All language subtitles for George Gently 4x01 Goodbye China

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- Grub.

- Is there any booze?
- Shut up, John, man.

Course there's no booze.

It's a spastics' home.

Spackers don't drink.

What do you want?

Bacon sandwich.

- Chips?

- I cannot do chips, man.

- I want chips.

Oh, sherry.

Hm.

Mm.

- ♪ Hammer me mammy gave me ♪

♪ But when I grow up, I
can hammer me mammy ♪

♪ And serves her right
for hammering me ♪

♪ Well— ♪

Who done these, you
think, the spastics?

Crap, aren't they?

What they give them
gold stars for, man?

They're pathetic.

Dave.

Mm.

Here, John, give
us some of that.

Hmm.

Splat!

Who's this other one?

- It's the prime minister, man.

He a spastic or something?

Yeah.

- Nah, but he looks like one.

Aren't you?

- I hate backwards
kids and spastics.

They should be
strangled at birth.

Especially ones that
don't even look at you.

Oh, spacker.

Look at us when
I'm talking to you.

- What shall we do to him?

- Yeah.

- Whoo.

- Faster, John.

John, faster.

Hold on tight, spacker.

- Ma'am.

- You're looking at
my favorite building,

Mr. Gently, sir.

- Do you know? I
think it's mine now.

I'm sorry.

I don't know your
name, Sergeant.

- Thompson.

I know you from
afar, Chief Inspector.

You're the famous George Gently,
scourge of the London villains.

- Well, I think they survived.

- Ah, well, you're
ours now, though.

You'll never leave
this place, you know.

- You work in this building?

- Sort of.

I'm the chief
constable's new driver.

- Oh.

Enjoy it?

- I love it.

I get to go everywhere he goes.

I never knew Durham
had so many golf courses.

Nice meeting you at
last, Chief Inspector.

- Nice meeting
you too, Sergeant.

- Sir.

- Morning, sir.

- Hello, sir.

- Could you pop down
to the cells, Sarge?

Seems to be a problem.

- You look ridiculous
with that tash on.

- Thank you, Sarge.
- Taylor.

Chief constable
got a new driver.

- Doesn't he, guv?
- What?

- Looks ridiculous
with that tash.

Doomed to failure with
women. Women don't like tashes.

- Mine does.
- What?

- Sorry, sir.

A new what, were you saying?
- New driver.

- You don't have a woman.
- As a matter of fact, I have.

- Oh, aye?

Been hanging around the
blind school again, have you?

Taylor, she's coming.

Yep.

I can hear her stick
tapping along the floor.

- Will you shut up, Sergeant?

- Shall I tell them
you're going down, sir?

- What?

- The cells.

- Is it urgent?
- Don't know.

- That means no. I'll
be there in a minute.

- What would you
like me to do, sir?

- About what?

- Chief constable's new driver.

- Nothing.

- Taylor, aren't you
forgetting summat?

Where's our elevenses, man?

Mm? Two cups of tea.

Plate of biscuits.

- The future's arrived.

- If this is the
future, I don't like it.

Look at this.

Tea, milk, no sugar.

Tea, sugar, no milk.

Tea, no milk, no sugar.

No cup.

What's it taste like?

- Warm water, cold milk, no tea.

- That machine's supposed
to free up police time,

save highly trained
officers like myself.

- Taylor.
- Sir?

- Shut up and go away.

- Sir.

- Highly trained.

So why are you here?

- Are you going
down to the cells,

or shall I tell...

- Yes, yes, I'm going.

Is he drunk?

- Can't smell nowt
on him, Sarge.

- Well, why is he here?

- Sleeping on a park bench.

Couple of milk
bottles on the grass.

We think he nicked them
off somebody's doorstep.

- What's your name?

Huh? What's your name?

- This was in his pocket.

- "David Blackburn."

Have you been drinking, David?

Apart from milk, I mean.

Right. Where are you from?

"Higher Sutton Farm,
Wellaby on Tees."

Is this your
address? Is it, David?

Hmm?

Ah, we've got liftoff.

Right, well, listen, David.

Why don't you go home to Wellaby
and be a nuisance there, okay?

Instead of Durham.

David?

Do you want me to give you
a clip round the head, David?

- I never even touched him.

- Our John.
- Huh?

- Our John.

- What?

- Our John.

- Our John? Who's our John?

Is that your brother? Is it?

What about him?

What's your problem, David?

Let him sober up. Get
him on a bus home.

Don't waste any more
of my time today, okay?

Ten minutes of my life

gone forever.

Guv, summat wrong?

- China's dead.

- Oh.
- Yeah.

"Dear Mr. Gently,

"I write to tell
you of the death

"of my brother-in-law,
Robert Mates,

"that you knew from
when he was a detective

with you in London."

- Detective?

- He sometimes used to
say that he'd been a detective.

It made him feel a
bit more important

than being a paid informer.

"He often talked about
his friendship and"...

"His friendship and
admiration for you.

He will be much missed by..."

Yeah, well.

"Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Eleanor Mates."

- When did you last see him?

- About three months ago.

He called me at the office,
asked me to meet him.

- Here he is now.

Mr. Gently.

- China.

- Ah.

I said he'd come.

Didn't I say he'd come?

Have a seat.

- I haven't got
much time, China.

- Kenny!

Norma!

Mr. George Gently!

- So you're the man he's
always telling us about?

- Hello. China.

- Get the man a
drink, man, Kenny.

- No, thanks. We've
got things to talk about.

- Ah, wait, George.
Let your hair down.

This is your old mate.

We're old mates,
me and Mr. Gently.

We go back a long way.

- China, you said
this was urgent.

You said you'd got
information for me.

- It is. It is.

- What is it?

- Ah, what was it?

There was something.

- Get your hands off my beer.

- I never touched your beer.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop.

- Come with me.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Gently.

I'm sorry.

- There was no
information, was there?

Go on.

- No, no, that wasn't...

- Wasn't it?

- I'll pay you back
when I get on me feet.

- You're an
embarrassment, China.

Do you know that?

To yourself and to me.

This has got to stop.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Gently.

- I don't want you to be sorry.

I want you to do
something about it.

- I'm working on some
new leads for you.

It'll be like the old days,

you and me cracking
cases side by side.

- No, I don't want you to
work on any leads for me ever.

It's finished.

As a snout, you've
been information-free

for a long time, and
do you know why?

'Cause you're
drunk all the time.

- What do you want?

- I want you to go
back to London,

or preferably Dublin.

I want you to lead a
different kind of life,

'cause this one's
gonna kill you.

Here.

This is to give you
a new start in life.

Go on.

- You never think...

I never thought
I'd turn out like this.

I'll write to you.

I'll write to you when
I'm back on me feet.

- It would be
better if you didn't.

You can't use me
as a crutch forever.

I don't want to
hear from you again.

Okay?

- Good-bye, then, Mr. Gently.

- Yeah.

- Here he comes.

- What happened to him?

- He died alone.

They found him in some
old building near a dog track

where he was
living as a vagrant.

He had a fall.
- Oh.

- And I meant to give him
a push in the right direction.

Maybe I pushed him too far.

Can I see the back
of his head, please?

Thank you.

- You all right, guv?

- Yeah.

- Find anything?

- No.

His nose was broken.

- Well, he fell over, guv.

- Maybe.

The coroner's report doesn't
mention a broken nose.

- He drank himself senseless
every night of his life.

It was an accident
waiting to happen.

- Yeah, maybe.

- Good afternoon.

I'm James Lafferty,
the coroner's officer.

- Mr. Lafferty.

- And you are Chief
Inspector George Gently.

Ah, it's an honor to meet you.

Your reputation
travels before you.

- Really?

- So, Mr. Gently.

What are you doing
in our little town?

- I told you in my letter.

You wrote the report on
the death of Robert Mates

for the coroner, on
the basis of which

a verdict of accidental
death was recorded.

- Your letter didn't say
where your interest lay.

- Mr. Mates was
a personal friend.

- Oh, I see.

- You described
him as a vagrant.

On what basis?

- Oh, on his
condition, his clothes,

the place he was found.

There was no evidence
of any fixed abode.

Nobody reported him missing.

When did you last
see your friend?

- Three months ago.

- How was he?

Drunk.

But he wasn't living rough.

- Perhaps something
happened in the meantime.

Men of his age can
sometimes lose their grip on life

when misfortune occurs,

death of a wife
or losing their job.

What was his occupation?

- He worked for me unofficially.

Sometimes.

He didn't have anything else.

I knew him as China.

How can you be sure
his death was accidental?

- Ah, well, an ambulance was
called to a dilapidated building

known to be used by vagrants
where your friend China

had suffered a fall while
under the influence of alcohol.

- How do you know he had a fall?

- Well, that was the judgment
of the ambulance men

based on his injuries.

- There were no
postmortem photographs

attached to the
report I received.

- Weren't there?

- No, there weren't.

- I asked for them
to be sent, yeah.

- No matter.

I had a look for myself.

Who called the ambulance?

- Uh...

Oh, it was anonymous.

It's all there in the
full report I drew up...

- Full report?

I've had longer Christmas cards.

Then what happened?

- He was taken to St. Mary's,

where he died that night
of a subdural hemorrhage.

- Yeah, he fell heavily
against an old filing cabinet

and gashed his head
severely, the report says.

Well, I've just been for a look.

There wasn't any blood.

- Well, it's been cleared
up, as you'd expect.

And that's all I know.

- You were in the
service yourself?

- Oh, 25 year.

Then I got meself
what I believe is known

as a cushy little number
as the coroner's officer.

- Here?

- Beg your pardon.

- You served here?

- Yes.

Here in Wellaby.

- Well, thank you
very much, Mr. Lafferty.

Wasn't there a bit of a problem
in this force a while back?

- Huh?

- A whole nightshift
dismissed for thieving?

- Oh, aye, yeah.

Breaking and entering

and fencing stolen
goods and that.

Well, there was that
joke, wasn't there?

Two coppers out on
the beat in Wellaby.

One says to the other,

"Lend us a packet of
fags till the shops close."

Can I say something, guv?

- Yeah, if you like.

- Isn't this a bit of a
waste of police time,

asking nurses and that?

Look, I understand your problem.

Right?
- Sorry, what's my problem?

- China.

You know, he
hero-worshipped you.

You brought him up north,

and then you fired him
because he was useless.

And then he drifted
off to Wellaby,

and he drank himself to death.

- But you know what?
- What?

- He would've drunk
himself to death anyway.

It's not your fault.

That's all I'm saying.

All right? It's not your fault.

- Are we done with
the cod psychology?

- Yes. Next fish, please.

- Good, well, I don't
need you on this one.

You can go home.
- Aw, guv.

Why are you being— -
John, John, go home.

- Okay.

- Right, I won't be a minute.

I don't really have
much time, Mister...

- Gently.
- Gently, right.

We're short-staffed
this week, so...

It's about a friend?

- Yes, you nursed
him, apparently.

He died here three weeks
ago. He had a head injury.

A fall, apparently.

Robert Mates?

- Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was sad.

He never regained
consciousness, poor man.

- Well, that's my first
question answered.

Thank you.

I was hoping to try and find out

how he spent the
last months of his life.

- You were close?

- No. Well, don't know.

Yes, in a way.

My wife was
unaccountably fond of him,

and he worshipped her.

But he went on one
bender too many.

He had a fall and
hit his head, so, uh...

Well, thank you for your time.

And thank you
for seeing him off.

- Mr. Gently, your
friend wasn't drunk.

I would've smelled it on him.

- I was told he was.

- I spend half me life
dealing with drunks,

and there was no
alcohol on his breath.

- What about his clothes?

- Well, not exactly
Savile Row, but...

- Not dirty, not torn?

- No, no, no. They were clean.

Well cared for.

He even darned the
holes in his socks.

Really?

So you didn't think he
was a vagrant, then?

- Well, vagrants
don't darn their socks.

- So he must have
been living somewhere.

He had an address.

- Yeah, he must have had,
but I never found out where.

- What about his
pockets? Nothing at all?

- Well, I don't know.

I suppose the
police took his stuff

before they brought him here.

- Hmm.

His nose was broken.

Have you any idea how?

- Well, he had a fall.

- He fell and injured
the back of his head

and the front of his
face at the same time?

- It does happen, yeah.

Who did you say you
were again, exactly?

- I'm sorry about...

- China wasn't living
rough, and he wasn't drunk.

- What?

- This is Nurse Molloy.
She was with him at the time.

This is my sergeant,
Mr. Bacchus.

- All right.

- Sergeant. You're a policeman?

You never said that
you were a policeman.

- Yes, I'm sorry. I
should have said.

I'm Detective Chief
Inspector George Gently.

If you should remember
anything about the day he died,

would you give me a
call on this number?

- Yeah. Of course.

- And, nurse, if
you could please

treat this conversation
as confidential.

- Yeah. Bye.

- And thank you.

Nice.

Hmm?

What have I done now?

- You're really...

You're just a one-track-mind
premier cretin, aren't you?

- What?

- "Nice."

She was wearing a wedding ring.

Did you notice,
or don't you care?

"Nice."

Unbelievable.
- Well, she was nice.

I like looking at women.

You should have a look
at one yourself sometime.

- She said "police."
- Huh?

- She said China was brought
to hospital by the police.

- So?

- The coroner's officer
said it was an ambulance.

- Well, maybe she was confused.

- No, no, no. She
was absolutely clear.

Right, so you're a policeman

delivering a critically
ill man to the hospital.

Why would you spend
time emptying his pockets?

- To find out who he was.

- Okay, John.

You like looking at women.

A change came over Nurse
Molloy when I introduced you.

She seemed nervous. Why's that?

- I just have this
effect on women, guv.

- It was because
until that moment,

she didn't realize she'd
been talking to a policeman.

- Oh, man. What we doing now?

- I've just been
talking to Nurse Molloy.

- Lucky you.

- I need to talk to her again.

- Well, you can't.

She's gone home.

- What's she gone home for?

- Migraine.

- That's a bit
sudden, wasn't it?

- Well, that's what
migraines are like.

- We're gonna
look a pair of clowns

if she's in a darkened room

with a bag of frozen
peas on her head.

That's it.

- Well, I don't think
she was saying,

"Not tonight, darling; I've
got a headache," do you?

- What time's he home?

- He's on the backshift.

- I'll get it.

- Afternoon.

I'm Detective Chief
Inspector Gently.

This is Sergeant Bacchus.

May we speak to
Mrs. Molloy, please?

- I'm, uh— I'm
afraid she's not in.

- Well, she is, pal,

'cause we've just
seen her letting you in.

- Who are you, please?

- She's my, um,
brother. I'm her brother.

But she's got a migraine.

She's not very well,
so she can't really...

- Are we gonna
clot about all day,

or shall we get this over with?

- Are you positive
that my friend

was brought into hospital
by the police, Mrs. Molloy?

- Um, did I say that?
- Yeah, you did.

- Well, I think maybe
I was confused.

It was an ambulance.

- So who emptied his pockets?
- I don't know.

- Do you have a
husband, Mrs. Molloy?

- Yes.

- Where is he?

- At work.

- What does he do?
- He's a policeman.

- Oh.

- Was he, by any
chance, the policeman

who brought
Mr. Mates to hospital?

- I told you it was
ambulance men.

- What does your brother do?

- I haven't got a brother.

- Oh, Mr. Collison here.

- I, uh— I work in a school.

- Oh, right.

You're absolutely
rubbish at this, aren't you,

the pair of you?

- At what, exactly?

- Adultery.

- You can't just barge
in here, into my house,

and make ridiculous allegations.

- Can't I?

What's your husband's name?

- Well, Molloy.

Surprisingly.

- You're in
absolutely no position

to get cocky with me, pet.

Does he work at the local nick?

- Why?

- I might just give him a call.
- No, please don't.

- I see you wear a
wedding ring, Mr. Collison.

- I have a wife
and three children.

- How about you?
- No.

No children.

- Does your husband
know about this?

- I—I don't think so.

- Well, what a mess.
- Mm-hmm.

- I have told you all I can.

- But not all you know.

Now, why is that, Mrs. Molloy?

What is it about the
death of Robert Mates

that you don't want me to know?

- Nothing.

I don't know anything.

- All right.

What were the names
of these ambulance men?

I will find out sooner
or later, Mrs. Molloy.

- It wasn't an ambulance.

A police car brought him in.

- Yeah, I see.

And who was
driving this police car?

- My husband.

- Yeah.

- You know, there's
a criminal offense

called wasting police time.

I think we should
charge her, guv.

- Don't you threaten her.

- Oh, aye? What are
you gonna do about it?

- My husband is a very kind man.

He stayed at the
hospital all night.

- He stayed until Robert Mates
was pronounced dead, you mean.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

He was clearly very concerned.

Well, well.

Full house, huh?

Paul, you rascal.

I thought I recognized the car.

You'll have the
neighbors talking, huh?

How are you, love?

Bad migraine?

- How did you know?

- Because I phoned the hospital

to let you know I'd be
coming home early, eh?

Well?

Who are your friends?

- It's Chief Inspector Gently.

Sergeant...

- Bacchus.

- Ah, Mr. Gently.

Well, a pleasure
to meet you, sir.

- Sergeant.

Can you shed any light on
the death of Robert Mates?

- Who?

- The old man,
the one that fell,

that you brought
to the hospital.

- Oh, him.

No.

- What, nothing at all?

Such as how he broke
his nose, perhaps,

or what happened
to his belongings.

- Have you got permission
from my governor

to question me
now, Chief Inspector?

- No, but I will have.

- Will you stop that?

- What's that?

- He knows about those two.

- Oh, yeah. 100%.

Tomorrow I'd like to find
out what else he knows.

You do some digging
about the other fellow.

And make some discreet
inquiries off the record

about the local nick here.

- Such as what?

- Allegations of
police brutality.

Any history of unexplained
deaths in police custody.

- Thought you might
fancy a proper cuppa.

I hate that machine.

- I can't even work it.

- Sugar?

- No.

You're working late, Sergeant.

- Yeah, he's got
a golf club dinner.

- No, no, no.

You mustn't tell me that.

- Why not?

- Because that's
not official business.

He should be getting a taxi
home and paying for it himself,

not charging the ratepayer.

- It's true what they
say about you, isn't it?

- And what's that?

- Unbending. Rules is the rules.

- Well, they are, aren't they?

- Well, I've broke one.

I shouldn't be in here.

- And why are you
in here, Sergeant?

- Call us Liz,
and I'll tell you.

- Why are you here, Sergeant?

- My God, you
don't make life easy,

do you, Chief Inspector?

For others or yourself.

I'm sorry I disturbed you.

Honestly.

- Liz?

I'm sorry.

- I have a son.

Ten-year-old by my ex-husband.

Training to be a hooligan.

I want someone to
show him how to fish.

Somebody told me
you'd know all about it.

- I see.

- Sarge.
- Busy.

- David Blackburn, that
kid you saw in the cells.

- Who?
- David Blackburn.

He was reported missing a
couple weeks ago by his employer.

He works in a motor workshop.

- So what?

It's not our problem anymore.

Tell Wellaby police
that we sent him home.

What? Oh, is that
the Paul Collison stuff?

- Aye.

- It just swallows your money.

- Who is this Blackburn lad?

- Oh, he's just another idiot
that needs a good hiding.

You know, we've gone
completely soft in this country.

Kids just bloody laugh at you.

- Why was he laughing at you?

- Well, he wasn't,
actually. He was crying.

Okay, Paul Collison,
33, married, three kids.

We knew that already.

He's got a degree in
sociology and education.

Just what the country
needs, that, isn't it?

Works in an approved school.

That'll be the education.

And shags Nurse
Molloy in his spare time.

That'll be the sociology.

Hey?

I think he's irrelevant, guv.

- Will you behave yourself?

- Sorry.

- See you Sunday, George.

- Mind your own business.

- My lips are sealed.

Unlike hers.

- George Gently.

As I live and breathe.

- Alan.

- Your governor and I
knew each other in London.

Didn't he tell you?

- No. No, he didn't.

- He was my first boss in CID.

- Now you outrank
me, Superintendent.

- That'll be the day.

Welcome, John.
- Sir.

- No, I'm Alan.

Come through.

Lunch in the garden.

Business first, eh?

I spoke to Tommy
Molloy this morning.

Tommy is a lovely man,
honest as the day is long.

Cheers.

- Cheers.

- It was Tommy who took the call

about your friend
being in a bad way.

He picked him up and
took him to the hospital

rather than wait
for the ambulance

because he could
see he was very poorly.

He only wishes he could
have got there quicker.

I also spoke to
that idiot Lafferty

at the coroner's office.

I fired him from the force
my second week in command.

Shouldn't have been
given the job he's got,

but there you are.

There was no evidence to
support what he told the coroner

about your friend being
a drunk and a vagrant.

It's pure prejudice,
stupid assumptions.

Laziness, actually.

I've made my views
known to the coroner,

and I don't expect Lafferty
to be long in that job either.

- I see.

- The verdict of accidental
death still stands, though.

- You're not happy
with the verdict, then?

- Course I'm not.

I'll be honest with you, George.

We got a problem in this town.

Young lads who think they
can get away with going around

doing whatever they like,

such as picking on
defenseless old men,

giving them a hiding
just for the fun of it.

Wouldn't be the first time.

- Any young lads in particular?

- I've got my suspicions.

There's a pair called
the Blackburn brothers.

- Can you tell me
where to find them?

- George, you're on my patch.

I'll take care of it.

They haven't been
seen since the night

your friend met his death.

That makes me suspicious.

Will you leave it to me, George?

- Course, Alan.

- Good.

And there is
nothing to be gained

from you talking
to Tommy Molloy.

- Well, that's good
enough for me.

- Ah.

My infinitely better half.

Pat.

- Pat.
- George, lovely to meet you.

I'm going to embarrass
you both now.

You're the nearest thing
my husband's got to a hero.

- Well, yes, that
is embarrassing.

- John.

- Pat.
- Where's Danny?

- Oh, he's coming. Danny?

Manners, young man.

Look, visitors.

- Hello, Danny.
- Hello.

- He has no speech, really.

But he can understand
what you say

when he wants to.

- I'll go and get the
rest of the lunch.

- I had no idea, Alan.

- Ah, he's a great lad.

- Looks like a full-time job.

- Well, he's a handful,
but aren't all growing lads?

Pat does get worn out.

- No respite care
available anywhere?

- He goes to the local kids'
home every other weekend.

They're very good
with him there.

- Is that why you're still
here, Alan, after ten years?

- As opposed to being where?

- Almost anywhere.

The Met.

I thought you'd be an
assistant commissioner by now.

- He's happy here, George.

He's really happy.

I don't think London's
the right place for Danny.

Here you are, Danny.

- Mm.

- What you got there, Danny?

- He loves his airplanes.

He's not gonna
touch them, Danny.

Are you, George?
- No, no, no.

Airplanes.

- Mad about his airplanes.
Aren't you, Danny?

- Hmm.

- Thing is, George,

his whole world needs
to be in order all the time.

Everything in order,
or it throws him.

- You've got some
gaps here, Danny.

- Yeah.

We're trying to get
him the complete set,

but they stopped
printing them years ago.

Good seeing you again, George.

- Good to see you too, Alan.

- How you doing, Danny?

- Mm.

- What?

- Blackburn.

- I heard.

- It's the lad we
had in the cells.

- Yes.

- Well, why didn't you
let me say summat?

- Did you believe all that stuff

about the accidental
death verdict

being Lafferty's fault?

- Nah, it was bullshit.

- Yeah, correct.

The coroner's officer always
takes his cue from the police,

especially if he's a former
police officer himself.

- Maybe he's bullshitting
you about Molloy.

- Yeah, only about 100%.

- So what's going on, huh?

You knew Shepherd in London.

What, is he bent?
- No.

No, he's straight as an arrow.

So for Alan Shepherd
to be sitting there

blowing smoke in my face,

there's got to be a good reason.

He's protecting somebody.

- Molloy?
- Yeah, it's a fair bet.

Can you remember the
Blackburn lad's address?

- Yeah, it's a
farm up in the hills.

- Let's go.

- Yeah?

Uh...

Sergeant Bacchus. This
is Chief Inspector Gently.

- Not from around here, are you?

- No, we're from Durham.

Mr. Blackburn, isn't it?

- Aye.

What's wrong?

- You have a son.

Take your pick.

I've got two.

John and David.

- Oh, right, yes.

Is David here?

- Why?

- Well, he's been
sleeping rough.

He's got himself into
trouble for thieving.

- Oh, aye?

Well, he's not here.

- He was reported
missing a while ago.

- Not by me.
- No, by his employers.

- Probably hiding
from the police.

- Why?

- Pair of them got drunk

and smashed up
the spastics' place.

- The what? Sorry?

- Where they put
the spastic kids.

- Oh.

- Coppers come knocking
on the door the next day.

- Your sons make a habit out
of being hooligans, do they?

- They're animals,
the pair of them.

- Were they charged?

- I've no idea. Maybes.

Haven't come back
here. That's all I know.

- Uh, no, hang on a minute.

So you haven't seen
them since the arrest?

How long ago was that, you say?

- Few weeks.

- Well, you don't seem
very bothered, man.

They're off the rails.

Don't you feel like
doing something about it?

- They're not normal.

When they were
bairns, if the game was

the Japs and the English,
they'd want to be Japs.

Cowboys and Indians,
they want to be the Indians.

I bought one of them a
puppy for his birthday.

The other one
drowns him in the sink.

- Does it ever occur to you
to give them a good hiding?

- I've had the skin off
their back many a time.

Didn't make any difference.

- No wife, Mr. Blackburn?

- She went when they were six.

Wish I'd gone with her.

- I'd like to take a
look in David's room,

if you wouldn't mind.

- People don't know how to
control their kids these days.

- Bit young for
nostalgia, aren't you?

- Discipline.

That's what I'm talking about.

- What more do
you want him to do?

Chop their hands off?

- Nah, he doesn't
give a monkey's, man.

- You didn't see
the pain in his eyes?

- What are yous
looking for, anyway?

- Nothing special.

- What's that about? Huh?

"Ha-ha, you're a pansy.
You cried like a bairn. I win."

That's charming, that, isn't it?

- No idea.

- Thank you, Mr. Blackburn.

How old is your other
son, Mr. Blackburn?

- 16, just gone.

- Does he like airplanes?

- Airplanes?

No, why?

- Just wondered.

Would you like us
to find him for you?

- Not on my account.

- Can you remember which
day they were arrested?

- 20th of March.

- Now, you seem very sure.

- Wife's birthday.

- And do you know who
the arresting officers were?

- Aye. Tommy Molloy.

- Sergeant Molloy?

- Aye.

- Do you know him well?

- He's up here that often, he
should have a season ticket.

- Well, if either of
your lads turn up,

would you call me at my
office on this number, please?

So.

On the 19th of March,

China dies of head
injuries, delivered to...

Are you listening?

- Yeah.

- Delivered to hospital
by Sergeant Molloy.

The very next day,
Sergeant Molloy

arrests the Blackburn lads,

and their father
hasn't seen them since.

- So what next?

- Well, I want to
know what happened

when Danny Shepherd
met the Blackburn lads.

- What makes you think that?

- Because the other half
of Danny's airplane cards

were in a drawer in that room.

So what else is there?

Get a search warrant.

We need to find those
Blackburn brothers

and get a sight
of their police files.

And if Molloy has
got a season ticket

to that pig farm,

there's got to be
a file an inch thick.

See if you can get hold of that.
- Right.

- I'll go over Alan
Shepherd's head,

get formal permission
to question Molloy.

Do you want to have a go?

Come on. Have a go.

Come on. Get up.

Yep.

You can do it.

See that?

Hold on to that.

Put your hand up there, okay?

See?

Go!

Okay.

Good try. You've got to let go.

Let's tighten this up.

Okay, hold on to that.

Push that back.

Okay, let it go.

Whoosh!

Good one. Good cast.

Put the brake on.

Good.

He's got it.

It's all about relaxing.

There's no record
of the Blackburn boys

being arrested on
the 20th of March.

And here's another thing.

There's no record of their
being questioned, cautioned,

or anything else in
the last three years.

There's no police
file on them at all.

- That can't be right.

How come Molloy's
got a season ticket

over the pig farm?

- Well, I've got
Taylor going through

all the court and
magistrates' records.

They might tell
a different story.

But you'd better get
up to that pig farm.

- Can't.

I can't get a search warrant.

I tried three magistrates,

and they all say
it's just a fishing trip.

We've got absolutely no
evidence of any wrongdoing.

Do you want me to break in, guv?

- Do you want to ask a
different question, John?

- Can I have the
afternoon off, guv?

- Absolutely.

John.

Don't get caught.

- Small thank-you from Raymond.

And from me.

- Oh.

There was no need.

Thank you.

- Go on. Open it.

- I'll wait till I get home.

- All right.

Don't forget dinner tonight.

- Who are these men?

- My solicitor.

- Why do you need a solicitor?

- Why not?
- Why not what?

- Why not have a solicitor?

- Why not have a solicitor what?

- Sir.

- Thank you.

You have no
right to a solicitor.

You are not charged
with anything.

Please leave.

Now.

This one?

- Police Federation.

- This isn't a union matter,
nor a disciplinary hearing.

Get out, please.

- But I've got a right...

- You haven't got
a right to anything.

This is a police investigation
into a suspicious death.

Get out.

Why did you take everything
from Mr. Mates' pockets

before getting him
medical treatment?

- Who told you that?

- Your wife.

So?

- Well, I was looking
for clues to his identity.

- And you thought
that was more important

than getting him seen
by a doctor, did you?

- Well, I just...

- There are two
hospitals in your town,

the Sanderson and St. Mary's.

The Sanderson is closer, but
you drove him to St. Mary's.

Why?

- Well, I wanted him
to be in the best hands.

- Best hands for him or for you?

- Don't understand, sir.

- Well, your wife was on
duty at St. Mary's that night,

and she took charge of his care.

That a coincidence?

- Completely.

- All right, well, your
wife also told me

that Mr. Mates was dressed
well and did not smell of drink.

Why did you tell the
coroner he was a vagrant?

- Because he was living rough

in the old offices
where I found him.

- The coroner's officer,
now fearing that he was

about to be drummed
out of the brownies

for the second time
in his miserable life,

has very kindly supplied me

with the contents
of China's pockets,

at least as much as
you decided to hand over.

A wallet containing 2
pounds, 10 shillings.

A letter from his brother
in Ireland, years old,

which is how he
got his next of kin,

and some keys.

Now, why would a
homeless man have keys?

You knew he wasn't
a vagrant, didn't you?

So why the lies?

What happened?

Did you break his
nose, Sergeant?

- Of course not.

- I think you did.

Something happen
between you and China?

Had he done something to
get himself in police custody?

- No.

He was never in
custody. I've told you.

- You're lying to me.

- Stop whistling.
- Was I whistling?

- Don't mess me
about, sonny boy,

or I'll come over that
desk and smack your face.

Now, the very next day, you
went to Higher Sutton Farm

and arrested John and
David Blackburn, correct?

- What's that got
to do with anything?

- Correct?

- Yes, sir.

There'd been an
incident at a care home.

Somebody wrecked the kitchen.

The Blackburns had
been causing trouble

earlier on in the town,

so it seemed logical
to question them first.

- And they have a record
as long as my arm as vandals

and all-around public
nuisances, correct?

- Yes, sir.
- No, not correct.

There are no records of
any inquiries into any offences

in the last three years
by either of these boys.

So once again,
why are you lying?

- Why are you interested
in the Blackburns?

- Now, here's how
it works, Sergeant.

I ask the questions.
You give the answers.

- I don't know what
you're talking about, sir.

- Why didn't you charge them

with the wrecking
of the kitchen?

- Because we had no witnesses.

All we could do was
lock them up for a day,

try and scare them a bit,

you know, put the
frighteners on them.

- The frighteners?

What's that mean?

- They were beyond
the law, the pair of them.

It was as if there was nothing
you could do to stop them.

- Sir.

- Are we done now?
- No, we're not.

♪♪

- Ugh.

Whoa, whoa.

Go and eat your
swill or something.

- Something interesting?

- Very.

Superintendent Shepherd
has a son, Danny.

Do you know him?

- Yeah.

I think I've met him, yes.

Yes, I have met him.

- How?

- Uh, just socially.

I don't know, really.

- What, you and your wife
are friends of the Shepherds?

My wife and me...

Don't have a social
life together these days.

We don't have any
kind of life together.

- You still love your
wife, don't you, Sergeant?

- The sun rises and
sets 'cause of her.

Always will.

- Danny sometimes sleeps over
at that care home, doesn't he?

At weekends?

Was he sleeping there

the night the Blackburns
wrecked the kitchen?

- No.

- Sir.

- Thank you.

This is a running total

of the court
appearances by juveniles

in this authority over
the last three years.

Would you like to
guess the number?

- Not really. No.

I've never been any
good at guessing.

- 2,403.

- Mm.

- This is the
corresponding information

from your authority,

which has roughly
half the population,

so you'd expect,
what, about 1,000?

- I've never been good
at arithmetic either.

- 88.

- Hmm.

- So are the kids in your town

particularly well
behaved, Sergeant?

- Yeah.

They are.

♪♪

- We meet again, David.

Bike was stolen,
needless to say.

Uh...

He saw us inside the house, guv.

Sorry.

Okay, David.

Now, tell us.

Where have you been since
Sergeant Molloy arrested you

for smashing up that kitchen?

Apart from here nicking
milk bottles, that is.

Hmm?

- Has your brother,
John, turned up yet?

- Our John?

- Aye, your John.

Have you any idea where he is?

- There are numbers
totted up on the wall

beside your bed, David.

6, 12, 18, 24.

What do they mean?

Six what, David?

Who cried like a bairn, David?

Was it you?

Was it John?

All right. All right.

Get two officers in here.

Pick him up.

Hold him down.

- All right. That's enough.

Stop. Stop.

Oh.

All right, you can go.

Now.

- I don't want to
be hit anymore.

- Nobody's going to
hit you anymore, David.

Sit down, son.

Go on.

You're all right.

Who did this to you, David?

Can you tell me?

Where did it happen?

Can you tell me that?

Was it a police station?

- The approved school.

- Get this lad to a hospital.

- Come on, David.

- Over here! Over here!

- Hey! Hey!

- Hey!
- To me!

- Here! Here! Here!

- Hey! Hey! Hey!

- Stop pushing him, man.

- Oh!

- Hey!

- Hey! Come on!

- PE for psychopaths, is it?
- Murderball.

It builds character.

Apparently.

- A lad named David Blackburn
has been severely beaten.

He says it happened here.

- We don't do beatings here.

- He isn't one of your inmates.

- So what's it got
to do with me?

- Mate, your wife seems nice.
- What?

- Yeah, we had a little
chat with her earlier.

- You didn't...

- What, mention your
affair with Nurse Molloy?

No. No.

But I will.

- What you want
to see is down here.

We call it the
confinement block,

but actually, it's what
was the punishment block.

It's not used these
days, thank God.

Well, not by us, anyway.

- But by somebody else?

- Look, I just want
you to know that I think

using violence
against kids is barbaric.

- My dad belted
me when I was a kid.

Didn't do me any harm.

- That's a matter of opinion.

- Your wife says you're
upping sticks and moving south.

Why's that?

- Because I came into
this to set children free,

and instead, I lock them up

and teach them how
to play murderball.

I've applied for a post
with the probation service.

- Told Mrs. Molloy yet?

- Yes.

- Abandoning ship, are you?

- Why don't you shut
your face, Sergeant?

- Oi.

So tell me.

Blackburn brothers.

- They were kept here.
- How long?

- Two weeks.

- Two weeks?

- Who by?

- Why?

- They were being
taught a lesson.

See, there's a feeling
abroad, a mood of anger,

a growing belief that
the new methods...

You know, ponces like me

with my first-class
honors degree

telling them to look at
the child as a whole...

That those ideas have failed,

that only one thing works,

only one thing ever did work,

and it's time to bring it back.

And you know what?

Wellaby's probably the quietest,
safest little town in England.

So where—where does that leave
me and my sociology degree?

- And you're telling
me that there was

nothing you could
do to stop this?

- Like what?

Write to The
Manchester Guardian?

Go to the police?

- Nah, you had something
to lose, didn't you?

Your bit on the side.

What was it he said to you,

that he'd tell your wife that
you were shagging his wife?

- That's exactly what he
said, as a matter of fact.

He wanted his own key.

Said he couldn't use the
local nick like he normally did,

and these rooms are separate
from the rest of the school,

so he could come
and go as he wanted.

Nobody would know
what was going on.

- And what had they
done that was so terrible

that they had to be locked
up for two weeks and flogged?

- I don't know. I didn't ask.

- Didn't care, you mean.

- So they were taught
a lesson. Then what?

- Sometime last week, the
key was given back to me.

- What happened to the brothers?

- Sent home, I suppose,
to be better human beings.

- Well, David Blackburn
isn't a better human being.

He's a gibbering wreck.

And his brother's vanished
off the face of the Earth.

- Well, I'm very
sorry about that,

but that's not my problem.

- You think not?

- Guv.

Guv.

Calm down.

You should have done a
degree in common sense, mate.

You've aided and abetted,

and when we find John
Blackburn, you'll be charged.

- But...

- But, b-b-b-b-but what?

- It's my career.

- Ta-da! Sorry.

Better late than
never, though, eh?

- Oh, no, fine.

- Yes?

No?

Maybes?

- Yeah, yeah.

- You say the nicest
things, George.

So good day?

- Mm, no.

- Bad day.

- Yeah.

- Do I get a drink?

- Sorry.

- I don't like wine.

- Beer?

- Bacardi and Coke.

- Uh-huh.

- Well, I had a bad day as well.

I got the sack.

- Oh, sorry.

- Back on traffic duties for me.

Look out, A-1. Here I come.

Well, don't smother us
with sympathy, George.

- Why'd you get the sack?

- Because apparently,
I talk too much.

- Hmm.

- I'm getting this
all wrong, aren't I?

- No, no, no.

- I do.

I do it.

It's what happens.

I try a bit too hard.

It's not as if people haven't
told us over the years.

I try and do the right thing.

I even think I'm
doing the right thing,

but somehow, I always seem
to end up doing the wrong thing.

How does that happen, George?

My son hates me
because I left his father.

- For another man?

- Who left after three months.

I have made a complete
mess of everything.

- Liz.

Shall you and I try
and have a nice supper,

and to hell with the
world for one night, eh?

- I'd like that.

- Yeah, me too.

But I have to tell you, I
am not a father for your son.

I'm not a father for anybody.

- Well, I think that's a shame,

'cause I reckon you'd
make a great dad.

Sort of dad who'd do
anything for his kids.

- Sir?

I've got all the
neighboring forces

on the lookout for
John Blackburn,

but there's no joy yet.

He's probably hiding somewhere,

scared stiff, just
like his brother.

You all right?

- The lad's been
missing a long time.

- Easy.

Easy.

- You don't have
to be here for this.

- Paul's applied
for a job in Surrey.

- Well, are you going with him?

- No.

- Did he ask you to?

- No.

- Would you have gone?

- You deserve better
than this, Tommy.

I'm sorry.

- Ah.

The world would
be a painful place

if we all got what
we deserved, huh?

I love you, Terri.
- Why?

- I just do.

- I've been shagging
another man for a year.

You know, not only have I been
shagging another man for a year;

I've barely even
bothered to hide it.

- Ah, we all make mistakes.

- You're the...

You're the softest,
daftest man I've ever met.

- What on Earth have you
got to laugh about, eh, Tommy?

- I don't know.

- What is it, Tommy?

- I've made a
bad mistake, Terri.

A bad one.

- You're a disgrace
to your uniform.

You know that.

- My husband is a good man.

- Good man? Good...

No, I don't want to
hear about it, pet.

- Yeah, well, you're going to.

My husband is a good man.

This country is
going to the dogs.

It's turning into a horrible,

frightening place
for old people.

- Heard it all before, love.

- For vulnerable people,
for decent people.

What are you gonna
do about it, eh?

Or you?

Well, at least my husband, he
has the guts to do something.

- Oh, you know about
his unusual methods

for controlling crime, do you?

- Well, the whole town
knows, Chief Inspector.

They just don't know
what it is they know.

- You'll be late for work, love.

- I'm not going to work.

I'm staying here.

- Where's John Blackburn?

- Tell them, Tommy.

It's time to start
living in the light,

both of us.

- All I wanted was to hear
them say the word "sorry."

I wanted them to say
sorry for what they did

and to mean it.

I wanted them to understand
what they did was despicable.

I thought it was the last
chance they'd ever have

to become decent human beings.

- ♪ When I was a laddie,
I lived with me mammy ♪

♪ And many's a hammer
me mammy gave me ♪

♪ And when I grow up, I
can hammer me mammy ♪

♪ And serves her right
for hammering me ♪

♪ When I was a laddie,
I lived with me mammy ♪

- I was trying to do the
right thing for my town.

Trying to...

I went too far, didn't I?

- What happened, Sergeant?

Why can't we find
John Blackburn?

- You're late for school,

school of hard knocks,

where you will eventually
learn discipline and respect.

Out yous get.

- Where's the body?

- I buried it.
- Tommy.

- Where?
- Up on the moors.

- Get your coat.

- I'd never find it.

It was pitch-black.

- Oh, I see.

Who helped you bury it?

- Nobody.

- Did it by yourself?

- Yes, sir.

You don't believe me, do you?

- You have to bury
a body pretty deep.

Shallow graves always open up.

The weather, foxes.

A lot of digging for one man.

How about the beatings?

That all your own work as well?

- Yeah.

One more question.

If you had to describe
Alan Shepherd...

What would you say?

- I'd say he was the
finest man I ever met.

- Well, we got GBH,
false imprisonment,

illegally disposing of a body,

perverting the
course of justice.

- Well, you didn't
believe all that stuff

about burying a body
on the moors, did you?

- Well, where is he, then?

- Get in.

- Ah, God.

- Lafferty and Molloy
served in this force together.

He knew Lafferty
well enough to ask him

to cover up the facts
of China's death.

I think that he asked
the coroner's officer

for another favor.

- Excuse me. Have
you got an appointment?

- Don't need one.

A lad named John
Blackburn is unaccounted for.

Have you got any unidentified
bodies in your care?

- Just one.

- Is this your son John?

- Yeah.

- I'm sorry.

It seems he took his own life.

- Tried the same thing
twice after his mum left.

Never known a lad
hate the world so much,

especially other kids.

- Did you give permission for
what happened to your sons?

- I couldn't cope
with them anymore.

- I see.

Well, perhaps you'd
better take a good look

at what was done to him.

Body arrive in an ambulance?

- I believe it was
a police vehicle.

- Oh, you do surprise me.

Driven by whom?

Was it your old pal
Sergeant Molloy?

- No.

No, it wasn't Tommy Molloy.

- You really like
this bloke, don't you?

- He's an outstanding man.

An outstanding public servant.

- Do you want my advice?

- No.

Let me have those
cards, will you?

- He's upstairs
giving Danny a bath.

He'll be down in a minute.

He often talks about
you, you know?

"If only there were a few
more like George Gently."

- It's almost dry.

George.

Sergeant.

Say hello to Mr. Gently
and Mr. Bacchus, Danny.

- Mm.

- Hello, Danny.

I've brought something for you.

- Oh, look, Danny!

Can you thank
Mr. Gently for me, Danny?

- Mm.
- No, no. Careful, Danny.

You'll squeeze
the life out of him.

Shall we put them
in order on the table?

- Mm.

- Why don't you
do that upstairs?

- Yes.

Come on, Danny.

Say good night to
Mr. Gently and Mr. Bacchus.

Danny, come on.
- Mm.

- Say good night— - Mm!

- Ah, ah, ah. To
Mr. Gently and Mr. Bacchus.

- I'll be up to read
you a story, Dan.

Where did you find them?

- In a drawer

in the Blackburn lads' bedroom.

- Should've looked.

- Yes, you should have.

Did they hurt Danny, Alan?

- Badly.

- Why didn't you
just charge them

and let the courts deal with it?

- With Danny as
the only witness?

What chance was there?

- So you decided on a
different course of action.

- I thought,

"There'll be a spark of
human decency in them.

There's bound to
be. Is in all of us."

I put them together
with Danny in a room.

Let them see how
much they'd hurt him.

They laughed.

The younger one,

who was the more
vicious of the two, said...

Said, and I quote,

"You think a judge is
gonna take any notice

of a window-licker like him?"

- "Window-licker"?

- The kids from the care home...

When they're
taken out for a day,

they travel through
town in a bus.

They often press their
faces against the glass.

Some of the
locals find it funny.

- Did you authorize
the beatings, Alan?

- I not only authorized
them. I carried them out.

Whatever Tommy Molloy
has told you, it wasn't him.

It was me.

Tommy's too loyal
for his own good,

in all sorts of ways.

- Why?

What did you hope to achieve?

Corporal punishment
was banned 20 years ago

and for one very good
reason: it doesn't work.

I'm surprised you
thought otherwise.

- But it does work, George.

I hate to admit it,
but it does work.

- It's been going on
for years here, hasn't it?

- Yeah.

Have you never given a thick ear

to some young lout
you've come across

giving a mouthful of
abuse to an old lady?

- Yes, I have.

- Have you never wished a
magistrate could still order

six strokes of the birch on
some little thug and thought,

"Yes, that is exactly
what that kid needs

"at this stage in his life,

"something to pull him up
short, make him think twice

before he does it again"?

- Yes, sometimes,
I have wished that.

- Do you ever look at the
world and think to yourself,

"Is society a better place

because we no longer use
violence on young thugs?"

- No.

I look at the world,
and I ask myself,

"What does the law say?"

- Ever break the law,
George, for the greater good?

- Sometimes.

- Why?
- Try and get things right.

To try and do the right thing.
- Hmm.

And what is the right thing?

How do we get it right?

- I ask myself those
questions every day.

I don't know the answers.

- Well, you've got a
decision to make, George.

- Yes.

John Blackburn hanged himself
because of what you did to him.

- I had to break
those lads, George.

I had to because of what
they might say about Danny.

- Which was what?

- Is this where
China comes into it?

- China got into this story
the same way Pontius Pilate

got into the Creed.

Wrong man in the wrong
place at the wrong time.

Faster!

Get him off, John.

- Oi, spacker, dance!

- Check his pockets.

In his pockets, man.

- Yeah, you've made him cry.

- It's airplanes.

- You've made the spacker cry.

- You've got some cards.

- Hey! Hey!

What's going on?

Leave the lad alone.

Here, son.

- Here's the rest of them.

Here.

- You ought to be
ashamed of yourselves.

Give me those!

- This way.

- The old cacker thinks
he's the Lone Ranger!

- Here. Look here.

- Over here.
- No.

- He's up.

- No.

Here.

- Give him his cards back!

- We haven't got them, man.

He's got them.

- Danny!
- No, son.

Smack!

- He's killed the Lone Ranger.

Hang him! Hang him!

Hang the spacker!

- Cops.

Away!

- Danny.

- Danny doesn't
know his own strength.

He's a gentle lad, but
he can lose his temper,

and a court might
not understand him.

He needs proper
care, not to be drugged

and straitjacketed in
some vile Victorian asylum.

I couldn't let that happen.

I had to try to break them
so they would never tell.

- Oh, you broke
them all right, Alan.

- I'll carry that with
me to my grave.

But I won't say I'm sorry.

It was my boy or them.

No contest.

So it's up to you what
happens next, George,

but let me say this,
and then I'll be silent.

Without me, Pat will not
be able to cope with Danny.

He will go into an institution,

and he will never
come out again.

I just want you to
understand that.

That's all.

- Guv.

Guv.

Let's go home.

- Stand up, please.

Alan Shepherd, I'm
arresting you on charges

of grievous bodily
harm, false imprisonment,

and perverting the
course of justice.

You do not have to say anything,

but anything you do say
may be used in evidence.

Do you understand?

- Yes, George.

I do understand.

I really do.

- What do you think he'll get?

- Dishonorable discharge.

Probably a prison sentence.

Molloy the same.

Takes more than one man to
hold a lad down and birch him.

- You happy with
that, are you, sir?

- No, I'm not.

It's not up to me or
you or Alan Shepherd

to decide who's under
the law and who's above it.

You see...

- What?

- It was a cold night.
China wasn't wearing a coat.

- Ah, sir.

- So he wasn't out
for a walk, was he?

He had to have heard something

and gone to help Danny.

You wait in the car.

Evening. Sorry to trouble you.

I'm a police officer.

We're carrying out
an investigation.

It's nothing
serious, but I wonder

if I might come in for a moment.

Excuse me. Thank you.

Who lives here, do you know?

- I've only just come here.

An old man, I think.

- Ever seen him?

- No.

Hello?

Faster!

- Faster!

- Hold on tight, spacker!

- "Dear Mr. Gently,

"I have turned
over a new leaf now,

"just as you told me to.

You were cruel to be
kind, and I thank you for it."

Hey!

Leave the lad alone.

"Because I think I figured
out how to do things right.

"I think you will be
proud of me now.

"No more booze.

"I have a nice little place here

"and will make
friends, I'm sure.

"Hope you are well

"and giving them villains
a hard time as ever.

"Take care of yourself.

"No reply needed.

"You're busy. I know.

Your old friend, China."

- Good-bye, China.

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