Original subtitles

Ah, Brigadier. Doctor. You've come to see Colonel Lawson. This way, sir.

How is he? Oh, he's fine, just fine.

Fine?

Fine?

What the blazes is he still doing here?

Well, we've done all the physical tests,

and I think most of the lab results are back in.

It's a matter of where we go from here. Damn it,

man, I came to see the boy, not the paperwork.

But you did read the report, sir. Looked at it, old boy,

couldn't understand a blethering word of it.

Colonel Lawson?

What's the problem?

It's locked, sir.

Locked? Yes, it's quite all right.

Nurse!

Quite all right? Good God, man, you haven't been locking him up, have you?

Damn it, he's an officer!

Colonel!

He's gone! Gone? What do you mean?

Bill, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go through this stuff you've given me.

I couldn't make head or tail of it myself.

And I'll send a couple of boys down to have a look around. I would appreciate that.

Tell me, Lawson's only close relative is his mother?

Yes, Lavinia.

Great woman.

She hasn't been told anything yet?

No, she thinks he's still in Germany.

I called her last night on some pretext or other to see if he'd contacted her.

There is one thing I would ask of you. Yeah?

If there's any nasty news, that I should be the one to tell her.

Of course.

I was with her husband, Lawson's father, when he was killed in Malaya.

I had to break the news to her then.

The great family, the Lawsons, they've given their life for their country.

Generations of them.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lawson, Royal Tank Regiment, disappeared.

I don't get it. He was in military hospital, huh?

Correct. And he just walked out?

We don't know that he walked out.

But he wasn't locked up? No.

So he discharged himself?

Not necessarily. What then?

If he had discharged himself, he would presumably have returned to his regiment.

Which he hasn't. It's brilliant.

So when did he vanish?

Two days ago.

So he's absent without leave, then? Technically, yes.

He was posted to the army hospital, where he was

undergoing a series of checkups. What checkups?

Something happened during a recent military

exercise in Europe under Lawson's command.

The army isn't telling exactly what.

What we do know is that he was flown home immediately.

And was being put through the most exhaustive physical

and psychiatric tests. Then he disappeared.

You want us to find him?

Lawson's regiment plays a vital role in NATO's first line

of defense against land attack from Warsaw Pact countries.

He himself has a crucial role in those battle plans.

He had access at the highest level to military secrets in that particular theater.

If he's been kidnapped or has defected,

then many of those plans will have to be changed.

Well, if the Russians have grabbed him, he'll be back in Moscow in 24 hours.

And we'd have heard about it from MI6. But we haven't.

Yeah, so it's a fair bet the Russians haven't got him,

otherwise we wouldn't be standing here, would we?

Until we hear or learn otherwise,

we must assume that Lawson is still in this country,

and that others are equally as eager as we are to learn of his whereabouts,

or possibly his state of mind. In other words,

find him before the Russians do. Correct.

And remember, this is a low-key operation.

He's not listed as a missing person, and he'll not be reported AWOL.

We want to keep it in the family as long as we can.

I'll tell you what.

He's got amnesia. Maybe he's forgotten his military secrets as well.

Doesn't look like the forgetful type to me, mate. It's all right.

Commissioned to the 60th Rifles Tour Action Aden in the Far East. Oh, here we are.

Volunteered for the SAS, three tours of duty in Northern Ireland.

Two commendations. He was captain at Staff College, G2 Ops.

Promoted to Major, transferred to B.A.O.R.

Whew! Lieutenant Colonel at 37.

He's made battalion commander of the 31st Tank Regiment.

Wasn't an outsider on the promotion stakes, was he? No,

he's gone through these ranks like food through a goose.

That's downwards.

Horizontal.

It's fast, anyway. It's fast.

Right, let's get off the glittering career and get

on with the juicy bits, then. Oh, psychiatric?

Yeah.

Okay, what heading do you want?

Psychomorphological or psychopathological?

Got anything on the girlfriend?

Colonel Lawson.

Tissue, sir, isn't it?

What are you doing here?

Len, I need two good men.

What for?

A mission.

What sort of mission?

Top secret.

Is this official?

Undercover.

But it's Army, is it?

Higher than Army.

Higher than Army?

Like a secret service?

Higher.

Higher?

And there is a great deal of money involved.

What do we have to do?

You have to show courage.

Loyalty and determination.

Are you with me?

You know I am.

Dr. Lowe?

I don't know how he deals. Right, right on. Still follow me. Major,

we've looked over the psychiatric reports.

My colleague found it a little heavy-going.

So we thought you might give us something a

little more concise to get our teeth into.

Preferably in a nutshell, Doctor.

Colonel Lawson was posted here for examination because apparently he

suffered some form of nervous breakdown during military maneuvers.

How exactly that manifested itself, we weren't told.

You weren't told?

No.

Well, this was his room.

There was a chair underneath the door handle.

Well, this one.

Yes.

Is this where he went out?

Didn't anybody see him from outside?

Yes.

No, I'm afraid not.

How was he when he first arrived?

Oh, he's clearly disturbed. In what way?

Nothing at all obvious.

In fact, quite the opposite.

He's too calm to relax.

Did he cooperate?

He had to.

It was his duty.

His career was at stake.

This doesn't have to go beyond us three, but leaving aside the technicalities,

what do you actually think of him?

Well, from the little I saw of him, my guess is that he'd had a profound shock.

Now, that shock could have been shock at his

own actions or as a result of those actions.

In either case, it seemed to me that he was fighting a desperate

battle inside himself to maintain his own clarity.

So, if he ran off, how would you interpret that?

Well, he may have felt that he had to get away,

but he could work it all out better on his own.

Do you feel that's unreasonable?

No, but if he'd wanted to discharge himself, he should have told us.

He had to request it.

The condition that you felt you was in, could you recommend that?

Well, I couldn't have.

Only a superior officer... I mean, now, as a doctor, would you have let him go?

No.

No, definitely not.

That's him.

I like the look of him.

There's your dog.

Willis?

Tug.

Lens told you who I am?

Yeah.

I'm led to believe, Tug, that you have military experience.

Paris, 12 years. Rank?

Corporal.

Action?

Borneo, Aden, Cyprus, Sudan, Northern Ireland.

And some of us.

Undercover?

Yes, sir.

I'm looking for a volunteer. Sir.

This thing that happened in Germany...

Yes.

I thought you'd come to that.

What happened then?

Well, there was to be a very large, fully coordinated NATO exercise last month.

This would give Lawson the opportunity of putting forward some

newfangled battle plans that he'd been proposing for some time.

The eyes of the top brass worldwide were on him.

To cut a long story short, the whole thing went wildly wrong. Absolute disaster.

Well, that's it?

Sadly, no.

Well, what then?

You're both aware of how these military operations

are run? Yes, we've been on a few.

They have umpires all over the place.

Tell you what you've done.

Whether you're alive or dead, how many tanks that you've got left.

Well, when Lawson's whole battalion had been wiped out, 800 men,

instead of accepting it gracefully or ungracefully, for that matter,

he took his last remaining troops, some of whom should have been dead in any event,

and launched an attack on his own HQ.

The way that it was described to me,

he persisted in justifying it as the logic of total warfare.

The minimum, ultimate casualties, or whatever.

I can't understand it.

He was destined for the very top.

So has it affected his career?

Absolutely.

Shall I show you what's wrong with this country?

God save our gracious queen Long live our noble queen God save the queen Send

her victorious Happy and glorious Long to reign

over us God save the queen. There you are.

You see what's wrong?

They don't stand.

It's their own national anthem.

And not one of them stood.

What we're going to fight for is this country's soul.

My name's George Cole.

James never mentioned you in his letters from Malaya.

Were you there when he died?

No, I was transferred shortly before.

And how is young Peter, is it?

Yes.

He must be how old now?

Nearly 40.

Really?

How time flies. Isn't it quite ridiculous?

He's in Germany at the moment, with his own regiment.

As a matter of fact, he called me only last week.

Oh?

Wanted to trace some old corporal who used to be under his command once.

The man had written a letter at Christmas, wanted advice on whether to get married.

Isn't it funny?

These tough men, just like children, look to their officers for anything,

even after they've left the army.

Yes.

Do you still have that letter to Peter?

Oh, yes.

Alpha One to Control.

Come in, Alpha One.

Message for 3745.

Target may have contacted former Army colleague Len Clark at Batford Forge.

Is Len in, love?

No.

Where is he then, working or what?

Working.

He's off playing games.

What sort of games?

Not the kind of games I like to play.

Come on, love, where is he?

He's off with that mad Colonel.

Where?

I don't know.

By the golf course, I think.

Yeah.

We might be back.

Terrific.

Four-five to control, over.

Coming, four-five.

Relay me to Alpha 1, please.

Relay through. Alpha 1. 4-5.

Your lead was correct. We found him.

How is he?

Well, he hasn't been kidnapped,

and I don't think there's much danger of him defecting, either.

From the look of him, I don't think the Russians would want him.

4-5-3-7, could you be a little more specific?

It's 3-7. The Colonel's gone bananas.

Repeat? He's gone soft in the head, sir, off his rocker. 4-5.

It's 45 here. I think he's harmless, sir.

Right. Give his position to control.

And I'll have the Brigadier advised immediately. Alpha out.

Open it! We're against the wall. You there.

Well?

Yes, that's them, all right. No question.

What specifically is it that you recognize?

The harmlessness?

We thought they were crazy.

That I'm not so sure about. It's the latest on the banks of them.

He may lose an arm.

How much did they get away with?

About 18,000. If Lawson's so rich, what do you want to rob a bank for?

Just phone up his broker, sell a few shares.

Cowley.

Oh, yes, Inspector.

Oh, well, thank you.

The Essex police have found Clark's car. It was abandoned near Chelmsford.

The license plate tallied with eyewitness reports.

What about the third guy? According to police interrogation of Clark's girlfriend,

his name is Willis X. Paras.

Worked as a bouncer at a caravan camp.

If it's the same Willis as on our computer,

he won a military medal in Aden for wiping out

an entire guerrilla platoon single-handed.

Well, if they go into the banking business in that way,

I think they'll have a very successful firm.

He's saying goodbye to a military career, isn't he? I don't know, mate.

Sounds like he started a new one from scratch.

Item, barracks facilities, temporary, £100.

Check.

Item, communications equipment, RT, shortwave radio and television,

extra batteries, £900. Check. Item, food, drink, essential supplies.

Do you have the receipts?

£125, sir. Check.

Item, clothing, specialist clothing, £250. Check. Well, corporal,

what do you make of that? £5,875, sir.

Check.

And the balance of income after expenditure? £12,048, sir. Very good.

You may divide that between you both. Sir?

What's that, sir?

This, Len?

It's a receipt signed by me for a requisition

on behalf of Her Majesty's land forces.

I shall post it to the headquarters of the bank.

Sir?

Yes, corporal?

We were wondering if it might not be a good idea

Military-wise, that is, to split up for a bit.

Split up?

Yes, sir.

But our mission has only just begun.

Oh, not you two again.

Yeah, have you seen him, love?

I told you I don't know anything.

Yeah, well, you must have heard him talking.

Didn't they mention any names or places? Oh, it was that colonel.

He had a kind of power of a man ever since he arrived.

How did he arrive?

On foot. He was a right mess. I had to clean the mud off his clothes.

How'd the mud get on his clothes?

From all that walking. How do you think?

What walking?

The walking it took to get here, Len said,

it took him two days in a straight line... Straight line from where?

From wherever he came from, I don't know.

I'm glad for one thing, I'm glad he's gone. I hated the sight of him.

We had a nice little place here till that crazy man came along and spoilt it all.

Sir, what is this mission?

Yes, sir.

What exactly did you have in mind?

Very well.

I shall tell you all you need to know for the moment.

We are at present engaged in Operation Britannica.

Operation Britannica is divided into three clear and distinct stages.

Stage one is what I might call a funding operation. That is already complete,

and you've both performed extremely well.

Stage two will be a further operation of requisition.

And then in stage three, which will follow immediately afterwards...

We shall go for the big one.

So, are there any questions?

Yeah.

This big one.

How big is that gonna be?

Bigger, Tug, than anything you could possibly imagine.

Sixty miles as the crow flies.

He packs his case.

He walks out in the hospital, he marches for two days,

he arrives in this nothing town and he does a bank job?

Probably less than he's got in his current account.

And puts the finishing touches to the rest of his career?

Colonel Manning in.

Who shall I say, sir? Colonel Lawson. Hello, sir. Colonel Lawson to see you.

This is the gatehouse.

Thin-faced fare?

Yes, sir.

Yes.

Would you mind identifying yourself on the phone, sir?

Yes, of course.

Hello, Tony.

Yes, I was just passing. I thought I'd drop in for a snifter.

Of course.

Very good.

Peter, oh, chap!

I thought you were on the Rhine.

What a simply splendid surprise.

You know, I was trying to decide whether or not to have a nightcap,

so what do we have? Brandy? Scotch? I've got a really rather splendid Armagnac.

Care for some of that? No, no, no, no. Scotch will be fine.

So, just between the two of us,

do tell me what all this is about you on the grapevine. Of course,

I knew it was a load of bloody lies, mess, gossip.

Hello, Bill. How bad is it?

Twenty pounds of plastic explosives, two boxes of detonators,

four cases of hand grenades, two cases of stun grenades.

Six cases of nine-millimeter ammunition, six cases of 7.62 ammunition,

one case of three-inch mortar smoke bombs, one dozen mortar bombs.

How's Colonel Banning?

Well, I've spoken to him at the hospital. He's conscious.

I think he'll recover all right. He doesn't seem to remember much.

Which way did they head when they left?

They turned right to the main gate and straight

to the town. Well? We got one sighted.

About 20 miles away. Little charcoal.

The police car, I remember seeing them heading west. That's all we got.

Right.

Well, they've certainly got enough equipment to rob a few more small local banks.

Colonel Manning did positively identify Lawson.

I'm afraid so.

Can you double-check that motor, I hope, sir?

Yes, sir. Certainly have.

Right, men.

We are poised for the final thrust of Operation Britannica.

If this attack is successful, and I'm quite confident it will be,

we shall be able to deliver an ultimatum to the enemy

that he'll have no alternative but to accept.

And included in those terms, of course,

will be remuneration and compensation for you both.

Now, before we go over the details again,

let me remind you of the one fact which pervades

and overrides every stage of this operation.

We are in possession of the eternal military advantage.

Surprise.

None at all.

We always saw eye to eye.

The man was as straight as they come. Look at here, tenant.

It's for you. Thank you.

Cowley. Brigadier, this maneuver of Lawson's, the one

that went wrong in Germany, what exactly happened?

I've already told you. His battalion was wiped out. He then turned on his own HQ.

Thank you.

All power plants, nuclear stations, major security installations have been alerted.

Excuse me, sir, but how exactly...

Was the battalion wiped out? Must have been a nuclear device, wasn't it?

No.

It was gas, actually.

Gas? What type of gas?

I'm not sure that I should tell you this. C-29. Nerve gas?

Yes.

I thought we'd renounce the use of that weapon.

We have to know how to defend ourselves against it.

So one of the sides was obviously using, or pretending to use, C-29 gas.

Which we say we don't use. And to which Lawson presumably objected.

Brigadier, if, you know, if...

We had C-29 gas. Where would we keep it?

Where it was made. And where is that?

Where would that be?

Marston.

Marston Dill. Marston Dill Chemical Research Establishment.

Optimisation point A.

Colonel Walters, bomb disposal. Sir, we've had reports of an IRA bomb here.

We've had an alert, but... Yes, well, get this barrier up!

I want this place evacuated now! Sound the alarm!

Where's the PA, sir?

In the last... Well, everybody up!

Where's the short-wave job? Over there.

Get a medic!

You two!

Come and give a hand here! Yes, sir!

What about the gun, sir?

Professor, our CI5, what'd they get?

Well, they couldn't adopt anything worse. C-29. So, what is C-29? Nerve gas?

It's the most toxic substance on this planet.

It shouldn't have happened.

You were both obeying orders.

No, Colonel.

I was... Tug!

His death won't have been in vain.

The jeep was found in the motorway.

No, no, we can only assume they were heading for London.

Yes.

Yes, right.

The minister has been informed. He's in cabinet conference,

and he'll advise the PM as and when necessary. Oh, continue, please, Professor.

Oh, well, as I said, two canisters have been taken.

Each one contains three litres of liquefied C-29.

The canisters don't require refrigeration.

No, they're in a pressurised vacuum. And when the contents are released? Well,

the liquid rapidly becomes gas, under normal atmospheric conditions. And then?

Well, then it disperses, extremely quickly.

How quickly?

Well, it can cover miles within minutes, depending on wind levels, within seconds.

And just how toxic is it?

One part in a million can be lethal.

One part? You mean anybody who breathes it within miles, within seconds?

It doesn't have to be breathed.

You see, the molecules on contact with animal tissue, like your skin or lungs,

for example, produce a chain reaction within the central nervous system. Now,

once this happens, death occurs in a relatively short space of time.

Okay, so it can spread in seconds.

But how far could it expand to and still remain deadly?

Well, its molecular weight is about the same as that of air.

Now, when the atmospheric pressure is heavy, like today, for example,

it tends to spread further sideways,

the weight of the air preventing it from dissipating upwards.

Well, what would you say was the maximum lethal area?

It's impossible to say. I mean, it could be miles.

He got two canisters.

Stand easy, Tug.

What's the weather report?

Light winds, 1,028 millibars, sir.

Perfect.

Let's have a look at that.

Yes, that feels about right.

Permission to smoke, sir?

Granted. Thanks, sir.

Now, where's the parcel you have to deliver?

Excellent.

Well, Tug, how do you feel?

Quite confident?

Ah, I know what's bothering you.

These letters are on behalf of you and Lenz next of kin.

They contain instructions to my bank in Geneva.

You will each be paid one half of the balance of my numbered account.

The cheques are signed in there for and or one million pounds,

whichever is the greater amount.

And don't worry, the account is quite healthy,

so that even if this final stage of our mission...

It should not succeed.

Your cheque will still be very substantial.

Your envelope also contains a signed statement from

me that you at all times acted under orders.

My orders.

And it also records your promotion, Willis, as of this moment, to Colour Sergeant.

Thank you, sir.

And let us wish each other the best of luck.

Sir. We have military anti-nerve gas units positioned

at four corners of the Greater London Area.

Every available man in CI5 stationed on maximum alert.

In direct communication with us on PM emergency frequency.

Yes.

Yes, of course.

Well, Professor, for the moment, I think we've done all we can.

Oi!

I mean it, I'm gonna throw.

Excuse me. Oh, excuse me. Do me a favor, otherwise I'll blow your head off.

Take this parcel and give it to that policeman over there.

Understand? Just give it to him.

I'll be standing here watching you. You do one thing different, you'll be dead.

I just can't give him this. He's got a gun.

Patriot One to Patriot Leader, over.

Patriot Leader.

Patriot One, message delivered, over.

Roger.

Message delivered.

Out.

I've got all the ports closed. There's no point.

The airport... Yes?

Yes?

Lawson has made contact.

No, you'd better give them to me now, over the phone. Yes?

Yes?

He's given us one hour in which to blow up the entire chemical

warfare research establishments at three separate locations,

to be relayed by ENG TV on all channels, so that you can see it happen live.

Good gracious God.

He wants £2 million transferred to a Swiss account. Well, that's not so much.

And he wants a national anthem played on Radio 2.

On the hour, every hour, forever.

Can I just go back, please?

I'll just step back, sir. 4-5 on target. We need every available facility.

Come back with me, could you?

Thank you. All right, quick as you can. Stand back there, please.

How do you read it?

Drops his arm.

Pin will be pulled. We've got about four seconds.

There's not a much chance of a bullet getting that wire.

If it misses the shock wave, we'd pull the pin out.

It could use a laser, sir, but he'd see us setting it up.

We don't have time to set one up.

Pretend, sir.

Is there any chance that canister could survive a close grenade explosion?

Well, we'd have to test one, but, I mean, they're very strong. Got a butt.

I know.

I don't even know that. I mean, I might get cramp.

Cowley, are those ENG units installed?

Right.

Colonel Lawson, this is Cowley, CI5.

We are setting up ENG surveillance now at the establishments you requested.

But the government hasn't yet given its approval of your main demand.

If you wish to negotiate for further time, please wave your free arm.

Major, we thought maybe if anything does go wrong,

we could cover a good deal of it, contain possibly half.

Depends how much the canister was destroyed in the blast.

And how fast you can get there.

These NBC suits are not exactly designed for the 100-yard dash,

and that's not a Formula One.

I've confirmed with the chief constable any attempt

at a mass evacuation will cause incredible jams,

especially as we're coming to the peak period. I agree. There's no time.

No time for anything.

He's got us, you know.

It's got every angle covered with those mirrors.

There's just no way you can approach it, even from behind.

And that's the most accessible point there, what, 75 yards? Let's hope so.

Now, you try running that in an NBC suit. You'd see before you got halfway.

I mean, even if you tried stripping the NBC suit off to make yourself lighter,

what then? You've got a suicide run. I can't see any way. I can.

What?

We've got ourselves a blind spot.

You're kidding.

He's armed. Yeah.

I reckon I can get within about ten feet of him.

Is that Fox NBC proof? Off with the grenade? Yeah, yeah.

Brilliant.

Driver's sealed off the lot perfect. I'll never get close enough to him.

You only need to get within 20 feet. I can lob it to you if you're on the turret.

Bingo, straight in the hole.

And how long's the fuse? Four seconds. Four seconds. What if I drop it?

You don't.

Sir?

Do it.

Listen, mate, when I come out of that blind spot, you give it all you've got.

Sit here, pal. You've got a spike, haven't you? So, yeah, listen, do us a favour.

You just stick it in that patch of grass there, right in line with him. Okay,

make sure you don't see it.

Remember, we take all our cues from Bodie until he starts his run.

In your own time, 37.

We're with you all the way. Okay, I'm on my way.

I'm gonna go on three, okay?

One, two, three.

No, that's all right.

He's dead.

You're out of breath, 37.

Yes, sir.

Soft, you might say.