Secret State (2012–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Episode #1.4 - full transcript

Tom's stance on the Royal Caledonian bank is seen as a personal triumph though Tony's death is a personal tragedy. Ellis goes ahead with the story of how he inadvertently caused civilian deaths in Bosnia but this pales beside the news that the Iranians have arrested supposed British spies and are spoiling for aggression. Agnes wipes her files and comes to meet Tom with evidence of MI6 complicity in Tony's murder. She is arrested but Tom orders her release. He then learns from Paul Clark and Ellis that Samir Sharour was not a saboteur but a Petro-Fex employee and that the plane blew up by accident when drone fuel being carried on board leaked and caused an explosion,just as it had in Scarrow. Armed with this news he gives a rousing Commons speech,damning the greedy capitalists - and implicitly,members of his Cabinet - who would benefit from a war with Iran and invites a vote of No Confidence in his party,stressing that he wishes to put popular interest first. Will this pay off or is he committing political suicide?

They're burn marks...in all
probability a bomb.

Sammy Shourar - he was on the plane
with Charles Flyte.

He may have been
working for the Iranians.

What you missed was the bottle.
First it was in the baggage truck

and then it wasn't and then it was.

'Did it damage it, falling off like
that?'

I propose to buy up the remaining
shares

and transform the bank into an
engine of prosperity.

Is that you - Bosnia, 1992?

It's a good story - Tom Dawkins,
The Army Years.

Give me your version.



There is no story.

He needs to know what we
found.

NEWSREADER: In other
news this morning,

the markets have responded positively
to the Prime Minister's announcement

that the Indian government
will underwrite sterling.

The pound rallied,

gaining more than two pence
against the US dollar.

This could be construed as a personal
success for Tom Dawkins,

although he has been criticised by
environmental campaigners

for reneging on existing
international agreements.

All right, ladies and gents.
Thank you. Stand back.

Behind the tape. Thank you.

I'll be right back.

Well? What do you know?



A burglary, perhaps.

Signs of a struggle.

Someone's been tearing the place
apart looking for bugs, or...

..removing them.

Was he bugged?

If he was, I didn't know about
it and it wasn't by us.

Then by who?

It may have been another agency
targeting me through him.

Hoping he'd be...

indiscreet.

About...Nightlight?

'Nightlight was a fuck-up,
Tom.

'And it was my fault, as I'm
sure you know.'

Some people think it led to the death
of an MI6 officer the following year.

Now, they are wrong, but...

Jesus Christ.

They wouldn't have gone this
far, not for that.

The bugging, maybe, but not
this.

Then what?

'It could be this photo
he died for.

'Did you give it to him?'

Is that his blood?

We think it's from one of Syed Khan's
picture messages.

So you didn't give it to him?

No.

'If not you, then who?'

(SIGHS)

We may have a problem.

The Times called. This is what
they'll be running tomorrow.

Tom served in the British Army in
Bosnia with the UN. Peacekeeping.

Now, according to this article,
he crossed into an area he
shouldn't have been

and he broke UN rules of
engagement

to free an Army translator taken
prisoner by an armed gang.

What's wrong with that?

The translator was killed,
plus three other civilians

and a member of Tom's
company.Civilians?

You said it was an armed gang.
Criminals. Not combatants.

Well, in my book, that's
heroism, not a war crime.

Well, he covered it up.

It's bad judgment then,
bad judgment now.

Felix, you just don't like it that
he actually does something.

He's acting like some crazed
Marxist!Championing small
businesses? Marxism?

Nationalising a bank?!

Bringing PetroFex to book and
standing up for the people of
Scarrow.

Shooting civilians?

Are they saying that?

I've just told you
everything I know.

Someone needs to speak to Tom.

Ros...

It's you or me, isn't it?I'm sorry?

When he goes. Tom. If.

I've done a poll.

He's swimming against the tide.

DIALLING TONES

He's not happy.

PHONE VIBRATES

Get Ellis Kane here. Now.

You see why I didn't want to stand.

Because the story would get out.

It's a distraction, Tom.
Nothing more.

Show you're vulnerable on this and
the Government will suffer.

Shrug it off, move on.

That's leadership.

Did you shoot civilians?

No. No.

So, it was a mistake, 20 years
ago. Doesn't mean you're
making a mistake now.

A mistake? It was a bloody mess.

So move on. Tony Fossett is dead.

We're sleepwalking into a war
with Iran.

The whole thing is starting again!

You stepped up, Tom, when the
country needed you.

You're in the firing line. That's
your job. It was then and it is now.

We don't know what happened
to Tony Fossett.

What I can tell you is,

he wouldn't want you
crying in the lavatory.

He'd want you out there,
making waves.

It might have been an idea to tell me
about the skeleton in your cupboard.

Are you telling me you didn't know?

Of course I didn't know.

And I recall giving you some
advice about Ellis Kane.

But I didn't say anything to her.

So where could it have come from?

They are big, rough lads at
the MoD, Tom.

And they've had a very hard
time from Government lately.

They've lost their Nimrod
fleet, their aircraft carriers,

they've had budgets and
troop numbers cut to ribbons.

If they're starting to feel
a little bit unmanned...

they'd be more than capable of
feeding a smear story to a
well-placed journalist.

Ellis Kane's here.

Tell me he's joking.

Are you going to tell me what the
fuck you think you're playing at?

Are you going to pretend
I didn't give you a chance

to give me your side of the story?

And why would I do that?Yeah.

Why would a journalist want to help?

You can't sit

on festering secrets like that and
then hope to take on the world.

I bloody...I told you something
was out there.

I asked you to give me
your side of the story.

You said, "There's nothing there.
There's nothing to give."

Well, fuck you, Tom Dawkins.

You're not the only one trying to
find their way in the world.

Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?

Oh, fuck off!
The great hotshot journalist

too big for your own story, and now
nobody wants to speak to you.

Is that what I am?

That's what people say to me
all the time.

Then what are you?

I'm the fucking Prime Minister!

I received an anonymous email.

A report you'd written about an
unsanctioned mission

to rescue your translator from
Bosnia.

You entered an area
barred to the British Army...

..and five people ended up
dead in the firefight,

including the translator and the man
you took with you,

Corporal Aiden Farlowe.

You redacted the report.

I allowed myself to be persuaded to
redact that report.

You do a thing like that...

..supposedly for the best.
Oh.

You act on advice.

You try to persuade yourself
that it's for the greater good.

And you also know that it's going to
save your arse.

And it dogs you.

It dogs you from that day to this.

You were rescuing your translator.

I was sleeping with her.

Ah.

Thought you'd gone.

I'm going.

You mustn't take it personally.

I've had targets die. It's hard.

But they never knew you -
don't forget that.

And you never knew them.

I think I need to take some
time off.

The people on those lists...
are there for a reason.

It's our job...

to monitor them.

No more than that.

Take a couple of days.

Somebody fucked up.
Other than you, you mean?

Fossett was Dawkins' closest
friend.

And the black box.
What's happening with that?

Forget about the flight recorder.

It's never coming back.

And...

once they've seen that,

no-one will ask about it again.

Nothing dodgy about this dossier.

Happy now?

Fossett had some of this
information?

Where did he get hold of it?

We're presuming Dawkins.

I'll call you.

KEYPAD BEEPS

Give me a secure line to GCHQ.

PHONE RINGS

Hello!

Um, yeah, that's right. She does.

Right.

'Excuse me, Prime Minister.

'You don't know me, but my name is
Agnes Evans...'

Go through the Press Office
like everybody else.

(TYPES)

The Iranians
have interned 30 UK nationals.

They're describing them as spies,
which is ludicrous.

What are they?

All the oil companies
keep a skeleton staff in Iran

for the day
when sanctions are lifted.

So they're oil men?

So they're oil men?
UN sanctions forbid Western oil
companies from operating in Iran,

so, suddenly,
the Iranians are saying

they must be there
under false pretences.

Hard-liners banging the drum
pre-election.

They know their time
is running out.

They're not the only ones.

They want us to jump
up and down, make threats

and behave like the warmongering
imperialists they've cast us as.

I suppose they do, yes.

To which our answer
should be what?

I know what you want me to say,
Tom.

You want me to say, "Violins
and camomile tea," but I'm not...

You're not going to start telling me
how the world works, are you, Ros?

Then stop trying to reinvent it
at our expense!

And if you're going to sell
the family silver to the Indians,

consult the bloody
Foreign Secretary!

Or even the Chancellor!

There's a consensus
growing out there

that you're going to burn bright,
but brief.

And you need to make
a decision about Iran.

There are 312 MPs
in this party.

And they've delegated us
to make the decisions that matter.

What are you saying, Felix?

Felix isn't saying anything.

Are you, Felix?

(PUFFS)

Thank you, John.

I needed your support
on that one.

And that doesn't worry you?

Mm.

Sami Sharour visited Tehran
on at least a dozen occasions

in the last three years.

He was also seen visiting
this mosque.

Now, the imams there are known

for their particularly
anti-Western stance.

The, er, guy on the right is very
close to the Iranian leadership.

A madrasah in New York
known for its radical views.

He visited it several times
in 2011.

And you think this Sharour
was on Charles's plane?

Oh, we're certain of it.

Despite the fact that he wasn't
on the passenger manifest?

The plane was owned by PetroFex.
He worked for the company.

As I understand it, he was
a late addition, like Charles Flyte.

(ROS) If he wasn't on
the passenger manifest...

That's him there.

On the picture
that Syed Khan took.

Who's had access
to these pictures?

Well, only one has been made public.

And why the hell
is this only coming out now?

The company are cagey
about his presence there

because of his connection
with the drone fuel team.

Which was what?

He headed it up.

Now, the circumstances of
the crash...

With so little information
emerging,

it has taken a little bit longer
than we'd hoped.

How long have you known?

Well, we've been following
several different leads.

It has taken a while, I know...

You're suggesting that he was

somehow an agent
of the Iranian government.

Now, his family originated
in Syria.

Sharour was born there,
grew up in the US,

but they've retained
very close links with Iran,

Sami in particular.

It does look as though,

given an opportunity
to harm the Prime Minister,

he took it.

(SIGHS)

This will tip us into war.

We have to keep control
of the details

until we're absolutely certain
of the facts.

Well, naturally, the Americans
are aware.

The agreement
on shared intelligence.

I don't recall anybody
adhering to that

when it came to the drone strike.

Oh... It's secure with them.

It better be.

Ros,
can you give us a moment?

I think the time for violins
and camomile tea may be over.

I saw another copy
of one of those pictures today.

Did you?

Did you?
Oh, yes, I did.

Covered in blood.

Tony Fossett's?

So how did he get hold of it?

I'll look into it.

Down past the newsagent's
and it's round...

Essentially,
the Americans are saying that...

that no-one could accuse you

of belligerence or intemperance
if you retaliated.

Meaning?

Targeted strikes against
their nuclear programme.

How long have we been
looking for clear justification

to take those facilities out?

But, Ros...

a strike like that only guarantees
the hard-liners an election victory.

We play right into their hands.

< Do you know the mistake
George W made after 9/11, Tom?

He squandered
the world's goodwill

by moving out of Afghanistan
and into Iraq.

When the news about
Charles's assassination gets out,

you'll have a window of
forgiveness in your hands

and, to quote
the US Secretary of State, >

it's a very powerful item >

when paired with
some Tomahawk cruise missiles. >

Oh, God...

But they're right, aren't they?

If Sharour's an Iranian agent
and he killed Charles...

..then we have to act.

Yes.

If you send cruise missiles
into Iran,

the Iranians
will send something back.

Not to us, maybe,
but almost certainly Israel.

And if the Israelis respond in kind,

you'll need the balls
to see it through.

Well, without
the flight recorder,

it comes down
to a question of judgement.

Yours.

PHONE BUZZES

She hasn't been able
to delete the conversation,

but she has done her best
to lock it up and scramble it.

But you can access it?

(LAUGHS)
It'll be a first if I couldn't.

PHONE RINGS

Who the hell is this?

'I can't talk now.
I need to see you.'

I can tell you what happened
to Tony. And to Charles Flyte.

'But I can't talk now.

'There'll be someone
monitoring this phone.'

Well, you're not Tony.

And where Tony is tonight,
he won't be doing any talking.

OK?

SHIP'S HORN BLOWS

350 years of continuous trading
and shifting your fucking assets

is bringing my bank to its knees.

Don't blame me, Michael.

I run the company,
not the country.

Always the last to know.

Last to know what?

Look sharp, Sir Michael.

Room for one more inside.

What are you doing here?

Didn't you get my message?

SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE

I was wondering if you knew
where Tony Fossett was.

He's dead, love. Your guess
is as good as mine.

I mean...where his body is.

You come in here once before,
didn't you?

Do you know where he is?

He said I could trust you.

Tony Fossett said that?

He's at my cousin's place
in Southgate.

Gotcha.

(FOSSETT) 'I've decided
you're on my side.

'Everyone else might have given up
on me, but I've still got, well...

'..you.'

Where is she now?

'You're wondering if this
fella here, Sami Sharour...'

Gravesend.

'..was on the fatal flight
with our ex-Prime Minister.'

First, Scarrow. Now Sharour.

Things are getting out
of hand.

You're the public face
of this company, Paul.

You're going to have
to take one for the team.

So this is all of you, is it?

You all agree with this?

You all agree?

Well, fuck the fucking lot
of you!

(SGT WRIGGLESWORTH)
Thank you. Just a precaution.

(AGNES) 'I can't talk now.
I need to see you.

'I can tell you what happened
to Tony. And to Charles Flyte.'

At this point, she was
at Hungerford Bridge.

'There'll be someone
monitoring this phone.'

(TOM) 'Well, you're not Tony.

'And where Tony is tonight, he
won't be doing any talking.'

She's not in Gravesend.

She dropped the phone
in a boat.

She's wherever Tony Fossett is.

So you were bugging Tony Fossett?

Yes.

Yes.
Why?

We're not told.

Trigger words?

Nightlight.

Go on.

I may have got him killed.

I'm so sorry.

I know he was your friend.

I just wanted to help him, but now...

How?

Do you know who Sami Sharour is?

Yes, of course.

I thought he was involved
in Charles Flyte's death.

I passed the information on to Tony.

Why?

You'd lost faith in him.

And you know this because...?

I was eavesdropping...

on your private conversations
with him.

If it was your information
that killed him,

then he died in vain.

I already knew about Sami Sharour.

But I was wrong.

It wasn't Sharour.

Tony saw that.

CAR PULLS UP OUTSIDE

And I wanted you to know what he saw.

He said if we'd seen it,

others must have too.

What others?

DOOR OPENS

They've come for me.

What?

Hold it!

Is she in there?

Is she in there?
They're busy.

Prime Minister, you are
in great danger!

Stay right where you are.

We're intelligence officers. >

You'll have ID, then.

Prime Minister,
step away from Agnes Evans.

Who sent you?

We're from MI6.

Our information is that she
may be armed.

I'm not here to hurt you.

Stop right there!

No more than a minute.

I want your hands in the air and
your MI6 authorisation codes now.

They don't want me talking
to you.

You think this
is why Tony was murdered?

I know it was.

I heard it.

They wanted his phone...and they
wanted these photographs.

He thought whatever was in that
container brought down the plane.

It got damaged. An accident.

He said it was like him.

It fell off the wagon.

Agnes Evans,

I'm arresting you for offences
under the Official Secrets Act.

You do not have to say anything,

but anything that you do say could
be used in evidence against you.

Oh, for Christ's sake,
take it easy!

Prime Minister, if I could
just take...

Prime Minister, if I could
just take...
No, you damn well won't!

So...can you run the story?

Well...

I can.

But...

do these really prove what
he's saying?

Write the story, Ellis.

Tom...

..you're doing the right thing.

You know Felix is muttering
about a vote of no confidence?

At a time like this.

Is he crazy?

Mmm.

What are the Iranians saying?

Well, they deny
any link with Sharour or...

the death of Charles Flyte,
naturally.

But there's evidence out there,
and the press are digging,

here and in the US.

MI6, CIA.

It begins to look pretty compelling.

Yes, well, what I've got's
pretty compelling too.

Mmm. Ellis Kane's going
to be a lone voice on that one.

Still fighting my corner, John?

Mmm.

Go to bed, Tom.

Everyone's waiting
for your decision on Iran.

I think we all agree the future
is what is important.

This country needs companies
like PetroFex and RCB.

Nations and corporations both need
to be run responsibly...

..for the greatest benefit
of the stakeholders

and with leadership...

..equal to the task.

I believe we've secured
the future of our companies.

Now...

we need to do what we can
for our friends in Government.

(FELIX) Sir Michael.

PHONE RINGS IN BACKGROUND

(TOM) So what's going on?

So how did this get out?

And, Tom, Ellis Kane
was arrested last night.

On what charge?

(JOHN) Offences under
the Terrorism Act.

You're joking!

Possession of material
and photographs.

This is all bullshit.
It's misinformation.

They just want me to go to war.

Does this entire country want
war with Iran?

Is that what they're saying?

That all I have to do is say
the word, and everybody's happy?

Because that would be the easiest
thing in the fucking world!

(NEWSREADER) 'It's the day of
reckoning for Tom Dawkins

'and members of his Government
who are split over his stance on Iran

'and its alleged involvement
in the death of Charles Flyte.'

So, are you coming in or not?

Pff...Good.

I hope you know what you're doing.

Thank you.

I want Ellis Kane released today.

Now.

'She was in possession of documents.'
Yes, that I gave her.

'You want me arrested as well?'
It would make life a lot simpler.

'Look, Laura,'

there's a strong possibility
that your opposite number at MI6

'has been sitting
on crucial information'

about the death of Charles Flyte
that points away from Iran.

'And Ellis Kane has that story.'

She's one of the good guys, Laura.

'Like you.

'And while you're at it, you can
release Agnes Evans as well.'

(FELIX) I'd like you
to consider this -

the deadline debacle with PetroFex,

the bandying about of state secrets
during the drone strike,

the allegations of war crimes,

the humbling of our great nation
he brought about

by offering to exchange
emissions for rupees.

MURMURS OF APPROVAL

And now he's appeasing the Iranians,

despite a clear link
with the murder of Charles Flyte.

MURMURS OF APPROVAL

Tom!

Tom...
I'm sorry they buried your story.

But there's something else,
there's someone you need to talk to.

I'm afraid I haven't got time
right now.

(FELIX) We're in a hole.

Stop digging. They killed our
fucking Prime Minister. Accept it.

The majority of people in this
country do not want war with Iran.

These are the only numbers
that really matter.

You have a choice.

Come into the chamber now

and announce retaliation
against Iran

or come in there and resign.
And what if I don't?

Well, then, right after the debate
we're coming back in here

and every man jack on that list
will raise his right arm

and throw you out of that window.

(SGT WRIGGLESWORTH
CLEARS HIS THROAT)

Paul Clark's here, sir. I think
you should hear what he has to say.

Do you know why we always
find ourselves

deep in the shit, Tom, you and me?

We just didn't go
to the right schools.

For fuck's sake, Clark.

They're gonna do to you
what they did to me.

They're gonna cut you off
at the knees.

They all want war, you see.
That's your problem.

Gets you out of jail with the banks.

Conflict starts over there,

capital will flee the region
like there's no tomorrow

and this is where it will come.

Our banks will be drinking it up.

And the oil companies, the markets,
the multinationals, the Americans.

Works on just about every level,
wouldn't you say, Felix?

I'd say that if somebody
kills your Prime Minister,

you strike and you strike hard.

Sharour is no terrorist.

The only reason he went to Iran
so many times is cos I sent him.

And that mosque in New York,

he used to drag his nephew
out of there by his ear.

Just thought you'd like to know.

What's the matter, Felix? Facts
don't fit the strategy any longer?

Facts? From Paul Clark?

Ha-ha!

I'll see you in the chamber.

How are you feeling?

(SIGHS)

You can do this, Tom. Step out of
the shadows and be the man.

You've brought it all within reach.
You want to throw it away now?

Everything you've ever wanted
to achieve standing in the wings

can still be done,
but not if you duck this.

Is that what you think I'm doing?
Ducking?

The principled stand.
The Man In The White Suit.

Talking it up
and never really engaging.

D'you wanna change the world, Tom?

You have to live in it first.

(SPEAKER) Honourable Members
of this House, the Prime Minister.

The Iranians did not kill
our Prime Minister.

MURMURING

Order! Order!

Let the Prime Minister speak! Order!

PetroFex did.

RAISED VOICES

Order!

Order! Let the Prime Minister speak!

It seems the company
was transporting a sample
of the new drone fuel

in the plane
the Prime Minister was using -

the same drone fuel that we now know
accounted for the ferocity,

though not the onset,
of the explosion at Scarrow

which killed 19 people

and injured 94.

The container was damaged
in an accident

at Houston Airport in Texas

and probably came into contact
with the catalyst in the hold

when the plane passed through
an electrical storm.

Am I certain of this information?

No, I'm not.

UPROAR AND LAUGHTER

Order!

Am I certain that Sami Sharour
blew the plane up,

acting on Iranian instructions?

No, I'm not.

MURMURING

'Am I sure that a shadowy coalition

'of the markets, the banks,
big business and Americans

'will go into meltdown
if peace breaks out?

'Again, no, I'm not.

'But I put this to you -

'are we going to toss away
countless British and Iranian lives

'on the strength of information
we're less than sure of?'

You tell me.

Because you're going to
have to vote on this.

'So let's put ourselves
on the line here for once,

'like Agnes Evans did
and Tony Fossett did.'

Let's forget party allegiance,
forget vested interests,

forget votes of confidence.

Let each and every one of us
think only of this -

is this war justified?

(MPS) Hear! Hear!

Is it what the people
of this country want?

MURMURING

MURMURING
Order.

Is it going to achieve
what we want it to achieve?

And if not, then what next?

MURMURING

Order!

Well, I tell you what I think
we should do.

We should represent
the people of this country.

Not the lobby companies
that wine and dine us

or the banks and the big businesses

that tell us
how the world goes round,

not the trade unions
that try and call the shots,

not the civil servants
nor war-mongering generals...

or the security chiefs.

Not the press magnates
and multimillionaire donors

demanding dinner at Number 10.

Not the whips, not the party line,
nor the status quo.

The people of this country,

I put it to you,
do not want another war.

CHORUS OF APPROVAL

Of that I am sure.

Sure enough to stake
my political career on it.

CACOPHONY OF VOICES

Order!

Tom, please, enough.

No, John, it's not enough.
It's not nearly enough.

I'll tell you what enough should be.

Enough would be
learning from our past

and not bulldozing our way into
another unwarranted, illegal war.

(MPS) Hear, hear!

Enough?Order.

I say enough would be
returning democracy to this house

and to the country it represents.

MURMURING

To that end,

I take the unprecedented step...

..of calling for a vote of no
confidence in my own Government.

MURMURING

What the hell's he doing?!

Order.

If you want war with Iran
and you want business as usual,

go ahead.

Vote against me.

But if you are prepared
to take back responsibility

and to take a step
into uncharted territory

for something
that you really care about...

..something that you believe
is right...

..join me and vote
against this Government.

UPROAR

Order! Order!

Order! Order!

Order!

Order!

REPORTERS CLAMOUR

All right, stand back.

(ELLIS) 'When I first met you,
I didn't think you had it in you.'

You know what?

I think maybe you'll do it.

I think maybe you really will.

I don't know.

You get to the top...

..and you realise...

..it's really only the middle.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Come in.

Welcome back, sir.
Thank you.

(WOMAN'S VOICE ECHOES) 'It was you
that brought those cowboys here!

'Your Government!
So what are you gonna do?'

ROAR OF JET ENGINE