Inspector George Gently (2007–2017): Season 7, Episode 2 - Breathe in the Air - full transcript
Dr Valerie Cullen is found dead, holding a syringe, and colleague Dr Plant suggests suicide, telling Gently that she was depressed at the onset of motor neurone disease. Estranged husband Andrew, also a doctor, agrees but when he finds Valerie's office ransacked and her dog killed Gently suspects foul play with Andrew the likely culprit. Valerie was a popular visitor to Norman, an unofficial patient dying of emphysema contracted from working at an asbestos factory where Andrew was the medical officer. Given that other workers have also died Gently suspects that Valerie was attempting to expose criminal negligence at the factory and somebody was out to prevent her. At the same time Bacchus is thrilled to hear that he has been promoted to inspector but sad to learn that Gemma has gone back with Nunn and is moving to London with him.
Ah!
Ooh!
Have I got time for a shower?
All the time in the world, guv.
I've been asked to see the ACC
this afternoon. To discuss you.
Me?! What now? I haven't
done anything.
You must've done something, John.
They're making you up to Inspector.
Eh? Give over!
Whoo!
Hm.
This is exactly how
you found her, is it?
~ You haven't moved anything?
~ No, sir.
Thanks.
How did you find her?
We stopped to look at the Hillman
parked at a funny angle.
Somebody's given her a whack.
Unless she took a tumble.
Car keys.
Let's take a look.
The locals could have done this,
you know. I was fast asleep.
She's topped herself. What are
we supposed to do about it?
Big bruise on the side
of her face, John.
Keys.
She's a GP.
Dr Valerie Cullen.
And the address of her surgery.
Is there a note?
Nah, there's nothing.
Let's leave it for Forensics.
Dr Cullen isn't here. I can
put you on Dr Plant's list.
I don't want Plant, I want her!
Well, you cannot have her because
we don't know where she is.
~ Excuse me?
~ Well, I'll come back when you find out.
~ Yes?
~ We'd like to talk to somebody
about Dr Cullen, please.
Give me strength!
~ Her surgery's cancelled.
We don't know where she is.
~ We do.
What a terrible waste.
You don't seem that
surprised, Dr Plant.
Valerie suffered terribly
from depression.
Awful mood swings.
We just couldn't find a way
to control it medically,
so she lived with it,
I thought, successfully.
But... Er...
I know she did find it oppressive
thinking about what the future held.
I'm sorry?
About 18 months ago, we found
that she had an extremely
nasty condition called
motor neurone disease.
Is that where you go all
jerky, like a spastic?
No, you're probably confusing
it with multiple sclerosis.
Right.
Was she married, Dr Plant?
Yes. Andrew Cullen.
~ Also a doctor.
~ Here?
No.
No, Andrew works for the
Factories Safety Board.
~ I'll get you his address.
~ Thank you.
I should perhaps tell
you that he and Valerie
have been living separately
for over a year now.
Nobody here knows that, except me.
Did she mention suicide?
No.
I mean, did she EVER mention
suicide to you, Dr Plant?
Yes, once.
After she was diagnosed?
No, it was after that.
When her marriage broke down.
Why did it break down?
I think you should ask
her husband that question.
You all right, guv?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm just thinking
about Valerie Cullen.
You can understand why she did it.
Husband might be relieved. Who knows?
I hate this part of the job, me.
Oh, yeah, me, too.
They're saying Dr Cullen's not here,
ring in and make an appointment.
It's the police, Vera.
She's looking in his diary.
Have there been any calls
for Dr Cullen today?
One from his wife's surgery
about two hours ago.
~ Did he take that call?
~ Aye, when I told him it wasn't his wife.
~ We always had to tell her he was out.
~ What's he like?
If he was made out of
chocolate, he'd eat himself.
Right. Found him for
you. Here's a surprise.
Somebody telephones you to say that
your suicidal wife didn't
turn up for work,
so you take yourself out for lunch.
I bet that ruined his spaghetti.
~ Dr Cullen?
~ What's happened?
I'm afraid it's your wife.
Very sorry to have to tell
you she's been found dead.
Yes. That's Valerie.
There's no toxicology report as yet.
But there are traces of barbiturate
in the syringe that
we found next to her.
Plus she's got this large bruise
on the side of her face
and two loose teeth on the same side.
Do you know anything about that?
No. I haven't spoken
to her for weeks.
Did she leave a note?
No. Not on her. You were separated?
She left me over a year ago.
Where was she living?
I-I never went.
I didn't ask you that.
She was renting a little
two up, two down.
Place called Easterhope.
What made her do it, do you think?
Sergeant, I have been expecting this
since the first day I met Valerie.
She just... couldn't cope with life.
Why did she leave you?
The marriage was a failure.
We'd let it drag on.
Dr Cullen, do you mind if I ask
who your lunch companion was?
Anna Zweig. She's a work colleague,
nothing more, nothing less.
Zweig.
Local lass, is she(?)
Swiss.
Can I please get out of here?
Would you just write down
your wife's address, please?
Guv, are you seriously looking
at something apart from suicide?
Well, two loose teeth in her mouth.
How do we know that somebody
didn't thump her unconscious
and then inject her afterwards?
~ A lot of doctors in this story, John.
~ Yeah, but...
Look, she had a failed
marriage, right.
She had this toffee-nosed
git for a husband,
she was depressed and she had
this motor-racing disease thing.
Being told that you're ill
doesn't necessarily mean
you want to kill yourself.
And she couldn't cope
with life to start with.
~ He says.
~ Yeah, all right, he said.
But who knows what was
going on inside her head?
Well, I'd like to know.
All right.
All right, I'll look into it.
~ You asked for me, sir?
~ Rachel.
I'm buying John a drink this evening
to celebrate his promotion
to Inspector.
~ Oh, congratulations, Sarge.
~ Thank you very much.
Inspector. Not before time.
So, join us.
~ Oh, well, I think I'm...
~ Oh, no. She wouldn't want to.
Of course she would.
So, Rachel, this means I'll
be needing a new sergeant.
She's not a sergeant.
Ever hear of sergeants' exams, John?
You're taking your exam?
Next month. Mr Gently suggested it.
We don't need a uniformed
sergeant in here.
No, but we will be needing
a detective sergeant
to replace you, won't we?
So, Rachel, how do you feel
about joining us in CID?
Guv, what is the point in
training them up, right?
They just go off and
have bairns. What's...?
That's why we don't have
any female detectives!
Well, then, maybe it's
time that we did, eh?
~ Anyway, think about it, Rachel.
~ No! Y-Y-Yes!
It's a yes. Sorry,
I-I-I'm saying yes.
Excellent! Well, it's a
double celebration, then.
~ 7:30, Town Arms.
~ Great(!)
Meanwhile, here's Valerie Cullen's
keys, here's her address.
See if you can find out
why she killed herself.
Guv, you asked me to do that.
Perfect. Well, you can do it
together, then, can't you?
Easterhope.
My friend used to live there
when we were growing up.
Really? You had friends?
Well, one less now, yeah, because
she died when we were 15.
Right. We're off. Come on.
(Thank you.)
Assistant Chief Constable's
office again, sir.
Bananas are being gone.
"Where's Gently? Why are they
still sitting here waiting?"
~ They?
~ They.
Inspector Nunn
acknowledges his mistakes
in his handling of rape complaints.
They weren't mistakes. He
deliberately ignored evidence.
Bear with me. And he'll be leaving
the constabulary forthwith.
What, sacked on full pension?
He should be prosecuted.
I've got a transfer.
I'm joining the Met.
Vice Squad.
So an officer with a proven
record of violence to women
goes to join the Vice Squad.
Which brings me to the
problem of your sergeant.
What problem's that, sir?
Any way you look at it, George,
there was a vendetta
against Inspector Nunn
conducted from your office.
But why would you look
at it that way, sir?
Are you saying it was
just a coincidence
that these charges were
brought against Walter
at a time when your sergeant
was trying to steal his wife?
They're completely separate issues.
Concerted action to discredit
a fellow officer, George.
I can't allow Bacchus'
promotion to go forward
under these circumstances.
John has been held back
far too long already.
He makes too many mistakes.
Look at his file.
~ I won't accept it.
~ A bloke shags me wife and
you make him Inspector?
Where would the justice
be in that, sir?
Don't you talk to me about justice!
You're a borderline
criminal yourself!
~ George!
~ I mean it, sir. This is
a resignation issue for me.
Bacchus' promotion goes forward.
Now, let's draw a line under this.
Dennigs has shut down.
I didn't know that.
It's quiet, isn't it?
~ Esther's dad used to work there.
~ Who?
~ Me friend.
~ Oh, yeah.
What'd she die of, again?
Cancer.
Gently? Tell Inspector Bacchus
if his shadow ever falls across
me again, I'll break his back.
I'm not your messenger boy.
There's one from Gemma.
She says goodbye.
She's coming with me to London.
I've forgiven her.
What we looking for?
Suicide note would be favourite.
Then I might be able to get
George to accept the obvious.
Wait. Rachel, wait, wait.
Now, this isn't her mess, is it?
The place has been turned over.
~ Shall we look for forced entry?
~ Yeah.
Where's the dog?
Oh!
~ Have you got a bag?
~ (Yeah.)
"Control to 724. Are you receiving?"
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. Excuse me.
John Bacchus' private line, John
Bacchus speaking personally.
"Forensics will be there
in about ten minutes.
"Stay in the area, let them
in, then come back to HQ."
Right.
It is mine.
It belongs to the
constabulary, actually.
~ It's in my car.
~ Were you an only child, by any chance?
Where are you going?
Oi!
Boo!
What are you doing in here?
Esther's dad used to come and do
the maintenance here on a weekend.
He used to let us come and play.
Bet it was a bit like Disneyland, wasn't
it, when you were a little lass?
Sort of.
Do you miss her?
Yeah.
Come on.
No sign of forced entry.
Somebody's got a key.
Or maybe she did it
herself, actually.
Searching for something in
a hurry before she left.
Any other prints in her car?
No, just hers.
There you go.
Lovely. Cheers!
~ Cheers.
~ Congratulations, Inspector Bacchus.
Thank you very much.
Inspector Bacchus.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Go on, then. What did
Davenport say about us?
I thought he hated me.
Nothing much. Sang your praises.
~ Like what?
~ Tell you later.
Do you want me to come
back in a bit, or...?
No. No, nothing.
Look, we're not here
to talk about work.
This is a celebration. Cheers!
~ Cheers.
~ Cheers!
Hm!
We should search her office,
though, at the surgery.
And question her husband, who
you both think is dodgy, yeah?
He's one of those blokes, isn't he?
Can't walk past a mirror without
having a little look.
Bit like you. Huh!
So, why are you so sure
that she killed herself?
Think about it, Rachel, will you?
She's got this motor
neurone disease, right.
This time next year, she'll be
sat in a wheelchair with breakfast
dribbling down her chin.
What would you do?
I know what I'd do.
Guv, can I just say something?
Get used to it, John.
~ What?
~ Working with Rachel.
Right. Fine.
John?
Shut the door.
Just so you know, Walter
Nunn got off scot-free.
No reprimand, no charge, no nothing.
He's transferring to London.
Dirty squad.
Yeah. It's the job you've
always wanted, I know.
But he got it and you didn't
and it's just something else that
you're going to have to get used to.
And there's something else.
Just in case you were
getting your hopes up...
.. the marriage is patched up and
she's going to London with him.
Goodnight. Goodnight, John.
Do you want to take a seat?
Hello again, Mr Gently.
Morning. We'd like access to
Dr Cullen's surgery, please.
~ First on the left at the end. It's open.
~ Thank you.
Dr Cullen's already in there.
Hey! Are you looking for summat?
Well, um... anything that might shed
a light on this awful business.
~ Such as?
~ This is our job, actually. Come on.
~ Did you find anything?
~ No.
~ Do you want me to search him, guv?
~ Are you calling me a liar, Sergeant?
Yeah, I am. I think you're also lying about
the Swiss maid you were having lunch with.
Just a colleague! Seemed
pretty close to me.
Close? What does that mean?
Well, it means she won't need
to yodel when she needs you.
Dr Cullen, we think someone paid
a visit to your wife's house
searching for something.
Any idea who that might've been?
~ Valerie's house?
~ Yeah.
Yeah. The one you said
you'd never been to.
How would I know?
~ Mr Gently, Dr Plant needs to speak urgently.
~ Thank you.
She writes from Easterhope.
Dated two nights ago at 9:00pm.
"Dear Michael." Um...
"You will know by now that I took
the coward's way out after all..."
'Others will ask, I know,
why not a bottle of pills,
'and not this ghastly syringe.
'But you more than anyone know how
my illness has already affected...'
".. My ability to swallow.
"So I've made my choice, even
though I hate and fear needles.
"Some doctor I made, eh?"
She was actually a wonderful, um...
She was. She... she had an
extraordinary rapport with patients.
Everybody loved her.
Take your time, Dr Plant.
"You know, too, that there
were two loves in my life."
'Medicine was one.
'Being a doctor was the
greatest privilege.
'Serving the poor was the thing
that rescued me from a life
'I might otherwise have spent in the
selfish pursuit of my own appetites.
'The second... great love...'
"... Was Andrew, of course.
"When we met, it was love
at first sight for me.
"A genuine coup de foudre.
"He was the light in my world.
"And though we had our differences,
"he remains, deep down,
a good man, Michael.
"Please believe that.
"For my sake, be a friend to him...
".. in the days, months
and years ahead.
"With gratitude for having known you
"and in admiration of you...
".. I... I take my leave.
"Your friend and colleague,
Valerie Cullen."
~ I think that letter really belongs to me.
~ No.
When I'm sure of the reasons
for your wife's suicide,
then I'll return this letter to
Dr Plant. It's addressed to him.
Until then, it's evidence
in an unexplained death
and belongs to the
coroner. Thank you.
Dr Cullen, I'm going
to have to trouble you
to come in and let us
take your fingerprints.
Aye, he really wanted to
burn this letter, didn't he?
What did she see in a bloke like him?
Sometimes people fall for the
wrong person, don't they?
Right, well, we've got a
suicide note. Are we done?
Why? Why did she end her life?
I don't know how many more
reasons you need, guv.
I honestly don't.
Heidi the Goat Girl.
Yeah, maybe.
Did you see that look
in Plant's eyes?
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
If looks could kill, Cullen would
be dog meat, wouldn't he?
Yeah, no, Plant hates him.
So do I, actually, and
I've only just met him.
I think he has that effect on people.
There's more to this.
Her letter was clearly asking Plant
to forgive Cullen for something.
I've got some tasty stuff on
Dr Andrew Cullen if you want it.
~ Such as?
~ Such as, sir, he's barely a doctor at all.
You wouldn't trust this bloke
to take your pulse without
breaking your wrist.
Anyway, he was born to dirt-poor
parents in Blackpool,
unlike his wife Valerie, who,
sorry was, an honourable.
~ A what?
~ Well, it means that she's... was...
the daughter of a baronet.
You know, a silver spoon to eat your
cornflakes with and all of that.
Private schools, but she
turns her back on it all
to train as a GP and come and
work in the industrial north.
Anyway, they met at medical
school, but where...
Where's all this coming from?
Mainly that gobby woman who answers
the phone at the Safety Board.
Anyway, he's worked in the same
practice as his wife three times.
And the same thing
happens every time.
He gets sacked and then she leaves
with him out of loyalty.
So eventually, he can't get
a job anywhere as a GP,
so he ends up as a factory doctor,
which is where you end up when
you're useless, apparently.
Right. Well, see, I don't know
where any of this gets us.
Deep down.
She said, "Deep down,
he's a good man."
Which implies that he's
done something bad.
And don't say, "Heidi the Goat
Girl," I'm sick of hearing it.
What's in Easterhope? Why Easterhope?
What is in Easterhope
for Valerie Cullen?
Well, it was nowhere
near her practice,
so her patients didn't live there.
Show me Easterhope.
Actually, Rachel knows the
place much better than I do.
I've got a mountain of
paperwork I need to do.
Right.
Let's go.
~ Mr Gently, can I just say something?
~ Get used to it.
~ What?
~ Working with John.
Gently.
"Andrew Cullen's prints, sir.
"Apparently, they're all over
the place in his wife's house."
Thank you.
The whole place depended
on the factory that closed.
Do you know them?
Yeah. It's, er...
~ It's me best friend's mum and dad.
~ Oh.
I haven't seen them for years.
Do you want to say hello?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've come to say goodbye, John.
Hello, Mrs Carlin.
Rachel?
Eeeee!
Hey, man! Rachel!
Hiya!
If you'd have give us half an hour,
I would've done the twist with you.
But I'm jiggered after me
game of tennis, you know.
Why've you gone in the police?
Could you not get a proper job?!
Eh, Rachel, he never changes.
This is Chief Inspector George.
He's her boss, so no showing her up.
Mr George.
Pleasure to meet you, Mr Carlin.
What I've got, George, is emphysemia.
Me lungs are shot.
Norman, man, it's not called
emphysemia. It's called emphysema.
Won't matter how they spell it when
they put us in the box, Bridgie.
We shouldn't tire him out.
Rachel, this has done more for
him than a million doctors.
He gets no company, pet.
Valerie's been good, though.
Who's that?
Oh, Valerie. He likes his Valerie.
She's not his proper doctor,
she just calls round.
Ah, like her, me. She's
got a... a lovely smile.
She brings that little dog she's
got sometimes, doesn't she, Bridgie?
Greedy little thing for biscuits.
Ah, George, she says that, but
she spoils him rotten every time.
That dog gets more to eat than I do!
Suffering hell!
That was not the plan.
Yeah, it was.
You've got your lacy
knickers on, Gem.
Detectives!
Next time, wear your grandma's
apple-catchers, then I'll know it's goodbye.
There isn't going to
be a next time, John.
I can't do this any more.
Walter's asked me for promises
and I've made them.
Well, you've made promises
before, Gem.
On the altar.
Hm. Thanks.
Anyway, you know, he's...
he's changed.
He's a different man.
Never works nights any more.
Yeah?
Says it's time for him to stay home
and spend time with me and the kids.
Any plans?
Plans?
No. Same.
Same life.
Except I can't, John.
I can't.
I can't live in the dark.
I want to live in the light.
Live with me in the light.
Why did Valerie call round, Norman?
Did she examine you?
Examine us? No.
Take any blood samples?
Why, no.
Million questions, mind.
"What've the doctors told
you about your chest?
"When did the coughing start?"
I says to her, "Valerie, it's not
the cough that carries you off,
"it's the coffin they
carry you off in!"
She laughed her head off,
didn't she, Bridgie?
You would think they were
courting, the way he goes on.
"Oh, Dr Tambling's coming this
afternoon. Give me hair a brush!"
It's her maiden name, Tambling.
Aye, she's married?!
Don't break me heart!
Well, I could've told
you that, Norman.
She had a wedding ring on, man!
Did she... Has she never spoken
to you about her husband, Norman?
Never mentioned him once.
You know why?
She didn't want to scare us off!
Married women! Man, George,
they're the worst!
Gem, you wouldn't...
just go, would you?
You wouldn't disappear
without saying nowt?
~ Go where?
~ I don't know. Say if Walter
got a job somewhere.
He's got a job.
Yeah, I know, but say if he got
another job somewhere else.
Move away, you mean?
Yeah.
No. Why you asking that?
Ah, it's no reason, just...
Gem, don't go, please!
I've got to, John.
This was a mistake.
And it's my fault.
I'm going that way,
you're going that way.
Don't look back.
What other questions
did she ask, Norman?
"How long have you lived here?
"How long did you work in Owens?"
Owen Linings. It changed its name
to Dennigs when it got took over.
Aye, I meant, Dennigs. Sorry.
Valerie can answer all
of this better than us
because she wrote everything down.
She only lives 200 yards away.
Bridgie? Norman?
I hate to tell you this, but, er...
Valerie killed herself
two nights ago.
Valerie did?
Why?!
Why do you think she was asking
all of those questions?
More to the point, what did
she do with the answers?
She wrote everything
down, Bridget said.
So, who might not want
those answers made public?
Who benefits by her death?
Who?
~ Valerie Cullen.
~ Oh.
Him, I suppose.
There's a lot of it, the
Tambling inheritance.
Who?
Sir Edward Tambling, her father.
Made a lot of money making shoes.
Gave a lot of it to the
Conservative Party, naturally.
Knighted in 1958,
died in 1959.
Left half-a-million quid to
each of his three daughters.
Well, that's a motive for murder,
guv. We've got a suicide note.
I know. And I can't explain that.
Is there something getting you down?
You know what's getting me down.
~ John, stay out of it.
~ No, I can't stay out of it.
Let them sort their marriage.
He hasn't even told her
that he's going to London.
Do you know that? He
hasn't even told her!
She's blind to him.
She thinks, right, that the reason
that he's home every night
is because he wants to be with
the kids all of a sudden.
That's none of your business.
~ I'm going home.
~ No, come on. Don't be like that.
Here, have another one.
~ You all right?
~ Yeah.
~ It's all right, I can manage.
~ I've got it.
I don't need help!
Right.
How much do Safety Board
officers pull in these days?
I don't think this came
out of his wages, do you?
Rattle his cage for
me, John, will you?
Aye, all right.
Hiya!
Hey! Have you ever heard
of the law of trespass?!
Pfft! What?
Well, have you?
Trespass? Yeah.
Yeah, it's an offence, isn't it?
Involving unjustifiable interference.
Is that what you mean?
Miss Zweig, we didn't
meet properly last time.
I'm Detective Sergeant Bacchus,
soon to be Inspector.
This is my governor, Detective
Chief Inspector Gently.
Yes, I remember. Inspector.
Well, Andrew, I can see
you're busy, so I'll...
No please, Miss Zweig, stay.
I can't offer you any tea, I'm
afraid. I have no help today.
Doesn't matter. We won't
be here very long.
Help? Did they not teach you to
boil a kettle in Blackpool, eh?
Did you meet the other
Dr Cullen, Miss Zweig?
Er... no.
Ah. I'd show you a picture, but
there doesn't seem to be any.
There's one in the drawing
room, if you need it.
No, I'm all right, thanks.
And I don't need a photograph
to remind me of Valerie.
~ There's a big one of you in Easterhope.
~ I don't rememb...
I thought you said you'd
never been there.
So, how come your prints
are all over the place?
Yes, I made a mistake when
I said that. I forgot.
~ I-I've been there once.
~ When?
Three nights ago.
She rang me, she sounded
very depressed.
So I drove over there to
try and calm her down.
Did she seem suicidal?
Well, was suicide mentioned?
I can't remember.
Oh. I see.
So, then you just forgot
about that visit altogether?
Do you know of a factory in
Easterhope called Dennigs?
Yes, I do.
Did you ever visit there
as part of your duties
~ for the Factories Safety Board?
~ Several times.
~ Why?
~ Part of my job is to check
on the health of the workforce.
~ On behalf of the owners?
~ No, no, for the Safety Board.
~ I'm totally independent of the owners.
~ Oh.
But it's closed now, anyway.
It closed some time ago.
When was that?
Four or five years ago.
It closed on December 20, 1965.
Three and a half years ago.
You're very well
informed, Miss Zweig.
Inspector, you are a
very intelligent man,
unlike your sergeant,
who only thinks he is,
and I think you already
asked yourself,
"She is Swiss, Dennigs is Swiss,
"Oh, my golly, is
there a connection?"
Is there?
I'm on the board of Dennigs'
parent company, Silvexpo.
We're a Geneva-based multinational
that deals in synthetic fibres.
I see.
And you consider yourself
to be completely independent
~ of the owners of Dennigs Linings?
~ Totally.
And you're a chemist, Miss Zweig.
Oh, yes, but I haven't been
in a laboratory for years.
I'm Head of Business
Affairs these days.
I now dream of extended lunches,
instead of extruded plastics.
~ Is that how you met?
~ It's how we met again.
We first met at Badminton Horse
Trials. We have a shared passion.
And how long have you been having
an affair with Dr Cullen, Anna?
Ah, you see, clever.
~ And when did you stop beating your wife?
~ Hm.
So, then, Dr Cullen,
why did your wife
go to live in Easterhope,
of all places?
I've really no idea.
Just a strange coincidence, was it?
All right, well...
Just one more question
and then I'll leave you to
your, er... shared passion.
What were these linings
in Easterhope made of?
Asbestos.
White asbestos.
Hm.
Till now, the asbestos industry has
been regulated by a statute of 1931
which forbade asbestos dust
from escaping into the air.
So the workers had to have
proper overalls and masks
and the place had to had
to be properly vent...
(Bloody hellfire!)
Are you all right?
Yeah, sorry. Carry on.
Right. So, well, the act stated that
the place had to be kept clear of...
Ow! Massive spelk. Look at that.
It's like a bloody telegraph pole.
Well, have you not got any tweezers?
Yeah, they're in me handbag
for when I do me eyebrows(!)
~ Right, shall I just come
back later, when...?
~ No, no. Just ignore him.
~ Huh!
~ So, these new regulations
that are coming in next year
will change the rules for
places like Dennigs, yes?
Well, no. No, that's the point.
The new regulations are for factories
that actually use asbestos.
The 1931 regulations
are for factories that
actually made asbestos.
Bloody hellfire! I can't get it.
Oh, for God's sake, man!
Where is it? Hm?
Ready? One, two, three.
Hey, look at that. She got it!
So, Owen Linings, later Dennigs,
always did manufacture the stuff,
rather than just use it,
so they've always been covered
by the regulations.
They just chose to ignore them.
So the law was clear.
There should have
been strict controls
over the amount of asbestos
in the air, and there wasn't.
~ Yes.
~ And men like Norman are dying.
So, what's the Factory
Safety Board been doing?
Well, exactly. Let's find out.
Guv? I think Rachel should be along.
Yeah, yeah. Good idea.
Go on, then. Won't kill you.
Thanks.
~ Hello.
~ Hello.
We'd like to speak to Mr
and Mrs Carlin, please.
Mr Carlin's very poorly, I'm afraid,
and Mrs Carlin's gone out.
She has a night out once a week.
It is important.
She always writes it
down, where she's going.
~ Does she do this every week, does she?
~ Aye.
And every few months, she goes
away altogether for a proper rest.
~ The company sends a car for her.
~ Company?
Silvexpo, they're called.
They pay for me, as well.
Anyway, you'll find her there today.
She loves her housey, does Bridgie.
~ Thanks a lot.
~ Thank you.
~ 'Bye.
Seven and four, 74.
~ Two fat ladies, 88.
~ House!
House called.
It's a new card and a new game.
Eyes down for your first
number. And it is...
on its own, number six.
Four and seven, 47.
Five and three, 53.
I thought for a minute you'd
come to tell us he was dead.
A bit of us will be glad.
You must think I've
got a heart of stone.
No, Bridgie.
I had three year of it when
Esther got her cancer.
Now I've had two and
a half year with Norman.
What kind of cancer did your
daughter have, Bridget?
It was called, um...
It's a long word. Um...
I have to say it in
bits, like a bairn.
Meso-thelioma.
It's a death you wouldn't
put on your worst enemy.
Bridget, how come Silvexpo gave
you days out and holidays?
Well, they come offering money,
but I couldn't take the
money, it felt wrong.
They said, "We want to help you."
What'd she call it? It was in Latin.
~ Ex gratia payment?
~ Yeah.
And she saw there was nothing
they could do for Norman,
but she could see I was tired out,
so she suggested holidays
now and then.
Who's the she?
Foreign lass. Um...
~ Anna Zweig?
~ (Aye.)
Did she ask you to
sign something first?
Saying that you would never claim
against them for Norman's emphysema?
No. No, not that.
Because the Factory Board doctor
had already had a look at Norman
and says the emphysema's got
nothing to do with the dust.
And then he comes back with
a letter for me to read
saying Norman had smoked
tabs for 30 year,
which was the truth, and that's
what's knackered his lungs.
And you accepted that?
He's a doctor. He's supposed to know.
He's, like, more high
up than your own doctor.
Very well spoken. Lovely-looking man.
~ Dr Cullen?
~ Aye, that's him.
Was it him that offered the money,
the, er... ex gratia payment?
No, no, that come after
from the Swiss lass.
~ She offered money if we signed about Esther.
~ Esther?
What did you have to
sign about Esther for?
Well, it was to say she'd
never worked in Dennigs
and I kept me house clean
and cleaned me windows
and always washed Norman's overalls,
and all that malarkey.
Course, I never knew then
what Valerie told us later.
You can only get Esther's cancer
off asbestos. No other way.
Esther died when she was 15.
She couldn't possibly
have worked for Dennigs.
No, no, no. She, er...
she played there.
She played in the factory?
A lot of bairns did.
She lived all her life
over the road from it.
It was in the air, wasn't it, Rachel?
Er...
They used to just dump piles
of the stuff all over the place.
Me and Esther, we used to...
play this game called Snow White.
And whenever we came across
a pile of the stuff...
.. we used to rub it
into each other's faces.
You know, to make us white.
She was, though...
.. the fairest of them all. Eee!
The lads were mad for her.
She was so bonny!
But she got the cancer
and you didn't, Rachel.
~ I'm sorry, pet.
~ It's all right, Bridgie.
Did Valerie say how she knew
this about asbestos, Bridget?
She never said.
But she was positive, she said.
When did she first tell you this?
Just a couple of weeks ago.
She wanted to have a meeting
for the whole town.
She called it and then
she cancelled it again.
When was this?
Two days before she died.
She said Dr Cullen would be there.
She probably shouldn't
be on this now, guv.
I'm not going to take her
off it, not unless she asks.
Do you think she will?
Huh! Not a chance.
What made Valerie Cullen so sure
of the link between asbestos
and mesothelioma?
Worked it out from the questions
she was asking in Easterhope?
Maybe. She wasn't taking
any tissue samples, so...
Do you think that's why
she called the meeting?
To let people know
what she'd found out?
Why would she want Cullen there?
All he'd say is, "You
shouldn't smoke tabs."
She calls a meeting.
Cullen says that he went to see
her because she was distressed.
She cancels the meeting, again.
36 hours later, she's dead.
I don't believe him when he says
that he went there to calm her down.
What was he looking
for in her surgery?
And why was her house searched?
Do you need me any more today, guv?
No. But thank you.
You did very well today, Rachel.
Thank you.
I'll, um... I'll see
you tomorrow, then.
If you'd like me help on this case,
I'd... Well, I'd like to give it.
Thank you.
Well, I think I might
push off home meself.
She hasn't gone home, John.
She's headed straight
for the library.
~ Why?
~ Because it's what I would've
done if I was her.
I would want to find out
everything there was to know
about mesothelioma.
Wouldn't you?
See you tomorrow.
About time.
Come on.
Hey! Whoa, whoa!
Shit!
The moon's still a virgin.
Do you want to see it, Mr?
Yeah.
Malcolm, where's your manners?
There's a guest.
Hello.
Late night, John?
Guv, you've got me up and working
at six o'clock in the morning,
I'm allowed to yawn.
Onto that and over there?
Yeah, not bad.
Whatever it is, it isn't here,
or it was and they found it.
I met a family here last night, John.
Another kid with mesothelioma.
Do you know, Silvexpo offered them
500 quid to waive all
rights to complain?
They're getting away
with murder here, John.
Guv, why don't we bring them
in and shout at them for a bit?
She's as hard as nails but he's not.
~ He's not that clever either.
~ Doesn't have to be.
We'll have him in for questioning,
he'll bring a lawyer...
Well, then, we'll just have
to be cleverer than them.
Trust me, guv, I'm an Inspector.
Not yet you're not.
Silvexpo has no
responsibility for Dennigs!
Look, no parent company has any
responsibility for the actions
of the firms it takes over.
~ Huh!
~ Look, I'm sorry you don't
like that but that is the law.
Andrew, please wait for the
lawyers. Where are they?
And in any event, Dennigs itself was
not responsible for these illnesses.
You can't be responsible legally
for that which you are unaware of.
Again, that is the law,
as I keep telling you!
When did you start dishing
out free legal advice,
instead of syringing people's ears?
You sound like somebody who
works for Silvexpo rather than
somebody who's paid to look after
the health of the workers.
What would your wife think
about that, I wonder?
Please say no more, Andrew.
Where are our lawyers?
We asked for our lawyers
to be here, where are they?
Somebody told them that
we were in Newcastle...
so I think they're on the train now.
Yes, an administrative error,
they'll be here any minute.
You brought us here
under false pretences.
You said it was to investigate
the death of Valerie but all you
talk about is Silvexpo.
There is no connection. Why
are we here all these hours?
Valerie Cullen had something
that you needed.
Now, I think that she
believed that Silvexpo
and Dennigs knew a lot more about
the deadly effects of asbestos.
She called a meeting, you were
expected to attend, Dr Cullen.
She told people that you had more
to say about that - what was it?
My wife's state of mind was confused.
I had nothing new to say. I know
nothing about any meeting.
Then why did she kill herself
the following night?
Why? What passed between you
when you went to her house?
I told you, I simply
went to calm her down.
~ And was she calm when you left?
~ Perfectly.
Did she have a bruise on her face?
Not that I recall.
I think you're both liars.
And that Miss Zweig is why you've
been here "all these hours".
Hey, hey!
John...it's all right.
I represent Silvexpo
and its employees.
Miss Zweig and Dr Cullen
are leaving with us now or
you'll be facing a charge
of false imprisonment.
Surely Dr Cullen isn't
an employee of Silvexpo?
No.
I represent Dr Cullen as a private
individual in this matter...
Of course you do.
.. he comes with us too.
I don't know how you do
things north of Watford
but you're about to be reminded
that the writ of English law runs
all the way to Hadrian's
Wall and beyond.
Miss Zweig.
Doctor.
He was posh, wasn't he?
Yeah, posher than the Queen.
Posh enough to lose
us our jobs, John.
Ah well, I wasn't cut
out to be Inspector.
I've come up against corporate
crime before, John, in London.
It's like taking on the government
- you probably lose.
In fact, you do lose.
These are the worst bastards you'll
ever come across in your life!
So what does that mean?
Well for me, it means
it's worth the risk.
I can go today on two
thirds of my salary.
But for you it means...
No...
no, I want to find out who
is responsible for giving
Esther Carlin a cancer that
gave her a vile death.
And I want to find out why
Valerie Cullen killed herself.
If we can't ask those questions,
then what's the bloody point
in being a policeman?
It's a pleasure to
serve with you, John.
~ Guv.
~ What?
You're not going anywhere,
are you, guv?
Tomorrow or any other day?
Me? I'm not going anywhere.
I wouldn't bank on that,
after today's antics.
This woman, Valerie Cullen, are
you satisfied it was suicide?
No, I'm not.
I think it's possible that she was
murdered to cover up the fact that
an entire community was poisoned by
fat cat businessmen who think that
their workers and their workers'
children are disposable items
to be entered into the column marked
"Dead Loss" and I'm not having it!
~ Can you prove any of that?
~ No.
~ Case closed.
I will need to speak
to Andrew Cullen again.
He's hiding something
that he can't live with.
You'll never get him in a room again
without ten lawyers round him.
And can I just make one
more point, George?
Those lawyers are cleverer than me,
they're miles cleverer than him
and they might even be cleverer
than you. Case closed!
The Coroner's ready to
release the woman's body.
They want her buried...
and frankly, so do I.
Out of the depths I have
cried to thee, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice.
Let thy ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication.
If thou, O Lord, would
mark iniquities.
Lord, who shall endure it?
Ah, well, at least
he turned up... just.
~ Up all night packing, I expect.
~ What's that?
He's been made senior medical
officer for Silvexpo.
He's moving to Switzerland.
Struth!
For with the Lord there is mercy
and with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
and let perpetual light shine upon
them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Is that it? Does the truth get
buried down there with her?
We've missed something here,
John. I'm going to start again.
Let's start with Valerie's office.
Love, love, love!
Don't you think this
is a bit pointless?
I agree with you but nobody's told
me to stop cleaning her room.
Come back later, go
on. You're all right.
It's not as pointless
as this, mind...
If you wanted to hide something
from your husband,
~ where would you put it?
~ Haven't got a husband.
Well, think like a woman, then.
Guv, I haven't had time to have
a cup of tea this morning,
let alone have a sex
change operation.
~ Under his nose... John!
~ What?
~ Under his nose.
February 1962, signed by G Inler,
Chief Medical Officer, Northern
Region, Factory Safety Board.
Subject "Asbestos and Mesothelioma".
1962, they knew it
was killing people,
you just had to breathe in the air.
Kids like Esther.
Valerie confronted Cullen with
it and he told his friend Anna.
~ Nice.
~ I thought they were all supposed
to be safety checks?
The funeral's jiggered him.
We won't stay long,
Bridget, I promise.
Norman, Norman, you've got company.
How, George, what fettle?
Canny fettle, Norman, no bother.
Listen to him, we'll get you talking
Pitmatic before were finished.
Are you all right, bonny lad?
Ah, yeah, fit as a
lop there, Mr Carlin.
Norman, we wanted to talk to you
about the Factories Safety Board.
~ Those sods?
~ What happened when there was an inspection?
They were surprise
visits, weren't they?
The only surprise was they
bothered to come at all.
No, they were never a surprise.
The machines were turned off
two hours before they come.
We cleaned the place.
The inspector comes in, has a look,
puts his meter in the middle
of the floor to measure
the dust in the air.
Then he's took off to Durham
for a slap-up dinner while I put
a big polythene bag over his meter.
~ You did?
~ George, it was my job...
.. and we didn't know
what was in the air.
All we knew was bloody health
and safety... bloody nuisances!
If his meter said "shut the line
down," they'd shut the line down...
and we'd get no bonus that week
because we won't hit our targets.
The bonus is half your pay packet.
Then what?
Ten minutes before he gets
back we have another sweep up
and I take the bag off his meter.
In he comes, drunk as a monkey,
"Oh, everything's hunky dory here,
"it's a pass, see you next time."
And off he goes home with his
little kickback in his pocket.
And we get on with it,
breathing in the air.
You think they knew it caused
Esther's cancer, George?
Yes, they knew three or four
years before it was closed down.
They were told and they ignored it.
That's the time Esther died.
But, George, Esther's the only one
I know of that got that cancer.
Was it not just bad luck?
No, it wasn't bad luck, Bridget...
and she wasn't the only one either.
It can take 50 years
for it to reveal itself.
And I know of at least one other
and there will be more
as the years go by.
And that is what Silvexpo
is so keen to keep a lid on.
George, tell us, what's the working
man worth to these people?
They only need us when there's
a war on - you know that, George.
It's the same old racket
everywhere you look.
That's what the lass Valerie
found out in the end.
She was a lovely lass,
but she was naive and that's what's
put her in the ground today...
.. naivety!
You can not beat these
people, man, George.
I can try, Norman.
George, don't let them
put you in the ground.
Thank you very much.
Mr Inler?
Mr Inler... I'm DCI Gently,
this is DS Bacchus.
It's about a letter that you wrote
to the owners of Dennigs Linings,
seven years ago.
I've nothing to say.
We've got the letter, Mr Inler,
so there's no use denying it.
Ernie, would you get
the drinks in, please?
Thank you.
I'm not denying it, though, am I?
It's just not my problem any
more - I told Valerie that.
She's passed this to you, did she?
Listen, it is your problem
if you're a bloke lying on your back
coughing your guts up every night.
And it's your problem if you've
already lost a daughter
to mesothelioma.
You let these people down, Mr Inler.
Gentlemen, writing that
letter cost me my career,
a career in protecting
the safety of others.
A career I loved, of
which I was proud.
Now, I would just like
to hang onto my pension,
if it's all the same to you?
Your letter refers to "copious
data" supporting your allegations.
What happened to that data
after you were sacked?
I left it with the Board, of course.
What did they do with it?
Passed it over to the
Swiss, I imagine,
because nothing has
ever been made public.
Did you keep a copy?
Did you keep a copy?
Until my severance and pension
arrangements were agreed, yes.
Do I look like a complete fool?
Then what?
And then I signed a confidentiality
agreement with Silvexpo and then
I burned the files in my garden.
Valerie Cullen came to you
asking for help, didn't she?
Yes, I gave her a copy
of my letter to Silvexpo.
~ Then, no doubt, you were
visited by Silvexpo's lawyers.
~ Yes.
Did they threaten you?
Oh, yes... but I can
stick up for myself.
Valerie Cullen couldn't, I'm
afraid. She killed herself.
I warned her. I told her the
persecution would never stop.
~ Persecution?
~ You didn't know?
They were trying to
have her struck off,
"unfit to practise medicine"
and she had nobody in her corner.
~ Oh...
~ Would you like one?
~ No.
Come on, if you're going to join CID.
~ Cheers.
~ Cheers.
~ Oh, I better not. I'll
get the whirling pits.
~ Eh?
You know, when you feel like you're
falling backwards through the floor
and the ceiling spins round.
Yeah, I may be about to experience
the career equivalent, actually.
I've got Andrew Cullen and half a
dozen fancy lawyers, most of them
Swiss, coming to town tomorrow -
at my own insistence and against all
sensible advice and I haven't got
anything new to say to any of them.
Why are you doing it?
Because... why am I
a policeman, Rachel?
~ Can you win?
~ Probably not.
Unless I can get Andrew
Cullen to crack,
they'll wipe the floor with me.
I haven't got the proof I need.
This, to my mind, is
evidence of malpractice
but it doesn't actually
prove anything.
Geoffrey Inler says he burned
the proof seven years ago.
Do you believe him?
No, I don't.
It's his pension protection plan...
but if he handed it over to
us, Silvexpo would sue him
to death in a Swiss court.
What did you decide, Rachel?
You don't miss much, Sir.
There is a way of finding out
if you've got it, a lung biopsy.
There's no cure for it, anyway,
so what's the point in knowing?
Are you afraid?
Petrified.
I'm not sure whether I can
live with the uncertainty.
Something inside me that,
one day, might just kill me.
You'll find a way, believe me.
MUSIC: "For What It's Worth"
by Buffalo Springfield
♪ There's something happening here
♪ What it is ain't exactly clear
♪ There's a man with a gun over there
♪ Telling me I've got to beware
♪ I think it's time we stop,
children, what's that sound?
♪ Everybody look what's going down
♪ There's battle lines being drawn
♪ Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
♪ Young people speaking
their mind... ♪
You all right?
You sure about this?
Yeah, positive.
♪ I think it's time we stop
♪ Hey, what's that sound
♪ Everybody look what's going down. ♪
Now then, Dr Cullen,
your wife injected herself with
a lethal dose of barbiturates
on the evening of July the 18th.
Now, I'm trying to find out what
part in her suicide might have
been played by yourself
and by Silvexpo Holdings.
Sir, we need to firmly
establish that...
Excuse me, excuse me.
Now, the Assistant Chief Constable
is here to represent
the constabulary, he's not
a judge, this is not a trial,
it's an interview and
I'm conducting it.
Your wife called a public meeting
in Easterhope to discuss
the source of various illnesses.
Some of the people who said they
intended to go were told that
you were expected to attend, in
your capacity as Medical Officer
for the Factory Safety Board.
No, I've already told you,
I know nothing about that.
Why would your wife lie to them?
She told them that you had something
"new" to say about Silvexpo.
I'm sorry, am I not supposed
to say the word "Silvexpo"?
Silvexpo are extremely litigious
when it comes to protecting
its reputation.
Neither your job nor your
rank offers you any special
protection at all from
the laws of libel.
Have you ever heard the
name Geoffrey Inler?
~ No.
~ No?
Then you won't have seen the
letter that he wrote to the
board of Silvexpo?
In this letter, dated the 11th
of February 1962, Geoffrey Inler,
in his capacity as the Chief
Regional Medical Officer
for the Factory Safety Board,
outlines his argument
for a causal link between
asbestos and mesothelioma.
~ May we have a minute to study this?
~ Please.
It seems Mr Inler lost his job
because of these unfounded allegations.
He never produced any data
to back up his claims.
~ Do I look like a saint to you, Constable?
~ No.
I was expecting to hate you but you
look like a decent human being.
Decent human beings get
trampled on in this world.
If they're lucky, some of
them die horrible deaths.
In her final letter to Dr
Plant, your wife begged him
to think well of you because you
were, quote, "deep down a good man".
~ What did she mean?
~ No idea.
~ Well, why write that to Dr Plant?
~ No idea.
I mean, why would she write
that at all to Dr Plant?
Why not a letter to you?
I suppose, she had
nothing to say to me.
Well, she had plenty to say about
you, though, didn't she, hmm?
I mean, for instance, how you
were the light of her world.
She wanted Dr Plant to forgive you.
What had you done?
This is my friend, Esther Carlin
and her friend on their
first holy communion.
She can't be here to speak
for herself, cos she died,
when she was 15, of mesothelioma.
I'm here to speak for her.
See, you've got a new job, Doctor.
Highly salaried Chief Medical
Officer for a company whose
name I'm not allowed to mention
because they're highly litigious.
Is that what your wife wanted
you to be forgiven for?
Because you sided with your new
employer against the people
whose health you were
paid to protect?
And when you're in Switzerland
with your new job and your
new wife, breathing in the
Alpine air, you can forget
all about the people of Easterhope,
riddled with disease, and the
dead woman who just wanted to turn
you back into a decent human being.
The woman that you denounced as "being
unfit to practise medicine!"
Have you any idea how bloody tedious
it is to be married to a saint?
Andrew.
Can you guess where Esther lived?
Can you guess who her friend is?
That's me... we breathed
the air together.
Did you hate your wife, Dr Cullen?
For being a better doctor than you,
for being a better human being?
For being rich?!
Or was it just that she still
believed in the things that
you used to believe in?
Like, erm, healing the sick...
helping the poor?
Will you help me?
~ Did you ever tell her that you hated her?
~ Yes.
Just before the night of the
proposed meeting, perhaps?
The night you went
to "calm her down".
The meeting that you had
no intention of going to.
You had to go, didn't you?
And it wasn't to help
your distressed wife.
You went because she told
you about the Inler letter.
You told Miss Zweig
and Miss Zweig told you to
go and get it at all costs!
This has absolutely...
If you don't like it, you
don't have to be here.
Where is it... where is it?!
Andrew...
.. you're... you're better
than those people.
You don't have to do what
they want you to do.
You don't need their
jobs in Switzerland.
Why, because I've got your money!?
I don't want your money,
I don't want to waste my life the
way that you've wasted yours...
.. and I don't want you!
I know that, Andrew.
I accepted that a while ago.
I just want you to remember
who you used to be.
There's always hope.
Hope, you stupid woman?!
You'll be dead in two years!
What have you got to
live for? Nothing!
What are you doing, waiting
for your wheelchair to arrive?
She was wrong about me...
Inspector Gently.
From start to finish.
I'm not a good man, never was.
Not deep down, nor anywhere else.
But not being a good man isn't
a crime, as far as I'm aware,
so have you finished with me?
Was there anything more?
Yes, one moment.
This is Malcolm, from Easterhope.
We watched the moon landing
together, didn't we, Malcolm?
Malcolm has mesothelioma, which,
as you well know, you can only
get from inhaling asbestos, which is
what he did every day of his life
until Dennigs Linings closed down.
I can't prove this, of course,
but I just wanted you
to see what you've done.
Well, may we go, Inspector?
Yes.
My name is Geoffrey Inler. I
have some information for you.
Ooh!
Have I got time for a shower?
All the time in the world, guv.
I've been asked to see the ACC
this afternoon. To discuss you.
Me?! What now? I haven't
done anything.
You must've done something, John.
They're making you up to Inspector.
Eh? Give over!
Whoo!
Hm.
This is exactly how
you found her, is it?
~ You haven't moved anything?
~ No, sir.
Thanks.
How did you find her?
We stopped to look at the Hillman
parked at a funny angle.
Somebody's given her a whack.
Unless she took a tumble.
Car keys.
Let's take a look.
The locals could have done this,
you know. I was fast asleep.
She's topped herself. What are
we supposed to do about it?
Big bruise on the side
of her face, John.
Keys.
She's a GP.
Dr Valerie Cullen.
And the address of her surgery.
Is there a note?
Nah, there's nothing.
Let's leave it for Forensics.
Dr Cullen isn't here. I can
put you on Dr Plant's list.
I don't want Plant, I want her!
Well, you cannot have her because
we don't know where she is.
~ Excuse me?
~ Well, I'll come back when you find out.
~ Yes?
~ We'd like to talk to somebody
about Dr Cullen, please.
Give me strength!
~ Her surgery's cancelled.
We don't know where she is.
~ We do.
What a terrible waste.
You don't seem that
surprised, Dr Plant.
Valerie suffered terribly
from depression.
Awful mood swings.
We just couldn't find a way
to control it medically,
so she lived with it,
I thought, successfully.
But... Er...
I know she did find it oppressive
thinking about what the future held.
I'm sorry?
About 18 months ago, we found
that she had an extremely
nasty condition called
motor neurone disease.
Is that where you go all
jerky, like a spastic?
No, you're probably confusing
it with multiple sclerosis.
Right.
Was she married, Dr Plant?
Yes. Andrew Cullen.
~ Also a doctor.
~ Here?
No.
No, Andrew works for the
Factories Safety Board.
~ I'll get you his address.
~ Thank you.
I should perhaps tell
you that he and Valerie
have been living separately
for over a year now.
Nobody here knows that, except me.
Did she mention suicide?
No.
I mean, did she EVER mention
suicide to you, Dr Plant?
Yes, once.
After she was diagnosed?
No, it was after that.
When her marriage broke down.
Why did it break down?
I think you should ask
her husband that question.
You all right, guv?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm just thinking
about Valerie Cullen.
You can understand why she did it.
Husband might be relieved. Who knows?
I hate this part of the job, me.
Oh, yeah, me, too.
They're saying Dr Cullen's not here,
ring in and make an appointment.
It's the police, Vera.
She's looking in his diary.
Have there been any calls
for Dr Cullen today?
One from his wife's surgery
about two hours ago.
~ Did he take that call?
~ Aye, when I told him it wasn't his wife.
~ We always had to tell her he was out.
~ What's he like?
If he was made out of
chocolate, he'd eat himself.
Right. Found him for
you. Here's a surprise.
Somebody telephones you to say that
your suicidal wife didn't
turn up for work,
so you take yourself out for lunch.
I bet that ruined his spaghetti.
~ Dr Cullen?
~ What's happened?
I'm afraid it's your wife.
Very sorry to have to tell
you she's been found dead.
Yes. That's Valerie.
There's no toxicology report as yet.
But there are traces of barbiturate
in the syringe that
we found next to her.
Plus she's got this large bruise
on the side of her face
and two loose teeth on the same side.
Do you know anything about that?
No. I haven't spoken
to her for weeks.
Did she leave a note?
No. Not on her. You were separated?
She left me over a year ago.
Where was she living?
I-I never went.
I didn't ask you that.
She was renting a little
two up, two down.
Place called Easterhope.
What made her do it, do you think?
Sergeant, I have been expecting this
since the first day I met Valerie.
She just... couldn't cope with life.
Why did she leave you?
The marriage was a failure.
We'd let it drag on.
Dr Cullen, do you mind if I ask
who your lunch companion was?
Anna Zweig. She's a work colleague,
nothing more, nothing less.
Zweig.
Local lass, is she(?)
Swiss.
Can I please get out of here?
Would you just write down
your wife's address, please?
Guv, are you seriously looking
at something apart from suicide?
Well, two loose teeth in her mouth.
How do we know that somebody
didn't thump her unconscious
and then inject her afterwards?
~ A lot of doctors in this story, John.
~ Yeah, but...
Look, she had a failed
marriage, right.
She had this toffee-nosed
git for a husband,
she was depressed and she had
this motor-racing disease thing.
Being told that you're ill
doesn't necessarily mean
you want to kill yourself.
And she couldn't cope
with life to start with.
~ He says.
~ Yeah, all right, he said.
But who knows what was
going on inside her head?
Well, I'd like to know.
All right.
All right, I'll look into it.
~ You asked for me, sir?
~ Rachel.
I'm buying John a drink this evening
to celebrate his promotion
to Inspector.
~ Oh, congratulations, Sarge.
~ Thank you very much.
Inspector. Not before time.
So, join us.
~ Oh, well, I think I'm...
~ Oh, no. She wouldn't want to.
Of course she would.
So, Rachel, this means I'll
be needing a new sergeant.
She's not a sergeant.
Ever hear of sergeants' exams, John?
You're taking your exam?
Next month. Mr Gently suggested it.
We don't need a uniformed
sergeant in here.
No, but we will be needing
a detective sergeant
to replace you, won't we?
So, Rachel, how do you feel
about joining us in CID?
Guv, what is the point in
training them up, right?
They just go off and
have bairns. What's...?
That's why we don't have
any female detectives!
Well, then, maybe it's
time that we did, eh?
~ Anyway, think about it, Rachel.
~ No! Y-Y-Yes!
It's a yes. Sorry,
I-I-I'm saying yes.
Excellent! Well, it's a
double celebration, then.
~ 7:30, Town Arms.
~ Great(!)
Meanwhile, here's Valerie Cullen's
keys, here's her address.
See if you can find out
why she killed herself.
Guv, you asked me to do that.
Perfect. Well, you can do it
together, then, can't you?
Easterhope.
My friend used to live there
when we were growing up.
Really? You had friends?
Well, one less now, yeah, because
she died when we were 15.
Right. We're off. Come on.
(Thank you.)
Assistant Chief Constable's
office again, sir.
Bananas are being gone.
"Where's Gently? Why are they
still sitting here waiting?"
~ They?
~ They.
Inspector Nunn
acknowledges his mistakes
in his handling of rape complaints.
They weren't mistakes. He
deliberately ignored evidence.
Bear with me. And he'll be leaving
the constabulary forthwith.
What, sacked on full pension?
He should be prosecuted.
I've got a transfer.
I'm joining the Met.
Vice Squad.
So an officer with a proven
record of violence to women
goes to join the Vice Squad.
Which brings me to the
problem of your sergeant.
What problem's that, sir?
Any way you look at it, George,
there was a vendetta
against Inspector Nunn
conducted from your office.
But why would you look
at it that way, sir?
Are you saying it was
just a coincidence
that these charges were
brought against Walter
at a time when your sergeant
was trying to steal his wife?
They're completely separate issues.
Concerted action to discredit
a fellow officer, George.
I can't allow Bacchus'
promotion to go forward
under these circumstances.
John has been held back
far too long already.
He makes too many mistakes.
Look at his file.
~ I won't accept it.
~ A bloke shags me wife and
you make him Inspector?
Where would the justice
be in that, sir?
Don't you talk to me about justice!
You're a borderline
criminal yourself!
~ George!
~ I mean it, sir. This is
a resignation issue for me.
Bacchus' promotion goes forward.
Now, let's draw a line under this.
Dennigs has shut down.
I didn't know that.
It's quiet, isn't it?
~ Esther's dad used to work there.
~ Who?
~ Me friend.
~ Oh, yeah.
What'd she die of, again?
Cancer.
Gently? Tell Inspector Bacchus
if his shadow ever falls across
me again, I'll break his back.
I'm not your messenger boy.
There's one from Gemma.
She says goodbye.
She's coming with me to London.
I've forgiven her.
What we looking for?
Suicide note would be favourite.
Then I might be able to get
George to accept the obvious.
Wait. Rachel, wait, wait.
Now, this isn't her mess, is it?
The place has been turned over.
~ Shall we look for forced entry?
~ Yeah.
Where's the dog?
Oh!
~ Have you got a bag?
~ (Yeah.)
"Control to 724. Are you receiving?"
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. Excuse me.
John Bacchus' private line, John
Bacchus speaking personally.
"Forensics will be there
in about ten minutes.
"Stay in the area, let them
in, then come back to HQ."
Right.
It is mine.
It belongs to the
constabulary, actually.
~ It's in my car.
~ Were you an only child, by any chance?
Where are you going?
Oi!
Boo!
What are you doing in here?
Esther's dad used to come and do
the maintenance here on a weekend.
He used to let us come and play.
Bet it was a bit like Disneyland, wasn't
it, when you were a little lass?
Sort of.
Do you miss her?
Yeah.
Come on.
No sign of forced entry.
Somebody's got a key.
Or maybe she did it
herself, actually.
Searching for something in
a hurry before she left.
Any other prints in her car?
No, just hers.
There you go.
Lovely. Cheers!
~ Cheers.
~ Congratulations, Inspector Bacchus.
Thank you very much.
Inspector Bacchus.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Go on, then. What did
Davenport say about us?
I thought he hated me.
Nothing much. Sang your praises.
~ Like what?
~ Tell you later.
Do you want me to come
back in a bit, or...?
No. No, nothing.
Look, we're not here
to talk about work.
This is a celebration. Cheers!
~ Cheers.
~ Cheers!
Hm!
We should search her office,
though, at the surgery.
And question her husband, who
you both think is dodgy, yeah?
He's one of those blokes, isn't he?
Can't walk past a mirror without
having a little look.
Bit like you. Huh!
So, why are you so sure
that she killed herself?
Think about it, Rachel, will you?
She's got this motor
neurone disease, right.
This time next year, she'll be
sat in a wheelchair with breakfast
dribbling down her chin.
What would you do?
I know what I'd do.
Guv, can I just say something?
Get used to it, John.
~ What?
~ Working with Rachel.
Right. Fine.
John?
Shut the door.
Just so you know, Walter
Nunn got off scot-free.
No reprimand, no charge, no nothing.
He's transferring to London.
Dirty squad.
Yeah. It's the job you've
always wanted, I know.
But he got it and you didn't
and it's just something else that
you're going to have to get used to.
And there's something else.
Just in case you were
getting your hopes up...
.. the marriage is patched up and
she's going to London with him.
Goodnight. Goodnight, John.
Do you want to take a seat?
Hello again, Mr Gently.
Morning. We'd like access to
Dr Cullen's surgery, please.
~ First on the left at the end. It's open.
~ Thank you.
Dr Cullen's already in there.
Hey! Are you looking for summat?
Well, um... anything that might shed
a light on this awful business.
~ Such as?
~ This is our job, actually. Come on.
~ Did you find anything?
~ No.
~ Do you want me to search him, guv?
~ Are you calling me a liar, Sergeant?
Yeah, I am. I think you're also lying about
the Swiss maid you were having lunch with.
Just a colleague! Seemed
pretty close to me.
Close? What does that mean?
Well, it means she won't need
to yodel when she needs you.
Dr Cullen, we think someone paid
a visit to your wife's house
searching for something.
Any idea who that might've been?
~ Valerie's house?
~ Yeah.
Yeah. The one you said
you'd never been to.
How would I know?
~ Mr Gently, Dr Plant needs to speak urgently.
~ Thank you.
She writes from Easterhope.
Dated two nights ago at 9:00pm.
"Dear Michael." Um...
"You will know by now that I took
the coward's way out after all..."
'Others will ask, I know,
why not a bottle of pills,
'and not this ghastly syringe.
'But you more than anyone know how
my illness has already affected...'
".. My ability to swallow.
"So I've made my choice, even
though I hate and fear needles.
"Some doctor I made, eh?"
She was actually a wonderful, um...
She was. She... she had an
extraordinary rapport with patients.
Everybody loved her.
Take your time, Dr Plant.
"You know, too, that there
were two loves in my life."
'Medicine was one.
'Being a doctor was the
greatest privilege.
'Serving the poor was the thing
that rescued me from a life
'I might otherwise have spent in the
selfish pursuit of my own appetites.
'The second... great love...'
"... Was Andrew, of course.
"When we met, it was love
at first sight for me.
"A genuine coup de foudre.
"He was the light in my world.
"And though we had our differences,
"he remains, deep down,
a good man, Michael.
"Please believe that.
"For my sake, be a friend to him...
".. in the days, months
and years ahead.
"With gratitude for having known you
"and in admiration of you...
".. I... I take my leave.
"Your friend and colleague,
Valerie Cullen."
~ I think that letter really belongs to me.
~ No.
When I'm sure of the reasons
for your wife's suicide,
then I'll return this letter to
Dr Plant. It's addressed to him.
Until then, it's evidence
in an unexplained death
and belongs to the
coroner. Thank you.
Dr Cullen, I'm going
to have to trouble you
to come in and let us
take your fingerprints.
Aye, he really wanted to
burn this letter, didn't he?
What did she see in a bloke like him?
Sometimes people fall for the
wrong person, don't they?
Right, well, we've got a
suicide note. Are we done?
Why? Why did she end her life?
I don't know how many more
reasons you need, guv.
I honestly don't.
Heidi the Goat Girl.
Yeah, maybe.
Did you see that look
in Plant's eyes?
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
If looks could kill, Cullen would
be dog meat, wouldn't he?
Yeah, no, Plant hates him.
So do I, actually, and
I've only just met him.
I think he has that effect on people.
There's more to this.
Her letter was clearly asking Plant
to forgive Cullen for something.
I've got some tasty stuff on
Dr Andrew Cullen if you want it.
~ Such as?
~ Such as, sir, he's barely a doctor at all.
You wouldn't trust this bloke
to take your pulse without
breaking your wrist.
Anyway, he was born to dirt-poor
parents in Blackpool,
unlike his wife Valerie, who,
sorry was, an honourable.
~ A what?
~ Well, it means that she's... was...
the daughter of a baronet.
You know, a silver spoon to eat your
cornflakes with and all of that.
Private schools, but she
turns her back on it all
to train as a GP and come and
work in the industrial north.
Anyway, they met at medical
school, but where...
Where's all this coming from?
Mainly that gobby woman who answers
the phone at the Safety Board.
Anyway, he's worked in the same
practice as his wife three times.
And the same thing
happens every time.
He gets sacked and then she leaves
with him out of loyalty.
So eventually, he can't get
a job anywhere as a GP,
so he ends up as a factory doctor,
which is where you end up when
you're useless, apparently.
Right. Well, see, I don't know
where any of this gets us.
Deep down.
She said, "Deep down,
he's a good man."
Which implies that he's
done something bad.
And don't say, "Heidi the Goat
Girl," I'm sick of hearing it.
What's in Easterhope? Why Easterhope?
What is in Easterhope
for Valerie Cullen?
Well, it was nowhere
near her practice,
so her patients didn't live there.
Show me Easterhope.
Actually, Rachel knows the
place much better than I do.
I've got a mountain of
paperwork I need to do.
Right.
Let's go.
~ Mr Gently, can I just say something?
~ Get used to it.
~ What?
~ Working with John.
Gently.
"Andrew Cullen's prints, sir.
"Apparently, they're all over
the place in his wife's house."
Thank you.
The whole place depended
on the factory that closed.
Do you know them?
Yeah. It's, er...
~ It's me best friend's mum and dad.
~ Oh.
I haven't seen them for years.
Do you want to say hello?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've come to say goodbye, John.
Hello, Mrs Carlin.
Rachel?
Eeeee!
Hey, man! Rachel!
Hiya!
If you'd have give us half an hour,
I would've done the twist with you.
But I'm jiggered after me
game of tennis, you know.
Why've you gone in the police?
Could you not get a proper job?!
Eh, Rachel, he never changes.
This is Chief Inspector George.
He's her boss, so no showing her up.
Mr George.
Pleasure to meet you, Mr Carlin.
What I've got, George, is emphysemia.
Me lungs are shot.
Norman, man, it's not called
emphysemia. It's called emphysema.
Won't matter how they spell it when
they put us in the box, Bridgie.
We shouldn't tire him out.
Rachel, this has done more for
him than a million doctors.
He gets no company, pet.
Valerie's been good, though.
Who's that?
Oh, Valerie. He likes his Valerie.
She's not his proper doctor,
she just calls round.
Ah, like her, me. She's
got a... a lovely smile.
She brings that little dog she's
got sometimes, doesn't she, Bridgie?
Greedy little thing for biscuits.
Ah, George, she says that, but
she spoils him rotten every time.
That dog gets more to eat than I do!
Suffering hell!
That was not the plan.
Yeah, it was.
You've got your lacy
knickers on, Gem.
Detectives!
Next time, wear your grandma's
apple-catchers, then I'll know it's goodbye.
There isn't going to
be a next time, John.
I can't do this any more.
Walter's asked me for promises
and I've made them.
Well, you've made promises
before, Gem.
On the altar.
Hm. Thanks.
Anyway, you know, he's...
he's changed.
He's a different man.
Never works nights any more.
Yeah?
Says it's time for him to stay home
and spend time with me and the kids.
Any plans?
Plans?
No. Same.
Same life.
Except I can't, John.
I can't.
I can't live in the dark.
I want to live in the light.
Live with me in the light.
Why did Valerie call round, Norman?
Did she examine you?
Examine us? No.
Take any blood samples?
Why, no.
Million questions, mind.
"What've the doctors told
you about your chest?
"When did the coughing start?"
I says to her, "Valerie, it's not
the cough that carries you off,
"it's the coffin they
carry you off in!"
She laughed her head off,
didn't she, Bridgie?
You would think they were
courting, the way he goes on.
"Oh, Dr Tambling's coming this
afternoon. Give me hair a brush!"
It's her maiden name, Tambling.
Aye, she's married?!
Don't break me heart!
Well, I could've told
you that, Norman.
She had a wedding ring on, man!
Did she... Has she never spoken
to you about her husband, Norman?
Never mentioned him once.
You know why?
She didn't want to scare us off!
Married women! Man, George,
they're the worst!
Gem, you wouldn't...
just go, would you?
You wouldn't disappear
without saying nowt?
~ Go where?
~ I don't know. Say if Walter
got a job somewhere.
He's got a job.
Yeah, I know, but say if he got
another job somewhere else.
Move away, you mean?
Yeah.
No. Why you asking that?
Ah, it's no reason, just...
Gem, don't go, please!
I've got to, John.
This was a mistake.
And it's my fault.
I'm going that way,
you're going that way.
Don't look back.
What other questions
did she ask, Norman?
"How long have you lived here?
"How long did you work in Owens?"
Owen Linings. It changed its name
to Dennigs when it got took over.
Aye, I meant, Dennigs. Sorry.
Valerie can answer all
of this better than us
because she wrote everything down.
She only lives 200 yards away.
Bridgie? Norman?
I hate to tell you this, but, er...
Valerie killed herself
two nights ago.
Valerie did?
Why?!
Why do you think she was asking
all of those questions?
More to the point, what did
she do with the answers?
She wrote everything
down, Bridget said.
So, who might not want
those answers made public?
Who benefits by her death?
Who?
~ Valerie Cullen.
~ Oh.
Him, I suppose.
There's a lot of it, the
Tambling inheritance.
Who?
Sir Edward Tambling, her father.
Made a lot of money making shoes.
Gave a lot of it to the
Conservative Party, naturally.
Knighted in 1958,
died in 1959.
Left half-a-million quid to
each of his three daughters.
Well, that's a motive for murder,
guv. We've got a suicide note.
I know. And I can't explain that.
Is there something getting you down?
You know what's getting me down.
~ John, stay out of it.
~ No, I can't stay out of it.
Let them sort their marriage.
He hasn't even told her
that he's going to London.
Do you know that? He
hasn't even told her!
She's blind to him.
She thinks, right, that the reason
that he's home every night
is because he wants to be with
the kids all of a sudden.
That's none of your business.
~ I'm going home.
~ No, come on. Don't be like that.
Here, have another one.
~ You all right?
~ Yeah.
~ It's all right, I can manage.
~ I've got it.
I don't need help!
Right.
How much do Safety Board
officers pull in these days?
I don't think this came
out of his wages, do you?
Rattle his cage for
me, John, will you?
Aye, all right.
Hiya!
Hey! Have you ever heard
of the law of trespass?!
Pfft! What?
Well, have you?
Trespass? Yeah.
Yeah, it's an offence, isn't it?
Involving unjustifiable interference.
Is that what you mean?
Miss Zweig, we didn't
meet properly last time.
I'm Detective Sergeant Bacchus,
soon to be Inspector.
This is my governor, Detective
Chief Inspector Gently.
Yes, I remember. Inspector.
Well, Andrew, I can see
you're busy, so I'll...
No please, Miss Zweig, stay.
I can't offer you any tea, I'm
afraid. I have no help today.
Doesn't matter. We won't
be here very long.
Help? Did they not teach you to
boil a kettle in Blackpool, eh?
Did you meet the other
Dr Cullen, Miss Zweig?
Er... no.
Ah. I'd show you a picture, but
there doesn't seem to be any.
There's one in the drawing
room, if you need it.
No, I'm all right, thanks.
And I don't need a photograph
to remind me of Valerie.
~ There's a big one of you in Easterhope.
~ I don't rememb...
I thought you said you'd
never been there.
So, how come your prints
are all over the place?
Yes, I made a mistake when
I said that. I forgot.
~ I-I've been there once.
~ When?
Three nights ago.
She rang me, she sounded
very depressed.
So I drove over there to
try and calm her down.
Did she seem suicidal?
Well, was suicide mentioned?
I can't remember.
Oh. I see.
So, then you just forgot
about that visit altogether?
Do you know of a factory in
Easterhope called Dennigs?
Yes, I do.
Did you ever visit there
as part of your duties
~ for the Factories Safety Board?
~ Several times.
~ Why?
~ Part of my job is to check
on the health of the workforce.
~ On behalf of the owners?
~ No, no, for the Safety Board.
~ I'm totally independent of the owners.
~ Oh.
But it's closed now, anyway.
It closed some time ago.
When was that?
Four or five years ago.
It closed on December 20, 1965.
Three and a half years ago.
You're very well
informed, Miss Zweig.
Inspector, you are a
very intelligent man,
unlike your sergeant,
who only thinks he is,
and I think you already
asked yourself,
"She is Swiss, Dennigs is Swiss,
"Oh, my golly, is
there a connection?"
Is there?
I'm on the board of Dennigs'
parent company, Silvexpo.
We're a Geneva-based multinational
that deals in synthetic fibres.
I see.
And you consider yourself
to be completely independent
~ of the owners of Dennigs Linings?
~ Totally.
And you're a chemist, Miss Zweig.
Oh, yes, but I haven't been
in a laboratory for years.
I'm Head of Business
Affairs these days.
I now dream of extended lunches,
instead of extruded plastics.
~ Is that how you met?
~ It's how we met again.
We first met at Badminton Horse
Trials. We have a shared passion.
And how long have you been having
an affair with Dr Cullen, Anna?
Ah, you see, clever.
~ And when did you stop beating your wife?
~ Hm.
So, then, Dr Cullen,
why did your wife
go to live in Easterhope,
of all places?
I've really no idea.
Just a strange coincidence, was it?
All right, well...
Just one more question
and then I'll leave you to
your, er... shared passion.
What were these linings
in Easterhope made of?
Asbestos.
White asbestos.
Hm.
Till now, the asbestos industry has
been regulated by a statute of 1931
which forbade asbestos dust
from escaping into the air.
So the workers had to have
proper overalls and masks
and the place had to had
to be properly vent...
(Bloody hellfire!)
Are you all right?
Yeah, sorry. Carry on.
Right. So, well, the act stated that
the place had to be kept clear of...
Ow! Massive spelk. Look at that.
It's like a bloody telegraph pole.
Well, have you not got any tweezers?
Yeah, they're in me handbag
for when I do me eyebrows(!)
~ Right, shall I just come
back later, when...?
~ No, no. Just ignore him.
~ Huh!
~ So, these new regulations
that are coming in next year
will change the rules for
places like Dennigs, yes?
Well, no. No, that's the point.
The new regulations are for factories
that actually use asbestos.
The 1931 regulations
are for factories that
actually made asbestos.
Bloody hellfire! I can't get it.
Oh, for God's sake, man!
Where is it? Hm?
Ready? One, two, three.
Hey, look at that. She got it!
So, Owen Linings, later Dennigs,
always did manufacture the stuff,
rather than just use it,
so they've always been covered
by the regulations.
They just chose to ignore them.
So the law was clear.
There should have
been strict controls
over the amount of asbestos
in the air, and there wasn't.
~ Yes.
~ And men like Norman are dying.
So, what's the Factory
Safety Board been doing?
Well, exactly. Let's find out.
Guv? I think Rachel should be along.
Yeah, yeah. Good idea.
Go on, then. Won't kill you.
Thanks.
~ Hello.
~ Hello.
We'd like to speak to Mr
and Mrs Carlin, please.
Mr Carlin's very poorly, I'm afraid,
and Mrs Carlin's gone out.
She has a night out once a week.
It is important.
She always writes it
down, where she's going.
~ Does she do this every week, does she?
~ Aye.
And every few months, she goes
away altogether for a proper rest.
~ The company sends a car for her.
~ Company?
Silvexpo, they're called.
They pay for me, as well.
Anyway, you'll find her there today.
She loves her housey, does Bridgie.
~ Thanks a lot.
~ Thank you.
~ 'Bye.
Seven and four, 74.
~ Two fat ladies, 88.
~ House!
House called.
It's a new card and a new game.
Eyes down for your first
number. And it is...
on its own, number six.
Four and seven, 47.
Five and three, 53.
I thought for a minute you'd
come to tell us he was dead.
A bit of us will be glad.
You must think I've
got a heart of stone.
No, Bridgie.
I had three year of it when
Esther got her cancer.
Now I've had two and
a half year with Norman.
What kind of cancer did your
daughter have, Bridget?
It was called, um...
It's a long word. Um...
I have to say it in
bits, like a bairn.
Meso-thelioma.
It's a death you wouldn't
put on your worst enemy.
Bridget, how come Silvexpo gave
you days out and holidays?
Well, they come offering money,
but I couldn't take the
money, it felt wrong.
They said, "We want to help you."
What'd she call it? It was in Latin.
~ Ex gratia payment?
~ Yeah.
And she saw there was nothing
they could do for Norman,
but she could see I was tired out,
so she suggested holidays
now and then.
Who's the she?
Foreign lass. Um...
~ Anna Zweig?
~ (Aye.)
Did she ask you to
sign something first?
Saying that you would never claim
against them for Norman's emphysema?
No. No, not that.
Because the Factory Board doctor
had already had a look at Norman
and says the emphysema's got
nothing to do with the dust.
And then he comes back with
a letter for me to read
saying Norman had smoked
tabs for 30 year,
which was the truth, and that's
what's knackered his lungs.
And you accepted that?
He's a doctor. He's supposed to know.
He's, like, more high
up than your own doctor.
Very well spoken. Lovely-looking man.
~ Dr Cullen?
~ Aye, that's him.
Was it him that offered the money,
the, er... ex gratia payment?
No, no, that come after
from the Swiss lass.
~ She offered money if we signed about Esther.
~ Esther?
What did you have to
sign about Esther for?
Well, it was to say she'd
never worked in Dennigs
and I kept me house clean
and cleaned me windows
and always washed Norman's overalls,
and all that malarkey.
Course, I never knew then
what Valerie told us later.
You can only get Esther's cancer
off asbestos. No other way.
Esther died when she was 15.
She couldn't possibly
have worked for Dennigs.
No, no, no. She, er...
she played there.
She played in the factory?
A lot of bairns did.
She lived all her life
over the road from it.
It was in the air, wasn't it, Rachel?
Er...
They used to just dump piles
of the stuff all over the place.
Me and Esther, we used to...
play this game called Snow White.
And whenever we came across
a pile of the stuff...
.. we used to rub it
into each other's faces.
You know, to make us white.
She was, though...
.. the fairest of them all. Eee!
The lads were mad for her.
She was so bonny!
But she got the cancer
and you didn't, Rachel.
~ I'm sorry, pet.
~ It's all right, Bridgie.
Did Valerie say how she knew
this about asbestos, Bridget?
She never said.
But she was positive, she said.
When did she first tell you this?
Just a couple of weeks ago.
She wanted to have a meeting
for the whole town.
She called it and then
she cancelled it again.
When was this?
Two days before she died.
She said Dr Cullen would be there.
She probably shouldn't
be on this now, guv.
I'm not going to take her
off it, not unless she asks.
Do you think she will?
Huh! Not a chance.
What made Valerie Cullen so sure
of the link between asbestos
and mesothelioma?
Worked it out from the questions
she was asking in Easterhope?
Maybe. She wasn't taking
any tissue samples, so...
Do you think that's why
she called the meeting?
To let people know
what she'd found out?
Why would she want Cullen there?
All he'd say is, "You
shouldn't smoke tabs."
She calls a meeting.
Cullen says that he went to see
her because she was distressed.
She cancels the meeting, again.
36 hours later, she's dead.
I don't believe him when he says
that he went there to calm her down.
What was he looking
for in her surgery?
And why was her house searched?
Do you need me any more today, guv?
No. But thank you.
You did very well today, Rachel.
Thank you.
I'll, um... I'll see
you tomorrow, then.
If you'd like me help on this case,
I'd... Well, I'd like to give it.
Thank you.
Well, I think I might
push off home meself.
She hasn't gone home, John.
She's headed straight
for the library.
~ Why?
~ Because it's what I would've
done if I was her.
I would want to find out
everything there was to know
about mesothelioma.
Wouldn't you?
See you tomorrow.
About time.
Come on.
Hey! Whoa, whoa!
Shit!
The moon's still a virgin.
Do you want to see it, Mr?
Yeah.
Malcolm, where's your manners?
There's a guest.
Hello.
Late night, John?
Guv, you've got me up and working
at six o'clock in the morning,
I'm allowed to yawn.
Onto that and over there?
Yeah, not bad.
Whatever it is, it isn't here,
or it was and they found it.
I met a family here last night, John.
Another kid with mesothelioma.
Do you know, Silvexpo offered them
500 quid to waive all
rights to complain?
They're getting away
with murder here, John.
Guv, why don't we bring them
in and shout at them for a bit?
She's as hard as nails but he's not.
~ He's not that clever either.
~ Doesn't have to be.
We'll have him in for questioning,
he'll bring a lawyer...
Well, then, we'll just have
to be cleverer than them.
Trust me, guv, I'm an Inspector.
Not yet you're not.
Silvexpo has no
responsibility for Dennigs!
Look, no parent company has any
responsibility for the actions
of the firms it takes over.
~ Huh!
~ Look, I'm sorry you don't
like that but that is the law.
Andrew, please wait for the
lawyers. Where are they?
And in any event, Dennigs itself was
not responsible for these illnesses.
You can't be responsible legally
for that which you are unaware of.
Again, that is the law,
as I keep telling you!
When did you start dishing
out free legal advice,
instead of syringing people's ears?
You sound like somebody who
works for Silvexpo rather than
somebody who's paid to look after
the health of the workers.
What would your wife think
about that, I wonder?
Please say no more, Andrew.
Where are our lawyers?
We asked for our lawyers
to be here, where are they?
Somebody told them that
we were in Newcastle...
so I think they're on the train now.
Yes, an administrative error,
they'll be here any minute.
You brought us here
under false pretences.
You said it was to investigate
the death of Valerie but all you
talk about is Silvexpo.
There is no connection. Why
are we here all these hours?
Valerie Cullen had something
that you needed.
Now, I think that she
believed that Silvexpo
and Dennigs knew a lot more about
the deadly effects of asbestos.
She called a meeting, you were
expected to attend, Dr Cullen.
She told people that you had more
to say about that - what was it?
My wife's state of mind was confused.
I had nothing new to say. I know
nothing about any meeting.
Then why did she kill herself
the following night?
Why? What passed between you
when you went to her house?
I told you, I simply
went to calm her down.
~ And was she calm when you left?
~ Perfectly.
Did she have a bruise on her face?
Not that I recall.
I think you're both liars.
And that Miss Zweig is why you've
been here "all these hours".
Hey, hey!
John...it's all right.
I represent Silvexpo
and its employees.
Miss Zweig and Dr Cullen
are leaving with us now or
you'll be facing a charge
of false imprisonment.
Surely Dr Cullen isn't
an employee of Silvexpo?
No.
I represent Dr Cullen as a private
individual in this matter...
Of course you do.
.. he comes with us too.
I don't know how you do
things north of Watford
but you're about to be reminded
that the writ of English law runs
all the way to Hadrian's
Wall and beyond.
Miss Zweig.
Doctor.
He was posh, wasn't he?
Yeah, posher than the Queen.
Posh enough to lose
us our jobs, John.
Ah well, I wasn't cut
out to be Inspector.
I've come up against corporate
crime before, John, in London.
It's like taking on the government
- you probably lose.
In fact, you do lose.
These are the worst bastards you'll
ever come across in your life!
So what does that mean?
Well for me, it means
it's worth the risk.
I can go today on two
thirds of my salary.
But for you it means...
No...
no, I want to find out who
is responsible for giving
Esther Carlin a cancer that
gave her a vile death.
And I want to find out why
Valerie Cullen killed herself.
If we can't ask those questions,
then what's the bloody point
in being a policeman?
It's a pleasure to
serve with you, John.
~ Guv.
~ What?
You're not going anywhere,
are you, guv?
Tomorrow or any other day?
Me? I'm not going anywhere.
I wouldn't bank on that,
after today's antics.
This woman, Valerie Cullen, are
you satisfied it was suicide?
No, I'm not.
I think it's possible that she was
murdered to cover up the fact that
an entire community was poisoned by
fat cat businessmen who think that
their workers and their workers'
children are disposable items
to be entered into the column marked
"Dead Loss" and I'm not having it!
~ Can you prove any of that?
~ No.
~ Case closed.
I will need to speak
to Andrew Cullen again.
He's hiding something
that he can't live with.
You'll never get him in a room again
without ten lawyers round him.
And can I just make one
more point, George?
Those lawyers are cleverer than me,
they're miles cleverer than him
and they might even be cleverer
than you. Case closed!
The Coroner's ready to
release the woman's body.
They want her buried...
and frankly, so do I.
Out of the depths I have
cried to thee, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice.
Let thy ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication.
If thou, O Lord, would
mark iniquities.
Lord, who shall endure it?
Ah, well, at least
he turned up... just.
~ Up all night packing, I expect.
~ What's that?
He's been made senior medical
officer for Silvexpo.
He's moving to Switzerland.
Struth!
For with the Lord there is mercy
and with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
and let perpetual light shine upon
them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Is that it? Does the truth get
buried down there with her?
We've missed something here,
John. I'm going to start again.
Let's start with Valerie's office.
Love, love, love!
Don't you think this
is a bit pointless?
I agree with you but nobody's told
me to stop cleaning her room.
Come back later, go
on. You're all right.
It's not as pointless
as this, mind...
If you wanted to hide something
from your husband,
~ where would you put it?
~ Haven't got a husband.
Well, think like a woman, then.
Guv, I haven't had time to have
a cup of tea this morning,
let alone have a sex
change operation.
~ Under his nose... John!
~ What?
~ Under his nose.
February 1962, signed by G Inler,
Chief Medical Officer, Northern
Region, Factory Safety Board.
Subject "Asbestos and Mesothelioma".
1962, they knew it
was killing people,
you just had to breathe in the air.
Kids like Esther.
Valerie confronted Cullen with
it and he told his friend Anna.
~ Nice.
~ I thought they were all supposed
to be safety checks?
The funeral's jiggered him.
We won't stay long,
Bridget, I promise.
Norman, Norman, you've got company.
How, George, what fettle?
Canny fettle, Norman, no bother.
Listen to him, we'll get you talking
Pitmatic before were finished.
Are you all right, bonny lad?
Ah, yeah, fit as a
lop there, Mr Carlin.
Norman, we wanted to talk to you
about the Factories Safety Board.
~ Those sods?
~ What happened when there was an inspection?
They were surprise
visits, weren't they?
The only surprise was they
bothered to come at all.
No, they were never a surprise.
The machines were turned off
two hours before they come.
We cleaned the place.
The inspector comes in, has a look,
puts his meter in the middle
of the floor to measure
the dust in the air.
Then he's took off to Durham
for a slap-up dinner while I put
a big polythene bag over his meter.
~ You did?
~ George, it was my job...
.. and we didn't know
what was in the air.
All we knew was bloody health
and safety... bloody nuisances!
If his meter said "shut the line
down," they'd shut the line down...
and we'd get no bonus that week
because we won't hit our targets.
The bonus is half your pay packet.
Then what?
Ten minutes before he gets
back we have another sweep up
and I take the bag off his meter.
In he comes, drunk as a monkey,
"Oh, everything's hunky dory here,
"it's a pass, see you next time."
And off he goes home with his
little kickback in his pocket.
And we get on with it,
breathing in the air.
You think they knew it caused
Esther's cancer, George?
Yes, they knew three or four
years before it was closed down.
They were told and they ignored it.
That's the time Esther died.
But, George, Esther's the only one
I know of that got that cancer.
Was it not just bad luck?
No, it wasn't bad luck, Bridget...
and she wasn't the only one either.
It can take 50 years
for it to reveal itself.
And I know of at least one other
and there will be more
as the years go by.
And that is what Silvexpo
is so keen to keep a lid on.
George, tell us, what's the working
man worth to these people?
They only need us when there's
a war on - you know that, George.
It's the same old racket
everywhere you look.
That's what the lass Valerie
found out in the end.
She was a lovely lass,
but she was naive and that's what's
put her in the ground today...
.. naivety!
You can not beat these
people, man, George.
I can try, Norman.
George, don't let them
put you in the ground.
Thank you very much.
Mr Inler?
Mr Inler... I'm DCI Gently,
this is DS Bacchus.
It's about a letter that you wrote
to the owners of Dennigs Linings,
seven years ago.
I've nothing to say.
We've got the letter, Mr Inler,
so there's no use denying it.
Ernie, would you get
the drinks in, please?
Thank you.
I'm not denying it, though, am I?
It's just not my problem any
more - I told Valerie that.
She's passed this to you, did she?
Listen, it is your problem
if you're a bloke lying on your back
coughing your guts up every night.
And it's your problem if you've
already lost a daughter
to mesothelioma.
You let these people down, Mr Inler.
Gentlemen, writing that
letter cost me my career,
a career in protecting
the safety of others.
A career I loved, of
which I was proud.
Now, I would just like
to hang onto my pension,
if it's all the same to you?
Your letter refers to "copious
data" supporting your allegations.
What happened to that data
after you were sacked?
I left it with the Board, of course.
What did they do with it?
Passed it over to the
Swiss, I imagine,
because nothing has
ever been made public.
Did you keep a copy?
Did you keep a copy?
Until my severance and pension
arrangements were agreed, yes.
Do I look like a complete fool?
Then what?
And then I signed a confidentiality
agreement with Silvexpo and then
I burned the files in my garden.
Valerie Cullen came to you
asking for help, didn't she?
Yes, I gave her a copy
of my letter to Silvexpo.
~ Then, no doubt, you were
visited by Silvexpo's lawyers.
~ Yes.
Did they threaten you?
Oh, yes... but I can
stick up for myself.
Valerie Cullen couldn't, I'm
afraid. She killed herself.
I warned her. I told her the
persecution would never stop.
~ Persecution?
~ You didn't know?
They were trying to
have her struck off,
"unfit to practise medicine"
and she had nobody in her corner.
~ Oh...
~ Would you like one?
~ No.
Come on, if you're going to join CID.
~ Cheers.
~ Cheers.
~ Oh, I better not. I'll
get the whirling pits.
~ Eh?
You know, when you feel like you're
falling backwards through the floor
and the ceiling spins round.
Yeah, I may be about to experience
the career equivalent, actually.
I've got Andrew Cullen and half a
dozen fancy lawyers, most of them
Swiss, coming to town tomorrow -
at my own insistence and against all
sensible advice and I haven't got
anything new to say to any of them.
Why are you doing it?
Because... why am I
a policeman, Rachel?
~ Can you win?
~ Probably not.
Unless I can get Andrew
Cullen to crack,
they'll wipe the floor with me.
I haven't got the proof I need.
This, to my mind, is
evidence of malpractice
but it doesn't actually
prove anything.
Geoffrey Inler says he burned
the proof seven years ago.
Do you believe him?
No, I don't.
It's his pension protection plan...
but if he handed it over to
us, Silvexpo would sue him
to death in a Swiss court.
What did you decide, Rachel?
You don't miss much, Sir.
There is a way of finding out
if you've got it, a lung biopsy.
There's no cure for it, anyway,
so what's the point in knowing?
Are you afraid?
Petrified.
I'm not sure whether I can
live with the uncertainty.
Something inside me that,
one day, might just kill me.
You'll find a way, believe me.
MUSIC: "For What It's Worth"
by Buffalo Springfield
♪ There's something happening here
♪ What it is ain't exactly clear
♪ There's a man with a gun over there
♪ Telling me I've got to beware
♪ I think it's time we stop,
children, what's that sound?
♪ Everybody look what's going down
♪ There's battle lines being drawn
♪ Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
♪ Young people speaking
their mind... ♪
You all right?
You sure about this?
Yeah, positive.
♪ I think it's time we stop
♪ Hey, what's that sound
♪ Everybody look what's going down. ♪
Now then, Dr Cullen,
your wife injected herself with
a lethal dose of barbiturates
on the evening of July the 18th.
Now, I'm trying to find out what
part in her suicide might have
been played by yourself
and by Silvexpo Holdings.
Sir, we need to firmly
establish that...
Excuse me, excuse me.
Now, the Assistant Chief Constable
is here to represent
the constabulary, he's not
a judge, this is not a trial,
it's an interview and
I'm conducting it.
Your wife called a public meeting
in Easterhope to discuss
the source of various illnesses.
Some of the people who said they
intended to go were told that
you were expected to attend, in
your capacity as Medical Officer
for the Factory Safety Board.
No, I've already told you,
I know nothing about that.
Why would your wife lie to them?
She told them that you had something
"new" to say about Silvexpo.
I'm sorry, am I not supposed
to say the word "Silvexpo"?
Silvexpo are extremely litigious
when it comes to protecting
its reputation.
Neither your job nor your
rank offers you any special
protection at all from
the laws of libel.
Have you ever heard the
name Geoffrey Inler?
~ No.
~ No?
Then you won't have seen the
letter that he wrote to the
board of Silvexpo?
In this letter, dated the 11th
of February 1962, Geoffrey Inler,
in his capacity as the Chief
Regional Medical Officer
for the Factory Safety Board,
outlines his argument
for a causal link between
asbestos and mesothelioma.
~ May we have a minute to study this?
~ Please.
It seems Mr Inler lost his job
because of these unfounded allegations.
He never produced any data
to back up his claims.
~ Do I look like a saint to you, Constable?
~ No.
I was expecting to hate you but you
look like a decent human being.
Decent human beings get
trampled on in this world.
If they're lucky, some of
them die horrible deaths.
In her final letter to Dr
Plant, your wife begged him
to think well of you because you
were, quote, "deep down a good man".
~ What did she mean?
~ No idea.
~ Well, why write that to Dr Plant?
~ No idea.
I mean, why would she write
that at all to Dr Plant?
Why not a letter to you?
I suppose, she had
nothing to say to me.
Well, she had plenty to say about
you, though, didn't she, hmm?
I mean, for instance, how you
were the light of her world.
She wanted Dr Plant to forgive you.
What had you done?
This is my friend, Esther Carlin
and her friend on their
first holy communion.
She can't be here to speak
for herself, cos she died,
when she was 15, of mesothelioma.
I'm here to speak for her.
See, you've got a new job, Doctor.
Highly salaried Chief Medical
Officer for a company whose
name I'm not allowed to mention
because they're highly litigious.
Is that what your wife wanted
you to be forgiven for?
Because you sided with your new
employer against the people
whose health you were
paid to protect?
And when you're in Switzerland
with your new job and your
new wife, breathing in the
Alpine air, you can forget
all about the people of Easterhope,
riddled with disease, and the
dead woman who just wanted to turn
you back into a decent human being.
The woman that you denounced as "being
unfit to practise medicine!"
Have you any idea how bloody tedious
it is to be married to a saint?
Andrew.
Can you guess where Esther lived?
Can you guess who her friend is?
That's me... we breathed
the air together.
Did you hate your wife, Dr Cullen?
For being a better doctor than you,
for being a better human being?
For being rich?!
Or was it just that she still
believed in the things that
you used to believe in?
Like, erm, healing the sick...
helping the poor?
Will you help me?
~ Did you ever tell her that you hated her?
~ Yes.
Just before the night of the
proposed meeting, perhaps?
The night you went
to "calm her down".
The meeting that you had
no intention of going to.
You had to go, didn't you?
And it wasn't to help
your distressed wife.
You went because she told
you about the Inler letter.
You told Miss Zweig
and Miss Zweig told you to
go and get it at all costs!
This has absolutely...
If you don't like it, you
don't have to be here.
Where is it... where is it?!
Andrew...
.. you're... you're better
than those people.
You don't have to do what
they want you to do.
You don't need their
jobs in Switzerland.
Why, because I've got your money!?
I don't want your money,
I don't want to waste my life the
way that you've wasted yours...
.. and I don't want you!
I know that, Andrew.
I accepted that a while ago.
I just want you to remember
who you used to be.
There's always hope.
Hope, you stupid woman?!
You'll be dead in two years!
What have you got to
live for? Nothing!
What are you doing, waiting
for your wheelchair to arrive?
She was wrong about me...
Inspector Gently.
From start to finish.
I'm not a good man, never was.
Not deep down, nor anywhere else.
But not being a good man isn't
a crime, as far as I'm aware,
so have you finished with me?
Was there anything more?
Yes, one moment.
This is Malcolm, from Easterhope.
We watched the moon landing
together, didn't we, Malcolm?
Malcolm has mesothelioma, which,
as you well know, you can only
get from inhaling asbestos, which is
what he did every day of his life
until Dennigs Linings closed down.
I can't prove this, of course,
but I just wanted you
to see what you've done.
Well, may we go, Inspector?
Yes.
My name is Geoffrey Inler. I
have some information for you.