Play for Today (1970–1984): Season 14, Episode 8 - King - full transcript
[dramatic music]
-[seagulls cawing]
-[waves crashing]
[Mr King] And now, today, a pensioner,
the retirement presentation
ceremony in the depot canteen.
A full turnout of all of our colleagues
for the four of us retiring,
Donal, Bert and Mr Smythe,
who cause such anxiety
with his stomach disorders.
Mr Cunningham's speech, most
fitting for the occasion,
the place will not be the same without us,
his very words.
The man had held a collection,
for each of us, a six function
digital watch with alarm.
An odd present for me,
with Mr. Cunningham speaking so highly
of my exemplary punctuality record.
You'd have been so proud of me, Molly.
Mr Cunningham's tribute to me,
you could've been sitting
with the other wives
watching their husband's
retirement presentation.
I shook hands with the man from the GLC,
I wish, not on my own,
you'd have been so proud,
if you could have been
here, Molly, and our girls.
[Sister] You still here, Susan?
Sister.
I don't think there's much to
be achieved by your staying,
do you?
It can't be long now and
then it'll all be over.
Yes.
No matter how long one does this job,
no matter how professional we should be,
sometimes one patient.
She has had so much dignity,
I just want to be here when she dies.
You've done everything
possible to ease her.
We haven't done everything possible,
the time she had to wait for radiotherapy.
As nurses, we're nurses not politicians.
Last night, she called my name,
I was sitting here, holding her hand.
She said, "Where's Susan?"
I said, I'm here.
She said, "If you're here,
everything will be all right,
everything's going to be all right."
Susan, I think it would be
sensible if you just go now,
for a couple of hours,
come back later if you
really feel you must.
I've got to go anyway,
me dad retired today,
he's taking me out for a meal.
Then go.
[Mr King] The suit is new,
I bought it especially for
the retirement presentation
in the canteen at the station,
many of my colleagues were
in suits for the occasion.
It was so strange Molly, not
to see them in their uniforms
after 30 years of seeing them.
Their wives were with them,
there in their arms, oh Lord, Molly,
I wish you was there, holding my arm,
and being so damn proud
of what Mr Cunningham said
about my exemplary punctuality record.
Wish I'm not on my own now, tonight,
this celebration with our daughters.
I wish, tonight, I could ask you, Molly,
that what I'm going to
do, that it is right.
And I wish to Jesus that
you hadn't died, Molly,
and that you were here with me tonight
to tie my damn tie!
And I wish you were going
to come home with me,
home to Jamaica.
I'm here Dad.
[footsteps thudding]
Susie, my juicy choosy, Susie.
Hey, well you look, I mean, well.
Oh, what's this smell, Dad?
The smell, what's this?
Some of the girls at the office depot,
as retirement present,
they bought me this bottle of cologne,
d'ya like the smell?
I'll wash it off, don't you like it?
It's certainly a lot
of it, this a new suit?
I bought it for the do I've
been to this afternoon.
Look, I'm sorry.
And for the party tonight,
it's good to see you,
you're here.
Like the scarf.
She made it, Mrs Dwyer,
Mrs Dwyer next door,
when she heard I'm retiring
and going home, she knitted it,
well anyway, like a present.
I got you some flowers.
She always ask after you girls,
did you wave at her when you come in?
Because even now she's at
the window waiting to wave.
I saw her at the window.
She can't see too well,
she's almost blind.
Them things that cover the
eyes, what are they called?
Cataracts.
She has got them now.
She's a remarkable knitter, what a scarf.
Back home, they go crazy
over a scarf like this.
Dead right for Jamaica,
when the temperature drops below 90.
I worry about her being
in the house on her own,
who's going to keep an
eye on her when I've gone?
Still Wednesday?
[Mr King] On Monday,
they collect the trunk.
Right, right, so it's definitely definite,
I was hoping you might
have had second thoughts.
It's what I've always
intended and on Wednesday.
It's the uprooting and
retiring in the same week,
you shouldn't do it all at once.
It's decided!
What are you going to do about the house?
All in good time.
Come and give your daddy a big kiss
because tonight
we are going to have the damnedest
best night we've had out,
for years.
Where we going?
It's all booked, wait 'till
you see this restaurant,
the smell of the cooking
nearly drove me crazy
when I went to book the table.
We've got the most exclusive table,
behind it I saw the
shrubbery, very private.
What's it called?
It won't be a surprise if I tell you,
and that's not the only surprise
I got for you tonight, Susan.
What do you mean, Dad?
I'd be telling, it's a secret.
You'll find out though,
over the liqueurs and
cigars after the meal.
Don't have to smoke a cigar, do I?
I got enough, see?
Just about every other driver
bought me a cigar today.
I wish you were there, Susan,
you would've been so
proud of your old dad,
I was almost overcome
by the tributes paid me.
I couldn't change my shift, Dad.
There's only once in a lifetime
a father retires, Susan.
I'm here tonight, cheers then.
Cheers.
Nice, are these for me?
Mhm, I ought to put them in some water.
What are these called?
These are lily of the valley.
And these?
These are called Gypsophila.
Sometimes 'em are called baby's breath.
When your mother and me, when marrying me,
when we got married, just
before I come over here,
the flowers in her bouquet, these flowers.
I know, Dad.
They were called baby's breath.
The sun was shining when I left Jumali.
And when I stepped off that
vessel, here in England,
it was so cold, so freezing cold.
Wearing a suit a size too big,
and a hat that kept falling
over my eyes, [chuckles]
and a smart shoe that Uncle James lent me
mash up my foot bad, bad.
And I was so scared,
so damn scared, when I arrived
here in England on me own.
You've lost weight, you look skinny.
[Susan] Do I?
[Mr King] You're not eating properly.
I've been waiting for tonight.
Nothing the matter?
No.
'Cause I worry about you
when I don't see you,
the doctors behaving
themselves, not molesting you?
Dad.
I've heard stories about doctors
and what they get up to with nurses.
Don't believe all you hear,
I'm all right, Dad, honestly.
You would tell if me
anything was the matter?
Well, it's a bit upsetting,
the reason I couldn't get away.
One of my patients, really lovely woman,
became very fond of her, she's
dying, she might die tonight.
Well.
Same thing as Mum.
In times of distress, Susan,
remember what you learned in Bible class,
great comfort in times of sadness.
Remember the old Bible class,
when you and Linda were girls
in the prefab shed,
she had that corrugated iron,
eventually they knocked it down.
Miss Marsh, she used to play the hymns
on her honky tonk piano.
I used to get there
early to meet you girls,
so I could stand outside
and listen to the kiddies
singing the hymns,
I was always moved.
It looks a very nice, you
always had artistic flair,
you could've done anything.
Anything?
Oh, I had great ambition for you, Susan,
high hopes of you becoming
a personal secretary.
I know, no more for me.
More a kind of personal assistant,
kind of personal
secretary, to a great man,
you've got the right
temperament, you always did.
I once discussed it with Mr Cunningham,
you becoming his personal secretary,
you'd have an office of your own,
with your name on the door.
I always wanted to be an SRN.
But your temperament,
you could become a doctor, a
Harley Street surgeon, perhaps.
I'll be lucky to still
have a job as a nurse,
the way Thatcher's butchering the NHS.
Susan, that's the prime
minister you're talking about,
I will not have her name
besmirched under my own roof!
I must say I find it most
astonishing coming from a woman,
that you should talk that
way about another woman.
It just makes me angry.
And you make me angry
when you talk like that!
I don't want to be angry tonight.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I shall get more angry
if Linda doesn't hurry up and get here,
we should be leaving for
the restaurant by now.
Linda's always late.
Carry on the coffin,
the cart's running behind,
trying to catch up.
The amazement of it all to me,
is how she manages to hold down a job.
That florist she works for
must have the patience of Job.
Her idea of timekeeping
never used to be tolerated,
punctuality was taken for
granted, the kids at the station.
Nowadays, if they turn
up for work on time,
they expect a bonus payment.
It's shocking.
It's bloody shocking.
There's no excuse for it, I
was never late, never late!
I know, Dad,
you have mentioned the fact once or twice.
-Not even.
-That winter.
That winter when the buses
were on strike I still.
Set off on foot before dawn.
Before dawn, I walk in the
pitch dark to the station,
with the snow right up
to my knees, I still.
Was never late.
Mr Cunningham in his speech today,
he made a great point about
my 100% punctuality record.
He said although I was leaving today,
my exemplary punctuality record
remain an enduring inspiration,
or words to that effect.
It'll all be written up in their magazine.
I was photographed shaking
hands with the man from the GLC
after the presentation.
What did they present you with?
[Mr King] This.
Oh, it's very.
It lights up, it has six
functions and an alarm.
Nice, the engraving.
Mind you, a bit damn
peculiar to give a man
with a 100% punctuality record,
a watch with an alarm, don't you think?
It's the thought that counts, Dad.
Precisely.
[dog barking]
[doorbell rings]
[Susan] She's here, Dad.
[muffled exchange]
[gasps] Wow, Daddy, what a suit!
That is a zuit suit, Dad,
you look sensational,
you look like an Admiral of the fleet,
like the Duke of Edinburgh
dressed up as Darth Vader.
God, Daddy, you look so dressed
up, I feel under dressed.
Linda, you are late.
Daddy, what is this smell?
What lady bought you this raunchy cologne,
you horny wild man, you?
Linda, I said you are late.
Oh what a welcome.
Well, that's a nice dress, Susan,
really suits you, you know,
you should always wear that colour.
Where's thingy, whatchamacall him?
[Susan] Stevie.
Oh, he's just gone to fill
up with petrol, Daddy,
and he won't be two minutes,
he's so excited about tonight.
Where are we going?
Just about the darn best
restaurant in London,
so he better hurry up.
I thought he might have
taken the precaution
of getting the petrol before.
He's had a busy day, Daddy.
Doing what, exactly?
He owns three bingo shops
and he's negotiating the
lease on another one.
[Mr King] You know my views on gambling.
Yes we do, but I don't think
Stevie'll be too interested.
Daddy, I think you'll get
on so well with Stevie,
you'll get on like a house on fire.
[Mr King] I was just saying
to Susan, I don't like.
Oh yes, look Daddy,
you've never liked any of my boyfriends,
but he's different, don't worry.
With you and boys I'm always worried.
Yeah, don't remind me,
oh, the embarrassment,
the times I nearly died.
All those excuses you used to find
to come downstairs in
the middle of the night
when I was entertaining.
[Mr King] Is that what you called it?
[imitating Mr King] I just came down
to make sure you got the fire on Linda,
I don't want you to catch cold.
Pardon me interrupting you Linda,
but I wonder if I left the Bible in here,
oh, here it is, your friend
here, he got his feet on it.
I remember dad coming down
to check the paint had dried,
when I was on the doorstep.
[imitating Mr King] Just be
careful with your clothes,
it might still be a bit tacky,
I only painted it last week.
Trying to keep you two on
the straight and narrow
is too much for one man.
I don't know how you
managed on your own, Dad.
It's a darn mystery how I
never become an alcoholic.
That's because Linda
drank whatever you had in the cupboard.
You helped me, it wasn't just me!
Well, what I never could understand
was how the hell the level of
the sherry kept going down,
even when I locked the
door and hid the key.
Should we tell him?
Seeing as he's going back on
Wednesday, we might as well.
You see it was easy, you
lock this door, like this,
so we just pulled out
the drawer, like this,
reached down and took the bottle out.
Oh well, here's to tonight
then, I'm ever so excited.
You'll be even more excited
when you hear the surprise I've
got for you, you just wait.
The last night together in
this house for all of us.
So what's this surprise then?
My lips are sealed.
Oh you, you've never been
able to keep a surprise.
You always used to ask us
to ask you what our surprise
Christmas presents were,
even when we didn't wanna know.
What's this?
Mrs Dwyer made it, she knitted it.
[Linda] How old is she now?
[Mr King] About 80, sad.
She's almost blind, she had to
ask me what the colours were.
Is Susan all right?
She's had an upsetting day,
I don't wanna talk about
that, I wanna get going.
Yeah, well now, listen, do
be nice to Stevie, Daddy,
he's so excited about meeting you,
he's going crazy to meet you.
He says you've gotta be the greatest.
Well, I hope I don't disappoint him.
If I don't come on as the greatest,
just nudge me and I'll try harder.
Daddy, you're so funny, I could eat you.
Oh that's him, this is Stevie,
you're gonna meet Stevie at last.
This is my Stevie.
Good evening, I am Linda's father.
Hi, nice to meet you at last,
I've heard so much about you.
So I understand.
[Susan] Hello.
Oh, this is my sister, Susan.
[Stevie] Hello.
Like your car.
-Thank you.
-It's got electric windows
and quadraphonic sound.
Oh, you can sit in the
front with Stevie, Daddy,
and you'll just flip at the sound.
Sure.
Nice looking woman.
My wife, Linda and Susan's mother.
Yes.
It's a nice house, feels homely.
I understand you live in Tooting?
That's right.
I reserved a table for eight o'clock,
you familiar with Dean Street?
[Stevie] Well enough.
The traffic on Friday.
We have plenty of time.
Parking and so on.
I know a place.
I think we ought to make a move.
We're doing just fine.
I knew you'd both get
on like a house on fire.
Oh God, Daddy,
for one awful moment, I thought
you were gonna wear this.
Well I've met friendlier men before,
but on the other hand,
he may be a little nervous in meeting me,
I always affect people in strange ways.
[Susan] Yes Dad.
[faint music]
Come on, let's get some food down us.
[customers chatting]
The man from GLC was there,
I shake hands with him
at the presentation.
Excuse me sir, the aperitifs.
Ah yes, girls the drinks,
I was wondering what had
happened to the aperitifs.
One for madame.
Thank you very much.
And then this for the other madame.
Oh great, I'm desperate
for this, thank you.
And the Pernod is for?
That's mine.
I always find this
the most agreeable
aperitif on the palette.
Do you Dad?
Monsieur is a gourmet?
Quite, it's great.
Mind you, I am here on account
that I'm entertaining to
celebrate my retirement.
I think you've already told him, Dad.
Monsieur does not look old enough.
I beg your pardon.
Monsieur.
If a patron asks to celebrate
this special occasion,
you will accept the drinks
from him, personally.
-Very civilised of him.
-Thank you.
Perhaps you would care
to have a drink on me,
add it on the bill.
Shit.
You are ready to order now?
We haven't quite finished
reading the menu yet.
I will return when you
have made your selection.
Pst, is there anything that
you particularly recommend?
Everything is excellent
monsieur, as I'm sure you know.
I haven't eaten here before,
but I've received the
highest recommendations
from Mr Cunningham.
Monsieur Cunningham, of course.
A senior colleague of mine
at the Stratford depot,
he was here some months ago to
celebrate his silver wedding.
[speaks french]
It is a soup
of four different flavours
of mushroom, monsieur.
No, what I mean is.
[beeping sound]
What is that?
I think you'll find it's
your watch, Mr King.
-Oh, the alarm.
-Dad!
Eight o'clock, dinnertime.
Switch it off Dad, everybody's looking.
No, that's the light,
very convenient for seeing
the digits in the dark.
Press that one.
[gasps] Oh Dad!
Look what you've done!
[Linda] At least it
stopped the alarm, Dad.
[Waiter] Here monsieur.
[Mr King] Thanks all
the same, I'll do that.
I will return with another Pernod,
and then perhaps you are
ready to order your meal.
I'm sorry, Dad, sorry.
Nothing to worry about.
Come on, what are you gonna eat?
Oh, what's this Stevie?
That one.
[speaks french]
You speak French very well, Stevie.
Thank you Mr King.
Stevie's uncle's a chef.
So he says, I think he's
more a kitchen hand.
[Susan] Which restaurant?
The Dorchester Hotel.
I'm gonna start with
the consommé, whatever,
then I'd like the steak au poivre.
Well, as a matter of fact, Linda,
I was thinking of having that
but I'm very tempted by the.
[watch beeping]
Oh Dad!
Oh this is very embarrassing,
why is it bleeping again?
I think you must've pushed
the snooze button, Mr King.
It's only got three buttons to press.
It's the combination
in which you push them.
[overlapping chatter]
Can't you just switch it off for now?
I have not time to fully read
and digest the instructions.
The waiter's looking, come on,
let's at least order the first course.
I'll have the, the what,
-chicken mousse.
-Chicken mousse.
That sounds very nice indeed,
a la nouvelle style, it says.
Yes, I'll have that, please.
I'll have the chef's pâté.
I'll have the consommé.
Well, Linda, actually I was
thinking of having that.
We'll have the consommé, twice, then.
Okay.
You are ready to order now?
Almost, almost.
What about, Linda, if you
had the mushrooms soup?
Seems rather a waste, if
we all had the same thing,
but you have something differently,
we can now test each other's.
[Linda] Why?
Seems a nice idea, variety
is the spice of life.
Oh all right, okay, all right
then, so we'll have the.
The soup and the consommé.
Chicken mousse and.
[Stevie] Chef's pâté.
And for main course?
Oh for me, the boeuf Wellington.
The boeuf Wellington,
monsieur, it is for two.
I know that, man.
Stevie, it is for two,
perhaps you'd like to share that with me,
it's very succulent I
hear, Mr Cunningham had it,
okay Stevie?
Okay Mr King.
And the steak au poivre, rare.
I'll have the Dover
sole just plain, please.
You sure, Susan?
So many concoctions and sauces.
Just plain please.
Seem rather damn waste
coming to a restaurant renowned
for its authentic cooking.
I wouldn't be exaggerating
to say, would I,
that this restaurant
is almost world famous?
Perhaps, in Dean Street, monsieur.
[chuckling]
[Linda] That's very good.
I will return with a
selection of vegetables.
Whilst you're in the kitchen,
if you can find some sorta
thing or a little pin
to prod this to reset the alarm.
A pin, monsieur, to reset your alarm?
Of course.
[My King] I don't wanna keep going off
every damn five minutes.
[Waiter] The wine list, monsieur.
Oh actually, Daddy, Stevie
would like to buy the wine.
If it doesn't offend you Mr King,
I've had a very lucky day working.
It looks like the new
shop's gonna go through, so.
To celebrate, I'll be very pleased.
Champagne.
Well you can buy the first
bottle, I'll get the next.
[Stevie] Okay.
I was thinking of.
Dom Perignon, very cold.
Don Perignon.
Yes, bring it in a bucket of ice
if it doesn't put you at
any inconvenience, hm?
Dom Peri, God almighty, you're sure, boy?
It's gonna be Stevie's fourth shop.
Well when the luck is in, you
-might as well enjoy it.
-Might as well enjoy it.
Stevie says I'm his lucky mascot.
I'm not a great champagne
drinker, as a matter of fact,
but I'm acquiring the taste.
This afternoon, I had
enough champagne to bath in!
Not your Don Perignon, it isn't bad.
Drinking champagne, it's
a bit bloody strange.
It always reminds me of Uncle Errol,
he used to say he
wouldn't touch wine even.
He had a biasedness
concerning French people,
which went back to when his family.
[laughing]
Errol used to say,
"You can't trust the frogs,
how do you know when they're
stamping on the grapes,
that they get out of the bucket
when they want to want to have a wee wee,
and not to do it straight
in the grape juice."
[laughing]
Your pin, monsieur.
Dad, you're a terror!
If I could have peered into the future
and seen what I would do
with this adventure here in England,
I made a life here, Molly,
a life beyond dreams.
And now, I go back there
into this restaurant
and I pour the champagne
and have the toast,
and I tell the girls,
I tell them what my surprise is.
And when I drink that champagne, Molly,
you watch me 'cause I
drink to you and all,
I drink to our daughters
and to my going home,
and I toast you, my girl.
Well, I know what I'm
gonna say to our girls
but I'm damned if I know
what to say to you Molly,
except, wish you was here now
as I go out into the
restaurant and tell them.
On my own.
Hi.
-Dad!
-Sorry.
[laughing]
I am not a great speech maker.
That is all right, Dad.
[Mr King] There are a
few things I want to say.
We're listening, Daddy.
This night, here in, London,
England, with my daughters,
the night I retire.
I come from the home country
in a boat full of hungry men,
full of fear and optimism.
35 years ago, 1949, it was.
Next week on Wednesday, on another boat,
I return to where I come from.
[Linda] Cheers daddy, congratulations.
Linda, shut your mouth.
[Linda] Daddy.
Linda, please.
[Linda] All right, okay, all right.
This is what I want to
say, listen to me, please.
I don't want to toast where I come from.
[Linda] Jamaica.
Not where I come from,
but where I'm going to.
[Linda] Jamaica.
I want to toast to where
I've been for 35 years.
Come on Dad, we're listening.
When I stepped off that vessel
on that cold windy February morning,
that lifetime ago,
in a suit, a size too big for me
and shoe that mashup my foot,
a bag so old you expected.
Words, words to express.
The first of the tens of thousands
who come to England at the invitation,
damn it, at the request of England.
Propelled by the ambitions
of those too bound,
too timid to risk,
when us men alone stepped to shore,
into the unknown, the fear,
into the land of hope and dreams
a passport of promise in England.
When I saw this England
my eyes were misty with
regret at what I had forsaken,
what I'd left behind, friends, family,
the familiarity that I learned to love,
I craved the sunshine,
smell, a new universe,
shiver, shiver cold.
I was weighed down with misgivings.
I kept my hand in my pocket on the photos,
on letters of your
mother, and I was scared.
I thought Mr Churchill would
be on the quay to meet us,
but he was not there.
If then, that cold February
morning, that lifetime ago,
if I could have peered into the future
and seen what I would have
done with this adventure.
[sighs]
I never dreamed as high as I
reached here in this England,
I never dreamed this England
will give me that golden egg.
I expected castles and green fields,
unlimited assistance
from those who promised.
See, I didn't understand
what they said in London,
no government taught accent.
The splendour of the photos,
the King, that slum dirt and ice eyes,
and debris, and rooms with
that smell of disinfectant,
and cold and poverty
all around in Stratford.
And the rudeness
and the disappearance of the
friends I met on the boat
on this voyage before you girls were born.
But I made it,
I made a life here.
[Stevie] All right.
Beyond dreams.
I found the rich England
and I cap its vein!
And I got the mortgage
because I got a reliable
and responsible job,
I was at London Transport, I studied.
Before that I swept
platforms for two years.
I watched the drivers,
I listened to them and
I learned their secrets,
the advice that there was
a need for responsible men,
my attitude impressed,
I was observed as a
reliable and responsible,
and trustworthy, and punctual man,
who caused no trouble to nobody.
They said, "You fit in, you adapt."
I adapted.
I got the training and I got the mortgage,
and when I got it, I sent for Molly.
The house, yours for your lifetime,
decent clothes, never short of food,
every comfort and
television and education.
You could have been a great
man's personal assistant, Susan.
Linda, after a series of false starts,
a florist in the most reputable
florist business, security.
I regret the passing of Molly, I miss her,
if she had not died, I
might've stayed here.
I decided some months ago
to retire, go back home,
mission accomplished,
a life of achievement,
satisfaction and pride,
pride in my daughters.
[clapping]
And here is the surprise,
the mortgage is all paid
for, not a penny is owed,
all paid for.
Really?
The last instalment is paid.
When Molly and I took out the mortgage,
the house price was not
quite a thousand pounds.
And it must be worth what, 30,000 now?
Perhaps more.
I'm going to live with
Aunt Rose, and Uncle James,
I don't need a house.
This is why I've had the
deed of contract changed.
Changed?
How'd you mean, Dad?
I went to a solicitor and
drew up this legal document,
it's called a deed of gift.
I want you to have the house,
I want to give it to you and
Susan, a half share each.
[Susan] Wow.
[Mr King] What'd you say?
Dad, I'm speechless.
I mean, you're saying
you wanna give me and Linda your house?
I never thought of it as my house,
It's always been the family home,
this is why I want you to have
it, to own it and live in it.
I can't believe it, I can't believe it.
See?
This list, I put your names here,
so now you are the legal
owners, I signed it,
now I want you to sign it.
Wait a minute, Dad.
You worked all your life to buy that house
and now you're gonna be on a pension,
I think you should.
A pension and the savings.
Yeah, yeah,
and Auntie Rose isn't going
to charge you rent, is she?
That's not the point!
You should reap the
benefits of the house, Dad,
you should sell it.
30,000 pounds?
I can't go home a millionaire,
your Auntie Rose won't to speak to me.
Or rent the house, so at least
you've got an extra income,
if you don't want to sell it.
A landlord, me.
Anyway, I'd hate anybody
living in my house,
that's why I want you to live
in it, rent free, own it,
and enjoy the benefits I worked for.
We could live there rent free
without actually owning it.
Yeah but look, Dad seems
he's made up his mind.
This is ridiculous.
I want you, my wonderful
daughters, to have the house,
it would make me so very, very happy.
This is a sudden decision,
I mean, it's an emotional time, right?
Retiring and moving.
I think it'd be a much better idea
if you just waited for a bit.
It's what I've always
wanted and you will sign it!
Listen, listen, I think it's
the most amazing and kind,
and generous offer I've ever heard of,
our dad is such an incredible man.
I have been incredibly lucky,
I come to this country and
I made a life beyond dreams,
and I'm grateful.
And I propose we drink
a toast to this country,
to England.
To England.
To England.
[Mr King] Susan, to
England, the mother country.
Some mother.
I'll drink a toast to you, Dad,
but I won't drink to England.
[Linda] Oh Susan, don't be difficult.
I'm not, I just don't, tonight,
feel particularly grateful to England.
Why should I be grateful?
I was born here, it's my country.
Well I wasn't, I come here and I made.
No, that was 35 years ago, Dad.
How long have you got to
go on being grateful for?
The rest of your life?
Not that England seems to
hold lives too precious
these days.
What you saying, what you preaching,
this black power talk?
I'm talking about how a woman
on my ward is dying tonight
because England is too mean.
What has that got to do
with what I'm saying?
You're not looking at
the world straight, Dad,
It's not England you're talking
about, it's some fantasy.
Fantasy, now I don't like
you getting personal!
Oh look, it's a game!
You're deceiving yourself!
Susan why don't you just shut up.
Perhaps this isn't the time Susan.
Look, he asked me to.
The England I see
is that one ought to be
grateful to black men like you
who worked their arses off.
[Mr King] Now you leave
my ass out of this!
Mr King, please just cool it out a bit.
Now you hold your tongue, boy.
[shouting over each other]
Right next to you,
there's no need to shout.
Was everything to your satisfaction?
Yes, yes.
I'm sorry, sorry, I didn't
mean to cause a row,
I wasn't being personal.
I was talking about a
woman, a white woman,
who I have had to watch
slowly, cruelly, and
painfully die tonight.
What has this got to do with me?
I'll tell you what, when Mum died,
that's when I absolutely
knew I wanted to be a nurse,
that was 11 years ago.
Then it seemed everything
that was humanly possible
was done,
but now I don't feel that.
All the advances that have been made
and this woman will die tonight,
because the money that
could be spent isn't.
Hospitals are being closed.
I'm not saying she's been neglected,
I'm not saying she
wouldn't have died anyway,
but they'd closed the
breast testing centre,
so she never had the early warning.
She had to wait to get radiotherapy
because of the shortage of equipment.
The radio therapy burnt her
skin like acute sunburn.
When her relatives asked
for calamine lotion,
they were told to buy
it, part of the cuts.
The air conditioning was switched off
to save the cost of running it.
She used to be exquisitely beautiful,
she showed me photos once,
and now there's hardly any of her.
Chemotherapy made her bald
and she's dying tonight.
Now look, I'll drink a toast to you, Dad,
but I won't drink to this country.
You said how you see it,
I'm sorry if it hurts you,
but that's what I feel.
This country doesn't care
about its poor or its a weak or its ill,
not really care, 'cause that costs money,
I suppose it's cheaper
to just let people die.
I'll never drink a toast to England.
[Waiter] Excuse me.
Susan you will drink a toast to England,
or I swear to God,
I will strike out your
name out of this contract
and you will not have half the house.
No, I won't have half the house!
Such ingratitude!
How many times has one
gotta say thank you?
Why are you offering the
house anyway, you vain man?
Get out of my sight, get out!
She's really going?
[Linda] Yeah, she is.
She's gone?
[Stevie] She's gone, Mr King.
Then she's not my daughter, she's a whore.
Listen, don't be too hard on her, Dad,
she's obviously very upset,
but all the same, she didn't
have to be so offensive.
-Look, she's.
-No, no, Stevie.
Dad I know exactly how you feel,
Susan, she can be so
hurtful, the things she says,
in some way, she's not like us at all.
[Mr King] I always thought,
of the two of you, she was.
But you always treated
us both the same, Dad,
you never showed any kind of favouritism.
I mean, even with this house,
you were gonna give it to both of us.
[Mr King] The way she spoke to me.
It would just have been
ours in name, Daddy,
it would still have been your
house, the way it is now,
always there for you to
come back to if you wanted.
And I'm sure you'll keep popping back,
and I'll keep popping over to see you,
'cause the thought of
not seeing you so often.
[Mr King] You're a good girl, Linda,
a good daughter.
Well, I've been naughty sometimes, but.
All girls are, but in your heart.
In my heart, yeah, always.
And it breaks my heart to think
that because of Susan's ingratitude,
other people will now live in that house
where we've all been so happy.
The house.
[Linda] Listen, if you don't
have time before you go,
I can arrange for an estate agent
to arrange the letting of it,
and ensure that the rent
is sent to you every month.
No, no.
If I strike out Susan's name like this.
If you did what?
And you and I sign, then
the house will be yours.
I don't really know about
legal things like this.
I want you to have the house.
You think you should
initial it each time, Dad?
Sign it.
You want me to be too hasty, Daddy.
I want you to have the house, sign it.
You can always change your mind.
No, I won't change my mind.
[Linda] I think I'd
better initial it as well,
and we need a witness, Stevie?
Me?
I want you to be the legal
witness, oh, if daddy agrees.
Yes, Stevie, I'll be grateful
if you would sign it.
You don't have to be grateful, Mr King.
Oh Dad, you've made me so
happy, I think I'm gonna cry.
There is your happiness, my
heart is broken, I'm bleeding.
Why would she do this to me?
I must go out, I must breathe,
before I make a fool of
myself in front of everybody.
Daddy, Daddy!
No Stevie, Stevie, leave him,
I think he wants to be on
his own for a little while.
What a disastrous night it's been for him.
Apart from how nice you were just then.
Where's the contract?
It's in my bag.
You intend to keep it?
What d'ya mean?
You sure did that well.
What did I do?
The way you got him to sign it.
[Linda] He wanted to!
The state he's in.
Yeah, that's why I signed it, Stevie,
because the peculiar,
mad mood that he's in,
that Susan got him in,
he could've walked out here,
with this in his pocket,
got the first meths
drinker he met, to sign it,
crossed out our names,
and given the house to
a complete stranger.
That's not much madder than
signing away your own home.
He can't take it with him to Jamaica.
How long do you think he gonna stay there?
Always.
Look, I can see him going back
for a couple of months maybe,
but his world is here,
you and your sister are all he's got
and now he's got no job.
Well I don't know about that.
It's not much of a world,
but I can't see what else he has.
Now where you reckon he'll be?
He's probably taken a train home,
sitting in the driver's cab,
telling the driver about
his punctuality record.
Oh listen, you saw how vain he is.
I've seen a lot of things tonight.
[laughing bitterly]
Take a credit card?
[Waiter] Yes monsieur.
[train rumbling]
Hey, you there,
do you hear me?
No one wants to listen to me,
not you and your computerised signal box,
just sitting up there, pressing buttons.
Press another button
and demolish guard and station!
I'm a man standing down here!
A man in the searchlight!
See me?
There's steam in the light,
a hot breath on a freezing body!
A man, I tell you,
who spent 30 years driving trains!
When I look at it, I don't mind.
I wonder how many lives
entrusted in these hands.
[train horn blares]
15,000,000 baked beans
and 100,000 tin cans, God help me!
They should kill me!
I'm crying.
A man who spent 30 years
on the main line, crying.
Okay, I'll take him from here, thanks.
Mr King.
[sniffs]
Mr King.
Stevie, you're here, why?
[Stevie] Why are you here, Mr King?
All my working life
here, I'm retired here.
They gave me this.
[Stevie] You showed it to me.
Six functions and it lights up,
who'd have thought anyone can
get so many working things
into something so small?
If I place it here,
soon there'll come an express mail train,
see what happens,
a lifetime smashed into pieces
in a millionth of a second.
[Stevie] It's a waste.
Yes, a waste.
You heard the things she said to me.
People kill themselves on train lines,
they get crushed to death
under the wheels of trains.
A colleague of mine told me the man,
this man standing alone on
an empty platform looked up
and their eyes met
a second before he threw himself
under my colleague's train.
Susan never looked into my
eyes when she abused me,
all the things I believed in.
[train thundering]
You're holding my arm.
[Stevie] Mr King,
forgive me talking to you like this, but.
[Mr King] What are you saying to me?
[Stevie] Mr King, you
can't give your house away.
Look, if you sell it and go to Jamaica
with 30,000 pounds in your baggage,
you will be a rich man,
life there would never
be the same for you.
I think you should stay here in your house
with your daughters.
I have only one daughter,
you think she would mind if I?
[Stevie] Mr King, we'll speak to her
when we get you home, come.
It hasn't been a home since Molly died.
I didn't know the end was so near,
if I'd known, so many
things I'd have said.
Everybody in the hospital
seemed to know, except me.
When I asked the sister,
why didn't you tell me?
She said, "Couldn't you see?"
Mr King, please sit down Mr King.
Please sit down.
I'm afraid just now she passed away.
It's over now, she's at peace now.
I don't know what to say, Mr King.
I've been doing this job for 15 years
and I'm still not able
to deal with when a patient passes away.
Susan.
Yes?
My Susan, she wants to be a nurse.
Would you like some tea?
The doctor, he will be here in a minute.
I'll fetch you some tea while you wait,
if you'd like to see him.
I want to see Molly.
[Susan] I don't know what to say, Dad.
Your mother's at peace now, Susan.
If you want to be a nurse, you be a nurse.
Where's your sister?
She's out.
I left a note at home.
She could at least have
been at home tonight.
Oh Dad, what on earth have you been doing?
You're freezing.
Staggering round a bloody shunting yard
in the middle of the night.
-Linda.
-Come on Mr King.
-Feeling so muddled.
-Open that door there Stevie,
yeah, yeah, and I've been sitting here
waiting to go home with Stevie.
Don't you know what the time is?
My watch is broken.
Come on, let's get this off.
[Linda] God, it's filthy!
[Stevie] Here, take this.
We've been talking.
-Stevie.
-Oh Stevie now, is it?
Used to be thingamy what's his name.
I'm glad you're all right, anyway.
It was a nice meal, wasn't it?
Nice of Stevie to pay for it.
I was talking to your father
about whether it's such a good idea,
him going home and all.
Pardon?
Whether it's a sensible idea.
[Mr King] Stevie was saying.
Yeah, what exactly was Stevie saying?
This is my home, here, with you.
With me?
[Mr King] My daughter.
You wanna live here, with me?
I want to live in my house.
This house?
You have a home, Linda,
you have a flat of your own.
Yeah, yeah.
I've got a house of me
own now, this house.
And I think Dad'll love it
with Auntie Rose and all them lot,
on the summers?
I mean the winter's cold here,
old people die of cold, here in England,
I mean, I'm thinking
about your health, Dad.
I appreciate that, but.
I think he'd be making a mistake,
and that's my opinion.
Yeah, well he's my dad,
so I think he's perfectly capable
of making up his own mind.
Okay Linda, stop bullshitting,
give him back the contract
and we'll leave him to
think about it again.
Give it back?
I think I was a little impetuous.
I dunno.
[Stevie] For God's sake,
Linda, give it to him!
[My King] I was angry at.
But listen, you'd be
leaving the house to me
when you die, anyway,
so I can't see what difference it makes,
leaving it to me now.
If he stays, he's got to live here.
Not necessarily,
he could live with old
Mrs Dwyer, nextdoor.
I mean, that'd be nice, wouldn't it, Dad?
Keep each other company, eh?
See, what I did was in
the moment of madness,
and I wish to withdraw the offer.
The offer?
The offer is not an offer no more,
it's signed, sealed, and
delivered, and that's it.
[Stevie] Your handbag.
Get your hands off that!
-Linda, I swear to God!
-Don't you touch me!
Please, we've had enough misery tonight,
for the love of your old dad.
For the love of who?
I could never love an Uncle Tom.
You hold your tongue, girl.
Please Linda, you owe me this much.
The only thing I owe you,
the only thing that I am grateful for
is that you taught me never
to be humble like you,
humble, humble, humble.
What she's saying?
I don't understand what
she's talking about?
This house,
this house that you keep going on about,
I can't wait to sell it
and buy somewhere decent,
'cause what this house reminds me of
is all the years of your
grovelling and your gratefulness.
You were the Uncle Tom to
end all Uncle Toms, Daddy,
I was ashamed of you.
Mum couldn't bear it either,
so bloody grateful, always,
the gift horse to every con man
who ever stepped into the street.
You gave 10 bob notes to begging blind men
who could see well enough, to say,
"Oh, make it a quid,
guv, God bless you, guv."
You were the only bloody idiot
who was still giving a
Christmas tip to the milkman,
who'd given up delivering
milk three years before.
[laughs]
And when Mum said anything to you
about, like, over tipping the milky,
what did you say?
"Be grateful,
this is the only country in the world,
with the most reliable and
punctual delivery service!"
-[shattering]
-[gasps]
-I don't want to listen!
-And when I was in school
and they called me nigger.
-Don't.
-Please don't,
where's your manners in my home?
When they called me nigger, nigger, ha ha,
bath in black ink, ha ha,
what colour is it inside?
Is it black inside?
Oh nigger girls they're suckers all right,
they go to like rattlesnakes.
When they'd chuck bottles and
bricks at me in the market,
I wanted you to react.
When those whitey boys chucked
stones at me and Susan,
and their, and their insults,
I wanted you to smash their faces in,
and then I would and Susan would,
and Mum, we'd have felt something for you
instead of contempt.
And what was your attitude?
"They're ignorant", you said,
"Turn the other cheek", you said.
Well you turned the other cheek,
and you stuck a fluorescent sign on it,
"Kick my nigger arse",
well, I ain't turning the other cheek
and I ain't giving this back neither!
[door slams]
Her anger, such anger.
Do you have such anger?
I have never been so full of hate, never.
There were times, I won't deny,
but I always look
forward to better things.
Well maybe you should have got angry.
When I first come here,
sure, I behaved, I kept quiet,
kept my head down.
Then one day I said, why am I doing this?
To be accepted?
I'd have been assimilated,
I was losing my self respect.
So I looked at myself and
I told myself the truth.
You're young, I'm an old
man, an old aged pensioner,
that's the truth, and a fool.
Well if that's what you want to see.
Look, I'mma go now,
find Linda before she
get into any mischief.
I've always loved Susan the
most, Linda resents that.
That's why she'll keep the house,
because she hates me,
because I've always loved Susan the most.
Can I help you?
Are you looking for someone?
No, no, I'm sorry.
Dr Baxter, this is Sister Simmons,
Mrs Johnson's just died, thank you.
I came to look for you.
Oh Dad.
I saw you when she died,
-reminded me so much.
-I know.
All the things you said tonight.
Dad, please.
No, it's true what you said.
You're gonna make me
cry and I don't want to.
I treated you so bad Susie, very bad.
Wish to God.
Hey, you're shivering, Daddy.
God almighty,
such a fool, such a blind.
Got a match?
I got a cigarette.
You don't smoke.
I borrowed it from the night nurse.
The things Linda said, so
much hate, such vicious.
Did she?
I tried to protect you from them emotions.
You can't protect by ignoring them.
We never talked about them.
Remember the Bible,
"Turn the other cheek."
They're ignorant, ignore them, I said.
I ignore too much.
Did Molly hate me for it?
She didn't hate me for it?
Mum told me what it was
like when you first came,
those days, what you found and how.
She told me how harsh it was,
and she said you endured it with dignity.
She said that?
I'm going home now.
Where?
Nurse's home.
Goodnight Dad.
Susan, Susan, when I go
home, when I go back,
will you write to me at Auntie Rose?
Mhm, and you write to me, here?
The house, I,
she has it all.
Perhaps next summer
I'll come and visit you.
And perhaps you'll decide to stay.
No, this is my country, Dad.
I've always loved you more than Linda.
If I could start again.
♪ London, is the place for me ♪
♪ London, this lovely city ♪
♪ You can go to France, America ♪
♪ India, Asia, or Australia ♪
♪ But you must come back to London city ♪
♪ Well, believe me, I am
speaking broad mindedly ♪
♪ I am glad to know my mother country ♪
♪ I've been travelling
the countries, years ago ♪
♪ But this is the place I wanted to know ♪
♪ Darling London, this
is the place for me ♪
-[seagulls cawing]
-[waves crashing]
[Mr King] And now, today, a pensioner,
the retirement presentation
ceremony in the depot canteen.
A full turnout of all of our colleagues
for the four of us retiring,
Donal, Bert and Mr Smythe,
who cause such anxiety
with his stomach disorders.
Mr Cunningham's speech, most
fitting for the occasion,
the place will not be the same without us,
his very words.
The man had held a collection,
for each of us, a six function
digital watch with alarm.
An odd present for me,
with Mr. Cunningham speaking so highly
of my exemplary punctuality record.
You'd have been so proud of me, Molly.
Mr Cunningham's tribute to me,
you could've been sitting
with the other wives
watching their husband's
retirement presentation.
I shook hands with the man from the GLC,
I wish, not on my own,
you'd have been so proud,
if you could have been
here, Molly, and our girls.
[Sister] You still here, Susan?
Sister.
I don't think there's much to
be achieved by your staying,
do you?
It can't be long now and
then it'll all be over.
Yes.
No matter how long one does this job,
no matter how professional we should be,
sometimes one patient.
She has had so much dignity,
I just want to be here when she dies.
You've done everything
possible to ease her.
We haven't done everything possible,
the time she had to wait for radiotherapy.
As nurses, we're nurses not politicians.
Last night, she called my name,
I was sitting here, holding her hand.
She said, "Where's Susan?"
I said, I'm here.
She said, "If you're here,
everything will be all right,
everything's going to be all right."
Susan, I think it would be
sensible if you just go now,
for a couple of hours,
come back later if you
really feel you must.
I've got to go anyway,
me dad retired today,
he's taking me out for a meal.
Then go.
[Mr King] The suit is new,
I bought it especially for
the retirement presentation
in the canteen at the station,
many of my colleagues were
in suits for the occasion.
It was so strange Molly, not
to see them in their uniforms
after 30 years of seeing them.
Their wives were with them,
there in their arms, oh Lord, Molly,
I wish you was there, holding my arm,
and being so damn proud
of what Mr Cunningham said
about my exemplary punctuality record.
Wish I'm not on my own now, tonight,
this celebration with our daughters.
I wish, tonight, I could ask you, Molly,
that what I'm going to
do, that it is right.
And I wish to Jesus that
you hadn't died, Molly,
and that you were here with me tonight
to tie my damn tie!
And I wish you were going
to come home with me,
home to Jamaica.
I'm here Dad.
[footsteps thudding]
Susie, my juicy choosy, Susie.
Hey, well you look, I mean, well.
Oh, what's this smell, Dad?
The smell, what's this?
Some of the girls at the office depot,
as retirement present,
they bought me this bottle of cologne,
d'ya like the smell?
I'll wash it off, don't you like it?
It's certainly a lot
of it, this a new suit?
I bought it for the do I've
been to this afternoon.
Look, I'm sorry.
And for the party tonight,
it's good to see you,
you're here.
Like the scarf.
She made it, Mrs Dwyer,
Mrs Dwyer next door,
when she heard I'm retiring
and going home, she knitted it,
well anyway, like a present.
I got you some flowers.
She always ask after you girls,
did you wave at her when you come in?
Because even now she's at
the window waiting to wave.
I saw her at the window.
She can't see too well,
she's almost blind.
Them things that cover the
eyes, what are they called?
Cataracts.
She has got them now.
She's a remarkable knitter, what a scarf.
Back home, they go crazy
over a scarf like this.
Dead right for Jamaica,
when the temperature drops below 90.
I worry about her being
in the house on her own,
who's going to keep an
eye on her when I've gone?
Still Wednesday?
[Mr King] On Monday,
they collect the trunk.
Right, right, so it's definitely definite,
I was hoping you might
have had second thoughts.
It's what I've always
intended and on Wednesday.
It's the uprooting and
retiring in the same week,
you shouldn't do it all at once.
It's decided!
What are you going to do about the house?
All in good time.
Come and give your daddy a big kiss
because tonight
we are going to have the damnedest
best night we've had out,
for years.
Where we going?
It's all booked, wait 'till
you see this restaurant,
the smell of the cooking
nearly drove me crazy
when I went to book the table.
We've got the most exclusive table,
behind it I saw the
shrubbery, very private.
What's it called?
It won't be a surprise if I tell you,
and that's not the only surprise
I got for you tonight, Susan.
What do you mean, Dad?
I'd be telling, it's a secret.
You'll find out though,
over the liqueurs and
cigars after the meal.
Don't have to smoke a cigar, do I?
I got enough, see?
Just about every other driver
bought me a cigar today.
I wish you were there, Susan,
you would've been so
proud of your old dad,
I was almost overcome
by the tributes paid me.
I couldn't change my shift, Dad.
There's only once in a lifetime
a father retires, Susan.
I'm here tonight, cheers then.
Cheers.
Nice, are these for me?
Mhm, I ought to put them in some water.
What are these called?
These are lily of the valley.
And these?
These are called Gypsophila.
Sometimes 'em are called baby's breath.
When your mother and me, when marrying me,
when we got married, just
before I come over here,
the flowers in her bouquet, these flowers.
I know, Dad.
They were called baby's breath.
The sun was shining when I left Jumali.
And when I stepped off that
vessel, here in England,
it was so cold, so freezing cold.
Wearing a suit a size too big,
and a hat that kept falling
over my eyes, [chuckles]
and a smart shoe that Uncle James lent me
mash up my foot bad, bad.
And I was so scared,
so damn scared, when I arrived
here in England on me own.
You've lost weight, you look skinny.
[Susan] Do I?
[Mr King] You're not eating properly.
I've been waiting for tonight.
Nothing the matter?
No.
'Cause I worry about you
when I don't see you,
the doctors behaving
themselves, not molesting you?
Dad.
I've heard stories about doctors
and what they get up to with nurses.
Don't believe all you hear,
I'm all right, Dad, honestly.
You would tell if me
anything was the matter?
Well, it's a bit upsetting,
the reason I couldn't get away.
One of my patients, really lovely woman,
became very fond of her, she's
dying, she might die tonight.
Well.
Same thing as Mum.
In times of distress, Susan,
remember what you learned in Bible class,
great comfort in times of sadness.
Remember the old Bible class,
when you and Linda were girls
in the prefab shed,
she had that corrugated iron,
eventually they knocked it down.
Miss Marsh, she used to play the hymns
on her honky tonk piano.
I used to get there
early to meet you girls,
so I could stand outside
and listen to the kiddies
singing the hymns,
I was always moved.
It looks a very nice, you
always had artistic flair,
you could've done anything.
Anything?
Oh, I had great ambition for you, Susan,
high hopes of you becoming
a personal secretary.
I know, no more for me.
More a kind of personal assistant,
kind of personal
secretary, to a great man,
you've got the right
temperament, you always did.
I once discussed it with Mr Cunningham,
you becoming his personal secretary,
you'd have an office of your own,
with your name on the door.
I always wanted to be an SRN.
But your temperament,
you could become a doctor, a
Harley Street surgeon, perhaps.
I'll be lucky to still
have a job as a nurse,
the way Thatcher's butchering the NHS.
Susan, that's the prime
minister you're talking about,
I will not have her name
besmirched under my own roof!
I must say I find it most
astonishing coming from a woman,
that you should talk that
way about another woman.
It just makes me angry.
And you make me angry
when you talk like that!
I don't want to be angry tonight.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I shall get more angry
if Linda doesn't hurry up and get here,
we should be leaving for
the restaurant by now.
Linda's always late.
Carry on the coffin,
the cart's running behind,
trying to catch up.
The amazement of it all to me,
is how she manages to hold down a job.
That florist she works for
must have the patience of Job.
Her idea of timekeeping
never used to be tolerated,
punctuality was taken for
granted, the kids at the station.
Nowadays, if they turn
up for work on time,
they expect a bonus payment.
It's shocking.
It's bloody shocking.
There's no excuse for it, I
was never late, never late!
I know, Dad,
you have mentioned the fact once or twice.
-Not even.
-That winter.
That winter when the buses
were on strike I still.
Set off on foot before dawn.
Before dawn, I walk in the
pitch dark to the station,
with the snow right up
to my knees, I still.
Was never late.
Mr Cunningham in his speech today,
he made a great point about
my 100% punctuality record.
He said although I was leaving today,
my exemplary punctuality record
remain an enduring inspiration,
or words to that effect.
It'll all be written up in their magazine.
I was photographed shaking
hands with the man from the GLC
after the presentation.
What did they present you with?
[Mr King] This.
Oh, it's very.
It lights up, it has six
functions and an alarm.
Nice, the engraving.
Mind you, a bit damn
peculiar to give a man
with a 100% punctuality record,
a watch with an alarm, don't you think?
It's the thought that counts, Dad.
Precisely.
[dog barking]
[doorbell rings]
[Susan] She's here, Dad.
[muffled exchange]
[gasps] Wow, Daddy, what a suit!
That is a zuit suit, Dad,
you look sensational,
you look like an Admiral of the fleet,
like the Duke of Edinburgh
dressed up as Darth Vader.
God, Daddy, you look so dressed
up, I feel under dressed.
Linda, you are late.
Daddy, what is this smell?
What lady bought you this raunchy cologne,
you horny wild man, you?
Linda, I said you are late.
Oh what a welcome.
Well, that's a nice dress, Susan,
really suits you, you know,
you should always wear that colour.
Where's thingy, whatchamacall him?
[Susan] Stevie.
Oh, he's just gone to fill
up with petrol, Daddy,
and he won't be two minutes,
he's so excited about tonight.
Where are we going?
Just about the darn best
restaurant in London,
so he better hurry up.
I thought he might have
taken the precaution
of getting the petrol before.
He's had a busy day, Daddy.
Doing what, exactly?
He owns three bingo shops
and he's negotiating the
lease on another one.
[Mr King] You know my views on gambling.
Yes we do, but I don't think
Stevie'll be too interested.
Daddy, I think you'll get
on so well with Stevie,
you'll get on like a house on fire.
[Mr King] I was just saying
to Susan, I don't like.
Oh yes, look Daddy,
you've never liked any of my boyfriends,
but he's different, don't worry.
With you and boys I'm always worried.
Yeah, don't remind me,
oh, the embarrassment,
the times I nearly died.
All those excuses you used to find
to come downstairs in
the middle of the night
when I was entertaining.
[Mr King] Is that what you called it?
[imitating Mr King] I just came down
to make sure you got the fire on Linda,
I don't want you to catch cold.
Pardon me interrupting you Linda,
but I wonder if I left the Bible in here,
oh, here it is, your friend
here, he got his feet on it.
I remember dad coming down
to check the paint had dried,
when I was on the doorstep.
[imitating Mr King] Just be
careful with your clothes,
it might still be a bit tacky,
I only painted it last week.
Trying to keep you two on
the straight and narrow
is too much for one man.
I don't know how you
managed on your own, Dad.
It's a darn mystery how I
never become an alcoholic.
That's because Linda
drank whatever you had in the cupboard.
You helped me, it wasn't just me!
Well, what I never could understand
was how the hell the level of
the sherry kept going down,
even when I locked the
door and hid the key.
Should we tell him?
Seeing as he's going back on
Wednesday, we might as well.
You see it was easy, you
lock this door, like this,
so we just pulled out
the drawer, like this,
reached down and took the bottle out.
Oh well, here's to tonight
then, I'm ever so excited.
You'll be even more excited
when you hear the surprise I've
got for you, you just wait.
The last night together in
this house for all of us.
So what's this surprise then?
My lips are sealed.
Oh you, you've never been
able to keep a surprise.
You always used to ask us
to ask you what our surprise
Christmas presents were,
even when we didn't wanna know.
What's this?
Mrs Dwyer made it, she knitted it.
[Linda] How old is she now?
[Mr King] About 80, sad.
She's almost blind, she had to
ask me what the colours were.
Is Susan all right?
She's had an upsetting day,
I don't wanna talk about
that, I wanna get going.
Yeah, well now, listen, do
be nice to Stevie, Daddy,
he's so excited about meeting you,
he's going crazy to meet you.
He says you've gotta be the greatest.
Well, I hope I don't disappoint him.
If I don't come on as the greatest,
just nudge me and I'll try harder.
Daddy, you're so funny, I could eat you.
Oh that's him, this is Stevie,
you're gonna meet Stevie at last.
This is my Stevie.
Good evening, I am Linda's father.
Hi, nice to meet you at last,
I've heard so much about you.
So I understand.
[Susan] Hello.
Oh, this is my sister, Susan.
[Stevie] Hello.
Like your car.
-Thank you.
-It's got electric windows
and quadraphonic sound.
Oh, you can sit in the
front with Stevie, Daddy,
and you'll just flip at the sound.
Sure.
Nice looking woman.
My wife, Linda and Susan's mother.
Yes.
It's a nice house, feels homely.
I understand you live in Tooting?
That's right.
I reserved a table for eight o'clock,
you familiar with Dean Street?
[Stevie] Well enough.
The traffic on Friday.
We have plenty of time.
Parking and so on.
I know a place.
I think we ought to make a move.
We're doing just fine.
I knew you'd both get
on like a house on fire.
Oh God, Daddy,
for one awful moment, I thought
you were gonna wear this.
Well I've met friendlier men before,
but on the other hand,
he may be a little nervous in meeting me,
I always affect people in strange ways.
[Susan] Yes Dad.
[faint music]
Come on, let's get some food down us.
[customers chatting]
The man from GLC was there,
I shake hands with him
at the presentation.
Excuse me sir, the aperitifs.
Ah yes, girls the drinks,
I was wondering what had
happened to the aperitifs.
One for madame.
Thank you very much.
And then this for the other madame.
Oh great, I'm desperate
for this, thank you.
And the Pernod is for?
That's mine.
I always find this
the most agreeable
aperitif on the palette.
Do you Dad?
Monsieur is a gourmet?
Quite, it's great.
Mind you, I am here on account
that I'm entertaining to
celebrate my retirement.
I think you've already told him, Dad.
Monsieur does not look old enough.
I beg your pardon.
Monsieur.
If a patron asks to celebrate
this special occasion,
you will accept the drinks
from him, personally.
-Very civilised of him.
-Thank you.
Perhaps you would care
to have a drink on me,
add it on the bill.
Shit.
You are ready to order now?
We haven't quite finished
reading the menu yet.
I will return when you
have made your selection.
Pst, is there anything that
you particularly recommend?
Everything is excellent
monsieur, as I'm sure you know.
I haven't eaten here before,
but I've received the
highest recommendations
from Mr Cunningham.
Monsieur Cunningham, of course.
A senior colleague of mine
at the Stratford depot,
he was here some months ago to
celebrate his silver wedding.
[speaks french]
It is a soup
of four different flavours
of mushroom, monsieur.
No, what I mean is.
[beeping sound]
What is that?
I think you'll find it's
your watch, Mr King.
-Oh, the alarm.
-Dad!
Eight o'clock, dinnertime.
Switch it off Dad, everybody's looking.
No, that's the light,
very convenient for seeing
the digits in the dark.
Press that one.
[gasps] Oh Dad!
Look what you've done!
[Linda] At least it
stopped the alarm, Dad.
[Waiter] Here monsieur.
[Mr King] Thanks all
the same, I'll do that.
I will return with another Pernod,
and then perhaps you are
ready to order your meal.
I'm sorry, Dad, sorry.
Nothing to worry about.
Come on, what are you gonna eat?
Oh, what's this Stevie?
That one.
[speaks french]
You speak French very well, Stevie.
Thank you Mr King.
Stevie's uncle's a chef.
So he says, I think he's
more a kitchen hand.
[Susan] Which restaurant?
The Dorchester Hotel.
I'm gonna start with
the consommé, whatever,
then I'd like the steak au poivre.
Well, as a matter of fact, Linda,
I was thinking of having that
but I'm very tempted by the.
[watch beeping]
Oh Dad!
Oh this is very embarrassing,
why is it bleeping again?
I think you must've pushed
the snooze button, Mr King.
It's only got three buttons to press.
It's the combination
in which you push them.
[overlapping chatter]
Can't you just switch it off for now?
I have not time to fully read
and digest the instructions.
The waiter's looking, come on,
let's at least order the first course.
I'll have the, the what,
-chicken mousse.
-Chicken mousse.
That sounds very nice indeed,
a la nouvelle style, it says.
Yes, I'll have that, please.
I'll have the chef's pâté.
I'll have the consommé.
Well, Linda, actually I was
thinking of having that.
We'll have the consommé, twice, then.
Okay.
You are ready to order now?
Almost, almost.
What about, Linda, if you
had the mushrooms soup?
Seems rather a waste, if
we all had the same thing,
but you have something differently,
we can now test each other's.
[Linda] Why?
Seems a nice idea, variety
is the spice of life.
Oh all right, okay, all right
then, so we'll have the.
The soup and the consommé.
Chicken mousse and.
[Stevie] Chef's pâté.
And for main course?
Oh for me, the boeuf Wellington.
The boeuf Wellington,
monsieur, it is for two.
I know that, man.
Stevie, it is for two,
perhaps you'd like to share that with me,
it's very succulent I
hear, Mr Cunningham had it,
okay Stevie?
Okay Mr King.
And the steak au poivre, rare.
I'll have the Dover
sole just plain, please.
You sure, Susan?
So many concoctions and sauces.
Just plain please.
Seem rather damn waste
coming to a restaurant renowned
for its authentic cooking.
I wouldn't be exaggerating
to say, would I,
that this restaurant
is almost world famous?
Perhaps, in Dean Street, monsieur.
[chuckling]
[Linda] That's very good.
I will return with a
selection of vegetables.
Whilst you're in the kitchen,
if you can find some sorta
thing or a little pin
to prod this to reset the alarm.
A pin, monsieur, to reset your alarm?
Of course.
[My King] I don't wanna keep going off
every damn five minutes.
[Waiter] The wine list, monsieur.
Oh actually, Daddy, Stevie
would like to buy the wine.
If it doesn't offend you Mr King,
I've had a very lucky day working.
It looks like the new
shop's gonna go through, so.
To celebrate, I'll be very pleased.
Champagne.
Well you can buy the first
bottle, I'll get the next.
[Stevie] Okay.
I was thinking of.
Dom Perignon, very cold.
Don Perignon.
Yes, bring it in a bucket of ice
if it doesn't put you at
any inconvenience, hm?
Dom Peri, God almighty, you're sure, boy?
It's gonna be Stevie's fourth shop.
Well when the luck is in, you
-might as well enjoy it.
-Might as well enjoy it.
Stevie says I'm his lucky mascot.
I'm not a great champagne
drinker, as a matter of fact,
but I'm acquiring the taste.
This afternoon, I had
enough champagne to bath in!
Not your Don Perignon, it isn't bad.
Drinking champagne, it's
a bit bloody strange.
It always reminds me of Uncle Errol,
he used to say he
wouldn't touch wine even.
He had a biasedness
concerning French people,
which went back to when his family.
[laughing]
Errol used to say,
"You can't trust the frogs,
how do you know when they're
stamping on the grapes,
that they get out of the bucket
when they want to want to have a wee wee,
and not to do it straight
in the grape juice."
[laughing]
Your pin, monsieur.
Dad, you're a terror!
If I could have peered into the future
and seen what I would do
with this adventure here in England,
I made a life here, Molly,
a life beyond dreams.
And now, I go back there
into this restaurant
and I pour the champagne
and have the toast,
and I tell the girls,
I tell them what my surprise is.
And when I drink that champagne, Molly,
you watch me 'cause I
drink to you and all,
I drink to our daughters
and to my going home,
and I toast you, my girl.
Well, I know what I'm
gonna say to our girls
but I'm damned if I know
what to say to you Molly,
except, wish you was here now
as I go out into the
restaurant and tell them.
On my own.
Hi.
-Dad!
-Sorry.
[laughing]
I am not a great speech maker.
That is all right, Dad.
[Mr King] There are a
few things I want to say.
We're listening, Daddy.
This night, here in, London,
England, with my daughters,
the night I retire.
I come from the home country
in a boat full of hungry men,
full of fear and optimism.
35 years ago, 1949, it was.
Next week on Wednesday, on another boat,
I return to where I come from.
[Linda] Cheers daddy, congratulations.
Linda, shut your mouth.
[Linda] Daddy.
Linda, please.
[Linda] All right, okay, all right.
This is what I want to
say, listen to me, please.
I don't want to toast where I come from.
[Linda] Jamaica.
Not where I come from,
but where I'm going to.
[Linda] Jamaica.
I want to toast to where
I've been for 35 years.
Come on Dad, we're listening.
When I stepped off that vessel
on that cold windy February morning,
that lifetime ago,
in a suit, a size too big for me
and shoe that mashup my foot,
a bag so old you expected.
Words, words to express.
The first of the tens of thousands
who come to England at the invitation,
damn it, at the request of England.
Propelled by the ambitions
of those too bound,
too timid to risk,
when us men alone stepped to shore,
into the unknown, the fear,
into the land of hope and dreams
a passport of promise in England.
When I saw this England
my eyes were misty with
regret at what I had forsaken,
what I'd left behind, friends, family,
the familiarity that I learned to love,
I craved the sunshine,
smell, a new universe,
shiver, shiver cold.
I was weighed down with misgivings.
I kept my hand in my pocket on the photos,
on letters of your
mother, and I was scared.
I thought Mr Churchill would
be on the quay to meet us,
but he was not there.
If then, that cold February
morning, that lifetime ago,
if I could have peered into the future
and seen what I would have
done with this adventure.
[sighs]
I never dreamed as high as I
reached here in this England,
I never dreamed this England
will give me that golden egg.
I expected castles and green fields,
unlimited assistance
from those who promised.
See, I didn't understand
what they said in London,
no government taught accent.
The splendour of the photos,
the King, that slum dirt and ice eyes,
and debris, and rooms with
that smell of disinfectant,
and cold and poverty
all around in Stratford.
And the rudeness
and the disappearance of the
friends I met on the boat
on this voyage before you girls were born.
But I made it,
I made a life here.
[Stevie] All right.
Beyond dreams.
I found the rich England
and I cap its vein!
And I got the mortgage
because I got a reliable
and responsible job,
I was at London Transport, I studied.
Before that I swept
platforms for two years.
I watched the drivers,
I listened to them and
I learned their secrets,
the advice that there was
a need for responsible men,
my attitude impressed,
I was observed as a
reliable and responsible,
and trustworthy, and punctual man,
who caused no trouble to nobody.
They said, "You fit in, you adapt."
I adapted.
I got the training and I got the mortgage,
and when I got it, I sent for Molly.
The house, yours for your lifetime,
decent clothes, never short of food,
every comfort and
television and education.
You could have been a great
man's personal assistant, Susan.
Linda, after a series of false starts,
a florist in the most reputable
florist business, security.
I regret the passing of Molly, I miss her,
if she had not died, I
might've stayed here.
I decided some months ago
to retire, go back home,
mission accomplished,
a life of achievement,
satisfaction and pride,
pride in my daughters.
[clapping]
And here is the surprise,
the mortgage is all paid
for, not a penny is owed,
all paid for.
Really?
The last instalment is paid.
When Molly and I took out the mortgage,
the house price was not
quite a thousand pounds.
And it must be worth what, 30,000 now?
Perhaps more.
I'm going to live with
Aunt Rose, and Uncle James,
I don't need a house.
This is why I've had the
deed of contract changed.
Changed?
How'd you mean, Dad?
I went to a solicitor and
drew up this legal document,
it's called a deed of gift.
I want you to have the house,
I want to give it to you and
Susan, a half share each.
[Susan] Wow.
[Mr King] What'd you say?
Dad, I'm speechless.
I mean, you're saying
you wanna give me and Linda your house?
I never thought of it as my house,
It's always been the family home,
this is why I want you to have
it, to own it and live in it.
I can't believe it, I can't believe it.
See?
This list, I put your names here,
so now you are the legal
owners, I signed it,
now I want you to sign it.
Wait a minute, Dad.
You worked all your life to buy that house
and now you're gonna be on a pension,
I think you should.
A pension and the savings.
Yeah, yeah,
and Auntie Rose isn't going
to charge you rent, is she?
That's not the point!
You should reap the
benefits of the house, Dad,
you should sell it.
30,000 pounds?
I can't go home a millionaire,
your Auntie Rose won't to speak to me.
Or rent the house, so at least
you've got an extra income,
if you don't want to sell it.
A landlord, me.
Anyway, I'd hate anybody
living in my house,
that's why I want you to live
in it, rent free, own it,
and enjoy the benefits I worked for.
We could live there rent free
without actually owning it.
Yeah but look, Dad seems
he's made up his mind.
This is ridiculous.
I want you, my wonderful
daughters, to have the house,
it would make me so very, very happy.
This is a sudden decision,
I mean, it's an emotional time, right?
Retiring and moving.
I think it'd be a much better idea
if you just waited for a bit.
It's what I've always
wanted and you will sign it!
Listen, listen, I think it's
the most amazing and kind,
and generous offer I've ever heard of,
our dad is such an incredible man.
I have been incredibly lucky,
I come to this country and
I made a life beyond dreams,
and I'm grateful.
And I propose we drink
a toast to this country,
to England.
To England.
To England.
[Mr King] Susan, to
England, the mother country.
Some mother.
I'll drink a toast to you, Dad,
but I won't drink to England.
[Linda] Oh Susan, don't be difficult.
I'm not, I just don't, tonight,
feel particularly grateful to England.
Why should I be grateful?
I was born here, it's my country.
Well I wasn't, I come here and I made.
No, that was 35 years ago, Dad.
How long have you got to
go on being grateful for?
The rest of your life?
Not that England seems to
hold lives too precious
these days.
What you saying, what you preaching,
this black power talk?
I'm talking about how a woman
on my ward is dying tonight
because England is too mean.
What has that got to do
with what I'm saying?
You're not looking at
the world straight, Dad,
It's not England you're talking
about, it's some fantasy.
Fantasy, now I don't like
you getting personal!
Oh look, it's a game!
You're deceiving yourself!
Susan why don't you just shut up.
Perhaps this isn't the time Susan.
Look, he asked me to.
The England I see
is that one ought to be
grateful to black men like you
who worked their arses off.
[Mr King] Now you leave
my ass out of this!
Mr King, please just cool it out a bit.
Now you hold your tongue, boy.
[shouting over each other]
Right next to you,
there's no need to shout.
Was everything to your satisfaction?
Yes, yes.
I'm sorry, sorry, I didn't
mean to cause a row,
I wasn't being personal.
I was talking about a
woman, a white woman,
who I have had to watch
slowly, cruelly, and
painfully die tonight.
What has this got to do with me?
I'll tell you what, when Mum died,
that's when I absolutely
knew I wanted to be a nurse,
that was 11 years ago.
Then it seemed everything
that was humanly possible
was done,
but now I don't feel that.
All the advances that have been made
and this woman will die tonight,
because the money that
could be spent isn't.
Hospitals are being closed.
I'm not saying she's been neglected,
I'm not saying she
wouldn't have died anyway,
but they'd closed the
breast testing centre,
so she never had the early warning.
She had to wait to get radiotherapy
because of the shortage of equipment.
The radio therapy burnt her
skin like acute sunburn.
When her relatives asked
for calamine lotion,
they were told to buy
it, part of the cuts.
The air conditioning was switched off
to save the cost of running it.
She used to be exquisitely beautiful,
she showed me photos once,
and now there's hardly any of her.
Chemotherapy made her bald
and she's dying tonight.
Now look, I'll drink a toast to you, Dad,
but I won't drink to this country.
You said how you see it,
I'm sorry if it hurts you,
but that's what I feel.
This country doesn't care
about its poor or its a weak or its ill,
not really care, 'cause that costs money,
I suppose it's cheaper
to just let people die.
I'll never drink a toast to England.
[Waiter] Excuse me.
Susan you will drink a toast to England,
or I swear to God,
I will strike out your
name out of this contract
and you will not have half the house.
No, I won't have half the house!
Such ingratitude!
How many times has one
gotta say thank you?
Why are you offering the
house anyway, you vain man?
Get out of my sight, get out!
She's really going?
[Linda] Yeah, she is.
She's gone?
[Stevie] She's gone, Mr King.
Then she's not my daughter, she's a whore.
Listen, don't be too hard on her, Dad,
she's obviously very upset,
but all the same, she didn't
have to be so offensive.
-Look, she's.
-No, no, Stevie.
Dad I know exactly how you feel,
Susan, she can be so
hurtful, the things she says,
in some way, she's not like us at all.
[Mr King] I always thought,
of the two of you, she was.
But you always treated
us both the same, Dad,
you never showed any kind of favouritism.
I mean, even with this house,
you were gonna give it to both of us.
[Mr King] The way she spoke to me.
It would just have been
ours in name, Daddy,
it would still have been your
house, the way it is now,
always there for you to
come back to if you wanted.
And I'm sure you'll keep popping back,
and I'll keep popping over to see you,
'cause the thought of
not seeing you so often.
[Mr King] You're a good girl, Linda,
a good daughter.
Well, I've been naughty sometimes, but.
All girls are, but in your heart.
In my heart, yeah, always.
And it breaks my heart to think
that because of Susan's ingratitude,
other people will now live in that house
where we've all been so happy.
The house.
[Linda] Listen, if you don't
have time before you go,
I can arrange for an estate agent
to arrange the letting of it,
and ensure that the rent
is sent to you every month.
No, no.
If I strike out Susan's name like this.
If you did what?
And you and I sign, then
the house will be yours.
I don't really know about
legal things like this.
I want you to have the house.
You think you should
initial it each time, Dad?
Sign it.
You want me to be too hasty, Daddy.
I want you to have the house, sign it.
You can always change your mind.
No, I won't change my mind.
[Linda] I think I'd
better initial it as well,
and we need a witness, Stevie?
Me?
I want you to be the legal
witness, oh, if daddy agrees.
Yes, Stevie, I'll be grateful
if you would sign it.
You don't have to be grateful, Mr King.
Oh Dad, you've made me so
happy, I think I'm gonna cry.
There is your happiness, my
heart is broken, I'm bleeding.
Why would she do this to me?
I must go out, I must breathe,
before I make a fool of
myself in front of everybody.
Daddy, Daddy!
No Stevie, Stevie, leave him,
I think he wants to be on
his own for a little while.
What a disastrous night it's been for him.
Apart from how nice you were just then.
Where's the contract?
It's in my bag.
You intend to keep it?
What d'ya mean?
You sure did that well.
What did I do?
The way you got him to sign it.
[Linda] He wanted to!
The state he's in.
Yeah, that's why I signed it, Stevie,
because the peculiar,
mad mood that he's in,
that Susan got him in,
he could've walked out here,
with this in his pocket,
got the first meths
drinker he met, to sign it,
crossed out our names,
and given the house to
a complete stranger.
That's not much madder than
signing away your own home.
He can't take it with him to Jamaica.
How long do you think he gonna stay there?
Always.
Look, I can see him going back
for a couple of months maybe,
but his world is here,
you and your sister are all he's got
and now he's got no job.
Well I don't know about that.
It's not much of a world,
but I can't see what else he has.
Now where you reckon he'll be?
He's probably taken a train home,
sitting in the driver's cab,
telling the driver about
his punctuality record.
Oh listen, you saw how vain he is.
I've seen a lot of things tonight.
[laughing bitterly]
Take a credit card?
[Waiter] Yes monsieur.
[train rumbling]
Hey, you there,
do you hear me?
No one wants to listen to me,
not you and your computerised signal box,
just sitting up there, pressing buttons.
Press another button
and demolish guard and station!
I'm a man standing down here!
A man in the searchlight!
See me?
There's steam in the light,
a hot breath on a freezing body!
A man, I tell you,
who spent 30 years driving trains!
When I look at it, I don't mind.
I wonder how many lives
entrusted in these hands.
[train horn blares]
15,000,000 baked beans
and 100,000 tin cans, God help me!
They should kill me!
I'm crying.
A man who spent 30 years
on the main line, crying.
Okay, I'll take him from here, thanks.
Mr King.
[sniffs]
Mr King.
Stevie, you're here, why?
[Stevie] Why are you here, Mr King?
All my working life
here, I'm retired here.
They gave me this.
[Stevie] You showed it to me.
Six functions and it lights up,
who'd have thought anyone can
get so many working things
into something so small?
If I place it here,
soon there'll come an express mail train,
see what happens,
a lifetime smashed into pieces
in a millionth of a second.
[Stevie] It's a waste.
Yes, a waste.
You heard the things she said to me.
People kill themselves on train lines,
they get crushed to death
under the wheels of trains.
A colleague of mine told me the man,
this man standing alone on
an empty platform looked up
and their eyes met
a second before he threw himself
under my colleague's train.
Susan never looked into my
eyes when she abused me,
all the things I believed in.
[train thundering]
You're holding my arm.
[Stevie] Mr King,
forgive me talking to you like this, but.
[Mr King] What are you saying to me?
[Stevie] Mr King, you
can't give your house away.
Look, if you sell it and go to Jamaica
with 30,000 pounds in your baggage,
you will be a rich man,
life there would never
be the same for you.
I think you should stay here in your house
with your daughters.
I have only one daughter,
you think she would mind if I?
[Stevie] Mr King, we'll speak to her
when we get you home, come.
It hasn't been a home since Molly died.
I didn't know the end was so near,
if I'd known, so many
things I'd have said.
Everybody in the hospital
seemed to know, except me.
When I asked the sister,
why didn't you tell me?
She said, "Couldn't you see?"
Mr King, please sit down Mr King.
Please sit down.
I'm afraid just now she passed away.
It's over now, she's at peace now.
I don't know what to say, Mr King.
I've been doing this job for 15 years
and I'm still not able
to deal with when a patient passes away.
Susan.
Yes?
My Susan, she wants to be a nurse.
Would you like some tea?
The doctor, he will be here in a minute.
I'll fetch you some tea while you wait,
if you'd like to see him.
I want to see Molly.
[Susan] I don't know what to say, Dad.
Your mother's at peace now, Susan.
If you want to be a nurse, you be a nurse.
Where's your sister?
She's out.
I left a note at home.
She could at least have
been at home tonight.
Oh Dad, what on earth have you been doing?
You're freezing.
Staggering round a bloody shunting yard
in the middle of the night.
-Linda.
-Come on Mr King.
-Feeling so muddled.
-Open that door there Stevie,
yeah, yeah, and I've been sitting here
waiting to go home with Stevie.
Don't you know what the time is?
My watch is broken.
Come on, let's get this off.
[Linda] God, it's filthy!
[Stevie] Here, take this.
We've been talking.
-Stevie.
-Oh Stevie now, is it?
Used to be thingamy what's his name.
I'm glad you're all right, anyway.
It was a nice meal, wasn't it?
Nice of Stevie to pay for it.
I was talking to your father
about whether it's such a good idea,
him going home and all.
Pardon?
Whether it's a sensible idea.
[Mr King] Stevie was saying.
Yeah, what exactly was Stevie saying?
This is my home, here, with you.
With me?
[Mr King] My daughter.
You wanna live here, with me?
I want to live in my house.
This house?
You have a home, Linda,
you have a flat of your own.
Yeah, yeah.
I've got a house of me
own now, this house.
And I think Dad'll love it
with Auntie Rose and all them lot,
on the summers?
I mean the winter's cold here,
old people die of cold, here in England,
I mean, I'm thinking
about your health, Dad.
I appreciate that, but.
I think he'd be making a mistake,
and that's my opinion.
Yeah, well he's my dad,
so I think he's perfectly capable
of making up his own mind.
Okay Linda, stop bullshitting,
give him back the contract
and we'll leave him to
think about it again.
Give it back?
I think I was a little impetuous.
I dunno.
[Stevie] For God's sake,
Linda, give it to him!
[My King] I was angry at.
But listen, you'd be
leaving the house to me
when you die, anyway,
so I can't see what difference it makes,
leaving it to me now.
If he stays, he's got to live here.
Not necessarily,
he could live with old
Mrs Dwyer, nextdoor.
I mean, that'd be nice, wouldn't it, Dad?
Keep each other company, eh?
See, what I did was in
the moment of madness,
and I wish to withdraw the offer.
The offer?
The offer is not an offer no more,
it's signed, sealed, and
delivered, and that's it.
[Stevie] Your handbag.
Get your hands off that!
-Linda, I swear to God!
-Don't you touch me!
Please, we've had enough misery tonight,
for the love of your old dad.
For the love of who?
I could never love an Uncle Tom.
You hold your tongue, girl.
Please Linda, you owe me this much.
The only thing I owe you,
the only thing that I am grateful for
is that you taught me never
to be humble like you,
humble, humble, humble.
What she's saying?
I don't understand what
she's talking about?
This house,
this house that you keep going on about,
I can't wait to sell it
and buy somewhere decent,
'cause what this house reminds me of
is all the years of your
grovelling and your gratefulness.
You were the Uncle Tom to
end all Uncle Toms, Daddy,
I was ashamed of you.
Mum couldn't bear it either,
so bloody grateful, always,
the gift horse to every con man
who ever stepped into the street.
You gave 10 bob notes to begging blind men
who could see well enough, to say,
"Oh, make it a quid,
guv, God bless you, guv."
You were the only bloody idiot
who was still giving a
Christmas tip to the milkman,
who'd given up delivering
milk three years before.
[laughs]
And when Mum said anything to you
about, like, over tipping the milky,
what did you say?
"Be grateful,
this is the only country in the world,
with the most reliable and
punctual delivery service!"
-[shattering]
-[gasps]
-I don't want to listen!
-And when I was in school
and they called me nigger.
-Don't.
-Please don't,
where's your manners in my home?
When they called me nigger, nigger, ha ha,
bath in black ink, ha ha,
what colour is it inside?
Is it black inside?
Oh nigger girls they're suckers all right,
they go to like rattlesnakes.
When they'd chuck bottles and
bricks at me in the market,
I wanted you to react.
When those whitey boys chucked
stones at me and Susan,
and their, and their insults,
I wanted you to smash their faces in,
and then I would and Susan would,
and Mum, we'd have felt something for you
instead of contempt.
And what was your attitude?
"They're ignorant", you said,
"Turn the other cheek", you said.
Well you turned the other cheek,
and you stuck a fluorescent sign on it,
"Kick my nigger arse",
well, I ain't turning the other cheek
and I ain't giving this back neither!
[door slams]
Her anger, such anger.
Do you have such anger?
I have never been so full of hate, never.
There were times, I won't deny,
but I always look
forward to better things.
Well maybe you should have got angry.
When I first come here,
sure, I behaved, I kept quiet,
kept my head down.
Then one day I said, why am I doing this?
To be accepted?
I'd have been assimilated,
I was losing my self respect.
So I looked at myself and
I told myself the truth.
You're young, I'm an old
man, an old aged pensioner,
that's the truth, and a fool.
Well if that's what you want to see.
Look, I'mma go now,
find Linda before she
get into any mischief.
I've always loved Susan the
most, Linda resents that.
That's why she'll keep the house,
because she hates me,
because I've always loved Susan the most.
Can I help you?
Are you looking for someone?
No, no, I'm sorry.
Dr Baxter, this is Sister Simmons,
Mrs Johnson's just died, thank you.
I came to look for you.
Oh Dad.
I saw you when she died,
-reminded me so much.
-I know.
All the things you said tonight.
Dad, please.
No, it's true what you said.
You're gonna make me
cry and I don't want to.
I treated you so bad Susie, very bad.
Wish to God.
Hey, you're shivering, Daddy.
God almighty,
such a fool, such a blind.
Got a match?
I got a cigarette.
You don't smoke.
I borrowed it from the night nurse.
The things Linda said, so
much hate, such vicious.
Did she?
I tried to protect you from them emotions.
You can't protect by ignoring them.
We never talked about them.
Remember the Bible,
"Turn the other cheek."
They're ignorant, ignore them, I said.
I ignore too much.
Did Molly hate me for it?
She didn't hate me for it?
Mum told me what it was
like when you first came,
those days, what you found and how.
She told me how harsh it was,
and she said you endured it with dignity.
She said that?
I'm going home now.
Where?
Nurse's home.
Goodnight Dad.
Susan, Susan, when I go
home, when I go back,
will you write to me at Auntie Rose?
Mhm, and you write to me, here?
The house, I,
she has it all.
Perhaps next summer
I'll come and visit you.
And perhaps you'll decide to stay.
No, this is my country, Dad.
I've always loved you more than Linda.
If I could start again.
♪ London, is the place for me ♪
♪ London, this lovely city ♪
♪ You can go to France, America ♪
♪ India, Asia, or Australia ♪
♪ But you must come back to London city ♪
♪ Well, believe me, I am
speaking broad mindedly ♪
♪ I am glad to know my mother country ♪
♪ I've been travelling
the countries, years ago ♪
♪ But this is the place I wanted to know ♪
♪ Darling London, this
is the place for me ♪