All language subtitles for New.Tricks.S07E03.Left.Field.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-squalor_Track03

You bring me to the nicest places.
If this case is as open and shut

as strickland thinks it is,
hopefully we won't be here too long.

So this bloke Davies wants to make
a confession 25 years after the event.

Have we spoken to his
mental health officer?

He does have a link to the missing
boy. He was a friend of the family.

So what? His conscience
got the better of him?

Maybe he found religion
when he was inside.

Yeah there's got to be another
reason for all this. What?

Oi, oi, paedo! Come out
your house, man. Oi, paedo!

What you hiding behind your door
for? You nonce, man. For a start,

the local wildlife
seems... Take this, man.

Let's get out of here, man!

Wait here.

Tyres screech

are you detective superintendent
Pullman? She'll be here in a moment.

She's just doing a bit
of community policing.

Shit, man.

I've just had this
jacket cleaned.

I'm arresting you for
assaulting a police officer.

♪ It's all right it's ok

♪ doesn't really matter
if you're old and grey

♪ it's all right I say it's ok

♪ listen to what I say

♪ it's all right, doing fine

♪ doesn't really matter
if the sun don't shine

♪ it's all right I say it's ok

♪ we're gettin' to
the end of the day. ♪

Sandra?

Take them to the interview
room. I'll be down in a minute.

Anything I should be aware of?

We think they may be part
of the reason why Davies

decided to confess. How so?

He's had to move four times
since he was released from prison.

So?

That's four times in
the last six months.

Every time he settles in
someone tips off the locals

and the next thing he knows
there's pitchforks and torches

as far as the eye
can see. Again. So?

So maybe he feels safer in prison
than he does back on the streets.

I'm afraid my concern is for the safety of
the streets, not of a convicted paedophile.

Especially one who's confessing to the
kidnap and murder of a five-year-old child.

Yeah, and I feel the same way too, but I would like to
get to the truth before I hand things over to the cps.

And that's what I want
you to do, of course.

For the tape, mr Davies, can we remind you
that you are entitled to legal representation,

but you've decided
to waive that right.

I just want to get on
with this. Ok? Fine.

I want to confess to the kidnap of
yasser gorton-blackledge in 1985.

It was me, I took him.

Ok, but why are you
confessing now, 25 years later?

Because it's the
right thing to do.

I realised that
when I was in prison.

I realised I had to
pay for what I'd done.

Then why didn't you confess when
you were still inside? I wish I had.

Really? Because according to your file you
applied for parole at the earliest opportunity.

You were released because you'd shown
willing in all the psychiatric treatment

and rehabilitation
opportunities you were offered.

Mr Davies, you wrote a ten-page statement
in support of your parole application.

Listen, I don't
belong on the streets.

You need to put me away.
Just put me back in prison.

Surprisingly, it's
not as simple as that.

We need to know whether
you're telling us the truth. I am.

All right, let's start with
what happened to yasser.

He was taken from his parents at a protest
march and never seen again. Where is he?

All right, where's his body?

It's gone. Gone where? You don't have to
give us a map reference, just a general idea.

We'll find it. No, you won't.

I dumped the body
at sea. Really?

Yeah. And how did you
do that? Did you hire a boat?

How did you get him from London
to the coast? Did you have a car?

Provide us with some details.
How long did you have him?

Could anybody have seen the two
of you together? Look, I've confessed.

Isn't that enough for you?

Well, isn't it? No! Because
he didn't bloody do it, Gerry.

Yeah, but he did plenty of other stuff. You've
seen his file. I have, and this crime doesn't fit.

She's right.

Davies used his position as a teacher to
groom adolescent lads, not little children,

and he never kidnapped anyone.

He was cleverer
than that. Cleverer?

Ok, sly, mendacious.

He was a different kind of predator, and he
never used physical violence on his victims.

That doesn't make me feel any more comfortable
about him being back on the streets.

He'd agree with you. He doesn't
want to be out. That's why he confessed.

He'd rather see out his days in a safe cell
on d-wing than live in fear in a council flat.

So what do we do? Well,
he's not going anywhere.

Let's just read the files
and take it from there.

April 20th, 1985.

There was a demo against
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

In attendance was the Islington
branch of the free Palestine coalition,

leading lights of which were husband and
wife team Anne gorton and Fred blackledge.

Accompanying them was
their young son, yasser.

Named after...

That's obvious, isn't it?

Now, the last reported sighting of him was
on the north side of westminster bridge.

The marchers were crossing from south towards
the houses of parliament. This was at 2.00pm.

Hold on, hold on, the kid wasn't
reported missing till 8.00pm.

That's how long apparently it took
before the parents realised he was missing.

What? God, some parents
don't deserve to have kids.

Which is exactly
what the press said.

Yeah, well, they were very sympathetic at
first, you know, playing up the victim angle.

Until this came to
light. Look at them.

And then journalists started
asking very awkward questions.

And answering them. They said that Anne and
Fred were dangerous left-wing activists,

too obsessed with
politics to care for their kid.

They were particularly hard on
Anne, saying she'd failed as a mother.

Maybe she did?

Yes, I had a call
from dac strickland.

He said that Davies had
finally done the right thing.

Finally?

It was fairly obvious once
we found out about his history.

He lived locally, he'd been
to meetings in our home.

Yasser knew him and must have
trusted him enough to go with him.

It all makes sense, doesn't it? We'll
still have to do a proper investigation.

Wouldn't be a problem
for you, would it?

"Miscarriages of British justice,"
"rough justice in modern britain."

"Are we living in
a police state?"

I work for a civil liberties campaign group.
That's where the real battle lies now.

The day is coming where we won't
be able to go anywhere, meet anyone,

say anything without it being recorded
and noted down by those in power.

Cctv, Internet monitoring,
illegal phone taps.

If you don't do anything wrong,
there's nothing to worry about.

Well, it depends who's deciding
what's right or wrong, doesn't it?

Still, if there had been
cctv on westminster bridge...

Oh, I'm aware of the
double-edged sword.

If my son's disappearance
had been properly investigated...

You don't think it was? I think you let the
press do your job for you the first time round.

Well, there'll be no press
involvement this time.

But we will need you and
your husband to cooperate.

Ex-husband.

Fred and I separated after...

After yasser.

I'm sorry to hear that.

We'd been on different
paths for a long time.

Emotionally and politically.

In short, feminism is
a fascist movement,

hell bent on reducing men to
the rank of second-class citizens.

Just as the Jews were
demonised by the Nazis,

so the feminazis have waged a
propaganda war against a whole gender.

We are violent in the home
according to the social workers.

We are obsolete
according to the scientists.

How long before this fascism is
pursued to its inevitable conclusion?

Gender cleansing?

We'll expand on
this theme next week.

Please do the
reading. Thank you.

That's quite a theory
you've got there.

Not theory, fact.

Can I help you? My name's halford,
I called your office, I'm from ucos.

You're here about yasser?

I'd like to talk to you about
the day he went missing.

And about John Davies?
Anything you can tell me.

I can tell you the poor bastard
was as much a victim as yasser was.

Oh, really? You
don't think he did it?

You heard what I had to say about
the feminist propaganda machine.

For the last century we've been told
over and over that men are predators,

just interested in violence and sex, and
some men have chosen to believe this,

to allow themselves to be debased
by it. Davies was one of them.

Ok. Professor blackledge, you were
the last person to see yasser alive.

Yes, I didn't know
that at the time.

Yasser had been with us all day. He was riding
on people's shoulders, banging his drum,

shouting all the slogans.

When we got to westminster tube, Anne decided
she wanted to go home. She had a headache.

I thought she'd
taken yasser with her.

Yasser was having
such a good time,

I didn't want to take
him home and spoil it.

Did you say that to Fred?
I said, "yasser will be ok?"

And he nodded.

But he thought I meant
yasser would be ok with me.

I suppose it was an
easy mistake to make.

And then you just went home?

I took a couple of aspirin,

made some food for
when they got back,

and sat in the garden
with a cup of tea.

Then Fred came home.

I thought she
was joking at first.

I thought he was upstairs in
his bed, I even went up to check.

But then...

It felt like the bottom
had fallen out of my world.

So you called the police?

That's when it got real.

First few days we thought of
him as just lost, that he'd turn up,

one way or another, but then the police
started talking about him as a missing child.

Not lost, taken.

The river police trawled up
and down that part of the thames.

They handed out
photos in the area.

Nothing.

Then they advised
us to involve the press,

get the word out.

But of course, that backfired.

The coverage was pretty damning.

Not until Jamie Peters
sold them that picture.

Hold on, who was Jamie Peters?

A comrade, or so we thought.

He'd been part of the
campaign for years.

Totally dedicated to the cause.

I'd like to know how much
the press paid for that picture.

And why didn't he sell them one of yasser
on Fred's shoulders, or holding my hand?

I think you know
the answer to that.

The journalists spoke to our friends,
our family, trying to find some dirt on us.

And when they
couldn't, they made it up.

They crucified us day after day.

How long after that were
you and Fred divorced?

About 18 months.

We were so careful
with each other at first,

walking on eggshells.

And then one night the
dam broke and it all came out.

I blamed him, he blamed me, we threw in a few other
issues just to make it hurt that little bit more

and then it was over,

and he left. 'I learnt
a valuable lesson.'

men are always to blame.
Just pick up a paper.

We cause war, famine, economic
meltdown, while women are blameless.

Well, that's all we've been
told, over and over again.

Well, there's probably a reason...
Take the global warming myth.

They call it man-made
climate change.

Man-made. As if a woman
never drove a car or took a flight.

You see, this is what
we're fighting against.

It's a woman's world,
and we just live in it.

You do realise that, don't you?

What a load of bollocks.

I can't believe
they let him teach.

And write books.

Loads of them about Soviet
Russia, China, fidel Castro.

Then he goes all middle eastern and publishes
a couple about gaza and the zionist conspiracy.

Oooh, then it's all about
those pesky feminists.

How's this for a title?

The secret war on modern men.

Sounds good.

Stick to your cook books, Gerry.
Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?

Me tied to a kitchen
sink, seen and not heard.

I'm not sure I buy all this
misunderstanding on westminster bridge.

Nah, one of them would have said goodbye,
told him who was looking after him.

I think one of them's lying.

Or both of them. It's a very convenient
way to provide each other with an alibi.

You think they killed their son?

Maybe not on purpose, but I
don't think we should rule it out.

Has anyone considered that little unsupervised
yasser might just have wandered away?

I know they trawled the river,
but that was six hours later.

I've been thinking about that. I've
been on a few demos in me time.

Have you? Oh, yes, when
Esther and I were courting.

She was quite the ragged-trousered
philanthropist in her day.

Those demos were always heavily
policed. Especially around westminster.

Tell me about it.

You went on a demo?
I can believe it of him.

No, in uniform!

Yeah, keeping the peace.

Actually I spent the whole day being called a pig
or a capitalist running dog. "Kill the police!"

Yeah, they're all
the same, that lot.

Who do they run to when
their bikes get nicked?

Well, just to be sure, I looked up the met's
policing guidelines for demos at the time.

There's a memo from the chief constable a
week before suggesting that cover was doubled

on westminster bridge
and around parliament.

Not the best place
to snatch a child.

Maybe he did just wander off?

In which case, I think we need to track down all
the other people on that march with Fred and Anne

and ask them what
they remember seeing.

There we are.

Well, what's the matter with
it? No, nothing, it looks lovely.

It's just...

I remember a time when this was the
last thing you'd want to be doing. What?

Getting the tea on the table in
time for your husband coming home.

What was it you and
your gang used to call it?

Domestic slavery.

Well, that was a long time ago.

You were going to defeat the
forces of oppression, that was it.

So what happened?

What happens to most people. We
got married, we had Mark, real life!

Esther, you were going
to lead a revolution!

No, I wasn't! Well, you
went to all the meetings.

Yeah, along with some student
teachers, an ageing social worker,

and that woman who used to
sell woolly hats at Camden market.

That's who I was going to Manning
the barricades with. Yeah, still...

We'd all have been
dead by teatime.

Morning, ma'am. Morning.

Mr Davies? Are you
waiting for me? Yes.

I was wondering if you were going to
be arresting me today? Probably not.

Why not?

What do I need to do
to get you to believe me?

Provide some evidence.

Tell us where to find the
body. Give us some details.

Well, it's me own fault.

I've domesticated her.

Stolen her fire.

Oh, I don't know. I think your
Esther's still got plenty of that.

Hello, you, um, wanted
to see me? Gillian withall?

That's right. I'm Jack halford,
this is Brian Lane. How do you do?

Hello. Were you ever a member of the Islington
branch of the free Palestine campaign?

Oh, god, in another life.
Erm, 20-odd years ago.

We'd like to talk to you about the
disappearance of yasser gorton-blackledge.

Right. You better come
through. Thank you.

I met Fred at north
London university.

You were a student? No, no, no, I was a nurse at
the university health centre dishing out pills -

pregnancy tests and penicillin.

It was the summer of '84 and the students
had occupied the building as a protest.

Protest about what?

They were going to occupy the building
until Israel stopped occupying Palestine.

Well, that worked(!)

I was there as a first aider. I
had no interest in politics at all

and then I got talking to Fred.

Next thing I know I'm going
to meetings and demos and...

Looking back on it, I think it was
all a bit of a distraction. From what?

I'd just been through a divorce.

It was nice to have some new friends.
You remember yasser, do you? Of course.

Poor little thing. How so?

Well...

It didn't surprise me
that he wandered off.

He never had any boundaries.

The house was always full of
strangers for meetings and demos.

He went to all the
rallies and protests.

I mean, maybe it was just a matter
of time before something happened.

So, you would agree with what
the press said about Anne and Fred?

They were negligent parents?
I wouldn't go as far as that.

How far would
you go? I just think

they didn't realise how lucky they
were to have yasser until it was too late.

What about John Davies?

Do you think he showed any
inappropriate attention to yasser?

No, no, not as
far as I remember.

To be honest, he was only
ever at a couple of the meetings,

and then I think he came out of
politeness. What do you mean?

Well, he was a teacher
at the local school.

Was he? It doesn't
bear thinking about.

Anne was on the board of governors, I think she
nagged him into coming to a couple of the meetings.

The thing about Fred and
Anne is they always assumed

that everyone was as committed
to the cause as they were.

They didn't realise that
some people would just

pick up a leaflet or sign a petition
just to get them off their backs.

And on this the demo, was Davies
there? Not as far as I remember, no.

After yasser went missing,
how did Anne and Fred seem?

I have no idea. The demo was
the last time I saw any of the group.

It was sort of like
my leaving party.

Big party. Where
were you going? Sudan.

I'd volunteered to work as a
nurse in the refugee camps.

Wow, that was
brave. Very admirable.

I would never have dreamt of doing
it if it hadn't been for Fred and Anne.

They certainly
broadened my horizons.

How long were you there?

Two hard, dirty,
traumatic, amazing years.

It was the best and worst
thing I've ever done. I still miss it.

Why did you come back?

I wanted my son to
have a British education.

Oh, you have a son?

Was he a friend of yasser's?

Did Davies ever talk to him?
No, no, no, I didn't have him then.

So you were pregnant while you
were working in the refugee camps?

That must have been hard. I'm
surprised you weren't just sent home.

No, you don't understand. I
adopted will while I was out there

quite a souvenir to bring back,
eh? Better than a stick of rock.

I'm hoping he might have other pictures
from that day. Crowd shots maybe.

Featuring your local
neighbourhood nonce, John Davies!

Well, that would be extremely
helpful, but I won't hold my breath.

No, I'm more interested in seeing
whether that shot was taken out of context

or whether they really
were being negligent.

Yeah, that's the one
there. At least I hope it is.

He was living here in '85 and
I've got no record of him moving

you know how I love a long shot.

Hello, detective superintendent
Pullman. Does Jamie Peters live here?

Er, he does, but he's away with work
at the moment. Can I get him to call you?

Yeah, thanks, I'll give you my
card. Will he know what it's about?

Yeah, it's about yasser
gorton-blackledge,

who went missing in 1985.

Oh, ok. He'll be in touch.

Cheers. Bye-bye.

Thank you. Bye.

Long shot paid off.

We spoke to several members of the group and
they all said pretty much the same thing.

Thank you. They
weren't bad parents.

Just a bit distracted?

Yeah, we got the same story.

And as for yasser,

he was just happy to
go along for the ride.

Very self-reliant.
Maybe he had to be.

Gillian withall
described him as lonely.

And? Well, lonely boys
are easy prey for predators.

A few kind words,
a bag of sweets...

But hardly any of them
even remembered Davies.

And those that did don't remember
him being interested in yasser.

Of course they wouldn't notice. I mean,
what did you call him? Mendacious?

These blokes are smart. They
know how to keep under the radar.

I mean, how long was he a teacher before anyone
knew what was going on? Best part of ten years.

Yeah, and that's why we've got this surveillance
culture that Anne gorton campaigns against.

Some people need to
be under surveillance.

What now? He says he's got
some new information for us.

Go on.

Yasser had a toy car with him
when I took him. A little red one.

And where is it now?

I don't know.

You don't have it?

No. It must be with the body.

Which is at sea! Ask
Anne gorton about it.

Ask her. She'll tell you.

I'll be at home when
you're ready to arrest me.

Sandra?

Are you here to talk
about John Davies?

Actually, I'm here to ask why you were knocking
on the door of an mi5 safe house this morning.

I wasn't aware I was.

You asked for a Jamie Peters?

That's an active alias
for one of their agents.

Oh, is it now?

Mi5. Who would have thought?

Mind you, I've always
fancied a look inside.

Yeah, it would make a nice change to interfere in
one of their cases instead of the other way round.

I expect there'll be some
serious security though.

Retina scans, full-body
metal detectors.

Come on, let's get on with it.

There you go.

Thank you. Is that it?

Yes. Richard will take you down.

This way, gentlemen.
After you, miss Moneypenny.

You see, that's a mistake
a lot of people make.

What? James Bond
was actually MI6.

MI6 are the spies.

Mi5 are the spy catchers.

We've given you temporary
low-level clearance.

So, I am able to tell you that Jamie
Peters was an operative in the '80s

tasked with intelligence gathering
within fringe political organisations.

Anne gorton, Fred blackledge and the free
palestinian group were placed under surveillance

because we believed at the time that they had links to
other less benign groups in the middle east. Did they?

Probably not. They did
have an unusual amount

of contact with foreign nationals, but they were usually
just overseas students they'd taken in as lodgers.

Fred blackledge did
visit a few hot spots.

China, Cuba, east
Germany, the Soviet union.

Yeah, well, he was writing
books about those places.

And what happened
to our man in Islington?

Jamie was reassigned
after the boy disappeared

to avoid his becoming embroiled in
the metropolitan police's investigation.

To explain the sudden withdrawal
from the gorton-blackledge social circle

we released some photos
to the press in Jamie's name.

And made it look like he'd sold them
down the river and couldn't face them.

Dirty trick.

Unfortunate
operational necessity.

So, these are the surveillance files
and Jamie's notes. Take as long you like.

Nice piles, neat
piles. Anything else?

Yeah, you couldn't point us in the direction
of the nearest tea machine could you?

Afraid not. Classified.

Thank you. Did yasser
have a favourite toy?

Yes, a little red car.

His grandad gave
it to him. He loved it.

Who else know about it? No-one.

Do you still have it?

No.

No, he must have sneaked it into
his pocket before we left for the march.

It was a couple of
weeks before I realised.

I wasn't able to go
into his room at first.

I didn't want anyone
to disturb it, in case...

I just wanted everything to be as he'd left
it when he came home. Of course you did.

When I did finally go in,

I realised that it wasn't there.

Did anyone else
know it was missing?

No. Just me and Fred.

Aren't Laurel and
Hardy back yet? No.

Tell them to stop wasting their
time. I'm bringing Davies in. Sandra!

No-one else knew about the car.

He didn't do it. I pulled his
education department record.

On the day of the march he was
in a school disciplinary meeting

accused of inappropriate
behaviour towards a pupil.

A boy of 15.

And he talked his way out of it?

He claimed the boy made the accusation
because he'd put him in detention.

The headmaster gave him the benefit of the doubt,
but I don't think he was too comfortable about it,

cos Davies was
persuaded to move on.

To another school? Great(!)

That's why Anne and
Fred didn't see him again.

No, our first instincts were
right. He had nothing to do with it.

But why make a false confession?

And how the hell did he
know about this little red car?

Well, he knew about it today, but
his memory wasn't so sharp yesterday.

Yes, so where's he
getting his information from?

Come on.

You should have arrested me.

No, I shouldn't. We
know you didn't do it.

We know you were at a school
meeting on the day of the demo.

However, I am thinking of
charging you with wasting police time.

Anything to say?

Look, if you just
wanted to be relocated...

What would be the bloody
point of that? He'd just find me.

Who would? Anthony Vernon.

And who's he?

I don't know! Just some nutter.

I don't know how he knows
who I am, but he does.

And wherever they
put me, he's there.

He talks to the neighbours,
tells them who... what I am.

So, you thought you'd confess to yasser's
murder and get put out of harm's way?

No, that was his idea.

Anthony Vernon
told you to confess?

I confronted him,

I asked him why he
was doing this to me.

He said he knew
that I'd taken yasser.

I told him it was nothing to do
with me, he was having none of it,

threatened to make the rest of my
life a misery if I didn't hand myself in.

After six months of him I just
wanted to be somewhere safe.

I thought you'd jump at the
chance to put away a pervert.

He went mad when I told him
you weren't interested in me.

That's when he told me to come
back and tell you about the toy car.

He fed you that information?

Yeah. And when
that didn't work...

I assume this young lady is
here to take your statement.

Yes I am, sir.
We'll be in touch.

Cor, blimey, I thought
being a spy would be exciting.

Can you imagine, five years of going to
boring meetings pretending to be interested?

Making a note of
everyone who turns up.

He even goes about who
brought the biscuits in this one.

Yeah, I don't remember that bit about
custard creams in goldfinger, do you?

I mean, most of
this is just gossip.

There's quite a bit about
Fred and Anne's marriage.

Well, she was knocking off
the lodgers, weren't she? What?

Yeah, here, in this one, there.

Mind you, it is 1981.
So it's hardly relevant.

It's got to be more interesting than
another discussion about zionism.

Oh, I see!

So while poor old Fred was freezing his baltics off
in Moscow, she found another way of keeping warm.

Gives a whole new meaning to bed
and breakfast. Doesn't it, though? What?

Well, I was just thinking, it wasn't just Davies who
had the chance to get to know yasser, gain his trust.

What, the lodgers, you mean? Well, it's
the most interesting thing in these files,

unless you consider the very nice
garibaldis they had on the 13th of November.

I don't know.

I found a familiar
name here. Who's?

No, I don't think I should
show you. Why ever not?

According to what I've just read, you're a potential
security risk. What, there's stuff about me there?

Brian, how well do
you know Esther?

I'm married to her, Gerry.

It's called deep cover.

Where? It's just more stuff
about these meetings, innit?

Gerry laughs that's not amusing.

Oh, I don't know.

I wonder how Esther would feel about you being
so quick to believe she's a double agent.

Right, come on. Let's go and
see this lusty landlady, eh?

Mr Vernon, I'm sure you're aware that perverting the
course of justice is a serious offence. Of course.

Then perhaps you'd care to
explain why you forced John Davies

into confessing to a crime
he didn't commit. I didn't.

We have a statement of
that effect from mr Davies.

Oh, right. That's Davies
the convicted paedophile?

His previous convictions
have no bearing on this case.

Yeah, and I'm a sure a
jury of my peers will agree.

Everyone knows you can
always trust a kiddie Fiddler.

What about doctors? How do
you think they go down with a jury?

Because the facial injuries that Davies
is recovering from tell their own story.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

You see, what I don't understand
is why this particular case?

Why did you want him to confess to
the killing of yasser gorton-blackledge?

As I've told you, I didn't.
I've never even heard of...

Do you have any links
to the family, mr Vernon?

Cos you passed on some details that only somebody
close to them would know. Care to explain why?

No. Sure about
that? Yeah, positive.

Chief superintendent?

Davies has dropped
the assault charge. Why?

It was an accident,
he fell over his cat.

Shit.

You're free to go.

Am I supposed to be surprised?

Of course mi5 were watching us.

It must have been a very dull
assignment for Jamie. All we did was talk.

They were very
interested in your lodgers.

You know, the foreign students
you had staying with you.

We were on a digs
list at the university.

For the most part they were nice boys
who needed a bed and a friendly face.

You were a little bit
more than friendly.

It was a complicated
time in our marriage.

Fred was overseas a lot. I got lonely.
Yeah, I think we can understand that.

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure
what this has to do with my son.

We didn't take in students after yasser
was born. We didn't have the room.

Did you keep in touch with
any of them? The odd postcard.

One or two stayed in the UK after they'd
finished their courses. They'd pop in.

Thinking back, would you say that any of
them may have posed a danger to your son?

No. Why would you?

Because they were foreign?

Dear god! Some things never change.
No, because they had access to your home.

They were almost part of the family.
You're barking up the wrong tree.

There's absolutely no need for
you to start disrupting their lives.

It's just a line of enquiry.

Well, it's offensive.

And I'd like you to leave.

Typical bloody lefty
to play the race card.

I don't care if her lodgers are foreigners.
I don't care if they're extraterrestrials.

And I don't think that's what it
was all about. She was covering?

Well, she seemed very uncomfortable
about us contacting any of them.

Why? Because of the affairs? No! Once she and
Fred got divorced that's water under the bridge.

Yeah, but at the time,
maybe it all boiled over?

So you think things
got violent? I don't know.

Fred does have strong
opinions about domestic violence.

I just think it's another thing
to add to their list of distractions

politics, a broken marriage...
It's like Jack said from the off.

I mean, this story gives a very
convenient alibi for the both of them.

Go back to Gillian withall, she seems to
have known them the longest and the best.

Would anyone be surprised to hear that
Anthony Vernon has got a history of violence?

Not really. Go on. His ex-wife
has a restraining order against him.

He's not allowed within 20
feet of her, or the children.

The kids as well?
That's unusual.

Do you think she'll speak to us?
We can but try. But why should we?

Well, I've got nowhere
with the man himself.

I want to know why he wanted Davies
to confess to this case specifically.

Karen Vernon? Detective superintendent
Pullman, this is Jack halford.

Come in. Thank you.

Thank you.

It's not the first time I've spoken
to the police about Tony. I'm sorry.

It's ok. He can't touch me now.

Not physically, or
in any other way.

I'm glad to hear it. It's
when he threatened the boys.

It was like he switched
something off in me.

He said if I ever left him, he'd
kill me and make the kids watch

it took me three months to save up enough
money and then find a place to run to.

We haven't seen him since.

He's tried. He dragged me through
the law courts, but it's his temper.

Punched his solicitor the
last time. Not a smart move.

The thing is, he's not stupid.

He used to be a journalist. But he kept losing it with
the editors, so he never made it to the nationals.

So he worked for a
local paper. Which one?

Oh, different ones. In 1985?

Islington gazette I think.

He only lasted about
a year on that one.

Did he ever work on a story about
a little boy who was abducted?

Yasser gorton-blackledge? Yeah.

Is that what this is about?

He was obsessed with that story.

He was the first on the scene. He had a contact
at the police station that tipped him off.

He door-stepped the parents
and sold the story to the nationals.

He thought it was his
big chance. But it wasn't?

No, they just paid him for the first
report and then sent in their own hacks.

He tried to follow
up the story, though.

He did an interview
with the dad.

Er, Fred?

Yeah, when was this?

'95, it's the year we left. Ten years
later. It was a sort of anniversary piece.

He couldn't sell it, though.
No-one was interested.

He must have been
bitter about that. Yeah.

I had two black eyes and
a broken rib to prove it.

Oh, what have you got?

Look at me there! Oh, this
brings back some memories.

Oh, there's Jane longthorn.

I wonder what happened to her.

Who knows?

Might be married,
couple of children.

Probably. Or she could be under
deep cover in a former Soviet state.

Depends what her next mission
was and if she chose to accept it.

What on earth are
you talking about?

Infiltration!

You do realise that any of your so-called sisters
could have been working for the security services?

Reporting your every move
back to the powers that be?

Don't be so ridiculous. They
wouldn't have been interested in me.

That might be, but you remember, you dragged me along
to a couple of those meetings, and some marches.

Me! A serving officer
of the law. Yeah.

Well, they probably thought you
were trying to turn me into a sleeper.

A manchurian candidate.

Brian, have you taken
your tablets today?

They might still be listening!

You're still an
activist, aren't you?

You went to a political
meeting only last week.

Yes, about the closing
of the post office.

Even so. I do remember!

There was some talk of bringing down the government
and stringing up a few royals from the lampposts!

This isn't a joke.

No, I know. That's
what worries me.

I'm going to bed.

Don't be long.

Monotone: Yes, and I'm
going to bed now myself and all.

It's not just the potential invasion of my civil
liberties, or my rights as a private citizen.

I can't stop thinking about how being an
enemy of the state might have held me back.

What lists does my name appear on, and what
opportunities have I missed as a result?

I'm telling you, I could have
been held back all this time.

Held back from what? Promotion!

I might have been commissioner
by now for all we know.

I don't think it was the secret
service that held you back.

No, that was the misandry of the
global gynarchy oppressing the male

and allowing him to deny his
natural position of authority.

What the hell are you reading?

One of Fred blackledge's books.

I mean it's well over the top in places, but
there's a lot he says rings a bell with me.

I mean, I've spent my whole life
being told what to do by women.

Yeah, wives, daughters, detective superintendent
Sandra Pullman. Hold on, I'm reading that.

Yeah, I know.
That's the problem.

Gerry, with me.

I rest my case.

Yes, I was aware of my wife's
behaviour while I was away.

I found out when I returned home
a day early from a trip to Havana.

She was in bed with her
latest. It was quite the cliche.

Still upsetting. At the time,
yes, but now I understand.

Understand what? The myth
of the biological imperative.

Are you familiar?
Refresh my memory.

We are told over and over that men are the
promiscuous gender, that we are driven by sex.

The fact is that both
genders are driven by sex.

The difference is that women
cut off that drive when they

have secured what it was
they were looking for all along.

Which is? A child. The truth is that
women do not have sex for pleasure.

The truth? Now I understand
if you find that distressing

but that's only because you are
conditioned to believe that you enjoy sex.

Conditioned by who?
Capitalist forces. The market.

The pharmaceutical companies
that make you reliant on the pill.

The cosmetic companies that
say you have to be desirable.

The feminazi magazines who peddle
the lies of dr grafenburg and his ilk.

Doctor?

Grafenburg. The inventor of the
g-spot? And I do mean inventor.

Ok, let me see if
I've got this right.

When women don't
enjoy themselves in bed,

it's not the fault of the
man. It's social conditioning?

Exactly! Well done. So when
your wife looked elsewhere

because you weren't satisfying
her, that wasn't your fault?

Maybe you haven't completely
understood. Maybe not.

All I know is that once my wife had her child,
she lost all interest in anything sexual.

She had no desire... for you?

For sexual pleasure.

It simply wasn't on her
list of priorities any more.

Guv'nor! I see. Guv'nor! What?

Oh, everyone knew
about the affairs.

Anne didn't do
anything to hide them.

It was her way of getting back at Fred
for leaving her alone for weeks on end.

So, they were
just casual affairs?

It was sort of like a holiday romance
only Fred was the one having the holiday.

She could get quite intense about her young
men but then as soon as Fred came home...

Were the young men
as intense as she was?

What do you think?

There was one that
went a bit puppy dog.

Harry actually was pretty smitten and I did
think she might do something stupid with him.

Like leave Fred?

Maybe. But then Fred came
home and caught them at it.

He went mad and threw Harry out.

Which was obviously exactly
what Anne wanted all along.

Really? She might have been a
feminist but she still wanted a caveman.

She just wanted him to
show her that he cared.

After that it was
all happy families.

Especially when
yasser came along.

She didn't know how lucky
she was to have all that.

Still, she didn't
deserve to lose it.

No, no, of course not.

Mum, can you come
and take some blood?

Sorry, I didn't realise you
had visitors. Oh, that's ok.

We're just about to leave.

You must be Gillian's son?
That's right. Dr William withall.

But most people
just call me will.

Quite a medical
family, aren't you?

Is your brother
a doctor as well?

I don't have a brother.

My mistake, sorry. Shall we...

Why not.

Far be it from me to
not be politically correct...

I think I know what you're
going to say, but go on.

When you adopt from Africa don't
they usually give you a black baby?

So, what is it about Fred blackledge
that you find so damn fascinating?

You wouldn't understand.
Why, because I'm a woman?

Yeah. Yeah that is exactly
it. You've not been oppressed.

You don't know what
it's like to live in a world

of emasculation created by
feminism! No, I suppose not. Fred has.

He understands, you see, how the
system is weighted against us now.

How the pendulum
has swung too far.

He understands because
he's experienced it.

He has experienced
the loss of a child...

Yes, but the way you lost
your children is very different.

I told you. You
don't understand.

Apparently not. So, wasn't
Davies part of the brotherhood?

You tried to pin a murder on him.
Because he did it. No, mr Vernon.

Yeah, Fred told me about his suspicions
in '95. The anniversary interview?

The interview that
changed my life.

You see, he was just developing
his theories, his philosophy back then.

But what little he told me

set me free from my
guilt, from my torment.

And ever since I've been... well,
finding a way to repay the favour.

Then I heard that
Davies was out.

How did you hear? I was a
journalist I have my contacts.

You know that he only
served half of his sentence?

He was a model prisoner.
He's a sick bastard.

Maybe, but he's not a murderer.

Looks like you'll have to find
some other sacrifice for the master.

This is...

Oh, for god's sake!

Have you read any of this crap?

Well, you know me,
guv'nor, not a big reader.

It's one thing to hear
him spouting the rubbish,

but to see it in
black and white.

Listen to this. "In divorces,
the father should get automatic

"custody of their sons so that they are not exposed
to the gender war propaganda of their mothers."

No wonder he was able
to recruit Anthony Vernon.

I still don't think he put Vernon
up to framing John Davies though.

No, neither do I.

Vernon's just an extremist
who wanted to show devotion

to his hero and I also don't think he
had anything to do with yasser's death.

You're right about that. Because
we don't think that yasser is dead.

Ok, there is no record
of an official adoption.

That doesn't mean
anything, Jack.

But there is a record
of another child.

Born to Gillian in
December 1980.

Died February 1981.

Three months? Gawd, poor cow.

She did say she'd been going through a bad
time before hooking up with Anne and Fred.

A marriage break-up - sounds
like we've found the cause.

And the name of the
child that died was William.

So, a couple of days after yasser
goes missing, Gillian goes to Africa

and comes back two
years later with a white son.

She kept saying that Anne didn't
realise how lucky she was to have yasser.

Maybe she decided to prove
her point and take him away.

We'll pursue this line of enquiry
but I want to handle it with kid gloves.

I don't want to confront a bereaved
mother until we've done a bit of digging.

We should talk to he ex-husband.
See if they kept in touch.

Yeah, bring him in
tomorrow morning.

Brian! What are you doing now?

I'm looking for
listening devices. What?

Do you remember when we
had that squariel fitted years ago?

I think that's when they
might have done it! What?!

Oh, don't look at
me like that, Esther!

I wouldn't need to do this if it wasn't
for you and your radical politics.

Hang on. You went to
those meetings as well!

I was... I was trying
to impress you.

I had no interest in politics!

Oh, for god's
sake, give me that.

If I'd have known it was
going to ruin me career...

I beg your pardon?

Nothing. Are you trying to say
that I've been holding you back?

Not on purpose.

Would you like to talk about
what ruined your career?

Would you like to
talk about the drinking?

The obsessive behaviour?

No. I didn't think you would.

Mr withall, I'm detective
superintendent Pullman.

Thank you for
coming in, take a seat.

Can I get you a tea or coffee?

No, thank you. You said
this was about Gillian.

When was the last time
you saw your ex-wife?

Why? Has something happened
to her? Is she ok? She's fine.

Because I haven't seen her
since the divorce became final.

Would you mind if we asked
you about your divorce?

Erm, well, it wasn't my idea.

It was after...

We lost our son. Cot death.
Yes, we know and we're very sorry.

One of them things.

That's what they say.

But it felt like the end of the
world and it never really goes away.

There's always a hole.

And for us that hole
became divorce.

You say that you've not seen
Gillian, but you have heard from her?

Do you still have any mutual friends
no, she cut everyone off, pretty much.

What about her family? Do
you keep in touch with them?

She didn't have much family.

Her mum and dad had gone.

Erm, she had a brother but he lived
in Canada and they weren't close.

That's why we wanted to start
a family. We wanted a houseful.

So, no contact?

I tried to get in touch in 2001.

It would have been will's 21st.

I wondered if she wanted to go to
the graveyard, leave some flowers.

I got in touch with her
through the nurses' union.

She wouldn't talk to me.

She wanted a new start.

Did she say that? Yeah. I just
hope she got what she wanted.

Mr withall, I'm assuming that you don't
know that Gillian has adopted a son?

No, I didn't.

She never...

A boy? What did
she call him? William.

Really? William?

I would never have...

Is that everything?
Yes, I think that's it.

Thank you very much
and, um... I'm sorry.

Well, that wasn't fun.
Illuminating though.

Gillian withall was isolated
enough to bring the child home

and not to have anybody
ask any awkward questions.

Well, she's going to
answer some questions now.

Let's get it over with.

I suppose we just stay
here and twiddle our thumbs?

Fancy going rogue?

Hello. Back again? What
can I do for you this time?

This is superintendent Pullman,
we'd like to talk to you. And your son.

Yes, erm, this way.

I think I always knew there
was something not quite right.

She wouldn't let me see my dad.

Why not?

Mum said he was violent
and that we didn't need him.

And every time I needed
anything official, any paperwork...

It was always lost or there
was some complication.

Would be?

So... who am I?

I don't want to give a definitive answer to that until
we've done a DNA test and made some more enquiries.

Yeah, I get that. But before we get
into the soap opera part of all this...

Just tell me who I might be?

Nicos megas. That's
your real name, ok?

It's not yasser.

His mother gave him
to me when she died.

I've got all the paperwork at
home to prove it. He's mine.

You're mine, will. It's ok.

Calm down. I'm
30-years-old, mum.

They can't take me away.

You're not who
they're saying you are.

They haven't said anything,
mum. I wouldn't just...

I can't believe you think
I'd do that to another family!

I know what it feels
like to lose a child.

She sobs

do you think we've got the right clearance
for using the loos this time? Stop moaning.

I just think we're wasting
our time here, Gerry.

This lodger thing's
going nowhere.

They weren't even taking in
students when yasser went missing.

Yeah, but they were there
when he was conceived.

Oh, here we are! What?

Harry, or abu Hamas
as his mum called him.

Half of it's blacked
out. Yeah. Redacted.

Eh? That means this
material's still highly classified.

I wonder if that Richard
bloke's still about.

We need to be fully
briefed. Go and ask him.

He chuckles

pack it all up. We're putting
this one down to experience.

Oh, no, no, you can't!

Gillian withall was a dead end. I
can't progress with this any further.

Yeah, but we can.

We think that yasser
was taken by his dad.

Fred? Abu Hamas, from gaza.

He was a leading
light in the PLO.

Is he now? Was. He's dead, which is why
the spooks could tell us about him. Spooks?

He died in a border skirmish
in 1989, during the first intifada.

Why do we think
he's yasser's dad?

Timing.

Abu Hamas and Anne gorton were at
it nine months before yasser was born.

Whereas Fred and
Anne definitely weren't.

Initially because Fred was away, and
then according to surveillance reports,

because they were
occupying separate bedrooms.

Mi5 gave us this, look.

Bloody hell.

Wait for it.

Who'd you think was guest speaker at
the rally before the free Palestine march?

Abu... thing? Hamas, yeah.

And who do you think flew him in
and sponsored his visitor's visa?

I'm teaching at the moment, so I don't have
time for this. What's the lecture about?

Second-wave feminism and
the threat of the fallow holocaust.

Death to the penis.
Not fathers' rights, then.

I speak on that frequently, just not today.
I want to check I've got something right.

You think that boys should
always live with their fathers,

irrespective of any issues around
child welfare, domestic violence...

Another tool in the
belt of the feminazis.

Most accusations are false. You'd know
better than me, a serving police officer.

To answer your question, yes, boys
should be brought up by their fathers,

to keep them away from the
feminist indoctrination of their mothers.

That's why you handed yasser over to
abu Hamas, is it? For political reasons?

I knew the moment the
doctor gave Anne her due date.

Even I can count to nine.

So you just waited until the right
moment and handed him over?

I traced abu Hamas
and told him the truth.

I sent him photos until it
was time to put things right.

It was the right thing to do.

Bringing up another
man's child is wrong.

I just didn't love him.

I felt guilty about that at
the time, but not any more.

It was the purest
political act of my life.

Bollocks. I'm sorry?

So you should be.

What you did wasn't
the act of a man.

A real man wouldn't have cared. He'd have just
been proud to have the privilege of being a father.

Oh, I see. You work
under a woman long enough

and you start to think like
them. Do you know what you are?

What you did wasn't politics, it
was having a pop at your wife.

A mangina.

It was about putting her
through 25 years of grief

so that you could feel better
about her shagging another bloke.

And if that makes you a
man and me a mangina,

book me in for a Brazilian.

Sorry, boss. No
apology necessary.

And where is he now?

Still in gaza as far as we know.
I'm sorry we don't have more.

He's alive, that's all I need.

A chance.

A chance to find him.

You're going to look
for him? Of course.

Well, be careful, gaza's not
the safest place in the world.

You don't have children, do you?

No. Sorry, it wasn't supposed
to be an accusation, it's just...

You couldn't
possibly understand.

Maybe that's how Fred
could do what he did.

Because he couldn't understand what he
was doing to me. Oh, I think he understood.

And I think he's spent the last 20 years
justifying it to himself and everyone else. Maybe.

Thank you.

Urgh, not much of a result.

Well, harassment and perverting the course
of justice charges against Vernon and Fred.

Yeah, big deal. Are you sure we
can't do blackledge on something else?

He gave a child to his to his father. It was
abu Hamas who took him out of the country.

And it caused a bit of damage
on the way, William withall.

Aye, and me. Now I know
I've been living in a police state.

Oh, for god's sake! I've read your
file when we were setting up this team.

I knew there was a file on
me! Of course there was!

I was right, wasn't I? Esther's
radicalism's ruined my career!

I should never have
gone to those meetings.

Signing my name
on bloody petitions!

It said you were too
insignificant for surveillance,

and that Esther was
essentially harmless.

Happy now?

Right. Thanks.

Harmless? Are you sure they
were watching the right woman?

Oh, come on!

Goodnight, Sandra. Goodnight.

See you there.

I've read your report.

Sorry it wasn't the
result you wanted, sir.

What do you mean?

Well, Davies is still at large. I hope you don't
think it was a complete waste of resources.

Of course not. Is
that what you thought?

That's not why I counselled
you against this case. Sir?

Ucos does extraordinary work. It
breaks cases that are unbreakable.

But child abductions? They eat
resources and burn out officers.

But you don't feel
you can let it go.

It's a missing child, after all.

So you work your overtime
and ignore the people at home.

And when you do finally get a
result, it's not usually a good one.

Maybe I wanted to protect four of
my most valuable assets from that?

Goodnight.

Goodnight, sir.

Esther!

I've got something for you.

I thought I'd help you save that post
office, or anything else for that matter.

If it needs saving, banning or its
consciousness raising, I'm your man.

Just like the old days.
What do you think?

Oh, Betty!

♪ It's all right it's ok

♪ doesn't really matter
if you're old and grey

♪ it's all right I say it's ok

♪ listen to what I say

♪ it's all right, doing fine

♪ doesn't really matter
if the sun don't shine

♪ it's all right I say it's ok

♪ we're gettin' to
the end of the day. ♪