Original subtitles

FOULDS: Seen enough?

WOMAN: What are you gonna do?!

Yeah, you!

It was you that brought those cowboys here!

Your government!

So what are you gonna do?!

The government I represent

is going to press for the highest levels of compensation

for the families of those who so tragically lost their lives.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Hey, you! You´re fucking parasites!

WOMAN: They´d blow us all to kingdom come!

If everyone shouts at once,

we won´t hear what the deputy prime minister has to say.

MAN ON RADIO: when 19 people were killed and 94 injured

in an explosion at the nearby PetroFex refinery three d...

[ Shouting continues ]

DAWKINS: I want to reassure you

that we will leave no stone unturned.

A team from the HSE are already at work,

and the PetroFex company

is sending specialists from the United States to...

MAN: Can we believe what you´re telling us?!

We want answers!

[ Cheers and applause ]

We´ll have a new government in a month!

Good fucking riddance!

[ Cheers and applause ]

DAWKINS: It remains to be seen who will win the election.

-But the government I... -[ Crowd shouting ]

We will rebuild here in Scarrow.

- You have my word on that. - Your word´s worth nothing!

You lot have got a...

[ Shouting continues ]

I think we should all please calm down.

[ Shouting continues ]

Let him go, Sergeant.

WOMAN: Mr. Dawkins, have you heard of Sollendale?

- I´m sorry? - Have you heard of Sollendale?

The man beside you might have.

Yeah. It´s one of our plants in the U.S.

WOMAN: Four years ago, they came very close to having an incident

just like the one they´ve had here.

[ Crowd shouting ]

If I could just interject here.

WOMAN: The company commissioned a confidential report

and made changes to safety procedure at Sollendale...

Procedure that was not implemented here at Scarrow.

Mr. Dawkins, would you like to read that report?

I´ve got a copy here.

[ Crowd murmuring ]

[ Footsteps approaching ]

JACOBSON: Just a journalist out to cause trouble.

I thought we were going to get lynched in there.

DAWKINS: People are angry.

It´s understandable.

They don´t get it, do they? It´s all us, this, you know?

The minibuses, after-school club,

maintenance of the hall.

It was all PetroFex money.

Are you saying they´re ungrateful?

No.

No.

[ Bottles clanking ]

FOULDS: Bit of a thankless task.

Being deputy prime minister is a succession of thankless tasks.

Interesting?

Sobering.

FLYTE: I´ve met with criticism

for attending the summit here in the U.S.

at such a sensitive time.

[ Shutters clicking ]

However, the opportunity

to press the case of the people of Scarrow with Paul Clark

and the others at PetroFex,

who will ultimately be making the decisions

regarding their future,

was one, I felt, that I had to grasp.

We value the jobs that this company brings

to an area of considerable economic deprivation.

But we also demand

the very highest possible safety standards.

It is these issues that I have raised with Mr. Clark,

who is as concerned as we are for the people of Scarrow.

CLARK: You know, I know Teesside well.

I know the caliber of the people there,

and, uh, I know that, uh, after a period of, uh, recovery,

a period of mourning,

grieving their losses from this awful tragedy

that, uh, those communities will recover.

Make no mistake...

You´ve seen section 4?

Yes.

Thanks to Ellis Kane´s helpful Post-its.

Yes, I´ve seen section 4.

LEYTON: Okay. Will do.

[ Telephone beeps ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Door beeps ]

Ellis Kane. Freelance journalist.

The Americans want to tap her phone.

The Americans do. Right.

The Americans at MI5 or the Americans at MI6?

LEYTON: [ Chuckles ]

EVANS: Trigger word?

LEYTON: PetroFex.

WOMAN: Just through here.

DAWKINS: Thank you.

Deputy Prime Minister.

It´s good of you to come.

Thank you.

She was what age?

Two and a half.

Strangely peaceful in here.

It is now.

WOMAN ON RADIO: The leader of the opposition,

Carol Molloy, claimed today

that the prime minister´s continued absence from the U.K.

at a time of national tragedy

serves to underline that the government is out of touch

with the people it is supposed to serve.

The latest poll figures add weight to her argument.

The government is now lagging,

on average, nine points behind the opposition.

[ Cellphone ringing ]

The prime minister.

- Hello, Charles. - FLYTE: Tom.

Still up in the air?

Uh, just about.

It´s a little rough up here, but we´re almost through it now.

Listen. Uh, change of plan.

I´m flying straight to Teesside.

I´ll be there in about three hours.

I want you to go to Number 10, in any case.

Hold the fort till I get there.

We´re on our way.

Listen, Charles.

Did you know there was a similar incident

at Sollendale four years ago?

Sollendale is irrelevant, Tom.

What´s important is that I´ve got Clark´s word

on a very hefty package of compensation and reconstruction.

And you have his signature on that, I presume?

Listen.

I-I know that you think that this trip to the U.S.

was a waste of time.

I think we´re losing the election, Charles.

Not many votes in Texas.

So the... the, uh, compensation package. It...

Covers everything, chapter and verse.

[ Rattling ]

Hello?

Charles?

FOULDS: Lost him?

[ Sighs ] Call him back, will you?

[ Telephone rings ]

Laura Duchenne.

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Ma´am.

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Shutters clicking, indistinct shouting ]

MAN: Is this about Scarrow, Mr. Dawkins?

MAN #2: Do they know what caused the explosion yet?

WOMAN: Do poll ratings look grim

for the government´s electoral prospects, Mr. Dawkins?

WOMAN #2: Is Charles Flyte going to resign?

[ Shouting stops ]

All radio and radar contact has been lost

with the plane carrying the prime minister back

from the United States.

The last contact was made

when the plane was approximately 900 miles west

of the British Isles over the Atlantic.

Its scheduled arrival time...

- What´s he doing out there? - was 1:30 this afternoon,

three hours ago.

There were no distress signals,

nor have there been any warnings

or claims of responsibility.

The circumstances are grave, but there remains a possibility

that the prime minister and the plane´s other passengers

are alive.

That´s all I wish to say.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

WOMAN: So who´s running the country, Mr. Dawkins?!

What the fuck has happened to Charles, Tom?

- [ Zipper closes ] - Wish I knew.

Well, you did well.

A military background like yours comes in handy

at times like this, I suppose.

[ Cellphone ringing ]

Gents.

That´s what it says on the door, Ros.

Wouldn´t want to be missing anything.

HODDER: Well, first off, thanks to Tom Dawkins

for fronting up so effectively

while ministers were dashing back from far-flung parts.

Now, as deputy prime minister, Tom is well placed

to bring continuity while the dust settles.

- Hear, hear. - Hear, hear.

HODDER: I´d like to suggest

he base himself here for the time being.

And now I´ll, um, pass over to Laura Duchenne

for the security position.

Thank you.

Uh, all we´re looking at... Thank you... is scenarios.

The more obvious terrorist angles...

Al-Qaeda, dissident Irish Republicans,

some sort of double-header with the Scarrow explosion.

But there wasn´t a bomb at Scarrow.

We can´t be certain yet, but we don´t think so.

However, it was an unscheduled flight.

-And the fact that so few... -Whose plane was he on?

It was a PetroFex plane.

[ Murmuring ]

As I say,

the fact that so few people knew the PM was returning that way

renders an attack less likely.

But don´t rule it out.

We still don´t know if there was an incident.

I-I think he´s going to be all right.

Do you really think he´s still flying around up there, Felix?

DURRELL: I wish he was.

Which is more than can be said for you, Ros.

Details remain thin on the ground

in the wake of the disappearance

of the plane carrying the prime minister.

Toothpaste, toothbrush, flannel, towel, soap.

Oh, t-thank you.

And earplugs?

In the drawer beside the bed.

Thank you.

Shall I close the curtains?

No. No, thank you.

It´s... It´s okay.

I have been praying for him.

I´m going to pray for you, too.

WOMAN ON TELEVISION: was on his way to visit

the Teesside community of Scarrow, where an explosion...

[ Helicopters passing ]

[ Indistinct talking on radio ]

MAN: Captain Dawkins, come in.

[ Men shouting in Serbian ]

[ Shouting stops ]

[ Muffled ] Sir, um... I´m sorry to wake you so early.

[ Exhales deeply ]

We´ve had a call.

They´ve found wreckage.

Thank you.

YELLAND: He´s dead.

Nothing we do is going to change that.

We´d have had to replace him

after he lost us the election anyhow.

[ Cellphone beeps ]

DURRELL: I need to know what my approval numbers are exactly.

So, who else is saying yes?

I´ve got a lot of support.

I´ll have a hell of a lot more

if I can say that Tom Dawkins will be my DPM.

Ros, Felix, we need a show of solidarity.

A coronation. I couldn´t agree more.

Just need a credible coronee.

HODDER: Well, you two will have to wrestle with that.

I suggest that as a neutral,

Tom hangs on to the reins in the meantime.

[ Clock ticking ]

I know what you´re doing, John.

There´s a party to lead and a country to run.

And when it comes right down to it, it´s me or Fauntleroy.

Think about it... A country run by Felix.

Ros, this isn´t the time.

I´m offering you the deputyship.

Do we have a deal?

Do I have a choice?

FOULDS: Good luck.

[ Door opens ]

[ Shutters clicking ]

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you

that wreckage retrieved from the North Atlantic

early this morning

has now been identified as coming from the plane

carrying our nation´s prime minister.

The government is therefore regretfully adopting

an official position... The prime minister is dead.

A memorial service will be held within the next week,

and the party will choose a new leader

to take us into the election.

I hope I speak for all of us

when I say that as a man and a leader,

he will be greatly missed.

Coming as this does...

Tragically, this comes in the wake of the disaster in Scarrow

and on the back of a... a good few years now

of real hardship for a lot of people in this country.

And you might feel, as I do,

that our nation is being sorely tested.

It is.

It is.

But a tragedy like this can act to bring us together...

despite political differences and economic strife.

I have a powerful belief

that all those who live in this great nation of ours

can play a part

as we pick our way through our current troubles

and that even in the midst of tragedy,

we must have faith that there is a better path ahead.

Charles Flyte may be dead,

but that idea of faith and hope must endure.

Our thoughts are with his wife and with his family.

Thank you.

[ Shutters clicking ]

MAN ON RADIO: The search is intensifying,

not for survivors now, but for the flight recorder.

Specialists from the U.S. navy are here,

and they´re determined to discover whether foul play

or mechanical failure lies at the root of this tragedy.

Charles Flyte´s reputation as a breath of fresh air

in the stale arena of British politics

may have been in doubt in the months before his death.

MAN: Getting out of the car, John Hodder,

appointed chief whip by Charles Flyte

and continues to hold great sway within the government.

WOMAN: Arriving with the chief whip,

the foreign secretary, Ros Yelland,

not always the most on-message...

MAN: the unmistakable figure of the home secretary,

Felix Durrell, perhaps Charles Flyte´s closest friend.

WOMAN: And here comes Tom Dawkins,

not thought to have been personally close

to the prime minister.

Charles Flyte appreciated his gravitas and experience

and appointed him as his deputy despite opposition...

Nothing to report on the investigation?

No black box, no story.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

What do you make of the fact that it´s a company plane?

Are you asking if I subscribe to hysterical conspiracy theories?

A member of the prime minister´s team

made a call before they flew that may have been compromising.

To the Taliban?

To a cousin in Luton.

Saeed Khan?

You suspect Charles´ secretary? Why?

What, because he´s Asian?

And Saeed can´t confirm or deny it

because he´s been lost with the rest of them.

Isn´t that your ex-wife?

Tom.

Hello, Rosie.

- How are you? - Fine.

How´s Alex and the kids?

You always ask that, Tom.

But you never really want to know.

[ Indistinct conversations, shutters clicking ]

I´m so sorry about Charles.

Thank you.

KANE: Mr. Dawkins?

Mr. Dawkins, your boss got nothing

out of the meeting with PetroFex.

I´ve seen the minutes.

[ Engine turns over ]

You´ve got my number.

Get hold of her file.

[ Bell tolling ]

There she is, sir.

KANE: Taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me.

- I´m honored. - Thanks.

So, Ms. Kane?

Look sharp.

That´s what he calls himself.

It´s how he starts his e-mails... "Look sharp."

My inside man at PetroFex.

[ Beeping ]

DAWKINS: And he has the minutes of the meetings

between Charles and Paul Clark?

And passed them on to me.

And in return?

You have a man inside Number 10.

What more do you want?

I don´t know if you read the papers,

but your lot are not going to be in Number 10 for much longer.

So why give them to me?

I could write the story. I probably will.

But right now, you could actually do something.

[ Cellphone ringing ]

DUCHENNE: Pass him over to me.

Yes, ma´am.

Sir, Duchenne.

Hello?

Tom, will you please,

for Christ´s sake, get off the street?

DAWKINS: Keeping tabs on me, Laura?

For your information,

Saeed Khan´s poor, maligned cousin from Luton...

He´d been downloading structural diagrams

of the plane Charles was killed in.

[ Birds chirping ]

CLARK: Sorry about Charles.

He was a good man.

He had a great future ahead of him.

I was very fond of him.

DAWKINS: Yes. I´m sure you were fond of him.

Look, I´ve just been going through the minutes

of your meeting together.

CLARK: What minutes?

Well, one of Charles´ assistants e-mailed them through

before they left.

Charles´ assistants weren´t in the meeting, Tom.

Well, the point is, uh,

I spoke to Charles when he was halfway back.

And what he told me... And the minutes don´t...

Is that you and he agreed on a hefty compensation package

for Scarrow.

We know what our responsibilities are, Tom.

With all due respect, that´s not the impression you´re giving.

We need you over here.

We need you looking at the devastation on Teesside

and telling us what you´re going to do about it.

I´ve seen devastation before, Tom.

I saw the place before we set up there.

I see that you´re quoted in the press as saying

that an American life is more valuable than a British one.

That´s not a moral statement. That´s an actuarial one.

Yes, but you set your safety standards accordingly.

I´ve seen the Sollendale report.

Why don´t we just row back a little bit here?

Why don´t we row back to where you deliver what you promised?

You know, I think I´ll, uh, wait till after the election.

I wouldn´t want to be wasting my breath.

What is it, John?

Between you and me and the gatepost,

I´ve had a little private poll conducted.

Oh, yes?

And when asked who they would like to see as prime minister,

given the choice of you, Ros Yelland, or Felix...

They said Wayne Rooney.

[ Chuckles ]

56% of them said you.

You give off stability, Tom.

People are craving that.

No.

Ros Yelland is the best man for the job.

Well, the public don´t agree.

She´s not simpatico.

Do you really want to be in opposition

for the next five years?

I´m not a leader.

You looked very like one making that speech the other day.

You were a captain in the Army for 10 years.

That´s where I learned my lesson.

Then you´re a different man now.

And you know it.

Now, look me in the eye and tell me it isn´t true.

She wants me to be her deputy.

Tom, we need someone with balls.

As DPM to Ros Yelland,

you´re like the sultan´s fucking eunuch.

Come on.

[ Crowd shouting, shutters clicking ]

Could you hold on one moment?

Tom, you met with a pathologist when you were in Scarrow...

- Mark Ashcroft? - Yes.

He´s called us in the press room half a dozen times

to try and reach you.

Mr. Ashcroft.

Briefly, please.

Nisa Matthews, the little girl whose hand you found.

There are toxicity readings in her soft tissue

that I wouldn´t expect to find.

Her and all of the blast victims.

What sort of toxicity readings?

The father´s the same but much more pronounced.

He... He´s awash with it.

I-I want to make sure that it´s not a genetic anomaly,

so I need to keep hold of both their bodies.

Surely by now you must have completed your investiga...

Her dad, Dermot Matthews, worked at the plant.

I´ve been asking what he might have come into contact with.

The company have been fighting me every inch of the way.

They even tried to deny that the body was his at first.

Said he wasn´t on site at the time.

The mother has told the press

that I´m keeping the bodies for no reason.

I´m under siege just because I´m trying to do my job.

Dr. Ashcroft, w-we´re talking about a woman

who´s lost her husband and her daughter.

Mrs. Matthews just wants the bodies of her loved ones back.

And she will get them,

just as soon as PetroFex give me the information that I need

to complete the postmortems.

Yes.

Well, thank you for calling, Doctor.

[ Telephone rings ]

Hello?

Who is this?

Who is this?

[ Click, dial tone ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Machine beeping ]

Bless my soul. It´s the father of the nation.

Oh.

Well, very statesmanlike.

Tony Fossett.

Him.

Yes.

And, uh, her.

Yes.

And him.

No.

You just haven´t met him yet.

[ Hisses ]

- Uh, as you were. - All right.

MAN: Stand down.

FOSSETT: You never lose it.

So how are you, Tony?

Could you actually... Could you lend me 20?

I´ve got a cabbie waiting outside.

Oh.

Taxi´s got an oily chain, has it?

I´ve been to see my sister.

You remember her.

You shagged her once.

Me? I was... I was blameless.

I-I took the sofa because she wanted the spare room.

FOSSETT: Yeah. And why were you on my sofa?

You know bloody well why I was on the sofa.

You compounded your misdemeanor...

On my sofa, with my sister.

Now look at you.

I miss those days.

Pass me your phone, will you?

Do you mind if I take the battery out?

You can never be too careful.

Nobody´s bugging me, Tony.

Maybe.

But as long as you have a battery in your phone,

they can drop in whenever they like.

Humor him. We do.

I need your help, Tony.

I´m getting nothing from Laura Duchenne.

No help with PetroFex.

The mighty Laura Duchenne was a lowly reports officer

when I was at MI5.

She always did have her own agenda,

and now she´s running the place.

She could never live with the idea

that I knew she´d cocked up on Nightlight.

DAWKINS: I had a call from the pathologist.

There were toxins at Scarrow that he can´t explain.

And now PetroFex are obstructing his investigation.

So I need to know what they´re hiding.

Charles told me that they were going to pay out big...

Compensation.

But they´ve gone very quiet on that front.

You´ll have to show them what you´re made of, Tom.

They´re telling me I´ll have to quit if I become PM.

You won´t have time to smoke when you´re PM.

See, the ridiculous thing is...

having to do all this

without looking like we´re actually trying.

There´s a sense of it being unseemly

with Charles sort of... out there.

Look, I know, um, Ros has you on an exclusive, Tom.

But, um, it´s a lost cause, believe me.

Say the word, and I´ll wrap you in my warm and tender love.

Foreign secretary?

That would give her something to think about on the back benches.

[ Siren wailing in distance ]

We can hide in here for five minutes.

[ Chain rattles, hinges squeak ]

DAWKINS: Clark´s been trying to wriggle out

of the compensation package that he agreed with Charles.

DURRELL: You haven´t been frightening the horses,

have you, Tom?

Clark´s a slippery sod.

Yes, but don´t worry about Clark.

We have mutual friends.

I´ve heard that you´ve been putting it about

that they killed Charles.

PetroFex.

You heard wrong.

´Cause you´re aware how flaky that would sound

in the public arena?

You´re swimming against the tide, Tom.

The company´s share price actually rose today.

And who´s the company´s biggest shareholder, Felix?

Royal Caledonian Bank.

Royal Caledonian Bank.

And who owns the bank?

- Oh, Tom, look. - We do.

The British government. The British people.

And the bank owns PetroFex.

Are you trying to write my manifesto for me?

I just want to know that you´ll be on the case, Felix,

if we win the election with you as leader.

DR. ASHCROFT: I have nothing to say to you, all right?

I have nothing to say to you, all right?

I have nothing to say to you, all right?

He´s a mix of Manc and Mackem.

Hmm.

Formative years in Didsbury,

then a good 20-odd in Sunderland.

I have nothing to say to you, all right?

"I have nothing to say to you, all right?"

This is Dr. Ashcroft, pathologist.

I´m not at my desk.

Uh, I need the test results again for the Matthews family.

[ Cat purring ]

How´s that, Nightlight? Good?

Where´s the phone?

[ Cat meows ]

What were you doing in Fauntleroy´s camp, Tom?

Not putting out for favors, I hope.

Oh, just keeping abreast of developments.

What´s the latest? Tax relief on gundogs?

You´re not going to beat him, Ros.

Tom... if you´re saying you´re standing,

I´ll break your fucking nose.

We were a team.

I asked if you were standing.

You said no. I said come with me.

[ Sighs ] Look at the polls, Ros.

Fuck the polls.

I haven´t even started.

And you´d better not get in my way, Tom.

WOMAN: Hello. Carlton Laboratory.

Uh, this is Dr. Ashcroft, pathology.

I´m not at my desk.

Uh, I need the test results again for the Matthews family.

[ Clears throat ]

About your request for promotion.

I´ve been told to tell you not to hold your breath.

There´s a surprise.

Oh, economic climate, et cetera, et cetera.

Hey. Want to see something above your pay grade?

Have you heard of Saeed Khan?

There we go.

EVANS: What´s this?

Photos we intercepted from his phone.

The last photos of the PM alive.

Sent by Saeed to his cousin before they took off.

The same cousin who´s just been arrested.

[ Telephone ringing, children shouting in distance ]

MAN: Hello?

Can you put me through to Tom Dawkins, please?

I´m sorry. The deputy prime minister is not available.

And you are who?

I´m Mr. Dawkins´ private secretary.

So he´s got time to tell you to tell me

he hasn´t got time to talk to me

but not enough time to tell me that himself?

You know... You know he once shagged my sister?

No, I didn´t know that, sir.

Shall, I um...

Not many people do.

He wasn´t always the paragon of virtue he is now.

[ Chuckles ] Ask his ex-wife.

She knows where all the bodies are buried.

Nice talking to you, Mr. Fossett.

Is there anything you´d like me to pass on?

Um, could you tell him to please go fuck himself

with a feather duster?

Right.

Goodbye, Mr. Fossett.

-Tell him to call m... -[ Cellphone beeps ]

Tell him he needs to hear more about toxicology.

WOMAN ON TELEVISION: Police are investigating the death

of Scarrow pathologist Mark Ashcroft,

whose body was found this evening.

Meanwhile, the survivors of Scarrow

say the government has abandoned them.

Work has yet to resume at the refinery,

and no government minister has visited the town since Tom...

ROSITA: You´re thinking about Bosnia.

Yes.

Tom.

You did the right thing.

Did I?

Well... what if I stand?

Don´t, Tom.

MAN ON RADIO: Westminster is alive with speculation today

as the government decides on a new leader

to take them forward into the general election.

Good luck, sir.