didn't feel like the sort of
thing I'd do for ever, but...

..I was happy enough.

And one day, I was due to show
a potential client around

a rented property.

SOUND MUFFLES: It was a six-month,
short-lease contract.

And when I arrived, there was
this girl waiting outside for me.

MUFFLED: Have you got?
I wanted a brown.

And I introduced myself
and we went inside.

And I could tell straight away

there was something
not right about her.

I mean, she'd definitely

been crying...

THUNDER CRACKS

..and she was jumpy
and distracted.

SOUND GROWS INCREASINGLY MUFFLED
Anyway, I showed her around.

Didn't take long.

THUNDER CRACKS

It was tiny.

DREW'S VOICE DISTORTS

But the next day...

RAIN LASHES
WIND GUSTS

THUNDER CRACKS

Jesus.

Why did you drug me?

I could ask you the same thing.

Are you in the habit of doping
people that you bring back here?

Of course not.
You were acting unpredictably.

You have a gun.
You said you'd killed somebody.

I said I MIGHT
have killed somebody.

It was a precautionary measure.

Anyway, are you in the habit of
doping people who save your life?

HE LAUGHS

You didn't save my life.

I was waiting for you
on that bridge.

I knew you'd be along
at that time.

I've been watching you
for quite a while now.

Why?

Look, if you're going to rob me,
just take what you want and go.

That's not a very nice assumption,
you know.

You shouldn't put negative
thoughts into my head.

I'm in a very fragile
state of mind!

Yes, I-I can see that.

I'm starting to wonder how good
a therapist you actually are.

You should know my son, Robbie,
will be back any minute.

He's been on a night out
with his friends.

I don't think so.
It's true, I promise you.

Please.

Please, just let me go.

I know you're facing
some difficulties,

but you can turn this around, Drew.

Oh, can I? Well, thank you
very much, Blake -

using your first name
to establish trust.

Look, I don't mean to upset you
but, please...

..just tell me what you want.

I want you to know
what it's like to be me.

GUN CLINKS

OK, that's understandable.

You read all these books?

Yes.
Really?

You don't just have them here to
make people think you're clever?

No. I don't care
what people think of me.

Who are these?
Close family relatives?

No, they're psychiatric patients.

It's the Szondi test.

It's designed to reveal
your innermost traits.

You're supposed to choose the person

you find the most unsettling
or scary,

who you'd least like to meet
in a dark alleyway.

HE TAPS GUN

This one. Number six.

She's the depressive.

It suggests you're repressing
feelings of self-loathing and guilt.

You have a predisposition to
negative emotions and inadequacy.

That's not a very wise thing
to say to someone

with a gun in their hand.

Number one looks like you.
What's his trait?

He's the sadist.

Oh, really?

Look, it's been discredited
for decades.

It's just there as a talking point.

Hmm, well, let me give you
a talking point.

You might know this one.

Imagine there is a runaway train
thundering down a railway track,

and looking ahead you see
that there are five people

standing on the line.
Now, you're standing next to a lever

that will send the
train on a different route.

However, you notice that
there is a single person

standing on this side track.
Yes, yes, the trolley problem.

Do you pull the lever
and kill one person

or do nothing and five people die?

Exactly. So what would you do?

Well...it's just something
to engineer

a moral debate, isn't it?
Utilitarianism vs deontology.

In English!

HE SIGHS
Do you focus on the best outcome

or the most moral one?

Pulling the lever is essentially

choosing to murder -
clearly not the moral choice,

but saves the most people.

It's the difference
between killing and letting die.

So what would you do?

Well, it's all hypothetical,

but sometimes the right choice
is to do nothing.

I thought you'd say that.

All right, what if there is
a third option?

You can throw yourself on the line,

stopping the train and saving
everyone - all six people.

Would you do that?

Hmm. So the dilemma
becomes a trilemma.

Well, in that case, I suppose
it depends on who the people are.

You know, if it's
Shakespeare, Einstein,

Gandhi, Galileo and Mary Berry...

Mary Berry?
Oh, come on,

she's a national treasure!

..then, yeah,
probably I would. But, um...

if it was Hitler, Genghis
Khan and Gregg Wallace,

then maybe not.

I don't think you're taking
this very seriously, Blake.

Then why don't you tell me
what this is all about?

STOOL SCRAPES

What do you remember

about Ellie Dawson?

Who's Ellie Dawson?

A former patient of yours.

Oh, well, in that case, even if I
could remember her, which I can't,

I wouldn't be permitted to discuss
it with you.

Doctor-patient confidentiality
and all that.

You're not a doctor!
Well, therapist, then.

Oh, well, anyone can call
themselves a fucking therapist.

"Oh, boo-hoo!
My kids have all grown up.

"What am I going to do
with the rest of my life?

"I know, I'll enrol
at McDonalds University

and do a psychotherapy course,
print my own diploma from home!"

McCambridge Online is a
well-respected educational hub,

and anyway I don't have
to justify myself to you.

Am I a therapist
because I'm talking to you now?

No.
Why? What's the difference?

Cos I don't tie my patients up

and force them to listen
to my ramblings.

Oh, no, you're far more sly
than that, aren't you?

What do you mean?

Ellie Dawson.

She came to you with low mood,

depression, abandonment issues.

You put her on a course
of anti-psych drugs,

the same ones I gave you just now.
And then what happened?

I honestly have no idea
who you're talking about.

Let's jog your memory, then.

Luckily, she, um...

..she recorded some
of your meetings on her phone.

Like you say, it's important to have
safeguarding measures in place.

I never consented
to these recordings.

This is a violation of my privacy.

Shut the fuck up!

BLAKE ON RECORDING: And how does
that manifest itself,

the negativity you were
just talking about?

Um...

I have fights with my mum.

I-I drink.

A lot.

That's fairly common
for a girl of your age.

What are you? 18, 19?

22.

You look younger.

I-I cut myself.

Where?

My arms.

And my legs.

That's not too bad.

I've seen far worse.

D-Does it hurt when you touch them?

A-A bit.

May I?

Turn it off.
Listen.

Do you, um...

..want to take your jeans off,
just so I can see the leg?

Do-Do I have to?

No, not if
you don't feel comfortable.

You can send me some pictures
if you like.

Please, just turn it off.

I'll give you
my private email address.

THUNDER CRACKS

I remember Ellie.
Of course I do.

She was a client, briefly,

and then we became
romantically involved.

It was unethical, yes,
but it wasn't illegal.

Why did you take out
a restraining order on her?

She was young and delusional.
She became obsessed with me.

She was estranged from her father
and she saw me as some kind of...

Oh, Christ.

It's you, isn't it?

You're Ellie's dad.

I was.

She's dead.

I'm so sorry.

I knew I was partly responsible
for what happened.

I drove her away.

I was too strict,
too mean about her mother.

I could see that she was
becoming withdrawn.

I put some money in her account.

"Go and see a therapist," I said.

I failed my daughter.

I made the wrong choice.

Is that what you meant

when you said you thought
you'd killed someone?

I want you to confess
to everything you did to her.

What?
Everything.

You got her hooked on drugs,

you used her, abused her,
and then you..

...you dumped her when
she became an inconvenience.

No. No, no, no.
I cared for her.

But as I said to the police
at the time,

she had all these issues
when she came to me.

I was in no way responsible
for her death.

Really? So you didn't go
and visit her in her room

at the Metropole Hotel
on the 15th of October,

breaking your own restraining order?

No.

The coroner's report stated

that she would have taken the
overdose at approximately 3am

and that it would have taken...

..about three hours for her to die.

A man matching your description

was seen leaving the hotel at
ten past four in the morning.

Seen by who?
Never mind.

Whoever that was could have
seen that she'd overdosed

and could have saved her if
they'd raised the alarm, but...

No.

I suppose it's the difference
between killing...

..and letting die.

I didn't do anything.

Exactly.

HE PICKS UP GUN

You write it all down.

A full confession.

Sacrifice your job,
this cosy little life you've built,

and admit that you were there

and that you were directly
responsible for her death.

And then my Ellie can rest in peace.

OK

OK, I'll do it. I'll throw
myself in front of the train.

But I will need to...

So the whole suicide story
was made up?

A desperate man
with nothing left to live for.

I knew it would get you on side.

Clever.

But one thing to bear in mind, Drew.

If you're going to coerce
someone with a spud gun...

..make sure you take
the potato out of the barrel.

SLICING THUD
DREW SCREAMS

HE GROANS

HE GROANS

THUNDER CRACKS

HE PANTS

BREATHING SLOWS

DREW GROANS

HE CRIES OUT

WIND GUSTS

THUNDER CRACKS

HE PANTS, MOANS

HE CRIES OUT

HE GROANS

SOFT CLATTER

Hello?

GLASS SMASHES NEARBY

THUNDER CRACKS

HE GROANS

THUNDER CRACKS

This is one of the problems
of living in the countryside -

you're an easy target for burglars.

"I came home early to find my house
was being robbed

"and I was viciously attacked.

"He had a gun.

"At least, I thought it was a gun.

"And so I hit him. Hard.

"I didn't mean to kill him.
It was self-defence, Officer."

Is this how you make
all your problems go away?

Well, what choice do I have?

I can't have all that business
with Ellie dredged up again.

I have my reputation to consider.

So you came out here where no-one
knows what you really are.

Look, your daughter was
the one who was hounding me.

She made me feel unsafe.

I have my son to think about.

Now, get on your knees.
No, please, Mr Chambers!

On your knees.

If you kill me here now, there'll...

..there'll still be
a police investigation.

I should have let you jump off
that bridge when I had the chance.

Actually, that's it, of course.

What? You said yourself

20 or 30 people
saw you there tonight,

looking longingly into the river.

I should just take you back there.

Me bringing you here
was the side track.

I should have just
let the train take its course.

So you're just going
to throw me into the water?

That's up to you.

You can go willingly or otherwise.

But I do think
it's the best solution.

You could still do
the right thing, Mr Chambers.

Father to father, I...

I am begging you.

Which is what?

Confess to what you did to Ellie.

There's still time.

Don't let me die not knowing.

Please.

As I said before,

I didn't do anything.

OK.

Get in!

I've left my coat.

For God's sake!

I won't go anywhere.

Don't you move.

Mr Chambers...

..when you get my coat,

you should look
in the right-hand pocket.

THUNDER CRACKS

HE DIALS

BOY: Hello?

Robbie? Is that you?

Dad!

Dad, please, I-I can't breathe.
What?

You've got to help me.
C-C-Calm down. Where are you?

I don't know where I am.
It's... It's dark. I'm in a box.

What do you mean, you're in a box?

I think he's buried me somewhere.

Dad, please, please get me out.

Robbie, calm down. Listen, tell me
what's going on.

He said you'd come get me.

He said everything'd be fine.

He said you'd do the right thing.

Dad? Please. I...

I can't get out.

It's OK.

It's OK. I-I'm going to find you!

Please. Tell me where he is!

Dad?

Where are you?
Don't do this to him,

I beg you, please.
Tell me where he is.

I'll do anything.
You made your choice.

Now we're the same, you and I.

Dad...I can't get out.

If you do this...
Dad!

..you're killing my son.

Dad, help me. Please.

I didn't kill him.

I can't breathe.

I need you to help me.

Please, you've got to get me out.

You let him die.

Help me, please, Dad!

No!

DREW SCREAMS

Where are you? What's going on?

I can't get out, Dad.

Please, please!

Help me, Dad. Please!

Dad!