Secret State (2012–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript

Whilst prime minister Charles Flyte is in America attending a conference at the headquarters of oil giant Petroflex there is a massive explosion at their refinery in the North East village of Scarrow with huge numbers of casualties. Then Flyte is killed when his plane crashes on the journey home. Deputy prime minister Tom Dawkins,a decent moderate,asks for party unity but foreign secretary Ros Yelland and home secretary Felix Durrell have no shame in declaring their ambitions to be leader. Tom is given evidence by journalist Ellis Kane,a woman of whom MI5 are suspicious as a whistle-blower, that Flyte was negotiating a huge compensation pay-out with Petroflex whilst Mark Ashcroft,the Scarrow pathologist,is alarmed by the high toxic content in the blast victims bodies and tells Tom before his body is found hanged. Tom asks drunken old buddy Tony Fossett, a former MI5 agent, if he can uncover any conspiracy,unaware that Agnes Evans at MI5 has tapped his phone and is listening to their conversation. She also has evidence that a bomber blew up Charles Flyte's plane.

This programme contains
strong language from the outset

and scenes that some viewers
may find upsetting.

HELICOPTER WHIRRS OVERHEAD

(MAN) Seen enough?

(WOMAN) What are you going to do?

Yeah, you! It was you that brought
those cowboys in. Your government!

So what are you gonna do?

The government I represent
is going to press

for the highest levels
of compensation

for the families of those
who so tragically lost their lives.

ANGRY SHOUTING



And blow us all to kingdom come!

If everyone shouts at once,
we won't hear

what the Deputy Prime Minister
has to say.

(RADIO) '..when 19 people were
killed and 94 injured

'in an explosion at the nearby
PetroFex refinery three d...'

RADIO OFF

I want to reassure you that we will
leave no stone unturned.

A team from the HSE are already
at work,

and the PetroFex company is sending

specialists from the United
States...

(MAN) Can we believe what they tell
us? We want answers!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We'll have a new government in
a month, and good fucking riddance!

APPLAUSE



It remains to be seen
who will win the election,

but the government I represent...

Oh, shut up!

We will rebuild here in Scarrow.
You have my word on that.

Your word's worth nothing!
You lot have got it covered!

SHOUTING

Sit down!

I think we should all,
please, calm down.

Let him go, Sergeant.

Mr Dawkins!

Have you heard of Sollendale?

I'm sorry?

Have you heard of Sollendale?
The man beside you might have.

Yeah, it's one of our plants
in the US.

Four years ago, they came very close
to having an incident

just like the one they've had here.

Why weren't we told?

If I could just interject...

The company commissioned a
confidential report and made changes

to safety procedure at Sollendale,

procedure that was not implemented
here at Scarrow.

Mr Dawkins, would you like to read
that report? I've got a copy here.

MURMURING

Just a journalist out to cause
trouble.

I thought we were going
to get lynched in there.

They're angry.
It's understandable.

They don't get it, do they?
It's all us, this, you know?

The minibuses, after-school club,
maintenance of the hall.

It's all PetroFex money.

Are you saying they're ungrateful?

No.

No.

(MAN) Bit of a thankless task.

Being Deputy Prime Minister
is a succession of thankless tasks.

Interesting?

Sobering.

I have met with criticism for
attending the summit here in the US

at such a sensitive time.

However, the opportunity to press
the case of the people of Scarrow

with Paul Clark and the others
at PetroFex,

who will ultimately be making
the decisions regarding their
future,

was one I felt that I had to grasp.

We value the jobs this company
brings to an area

of considerable economic
deprivation.

But we also demand the very highest
possible safety standards.

It is these issues
that I have raised with Mr Clark

who is as concerned as we are
for the people of Scarrow.

You know, I know Teesside well.
I know the calibre

of the people there.

And I know that, after a period
of recovery, a period of mourning,

grieving their losses
from this awful tragedy,

that, er...those communities
will recover.

Make no mistake...

TV GOES OFF

Have you seen Section Four?

Yes.

Thanks to Ellis Kane's helpful
Post-its,

yes, I've seen Section Four.

OK, will do.

Ellis Kane, freelance journalist.

The Americans want to tap her phone.

The Americans do? Right.

The Americans at MI5
or the Americans at MI6?

Trigger word?

PetroFex.

Just through here.

Thank you.

Deputy Prime Minister.

It's good of you to come.

Thank you.

She was...what age?

Two and a half.

It's strangely peaceful in here.

It is now.

(RADIO) 'The Leader of the
Opposition, Carol Maloy,
claimed today

'that the Prime Minister's
continued absence from the UK

'at a time of national tragedy
serves to underline

'that the government is out
of touch with the people it
is supposed to serve.

'The latest poll figures
add weight to her argument.

'The government is lagging
on average nine points behind
the opposition...'

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

The Prime Minister.

Hello, Charles.

'Tom.'

Still up in the air?

'Just about.'

It's a little rough up here,
but we're almost through it now.

Listen, er, change of plan.
I'm flying straight to Teesside.

I'll be there in about three hours.

'I want you to go to Number 10 in
any case, hold the fort till I get
there.'

We're on our way.

'Listen, Charles, did you know
there was a similar incident

'at Sollendale four years ago?'

Sollendale is irrelevant, Tom.

'What's important is that'

I've got Clark's word
on a very hefty package

of compensation and reconstruction.

And you have his signature on that,
I presume?

Listen, I know that you think

'that this trip to the US
was a waste of time...'

I think we're losing the election,
Charles.

Not many votes in Texas.

'So, the, er...'

compensation package, it...?

Covers everything, chapter and verse.

SUDDEN BANG

Hello? Charles?

Lost him?

Call him back, will you?

PHONE RINGS

Laura Duchenne.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

Ma'am?

Deputy Prime Minister!

Mr Dawkins, is this about Scarrow?

Do they know
what caused the explosion yet?

Is the Prime Minister going
to resign?

What are your electoral prospects?

Is Charles Flyte going to resign?

All radio and radar contact
has been lost

with the plane carrying
the Prime Minister back from
the United States.

'The last contact was made when
the plane was approximately
900 miles west

'of the British Isles
over the Atlantic.

'Its scheduled arrival time...'

What's he doing out there?

'..was 1.30 this afternoon,
three hours ago.

'There were no distress signals,

'nor have there been any warnings
or claims of responsibility.

'The circumstances are grave,

'but there remains a possibility

'that the Prime Minister
and the plane's other passengers'

are alive.

That's all I wish to say.

Where was the plane last seen?

So who's running the country,
Mr Dawkins?

What the fuck's happened to Charles,
Tom?

I wish I knew.

Well, you did well.

A military background like yours
comes in handy at times like this,
I suppose.

MOBILE PHONE BEEPS

Gents!

That's what it says on the door,
Ros.

I wouldn't want to be missing
anything.

Well, first off, thanks to Tom
Dawkins for fronting up
so effectively

while ministers were dashing back
from far-flung parts.

And as Deputy Prime Minister,
Tom is well placed to bring
continuity

while the dust settles.

(ALL) Hear, hear!

I'd like to suggest he base himself
here for the time being.

And now I'll pass over to Laura
Duchenne for the security position.

Thank you.

All we're looking at - thank you -
is scenarios.

The more obvious terrorist angles,
al-Qaeda, dissident Irish
republicans,

some sort of double-header
with the Scarrow explosion.

But there wasn't a bomb at Scarrow?

We can't be certain yet,
but we don't think so.

However, it was an unscheduled
flight,

and the fact that so few...

Whose plane was he on?

It was a PetroFex plane.

As I say, so few people knowing
the PM was returning that way,

renders an attack less likely,
but don't rule it out.

We still don't know
if there was an incident.

I think it's going to be all right.

So you think he's still flying
around up there, Felix?

I wish he was. Which is more
than can be said for you, Ros.

'Details remain thin on the ground

'in the wake of the disappearance
of the plane

'carrying the Prime Minister...'

Toothpaste, toothbrush,
flannel, towels, soap.

Oh, thank you.

And ear plugs?

In the drawer beside the bed.

Thank you.

'The deputy Prime Minister...'

Shall I close the curtains?

'..earlier today
but remains at Number 10.'

No. No, thank you. It's... It's OK.

I have been praying for him.

I'm going to pray for you too.

HELICOPTER WHIRRS OVERHEAD

VOICES ECHO

'Captain Dawkins, come in, over.'

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

SHOUTING

HELICOPTER WHIRRS

(MUFFLED) Sir, um...
I'm sorry to wake you so early.

We've had a call.

They've found wreckage.

Thank you.

He's dead. Nothing we do
is going to change that.

We'd have had to replace him
after he lost us the election
anyhow.

(FELIX) I need to know what my
approval numbers are. Exactly.

So who else is saying yes?

I've got a lot of support.
I'll have a hell of a lot more

if I can say
that Tom Dawkins will be my DPM.

Ros, Felix,
we need a show of solidarity.

A coronation. I couldn't agree more.

Just need a credible coronee!

Well, you two will have
to wrestle with that.

I suggest that as a neutral,
Tom hangs on to the reins.

In the meantime.

I know what you were doing, John.

There's a party to lead
and a country to run,

and when it comes right down to it,
it's me or Fauntleroy.

Think about it -
a country run by Felix.

Ros, this isn't the time.

I'm offering you the deputyship.

Do we have a deal?

Do I have a choice?

Good luck.

CAMERAS CLICK

It is with great sadness
that I have to inform you

that wreckage retrieved from the
north Atlantic early this morning

has now been identified
as coming from the plane

carrying our nation's
Prime Minister.

'The government is therefore
regretfully adopting an official
position -

'the Prime Minister is dead.

'A memorial service will be held
within the next week

'and the party will choose
a new leader to take us into
the election.

'I hope I speak for all of us
when I say that as a man
and a leader,'

he will be greatly missed.

Coming as this does...

HELICOPTER WHIRRS

Tragically, this comes in the wake
of the disaster in Scarrow.

And on the back of...a good few
years now of real hardship

for a lot of people in this country.

And you might feel, as I do...

..that our nation
is being sorely tested.

It is.

It is.

But a tragedy like this
can act to bring us together...

..despite political differences
and economic strife.

I have a powerful belief

that all those who live in this
great nation of ours can play a part

as we pick our way
through our current troubles,

and that even in the midst
of tragedy, we must have faith

that there is a better path ahead.

Charles Flyte may be dead,

but that idea of faith and hope
must endure.

Our thoughts are with his wife
and with his family.

Thank you.

Well done.

(REPORTER) 'The search is
intensifying, not for survivors now,

'but for the flight recorder.

'Specialists from the US Navy
are here

'and they're determined to discover
whether foul play or mechanical
failure

'lies at the root of this tragedy.'

'Charles Flyte's reputation
as a breath of fresh air

'in the stale arena
of British politics

'may have been in doubt
in the months before his death...'

'Getting out of the car, John Hodder,

'appointed Chief Whip
by Charles Flyte

'and continues to hold great sway
within the government...'

'Arriving with the Chief Whip,
the Foreign Secretary, Ros Yelland,

'not always the most on message...'

'The Home Secretary Felix Durrell,

'perhaps Charles Flyte's
closest friend...'

'And here comes Tom Dawkins,

'not thought to have been personally
close to the Prime Minister,

'but Charles Flyte appreciated
his gravitas and experience.

'He appointed him as his deputy
despite opposition from...'

Nothing to report
in the investigation?

No black box, no story.

What do you make of the fact
that it's a company plane?

Are you asking if I subscribe
to hysterical conspiracy theories?

A member of the Prime Minister's team
made a call before they flew

that may have been compromising.

To the Taliban?

To a cousin in Luton.

Syed Khan?

You suspect Charles's secretary.
Why?

Because he's Asian?

Syed can't confirm or deny it

because he's been lost
with the rest of them.

Isn't that your ex-wife?

Tom.

Hello, Rosie.

How are you?

Fine.

How's Alex and the kids?

You always ask that, Tom...

but you never really want to know.

I'm so sorry about Charles.

Thank you.

(ELLIS) Mr Dawkins? Mr Dawkins?

Your boss got nothing
out of that meeting with PetroFex.

I've seen the minutes.

You've got my number.

Get hold of her file.

BIG BEN CHIMES

That's you, sir.

Taking time out of your busy schedule
to meet me? I'm honoured.

Thanks.

So, Miss Kane...

Look Sharp.

That's what he calls himself.

It's how he starts his emails. Look
Sharp. My inside man at PetroFex.

'And he has the minutes
of the meetings between Charles'

and Paul Clark?

And passed them on to me.

And in return?

You have a man inside Number 10.
What more do you want?

I don't know if you read the papers,

but your lot are not going to be
in Number 10 for much longer.

So why give them to me?

I could write the story -
I probably will - but right now,

you could actually do something.

MOBILE PHONE RINGS

'Pass him over to me.'

Yes, ma'am.

Sir, Duchenne.

Hello?

Tom, will you please, for Christ's
sake, get off the street?

'Keeping tabs on me, Laura?'

For your information, Syed Khan's
poor, maligned cousin from Luton,

he'd been downloading
structural diagrams

of the plane Charles
was killed in.

'Sorry about Charles.
He was a good man.'

He had a great future ahead of
him. I was very fond of him.

'Yes, I'm sure you were fond
of him.'

Look, I've just been going
through the minutes of your
meeting together.

'What minutes?'

Well, one of Charles's
assistants emailed them through
before they left.

Charles's assistants
weren't in the meeting, Tom.

'Well, the point is, I spoke to
Charles when he was halfway back'

and what he told me,
and the minutes don't,

is that you and he agreed on a hefty
compensation package for Scarrow.

We know what
our responsibilities are, Tom.

'With all due respect,
that's not the impression
you're giving.'

We need you over here.

We need you looking at
the devastation on Teesside

and telling us
what you're going to do about it.

I've seen devastation before, Tom.
I saw the place before we set up
there.

'I see that you're quoted in
the press as saying'

that an American life
is more valuable than a British one.

That's not a moral statement,
that's an actuarial one.

Yes, but you set your safety
standards accordingly.

'I've seen the Sollendale report.'

Why don't we just row back
a little bit here?

Why don't we row back to where
you deliver what you promised?

You know, I think I'll wait
till after the election.

I wouldn't want to be wasting
my breath.

What is it, John?

Between you and me and the gatepost,
I've had a little private poll
conducted.

Oh, yes?

And when asked who they would like
to see as Prime Minister,

given the choice of you,
Ros Yelland or Felix...

They said Wayne Rooney.

(CHUCKLES)

56% of them said you.

You give off stability, Tom,
and people are craving that.

No.

Ros Yelland is...
the best man for the job.

The public don't agree.

She's not simpatico.

Do you really want to be in
opposition for the next five years?

I'm not a leader.

You looked very like one
making that speech the other day.

You were a captain in the army
for ten years.

That's where I learned my lesson.

Then you're a different man now.

And you know it. Now, look me in
the eye and tell me it isn't true.

She wants me to be her deputy.

Tom, we need someone with balls.

As DPM to Ros Yelland, you're
like the sultan's fucking eunuch!

Come on!

ANGRY SHOUTING

(CHANTING) Dignity in death!
Dignity in death!

Let us bury our dead!

Could you hold on one moment?

Tom, you met with a pathologist
when you were in Scarrow.
Mark Ashcroft?

He's called us in the press room
half a dozen times trying
to reach you.

Dr Ashcroft. Briefly, please.

Nisa Matthews, the little girl
whose hand you found.

There are toxicity readings in her
soft tissue that I wouldn't expect
to find.

Her and all of the blast victims.

What sort of toxicity readings?

'Her father's the same, but much more
pronounced. He's awash with it.'

I want to make sure
that it's not a genetic anomaly,

so I need to keep hold
of both of their bodies.

Surely, by now, you must have
completed your investigat...

'Her dad, Dermot Matthews,
worked at the plant.

'So I've been asking what he might
have come into contact with.

'The company have been fighting me
every inch of the way.

'They even tried to deny
that the body was his at first.

'Said he wasn't on site at the time.

'The mother's told the press
I'm keeping the bodies for no reason.

'I'm under siege, just because
I'm trying to do my job.'

D-D-Dr Ashcroft,
we're talking about a woman

who's lost her husband
and her daughter.

Mrs Matthews just wants the bodies
of her loved ones back.

And she will get them.

Just as soon as PetroFex
give me the information

that I need to complete
the postmortems.

Yes.

Well, thank you for calling, Doctor.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Who is this?

LINE GOES DEAD

Bless my soul,
it's the father of the nation.

Well, very statesman-like.

Tony Fossett.

Him?

Yes.

And, er...her?

Yes.

And him.

No.

You just haven't met him yet.

Er... As you were.

All right, stand down.

You never lose it.

So how are you, Tony?

Could you actually lend me 20?
I've got a cabbie waiting outside.

Taxi's got an oily chain, has it?

I've been to see my sister.

You remember her.

You shagged her once.

Me? I was blameless. I took the sofa
because she wanted the spare room.

And why were you on my sofa?

You know bloody well
why I was on the sofa.

You compounded your misdemeanour
on my sofa with my sister.

And now look at you.

I miss those days.

Pass me your phone, would you?

Do you mind if I take the battery
out?

You can never be too careful.

Nobody's bugging me, Tony.

Maybe.

As long as you have a battery
in your phone,

they can drop in whenever they like.

Humour him. We do.

I need your help, Tony.

I'm getting nothing from
Laura Duchenne.

No help with PetroFex.

The mighty Laura Duchenne was
a lowly reports officer when
I was at MI5.

She always did have her own agenda
and now she's running the place.

She could never live with the idea
that I knew she'd cocked up on
Nightlight.

'I had a call from the pathologist.

'There were toxins at Scarrow
they can't explain.

'Now PetroFex are obstructing
his investigation. So I need to know

'what they're hiding.'

Charles told me that they were going
to pay out big compensation.

They've gone very quiet
on that front.

You'll have to show them
what you're made of, Tom.

Cover the road.

They're telling me I'll have
to quit if I become PM.

You won't have time to smoke
when you're PM.

You see, the ridiculous thing is...

..having to do all this without
looking like we're actually trying.

There's a sense of it being unseemly
with Charles sort of...out there.

Look, I know Ros has you
on an exclusive, Tom,

but, um, it's a lost cause,
believe me.

Say the word and I'll wrap you
in my warm and tender love.

Foreign Secretary?

That'd give her something
to think about on the back benches.

We can hide in here for five minutes.

Clark's been trying to wriggle out
of the compensation package

that he agreed with Charles.

You haven't been frightening
the horses, have you, Tom?

Clark's a slippery sod.

Yes, but don't worry about Clark.
We have mutual friends.

I've heard that you've been putting
it about that they killed Charles.

PetroFex.

You heard wrong.

Cos you're aware how flaky
that would sound in the public arena?

You're swimming against the tide,
Tom.

The company's share price
actually rose today.

And who's the company's
biggest shareholder, Felix?

Royal Caledonian Bank.

Royal Caledonian Bank.

And who owns the bank?

Oh, Tom, look...

We do.

The British Government. The British
people. And the bank owns PetroFex.

Are you trying
to write my manifesto for me?

I just want to know
that you'll be on the case, Felix,

if we win the election
with you as leader.

(RECORDING OF PATHOLOGIST) 'I have
nothing to say to you, all right?

'I have nothing to say to you,
all right?'

'I have nothing to say to you,
all right?'

He's a mix of Manc and Mackem.

Formative years in Didsbury and then
a good 20-odd in Sunderland.

'I have nothing to say to you,
all right?'

'I've nothing to say to you,
all right?'

'This is Dr Ashcroft, Pathologist.

'I'm not at my desk. I need the
test results again for the
Matthews family.'

How's that, Nightlight? Good?
Where's the phone?

What were you doing in Fauntleroy's
camp, Tom? Not putting out
for favours, I hope.

Oh, just keeping abreast
of developments.

What's the latest?
Tax relief on gun dogs?

You're not going to beat him, Ros.

Tom?

If you're saying you're standing,
I'll break your fucking nose.

We were a team.

I asked if you were standing. You
said no. I said, "Come with me."

(SIGHS) Look at the polls, Ros.

Fuck the polls!

I haven't even started, and you'd
better not get in my way, Tom.

'Hello. Colton Laboratory.'

(MIMICS) Er, this is Dr Ashcroft,
Pathology. I'm not at my desk.

I need the test results again
for the Matthews family.

(CLEARS THROAT)

About your request for promotion.

I've been told to tell you
not to hold your breath.

There's a surprise!

Economic climate, etc, etc.

Hey, want to see something
above your pay grade?

Have you heard of Syed Khan?

There we go.

What's this?

Photos we intercepted
from his phone.

The last photos of the PM alive.

Sent by Syed to his cousin
before they took off.

The same cousin who's just been
arrested.

RINGING TONE

(MAN) 'Hello?'

Can you put me through
to Tom Dawkins, please?

'I'm sorry, the Deputy Prime Minister
is not available.'

And you are who?

'I'm Mr Dawkins' Private Secretary.'

So he's got time to tell you
to tell me

'he hasn't got time to talk to me,

'but not enough time
to tell me that himself?

'You know he once shagged
my sister?'

No, I didn't know that, sir.
Shall I, um...?

'Not many people do.'

He wasn't always
the paragon of virtue he is now.

Ask his ex-wife.

'She knows
where all the bodies are buried.'

Nice talking to you, Mr Fossett.
Anything you'd like me to pass on?

Um... Could you tell him to go fuck
himself with a feather duster?

Right. Goodbye, Mr Fossett.

'Tell him to call...'

(CUTS CONNECTION)

Tell him he needs to hear more
about toxicology.

(TV) 'Police are investigating
the death of Scarrow pathologist
Mark Ashcroft,

'whose body was found this evening.

'Meanwhile, the survivors of Scarrow
say the government has abandoned
them.

'Work has yet to resume
at the refinery,

'and no government minister has
visited the town since...'

TV GOES OFF

HELICOPTER WHIRRS

CONVERSATION ON MILITARY RADIO

CONFUSED SHOUTING

You're thinking about Bosnia.

Yes.

Tom...

..you did the right thing.

Did I?

Well...

What if I stand?

Don't, Tom.

(RADIO) 'Westminster is alive
with speculation today

'as the government decides
on a new leader

'to take them forward
into the General Election.'

Good luck, sir.

The dark patches are burn marks -
in all probability, a bomb.

Is it true you spoke to
the pathologist the day he died?

There was mention of a substance -
PFX44.

Al-Qaeda claimed it
pretty early on.

If we're going to get a shot at them,
it'll have to be now.

I'm going to ask you to stop right
there.

You don't suppose they'll shoot us,
do you?

You can never tell
with the Americans, sir.

They won't spike Tony Fossett
because he's an intramural subject.

Meaning?

A bad influence, am I? Is that it?
Know too much about you, do I?

It's personal.

Don't say my name.
I was hoping we could...have a talk.

Just need to get our angles, right.
And get the word from you?

This may be our one shot.

They're praying.

Then, we've got him!

You can't kill a man who's praying!

Is this you? Bosnia, 1992?

And when he comes a cropper,
I want people to say,
"Remember what Ros Yelland said."

They're on the move.
This is our last chance.

Tom!

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