Brief Encounter (1974) - full transcript
Two strangers, both married to others, meet in a railroad station and find themselves in a brief but intense affair.
Thank you.
When I'm naughty my daddy
always sends me up to my room.
About six minutes later he
comes up and he forgives me.
I really need a stopwatch
so that I can time him.
Get off the floor, Megan!
Come on you lot, up!
Get down at once!
Sit, come on now, get down!
Sit, stay there, stay!
Sit!
Excuse me!
Excuse me, is this the
Portsmouth train?
Well, it's about time!
I promised and I'm not
one to break my word.
Only when I went to
tell him it's as if he--
I'm sorry, is this the
Portsmouth train?
No, no, it's the express.
It doesn't stop.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Alright, settle down.
This is the express it
doesn't stop here.
Where's Adam?
How come nobody stopped him?
I don't imagine that we
have chocolate
every hour of the day or night.
Better not go too close.
Do you have any water?
Yes.
Do you require plain
water or mineral water?
I got something in my eye.
The express was going through,
a piece of grit, I think.
Then I should advise
plain water in that case.
Okay, plain water.
Mineral water will
not be necessary.
Okay.
There's a man I know
lost the sight
of one eye through gettin'
grit in it.
Oh.
Do you want me to pull the
lid down and have a look?
No, no, it's okay.
Here you are madam,
here is your water.
Apply the glass directly to
the eye, that will wash it out.
Oh, do not care for the state
of the floor which
can be mopped.
I forgot this lot.
Where'd you want it?
Here.
When he
grabbed my arm like that,
see, I didn't know what to do.
Haven't you two had
enough to eat?
Better?
I'm afraid not.
Try blowing your nose
and rubbing the other eye.
Blowing my nose, huh?
May I help you?
- Let's see.
- No, no.
Please come over here.
I'll be alright.
Now please, look up.
- Look up, slight again.
- I can't.
Look down.
Now there it is.
Now hold it perfectly,
perfectly still.
There.
There, that's it.
You may think that
it's still there,
but I assure you it's not.
You're really very kind.
Not at all.
That's my train, goodbye.
Bye.
Well, I'm not giving
him any more love, I tell ya.
That man is so stupid,
he couldn't find his way
out of a phone booth.
Bye.
Bye, madam.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, miss.
Goodnight, George.
- Goodnight, Mrs.
- Jesson.
Hello.
Hello, my love.
Thank you, my dear.
Two more
victims of yesterday's--
Hello.
Good girl, Jamie.
Out you go, now.
Out you go.
In Jamie, come, come.
I'm home!
We heard you,
we're in the play room!
Who's winning?
I am, that's why
Alistair's cross.
Did you buy me anything?
We're only losing 'cause Ilse's
got no idea of how to play!
Alistair, don't be so rude!
- It's quite true, Mrs.
- Jesson, I have no idea at all.
You're not bad, really, it's
just that you can't serve.
I've won!
21-15!
Dad, did you know
Jeffrey Barrowclough
got a wart on his thumb?
Nobody ever tells me anything,
do they?
Hello.
- What's that you got, Daddy?
- You always keep the really
important information
for your mother.
- Alistair!
- Don't make fun of it!
Warts are a virus!
Anyone could catch his warts
if they shook hands with him.
- And I'm telling you--
- Nonsense!
It's bedtime!
You can catch anything if you
don't get a good night's sleep.
Unless I do that
the petrol won't flow into it.
Now go up to bed, both of you,
and I'll come up in a quarter of
an hour to read you a story,
Dominic.
Right, now I want that and that.
Come here.
Come on, Ilse, just
one more game!
Hi, good day?
Much as usual, tiring.
We are shorthanded while
Lucy Parfitt is on holiday.
They asked me if I could
do two days a week.
Well, I hope you said
you couldn't.
Yes, I did say I couldn't.
I got something in my eye
at the railway station.
Just as well, social work.
It can suck you in, you know,
like a drug.
In your eye, where?
At Winchester, not here.
The express was going through,
a piece of grit went in my eye.
Ooh, that's painful.
You alright?
Yes.
There was a very nice man in
the refreshment room and
he took it out.
That could be very dangerous,
you know.
You can lose the sight of an
eye by getting grit into it.
You sure you're okay?
I'd better go up to the boys.
Mrs. Baxter!
Oh, Mrs. Baxter.
I'm sorry, I forgot to
give you these.
Now, what happens is,
you've got to fill out
this form here and then send
it to 30 Devonshire Street
and they'll send you
back your cards.
My name's Grace Smedley.
Now, if you have any
problems at all,
ask them to phone me
here at the CAB
office and I'll sort
it out for you.
He didn't come home
Friday night.
That's payday.
Yes.
Saturday, he didn't come home.
Sunday I never saw him.
Excuse me, just one second.
Excuse me.
Just one second.
Grace!
Yes?
I've got no food in the house,
nothing.
And no money at all?
Nothing.
It's Friday, he gives
me my money.
Friday night he gives
me the money.
If he hasn't been to
the pub first.
Does he often drink it up?
He never drinks it all up,
I do manage.
Forgive me, Mrs. Gaines, but,
has your husband ever
left home before?
He may have been away,
not to say he left.
The kettle.
Oh, sorry!
For long?
No, never!
Maybe a night.
Maybe Friday night he
might stay out
if he'd been
drinking that night.
He might stay, like a weekend.
Yes?
A week he was once away,
took up with some bit
from Northampton come
to see the wrestling.
Well, his auntie May lives
in Northampton.
He's got connections there.
And how did you manage
during that week?
I sold the furniture,
lived off that.
We got some more after that,
I purchased.
Perhaps it's just as well
you've come to us this time.
Would you like to go
through that door, sir?
Oh, thank you very much.
Through here?
Yes, that's right.
You have how many children?
Six.
Six children.
- The tea.
- Thank you.
Sorry about the interruptions.
Here.
Six children.
With the baby.
And you're how old?
28.
About your age, miss.
I'm 37.
I think the first thing
is money, don't you?
We can think of what to
do about your husband
when we know if he's
coming back or not.
Oh, he'll be back.
Can you go to the Social
Security this afternoon?
Yes.
I'll talk to them first
and tell them to expect you.
Yes.
This is the address.
Here.
Thank you.
Some 800 years old and is
part of the original one built.
If we now look at the nave,
it's the longest Gothic
nave in the world.
If we come round here we can see
rather better the north side.
Some people think that
this is the--
Hello.
Hello.
Do you remember me?
I took a bit of--
Piece of grit out of my eye.
Sure.
Of course I remember,
it was only last week.
Do you live in Winchester?
No, no, I live in,
may I sit down?
Please do.
I live in Basingstoke,
I'm a doctor,
but I have to pop in
here once a week to, oh--
Would you like some of this?
No?
I come here once a
week to the chest clinic.
Sometimes some of my
patients are there.
They're a very sickly lot,
my patients, I'm afraid.
Well, think how much
sicker they'd be
if you weren't there.
Well...
What's that you're eating?
Would you like some lunch?
No, what is it?
That's prosciutto, raw ham.
How do you spell that?
P-r-o-s-c-i-u-double t-o.
Well, that's very kind of you,
but I promised to have
lunch with some
of my colleagues in the
hospital canteen.
I expect it'll be meat
and potatoes.
Not something
delicious like that.
I came into town to do some
shopping for one of my patients.
Do you lunch here every day?
Oh no, I'm like you.
I come into
Winchester once a week.
My work is close by
and if it's warm
I like sitting out here
during the lunch hour.
But if it's raining I walk
to the Georgian Dragon
for a cheese salad and a
glass of wine.
What an exciting
life you do lead.
Well, I suppose I'd
better be getting along.
It was a pleasure to
see you again.
I enjoyed it.
I daresay we'll meet at the
refreshment room, won't we?
You make it sound like
an assignation.
Do I?
Well, I didn't mean to.
Was it offensive?
Of course not, I shall
look forward to it.
Goodbye, doctor?
Harvey.
Harvey.
Goodbye.
- Sorry.
- Goodbye.
I've lived in England
for 17 years.
My husband is English
and my children,
well, they're very English.
I almost think of myself
as English now.
What do you call your children?
Alistair and Dominic.
You can't be more
English than that.
Actually, there's Scottish,
you know,
you should have said--
British.
I don't go back to Italy.
I have no close
family there now.
They're all dead.
What happened?
The war.
Sorry.
It was a long time ago.
Would it be impertinent,
would it be rude
of me to ask how you
came to marry an--
An Englishman?
Yes.
Well, because I loved him.
We met at a time when I
was very lonely.
He was very uncertain,
unsure of himself.
Oh, he was, you know how long
it takes Englishmen to grow up.
Yes, indeed, I do.
Have I offended you?
No, not at all.
It took me approximately
25 years to grow up myself,
if indeed, it can be said
that I've grown up now.
Tell me more, go on.
Nothing more to tell.
Of course, there must be
millions of things to tell.
- No.
- All kinds of things.
Tell me, do you never go
to Italy, not even for--
What did you say?
You never go back to
Italy, not even for holidays?
No, no.
My roots are here now.
Ah.
Shall we?
Yes, of course.
Very firm roots.
Like a tree.
England is a good
country for trees.
It's good soil.
They grow well.
Even exotic, foreign trees.
Do you feel exotic and foreign?
No.
You seem exotic and
foreign to me.
I'm very happy here.
I beg your pardon.
Oh damn, I'm afraid
that's my train.
Perhaps we'll meet again.
We're bound to.
Yes.
Perhaps we'll meet when
you're eating that, uh--
Prosciutto.
- Prosciutto.
- Prosciutto, yes.
Prosciutto,
near the cathedral.
If it's not raining.
If, indeed, it is not raining.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Well, her husband
hasn't come back.
He's been away for
two weeks now.
That's longer than he's
ever been away before,
except when he was
with some woman.
Yes.
Six children.
I talked to the school.
The oldest boy's quite
bright, rather sensitive.
What does she want to happen?
She wants him back, of course.
She wants her husband back.
I thought she'd be
better off without him.
Providing you can get her all
the benefits she's entitled to.
Of course, we can get her what
she's entitled to, that's
not the point.
What is the point?
The family is the
point, the whole family.
There are other
important things, you know.
I saw my doctor again today.
Is anything the matter?
Not our doctor.
You remember the man I met in
the refreshment room
at Winchester station?
Oh, the gentlemen who took
the grit out of your eye.
Yes.
He's a doctor, is he?
Uh-huh.
Well, if you catch
the same train
you're bound to see each other.
He doesn't, he lives in
the opposite direction.
He says he has a practice in,
I can't remember where exactly.
Well, if you let someone
take a piece of grit
out of your eye you've
got a friend for life.
You're bound to say hello
and how are you.
Yes, would you like that?
Would I like what?
If we asked him over for a meal.
It was only a piece of grit.
It wasn't a major surgical
operation, was it?
He seems quite nice,
I think you'd like him.
We could ask him and his wife
over for dinner one evening.
Oh, no!
Why not?
Because you hardly know him.
I don't know him at all and his
wife doesn't know either of us.
You should only invite
people to dinner
who you were at school with
or who you owe money to.
We could ask someone with them.
Je--
Jeremy and Pamela.
Why don't you ask him to lunch?
But you never eat lunch.
Exactly.
Graham, how hopeless you are.
Yes, that's what you
love about me, isn't it?
Family, you take it
for granted, darling,
because you've always
been part of one.
But it's everything, really.
You know I can't do any
more of this, I'm going blind.
Alistair, what are you
doing up at this time?
Oh, please let me see if Daddy's
finished the undercarriage!
Okay, then straight
to bed or there'll be--
No television tomorrow!
Dad!
Alright, come on, I'll show
you what I've done so far.
I've done half, I'll have
to leave it till tomorrow.
Oh, it's great, Dad!
Bed, shoo!
Thanks, Dad!
Goodnight, Dad.
Goodnight.
Graham?
Okay, Anna, I'll go.
I'm just on my way out.
They should know we're
closed between one and two.
Hello, I'd
like to see Mrs. Jesson.
Well, yes, she is in, actually.
Anna, it's for you.
Hello.
Doctor Harvey!
Ciao, Anna!
Ciao!
I've come to take you to
the Georgian Dragon for, um...
Let's see now, what was
it, cheese salad and a--?
Glass of wine.
Glass of wine.
But it's not raining.
Oh no, it looks very much
as if it's going to thunder.
Nonsense.
Will you come?
I said if it was raining
I had one glass of wine
and a cheese salad, not
three glasses.
Perhaps it's the sunny day.
I'm quite intoxicated!
Sounds wonderful.
In memory of, oh!
Well, I will now show
you my formidable prowess.
It's beautiful!
I used to play rugby.
Yes?
Hmm, I don't play it anymore.
Could you go to the mystery
plays this afternoon?
I have work to do.
Well, I know, so do I.
Could you get off somehow?
Well, I haven't any
appointments this afternoon.
I suppose I could clear
things up and get away early.
Good.
All hours, all hours
this harvest is mine!
Do you feel guilty at all?
What?
Do you feel guilty at all?
No.
I do.
Why?
Neglecting our work.
Well, I worked this morning,
so did you.
What's wrong with a
little relaxation?
What on earth should we
feel guilty about?
As though...
It doesn't matter.
Yes, it does.
Tell me.
Well, anyone could have come
in to see me this afternoon.
Anyone needing help and
I wasn't there.
That's not what you meant.
No.
What did you mean?
I don't know.
A sort of instinct.
As if we were running a
risk deliberately.
I am the voice crying in
the wilderness!
The path of
righteousness I show!
Look ye, forsake all
wretchedness.
I give baptism in pure water
called the river of Jordan.
My baptism is but signature of
his baptism whose like is none.
It's very late.
Shall we go, please?
Alright.
Behold the lamb of God is this.
John Baptist, my own
good friend,
that faithfully doth
preach my will.
My deepest thanks to thee
I hand the law of God.
That's strange.
What are you thinking about?
I was thinking of my childhood.
We're a long way away.
And confirm that
sacrament that you shall be.
A voice crying in
the wilderness.
Prepare ye, the way of the Lord
and make his path straight.
The fulfillment of the prophecy,
I think it's Isaiah, I think.
I think it was.
Tell me, what makes you
think of your childhood?
Well, when I was a little
girl it was the war, of course.
We used to spend whole nights
in the air raid shelter.
But when my mother was
asleep I'd creep out.
There was a very, very high
wall at the end of the garden.
I'd stand on it and watch the
rockets lighting up Naples.
It was like fireworks,
better than fireworks.
It was almost as
though the stars
were falling to help
the bombers.
And soon there'd be,
there'd be great
plumes of fire from the
burning buildings
rising up to meet the
falling stars.
Very spectacular.
I was always frightened.
Frightened to stand there
on the wall watching.
And just then I thought,
I had the same feeling
about you and me.
Something we shouldn't be doing.
Something dangerous.
Well, life is a very
dangerous business.
I mean, walking across
the road is dangerous.
What John the Baptist was about
to do was extremely
dangerous at the time.
Perhaps they might
take his head.
Don't laugh at me.
I'm not laughing at you.
John the Baptist, so
many Saint Johns.
Saint John of the Cross.
Saint Climacus.
Saint John of Beverly.
Of Capistrano.
For now I pass
forth into the wilderness.
The Holy Ghost shall
be my guide!
Two?
Thank you, yes put it on here.
- Any help?
- No, no, it's fine.
Excuse me, please, excuse me.
Thank you, excuse me.
Can I help you?
Yes, thank you.
Very fattening.
We starve tomorrow.
You know, this is one of my--
Would you like one?
I'll have a bite.
One of my earliest passions
I've never really got over it.
I think I could live on
fresh Bath buns.
And no vitamins at all?
Excuse me, please.
I'd eat a lot of oranges.
There's nothing wrong, you know.
Of course, not.
Playing truant for a day
is not exactly a crime.
You mustn't say that,
it's very old-fashioned.
Children say 'bunking off'
nowadays.
What, oh, playing truant
is bunking off?
- Bunking, yes.
- Oh, I see.
How very kind you are.
You said that before.
I thought perhaps you
hadn't heard.
Well, I had.
It's Dr. Harvey.
We can sit there.
Oh, yes.
You seem to be a great
expert about the English.
Bunking off, I never
heard of that.
Well, perhaps your
children don't say that.
You say you try to be
very English.
You don't seem very
English to me.
No, I don't try to be
anything I'm not.
My husband is a
county solicitor,
we live in a village, we
have two sons.
I do fit in, I enjoy it.
My wife doesn't
like the country.
It's not her fault.
She was born in London,
grew up a Londoner.
What is she like?
My wife?
Oh, she's small, fair,
intelligent.
And your husband,
Graham is his name?
Graham, yes.
What's he like?
He's very tall, brown hair,
very kind,
not emotional and he's
very intelligent.
You say that with a
great deal of pride.
Did I?
Where did you go?
What?
Where have you been?
You went away.
I didn't mean to.
It just seems so awkward.
When we are almost
strangers to be
talking about such
personal matters.
It's one thing to
close a window,
it's quite another to
slam it on my fingers.
I'm sorry.
It's awful.
I didn't mean to be
disagreeable.
No, you couldn't be
disagreeable.
Tell me, how did you
become a doctor?
Oh, I don't know,
family tradition,
my father was a doctor.
It was a question of ideals,
I suppose.
What ideals?
Preventative medicine--
Sanitation, hygiene, diet?
You seem to know a lot about it.
A little bit.
I have to know a little
bit for the Advice Bureau.
Of course, of course.
Well, environmental pollution,
that's my particular
pigeon, that's my specialty,
that's the thing I'm
interested in.
What do you mean?
Dust, diseases of the lungs.
I've actually written
a paper on it
for a British medical journal.
I'm showing off now.
Are you bored?
No, no.
On pneumoconiosis.
Pneumoco?
I knew you wouldn't
get that, pneumoconiosis.
Don't be alarmed, it's
quite simple, really.
It's the slow process
of fibrosis in the lungs
caused by the inhalation of
minute particles of dust.
And this, of course, is a
marvelous place
for studying such a
phenomenon because
they still mine chalk here,
you see.
You suddenly look much younger.
I do?
Almost like a little boy.
Why'd you say that?
I don't know.
Yes, I do.
Tell me.
No, please go on, you
were saying about the chalk.
Yes, well it's not only chalk,
you know.
There's other forms of disease.
Yes?
There's the
inhalation of coal dust,
that's called anthracosis.
Then there's steel dust.
Yes, of course, steel.
It's called chalicosis.
And there's stone dust
that's called, silicosis.
There's your train.
Yes.
What's the matter?
Nothing, nothing at all.
You must run.
And thank you, I've enjoyed
this afternoon enormously.
Shall I see you again?
It's the other platform,
isn't it?
- You'll have to hurry.
- Shall I see you again?
- Don't worry--
- Shall I see you again?
Yes, perhaps you and
your wife could come over--
No, no, no, please, please.
But I can't.
I ask you most humbly.
You must run.
Next week?
Next week.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
You finished?
I'm home!
We can't
come, we're playing a game!
Well, you haven't passed yet,
so you don't get your 200,
off you go.
Hi.
Hello, you're late.
Nine.
I just missed the train.
Ilse?
Oh, she's upstairs,
she's got a headache.
Dolly Messiter rang,
said she saw you
at the mystery play
this afternoon.
She phoned to tell you that?
No, I don't think so,
something about a right of way.
She was after a bit of
free legal advice
and dressed it up as
a social call.
That means I pay you,
doesn't it?
Right, yes.
90 pounds, please.
90?
Give me 10.
Six.
One, two,
three, four, five, six.
Where do you want it?
Oh, is that for sale?
How much is it?
How much is it there?
60 pounds.
Do you want it?
Do you want it?
Yes.
Off you go.
Five and one.
One, two, three, four,
five and one.
Come on, and one.
Super tax, come on you've
gotta dish out
- 100 pounds to the bank.
- Pay a hundred.
Thank you, on you go.
Two, five, six.
That one's, who's got that one?
Is that for sale?
Anybody got it?
What is it?
It's yours, Dad.
Oh, is it?
Oh, yes, you owe me six pounds.
I shall die rich, come on.
Lucy?
It's Anna Jesson.
Lucy, my dear, I don't
think I shall
be able to come into the
bureau next week.
No, not on Wednesday.
Perhaps I could manage another--
Yes, I know, it is very
inconvenient.
I'm very sorry about it,
but really,
my dear, it's going to be
quite impossible
for me to come in
next Wednesday.
I have to be here at home.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Lucy.
Collecting 200.
Who's winning?
I am.
I've got a set of all red cards.
I've got houses on them.
But I'm winning.
Okay, Alistair, off you go.
I've gotta pay you 20.
Six, ten.
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine and 10.
He's got more money
than you have.
Chance.
Your husband's doing
awfully well.
Yes, he is, isn't he?
Good shot!
Four.
Have you got to 50 yet?
What?
Oh, you haven't put it down.
I'm sorry, what was it?
- Four.
- Four.
Your husband scored a four.
That's great!
What are you up to?
I'm a searchlight!
In the daytime?
You'd be better off being
a signal man, wouldn't you?
And all my
tanks run to the tree.
Go on, try and hit that one.
Oh, you did, you amaze me.
Supper's ready.
Shall I call them
from the garden?
No, no I'll do it.
Come in, boys, supper's ready!
I bombed all his tanks!
Did you see?
Come here.
Oh, mommy!
I'm alright!
Well, that was quite a battle.
Who's gonna clear away
after supper, you?
Yes, but
Alistair made all the mess.
Then both you can.
I wonder what is for supper,
do you know?
Hi.
Silicosis.
What?
Anagram, silicosis.
That gives me the rest of
the quotation which is,
'love bade me welcome, yet
my something drew back'.
Four letters beginning
with S, Henry Vaughn.
Soul.
Huh?
Soul.
Is it?
Yes, it is, you're right.
What or naught you do know?
I've never even heard of that.
Nor have I, it has to be
soul, nothing else would fit.
Love bade me welcome,
yet my soul drew back.
Do you think Alistair's
too young for chess?
Why?
Oh, I don't know, my father gave
me a set when I was
about his age.
And?
Pristine.
Well, you can never start
chess too young,
it's good training for the mind.
You never play chess.
I wasn't any good at it.
That's 'cause I hated it.
But then, Alistair's more like
you, he's very analytical.
He might be marvelous at it.
Am I really very analytical?
Harry Patterson was
saying the other day
he'd given his boy a
set and he was
an absolute wizard
at it already.
He's about the same age.
Analytical.
Makes me sound cold.
I don't like that.
I'm not cold.
I just thought that
you could get me
a set on Wednesday when
you go into town.
But I...
What?
Well, I...
I was not listening
properly, I misunderstood.
You are going into town
on Wednesday, aren't you?
Well, I thought of
changing my day.
Didn't I tell you?
Yes, you probably did, I forgot.
Anna, if it's a bore I'll
get Miss Dulce
to buy one out of petty cash.
No, I'll get one on Wednesday.
It's no trouble, I shall go in.
I come to see Mrs. Jesson,
that's who I always see.
I'm afraid she's not in today.
You're Mrs. Gaines, aren't you,
did you make an appointment?
She said I could come in
any day if I was in trouble.
Yes, that's right, you can,
there's always somebody
here to help you.
Wednesday's Mrs. Jesson's day.
Mrs. Jesson comes in on
Wednesdays, I know that.
Yes, I'm afraid she
won't be in today, though.
Excuse me.
Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Would you hold on a minute,
please?
She may be in at the
end of the week.
- Well, I'll come back.
- But she's thinking
of changing her day.
You sure I can't help you?
She'll be in tomorrow?
She may be.
I'll come back then.
Hello, I'm sorry, yes.
Oh, yes, we did.
Yes, I do remember it actually.
Yes, I'm sorry we've
been so short-staffed.
I'll come back.
Yes, it's
here, but the pamphlets.
Yes, we'd be most interested.
Hello.
Excuse me.
Oh, I'm sorry.
What's that you're carrying?
A chess set.
Listen, I borrowed a car from
a friend of mine called
Stephen Earl.
Shall we drive down to
the coast and walk around?
Yes, alright.
Fine.
What's happening here, I wonder?
It looks like an accident.
What are you doing?
I may be of some help.
You're going?
Yes.
I'm a doctor.
Look at that!
Five!
Good, five.
Six?
I won that!
You know what's happened,
don't you?
Yes, I do.
We've fallen in love.
You've known since last week,
haven't you?
Let's walk down to the harbor.
Yes.
You look very serious.
I'm blushing
like a silly school girl.
Where are the boys?
Oh, hello.
They're in the house
helping Ilse bake a cake.
You got the sun.
What?
I said you got the sun.
Well, I always take my lunch out
by the cathedral if it's sunny.
That must have been
a long lunch.
Well, it wasn't a
long lunch at all!
I don't take long lunches!
Alright.
I just said you got the sun,
I'm sorry.
I better go to the boys.
I bought the chess set
for Alistair.
You can give it to him
when you like.
I'll get it, Ilse.
I'll get it.
Hello?
Speaking.
Oh, did she?
What was the trouble,
did she say?
Yes, I see.
Well, I'll come in tomorrow,
I know where she lives.
Yes.
Thank you, Grace, I'll
look after it.
Goodnight.
Come on,
let's get the cards out.
Alistair, Dominic, you
have your homework to finish.
Now please get on with it!
Look, I want all this
mess cleared up, Ilse.
I'm sorry I snapped at you.
Oh, that's alright.
That was Grace
Smedley from the CAB.
Something came up after I left.
Oh, yeah?
Anything serious?
I don't really know, it
was Mrs. Gaines.
- You remember.
- There's a bowl on the chair.
- I told you.
- Be careful.
Oh, yes, I know, the one
whose husband left her.
What's it doing on the chair?
Yeah, it's probably nothing
very much, but you never know.
Let me do that, Ilse, it's okay.
You can pour me a
drink if you like.
Okay.
What would you like, sherry?
Scotch.
Did you leave
the office early today?
Well, I had to get
the chess set.
It was a suicide attempt.
You didn't tell me she was ill.
Well, they rang through Thursday
and left a message in
case you came in.
- She took an overdose.
- I'll go right away and see.
The oldest boy who
gave the alarm.
She wouldn't attempt to
hurt the baby.
- Hello, Anna, how are you?
- Fine, thank you.
Sister?
Yes?
Should I wait?
Give her a few more minutes.
I knew where he was, you see.
I'd been told.
I come around to see you,
but you wasn't there.
No, I had to go out.
So I thought, go around
and see her, I thought.
Her?
His...
The bit he took up with.
Yeah, she knew who I was
when she clapped eyes on me.
We had a conversation.
A bit of an argument.
Is that how you, your face?
No, that was Bill.
He came back and found you?
It all happened yesterday.
I come around to the
bureau to ask your advice,
but you wasn't there.
Sorry?
I come around to the
bureau to ask your advice,
but you wasn't there.
I know, I'm sorry.
I hear you've been making
yourself unpleasant, he says.
And he gives me one
across the face.
Only Tommy tried to interfere.
But, Tommy's only 11.
It was stupid, stupid.
Tommy trying to stop
him beating me,
he was bound to get a
good hiding.
And that's what depressed me,
seeing Tommy cast
down like that.
And being depressed, I
took these pills.
The doctor gave them to
me for depression
and I thought, it's
bound to do good.
So, being in the state I was
at the time, I took the lot.
Want the radio on?
I don't mind.
Alright, please.
Aren't you taking it
all a bit seriously?
It?
- Yes, this Mrs. Gaines.
- Mrs. Gaines.
Is there anything that I can do
to help, you know, legally?
No, no.
Graham?
Have you ever been unfaithful?
What?
Unfaithful, anything like that?
Well, what makes you ask?
Curiosity.
You've never asked before.
Does that mean you have?
Well, I think that's
putting it a bit strongly.
How would you put it?
Damn it, you do pick
your time, don't you?
Well, you don't have to tell me.
Well, it was ridiculous.
It was a long time ago.
I wanted to tell you
about it then.
Why didn't you?
Because I just couldn't
think how to put it.
Simply would be best.
Well, it was...
It must have been about
six years ago.
You remember I went to that
law society thing up in Leeds?
Yeah, that's right, you
took Miss Dulce.
Yeah.
Don't tell me you
and Miss Dulce?
Oh, come on.
No, it's very suitable.
She can't be a day
more than 63--
Alright, don't be ridiculous.
It was the last evening
and the whole thing
had been a great big bore
and I wished I hadn't gone.
Yeah, you told me so.
But, well, we were
sitting around
eating and drinking and
there was a chap
who said that Leeds
could be quite
a swinging town if you
knew where to go.
Where did you go?
Well, we started off in
the saloon bar
of the Gravedigger's Arms.
Then we went to a very
curious place
called The Gay Huzzah,
very odd people.
And we lost a judge there, the
only judge, we just lost him.
After that we went to
a strip club.
It, well you know, not
the sort of club
where they have the strip pole,
right.
But there was a girl who did
an amazing dance with a snake.
These hostesses came in.
And you went to meet one?
Well, she said that the
crowd doesn't actually pay her,
she had to earn her rent
and because she fancied me,
she'd spoiled her
chances with anyone else.
You went to her place?
Yes.
You did?
So what happened?
What, what happened?
Well, I'd sobered up
a bit by then and, uh...
I...
I just didn't fancy her,
that's all.
So I went to the bathroom
and I climbed out
the window and I hurt
my knee as well.
Oh, Graham!
How hopeless you are!
I just can't manage.
Sometimes I've lain
there for hours
waiting for someone
to help me up.
It's dangerous.
Excuse me a minute.
Dr. Harvey.
Mrs. Jesson had to
meet a client.
She asked me to let you
know if you dropped in.
She would have left a
message at the hospital,
only she didn't know
how to reach you.
Would you mind if I
left her a note?
- No, please do.
- Okay.
Cigarette?
No, thank you.
Excuse me.
She never tells
me when she's not coming.
And I don't like to
complain because
I'm afraid she might
not come at all.
And I know how difficult
they are to get.
Thank you.
It is dangerous, you know.
You've been there twice
in the last five weeks.
She couldn't possibly
have suspected--
I didn't know how to
get in touch with you.
That's what she said.
I didn't want to leave
a message with Grace.
I didn't know what to do.
I told her that you were
a friend of the family.
And that you were
tremendously helpful
when we thought Alistair
had a mastoid.
Did he have a mastoid?
The lies, the unnecessary lies.
No, we just thought so.
It was a boil behind the ear.
If it were just a sordid
little affair,
what they call,
'a bit on the side every
Wednesday afternoon'.
Do you want that?
No, but...
I could bear it more easily.
What I can't bear is
feeling such
happiness when I catch
sight of you.
Even though I know
I'm not happy.
I'm happy when I'm with you.
When I'm not with you I
live in a dream of you.
Dominic, don't do that!
It's wrong, Alec.
You must see that.
I can see the truth
and I recognize
it whether it's right or wrong.
We're in love with each
other, you know that.
We both know that.
Whether it goes any further,
whether we ever get together,
I don't know, but we're lovers.
We hardly know each other.
We know each other very well.
I'm sorry if I upset you.
It's much easier for me.
Why?
Well, it's perfectly obvious
that Melanie and I
are not in love
with each other the way
that you and Graham are.
I mean, we live some sort,
oh, it doesn't matter.
It makes it a bit one-sided.
That's my train, I must go.
They want it.
Next week?
Yes.
If, by some chance,
you want to get in touch
with me I'm in the
hospital in the afternoons,
but in the mornings I
could give you
my home telephone number
if you want it.
- No.
- No?
Alright.
Goodbye, my love.
Bye.
Next week.
Keep away from
the edge of the platform.
Stand clear!
Could you turn that
thing down, Alec?
I can't concentrate.
Oh, sorry.
You're reviewing that book?
When do I read for pleasure?
What's it about?
Hard to tell.
There's a lot of sex of
various kinds,
but I don't think his
heart's in that.
He's just wanting to
please the publisher.
Corruption of the soul, mainly,
I think that's what it's about.
He's strong on that.
He's strong on
corruption of the soul?
Against it.
It's just sex?
Hmm?
I mean your book, is it
just about sex?
Don't people fall in love
anymore or anything like that?
I suppose in life they must do
or the human race could
hardly survive,
which is a different matter.
Yeah, I suppose they must do.
Were we ever in love,
do you think?
Hard to say.
Up to a point, we
must have been.
You accept the past
tense very readily.
What?
I said, were we in love,
do you think?
And you said something like,
up to a point we must have been.
Being in love isn't
a state that goes on.
How could it?
I don't know, but let's
not talk about
being in love, let's
talk about love, loving.
That's a state that could
go on, should go on.
Don't you think?
If you want to put it that way.
Well, how would you put it?
Look, I don't want
to get at you,
but I do have a deadline
on this review.
Let's just say quote, love
can cast out fear that,
if giving grief now, it at least
promises hope for the future,
unquote.
Will that do?
Hope for the future, yes.
I'm going to bed.
I'll try not to be too long.
Turn the music off.
Would you please, dear?
Just doing it.
Goodnight.
She's very beautiful.
Yes.
Anna--
I have to go back to the office.
Must you?
Mrs. Gaines is coming in.
Oh.
How is she?
Very cheerful.
Her husband has returned,
Tommy's gone back to school,
everything is fine, until
the next time.
Shall I walk you back?
You'd better not.
I suppose I'd better
see my patients, too,
otherwise there's no point
in the Hippocratic oath.
Anna?
Yes?
I...
Yes?
I'll see you in the
refreshment room.
Of course.
It's quite near here,
by the river, just
around the corner.
But I, it's not fair.
Darling, fairness is
not the point.
But to present me
with it with no warning.
I didn't know until yesterday
myself that the flat
would be empty.
I wanted to tell you at lunch,
but I didn't have the courage.
And somebody else's flat.
Stephen won't be back
until very late.
Nobody need ever know.
Here you are.
Thank you very much.
It's not just an
anonymous room in a hotel.
It's Stephen's flat, he's
one of my oldest friends.
You've told him?
No, no, of course, not.
It's so furtive, so cheap.
Please, please darling,
this is something
neither of us has
ever done before.
We can't measure it against the
values of our ordinary life.
We can't use words like
cheap and furtive.
Why should we let it
be so important?
- But it is important!
- We don't have to.
It is important!
If we were strong
enough it wouldn't be--
What's strong about denying
ourselves what we
know to be real?
Thank you.
Every time I ride
home on the train
I'm holding you in my arms.
Every second I'm away
from you is agony.
Every time there's a
knock on the surgery door
I think it might be you.
You feel the same don't you,
don't you?
Yes.
Then, is it strong to deny that?
There's your train.
I'm going to miss it.
Don't.
I'm going.
I'm going to Stephen's flat.
I shall wait for you there.
I'll write the address down
so you know where it is.
Take it.
I'll wait for you.
I love you.
Joann!
Ilse?
It's me.
Is Graham back?
No, no, no, would you
tell him that something's
come up and I'm going
to be delayed?
Well, I'm afraid I don't
know how long I shall be.
Well, I'll get back as
soon as I can, okay?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
It's not very cozy.
Well, it's what they
call a bachelor apartment.
You know, the hallway,
the living room
and the bathroom and
kitchen all lumped
into the smallest
possible space.
If Stephen wants to
entertain he generally--
Where is he, I'm sorry.
Where is he?
He generally takes people out.
He's gone to some
medical meeting
in London, BMA or something.
He won't be back
till quite late.
May I, shall I take your coat?
Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
A strong drink, we seem to
drink nothing but tea together.
No, thank you.
There's, um...
There's something I
have to tell you.
Yes?
I've been offered a
job in Australia.
You have?
Yes, but I wouldn't dream
of accepting it unless...
Unless?
It's at a place called
Paradise Springs,
they mine nickel there.
Nickel's a very valuable
commodity nowadays,
indeed, all metals are.
And where there's mines, as
you know, there are dust,
and where there's dust,
there's disease.
Anyway, they want me.
They heard about my work
in the hospital here
and they asked me to go there.
It'd be quite a jump from
being a GP to a consultant,
but the Australians are
not that stuffy
about that kind of
thing as we are.
I'm...
I don't know, there are
probably a lot of applicants.
I'm probably the last
on the list.
You said you won't
accept it unless?
Unless you come with me.
I'm not mad.
Tell me I'm not mad.
But we're still young, Anna.
We can make a new life.
Have a family.
I know it's going to cause pain
to others as well as
to ourselves.
Them, more than ourselves.
But we could do it, Anna.
If we really wanted to
we could do it.
How long have you known?
About the job?
Yes.
Quite some time I have
to give a decision soon,
if only to call them
and ask them
to give me more time to decide.
Does your wife know?
No.
When I first got the
offer I thought,
it's impossible, I
can't accept it.
And then in the last few
days I thought,
wait a second, I could accept
it if Anna would come with me.
I'm not asking you to
say yes or no,
give an answer now,
perhaps never.
Perhaps you might think
it's just an affair,
or a thing that will pass
in a short time.
I love you so much, Anna.
Oh, darling.
Alec?
Stephen.
I'll have to introduce you.
No, I don't want that.
But, I--
I don't want to be found here!
Alright, you stay here
and I'll take him
into the living room and
keep him there, occupy him.
Wait for a bit and then go
out through the front door.
Alright?
Hello, Stephen.
Oh, there you are.
I didn't expect you
back so early.
Oh, but...
I've got rather a filthy cold,
so I decided to miss the
evening session.
So I'd just go back
home and drink
a lot of whiskey and
then go to bed.
Has anybody phoned me?
Oh, no.
- Hmm, no?
- No.
I'll get that drink for you.
- Scotch?
- Yes, please, scotch.
Sorry about all this mess
I should have...
I surprised you.
You didn't draw the curtains.
- Here's your drink.
- Thank you.
It's not what you think,
not exactly.
I'm not thinking--
I just...
This is yours as well.
But I do think you might
have warned me.
It's alright, Alec,
I don't mind.
I don't mind, we're
both friends,
both adults, both doctors,
I don't mind.
It's just that I think
you should have warned me.
Partly because it would
have been good manners
and partly because I
should have taken care
not to come back early,
cold or no cold,
and partly because I should
have changed the sheets.
Or, have you already?
Have you done?
She's, she's not still
here I take it?
I saw her go in sort of a state
and a large whiskey is so
convenient in.
No, Stephen, she's
not still here.
One of the nurses, was it?
Was it one of the nurses?
She had a right to scamper off.
I'd never be able to
meet her eye doing
rounds of the wards tomorrow.
It isn't as sordid and
squalid as you think, Stephen.
May I?
Oh, that as well?
There.
Thank you.
By the way, you're
still keeping my key, hmm?
I'm sorry, but I can't promise
to be away again for a while.
No, I shan't need
your key anymore.
Sorry, I didn't explain.
I'm sorry I might have
embarrassed you.
I just...
Impossible to, it's impossible.
Goodnight.
Let's have some of this!
Oh, you stupid!
Could I have a brandy?
Just closing.
Could I have a brandy, please?
Just...
Yes, indeed, madam.
I'm causing you a
lot of trouble.
They'll be expecting
you at home.
No, madam.
My husband will not be worried.
He'll have a longer lesson.
He's studying for the
certificate of education.
My elder son is helping him.
I'm sorry, I have no money.
I'll pay you next time.
Not to worry, take your time.
Please, take your time.
Thank God, I found you.
I was bound to come back
to the station.
Yes, but I didn't know,
you might have had a lift
from somebody.
How do you feel?
Humiliated.
Oh, don't be.
Humiliated, I mean.
It was like, I don't
know, not even a farce.
I felt like a prostitute,
exposed.
I suppose he laughed, didn't he?
No, no he didn't.
Didn't he ask questions?
He assumed certain things,
I assured him that he
was mistaken.
But he wasn't mistaken!
Why didn't you admit
that we were
sick lovers with nowhere to go?
I'm--
Using his flat like,
like a brothel.
Because it wasn't true.
It was.
Darling, when two people love
each other as much as we do--
Oh, it isn't enough.
Loving each other isn't
enough, other things matter!
Decency, self-respect.
Darling.
It all seemed so
innocent to start with,
meeting by the cathedral,
having lunch.
It was so innocent.
It couldn't be dirty or furtive.
It was like a dream of love.
Yes.
Well, we know the reality now.
It is degrading.
That's not the reality.
What you're thinking is
not the reality.
The other was.
Was?
Is.
Is now.
Don't you remember in
the flat when I asked you
to come away with me and
we talked about
the pain that might
be suffered by
other people as well
as ourselves?
And we...
Anna?
Will you marry me?
No.
No.
Then what are we going to do,
Anna?
What are we going to do?
Go on seeing each other
once a week--
No, we've gone past that.
We must stop.
I can't stop seeing you!
We've got to.
Can you be so strong?
I've tried to stop seeing you.
I've tried twice already.
You must help.
Alright.
If I take that job in Australia.
I shan't have much time, I'll
be gone in a couple of months.
I won't be able to come
into the hospital,
there won't be any time.
But I must see you, I
must see you.
Tell me I can see you.
Next week.
Try and take the afternoon off,
we'll go for a walk
in the country.
There won't be much privacy,
but at least there'll be time.
Oh, darling.
Forgive me.
Forgive you for what?
For...
Loving you, for taking a bit
of grit out of your eyes.
For making you miserable.
There's my train.
I'll see you to your train.
No, please stay here.
Alright.
- Ciao, my darling.
- Goodnight.
Cold?
A little bit.
You think we'll
see each other again?
I don't know.
You think I could write to you?
No.
I suppose time will wear away
the pain of not
seeing you again.
Come.
But, uh...
The memory.
The memory of you, the
loving of you,
time won't take that away.
It would be easier to die.
At this moment it would
be easier to die.
If you were dead
you'd forget me.
I want to be remembered.
When we first met, what was it
you were eating outside
the cathedral?
Anything is possible.
What strange twist of
fate brought us together.
Hope for the future.
Possibly, a love that
we can't have missed.
I don't really feel like tea.
Alright, I'll take you to
your train, I'll miss mine.
No, I'll come over to
your platform with you.
Anna!
Hello!
Oh, hello, Dolly.
I wondered if I'd
see you, I know it's your day.
Yes, it is.
Come in for a cup,
we've just got time.
Unless, uh?
Mrs. Messiter, Dr. Harvey.
How do you do?
Hello.
I'll get your tea.
I'm so sorry, I didn't
mean to interrupt anything.
You're not
interrupting anything.
Very handsome man.
He's a doctor, he comes
into the hospital once a week.
Oh, did Graham tell you?
That I thought I saw you
the other week at the
mystery plays?
Yes, he did tell me.
And I said
to Sandy that evening--
There you are.
That it's time we had Graham
and Anna over for dinner.
It must be our turn.
I mean, it's ridiculous to live
so close and never
see each other.
No, it's our turn.
Anna, you are looking so well.
Wish I could.
Don't you think she's
looking well, Dr. Harvey?
Oh yes, looking very well.
You see, it's
all tension with me.
I'm tremendously tense.
Especially in public, I
don't know why.
I've tried yogurt and
I've tried yoga.
None of them do any good.
You know, my husband says
that if I don't relax
I'm going to end up
crippled with arthritis.
There's your train.
Yes, I'm afraid I must leave.
Yes, you must.
Oh, aren't you coming with us?
No, I'm a GP, I practice
in Basingstoke,
and so I go in exactly
the opposite direction.
Uh-huh.
- Goodbye.
- Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
He'll have to run.
He's got to get right over
to the other platform.
Where did you meet him?
I got something in my eye
one day and he took it out.
My dear, how romantic!
Oh, you see, I'm always
getting things
in my eye and nobody
the least bit attractive
ever paid the
faintest attention.
You know, I reckon-- Sorry?
It's something in that
Advice Bureau.
You meet so many
fascinating people.
I never meet anybody.
I suppose that's why
I'm so neurotic.
You know, Sandy says to me,
why don't you get out more?
But, oh, I don't know.
What's the point of going out?
Excuse me.
You alright, Miss?
I just got dizzy for a
moment, I'll be alright.
Here you are, I wondered
what had happened to you.
It was so stuffy in there.
We'd better hurry,
our train's in.
Tell you who I saw again
this afternoon.
Looking rather a fright,
I thought.
You remember that
hairdresser that you
and I both went to and
neither of us liked him?
I thought his name was
Elizabeth something other other.
Come away from that window!
Well, the other day I
thought I saw him.
But his right of way
straight through the orchard.
Well, I mean, it isn't
really an orchard.
Five dead apples trees don't
really make an orchard, do they?
But it's ours.
I lie awake at night,
I really do,
thinking about it and
worrying about it.
Sandy says, take one
of your pills.
I don't know, one can't become
a slave to pills, can one?
Oh look, I do love to see
the wild ponies, don't you?
What a shame so many of
them have to be killed.
Well, Sandy said, take
one of your pills.
I don't know, one can't
become a slave to one's pills.
I take too many as it is.
Last Sunday there was this
couple with rucksacks.
Something to do with the
rambler's association.
When I saw them here I said,
this is private property.
Oh no, it's not, they said.
This is a right of way
and we are re-opening it.
Mrs. Marshall's cat is
going to have kittens.
Can we have one?
I tried to tell them they cannot
have a cat and also
keep hamsters.
You can if you keep them apart.
We will think about it.
You're a long way away.
What?
I said you've been a
long way away.
I have.
I'm glad you're back.
Is it for good?
It is for good, Graham.
When I'm naughty my daddy
always sends me up to my room.
About six minutes later he
comes up and he forgives me.
I really need a stopwatch
so that I can time him.
Get off the floor, Megan!
Come on you lot, up!
Get down at once!
Sit, come on now, get down!
Sit, stay there, stay!
Sit!
Excuse me!
Excuse me, is this the
Portsmouth train?
Well, it's about time!
I promised and I'm not
one to break my word.
Only when I went to
tell him it's as if he--
I'm sorry, is this the
Portsmouth train?
No, no, it's the express.
It doesn't stop.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Alright, settle down.
This is the express it
doesn't stop here.
Where's Adam?
How come nobody stopped him?
I don't imagine that we
have chocolate
every hour of the day or night.
Better not go too close.
Do you have any water?
Yes.
Do you require plain
water or mineral water?
I got something in my eye.
The express was going through,
a piece of grit, I think.
Then I should advise
plain water in that case.
Okay, plain water.
Mineral water will
not be necessary.
Okay.
There's a man I know
lost the sight
of one eye through gettin'
grit in it.
Oh.
Do you want me to pull the
lid down and have a look?
No, no, it's okay.
Here you are madam,
here is your water.
Apply the glass directly to
the eye, that will wash it out.
Oh, do not care for the state
of the floor which
can be mopped.
I forgot this lot.
Where'd you want it?
Here.
When he
grabbed my arm like that,
see, I didn't know what to do.
Haven't you two had
enough to eat?
Better?
I'm afraid not.
Try blowing your nose
and rubbing the other eye.
Blowing my nose, huh?
May I help you?
- Let's see.
- No, no.
Please come over here.
I'll be alright.
Now please, look up.
- Look up, slight again.
- I can't.
Look down.
Now there it is.
Now hold it perfectly,
perfectly still.
There.
There, that's it.
You may think that
it's still there,
but I assure you it's not.
You're really very kind.
Not at all.
That's my train, goodbye.
Bye.
Well, I'm not giving
him any more love, I tell ya.
That man is so stupid,
he couldn't find his way
out of a phone booth.
Bye.
Bye, madam.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, miss.
Goodnight, George.
- Goodnight, Mrs.
- Jesson.
Hello.
Hello, my love.
Thank you, my dear.
Two more
victims of yesterday's--
Hello.
Good girl, Jamie.
Out you go, now.
Out you go.
In Jamie, come, come.
I'm home!
We heard you,
we're in the play room!
Who's winning?
I am, that's why
Alistair's cross.
Did you buy me anything?
We're only losing 'cause Ilse's
got no idea of how to play!
Alistair, don't be so rude!
- It's quite true, Mrs.
- Jesson, I have no idea at all.
You're not bad, really, it's
just that you can't serve.
I've won!
21-15!
Dad, did you know
Jeffrey Barrowclough
got a wart on his thumb?
Nobody ever tells me anything,
do they?
Hello.
- What's that you got, Daddy?
- You always keep the really
important information
for your mother.
- Alistair!
- Don't make fun of it!
Warts are a virus!
Anyone could catch his warts
if they shook hands with him.
- And I'm telling you--
- Nonsense!
It's bedtime!
You can catch anything if you
don't get a good night's sleep.
Unless I do that
the petrol won't flow into it.
Now go up to bed, both of you,
and I'll come up in a quarter of
an hour to read you a story,
Dominic.
Right, now I want that and that.
Come here.
Come on, Ilse, just
one more game!
Hi, good day?
Much as usual, tiring.
We are shorthanded while
Lucy Parfitt is on holiday.
They asked me if I could
do two days a week.
Well, I hope you said
you couldn't.
Yes, I did say I couldn't.
I got something in my eye
at the railway station.
Just as well, social work.
It can suck you in, you know,
like a drug.
In your eye, where?
At Winchester, not here.
The express was going through,
a piece of grit went in my eye.
Ooh, that's painful.
You alright?
Yes.
There was a very nice man in
the refreshment room and
he took it out.
That could be very dangerous,
you know.
You can lose the sight of an
eye by getting grit into it.
You sure you're okay?
I'd better go up to the boys.
Mrs. Baxter!
Oh, Mrs. Baxter.
I'm sorry, I forgot to
give you these.
Now, what happens is,
you've got to fill out
this form here and then send
it to 30 Devonshire Street
and they'll send you
back your cards.
My name's Grace Smedley.
Now, if you have any
problems at all,
ask them to phone me
here at the CAB
office and I'll sort
it out for you.
He didn't come home
Friday night.
That's payday.
Yes.
Saturday, he didn't come home.
Sunday I never saw him.
Excuse me, just one second.
Excuse me.
Just one second.
Grace!
Yes?
I've got no food in the house,
nothing.
And no money at all?
Nothing.
It's Friday, he gives
me my money.
Friday night he gives
me the money.
If he hasn't been to
the pub first.
Does he often drink it up?
He never drinks it all up,
I do manage.
Forgive me, Mrs. Gaines, but,
has your husband ever
left home before?
He may have been away,
not to say he left.
The kettle.
Oh, sorry!
For long?
No, never!
Maybe a night.
Maybe Friday night he
might stay out
if he'd been
drinking that night.
He might stay, like a weekend.
Yes?
A week he was once away,
took up with some bit
from Northampton come
to see the wrestling.
Well, his auntie May lives
in Northampton.
He's got connections there.
And how did you manage
during that week?
I sold the furniture,
lived off that.
We got some more after that,
I purchased.
Perhaps it's just as well
you've come to us this time.
Would you like to go
through that door, sir?
Oh, thank you very much.
Through here?
Yes, that's right.
You have how many children?
Six.
Six children.
- The tea.
- Thank you.
Sorry about the interruptions.
Here.
Six children.
With the baby.
And you're how old?
28.
About your age, miss.
I'm 37.
I think the first thing
is money, don't you?
We can think of what to
do about your husband
when we know if he's
coming back or not.
Oh, he'll be back.
Can you go to the Social
Security this afternoon?
Yes.
I'll talk to them first
and tell them to expect you.
Yes.
This is the address.
Here.
Thank you.
Some 800 years old and is
part of the original one built.
If we now look at the nave,
it's the longest Gothic
nave in the world.
If we come round here we can see
rather better the north side.
Some people think that
this is the--
Hello.
Hello.
Do you remember me?
I took a bit of--
Piece of grit out of my eye.
Sure.
Of course I remember,
it was only last week.
Do you live in Winchester?
No, no, I live in,
may I sit down?
Please do.
I live in Basingstoke,
I'm a doctor,
but I have to pop in
here once a week to, oh--
Would you like some of this?
No?
I come here once a
week to the chest clinic.
Sometimes some of my
patients are there.
They're a very sickly lot,
my patients, I'm afraid.
Well, think how much
sicker they'd be
if you weren't there.
Well...
What's that you're eating?
Would you like some lunch?
No, what is it?
That's prosciutto, raw ham.
How do you spell that?
P-r-o-s-c-i-u-double t-o.
Well, that's very kind of you,
but I promised to have
lunch with some
of my colleagues in the
hospital canteen.
I expect it'll be meat
and potatoes.
Not something
delicious like that.
I came into town to do some
shopping for one of my patients.
Do you lunch here every day?
Oh no, I'm like you.
I come into
Winchester once a week.
My work is close by
and if it's warm
I like sitting out here
during the lunch hour.
But if it's raining I walk
to the Georgian Dragon
for a cheese salad and a
glass of wine.
What an exciting
life you do lead.
Well, I suppose I'd
better be getting along.
It was a pleasure to
see you again.
I enjoyed it.
I daresay we'll meet at the
refreshment room, won't we?
You make it sound like
an assignation.
Do I?
Well, I didn't mean to.
Was it offensive?
Of course not, I shall
look forward to it.
Goodbye, doctor?
Harvey.
Harvey.
Goodbye.
- Sorry.
- Goodbye.
I've lived in England
for 17 years.
My husband is English
and my children,
well, they're very English.
I almost think of myself
as English now.
What do you call your children?
Alistair and Dominic.
You can't be more
English than that.
Actually, there's Scottish,
you know,
you should have said--
British.
I don't go back to Italy.
I have no close
family there now.
They're all dead.
What happened?
The war.
Sorry.
It was a long time ago.
Would it be impertinent,
would it be rude
of me to ask how you
came to marry an--
An Englishman?
Yes.
Well, because I loved him.
We met at a time when I
was very lonely.
He was very uncertain,
unsure of himself.
Oh, he was, you know how long
it takes Englishmen to grow up.
Yes, indeed, I do.
Have I offended you?
No, not at all.
It took me approximately
25 years to grow up myself,
if indeed, it can be said
that I've grown up now.
Tell me more, go on.
Nothing more to tell.
Of course, there must be
millions of things to tell.
- No.
- All kinds of things.
Tell me, do you never go
to Italy, not even for--
What did you say?
You never go back to
Italy, not even for holidays?
No, no.
My roots are here now.
Ah.
Shall we?
Yes, of course.
Very firm roots.
Like a tree.
England is a good
country for trees.
It's good soil.
They grow well.
Even exotic, foreign trees.
Do you feel exotic and foreign?
No.
You seem exotic and
foreign to me.
I'm very happy here.
I beg your pardon.
Oh damn, I'm afraid
that's my train.
Perhaps we'll meet again.
We're bound to.
Yes.
Perhaps we'll meet when
you're eating that, uh--
Prosciutto.
- Prosciutto.
- Prosciutto, yes.
Prosciutto,
near the cathedral.
If it's not raining.
If, indeed, it is not raining.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Well, her husband
hasn't come back.
He's been away for
two weeks now.
That's longer than he's
ever been away before,
except when he was
with some woman.
Yes.
Six children.
I talked to the school.
The oldest boy's quite
bright, rather sensitive.
What does she want to happen?
She wants him back, of course.
She wants her husband back.
I thought she'd be
better off without him.
Providing you can get her all
the benefits she's entitled to.
Of course, we can get her what
she's entitled to, that's
not the point.
What is the point?
The family is the
point, the whole family.
There are other
important things, you know.
I saw my doctor again today.
Is anything the matter?
Not our doctor.
You remember the man I met in
the refreshment room
at Winchester station?
Oh, the gentlemen who took
the grit out of your eye.
Yes.
He's a doctor, is he?
Uh-huh.
Well, if you catch
the same train
you're bound to see each other.
He doesn't, he lives in
the opposite direction.
He says he has a practice in,
I can't remember where exactly.
Well, if you let someone
take a piece of grit
out of your eye you've
got a friend for life.
You're bound to say hello
and how are you.
Yes, would you like that?
Would I like what?
If we asked him over for a meal.
It was only a piece of grit.
It wasn't a major surgical
operation, was it?
He seems quite nice,
I think you'd like him.
We could ask him and his wife
over for dinner one evening.
Oh, no!
Why not?
Because you hardly know him.
I don't know him at all and his
wife doesn't know either of us.
You should only invite
people to dinner
who you were at school with
or who you owe money to.
We could ask someone with them.
Je--
Jeremy and Pamela.
Why don't you ask him to lunch?
But you never eat lunch.
Exactly.
Graham, how hopeless you are.
Yes, that's what you
love about me, isn't it?
Family, you take it
for granted, darling,
because you've always
been part of one.
But it's everything, really.
You know I can't do any
more of this, I'm going blind.
Alistair, what are you
doing up at this time?
Oh, please let me see if Daddy's
finished the undercarriage!
Okay, then straight
to bed or there'll be--
No television tomorrow!
Dad!
Alright, come on, I'll show
you what I've done so far.
I've done half, I'll have
to leave it till tomorrow.
Oh, it's great, Dad!
Bed, shoo!
Thanks, Dad!
Goodnight, Dad.
Goodnight.
Graham?
Okay, Anna, I'll go.
I'm just on my way out.
They should know we're
closed between one and two.
Hello, I'd
like to see Mrs. Jesson.
Well, yes, she is in, actually.
Anna, it's for you.
Hello.
Doctor Harvey!
Ciao, Anna!
Ciao!
I've come to take you to
the Georgian Dragon for, um...
Let's see now, what was
it, cheese salad and a--?
Glass of wine.
Glass of wine.
But it's not raining.
Oh no, it looks very much
as if it's going to thunder.
Nonsense.
Will you come?
I said if it was raining
I had one glass of wine
and a cheese salad, not
three glasses.
Perhaps it's the sunny day.
I'm quite intoxicated!
Sounds wonderful.
In memory of, oh!
Well, I will now show
you my formidable prowess.
It's beautiful!
I used to play rugby.
Yes?
Hmm, I don't play it anymore.
Could you go to the mystery
plays this afternoon?
I have work to do.
Well, I know, so do I.
Could you get off somehow?
Well, I haven't any
appointments this afternoon.
I suppose I could clear
things up and get away early.
Good.
All hours, all hours
this harvest is mine!
Do you feel guilty at all?
What?
Do you feel guilty at all?
No.
I do.
Why?
Neglecting our work.
Well, I worked this morning,
so did you.
What's wrong with a
little relaxation?
What on earth should we
feel guilty about?
As though...
It doesn't matter.
Yes, it does.
Tell me.
Well, anyone could have come
in to see me this afternoon.
Anyone needing help and
I wasn't there.
That's not what you meant.
No.
What did you mean?
I don't know.
A sort of instinct.
As if we were running a
risk deliberately.
I am the voice crying in
the wilderness!
The path of
righteousness I show!
Look ye, forsake all
wretchedness.
I give baptism in pure water
called the river of Jordan.
My baptism is but signature of
his baptism whose like is none.
It's very late.
Shall we go, please?
Alright.
Behold the lamb of God is this.
John Baptist, my own
good friend,
that faithfully doth
preach my will.
My deepest thanks to thee
I hand the law of God.
That's strange.
What are you thinking about?
I was thinking of my childhood.
We're a long way away.
And confirm that
sacrament that you shall be.
A voice crying in
the wilderness.
Prepare ye, the way of the Lord
and make his path straight.
The fulfillment of the prophecy,
I think it's Isaiah, I think.
I think it was.
Tell me, what makes you
think of your childhood?
Well, when I was a little
girl it was the war, of course.
We used to spend whole nights
in the air raid shelter.
But when my mother was
asleep I'd creep out.
There was a very, very high
wall at the end of the garden.
I'd stand on it and watch the
rockets lighting up Naples.
It was like fireworks,
better than fireworks.
It was almost as
though the stars
were falling to help
the bombers.
And soon there'd be,
there'd be great
plumes of fire from the
burning buildings
rising up to meet the
falling stars.
Very spectacular.
I was always frightened.
Frightened to stand there
on the wall watching.
And just then I thought,
I had the same feeling
about you and me.
Something we shouldn't be doing.
Something dangerous.
Well, life is a very
dangerous business.
I mean, walking across
the road is dangerous.
What John the Baptist was about
to do was extremely
dangerous at the time.
Perhaps they might
take his head.
Don't laugh at me.
I'm not laughing at you.
John the Baptist, so
many Saint Johns.
Saint John of the Cross.
Saint Climacus.
Saint John of Beverly.
Of Capistrano.
For now I pass
forth into the wilderness.
The Holy Ghost shall
be my guide!
Two?
Thank you, yes put it on here.
- Any help?
- No, no, it's fine.
Excuse me, please, excuse me.
Thank you, excuse me.
Can I help you?
Yes, thank you.
Very fattening.
We starve tomorrow.
You know, this is one of my--
Would you like one?
I'll have a bite.
One of my earliest passions
I've never really got over it.
I think I could live on
fresh Bath buns.
And no vitamins at all?
Excuse me, please.
I'd eat a lot of oranges.
There's nothing wrong, you know.
Of course, not.
Playing truant for a day
is not exactly a crime.
You mustn't say that,
it's very old-fashioned.
Children say 'bunking off'
nowadays.
What, oh, playing truant
is bunking off?
- Bunking, yes.
- Oh, I see.
How very kind you are.
You said that before.
I thought perhaps you
hadn't heard.
Well, I had.
It's Dr. Harvey.
We can sit there.
Oh, yes.
You seem to be a great
expert about the English.
Bunking off, I never
heard of that.
Well, perhaps your
children don't say that.
You say you try to be
very English.
You don't seem very
English to me.
No, I don't try to be
anything I'm not.
My husband is a
county solicitor,
we live in a village, we
have two sons.
I do fit in, I enjoy it.
My wife doesn't
like the country.
It's not her fault.
She was born in London,
grew up a Londoner.
What is she like?
My wife?
Oh, she's small, fair,
intelligent.
And your husband,
Graham is his name?
Graham, yes.
What's he like?
He's very tall, brown hair,
very kind,
not emotional and he's
very intelligent.
You say that with a
great deal of pride.
Did I?
Where did you go?
What?
Where have you been?
You went away.
I didn't mean to.
It just seems so awkward.
When we are almost
strangers to be
talking about such
personal matters.
It's one thing to
close a window,
it's quite another to
slam it on my fingers.
I'm sorry.
It's awful.
I didn't mean to be
disagreeable.
No, you couldn't be
disagreeable.
Tell me, how did you
become a doctor?
Oh, I don't know,
family tradition,
my father was a doctor.
It was a question of ideals,
I suppose.
What ideals?
Preventative medicine--
Sanitation, hygiene, diet?
You seem to know a lot about it.
A little bit.
I have to know a little
bit for the Advice Bureau.
Of course, of course.
Well, environmental pollution,
that's my particular
pigeon, that's my specialty,
that's the thing I'm
interested in.
What do you mean?
Dust, diseases of the lungs.
I've actually written
a paper on it
for a British medical journal.
I'm showing off now.
Are you bored?
No, no.
On pneumoconiosis.
Pneumoco?
I knew you wouldn't
get that, pneumoconiosis.
Don't be alarmed, it's
quite simple, really.
It's the slow process
of fibrosis in the lungs
caused by the inhalation of
minute particles of dust.
And this, of course, is a
marvelous place
for studying such a
phenomenon because
they still mine chalk here,
you see.
You suddenly look much younger.
I do?
Almost like a little boy.
Why'd you say that?
I don't know.
Yes, I do.
Tell me.
No, please go on, you
were saying about the chalk.
Yes, well it's not only chalk,
you know.
There's other forms of disease.
Yes?
There's the
inhalation of coal dust,
that's called anthracosis.
Then there's steel dust.
Yes, of course, steel.
It's called chalicosis.
And there's stone dust
that's called, silicosis.
There's your train.
Yes.
What's the matter?
Nothing, nothing at all.
You must run.
And thank you, I've enjoyed
this afternoon enormously.
Shall I see you again?
It's the other platform,
isn't it?
- You'll have to hurry.
- Shall I see you again?
- Don't worry--
- Shall I see you again?
Yes, perhaps you and
your wife could come over--
No, no, no, please, please.
But I can't.
I ask you most humbly.
You must run.
Next week?
Next week.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
You finished?
I'm home!
We can't
come, we're playing a game!
Well, you haven't passed yet,
so you don't get your 200,
off you go.
Hi.
Hello, you're late.
Nine.
I just missed the train.
Ilse?
Oh, she's upstairs,
she's got a headache.
Dolly Messiter rang,
said she saw you
at the mystery play
this afternoon.
She phoned to tell you that?
No, I don't think so,
something about a right of way.
She was after a bit of
free legal advice
and dressed it up as
a social call.
That means I pay you,
doesn't it?
Right, yes.
90 pounds, please.
90?
Give me 10.
Six.
One, two,
three, four, five, six.
Where do you want it?
Oh, is that for sale?
How much is it?
How much is it there?
60 pounds.
Do you want it?
Do you want it?
Yes.
Off you go.
Five and one.
One, two, three, four,
five and one.
Come on, and one.
Super tax, come on you've
gotta dish out
- 100 pounds to the bank.
- Pay a hundred.
Thank you, on you go.
Two, five, six.
That one's, who's got that one?
Is that for sale?
Anybody got it?
What is it?
It's yours, Dad.
Oh, is it?
Oh, yes, you owe me six pounds.
I shall die rich, come on.
Lucy?
It's Anna Jesson.
Lucy, my dear, I don't
think I shall
be able to come into the
bureau next week.
No, not on Wednesday.
Perhaps I could manage another--
Yes, I know, it is very
inconvenient.
I'm very sorry about it,
but really,
my dear, it's going to be
quite impossible
for me to come in
next Wednesday.
I have to be here at home.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Lucy.
Collecting 200.
Who's winning?
I am.
I've got a set of all red cards.
I've got houses on them.
But I'm winning.
Okay, Alistair, off you go.
I've gotta pay you 20.
Six, ten.
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine and 10.
He's got more money
than you have.
Chance.
Your husband's doing
awfully well.
Yes, he is, isn't he?
Good shot!
Four.
Have you got to 50 yet?
What?
Oh, you haven't put it down.
I'm sorry, what was it?
- Four.
- Four.
Your husband scored a four.
That's great!
What are you up to?
I'm a searchlight!
In the daytime?
You'd be better off being
a signal man, wouldn't you?
And all my
tanks run to the tree.
Go on, try and hit that one.
Oh, you did, you amaze me.
Supper's ready.
Shall I call them
from the garden?
No, no I'll do it.
Come in, boys, supper's ready!
I bombed all his tanks!
Did you see?
Come here.
Oh, mommy!
I'm alright!
Well, that was quite a battle.
Who's gonna clear away
after supper, you?
Yes, but
Alistair made all the mess.
Then both you can.
I wonder what is for supper,
do you know?
Hi.
Silicosis.
What?
Anagram, silicosis.
That gives me the rest of
the quotation which is,
'love bade me welcome, yet
my something drew back'.
Four letters beginning
with S, Henry Vaughn.
Soul.
Huh?
Soul.
Is it?
Yes, it is, you're right.
What or naught you do know?
I've never even heard of that.
Nor have I, it has to be
soul, nothing else would fit.
Love bade me welcome,
yet my soul drew back.
Do you think Alistair's
too young for chess?
Why?
Oh, I don't know, my father gave
me a set when I was
about his age.
And?
Pristine.
Well, you can never start
chess too young,
it's good training for the mind.
You never play chess.
I wasn't any good at it.
That's 'cause I hated it.
But then, Alistair's more like
you, he's very analytical.
He might be marvelous at it.
Am I really very analytical?
Harry Patterson was
saying the other day
he'd given his boy a
set and he was
an absolute wizard
at it already.
He's about the same age.
Analytical.
Makes me sound cold.
I don't like that.
I'm not cold.
I just thought that
you could get me
a set on Wednesday when
you go into town.
But I...
What?
Well, I...
I was not listening
properly, I misunderstood.
You are going into town
on Wednesday, aren't you?
Well, I thought of
changing my day.
Didn't I tell you?
Yes, you probably did, I forgot.
Anna, if it's a bore I'll
get Miss Dulce
to buy one out of petty cash.
No, I'll get one on Wednesday.
It's no trouble, I shall go in.
I come to see Mrs. Jesson,
that's who I always see.
I'm afraid she's not in today.
You're Mrs. Gaines, aren't you,
did you make an appointment?
She said I could come in
any day if I was in trouble.
Yes, that's right, you can,
there's always somebody
here to help you.
Wednesday's Mrs. Jesson's day.
Mrs. Jesson comes in on
Wednesdays, I know that.
Yes, I'm afraid she
won't be in today, though.
Excuse me.
Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Would you hold on a minute,
please?
She may be in at the
end of the week.
- Well, I'll come back.
- But she's thinking
of changing her day.
You sure I can't help you?
She'll be in tomorrow?
She may be.
I'll come back then.
Hello, I'm sorry, yes.
Oh, yes, we did.
Yes, I do remember it actually.
Yes, I'm sorry we've
been so short-staffed.
I'll come back.
Yes, it's
here, but the pamphlets.
Yes, we'd be most interested.
Hello.
Excuse me.
Oh, I'm sorry.
What's that you're carrying?
A chess set.
Listen, I borrowed a car from
a friend of mine called
Stephen Earl.
Shall we drive down to
the coast and walk around?
Yes, alright.
Fine.
What's happening here, I wonder?
It looks like an accident.
What are you doing?
I may be of some help.
You're going?
Yes.
I'm a doctor.
Look at that!
Five!
Good, five.
Six?
I won that!
You know what's happened,
don't you?
Yes, I do.
We've fallen in love.
You've known since last week,
haven't you?
Let's walk down to the harbor.
Yes.
You look very serious.
I'm blushing
like a silly school girl.
Where are the boys?
Oh, hello.
They're in the house
helping Ilse bake a cake.
You got the sun.
What?
I said you got the sun.
Well, I always take my lunch out
by the cathedral if it's sunny.
That must have been
a long lunch.
Well, it wasn't a
long lunch at all!
I don't take long lunches!
Alright.
I just said you got the sun,
I'm sorry.
I better go to the boys.
I bought the chess set
for Alistair.
You can give it to him
when you like.
I'll get it, Ilse.
I'll get it.
Hello?
Speaking.
Oh, did she?
What was the trouble,
did she say?
Yes, I see.
Well, I'll come in tomorrow,
I know where she lives.
Yes.
Thank you, Grace, I'll
look after it.
Goodnight.
Come on,
let's get the cards out.
Alistair, Dominic, you
have your homework to finish.
Now please get on with it!
Look, I want all this
mess cleared up, Ilse.
I'm sorry I snapped at you.
Oh, that's alright.
That was Grace
Smedley from the CAB.
Something came up after I left.
Oh, yeah?
Anything serious?
I don't really know, it
was Mrs. Gaines.
- You remember.
- There's a bowl on the chair.
- I told you.
- Be careful.
Oh, yes, I know, the one
whose husband left her.
What's it doing on the chair?
Yeah, it's probably nothing
very much, but you never know.
Let me do that, Ilse, it's okay.
You can pour me a
drink if you like.
Okay.
What would you like, sherry?
Scotch.
Did you leave
the office early today?
Well, I had to get
the chess set.
It was a suicide attempt.
You didn't tell me she was ill.
Well, they rang through Thursday
and left a message in
case you came in.
- She took an overdose.
- I'll go right away and see.
The oldest boy who
gave the alarm.
She wouldn't attempt to
hurt the baby.
- Hello, Anna, how are you?
- Fine, thank you.
Sister?
Yes?
Should I wait?
Give her a few more minutes.
I knew where he was, you see.
I'd been told.
I come around to see you,
but you wasn't there.
No, I had to go out.
So I thought, go around
and see her, I thought.
Her?
His...
The bit he took up with.
Yeah, she knew who I was
when she clapped eyes on me.
We had a conversation.
A bit of an argument.
Is that how you, your face?
No, that was Bill.
He came back and found you?
It all happened yesterday.
I come around to the
bureau to ask your advice,
but you wasn't there.
Sorry?
I come around to the
bureau to ask your advice,
but you wasn't there.
I know, I'm sorry.
I hear you've been making
yourself unpleasant, he says.
And he gives me one
across the face.
Only Tommy tried to interfere.
But, Tommy's only 11.
It was stupid, stupid.
Tommy trying to stop
him beating me,
he was bound to get a
good hiding.
And that's what depressed me,
seeing Tommy cast
down like that.
And being depressed, I
took these pills.
The doctor gave them to
me for depression
and I thought, it's
bound to do good.
So, being in the state I was
at the time, I took the lot.
Want the radio on?
I don't mind.
Alright, please.
Aren't you taking it
all a bit seriously?
It?
- Yes, this Mrs. Gaines.
- Mrs. Gaines.
Is there anything that I can do
to help, you know, legally?
No, no.
Graham?
Have you ever been unfaithful?
What?
Unfaithful, anything like that?
Well, what makes you ask?
Curiosity.
You've never asked before.
Does that mean you have?
Well, I think that's
putting it a bit strongly.
How would you put it?
Damn it, you do pick
your time, don't you?
Well, you don't have to tell me.
Well, it was ridiculous.
It was a long time ago.
I wanted to tell you
about it then.
Why didn't you?
Because I just couldn't
think how to put it.
Simply would be best.
Well, it was...
It must have been about
six years ago.
You remember I went to that
law society thing up in Leeds?
Yeah, that's right, you
took Miss Dulce.
Yeah.
Don't tell me you
and Miss Dulce?
Oh, come on.
No, it's very suitable.
She can't be a day
more than 63--
Alright, don't be ridiculous.
It was the last evening
and the whole thing
had been a great big bore
and I wished I hadn't gone.
Yeah, you told me so.
But, well, we were
sitting around
eating and drinking and
there was a chap
who said that Leeds
could be quite
a swinging town if you
knew where to go.
Where did you go?
Well, we started off in
the saloon bar
of the Gravedigger's Arms.
Then we went to a very
curious place
called The Gay Huzzah,
very odd people.
And we lost a judge there, the
only judge, we just lost him.
After that we went to
a strip club.
It, well you know, not
the sort of club
where they have the strip pole,
right.
But there was a girl who did
an amazing dance with a snake.
These hostesses came in.
And you went to meet one?
Well, she said that the
crowd doesn't actually pay her,
she had to earn her rent
and because she fancied me,
she'd spoiled her
chances with anyone else.
You went to her place?
Yes.
You did?
So what happened?
What, what happened?
Well, I'd sobered up
a bit by then and, uh...
I...
I just didn't fancy her,
that's all.
So I went to the bathroom
and I climbed out
the window and I hurt
my knee as well.
Oh, Graham!
How hopeless you are!
I just can't manage.
Sometimes I've lain
there for hours
waiting for someone
to help me up.
It's dangerous.
Excuse me a minute.
Dr. Harvey.
Mrs. Jesson had to
meet a client.
She asked me to let you
know if you dropped in.
She would have left a
message at the hospital,
only she didn't know
how to reach you.
Would you mind if I
left her a note?
- No, please do.
- Okay.
Cigarette?
No, thank you.
Excuse me.
She never tells
me when she's not coming.
And I don't like to
complain because
I'm afraid she might
not come at all.
And I know how difficult
they are to get.
Thank you.
It is dangerous, you know.
You've been there twice
in the last five weeks.
She couldn't possibly
have suspected--
I didn't know how to
get in touch with you.
That's what she said.
I didn't want to leave
a message with Grace.
I didn't know what to do.
I told her that you were
a friend of the family.
And that you were
tremendously helpful
when we thought Alistair
had a mastoid.
Did he have a mastoid?
The lies, the unnecessary lies.
No, we just thought so.
It was a boil behind the ear.
If it were just a sordid
little affair,
what they call,
'a bit on the side every
Wednesday afternoon'.
Do you want that?
No, but...
I could bear it more easily.
What I can't bear is
feeling such
happiness when I catch
sight of you.
Even though I know
I'm not happy.
I'm happy when I'm with you.
When I'm not with you I
live in a dream of you.
Dominic, don't do that!
It's wrong, Alec.
You must see that.
I can see the truth
and I recognize
it whether it's right or wrong.
We're in love with each
other, you know that.
We both know that.
Whether it goes any further,
whether we ever get together,
I don't know, but we're lovers.
We hardly know each other.
We know each other very well.
I'm sorry if I upset you.
It's much easier for me.
Why?
Well, it's perfectly obvious
that Melanie and I
are not in love
with each other the way
that you and Graham are.
I mean, we live some sort,
oh, it doesn't matter.
It makes it a bit one-sided.
That's my train, I must go.
They want it.
Next week?
Yes.
If, by some chance,
you want to get in touch
with me I'm in the
hospital in the afternoons,
but in the mornings I
could give you
my home telephone number
if you want it.
- No.
- No?
Alright.
Goodbye, my love.
Bye.
Next week.
Keep away from
the edge of the platform.
Stand clear!
Could you turn that
thing down, Alec?
I can't concentrate.
Oh, sorry.
You're reviewing that book?
When do I read for pleasure?
What's it about?
Hard to tell.
There's a lot of sex of
various kinds,
but I don't think his
heart's in that.
He's just wanting to
please the publisher.
Corruption of the soul, mainly,
I think that's what it's about.
He's strong on that.
He's strong on
corruption of the soul?
Against it.
It's just sex?
Hmm?
I mean your book, is it
just about sex?
Don't people fall in love
anymore or anything like that?
I suppose in life they must do
or the human race could
hardly survive,
which is a different matter.
Yeah, I suppose they must do.
Were we ever in love,
do you think?
Hard to say.
Up to a point, we
must have been.
You accept the past
tense very readily.
What?
I said, were we in love,
do you think?
And you said something like,
up to a point we must have been.
Being in love isn't
a state that goes on.
How could it?
I don't know, but let's
not talk about
being in love, let's
talk about love, loving.
That's a state that could
go on, should go on.
Don't you think?
If you want to put it that way.
Well, how would you put it?
Look, I don't want
to get at you,
but I do have a deadline
on this review.
Let's just say quote, love
can cast out fear that,
if giving grief now, it at least
promises hope for the future,
unquote.
Will that do?
Hope for the future, yes.
I'm going to bed.
I'll try not to be too long.
Turn the music off.
Would you please, dear?
Just doing it.
Goodnight.
She's very beautiful.
Yes.
Anna--
I have to go back to the office.
Must you?
Mrs. Gaines is coming in.
Oh.
How is she?
Very cheerful.
Her husband has returned,
Tommy's gone back to school,
everything is fine, until
the next time.
Shall I walk you back?
You'd better not.
I suppose I'd better
see my patients, too,
otherwise there's no point
in the Hippocratic oath.
Anna?
Yes?
I...
Yes?
I'll see you in the
refreshment room.
Of course.
It's quite near here,
by the river, just
around the corner.
But I, it's not fair.
Darling, fairness is
not the point.
But to present me
with it with no warning.
I didn't know until yesterday
myself that the flat
would be empty.
I wanted to tell you at lunch,
but I didn't have the courage.
And somebody else's flat.
Stephen won't be back
until very late.
Nobody need ever know.
Here you are.
Thank you very much.
It's not just an
anonymous room in a hotel.
It's Stephen's flat, he's
one of my oldest friends.
You've told him?
No, no, of course, not.
It's so furtive, so cheap.
Please, please darling,
this is something
neither of us has
ever done before.
We can't measure it against the
values of our ordinary life.
We can't use words like
cheap and furtive.
Why should we let it
be so important?
- But it is important!
- We don't have to.
It is important!
If we were strong
enough it wouldn't be--
What's strong about denying
ourselves what we
know to be real?
Thank you.
Every time I ride
home on the train
I'm holding you in my arms.
Every second I'm away
from you is agony.
Every time there's a
knock on the surgery door
I think it might be you.
You feel the same don't you,
don't you?
Yes.
Then, is it strong to deny that?
There's your train.
I'm going to miss it.
Don't.
I'm going.
I'm going to Stephen's flat.
I shall wait for you there.
I'll write the address down
so you know where it is.
Take it.
I'll wait for you.
I love you.
Joann!
Ilse?
It's me.
Is Graham back?
No, no, no, would you
tell him that something's
come up and I'm going
to be delayed?
Well, I'm afraid I don't
know how long I shall be.
Well, I'll get back as
soon as I can, okay?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
It's not very cozy.
Well, it's what they
call a bachelor apartment.
You know, the hallway,
the living room
and the bathroom and
kitchen all lumped
into the smallest
possible space.
If Stephen wants to
entertain he generally--
Where is he, I'm sorry.
Where is he?
He generally takes people out.
He's gone to some
medical meeting
in London, BMA or something.
He won't be back
till quite late.
May I, shall I take your coat?
Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
A strong drink, we seem to
drink nothing but tea together.
No, thank you.
There's, um...
There's something I
have to tell you.
Yes?
I've been offered a
job in Australia.
You have?
Yes, but I wouldn't dream
of accepting it unless...
Unless?
It's at a place called
Paradise Springs,
they mine nickel there.
Nickel's a very valuable
commodity nowadays,
indeed, all metals are.
And where there's mines, as
you know, there are dust,
and where there's dust,
there's disease.
Anyway, they want me.
They heard about my work
in the hospital here
and they asked me to go there.
It'd be quite a jump from
being a GP to a consultant,
but the Australians are
not that stuffy
about that kind of
thing as we are.
I'm...
I don't know, there are
probably a lot of applicants.
I'm probably the last
on the list.
You said you won't
accept it unless?
Unless you come with me.
I'm not mad.
Tell me I'm not mad.
But we're still young, Anna.
We can make a new life.
Have a family.
I know it's going to cause pain
to others as well as
to ourselves.
Them, more than ourselves.
But we could do it, Anna.
If we really wanted to
we could do it.
How long have you known?
About the job?
Yes.
Quite some time I have
to give a decision soon,
if only to call them
and ask them
to give me more time to decide.
Does your wife know?
No.
When I first got the
offer I thought,
it's impossible, I
can't accept it.
And then in the last few
days I thought,
wait a second, I could accept
it if Anna would come with me.
I'm not asking you to
say yes or no,
give an answer now,
perhaps never.
Perhaps you might think
it's just an affair,
or a thing that will pass
in a short time.
I love you so much, Anna.
Oh, darling.
Alec?
Stephen.
I'll have to introduce you.
No, I don't want that.
But, I--
I don't want to be found here!
Alright, you stay here
and I'll take him
into the living room and
keep him there, occupy him.
Wait for a bit and then go
out through the front door.
Alright?
Hello, Stephen.
Oh, there you are.
I didn't expect you
back so early.
Oh, but...
I've got rather a filthy cold,
so I decided to miss the
evening session.
So I'd just go back
home and drink
a lot of whiskey and
then go to bed.
Has anybody phoned me?
Oh, no.
- Hmm, no?
- No.
I'll get that drink for you.
- Scotch?
- Yes, please, scotch.
Sorry about all this mess
I should have...
I surprised you.
You didn't draw the curtains.
- Here's your drink.
- Thank you.
It's not what you think,
not exactly.
I'm not thinking--
I just...
This is yours as well.
But I do think you might
have warned me.
It's alright, Alec,
I don't mind.
I don't mind, we're
both friends,
both adults, both doctors,
I don't mind.
It's just that I think
you should have warned me.
Partly because it would
have been good manners
and partly because I
should have taken care
not to come back early,
cold or no cold,
and partly because I should
have changed the sheets.
Or, have you already?
Have you done?
She's, she's not still
here I take it?
I saw her go in sort of a state
and a large whiskey is so
convenient in.
No, Stephen, she's
not still here.
One of the nurses, was it?
Was it one of the nurses?
She had a right to scamper off.
I'd never be able to
meet her eye doing
rounds of the wards tomorrow.
It isn't as sordid and
squalid as you think, Stephen.
May I?
Oh, that as well?
There.
Thank you.
By the way, you're
still keeping my key, hmm?
I'm sorry, but I can't promise
to be away again for a while.
No, I shan't need
your key anymore.
Sorry, I didn't explain.
I'm sorry I might have
embarrassed you.
I just...
Impossible to, it's impossible.
Goodnight.
Let's have some of this!
Oh, you stupid!
Could I have a brandy?
Just closing.
Could I have a brandy, please?
Just...
Yes, indeed, madam.
I'm causing you a
lot of trouble.
They'll be expecting
you at home.
No, madam.
My husband will not be worried.
He'll have a longer lesson.
He's studying for the
certificate of education.
My elder son is helping him.
I'm sorry, I have no money.
I'll pay you next time.
Not to worry, take your time.
Please, take your time.
Thank God, I found you.
I was bound to come back
to the station.
Yes, but I didn't know,
you might have had a lift
from somebody.
How do you feel?
Humiliated.
Oh, don't be.
Humiliated, I mean.
It was like, I don't
know, not even a farce.
I felt like a prostitute,
exposed.
I suppose he laughed, didn't he?
No, no he didn't.
Didn't he ask questions?
He assumed certain things,
I assured him that he
was mistaken.
But he wasn't mistaken!
Why didn't you admit
that we were
sick lovers with nowhere to go?
I'm--
Using his flat like,
like a brothel.
Because it wasn't true.
It was.
Darling, when two people love
each other as much as we do--
Oh, it isn't enough.
Loving each other isn't
enough, other things matter!
Decency, self-respect.
Darling.
It all seemed so
innocent to start with,
meeting by the cathedral,
having lunch.
It was so innocent.
It couldn't be dirty or furtive.
It was like a dream of love.
Yes.
Well, we know the reality now.
It is degrading.
That's not the reality.
What you're thinking is
not the reality.
The other was.
Was?
Is.
Is now.
Don't you remember in
the flat when I asked you
to come away with me and
we talked about
the pain that might
be suffered by
other people as well
as ourselves?
And we...
Anna?
Will you marry me?
No.
No.
Then what are we going to do,
Anna?
What are we going to do?
Go on seeing each other
once a week--
No, we've gone past that.
We must stop.
I can't stop seeing you!
We've got to.
Can you be so strong?
I've tried to stop seeing you.
I've tried twice already.
You must help.
Alright.
If I take that job in Australia.
I shan't have much time, I'll
be gone in a couple of months.
I won't be able to come
into the hospital,
there won't be any time.
But I must see you, I
must see you.
Tell me I can see you.
Next week.
Try and take the afternoon off,
we'll go for a walk
in the country.
There won't be much privacy,
but at least there'll be time.
Oh, darling.
Forgive me.
Forgive you for what?
For...
Loving you, for taking a bit
of grit out of your eyes.
For making you miserable.
There's my train.
I'll see you to your train.
No, please stay here.
Alright.
- Ciao, my darling.
- Goodnight.
Cold?
A little bit.
You think we'll
see each other again?
I don't know.
You think I could write to you?
No.
I suppose time will wear away
the pain of not
seeing you again.
Come.
But, uh...
The memory.
The memory of you, the
loving of you,
time won't take that away.
It would be easier to die.
At this moment it would
be easier to die.
If you were dead
you'd forget me.
I want to be remembered.
When we first met, what was it
you were eating outside
the cathedral?
Anything is possible.
What strange twist of
fate brought us together.
Hope for the future.
Possibly, a love that
we can't have missed.
I don't really feel like tea.
Alright, I'll take you to
your train, I'll miss mine.
No, I'll come over to
your platform with you.
Anna!
Hello!
Oh, hello, Dolly.
I wondered if I'd
see you, I know it's your day.
Yes, it is.
Come in for a cup,
we've just got time.
Unless, uh?
Mrs. Messiter, Dr. Harvey.
How do you do?
Hello.
I'll get your tea.
I'm so sorry, I didn't
mean to interrupt anything.
You're not
interrupting anything.
Very handsome man.
He's a doctor, he comes
into the hospital once a week.
Oh, did Graham tell you?
That I thought I saw you
the other week at the
mystery plays?
Yes, he did tell me.
And I said
to Sandy that evening--
There you are.
That it's time we had Graham
and Anna over for dinner.
It must be our turn.
I mean, it's ridiculous to live
so close and never
see each other.
No, it's our turn.
Anna, you are looking so well.
Wish I could.
Don't you think she's
looking well, Dr. Harvey?
Oh yes, looking very well.
You see, it's
all tension with me.
I'm tremendously tense.
Especially in public, I
don't know why.
I've tried yogurt and
I've tried yoga.
None of them do any good.
You know, my husband says
that if I don't relax
I'm going to end up
crippled with arthritis.
There's your train.
Yes, I'm afraid I must leave.
Yes, you must.
Oh, aren't you coming with us?
No, I'm a GP, I practice
in Basingstoke,
and so I go in exactly
the opposite direction.
Uh-huh.
- Goodbye.
- Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
He'll have to run.
He's got to get right over
to the other platform.
Where did you meet him?
I got something in my eye
one day and he took it out.
My dear, how romantic!
Oh, you see, I'm always
getting things
in my eye and nobody
the least bit attractive
ever paid the
faintest attention.
You know, I reckon-- Sorry?
It's something in that
Advice Bureau.
You meet so many
fascinating people.
I never meet anybody.
I suppose that's why
I'm so neurotic.
You know, Sandy says to me,
why don't you get out more?
But, oh, I don't know.
What's the point of going out?
Excuse me.
You alright, Miss?
I just got dizzy for a
moment, I'll be alright.
Here you are, I wondered
what had happened to you.
It was so stuffy in there.
We'd better hurry,
our train's in.
Tell you who I saw again
this afternoon.
Looking rather a fright,
I thought.
You remember that
hairdresser that you
and I both went to and
neither of us liked him?
I thought his name was
Elizabeth something other other.
Come away from that window!
Well, the other day I
thought I saw him.
But his right of way
straight through the orchard.
Well, I mean, it isn't
really an orchard.
Five dead apples trees don't
really make an orchard, do they?
But it's ours.
I lie awake at night,
I really do,
thinking about it and
worrying about it.
Sandy says, take one
of your pills.
I don't know, one can't become
a slave to pills, can one?
Oh look, I do love to see
the wild ponies, don't you?
What a shame so many of
them have to be killed.
Well, Sandy said, take
one of your pills.
I don't know, one can't
become a slave to one's pills.
I take too many as it is.
Last Sunday there was this
couple with rucksacks.
Something to do with the
rambler's association.
When I saw them here I said,
this is private property.
Oh no, it's not, they said.
This is a right of way
and we are re-opening it.
Mrs. Marshall's cat is
going to have kittens.
Can we have one?
I tried to tell them they cannot
have a cat and also
keep hamsters.
You can if you keep them apart.
We will think about it.
You're a long way away.
What?
I said you've been a
long way away.
I have.
I'm glad you're back.
Is it for good?
It is for good, Graham.